Chapter Text
Great news! Wei Ying eloped with Lan Zhan!
This is, perhaps, not entirely true, but hey, Wei Ying has a knack for dramatics. They both knew how traditional their families were. It was easier this way; finding their own place and avoiding all the drama a big wedding could cause.
They’ve been living together in this area for about a year now, and all in all, it’s been… Pretty great! The rent isn’t too expensive and while it means a few less than savory neighbors, Wei Ying doesn’t mind it that much. Everything is so conveniently close. Twenty minutes of walking and you can reach a shopping mall, an art shop, a bookstore, a park, a cat cafe… Well, it is not a bunny cafe, admittedly, so it’s not perfect, but Lan Zhan seems to enjoy petting different sorts of fluffy creatures (which was a joy to find out).
They got two bunnies as pets. Spoiled little things; Bai and Jiao. The ungrateful creatures show obvious favoritism to Lan Zhan, eager to get picked up and pet by him. All they grate Wei Ying with on the other hand is cable biting and scratches on the furniture. Since he is the one who works from home and spends the most time with them, they could show some love and appreciation, at least!
Their life gets comfortably stagnant like that. They get used to the rhythm of their work and domestic life. Slowly, they start thinking of getting something more out of it. When they get wind of Wen Qing and Wen Ning’s cousin ending up in an orphanage, it’s a surprisingly easy decision to make; they should become parents! Well, it is easy to say, but turns out trying for adoption is a terribly long process. It’s annoying how much time it takes, but it’s better than letting the kids just be taken by anyone who walks by, so Wei Ying tries not to complain too much. He was an orphan once as well, after all.
And then, well, the Teenager shows up in the middle of all this. At first Wei Ying only sees him a few times from afar. Some scrappy, messy thing that seems to wander around the town way more than he spends time at home and school.
Wei Ying adds that capital T to “teenager” in his head, yes, since the boy looks like a walking stereotype of one; a teenager you would see in a magazine or a TV ad, perhaps. Broody. A scowl on his face. Baggy hoodies and messy hair with a fringe as a part of his trademark style. There is even makeup on his face once or twice, giving him a sort of an outdated emo look.
It’s a Teenager, alright.
Wei Ying manages to get a closer look at this specimen during one sleepy afternoon. The sort of afternoon when you think “screw it, an unhealthy snack and a cheap coffee are okay to have every once in a while!”. There is a row of conveniently placed vending machines near the art shop he visits, and- well, there he is.
Up close, the Teenager is about- 13 years old? Maybe older, he probably just looks very scrawny. The clothes seem way too big for his lithe frame, like he got them after someone else. Badly cut hair falling into his eyes adorned with eyebags only added to the charm. He seems to be checking the vending machines for the leftover change, and is so focused on the task that he doesn't quite notice that someone else is right next to him.
Wei Ying watches for a bit, quietly amused, but the amusement quickly turns into worry. How desperate the hand that pats the inside of the machine is, so careful, like the boy is afraid to miss a loose coin or two.
“I can buy you something if you want?” Wei Ying offers out loud, leaning his back on one of the machines. The messy head turns in his direction and he is greeted by eyes full of fear and distrust. The teen jumps away from the dispenser like it burned him.
“Mind your own business!” he snarls and quickly makes himself scarce.
Part of Wei Ying’s mind says ‘Rude!’, but another tells him that something… Something about this didn't feel right.
The way the teen looked and how he acted painted an ugly picture and set off a warning in Wei Ying’s mind. He himself did not have the easiest childhood. Thrown around foster homes as a kid and then into the Jiang household where the parents did not have the healthiest relationship with their kids.
For now, though, all Wei Ying can do is purse his lips, buy himself the cheaper drink, and leave the change in the dispenser. And that marks the beginning of some weird kind of tag game where he and the teen keep stumbling into each other.
***
The next significant meeting happens in the park. Wei Ying does not paint in the open air all that often, perfectly satisfied to hole himself up in the apartment, but Lan Zhan insists it’s healthier, and healthy Wei Ying makes Lan Zhan happy, and happy Lan Zhan makes Wei Ying happy…
So it’s easy to oblige.
Painting outside has a certain charm to it, anyway; it’s lighter, a bit messier, perhaps happier, since people come over and ask questions about it. Little kids especially seem to enjoy it in the early hours of the day, staring at Wei Ying and his canvas like he is a strange specimen in a zoo, both with amazement and curiosity.
The teen, for all his brooding nature (face covered with a hoodie, like he is hiding something, and he probably is), seems curious about the paintings too! It’s ironic; “Mind your own business,” the teenager had said, and then proceeded to show up wherever Wei Ying went and not mind his own business at all. Whenever Wei Ying is keeping more focus on the canvas than on his surroundings, he feels watched, like the teen is hanging around more closely and is afraid of getting noticed.
One time, in the small crowd the paintings gather, one of the younger children grabs one of the brushes lying around. Predictably, the brush gets lost in the grass fairly quickly, which is, well, annoying, but all the kids are nice enough to start looking around for it when Wei Ying makes an exaggeratedly sad face at them.
When he sees the brush lying on the easel’s edge a few minutes later, it’s easy to figure out who did it. Every other kid would happily cheer “I found it!”, eager for Wei Ying’s headpats and praise. All except for one. He is still there, blending in the tree shadow, but when Wei Ying smiles and waves with the brush in his hand happily, the teen just scoffs and walks away, pretending he wasn’t there in the first place.
Every later attempt at inviting him closer is met with the refusal, even some swears, and that just… Wouldn't do!
“He looks so lonely!” Wei Ying complains to his husband one evening, draped all over him on the sofa as they watched one of these shitty TV dramas they liked to indulge themselves with. “I feel like he could use someone to talk to.”
Lan Zhan doesn’t say anything, but there is the familiar amused glint in his eye. Right, befriending people is something that Wei Ying seems to do a lot. Part of growing up with Jiang Cheng and his mixed signals, perhaps. So much anger and hate hiding a softie underneath! No wonder it made Wei Ying go off and think he could befriend a socially anxious Wen Ning that kept hiding from him, overly guarded Wen Qing, and the stick-in-the-mud that the teenage Lan Zhan was. Well, all of those ended up very successful friendships and more, so it makes him confident that he will succeed with the scared teen, too.
***
One rainy weekend, when he and Lan Zhan are chilling at home and Wei Ying is preparing two sets of warm teas, he makes the mistake of looking outside the window.
"Aw, Lan Zhan, look, here is that kid again!"
For all his indifferent pretense, Lan Zhan heard a lot about the strange teen already, and so he also takes a curious peek outside. Their object of interest is just standing there on the pavement under their window, almost like he is waiting for someone. There is a hood on his head again, but it doesn’t do much against the onslaught of the raindrops.
“You two look similar.”
Wei Ying squints. Black and red clothes. The slightly curly black hair and similar facial features. He is almost sure they have the same eye color. He snorts. “Lan Zhan! How come I didn’t notice that? Do you think we are long-lost brothers, or something?” He laughs then. How fitting of his husband to notice a Wei Ying lookalike instead of Wei Ying himself. “Aiyah, I can’t watch this soggy little thing anymore. I’m gonna go and give him an umbrella.”
"Mn. Take the bunny one," Lan Zhan, agrees, easily, and Wei Ying could kiss him at the moment if he wasn’t in a rush. Oh well, there is still time to indulge himself in a small peck on the lips, so he does just that. So many people would react with ‘You don’t know him!’ or ‘Why would you give your things away to strangers?’ or even the ‘He is probably high off his ass, teenagers are like that’. But Lan Zhan cares genuinely about people, even though he can’t always express himself well.
"Lan Zhan, you're a genius!" Wei Ying says with a grin as he grabs the light blue umbrella with a white bunny pattern and storms off. Nothing makes people feel better quite as much as bunnies can, after all. Even if they like to devour your furniture when you are not looking.
There is no one else around in this downpour, so predictably, the teenager notices Wei Ying running toward him right away. He blinks the raindrops away from his eyelashes and furrows his brow, curling into himself protectively.
"Are you stalking me?" he barks in greeting.
Wei Ying stops in his track, a little taken aback. Well, he is definitely persistent when he wants to be - Lan Zhan could confirm, for how much he was pestered in high school - but stalking is such an overkill, sheesh.
"I literally live here, kid. You are the one to talk, if anything!” he says lightly, but the teen doesn't look very amused, looking ready to bolt away. "Hey, here, take this, you are soaked."
He offers the umbrella.
The teen stares at it.
The rain keeps pouring.
“It's just an umbrella, it’s not gonna bite you!” Wei Ying nudges it forward, exasperated, making the teen jump away like it bit him, in fact.
“...Why are you giving me this?" the boy inquires, distrustful, and Wei Ying rolls his eyes, impatient.
"Because you are soaked, you look miserable, I don't think you are going home anytime soon, you won’t let me invite you over, I bet, so… This is the least I can do! Come on, let’s say this is for helping to find that brush in the park, I know it was your doing."
The mopey teen seems to ponder his words, and then begrudgingly takes an umbrella at that - a win! - carefully avoiding Wei Ying's eyesight as he grabs the handle.
"Bunnies. Really?" He asks incredulously when he opens it and the pattern on the material becomes more visible, and ah, he finally sounds a bit livelier, acting more like a Teenager and not some kicked puppy.
"Hey, hey, it's our best umbrella! Don’t be rude to it.”
The teen rolls his eyes and then walks away, the bunnies doing a good job of shielding him from the rain now. He looks a bit less miserable like that. "Thanks," he quietly throws on his way out.
“You’re welcome, but you'd better give it back!” Wei Ying shouts, and bolts back home because now he is soaked wet. Like pot to the kettle, really.
***
The umbrella does not get returned. It gets ruined by some Teenagers instead who shout loudly in front of the school that is on a way to the art shop - once again, everything is conveniently close, apparently not always a good thing - and they successfully ruin Wei Ying’s day. He dubs them the Nasty, the Big, and the Ugly. The Big is cursing out loud, the Nasty is breaking a familiar bunny patterned umbrella, and the Ugly is kicking someone on the ground. Of course, that someone is a familiar figure.
"What are you doing?" Wei Ying asks right away, coming closer to the commotion, and as he gets ignored, his annoyance rises. Teenagers. “Hey, hey, I’m not your teacher to be ignored like that. Nothing is stopping me from violence against children, you know?”
That seems to stop them from their endeavors, and they turn to stare at him.
"Hah?" the Ugly asked, dumbfounded. "Are you doing what I think you are doing? Are you defending him?"
“And…What did he do?” Wei Ying tilts his head a little, although his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"He is a nutsack! He talks about incest, puts on makeup, wears girly clothes, and talks to himself. Everyone knows that!”
Wei Ying rolls his eyes. “Well, I don’t know, don’t care, you are annoying, loud, and have a teen acne. And that was my favorite umbrella! Is that permission to beat you up?”
Wei Ying has a threatening aura when he wants to, thank you very much, and it’s enough for the horde to get lost. He follows them with his gaze for a bit, before turning it to the familiar teen shaking quietly on the pavement. He didn’t seem terribly hurt, already moving up and leaning his back on the nearest fence.
"Sorry about the umbrella," he whispers. “I thought I would return it on the way back. But they really disliked that.”
“Mm, yep, not the brightest idea to bring it into a place full of brainless gorillas.” The kid squeezes his eyes shut at that. “Hey, it’s just an umbrella, sheesh. A shame it got ruined by some idiots who can’t recognize the fine art of it, but I can buy another one. Can you stand, kid?”
He flinches away from Wei Ying's touch and hides his face in the knees.
Wei Ying ruffles his own hair in frustration. It's not easy, helping someone touch averse, really. Lan Zhan, he knows well enough, but here?
“Have you talked to the teacher about this?”
The teen just shrugs weakly, still visibly shaken up. Well, it’s not like the teachers can do a whole lot about bullying. This explained the truancy habit the kid seemed to have, showing up at the park at early hours of the day and all.
"I will get you some water, okay? Stay here."
He leaves for the vending machine, quickly grabbing a water bottle and leaving the charge in the dispenser again - which he has been doing a lot now, and it's becoming a bad habit, probably - and comes back just to find the teenager gone. Wei Ying sighs.
He leaves the water there on the floor, anyway. Maybe the boy will be back. It feels like leaving food for a scared animal, a little bit.
***
And then there is the dog situation.
Of course, there are dogs in the park often, but most people at least have the decency to keep them leashed, or call them over when Wei Ying screams in panic (it's embarassing, but hey, it works, and some stupid dogs won't take the enjoyment of a park away from him, nope!).
But this dog- he is probably a stray. No collar, no one to call it away, and it's- barking loudly, aggressively, and Wei Ying has nowhere to hide other than the tiniest tree that was in his vicinity, and he is sure the dog could reach him if it stopped barking and jumped, jaws closing on his leg- but the barking makes him panic more and more-
“Hey!”
A rock is thrown with a lot of force right next to the dog, taking away all of its attention to the familiar scrawny figure. The teen is holding some stick like a weapon, another rock in his other hand. Wei Ying is… quite shocked, actually. The dog growls loudly, making Wei Ying whimper and hug the branch tighter, while the teen stands his ground with astounding confidence.
Dogs don’t like such confidence, and neither does this one when the teen shouts at it again. It growls some more and then runs off into the nearby bushes, followed by the teen’s watchful gaze. When it does not return, the boy clears his throat awkwardly.
“Um, it’s gone. You can get down now.”
Wei Ying is not sure if he wants to, his hands still glued to the tree branch like a lifeline, although a small part of him starts to feel pathetic in front of this teen of all people. The guy seems afraid of his own shadow! Yet he chased the dog away for him.
“You good?” the teenager’s brow creases with something like worry, and Wei Ying laughs nervously.
"I'm okay, I'm okay.” He finally slides down the tree, stumbling on the ground on shaky legs. The teen comes closer, gripping his shoulder so he wouldn’t fall down, not looking very happy about that fact. Wei Ying takes a big, shaky breath, and lets himself ramble a little to calm down.
“Oh, kid, that was quite something. Didn’t expect you to be this brave. Dogs are scary, you know? Aiyah, helping this poor man even though you don’t even like him. My hero. Teenage hero. Little hero?” He knows he is babbling nonsense, but it certainly helps to calm down his racing heart some, taking the focus away from the barking sounds still echoing in the back of his mind.
"Some people leave you alone when you act confident… This works for animals, too,” the boy says carefully. “And, uh, I do not dislike you, I think? You are just being weird. I don’t know what you want from me.”
“The power of friendship. You look like you could use some,” Wei Ying jokes, but the teen only stares at him like he grew a second head.
”You're still shaking," he notices instead of commenting on that. "Uh, should I… Walk you home, or something? Call an ambulance? Will you fall down the second I let you go?"
Wei Ying hums. He is very shaky. He hates dogs with a passion, and this encounter brought up some… unhappy memories, for sure. The scary period before landing in a foster home, yep, fun times.
"How generous! No, probably no, but you can still keep me company to the edge of the park. If that dog comes back..." he shivers. "I'm gonna call my husband if you don’t mind me. In the evening we will cuddle a bit on the sofa and I will be as good as new. Oh, I’m Wei Ying by the way. I never talked to you for long enough to even introduce myself! You keep running away! You got a name, little hero?”
Instead of giving Wei Ying a name, like he expected, the boy seems to ponder the wrong part of that word vomit.
"You have a husband?" He looks somewhat amazed at that, gray eyes turning big like platters, and Wei Ying laughs.
"We live in the XXI century, kid, that's not a taboo anymore. If you mind that, sorry, you already offered to walk this poor man until he is safe and sound!"
He knows the teen doesn’t mind; the reaction is one of surprise, not hate.
They pick up the art supplies scattered around (or, well, the teenager does, since the brushes keep falling from Wei Ying's grip) and walk away from the disastrous place.
"I feel like it is," the teen says quietly under his breath, and Wei Ying makes a questioning hum in response. “Uh, a taboo, I mean. Husband.” The teen waves his hand around and flushes red like he really never heard about that before.
Wei Ying might be having an idea why, but it’s probably too early to pry. He could talk a lot about why it shouldn’t be taboo, but only offers a patient smile instead.
“Mo Xuanyu,” the kid introduces himself quietly after a while of walking, dipping his head low. The confidence is gone now, the teen’s body curled in on himself again, but Wei Ying is just overjoyed that the teen was willing to share his name.
"Xuanyu! Good to meet you properly," he grins.
He calls Lan Zhan as they walk, whining a bit excessively about the awful hound that bullied him today.
“You gotta treat your poor husband after this terrible experience, you know? I have a great company for now, but it is sadly not the same as my awesome Lan Zhan.”
His awesome Lan Zhan hums. “Who?”
“A surprise.” Wei Ying wiggles his eyebrows, even though he knows the other won’t see it.
Lan Zhan hums again. “Can I talk to your ‘surprise’?”
“Oh?” That’s a surprising request. “I think so, hold on.”
Mo Xuanyu is walking a few feet away, holding himself up awkwardly. He looks like a kicked puppy again. When Wei Ying shoves a phone at him he is so flabbergasted by the gesture that he almost drops it in surprise.
“Um,” Xuanyu said very intelligently to the receiver. “Hi?”
Wei Ying can’t hear what Lan Zhan is saying, but the expression on the teenager’s face makes him snort, which earns him an annoyed stare.
“I… guess I can?” Xuanyu answers into the phone and then pulls it away from his ear, furrowing his brow as he ends the call. “Your… husband, he told me to walk you home or you will get… lonely?”
Wei Ying laughs. “Ah, of course he did! Well, that’s up to you, no need to listen to him. Although,” he muses. The kid accepted an umbrella when he said it’s a reward for finding a brush, so maybe something like this would work? “I owe you one for this, maybe you wanna drop by for dinner, Xuanyu?”
The teen sighs like he somehow expected this. He sounds tired, but to Wei Ying’s surprise, gives a small nod of agreement.
"Yeah, whatever. Don't make a habit of it though," he huffs.
“Of course, of course.”
Xuanyu is quiet, but filling the silence for two people is not hard at this point. The walk home is almost enough to clear Wei Ying’s head. His hand is still a tiny bit shaky when he pulls out the keys, but it’s okay.
"Well, here you go! Welcome to our humble abode," he opens the door dramatically.
The teenager… doesn’t look overjoyed to be let in, thinning his lips in something that looked like displeasure. He looks like he wants to run away as he enters, eyes darting around the apartment wildly like someone would jump him with a knife any moment. Well, fair, following a stranger to their room was not the safest thing in the world. Thankfully, Wei Ying knew there were no murderers around, so this was a perfectly fine scenario! It would still do good for him to prove himself not to be a kidnapper or an organ trader though, so he leads Xuanyu to the bunny room. Aka a place regular people would call a living room, perhaps, but the bunnies definitely owned the place, even when they were hanging out in their enclosure.
The teen predictably makes a small gasp at the sight of the fuzzy creatures.
“Let me go warm the food. Sadly, I'm banned from cooking when there are guests over so all you get are some leftovers, but apparently that’s a bonus point, according to some,” he pouts.
"...Why?" Xuanyu asks distrustfully.
"My fine tastes are not appreciated by other people," Wei Ying scowls, but Xuanyu still looks like he is ready to bolt, so he adds. “I just like spicy things, sheesh. Anyway, I’m leaving you in good company here! You can pet them, all they bite is all the inanimate objects of importance, not humans.”
“...I can see why you would have that umbrella,” Xuanyu mutters and leans down, carefully giving the bunnies his hand to be sniffed and inspected. Standard procedure before they would let anyone give them pats on the head. They seem to get along well enough, so Wei Ying leaves for the kitchen.
He realized there is not enough food for three people, obviously, so he texts Lan Zhan if he can grab something extra to eat on his way home. His awesome Lan Zhan agrees easily enough.
The microwave dings and he hurries to take the platter to the table. "Well, eat as much as you would like, my savior." He sees Xuanyu biting his lip, obviously reluctant. "What's up?"
"Is that really okay? I'm not- I don't want to… Take away your food," he sounds so vulnerable when he says that. "What do you want from me?"
"Chill, it’s okay, I swear I don’t want anything other than offering some thanks. Please dig in, I can’t bear to listen to your stomach rumbling any longer."
The teen turns red in the face and eats. Slowly, at first, but then with more vigor. Too much vigor. And it's Lan Zhan's healthy food, normal kids should hate the stuff.
"Sheesh, when was the last time you ate?"
"I dunno," he admits, and then cringes visibly. He probably did not want to say that.
Wei Ying hums.
"I don't want to bother my… family for it." The word family is uttered with such distaste that it definitely holds more behind it than just the fear of being bothersome.
Well, that just sounded wrong.
"Aw, kid, food is never a bother. Don’t let anyone make you think that, okay?”
“It takes money. And time.”
“Well, those are like, the bare minimum of requirements for when you want to have a kid.” Wei Ying rolls his eyes, but Xuanyu doesn’t look convinced at all. “Ah. Are you an orphan, perhaps?”
The teen shrugs. Too much of a push, perhaps, so Wei Ying lets him be and finish the last grains of rice in peace.
“Um, thank you for the food, Mr. Wei,” Xuanyu says with the head bowed low, standing up and holding the platter awkwardly.
“Ah, leave it in the sink, I will do the dishes later. And who do you call a mister? Making me feel old, really.”
“You called me a kid earlier. It’s only fair,” Xuanyu rebuts with a small upward tug on his lips.
“Oh, cheeky. Teens are merely big children, don’t you know?”
“And adults are old,” the teen answers with less bite, turning complentative. He stands by the shelf, staring at the photo frame with some photo of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan being lovey-dovey with each other.. “I recognize him. He gave me a pastry the other day. You two are… Alike.”
Well, Lan Zhan didn’t tell Wei Ying that he grew a soft spot for random strays too! The nerve!
“So what, you would like a fine husband like mine one day, huh?” Wei Ying wiggles his eyebrows, leaning over the cupboard.
"How can you ask that out of the blue?" Xuanyu sputters.
"Well, it would be a fair exchange, wouldn't it? You already know about my husband.”
"I… would like that,” the teen admits with a gulp. “But... It's not like my family will accept it, so."
"Ah, that part is rough. But the fun part is, you won't be living with them your whole life."
"It feels like I will. I’m not really… Healthy?" he furrows his brows, like he is not sure how to describe himself.
Well, that word could hide a thousand problems underneath that Wei Ying is not equipped to deal with.
“Well, I wouldn’t know much about your struggles, we barely know each other! But people are known to be going far and beyond what others think they are capable of.”
Xuanyu doesn’t look all that convinced.
“I… should go now.”
“Hmm, alrighty,” Wei Ying says lightly, not seeing the point in pushing the teen too much. “But hey, feel free to visit. It gets lonely here sometimes. Me and Lan Zhan are looking into adoption, you know?” he rambles on, as he walks the teen to the door. “I really want a little one to keep me company. An old one will do for now, though,” he winks.
Xuanyu just blinks at him, unimpressed, or maybe like he couldn’t comprehend what Wei Ying was blabbering about.
“Thank you for the food,” he says again before leaving, and Wei Ying gives him a little wave from the doorstep.
“Bye bye, little hero, I will remember how bravely you fought the dog for me forever.”
“...Please stop calling me that,” the teenager looks away, embarrassed, and decides to skedaddle, making Wei Ying laugh.
***
The teenager comes over a few times after that, although it takes quite a lot of convincing to happen. Which means Xuanyu needs to feel like he earned it, and so Wei Ying has to ask for help with the most insignificant stuff. He loses more brushes (some for real), gets his canvas stuck in a tree, entangles himself in the bushes to the point of no return, the usual stuff.
But it’s nice. They fall into a small habit. Xuanyu talks more. He meets Lan Zhan briefly and seems to enjoy his quiet demeanor. The teen seems to have a knack for art, too; he talks about makeup art and likes Wei Ying’s paintings a lot.
“Your paintings are… different at home,” Xuanyu also notices. “Darker, I think. More serious.”
He shyly shows off some sketches he made. The teenager’s drawings are kind of gorey, which is, you know, to be expected from a person his age, but he isn't too happy about them. This makes Wei Ying dust off some of his old, old drawings that were of much worse quality and poke fun at… Whatever his young self was trying to draw.
“As you can clearly see, you can get there if you try!” He tries to ruffle the teen’s hair, then, but Xuanyu ducks out and becomes wary of him, so he doesn’t do that again.
***
Wei Ying notices that he hasn’t seen Xuanyu in a week, now. Which isn’t a lot, perhaps, considering they only see each other in passing. No phone number or anything. But it is worrying nonetheless.
He feels silly for asking their landlady about it, of all people, but she is old, and old people know a lot about neighbors. They are specialized like that.
“Hey, Granny, do you know this brooding teen that shows up in the neighborhood sometimes? His name is Mo Xuanyu, I think.”
“Ah, the Mo family lives a few houses away from there. You haven’t met them yet?” Wei Ying shrugs. He probably hasn’t. The old lady looks so surprised that he has half a mind to tell her bluntly that only old people care about every one of their neighbors these days. Well, mostly old people. He withholds a snort and stores away the mental image of Nie Huaisang sitting with a gaggle of gossiping grannies for later.
“Mo Xuanyu… The family lives off well, but I’m worried they don’t treat that boy well, you know?” The landlady continues. “He is not theirs. He went on to live with his father for a bit, but that man didn't keep him around for long. And then, well, the mother committed suicide. People say that Mo Xuanyu is crazy, and no one wants to take care of a crazy person, I bet. So he was thrown under his aunt's care.”
Wei Ying's heart squeezes for that boy. He clicks his tongue. The teen definitely doesn’t act crazy, subdued, maybe hurt, but nothing to warrant a treatment like this.
Well, it’s probably not very smart of him, but he decides to just go to that Mo family’s house and ask. The landlady provides instructions easily enough, but her intense gaze tells Wei Ying that he will make it into a subject of the gaggle of gossiping grannies at some point.
He rings a bell to what is supposed to be the Mo's family house. A middle-aged woman opens the door and Wei Ying immediately dislikes her. She is holding herself up like she owns the world, giving off Yu Ziyuan’s aura a little bit. Just less intelligent, perhaps.
“Hi, I’m Wei Ying.” He gives her a stupid little wave. “Meeting my neighbors and all that. I met a boy from your family, Mo Xuanyu, and I was wondering if he is around?”
"What did he do?" She purses her lips in displeasure, and oh, Wei Ying is having none of that.
"Why do you immediately assume he did anything?"
“Oh, he is, you know," she makes the 'crazy' gesture with her hand. "I bet he drinks already. Is this what this is about? He was vomiting a lot, so I told him to come back when he clears his head, I’m not responsible for whatever commotion he made in the meantime.” She turned up her nose in disgust. “He hasn't been around, I don't know where he wandered off to."
There is a rage boiling inside of Wei Ying now.
"Why do you dislike him so much? He is probably sick-"
"Sick? In the head maybe. He wasted his chance by acting like this disgusting thing, while my A-Yuan has to work hard..."
"You are a disgusting thing," Wei Ying scoffs.
“Excuse me?” But Wei Ying is already walking away before he starts punching people in the face. He only kicks the mailbox on his way out for a good measure.
Well, that wasn't very helpful, other than confirming more suspicions. Where could he go? Should he go to the police? Or maybe it would be enough to look in the places he saw the teen at. The park is big enough, maybe he would be hiding in some bushes?
But then he remembers;
Wei Ying was very little when he became an orphan. But for the longest time, after any injustice he was met him-
All he wanted the most was to see his parents.
It’s a long shot, but worth a try.
The closest cemetery is not conveniently close, but the watch says it’s high time for Lan Zhan to finish his shift at the hospital, so he calls him for assistance. The familiar car shows up on the horizon and soon Lan Zhan pulls over. He does not show much surprise when he hears about the teenager, but Wei Ying sees a small crease of his eyebrows at the info.
The cemetery isn't terribly big, but it takes them some time to find Mo Xuanyu's mother's grave. And there he is. Hard to see in the dark of the evening, curled up on the ground, his body shaking like a leaf.
“Hey, hey, can you hear me?” He grasps the teen by the shoulder, even though he knows the gesture wouldn’t be appreciated in normal circumstances.
Bleary eyes look up at him. Red, like he was crying a lot.
“Mm. Just sick,” he manages to confirm weakly, and Wei Ying lets out a breath he didn’t notice he was holding in.
“Just sick, he says. Can you stand? Hey, Lan Zhan, can you help me get him into the car?”
Together, they manage to drag the feverish teen into the car. He seems to fall asleep in the backseat right away, and Wei Ying can't even blame him.