Work Text:
It’s about half past three in the morning when Wei Wuxian’s phone dings.
Which in and of itself would be nothing unusual; Wei Wuxian is known to be a night owl with a non-existent sleep schedule. He’s convinced that sleep schedules are for the weak, anyway. Wen Qing messages him sometimes when she’s on a night shift at the hospital and is taking a break, or Nie Huaisang checks in with him when he’s out partying, just to let him know that he’s okay.
This message, however, to Wei Wuxian’s horror, concerns his best friend and love of his life, Lan Wangji.
Lan Wangji has no idea that Wei Wuxian is in love with him. They’re best friends, and Wei Wuxian would like them to stay best friends, since Lan Wangji is most definitely not in love with him.
At least that’s what Wei Wuxian believes, since Lan Wangji doesn’t seem to show an ounce of interest in Wei Wuxian as a potential partner. Lan Wangji is everything that Wei Wuxian isn’t – diligent, disciplined. He’s got his life together.
Wei Wuxian doesn’t even know how to put his life together. Why would Lan Wangji be interested in someone like him?
He’d much rather stay the owner of a lonely heart than become the owner of a broken one, thank you very much.
Which is why Wei Wuxian jolts when he sees the notification. It’s not even a text message; it’s a message that Lan Wangji has mentioned him in a post on Weibo.
Lan Wangji goes to bed at nine every evening, at ten at the latest if he has to stay up late, and rises at five. Without fail. He’s never online at night. Besides, he has Wei Wuxian’s phone number and WeChat contacts; why on Earth would he mention him on Weibo? In the middle of the night?
Wei Wuxian opens Weibo to read the post and frowns.
LanZhan @HanguangBun
@WeiToGo
That’s it. Just his username. It’s the weirdest thing. Wei Wuxian opens his chat function and messages him directly.
TheYellingLaozu @WeiToGo
Lan Zhan?
No reply. Then, another mention.
LanZhan @HanguangBun
@WeiToGo
@WeiToGo
@WeiToGo
Huh. Wei Wuxian inclines his head. Is Weibo malfunctioning and Lan Wangji is unable to open his messages? Why doesn’t he just text him, then? And why the heck does he keep on mentioning him?
Another mention –
LanZhan @HanguangBun
@WeiYing
WYing alook his baikmgzooooooh abkuszu
Wei Wuxian stares at the post for the longest time, trying to make sense of it. His brain comes up short.
Meanwhile, Lan Wangji keeps on posting.
LanZhan @HanguangBun
WYing
YingYing
YingYing? Wei Wuxian thinks and actually laughs. Is Lan Wangji drunk? He never calls him Yingying, though…Wei Wuxian thinks it’s very cute. He wouldn’t mind if Lan Wangji called him that way. He’d call him Zhanzhan in return.
It’s more likely that Lan Wangji’s account has been hacked, and that someone is trying to impersonate him. It must be someone Lan Wangji knows; how else would the hacker know that Wei Wuxian’s birth name is Wei Ying? It might be Su She, Wei Wuxian thinks. If it’s Su She, I’m going to punch him, he decides. He’s looking rather forward to it, actually.
LanZhan @HanguangBun
Yingying habooo @lol imma @gajzhdn bnuuy teeeeethpomnhnkjnb
Yingyng bnuuy
Bnuuy cut vbfhnmj
@yingyng bnuuy cute
…bnuuy???
Wei Wuxian barks another laugh. That doesn’t sound like a hacker typing. Lan Wangji isn’t someone to use internet slang, but Wei Wuxian knows that he likes the misspelled “bunny” trend and finds it cute. Lan Wangji must be drunk, there’s no way he –
The laughter dies in Wei Wuxian’s throat. He knows for a fact that the Lans keep no alcohol at home. The only alcohol Lan Wangji has in his house is rubbing alcohol, and Wei Wuxian is positive that Lan Wangji wouldn’t be able to type at all if he had ingested that. Even Lan Xichen doesn’t have alcoholic beverages in his flat.
Which leaves only two possibilities:
First, Lan Wangji is somewhere out there, drunk out of his mind, and trying to contact Wei Wuxian.
Second, Lan Wangji is at home, and is in actual physical distress. Maybe he’s feverish and delirious. Maybe he’s hallucinating. Wei Wuxian knows that Lan Wangji has been working more than usual lately; maybe he’s overworked and passed out.
Maybe Lan Wangji had a stroke.
Wei Wuxian calls him.
“This is Lan Wangji. I am not available at the moment; please do leave me a message after the tone and I will get back to you. Thank you.”
Wei Wuxian sighs. His hands are shaking. Of course the call gets redirected to voicemail, what was he even expecting?
“Hey Lan Zhan, it’s me” Wei Wuxian says, while trying to keep his voice steady but failing miserably, “you just posted a string of weird….things on Weibo, and I am worried. Are you okay? Please message me or call me as soon as you can, alright?”
He hangs up and dials Lan Xichen’s number. He knows that Lan Xichen’s phone is set to redirect every incoming call to voicemail except his brother’s and his uncle’s, so he leaves a message asking Lan Xichen to check up on Lan Wangji as soon as possible and to call him back in the morning.
There’s no way Wei Wuxian will be able to sleep now. He’s restless and needs something to do with his hands. He already started to bite his nails, a bad habit he’s been trying to get rid of for years. He’ll chew his fingers bloody if he doesn’t find something to do.
So he gets up and stress-cleans his flat, his phone always nearby.
Lan Wangji doesn’t post anymore. He doesn’t reply to Wei Wuxian’s chat messages either, or to his call. Wei Wuxian curses the fact that he doesn’t have a car at the moment, and that the metro and busses won’t be running until six, otherwise he’d long be banging at Lan Wangji’s door. The only thing he can do for now is to wait.
Wei Wuxian isn’t good at waiting, especially if Lan Wangji is in potential distress.
He does check Lan Wangji’s Weibo feed on and off for new posts. At six minutes past five, Lan Wangji posts anew.
LanZhan @HanguangBun
It seems that my account has been compromised. I have reset my login data. I apologise for any inconvenience.
Just as he’s finished reading the post, Wei Wuxian’s phone rings, Lan Wangji’s caller ID illuminating the screen.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian exclaims right after accepting the call. “Thank god you’re okay, I was so worried!”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says, and Wei Wuxian lets out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I apologise. I didn’t mean to worry you. Are you alright?”
“Yeah yeah, I’m fine,” Wei Wuxian replies. “I’m just glad you’re safe, anything else doesn’t matter.”
“…why are you awake, Wei Ying? Have you slept?”
Wei Wuxian grimaces. Of course Lan Wangji would notice and scold him for it.
“Aiya Lan Zhan, how could I possibly have slept if I didn’t know what was going on with you? I thought you were drunk, all alone in the streets, or possibly sick and delirious. Cut me some slack, will you?”
Lan Wangji is silent for almost too long before he says: “Have breakfast with me.”
“Lan Zhan, I –“
“Please, Wei Ying.”
Wei Wuxian sighs. He wasn’t going to refuse Lan Wangji, especially since he wants to see him so badly after all that happened.
“Alright,” he says, “but I will pay. I insist!”
“I will pick you up in about an hour,” Lan Wangji says before ending the call.
Enough time for Wei Wuxian to text Lan Xichen that everything’s alright after all, shower, dress, and possibly apply some concealer so that he doesn’t look like a living corpse.
True to his word, Lan Wangji rings his doorbell exactly an hour later. He takes Wei Wuxian to a small bakery that serves a scrumptious western-style breakfast. It has been one of their favourite spots to hang out since their college days, when Wei Wuxian had shared his marzipan croissant with Lan Wangji and discovered that his stoic healthy best friend has a secret sweet tooth.
Lan Wangji, as always, looks gorgeous and actually well-rested for once, but he’s tense.
Wei Wuxian doesn’t like it.
“Lan Zhan, what’s up?” Wei Wuxian asks. “I can feel that something’s bothering you. If you’re still concerned about me being worried, it’s alright!”
Lan Wangji shakes his head.
“Is it because of the hacked account?” Wei Wuxian inquires. “You said you changed your login data; that should already help. If you’re worried about your computer being compromised, I can point you towards firewalls and internet security checks you can run to make sure it’s safe.”
Lan Wangji shakes his head again. “I have reason to believe that I have, in fact, not been hacked.”
Wei Wuxian blinks. “Huh?”
Lan Wangji swallows. His ears are red. He takes his phone out of his pocket, unlocks it, opens the gallery app and slides it over to Wei Wuxian.
There’s a couple of screenshots of a WeChat group chat, all timestamped between two am and four am. There are photographs of Lan Wangji’s rabbits, and a couple of selfies Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had taken together (or rather, Wei Wuxian had taken them with Lan Wangji’s phone).
Every photograph is captioned with keysmashes similar to those in Lan Wangji’s Weibo posts. With the odd “WeiYng” and “Yingyng” and “bnuuy” peppered into them.
Wei Wuxian stares at the screenshots, trying to make sense of them when he notices the title of the group chat.
“Lan Zhan, is – you gotta be kidding me. Don’t tell me you really sent those to your company group chat?”
Lan Wangji closes his eyes, as if in pain. “I did,” he admits.
Wei Wuxian gasps. “Wow. But – why?”
“I probably was asleep while I did it.”
Wei Wuxian blinks. “…I don’t get it,“ he admits.
Lan Wangji sighs. “I used to sleepwalk as a child. Usually, it manifested in me sitting up and talking as if I was awake, or continuing with the task that I was doing right before I fell asleep.”
“Like typing,” Wei Wuxian concludes.
Lan Wangji nods. “It used to happen when I was particularly stressed. It was at its worst when my mother died. I was convinced it stopped when I hit puberty. It seems I was wrong.”
Wei Wuxian glances back at the screenshots and starts giggling.
“Oh my god, Lan Zhan. I can’t believe you sleep-posted.”
“Wei Ying, please,” Lan Wangji laments.
Wei Wuxian raises his hands. “Okay sorry, sorry. You gotta admit that the fact that you sleep-posted is pretty funny, all things considered.”
“My coworkers are never going to let me live this down,” Lan Wangji laments.
Wei Wuxian laughs. “They will calm down. They probably are just as worried as I was and might get a laugh out of it before moving on. Honestly, Lan Zhan, this is a historic moment. I never thought I’d see you misspell ‘bunny’.”
Lan Wangji fidgets with the handle of his teacup. Wei Wuxian blinks again. Lan Wangji never figdets.
“It is cute,“ Lan Wangji admits.
“Awwwww”, Wei Wuxian coos. “It is pretty cute. I have no idea how to pronounce it though. I always say be-nüü-ee. You?”
Lan Wangji takes a sip of tea, sets down his cup, and says: “Be-noo-ee.”
Wei Wuxian laughs again, and Lan Wangji smiles at him, soft and gentle.
“Yingying is also very cute, you know?” Wei Wuxian says, and slaps a hand across his mouth as soon as the words are out. Did he just say that aloud? He didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Lan Wangji’s eyes widen minutely before he looks away. “I apologise,” he says.
“No no no no, don’t apologise!” Wei Wuxian says, “I really think it’s cute, Lan Zhan! Truly! I swear I am not teasing you. You can call me Yingying, if you want to, I don’t mind.”
Lan Wangji looks back at him. If Wei Wuxian didn’t know any better, he’d say Lan Wangji looks…bashful. It’s unbearably cute. He reaches over the table and takes Lan Wangji’s hand in his – something he has done a thousand times before, but today he lets his fingers linger.
Just this once, he tells himself.
He wonders if Lan Wangji will be the first to take this hand away and break the spell, but Lan Wangji only turns his hand until his palm is facing Wei Wuxian’s, and as gently as a butterfly’s wing dancing across a cheek, starts caressing Wei Wuxian’s knuckles with his thumb.
“Yingying,” Lan Wangji says. It’s almost inaudible, but Wei Wuxian hears it. It takes all his strength for him not to squeal in delight. He giggles instead.
“Lan Zhan, ah Lan Zhan, if I didn’t know you better, I’d say you mentioned me that often in your posts because you think I am as cute as your bunnies!” Wei Wuxian teases.
Lan Wangji shakes his head. He looks nervous. “Not as cute as my bunnies.”
“I know I know,” Wei Wuxian says, “no one and nothing is as cute as yo-“
“Cuter,” Lan Wangji says.
Wei Wuxian freezes. “What?”
He can feel Lan Wangji’s fingers tremble in his own. “Wei Ying is cuter,” Lan Wangji clarifies.
“Lan Zhan…” Wei Wuxian begins. He doesn’t really know what he wants to say, but – Lan Wangji makes it sound as if – is it possible that he - ?
“Do you…Lan Zhan, do you…like me?”
Lan Wangji’s ears turn red again. He lifts up his hand and intertwines his fingers with Wei Wuxian.
“I do like you,” he says. “You are my best friend.”
“Oh,” Wei Wuxian says. It comes out more disappointed than he wants it to. “You’re my best friend too, Lan Zhan!”
Lan Wangji gently squeezes Wie Wuxian’s hand. „But I…am also in love with you,” he finally confesses.
Wei Wuxian feels as if he might faint. “What?”
Lan Wangji stares at the table in front of him. “You don’t have to say anything. I promise I won’t make things difficult. I understand you don’t feel that way. Nothing has to change.”
Lan Wangji moves his hand, as if he wants to take it away. Wei Wuxian can’t stand it. He holds Lan Wangji’s hand tight and squeezes it back.
“Not feeling that way?” Wei Wuxian squeaks. “Lan Zhan, I’ve been in love with you for years! I thought you weren’t interested in me!”
It’s Lan Wangji’s turn to blink at Wei Wuxian in confusion.
“How could I not love you?” he asks, as if the thought of not being in love with Wei Wuxian personally offends him.
Wie Wuxian gapes at Lan Wangji. „Lan Zhan,“ he says, breathless, “you better kiss me right now before I do something we’ll both regret.”
So Lan Wangji does just that.
It’s a bit uncomfortable, with both of them standing up, leaning over the table to reach each other, and yet it couldn’t be more perfect. Lan Wangji’s lips are sweet from the pastries, warm and gentle against Wei Wuxian’s own mouth.
The kiss doesn’t last very long; after all, they’re still at a bakery with other customers and employees around.
Wei Wuxian smiles at Lan Wangji, his heart full of love, and Lan Wangji smiles back at him, his own smile so full of adoration and tenderness that Wei Wuxian wonders how he could ever have missed it.
His smile is cut short by a yawn. Lan Wangji takes his hand and kisses it.
“Can you take the day off? You need to sleep,” he says.
Wei Wuxian nods. “That shouldn’t be a problem. All of that overtime gotta be good for something.”
“I will drive you home, then, “Lan Wangji says. “I need to get to work soon anyway.”
Lan Wangji does drive him home. He also comes up to Wei Wuxian’s flat, where they kiss properly, undisturbed by any rogue pieces of furniture.
“You sure you can’t stay?” Wei Wuxian asks, pouting.
“I can’t, as much as I would love to,” Lan Wangji replies, “but I am off at four today. If you want to, I can come over in the afternoon.”
Wei Wuxian beams at him. “We could have dinner together!”
Lan Wangji places his fingertip on Wei Wuxian’s lips. “Only if you promise me to go to bed immediately after I leave.”
Wei Wuxian pouts again. “Gege doesn’t want to tuck me in…?”
“Wei Ying!”
Wei Wuxian laughs. Lan Wangji kisses him one last time, then turns to leave. Before he shuts Wei Wuxian’s front door, he pops his head back into the apartment and says:
“Gege can tuck you in tonight.”
Wei Wuxian does get into bed. He is tired but he can’t fall asleep right away. He’s far too wound up from the previous night and from the newfound knowledge that Lan Wangji returns his feelings. So he reads a bit to wind down and ends up taking a few selfies, just because he can.
There’s one with a cute rabbit filter, giving him long white bunny ears and a pink bunny nose. He saves it and sends it to Lan Wangji.
To: 🐰💙 Lan Zhan 💙 🐰
Lan Zhan Lan Zhan, look!
Wei Wuxian cannot help but laugh as he reads Lan Wangji’s reply.
From: 🐰💙 Lan Zhan 💙 🐰
Mn: Yingying Bnuuy