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Lan Huan walks out of the meeting room with a smile.
It doesn’t matter if his business partner can see that his fists are clenched. As long as he keeps appearances and doesn’t get out of line, it’s fine. Besides, it’s not like the old man doesn’t know that he always pisses him off. Lan Huan has always dreaded business meetings with this particular man. He tends to be crass, is very shady, and has little to no respect for anyone, especially those who aren’t ‘on his level’. If his company weren’t so important to the Lan Enterprise, he would do anything to not see him again.
The sad reality is that he has no choice in the matter.
At least the meeting’s finally done, Lan Huan thinks as he walks down the hall, I have a couple more weeks, or if I’m lucky, months, until I have to see this guy again.
Lan Huan usually waits for his assistant, Su She, to wrap up after a meeting, but he desperately needs some fresh air right now. The chilly air coming from the hotel’s air conditioner is hardly refreshing and it just reminds him of the stuffy meeting room. It doesn’t take long until Lan Huan arrives in front of the elevator. He presses the button and texts his assistant while waiting for the elevator to arrive. When he looks up from his phone, the elevator is just about to reach his floor.
The elevator makes a loud ‘ding’ sound and the door opens.
It turns out that there’s already someone in it. It’s a young man wearing casual clothing, probably his age, or younger. He’s handsome, but somehow he looks a bit… unfriendly. Lan Huan can feel the young man’s eyes on him, studying him. Well, it happens all the time, so he’s hardly surprised. He has often been told that he’s a rather eye catching person. Not that he understands why, but he supposes that it comes from a good place.
Their eyes accidentally meet, so Lan Huan smiles at him.
The young man smiles back. Somehow, he doesn’t seem like he’s used to smiling, despite having a nice smile. He comes off as the type who likes a lot of personal space, Lan Huan thinks. In that respect, he chooses to stand on the opposite corner from the young man. Lan Huan notices that they’re heading to the same floor, so he doesn’t need to press any buttons. A few seconds past and the door closes. There’s an odd music that accompanies their ride down, but other than that, it’s completely silent.
Lan Huan feels a pair of eyes on him. Is he still studying me? He wonders. Before he can figure anything out, however, the elevator shakes a little and makes a string of odd sounds.
He hears the startled sound the young man makes, probably along with the one he just subconsciously made too. Both still standing, they look at each other and the realization hits. The elevator has stopped moving. Lan Huan hears the young man let out a long, tired sigh. Really, he wants to do the same, but that goes against all the mannerisms he has learned. The young man looks like he’s thinking, so Lan Huan decides that he’ll be the one to press the emergency button.
Sadly it does little to nothing, except for making a loud sound.
“Fuck.”
Lan Huan’s head whips towards the young man. He thought that something had happened, but thankfully the latter seems fine. Maybe he’s overreacting. It’s just that he comes from an environment where you’re not supposed to curse easily. He knows that that’s not the case for most people, but it still catches him off guard sometimes. The issue is; a lot of people take his surprised look as an offended look. And judging by the guilty look on the young man’s face, he seems to be one of those people.
Before Lan Huan can say anything, he hears the young man mutter, “Sorry.”
There’s this sulky look on his face that Lan Huan finds rather cute.
“Oh no, it’s fine,” he says with a smile. At least you’re not offended, Lan Huan thinks as he remembers all the times he’s gotten a ‘what are you looking at?’ or ‘what's your problem?’ from people.
The young man doesn’t reply after that, so the elevator is once again filled with silence. Lan Huan notices that the other man looks agitated.
“What do we do now?”
“Wait, I suppose,” Lan Huan replies, shrugging. Oh, maybe I can call Su She to make sure the hotel knows what’s happening, he muses as he turns on his phone. Before he can even open his contacts, he realizes that there’s no signal. Regretfully, he adds, “I’d call my assistant so he can contact the hotel, but it appears that I have no signal at the moment.”
The young man also checks his phone, seemingly to not avail. Lan Huan realizes that the young man is very expressive. He already sees it coming when the other man says, “There’s no signal on mine either.”
“Well then, I suppose that means we’ll have to wait. I’m sure the staff is already working on it,” Lan Huan says, lips curved into what he hopes is a reassuring smile. The young man still looks troubled, so it’s his little attempt to help him feel calmer.
Lan Huan hears a hum of agreement from the other man. Then, the elevator starts to shake out of the blue. More strange noises follow. They both hold on to the railing and it’s clear when their eyes meet that the fear is starting to set in a bit more. Lan Huan supposes that they could worry more, panic, even, but when they can’t do anything about it, what’s the point? It’s not like he’s been stuck in an elevator before, but he’s heard of the stories. Most people can attest that it’s a nerve-racking experience. On the bright side, all of them have lived to tell the story, so Lan Huan and this young man should too, right?
As if on cue, there’s more noise and his surroundings turn pitch black
This is bad, Lan Huan thinks, and it was already a horrible situation to begin with. He hears someone, the young man, suck in a breath. It’s quick and sharp. Rushed. Then Lan Huan hears another small sound, like the other man is choking on something. Oh god, he doesn’t seem fine. I have to do something, anything. It then dawns upon him that he has a phone which has a flashlight. Immediately, he stumbles to take his phone out of his pocket, tries to find the power button, and turns on the flash light.
The light is extremely bright in the dark room, not to mention with all the mirror walls reflecting it.
It takes a while for Lan Huan’s eyes to adjust with the lighting. When they do, he can clearly see the expression the young man has on his face. He looks like he’s right on the brink of breaking down.
“Are you okay?” Lan Huan asks, genuinely worried. The other man’s breathing seems to be more even now, but he still looks shaken.
The other man looks away for him and snaps, “I’m fine.”
Lan Huan’s brotherly instincts must’ve kicked in because he still feels worried. He can’t help but to watch as the young man avoids his gaze by looking down to the floor. His body language screams ‘don’t look at me’, but Lan Huan can’t just do that when the other man is so clearly not okay. Some people say that he likes to get involved in things he doesn’t need to be involved in. That he’s too kind.
They clearly have never met his younger brother.
Well, if the young man really doesn’t want to address what just happened to him, then at least Lan Huan can help get his mind off of it.
It seems a bit out of place, but Lan Huan asks, “What’s your name?”
Finally, the young man is looking at him again. He looks alarmed. “What?”
“What’s your name?” Lan Huan smiles as he repeats his words. He does not want to appear worried, since the other man doesn’t seem to react positively to that.
The young man takes an oddly long time to answer. It makes several questions pop up in his head, but he pushes them away.
(Because the other man looks more sad than suspicious).
Eventually, after a definitely longer-than-usual time to answer ‘what’s your name?’, the man clears his throat. “It’s Jiang Wanyin. And you?”
It’s a pretty name, Lan Huan thinks as he introduces himself. “I’m Lan Huan. Nice to meet you, Jiang Wanyin.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too. I guess.”
Jiang Wanyin still looks uncomfortable. It appears that he doesn’t really want to talk, but at the same time he looks like he needs a distraction. Lan Huan hopes he’s not overstepping the other man’s boundaries when he begins talking again.
“What were you doing in this hotel?”
Jiang Wanyin’s fingers leave the railing to wrap around his own wrist. “I work here.”
“Oh? What do you do?”
“I’m a chef,” Jiang Wanyin says, looking much more relaxed now.
Lan Huan smiles at that.
“That’s nice.”
To his surprise, Jiang Wanyin mirrors his expression. The corner of his mouth turns up ever so slightly. “Let me guess, you’re a businessman?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of impossible to miss.” Jiang Wanyin nods, looking amused. His smile is even more prevalent now, as small as it is.
Lan Huan’s heart skips a beat.
(He pretends that it doesn’t).
“Is that so?”
Jiang Wanyin opens his mouth, but the elevator starts shaking before he can get a word out. Both of them quickly realize that Jiang Wanyin is not holding on to the railing because the latter stumbles forward. Lan Huan almost wants to let the other man crash into him, but comes to his senses before he actually lets him. What am I thinking? Lan Huan quickly realizes. In one swift movement, he uses his free hand to hold Jiang Wanyin’s arm, keeping his balance.
For once, Lan Huan is grateful that his uncle used to punish his naughtiness by making him do handstands.
Not a moment later, Jiang Wanyin pulls his arm back. And yet, Lan Huan still feels the warmth of skin on his palms.
“I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s not an issue, but you should probably hold on to the railing, Jiang Wanyin.”
Jiang Wanyin does as he’s told, but all Lan Huan can think about is the flush creeping up the other man’s face. God, it’s so adorable. After the thought forms in his head, it suddenly dawns on him that he’s...attracted to the other man. The realisation hits him hard. No, no, what am I doing exactly? Lan Huan scolds himself internally, why, of all people and places, do you have to like someone you just met in an elevator? You’re being a creep, Lan Huan.
At this point, Lan Huan is both praying for this to be over soon and for it to last longer. God seems to prefer the first option because the elevator buzzes back to life, followed by the lights turning back on.
There’s yet another loud ‘ding’ sound as the elevator door opens. Three people are standing in front of the door. Naturally, the first one he notices is Su She, a scowl present on his face. On both of his sides, stand two technicians who look like they just earned ten extra years of life. Lan Huan already knows that Su She yelled at the hotel management and the technicians about their horrible safety and security. Probably with the addition of how important Lan Huan is and a few mentions of the Lan Enterprise here and there.
“Are you two okay?” the technician asks.
Lan Huan feels bad for whatever scrutiny he’s been put through because it really wasn't necessary. Well, it’s Su She after all, what did you expect? Lan Huan thinks to himself. His assistant was initially his younger brother’s, but they got along so horribly that they ended up switching assistants instead. The things I do for you, Wangji, he sighs internally.
Lan Huan nods and smiles, hoping that the technicians know that he’s not mad at them at all. Jiang Wanyin nods too.
"We’re okay. Thank you for helping us.”
The two technicians’ expression loosen into a smile.
After turning off his flashlight, Lan Huan walks out of the elevator. He can feel Jiang Wanyin’s eyes on his back and wonders what he’s thinking about. To the very least, he hopes it’s nothing bad. He hears Jiang Wanyin’s footsteps behind him, along with a quiet ‘thank you’. Turns out that Jiang Wanyin isn’t as hostile as he initially appears to be.
“Mr. Lan,” Su She greets him with a small bow. “I’m glad to know that you are unharmed.”
In a hushed tone, Lan Huan criticizes him, “You didn’t have to be so harsh to the technicians. Accidents happen, you know.”
“With all due respect sir, it’s unacceptable for someone like you to be put in such a dangerous situation. Their safety and security measures were simply inadequate,” Su She retorts.
Su She continues to go on about how horrible the hotel management is when Lan Huan catches Jiang Wanyin heading towards the exit from the corner of his eyes.
For once, Lan Huan doesn’t think before he speaks.
“Jiang Wanyin.”
Jiang Wanyin looks like he’s been caught off guard. “Huh?”
“Let’s talk again someday,” Lan Huan says, as genuinely as he can. Because he means it.
“Why?”
For a moment, Lan Huan wonders why. He doesn’t exactly understand it either, but he has to say something. So he just smiles and says, “It was nice.”
You were nice, he thinks, but doesn’t say.
Jiang Wanyin tries to hide his surprise, but Lan Huan can still see his mouth fall open in shock. In the back of his head, Lan Huan wonders if Jiang Wanyin doesn’t hear people say that to him often.
“I- Thanks.” His expression is a mix of shock, disbelief, and embarrassment. It still looks good on him somehow.
“I’ll just- go now.”
Lan Huan watches the other man, nodding. “Be careful.”
Jiang Wanyin quickly nods back at him and turns away even quicker. Lan Huan might be imagining things, but it looks like Jiang Wanyin’s ears have turned red. It’s hard for him to hold back a small laugh at the sight. When he looks back at his assistant, whose voice he’s been tuning out for the past few minutes, and he finds a judgmental look on his face. Lan Huan raises an eyebrow, interested to hear what he has to say.
To his surprise, Su She keeps his mouth shut and says nothing.
After Jiang Wanyin exits the building, Lan Huan asks, “When do we get to have another meeting in this area?”
“A few weeks.”
Before Lan Huan can say anything, his assistant precedes him. “You’re going to tell me to book another meeting here, aren’t you sir?”
Lan Huan doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just smiles. Turns out that Su She, with all his flaws, is at least a perceptive man. His assistant just smiles back, not even trying to make it look genuine. Not that Lan Huan cares much about it. Instead, he thinks about the next time he’ll meet Jiang Wanyin.
I’ll meet him again, Lan Huan thinks, no, promises to himself.
A few weeks never seemed that long for Lan Huan, but suddenly it kind of does.
-
It’s almost a month later and finally, Lan Huan is back at the hotel.
He’s been thinking about this moment a lot for the past month. More so about Jiang Wanyin. Really, Lan Huan has checked and rechecked his sanity for a few times this past month. He has met hundreds, maybe thousands, of people in his life and he’s never been this consumed by a single person before. He’s spent many sleepless nights, wondering what exactly it is about Jiang Wanyin that has him so intrigued by him.
Even now, he still doesn’t have the answer.
“-Sir? Excuse me?”
Lan Huan snaps back into the present to find a waiter looking at him confusedly.
“Oh.” Lan Huan blinks a couple of times to get his mind back on track. “I’m sorry. I was thinking about something.”
The waiter just nods and smiles politely, “That’s okay sir. May I take your order?”
Somehow Lan Huan almost forgets that he’s in a restaurant. Maybe if you stop thinking about Jiang Wanyin for a second, you’ll remember, a mocking voice says to him. He bites his lips, eyes scanning over the menu. Moments later, he picks a main course and a drink, not thinking much about his choices. He’s not a picky eater. The waiter repeats his order and just as he’s about to leave, Lan Huan stops him.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry if it’s rude to ask, but is there a Jiang Wanyin working here?” Lan Huan asks, trying not to think too much about how weird the question is.
“Jiang Wanyin?” The waiter repeats the name. He glances up to the ceiling, thinking. Suddenly, recognition dawns upon his face. “Oh, right, he was a chef here, but he quit a few days ago.”
The words ‘he quit a few days ago’ echo in Lan Huan’s mind.
The waiter looks at him, head tilted in concern. “Is there anything wrong sir?”
Lan Huan immediately plasters a smile on his face.“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Thank you.”
Although the waiter doesn’t look entirely convinced, he knows better than to ask any further. As soon as the waiter is out of sight and Lan Huan is left alone, he slumps into his seat. How is he supposed to find Jiang Wanyin now? He had already tried to find the other man’s social media, but all his efforts were to no avail. There’s no Instagram, no Twitter, no Facebook, nothing. It's as if he's never existed in the first place.
The night sky, framed by the large glass windows, is really pretty that night. But Lan Huan doesn’t even spare a glance at it. There’s only one thought in his mind;
Where are you, Jiang Wanyin?