Work Text:
IV
Overnight, Wei Wuxian has become the newest internet sensation. He is crowned ‘The Most Eligible Bachelor of the country’, ‘The Best Gentleman Ever’, ‘The Handsomest Thing That’s Not Royal’, ‘The Guy You Should Fall in Love With’ and many, many more titles.
Lan Wangji agrees that Wei Wuxian deserves all the titles mentioned except for the bachelor thing.
How come he is a bachelor when he got me? A prince! As his boyfriend! He might be a virgin, but he definitely is not a bachelor.
He has had enough.
He texts Nie Huaisang. I need your help.
He gets a reply: Of course, Lan Wangji. With the best event planner at your service, you are guaranteed to get what you deserve.
He thinks the reply sounds odd. But Nie Huaisang is weird anyway. He shrugs.
***
Later that afternoon, Jiang Wanyin knocks on his car window.
"Nie Huaisang sent me," he says bitterly.
"Mn. Come in." He feels like a drug dealer doing illegal activity with this arrangement that Nie Huaisang planned.
Jiang Wanyin heaves a sigh. He can tell that he doesn't want to be there. He steps into the car and sits beside Lan Wangji.
"Why hurry?" he asks. "You guys were together for just over 36 hours."
"You've been with him almost all of his life. Any take on that?" Lan Wangji sneers.
"He is a handful." Jiang Wanyin agrees.
Lan Wangji scoffs. That doesn't even describe his roller coaster ride for the past 36 hours + after he got the title of Wei Wuxian's boyfriend.
"My life almost ended several times."
He isn't exaggerating. The way he felt under the scrutiny of Jiang Yanli's eyes when she held the knife, the scare he felt when Wei Wuxian's head got injured. Well, maybe he is being a little dramatic.
"Get used to it." Jiang Wanyin snorts.
He is offended by that, "I am signing on forever. What else do you want?"
Why does his interaction with Jiang Wanyin feel like they have been enemies all their lives? They did meet in a few fencing tournaments, in which they had a ratio of 8:3 in Lan Wangji's favor. But who is keeping tabs?
Jiang Wanyin rolls his eyes.
"Do you know what my sister wants from you? She wants you to honor him, as simple as that. Respect him. Respect that he has a family that loves him. You've got to admit you made a bad first impression on us.
Nie Huaisang wants you to value him because you are the only one he has ever loved. He is afraid that my brother is going to be broken if you don’t value him.
Wen Qing wants you to protect him since he does that to even strangers. You experienced it. He puts others before himself, which is why he needs someone who protects him from himself as well." He pauses.
Here goes another shovel talk.
"This one is from me; listen carefully. I am not going to be easy on you." Jiang Wanyin glowers at him.
Lan Wangji manages to keep his expression blank.
"I really don't know what he sees in you that all of us have to chip in to ‘educate’ you. But if he loves you, then we will honor that."
"That's fair," Lan Wangji winces unwittingly.
"I want you to be his confidant. A Xian always hides his bad emotions. He laughs when he is sad, he smiles when he is afraid, he lies when he is hurt, and he runs away when he needs a hug.
I am his brother, the closest person to him. There are things he hides from me still because he is afraid to hurt me.
I will not help you win him until you've proven that. The others are happy with just your promises, and your words. But I want proof."
He knocks on the window that separates the front and back seats of the car. "I'll get off now."
The whole time Jiang Wanyin talks, Lan Wangji starts to see why Wei Wuxian is so loved by so many. It is so easy to love him. He, the prince, is actually the one who is honored to be the recipient of his greatest love.
"Only when you've become his confidant, will you be able to stand beside him," says Jiang Wanyin before he leaves.
It feels like a threat. It feels like a challenge. It doesn’t feel like a blessing.
He is quiet when Jiang Wanyin steps off the car.
He is still arranging his mind and his heart when he gets another message on his phone.
Wen Ning wants to meet him.
***
V
He wonders how these many people are able to crowd the Stygian Hologram office in such a short time. True, Wei Wuxian is the newest, hottest thing right now. It amazes him the number of new fans he acquired just over night.
His fans notice Lan Wangji's royal car and start shouting.
"Prince Lan Wangji is here! That means Wei Wuxian is here, too! Let's wait till he comes out!"
He can hear the screaming outside of the car.
He has been loving him for the last 16 years and 40 something hours now. He is more in love than he can imagine. He is more afraid to lose him.
“Your Highness,” Wen Ning greets when they are alone in an office. The name tag written there is ‘Wen Qionglin, CTO Stygian Hologram’. CTO, he must have been with Wei Wuxian since the beginning.
“Young Master Wen.”
“I am here to give you this,” he says, showing a guitar case. Lan Wangji already guesses what it is.
“Is this...?”
“The guitar that he sold to save me. I am returning it to him through you.”
Lan Wangji stares at him and asks, “Why me?”
“Because you will take my place beside him," Wen Ning says confidently, although he also seems broken.
Lan Wangji nods, but he doesn't understand.
“I have always been his best friend, the one who always honors and respects him. Duchess Jin acknowledges that.
I am the one who always loves him with all my heart and my soul. Nie Huaisang never doubts that.
I am the one who protects him, once at the cost of being beaten up by Jin Zixun.
I am the one who is always there for him, even when there are times when he doesn’t confide in me."
Wen Ning takes a deep breath and glances at the guitar. "You must have known by now how much I love him.”
Lan Wangji nods again, his heart beats faster. He feels inadequate right now, despite Wen Ning's great love for his boyfriend.
“I am not the one whom he loves.” he says, pushing the guitar case.
“I always thought that him loving you was impossible, not because you were a prince and he was a commoner, not because his chance to date you is pretty low. No, I have always believed he could achieve the impossible if he put his heart and mind into it.
It was because I thought you could never know how precious he was.”
Lan Wangji should be insulted by that, but he can understand Wen Ning’s heartbreak.
“Do you know that I used to stutter a lot? He made me who I am today. He saved my life twice. Once when he gave me the money to do the surgery, and the other time when he believed in me, loved me as his friend, and gave me a responsibility that made me believe in myself.
I would never be his equal. But I am willing to give everything to him.”
He raises his gaze to meet Lan Wangji's.
“I love him so much…. But I lost to you.”
That sounds bad to Lan Wangji’s ears. “I love him so much as well,” is the only defense he can offer.
“Do you know why I know he loves you differently? He lets you spoil him. He lets you near him when he is scared. He lets you stay beside him when he is sick. He lets you divert him from his work when he is overwhelmed. He lets you protect him when he is in need. It didn't always go accordingly, yes, admit that spoiling him sometimes backfired. But he enjoys it. He never let anyone spoil him before, except for his sister. He lets you. He asks for it. He loves you.”
Lan Wangji doesn’t know this. In his heart, he promises that he is going to spoil him even more.
"He never let me stay in the hospital, even when I begged him. He always had his reasons, to the point that I thought that he preferred to be alone on his worst days. But he let you," Wen Ning says this like the final defeat.
“I was going to give this guitar to him when he was awarded as the hero in technology. I thought maybe he can finally accept my feelings.”
Wen Ning takes a deep breath. It takes all of him to present the guitar to Lan Wangji. “I am giving you this guitar, his most precious item. You know what that means?”
Lan Wangji is not stupid. “You are giving me him, your most precious item.”
Wen Ning nods. “Do you know how valuable he is to me?”
“I can guess.”
Wen Ning takes a deep breath before telling him the main line in this shovel talk. “You have to love him more than all of us…. More than me.
Spoil him, give him whatever he wants and needs, whether he asks for it or not. Love him.. so much that he will have nothing else to ask."
“I will.. I will it’s… a big... responsibility, but.. I will.” Lan Wangji is stuttering for once.
"He is so easy to love.”
Lan Wangji nods, he knows that part.
Wen Ning closes his eyes with resignation, “I resign from my place beside him. Don’t ever make me regret this.”
***
+1
"Let's go back to the hospital," the driver says.
He looks at the guitar beside him, standing so proudly in the seat.
Wei Ying, I hope I am enough.
Wei Wuxian is awake in bed when he enters his hospital room.
He smiles at Lan Wangji, "Hi, Sweetheart."
Lan Wangji's heart always jumps when he sees him. But something has changed since the last time he listened to Jiang Wanyin and Wen Ning.
"Does your head still hurt?" he asks, taking his seat beside the bed.
He grins, "I am good, I am good."
"Wei Ying," he chides, "tell me the truth."
Wei Wuxian looks deeply at him, and confides, "It still hurts a little. I took a painkiller before you came."
He kisses his hand as a reward for his honesty and asks, "What can I do for you?"
"Noth…" he stops. Lan Wangji can see him debating with himself before he answers, "I want you to stay, Lan Zhan.”
"I’m glad you asked me." He kisses his palm in appreciation.
His boyfriend smiles, "Do you know I never ask anything of anyone except you? Well, except for Jiejie's lotus pork soup."
"Then I am honored," he puts his head on Wei Wuxian's lap, "Will you tell me everything?"
"What do you want to know, Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian cards his hair with his fingers.
"Why do you choose me?" he humbly asks.
Wei Wuxian looks deeply into his eyes, "Why do you ask?"
"Maybe because I have seen how people love you and how you love people. I am wondering why I am so special. I feel like I am undeserving of your love."
“Too many to say. But you, being a prince, are not one of them,” Wei Wuxian says, knowing his deepest fear.
"Tell me 3 reasons why you love me," Lan Wangji prompts, copying Nie Huaisang.
He puts his hand on his chest and cups Lan Wangji's face. “You need to have your eyes on me and your hand on my heart when I say this."
Wei Wuxian takes a deep breath, "Lan Wangji, Lan Zhan, you are beautiful. I have been attracted to you ever since I met you in that pond. You see the best in people. I saw myself as nothing good whenever we met in the past, but you saw me as the kindest person. You are the sweetest, I know what my family and friends asked of you, and you still put up with that. You waited for me when you didn't even know me. You make me glad that I am in this world and got weird chances to meet with you, and those meetings were enough for me to care for you."
He stops to exhale and takes another long breath. Then he continues, "When the world is praising me, you are proud of me, you claimed me before the world. When the world is cursing me, you still think the world of me, sneaking to pay attention to me during my punishment. You take care of me when I am sick, even when we've hardly been together.
I know that if I lose my way, you will be there to scold me and punish me, but you will still stay with me. You make me feel special, and you make me the happiest. You will stand before me and fight for us and protect me. You draw me well in your mind, I am the best person in this whole world, and I like seeing myself through your eyes. You….”
He is cut with a kiss, the gentlest kiss, because he doesn't want to hurt his sick boyfriend.
“You love me. So much, Lan Zhan. I know that, I feel that,” he whispers in his breath. “Don't ever doubt yourself.”
Lan Wangji inhales his scent, takes deep breaths, and resigns his thoughts. “It’s just that for the last two days, I got to see you from your family’s perspective, and you are so beautiful.”
He knocks their foreheads together, “See you from my perspective, Lan Zhan. You are the most beautiful.”
Lan Wangji feels his eyes wet, “I don’t see myself that way yet, Wei Ying. But I promise you, that I will do all of that you envisioned me doing.”
Wei Wuxian uses his thumb to wipe his tears, whispering, “You are already all of that. This is my shovel talk to you. Believe it!”
He puts his head back on Wei Wuxian's lap and pouts endearingly, “So I get a shovel talk from you, too?”
“Yes, because sometimes you are too dense, you fuddy-duddy,” he sighs fondly.
“Because I am too afraid to lose you,” he admits.
Wei Wuxian pulls his head to his chest, cradles it there, so he can feel his heartbeats. “You didn’t lose me for the 16 years we were not together. Why do you think you will lose me when I have you here with me?”
“Because I am stupid, he said," holding his gaze at his boyfriend’s eyes.
“You are lucky I am so lenient because of your handsome face." He grins, carding his fingers on his hair.
“I am lucky,” he agrees before lifting himself up a bit to nuzzle Wei Wuxian’s neck. “Can I be your confidant?”
His boyfriend smiles so brightly that his eyes turn into that crescent shape. He is shining so brilliantly that Lan Wangji can only stare at his beautiful view.
“You are my confidant. You are my soulmate. I let you see me at my lowest, not happily, but still I did. I didn’t even let Wen Qing see my stab wound until she forced me to show it to her when it was infected, yet I let you see the ugly scar it left behind. I let you see the clingy me, the bad me, the rule breaker me. That’s how much I trust you.”
Lan Wangji is touched. He has a long way to go, but he has a head start. Because Wei Ying loves me. I am enough.
“Can you tell that to Jiang Wanyin?” He suddenly remembers his last obstacle.
“Why? So you can buy me a ring?” He raises an eyebrow.
Lan Wangji's eyes widen, “How did you know that?"
“Hah? Is it true? You were going to propose? We were just two days plus into dating.”
“It was true,” he sighs. “I was too afraid to lose you.”
He nicks his nose and says, “You won't. You complete me. I am content with us.”
He nods, “I was too afraid of competing for the love of your family and friends. I wanted a guarantee. But I understand now that what we have will need hard work. I will not take us for granted. I will fight for us. I will be the best for you.”
“I’d like that.” He gives him a peck on the mouth. “One day. One day I'll walk the aisle with you.”
Another promise from Wei Wuxian. He always keeps his promises. “One day. I can wait.”
They kiss gently. Wei Wuxian scoots over so Lan Wangji can lay beside him on the hospital bed. He opens his arm so Wei Wuxian can lie inside it and put his head on his shoulder.
They stay in that position for a while, enjoying each other's scent and warmth.
“Wei Ying,... I was just in your office. Wen Ning gave me your old guitar to give to you.”
He can feel him nod in his arm, “We got his blessing.”
Wei Wuxian looks sad and guilty. Wen Ning is his oldest friend. They shared something that even Lan Wangji couldn’t replace.
He just hugs him. As long as he needs.
"How are things at the office?" Wei Wuxian asks in a cheerful tone. He is trying to lighten the mood.
Lan Wangji decides to cheer him up. “Your office is full of those fans who announced you a king of everything.”
“Am I sensing jealousy here?” Wei Ying teases, looking up at his face, which is only inches apart.
“Yes, you should be the king of my heart only. Nobody else’s.” Lan Wangji frowns.
“But you are the king of mine, Lan Zhan. Isn’t that enough?” Wei Wuxian caresses his frown.
Lan Wangji scoffs, “Have you seen the comments and worships these people speak of?”
“Maybe,” he winks. “But I’d rather be worshipped by you. Nobody can replace you. You are the only one who will be able to taste me. No.One.” he flirts again.
Why does Wei Ying have to be sick now? They could have done so much (within Jiang Yanli’s limits).
Wei Wuxian laughs, “Give me 5 days, Wen Qing said I’ll be good as new in 5 days.” He reads his mind.
“That means I have 5 days to prove to your sister that I honor you?”
“By all means, Sweetheart,” he whispers, “Beg her and get down on your knees.”
He huffs, “I remember someone saying he was going to kneel for me.”
And here comes the tease, whispered seductively in his ear: “In our relationship, we don’t keep tabs. But we’ll see who cries first when the other kneels,” Wei Wuxian challenges.
Challenge accepted, “What if you cry first?”
“I will let you do whatever you want to delicate me, then,” he gives him another promise.
“Mark your words.”
***
Bonus:
“Are you not going to give Wei Ying a shovel talk?” Lan Wangji asks his brother.
“Should I? You are very miserable during those talks. All six of them. Do you want Wei Ying to feel that?”
Lan Wangji shakes his head. It just feels unfair, though.
“Do you know there was somebody else who wanted to give you a shovel talk?”
Lan Wangji pales. “Who?”
“My girlfriend.”
“Luo Qingyang?”
“Yes. She was head over heels for your Wei Ying when they were in high school. She said she knew the event where you met him during the fencing tournament, she was sitting near you.”
“Is she that girl? The one that had a crush on Wei Ying?" The one who thought he had a perfect ass?
“I wouldn’t blame her. He defended her when her face was about to be cut with a paper cutter by Wen Chao’s girlfriend. Wei Wuxian jumped to block her, but instead he was cut on his chest. Have you seen that mark? She said it was pretty long,”
No, we have kept it PG-13. Nothing below the neck. He glowers.
Lan Xichen understands his frustration.
“I will not give a shovel talk to him because he makes you happy. That’s the most important thing for me. Nobody has ever made you this happy. So that proves he is the best man out there for you. The fact that he saved my girlfriend’s face is a bonus. She also agrees that she will not give you a shovel talk in exchange for me not giving Wei Wuxian one.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“So I heard you are going to propose soon?”
“How do you know?”
“Wen Qing is Qingyang’s best friend.”
Nobody in Wei Ying’s family knows how to keep a secret!
“Nope, I have other ideas.”
Lan Xichen shrugs “Anyway, have you seen the latest news about him?”
“No,” he is shaking. What now?
***
It turns out there is a new Twitter thread dedicated to ‘WiFi’s Good Deeds’ which includes all the kindness he did for others.
No 1.
He caught me when I fell and fainted in his arms -aquagirl
No 3.
He helped me cross the street on a rainy day. He looked so hot wet. - axiangirl123
No 18.
He helped me catch the thief of my wallet. He was so cool when he launched on the thief. - wwxmarryme
No 83.
He helped me when I was beaten up by a motorbike gang. But I repaid his kindness with bad deeds. I hope you forgive me, Wei Wuxian. - countjin
No 130.
He has nice buttocks. A good deed for my eyes. -lqy❤️lxc.
It reaches number 130.
***
Lan Wangji goes to his boyfriend's apartment.“ You did this?” he asks, waving his phone at Wei Wuxian.
“Yes.” Wei Wuxian challenges him. He lifts his chin up. He looks so stubborn that he is adorable, and Lan Wangji just wants to kiss him senseless.
"You don't like it?" He seems nervous.
He pulls him into his embrace and hugs him so tight. "I love it," he whispers in his boyfriend's ear before trailing butterfly kisses to his beautiful mouth. "There would be no more doubt that the most eligible bachelor is taken."
.
.
.
.
.
You really have to know what Wei Wuxian did?
He started a Twitter thread as well, called ‘Proof that LWJ Loves WWX’.
No 1.
He has loved me for 16 years and counting. 🥰
No 2.
He is extremely good at kissing me.
No 3.
He renames his bunnies for me.
No 4.
He feeds me, all the time.
No 5.
He cooks for me, too.
No 6.
He is creative in his punishment for me.
No 7.
He likes me wearing his shirt.
No 8.
He keeps a memento he stole from me for 12 years.
No 9.
He is strong and can lift me on his broad, oh so sexy shoulders.
No 10.
He protects me stupidly.
No 11.
He gets WWX's sister to approve of him (and lifted her ban)😏 -bestsistaeva
Really, Jie?
He begged. I melted. 🤭
Ah, you are the best sista eva!!!!
No 12.
He lets WWX's best friend intimidate him - NHS
NHS, please don't! 😡
No 13.
He is jealous of his own life size poster in my apartment.
This list reaches no 38.
So far.