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When Lan Zhan first reached out to Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng had been suspicious. They used to get along fine, before... well Jiang Cheng didn’t really like to think about those years. Just because Wei Ying had forgiven Jiang Cheng didn’t mean Lan Zhan had, and Lan Zhan had made this a well-known fact.
Texting a simple “why?” seemed best, after Jiang Cheng deleted his initial draft of [what the fuck?]
Lan Zhan’s response came quickly. [I am preparing a gift for Wei Ying. It needs to be a surprise.]
Jiang Cheng scowled at his phone. He would piss Lan Zhan off more if he said no and he should really seize the chance to befriend the guy, given that it seemed he was there to stay. Jiang Cheng had managed to make friends with Jin Zixuan eventually; he had practice at this.
Jiang Cheng texted back, [yeah it’s fine. i’ll clean off my desk.]
And so, two days later, Lan Zhan appeared at his door with a completely blank expression. He was, of course, polite, but in a scary way. Jiang Cheng kind of wished the guy would just yell at him.
“Want some coffee? Tea?” Jiang Cheng asked, then spotted the thermos Lan Zhan had with him. Of course, Jiang Cheng’s tea wouldn’t be good enough for him. Rolling his eyes he added, “Never mind.”
“I should get to work,” Lan Zhan stated frankly.
“Yeah, yeah, the office is over there, help yourself to whatever you need.” Jiang Cheng waved at the open door off the side of the living area as he spoke, wandering to the kitchen to make himself something. “What does Wei Ying think you're up to right now?”
“Working on a project,” Lan Zhan said and closed the door.
“Guess that’s not technically a lie,” Jiang Cheng grumbled. He decided calming tea would probably serve him better at playing nice than more caffeine.
These visits continued a few times a week. Lan Zhan seemed to be working on a piece of music, which would explain why he apparently needed the private place and couldn’t just do this at work or at home when Wei Ying wasn’t looking. Jiang Cheng got into the habit of putting on some headphones and watching tv to ignore the fits and starts of sound.
As Lan Zhan was leaving after the fourth time he had been over, Jiang Cheng noticed he’d left some papers and picked them up to examine. It was sheet music, but there were little written notes jotted down on them as well. Squinting at the tiny but precise handwriting, Jiang Cheng gasped.
This drew Lan Zhan’s attention from where he was putting on his coat and shoes. He strode back across the room and snatched the papers from Jiang Cheng’s hands. Looking at them, a frown drew his brows together. “I did not want you to see this.”
“What the fuck!” Jiang Cheng said, barely stopping himself from trying to grab the pages back. That would only piss Lan Zhan off more. “You’re planning on proposing to my brother? And doing this scheming under my own roof?”
“It is not a matter you are involved in,” Lan Zhan said, turning to set his bag on the counter and returning the notes to it.
“The hell it isn’t!” Jiang Chang said, then tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. But he couldn’t. This was both exciting and terrifying. “You’re the one who involved me!”
“I did not.” Lan Zhan’s tone said he thought this conversation was done.
“Yes you did,” Jiang Cheng crossed his arms. “What’re you thinking? You can’t do a public proposal. That’s rude and way too much pressure, you should know how much he hates crowds...” Jiang Cheng thought over this. “In fact, you shouldn’t propose at all if you haven’t talked about whether you both want to get married!”
“I plan it to be done in our home.” Lan Zhan informed him, tone flat. At least he had turned around to look at Jiang Cheng. “While it is none of your business, we have discussed the matter of marriage in great detail.”
Jiang Cheng deflated. “Really? He never mentioned that to me...” Shit. He tried to think over things he had done that might have made his brother upset.
Lan Zhan seemed to take some pity on him after a long moment of awkward silence. “We both agreed not to talk to our families yet.”
“Oh,” Jiang Cheng tried not to let the relief he felt show. “That makes sense.” He took another deep breath. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”
Lan Zhan studied him for an uncomfortably long moment, then nodded. He went to finish getting ready but before he opened the door, he turned back to look at Jiang Cheng. “He has spoken often about how he wants you to plan the wedding.”
Jiang Cheng hadn’t fully processed any of this but felt a rush of warmth and a smile he wouldn’t stop if he could. “Really?”
“Yes,” Lan Zhan said, hand on the doorknob as if he wanted to escape this as soon as possible. “I have agreed, as you proved adept at planning your sister’s.”
Jiang Cheng gave a surprised huff of amusement at that. It was the closest he was probably going to get to a compliment from Lan Zhan. “Thanks.”
With another nod, Lan Zhan turned the doorknob.
“Wait!” Jiang Cheng called, moving forward. “How are you going to propose? With a song?”
Lan Zhan sighed. “Clearly.” He stepped out and gave Jiang Cheng a blank look as he said, “I am also training our rabbits” before vanishing.
Jiang Cheng stood there, blinking at his door. “What the fuck? Training them to do what? Is he bullshitting me right now?” he muttered to himself.
It was only after a month and a call of joyful tears from his brother later that Jiang Cheng learned that Lan Zhan had in fact not been messing with him about the rabbits. Though he still wasn’t quite sure what the rabbits did... he’d have to question Wei Ying on the matter later. It wasn’t what was important right now.
Jiang Cheng had to clear his throat a few times before being able to say with complete honesty, “I’m really happy for you.”