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Wen Kexing is standing in the kitchen, knife chopping the vegetables for the side dishes with more vigor than is absolutely necessary. If anyone would ask him he would deny feeling irritated by their unwelcome guest, it isn't like they haven't come to expect the old monster to show up whenever there is even the smallest possibility of good (and free) food to be had. And it's not like Wen Kexing is incapable of making enough food to feed everyone, including the seemingly bottomless pit that is the old monster's stomach.
Still, he would have preferred some warning. He knows that A-Xu is always happy to welcome Ye Baiyi and that's the only reason Wen Kexing didn't protest. Or maybe it’s how excited Chengling and the rest of their ducklings were to show Ye Baiyi what they have learned in the months since he had visited last.
Wen Kexing refuses to be the first to point out that the time between visits has gotten shorter and shorter, while the time Ye Baiyi stays every time has gotten longer. Clearly the old monster is getting far too comfortable being provided with three delicious meals a day and having his own room with a soft bed to sleep in.
He also refuses to acknowledge that he is getting used to the way the old monster fits into their family.
It must be a trap, who knows what that old monster is planning to do once he decides not to leave anymore.
(Does he hope for him to stay? He has caught A-Xu looking wistfully after the white robes disappearing into the woods surrounding Four Seasons Manor, maybe he isn't the only one hoping for- no, no, better not to think about it too closely.)
Huffing and muttering to himself, Wen Kexing sets the knife aside and grabs the ladle, lifting the lid to check on the soup. He inhales the fragrant smell of spices and meat wafting up from the broth and escaping into the kitchen. After stirring and tasting the soup, he puts the lid back with a satisfied smile on his lips.
Behind him there is an almost inaudible swish of robes, the only sign that someone has entered the room. A-Xu has gotten better at announcing his presence, but there are days when he forgets that he doesn’t have to sneak around, presence and footsteps expertly hidden by years of habit.
Wen Kexing doesn’t mind, he thinks all of his A-Xu’s habits are very cute.
His good mood restored, he returns to the chopping board and holds out his hand without looking up.
“Could you give me my knife?”
It takes only a moment before the knife is placed in his hand, the other coming closer. If he is trying to take a peek at what Wen Kexing is cooking or trying to steal some food, Wen Kexing can’t tell.
“Thank you,” he says and before he can overthink it, quickly adds, “I love you.” He is feeling almost giddy with how comfortable and easy it is to say this now. He never has a problem with loud and forward declarations but when it comes to these quiet moments, where he can’t hide, where all his broken, mismatched parts bleed out of him for A-Xu’s sharp eyes to see and judge, it often gets too much, too intimate for this kind of honesty.
He has been working in silence for a while when he realizes that something about the mood is off.
Turning around, the person that is standing behind him is not A-Xu.
It’s Ye Baiyi.
The wide-eyed look on his face is more expressive than any other emotion Wen Kexing has ever seen from the immortal ice block before, his eyebrows are raised so high that they will soon disappear into his hair if no one stops them.
His mouth gapes slightly open, as if he has been trying to say something and simply hasn’t found the words. Wen Kexing cannot allow him to get the upper hand.
“You-”
*
The scene Zhou Zishu finds after he decides to go looking for Ye Baiyi because he hasn’t returned is… interesting.
He is pleased to note that there is no blood and no one seems to be dead or dying (yet).
Ye Baiyi is lying on the ground with Wen Kexing straddling him, hands around his neck, looking close to strangling him.
This in itself isn’t unusual, it would be more surprising if the two of them didn’t get into a fight when in the same place and unsupervised for too long.
The thing that makes Zhou Zishu pause in the door and watch where the others can’t see him is that Wen Kexing is clearly not trying to actually do anything. He is just sitting there staring down at Ye Baiyi, no tension in his body at all.
And Ye Baiyi is laughing.
Not the mocking smirk or pleased chuckles but real huffs of laughter. They are quiet and a bit hoarse, his body shaking, his face flushed, clearly unused to showing joy in this way.
It’s beautiful.
Zhou Zishu can understand why Wen Kexing is frozen by the display, the old worn paths of their interactions have never ended in a genuine laugh from Ye Baiyi. It’s mesmerizing and Zhou Zishu is already cataloguing what he can see, and guess the shape this moment could take. He will have to ask Wen Kexing what exactly he did and said to end up at this point later. It is a vital piece of a puzzle he has started to collect a while ago, information that could help all three of them build something new.
For now he only smiles to himself as he leaves the kitchen as quietly as he came. Wen Kexing and Ye Baiyi will be fine without him this time.
And the next time? The next time Zhou Zishu will make sure that he is there to watch the whole thing from start to finish.