Work Text:
*chatters*
"Did you hear that Wen Qionglin is returning today?"
"Really? He'll be able to return to archery?"
"Yes, he'll be representing us again!"
"Kyaaaaa! It will be possible to watch him again!"
Nie Huaisang involuntarily stiffened as soon as the conversation of the other students in the cafeteria reached his ears. For the past few weeks, he'd looked completely different from before. He used to be able to dress up because it was Wednesday, and it was almost Friday, so a good reason to party.
Now, however, he sat in his brother's oversized sweatshirt, mindlessly picking at his plate until a conversation he overheard made his heart beat faster. A gentle smile appeared on the boy's face as he looked seemingly calmly at his friends.
"A-Xian, we should throw a welcome party for our archery legend, right?"
"You're going to clown around in front of the whole school?" snorted Jiang Cheng, glancing at his brother and Nie Huaisang, who merely covered himself with phone as if he needed to check something right now.
"As far as I know, everyone is thrilled about him winning the competition, so we could express their enthusiasm... Oh, see, we could dance to it with the group"
Nie Huaisang held out his phone towards Wei Ying, who almost choked on his food, wanting to swallow and agree.
"Are we going to make it? I have to get A-Zhan to come too since he and Wen Ning are in the club together" he applauded at the idea, immediately reaching for his phone to send the appropriate message to his boyfriend. Jiang Cheng merely rolled his eyes.
"At least organize a party instead of embarrassing them in the middle of the day."
"A-Cheng always so reasonable! We're having a party! A-Sang, your brother you said was leaving, so at your place"
Jiang Cheng snorted once again, but he knew that nothing could stop the two of them.
He just hoped that Wen Qionglin would somehow survive this.
It didn't take them too long to prepare, although when they were dressing up, everyone from the theatre group that Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian belonged to noticed that the former seemed a bit different.
The boy couldn't stop humming the song they were about to dance to.
"A-Sang, have you fallen in love?"
The boy twitched upon hearing the question, but only hid behind his phone, hiding a slight smile on his face.
What was that unbearable heartbeat and impatience that had been with him ever since he heard Wen Ning was coming back? When he thought about it longer, there were many more moments when he felt like running after him.
There were times when he would circle around the boy just to see the blush on his face, but he never wondered why he liked it so much.Could that be what it was all about?
Is that why he felt like he was going crazy, all the while returning his thoughts to him? Was that how everyone saw him? Very appropriately for the song he had reflexively chosen. He couldn't help but smile at the corner of his mouth.
There was something more to this new discovery though, something that made him decide to order everyone in their group to have their faces obscured so to speak. Eventually they managed to create masks on short notice.
They were meant to unify the look of madness on all their faces, and they reached for outfits in which they looked the same. Watching the results Nie Huaisang was pleased, plus they were able to practice a new layout.
Something they wanted to use at the competition, and which would be good to see if others liked it. So it was safe to say that he could gain a lot more if the event went as planned.
Wen Ning, who was now returning to the university after a long rehabilitation at his family home, didn't expect a surprise. Lan Wangji from his team was the one who informed him of the change in plans.
He didn't know what to expect, but definitely not what started happening as soon as he stepped among the people. Squeals from the girls, pats on the shoulders wishing him a speedy recovery and suddenly music.
A familiar, popular song that supposedly conveyed the thoughts of the other students after they won the championship. However, Wen Ning felt like hiding in a corner. He did not feel comfortable in the centre of attention.
The girls dancing in the group kept coming up to him, a couple even grabbed his arm, which only made him more abashed, until his green gaze fell on one of the dancing boys. Nie Huaisang.
Wen Ning's heart beat harder as he watched the boy dance. He knew that it was always Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian who came up with the arrangements and worked them out, but this was the first time he had seen him up close while dancing.
He couldn't take his eyes off him and it didn't matter that the boy came incredibly close to him. He could only feel his heart beating faster and the heat on his cheeks. He didn't like being the centre of attention, but Nie Huaisang's attention was more than pleasing to him.
He involuntarily wondered if the song had been specially chosen for him or if it was a coincidence. He admonished himself that it would be crazy to choose it, since nothing had ever happened between him and Nie Huaisang.
He wouldn't even say that they hung around each other. He admired him from afar, sometimes sending anonymous congratulations after plays they staged or competitions their group won.
He never took a step further. He never exposed his own feelings or how much he wished that similar words as in that song could be true. And yet Nie Huaisang was getting closer...
"You got me sprung and I don't care who sees 'cause, baby, you got me"
Nie Huaisang's whisper wrapped around his ear and neck as the boy moved closer to him for a moment in the dance, causing Wen Ning to freeze.
All he could think about at the moment was that he wanted to leave. He needed to leave before he did something he would regret. After all, Nie Huaisang was known for his tricks and playing the stage to the very end.
However, he never crossed certain boundaries. So Wen Ning's astonishment was all the greater when, in the last bars of the song, he was pulled back a tad to be suddenly kissed.
Nie Huaisang had not intended to end the arrangement in this way, but he could not resist the temptation when he saw the archer's hungry gaze. When he saw that this one did not take his gaze off him, blushing harder.
The touch of the boy's lips on his own was stunning and he couldn't pull away, only deepening the kiss as the still others applauded them and Wei Wuxian encouraged them to start playing.
He stepped back, feeling suddenly abashed, feeling like covering himself anew not only with his mask but also with his phone, when suddenly Wen Ning grabbed his hand and pulled him along, walking out of the room, hiding behind one of the pillars in the corridor.
There, without thinking, he himself leaned in, kissing Nie Huaisang much more intensely than before, wrapping one arm around his waist, the other hand held to his cheek.
"I don't understand..."
Nie Huaisang began as he pulled away from him for a moment, using the same trick as usual when he wanted to hear something, and this time he wanted to hear specific words. Wen Ning, however, seemed to be thinking about something.
"Your love can do what no one else can."
The archer finally quoted the song the other boy had just danced to, causing Nie Huaisang to laugh quietly.
"Got me looking so crazy in love"
He answered him with a snippet of the song as well, throwing his arms around his neck, kissing greedi ly, giving into the moment, getting what he had long desired.
What they both wanted.