Chapter Text
The first time Wei Ying sees the man, he wonders if the other is a model. Or celebrity. Or maybe a god descended from the heavens, deciding to grace the mere mortals below with his good looks.
The man (god?) in question is sitting at the corner table of the cozy little cafe. Just a few blocks from the university, it’s a favorite hangout for students at all hours, but now, early in the morning with the sun just barely over the horizon and grass still wet with dew, everything is suspended in peace that had yet to be broken by college students screaming for lattes. Wei Ying, like the few other mortals up at this hour, is sluggishly put together, beat up black hoodie and sweats, too tired to care what he wears as long as it keeps him from being arrested for public indecency, drunk Wei Ying has done that enough thank you very much. This man though is neat and regal in everything from his appearance, crisp pale blue button up and black slacks, long hair tangle free, to the way he carries himself, posture perfect and focused on the laptop in front of him. Gods, even the way he holds his pen is elegant.
Definitely not human, Wei Ying decides, but before his sleep addled brain can decide on what stupid brave plan of action to do next (ask for his number, ask for his hand in marriage), Wei Ying’s name is called--
“Quadruple shot iced chili chocolate coffee for Wei Ying!”
--and he promptly forgets about the man, thoughts replaced by need to inhale as much caffeine and sugar as physically possible at 6:30 in the morning.
***
The next time he sees the other man (Angel, he decides to call him, because he is by no means religious, but it still feels awkward as hell to mentally refer to someone as ‘the god’), he’s outside, and it should be against the laws of the universe to look that good in a plain white t-shirt and athletic shorts, but somehow he still looks graceful, still looks fit to sit upon a throne or command an army.
Angel starts running, wireless earbuds in and completely focused on the path ahead, paying no mind to the students he passes on the track, paying no mind to the way he is completely and utterly breaking Wei Ying’s mind because goddamn, those arms are fine as hell, scratch that everything about him is fine as hell- oh my god I’m staring at a stranger while he runs I’m such a creep.
Wei Ying is a goner, unable to take his eyes off Angel. This might be a bit of an issue under normal circumstances, but it’s even more so when he’s supposed to be in the middle of an intense outdoors volleyball game.
“Wei Ying what the fUCK!”
He turns around in time to get a glimpse of Jiang Cheng’s face, red and angry as it tends to be, and oh look there’s something coming-
And the world fades to black.
***
Wei Ying slowly comes back into consciousness. The sheets beneath him feel unfamiliar, as does the thin scratchy blanket covering his torso and legs.
‘Where am I?’
He blinks, and instantly regrets it. It’s way too bright, whoever makes the lighting decisions around here has absolutely horrible taste and is an utter ass. Even with his eyes closed, his eyes still burn, and he shifts his thoughts towards figuring out where he is in hopes of distracting himself.
His head aches, but at least his hair is no longer being held in its usual ponytail. Someone must have taken his hair ribbon off, lessening the tension on his scalp.
The scent of antiseptic says a hospital or doctor’s office. That can’t be right, he had just been outside with Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang, and Wen Ning playing volleyball, then he noticed that pretty man from the cafe and then-
Oh.
Wei Ying wants to bury his face in embarrassment. Gods, he had gotten distracted ogling an unfairly beautiful man, and proceeded to make a complete fool of himself. He could only hope that the angel hadn’t seen his pathetic downfall, but with how loud he remembers Jiang Cheng’s shout being, it’s unlikely.
Someone, please end me and my miserable existence right now.
His groans must have alerted whoever was watching him, because he hears movement, a chair shifting backwards, and there’s a shadow blocking the light. He cracks open an eye, expecting Jiang Cheng or Nie Huaisang or Wen Ning, maybe even Wen Qing, but instead it’s
“Angel?”
The man blinks down at him, almost expressionless save for the slight raising of his eyebrows.
“...Oh fuck. I said that out loud.”
If he wasn’t surprised before, the man definitely is now. His ears have turned pink, and it’s ridiculously cute, and if he’s going to die of mortification, he wouldn’t mind having that adorable expression as the last thing he sees.
The man backs away, not meeting his eyes, and walks out of the room.
...Well. That went horribly.
Wei Ying lays there in silence, staring at the door, for approximately five seconds before grabbing the nearest pillow and mashing it into his face to muffle his screams.
He scrunches into a fetal position under the blankets, he’s never going to go out into the world again, how did he manage to embarrass himself twice in the span of a day, in front of that man with the illegally beautiful stone face and captivating aura. He curls around the pillow like a shrimp, and that’s the position the doctor finds him in.
“Mr. Wei? Are you in pain?”
He pauses his slow, painful death to look up and nearly chokes. The doctor is almost an exact replica of the angel man, but his face is much softer, a gentle smile that’s probably designed specifically for comforting patients who might be lacking in the sanity department.
Numb, he shakes his head. Maybe he’s in heaven, which is why everyone is ridiculously beautiful, but that doesn’t explain what he’s doing here, how the hell did he of all people earn a spot in this so-called paradise?
A chuckle. “I’m flattered, but this is the university hospital, not heaven, Mr. Wei.”
Wei Ying flushes, peach pink at the realization that he had spoken his thoughts aloud again. Clearing his throat, he shoots the doctor an apologetic glance.
“Um, anyways… how long was I out?”
The doctor’s chuckles melt back into professionalism, although the gentle smile remains. “You were admitted three hours ago. Do you remember what happened?”
“Yeah, I was playing volleyball with Jiang Cheng and the others, and,” his face flushes even brighter, “got distracted. It was too fast for me to see, but I’m guessing I got hit in the head and knocked out?”
The doctor nods. “That’s good, no memory loss then. I don’t think you have a concussion, but we’re going to keep you here for a bit longer just to make sure.” He extends a hand. “My name is Lan Huan, by the way. I’m a graduate student here, so I’m not officially a doctor yet, but I’m getting there.”
Wei Ying shakes the offered hand, smiling. “Official or not, I’m still alive, so you’re clearly doing something right, doc.”
Lan Huan laughs. “You are too kind, Wei Ying.”
A knock on the door interrupts them. Another college student pokes her head in. “Lan Huan, you’re being called for by the head surgeon.”
Lan Huan turns around, schooling his expression into one of seriousness. “Alright, I’ll be there shortly.” He looks back at Wei Ying, apologetic. “I’m sorry to leave you so suddenly, but duty calls. Don’t worry though, some nurses might come by to do a few more tests, but you’ll be discharged within an hour or two.”
Wei Ying waves him off. “You must be super busy all the time, Doctor Lan. Don’t worry about lil’ old me, it would take so much more than just a volleyball to take me out! Good luck with your work!”
Lan Huan smiles at him. “Thank you, take care of yourself.”
The door clicks shut as the doctor in training and the nurse leave. Suddenly alone, Wei Ying looks around the room, distracting himself for exactly half a second before losing interest. This room is so boring! Why doesn’t he have visitors? Where is Jiang Cheng?
...where is the angel?
Now, after completely regaining consciousness, Wei Ying can’t say for sure whether or not the other man had actually been in here, watching over him. He likes to think that he’s above hallucinations, but it doesn’t make sense; he doesn’t even know the other man’s name, why would he visit?
Wei Ying’s not sure if he’s more glad to have not actually embarrassed himself by calling the other an angel to his face, or disappointed that he wasn’t actually here.
***
As Lan Huan had predicted, Wei Ying gets discharged an hour and a half later with a note to excuse him from tonight’s homework (sweet) and reminders to come back immediately if he begins experiencing headaches or other weird pain.
(Jiang Cheng would say his existence is a weird pain.)
He makes his way back to the dorms, still miffed that no one had come to visit him. Some sworn brother Jiang Cheng was, not even stopping by to fake concern. He could’ve been on his deathbed!
And thus, Wei Ying decides he’s completely validated when he barges into their shared dorm room and immediately takes the last pack of Sour Patch from Jiang Cheng’s snack cubby.
Yeah, he thinks, aggressively beheading the bright candymen, take that.
Jiang Cheng looks up, his permanent scowl only deepening at the sight of his candy being ravished. For probably the twentieth time today, he growls, “Wei Ying, what the fuck.”
“You didn’t visit me! Jiang Cheng, I could’ve been dying, all alone, and you didn’t even bother bringing me hospital gifts!”
“Shut the fuck up and give me my Sour Patch,” he gets up, snatching the candy bag from the other’s hands and sending up a small cloud of sour powder. Side eyeing Wei Ying, he grumbles, “It wasn’t anything serious anyway, right?”
Wei Ying’s smile is blinding and Jiang Cheng regrets life. “Aww, Cheng Cheng, you do care!” He glomps onto the slightly shorter man, who stumbles back and barely keeps from falling.
“Who says I care huh, dumbass? I just want to know if I need to leave before Jie-jie comes storming in to nurse your pathetic ass back into health.”
“You’re just jealous I’m Shijie’s favorite!”
The two wrestle around, trying to get each other into a chokehold, Wei Ying cackling gleefully while Jiang Cheng continues to shout profanities. Finally, both of them are laying on the floor, panting after an hour of roughhousing.
“...fuck, I need to finish my econ paper.”
Wei Ying laughs. “Ha! Lan Huan gave me a pass, so I get an extension on any homework I have tonight!”
“Fuck you.”
Wei Ying gasps. “Jiang Cheng! I’m flattered, but I’m not interested in doing such things with you!”
He dodges the book thrown at his face.
***
Life more or less goes back to normal afterwards. Taking classes, teasing Jiang Cheng, grabbing his favorite chili chocolate coffee from the campus cafe every morning. He’s even become friends with the friendly doctor, Huan-ge!
The weather is warm and sunny again today, and his friends have decided to eat outdoors instead of in the overcrowded dining halls for once. Wei Ying inhales his food, rice and meat and vegetables all dyed a glorious red in chilli oil, and a container of more chilli sauce next to him that he continuously spoons out more from. Wen Ning watches in horrified wonder, while Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang ignore him, used to his eating habits.
“-and the preorders are record high this time! I could really make a full time career out of this!” Nie Huaisang eagerly rants on about his growing underground business. Carefully curated erotic artworks, he calls it. (It’s sugarcoated porn.)
Jiang Cheng snorts, before halfheartedly kicking Wei Ying, who’s sprawled across their picnic blanket, ever ignorant of the concept of personal space. “Hey, your stalker is here again.”
“Jiang Cheng, I told you, I don’t have a stalker! We have a campus of several thousand students, of course you’ll see the same people around a lot!” He looks around. “I don’t see the creepy dude you were talking about anyway!”
Jiang Cheng’s veins throb angrily. “I’m just keeping you alive, idiot! Jie-jie would cry if your dumb ass got murdered by a stalker. And if you weren’t so slow, you would’ve seen him! He was just there!”
He angrily gestures across the field, towards the science lecture hall, where there are dozens of other students milling around, none of them paying any attention to the group lunching in the grass.
Wei Ying shrugs, scooping up more bright red rice. “Maybe you’re going senile. The anger must have sped up your aging.”
Nie Huaisang laughs, “A-Cheng, there’s so many people there, are you sure you’re not just seeing things? Besides, it’s no secret that Wei-xiong has a ton of admirers, but if anyone were to kill him, it would probably be you.”
“Admirers only like him until he opens his mouth and scares them away with his personality.”
Wei Ying pouts at that. “So mean!”
The group continues to eat, occasional jabs and punches thrown all around, but in Wei Ying’s head, a seed has already been planted.
He’ll show Jiang Cheng just how lovable his personality is! A mysterious maybe-stalker? A perfect opportunity to make a new friend!
***
It would be a perfect opportunity… if he could ever spot this mystery person! Throughout the day, with Jiang Cheng at his side, the other boy would often suddenly twitch and hiss “over there!”, but Wei YIng manages to be too slow every time.
At least he gets to see Angel more. The pretty man has popped up often since the Volleyball Incident, so clearly he’s a student of the college, just one Wei Ying has yet to meet! He must be pretty shy though, because he always turned away after making eye contact. He didn’t even look long enough to see Wei Ying waving at him!
Wei Ying lets his thoughts wander as he jogs. He rarely goes for runs on his own, but it’s a good way to clear his head, and with such a gorgeous sunset to admire too! His thoughts gradually shift back to the angel. It feels odd that he still doesn’t know the other’s name. After all, they’ve already crossed paths so many times, it has to be fate or some greater power in the universe pushing them together, right? After all, what were the chances that he actually ran into a stranger he shared no classes or dorm buildings with that often?
As if his thoughts had been heard, he spots a familiar figure up ahead. Huh, the other must really like the cafe to be frequenting it so much.
Today's the day, Wei Ying promises himself. I’m going to befriend that man.
He jogs just past the angel, pausing for a water break as he contemplates his options. Usually, he’d just go up to someone and say hi, but then again, most people are naturally drawn to him. This angel, however, has shown absolutely no indication of wanting to get closer.
Well. Planning has never been his strong suit anyway. He’ll just greet the other and wing it from there.
He turns to face the other with his most winning smile.
“Hi there! I recognize you, I’ve seen you around campus a lot! I’m Wei Ying, what’s your name?”
“L-Lan Zhan.” Unless his hearing is off, he’s pretty sure the other man just stuttered. It’s cute, but does Lan Zhan have difficulty speaking? Is he forcing the other into an uncomfortable situation?
Then, he registers the name.
“Lan Zhan! ...wait, Lan… are you related to Lan Huan somehow?”
“My brother.”
What kind of ridiculous genes does your family have, turning out children so beautiful?! He keeps his thoughts to himself, however, not wanting to scare off Lan Zhan or make things awkward right when they’ve finally begun talking. Instead, he laughs. “Ah, it makes so much more sense now! He looks so similar to you!”
Lan Zhan stares at him, not cracking so much as a half smile.
Well then. Things were already getting awkward. Now would probably be a good time to stop before he messes up more.
He scratches his head, smiling apologetically. “Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself. I see you around so much, I thought it had to be fate, you know? How could I not be friends with someone I see every day, right?”
More silence.
Wei Ying is finding it more and more difficult to maintain that smile.
“Ah, you’re probably busy though. You always seem focused on some task or the other. If you’re anything like Huan-ge, you must be at the top of your class. Well, I won’t keep you any longer! But the next time we see each other, let’s say hi okay?”
Time to get the fuck out of here before I make things worse. He turns to run away calmly extend his already finished jog, when-
“Wait!”
Huh?
Wei Ying turns around, meeting an equally surprised gaze. Did the other man… just shout?
He observes Lan Zhan, who seems to be searching for something in his pockets. Is it just him, or are the other’s ears turning pink..? For someone with such a stony appearance, he’s actually pretty awkward, in a cute way.
Wei Ying’s thoughts get cut off when Lan Zhan finally finds what he was searching for, and holds out…is that…
My hair ribbon!
Without thinking, he flings himself at the other man’s arms, wrapping around him in what Jiang Cheng would call an octopus strangle (it’s a normal hug, thank you very much).
“Thank you! I’ve been looking for that ribbon everywhere, I thought someone threw it out! It’s not that expensive, but the cloth is from my parents’ hometown, so I couldn’t buy a replacement here even if I wanted to!”
He pushes himself back, taking the offered ribbon. WIth no small glee, he practically tears the black hair elastic off before fixing his hair ribbon back into place.
Oh my god, that feels so much better. I hate these cheap rubber things, how the fuck does Jiang Cheng use them.
(It’s because not all of us are picky princesses like you, dumbass.) (Shut up, mental Cheng Cheng.)
“Ah, I feel more like myself already! This ribbon has spoiled me, I can’t stand other hair elastics anymore.” He gives the other man a wide, genuine smile. “Thank you!”
The other man nods, his ears becoming more and more red. He really isn’t used to socializing, is he?
Hm… he found my hair ribbon for me, and just from seeing him around, he’s definitely a good person. And cute. And drop dead gorgeous. And I want to get to know him better… It’s okay for me to take more of his time in the name of helping him socialize, right?
I’m about to get myself a rejection.
He puts on a smile way more confident than he feels. “Hey, how about I treat you to something at the cafe whenever you’re free? Consider it payback!”
“You do not owe me.”
Ah, Lan Zhan is really too cute, so formal even when he’s (hopefully) blushing.
“Shh, let me. What if I just want to get to know you better?”
Met with silence, Wei Ying decides to mark that as a victory in his books.
“Alright, it’s set then! Here,” Seizing the chance before his confidence runs out, he pulls a pen out of his back pocket and takes the other’s hand. He can feel his heart rate increasing, despite having stopped jogging a while ago.
Relax, Wei Ying, you’re just holding the hand of and planning a meeting with a ridiculously pretty man. Totally normal, be cool.
His hand is shaking slightly, but he manages to scrawl out the digits in what is passably legible handwriting. He looks up to meet the other’s gaze again.
“Text me when you’re free, okay?”
“Mn.”
Lan Zhan doesn’t look annoyed. That’s a good sign, right? Wei Ying, on the other hand, will probably start looking like some blushing virgin maiden if he doesn’t leave soon, because being close to Lan Zhan is doing funny things to his heart and head. Stepping back, he smiles again, before gesturing towards the dorm buildings in the distance. “Okay, I really do need to go now before my roommate kills me. Bye, Lan Zhan! I’ll see you soon!”
A nod.
Somehow, Lan Zhan makes even such a small gesture look so composed and elegant.
He turns around and shoves his ear buds back in, running towards the dorms. At least he could use that as an excuse for his face, which is definitely pink by now.
What he doesn’t have an excuse for, though, is the giant smile that has overtaken his face. He can’t force it down even if he tries, but right now he doesn’t really want to.
I’m gonna see Lan Zhan again soon!