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Wei Ying had managed to convince Lan Zhan to come to a party with him. Somehow.
He knew that Lan Zhan hated parties and everything about them- the loud music, the drinking, people he barely knew trying to talk to him- the list went on. But still, he had decided to tag along, for Wei Ying’s sake and for Wei Ying’s sake only.
Lan Zhan had taken refuge in one of the corners, and luckily people had quickly caught on to the fact that he preferred to be left alone. He watched silently, sipping on some flavored sparkling water Wei Ying had gotten for him, as Wei Ying bounced up and down on the makeshift dancefloor, singing along loudly to the music. If the assortment of irritating noises blasting through the speakers could even be called that.
Lan Zhan wanted to leave, desperately. But he couldn’t, not when Wei Ying was drunk and so scandalously dressed. He had no idea what he did to people, his shoulders on full display due to the fact that he was only wearing a tank top, and parts of his thighs showing through the rips in his too-tight jeans as he laughed and talked to anyone who would listen.
Lan Zhan gripped his bottle of water hard enough to cause most of it to spill onto the already sticky floor as he watched one of the assholes from their class- Su She- waltz up to Wei Ying. He had puffed out his chest to make himself appear bigger, resting an arm on his own hip and flexing his bicep as much as he possibly could. It didn’t do a lot for him. Lan Zhan might have felt bad for him if it wasn’t for the fact that he was currently busy intruding into Wei Ying’s personal space.
He was clearly drunk, barely able to stand upright as he shouted something to Wei Ying over the music. Lan Zan decided it was time for him to leave the safety of his corner, avoiding the sea of bodies as well as he could while making his way over to where Su She was still trying to chat Wei Ying up.
“My- my dad. He’s got a boat. Like, one of those things that ride on water? Yeah? If you wanted you could, maybe, like, go for a ride on me- I mean with me- sometime?”
Lan Zhan gritted his teeth at Su She’s words, but Wei Ying only laughed them off.
“I’m good! I really shouldn’t be out on the sea when I can barely stand on land, look!” Wei Ying said, stretching his arms out to either side to show how wobbly his legs were.
Just then someone bumped into him from the side, causing him to lose his balance with a yelp and crash straight into Su She, who caught him around the waist of all places.
Lan Zhan saw red. How dare Su She put his disgusting hands on Wei Ying’s bare waist? And how dare he hold him so close to his own body, even after Wei Ying had clearly found his footing?!
“Haha, sorry about that,” Wei Ying said with a strained laugh. He placed both hands against Su She’s chest, attempting to push him away, but Su She didn’t budge.
“You’re reeeally pretty,” Su She said, his voice slurred. He pursed his lips and, much to Lan Zhan’s horror, leaned in closer to Wei Ying.
Lan Zhan was pretty sure he accidentally pushed over two innocent bystanders in his hurry to reach them, practically ripping Wei Ying out of Su She’s grip. Wei Ying yelped in surprise, his hands grabbing onto Lan Zhan’s sweater to keep himself upright, even though Lan Zhan would never have allowed him to fall.
Wei Ying looked up at him, his lips turning upward into a bright smile when he saw who his savior was.
“Lan Zhan! I was wondering where you’d disappeared off to, I missed you!”
Lan Zhan’s stomach did a backflip.
“Mh, I missed Wei Ying too.”
“What the fuck, man?!” Su She shouted somewhere next to them. His expression had morphed into one of anger as he looked between Lan Zhan and Wei Ying- now safely held in Lan Zhan’s arms. “I had him first!”
Lan Zhan’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Su She hadn’t had anything . The only reason he had gotten his disgusting hands on Wei Ying was because he had quite literally slipped and fallen into him. Wei Ying would never touch someone like him willingly, not in a million years.
But Wei Ying paid him no mind, too busy snuggling into Lan Zhan’s chest to notice or care that Su She was still there.
“Lan Zhan is always so warm and cozy! I love the soft sweaters you always wear, I bet I could fall asleep like this!”
Lan Zhan didn’t tell him that was precisely the reason he always wore such soft shirts. He’d do anything if it meant Wei Ying wanted to be close to him.
Lan Zhan held him closer, resting his cheek against the top of Wei Ying’s head. The rest of the world seemed to fade away for a moment, leaving just the two of them, stuck in a tight embrace that Lan Zhan couldn’t bring himself to break.
Wei Ying was already a touchy person under normal circumstances, but when he was drunk he could cling to Lan Zhan for hours without wanting to let go. There had been a very good reason why Lan Zhan had decided to show up tonight, after all.
An elbow in his ribcage brought Lan Zhan out of his Wei-Ying-induced trance. In the next moment Wei Ying shot up, breaking out of their hug to instead jump up and down in glee.
“Truth or dare, truth or dare!” he chanted, joining in with his fellow drunk friends, who had apparently decided that the party was lacking in excitement. Before Lan Zhan could grow disappointed that Wei Ying was no longer touching him, Wei Ying had already grabbed onto his sleeve and pulled him along, bringing him down to sit next to him in a large circle.
Lan Zhan hesitated, weighing his options carefully. He had never been a fan of these stupid party games, but when Wei Ying gave him his very best puppy eyes and begged him to stay, how could he refuse?
And just why did everyone have to be so loud? Lan Zhan was definitely going to have a killer headache tomorrow. But at least Wei Ying seemed to be enjoying himself, shouting and hollering as Nie Huaisang got up to stand in the middle of the circle, clearing his throat in an exaggerated way until he had somehow managed to catch everyone's attention.
“Truth… or dare,” he said dramatically, doing jazz hands. “Who will be the cowards? Who will be brave? Who will refuse to comply and be forced to run naked around the apartment complex? Only time will tell!”
The audience hollered once more. Lan Zhan was a lot more interested in the way Wei Ying was still holding onto his sleeve for dear life.
“As your host, I will begin,” Nie Huaisang said. He stroked his chin as he looked around the circle in deep consideration, searching for his first victim.
“Jiang Cheng! Truth or dare?”
The dazed, far-away look in Jiang Cheng’s eyes was more than enough proof that he was already far too drunk to be a part of this, the silence dragging on for a few long moments before his mind seemed to register that he had been spoken to.
“DARE!” He yelled, unnecessarily loud. The crowd cheered, excited to get things started. Lan Zhan couldn’t relate, if it hadn’t been for Wei Ying still holding onto his sleeve he would have left long ago.
“I dare you to do a backflip!” Nie Huaisang said as he clapped his hands together.
It was a miracle that Jiang Cheng could even stand up without immediately collapsing face-first into the ground, much less make it to the middle of the circle without incident, but somehow he managed it. He stood still for a moment, gently swaying on his feet, the room getting quiet in anticipation over what he would do next.
And then he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face with a pained groan.
“Good try!” someone in the audience piped up. Cheers and clapping soon filled the room, Wei Ying even wolf-whistling next to him. Jiang Cheng gave them all a sideways thumbs-up in response.
“Wen Qing, t- truth or dare?” he managed to get out.
“Truth,” Wen Qing said from somewhere to Lan Zhan’s left.
“Do you- do you have a crush on me?” Jiang Cheng yelled loudly, barely managing to heave himself up onto all fours before throwing up all over the carpet. Nie Huaisang screamed in terror, and Wei Ying was laughing so hard that Lan Zhan was afraid that he was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen.
“No,” Wen Qing said without giving his question any consideration. “Su She, truth or dare?” there was a glint in her eyes, that everyone except Lan Zhan seemed to miss. Su She puffed his chest out, as if he was proud to have been noticed.
“Dare!” he said.
“I dare you to clean up Jiang Cheng’s puke.”
“Fuck you!” Su She yelled, but he could barely be heard over the roaring laughter. But a dare was a dare, and soon enough Su She was indeed cleaning puke off the carpet. Not that Lan Zhan was paying him much attention, much more interested in the way Wei Ying’s head was resting against his shoulder.
“You’re a really good chair, Lan Zhan,” he said, nuzzling against him. “You’re so soft and comfortable and warm!”
Lan Zhan wasn’t sure what to say to that, but he didn’t have to come up with a response, as Su She soon plopped down next to Wei Ying, too close for comfort.
“Wei Ying! Truth or dare?”
“Dare, I’m not a coward,” Wei Ying said with a grin.
“I dare you to kiss one of the people sitting next to you.”
Lan Zhan’s ears were ringing, his eyes going wide. This could only end one of two ways, unless Wei Ying refused, which he doubted that he would do.
Wei Ying simply shrugged.
“Okay!”
That was all the warning Lan Zhan got before Wei Ying’s lips pressed against his own. He tasted strongly of the cinnamon-flavored liquor he loved so much, but Lan Zhan still found himself addicted.
His lips were so soft, a bit uncoordinated and messy as they moved gently against Lan Zhan’s. Not that Lan Zhan knew much about kissing to begin with, since this was his first kiss- unless one were to count the thousands of times he had imagined kissing Wei Ying for the past few years.
He soon found himself cupping Wei Ying’s face between his hands, gently holding him as he threw all caution to the wind and deepened the kiss. Their tongues met, and Lan Zhan felt as if he was on fire, in the best way possible. Wei Ying let out a noise from the back of his throat, one of surprise, but he didn’t pull back. If anything he leaned in even closer, his arms looping around Lan Zhan’s neck.
Lan Zhan had no idea how long they stayed like that, or what the surrounding peoples' reactions were. He could only focus on Wei Ying, the softness of his cinnamon-tasting lips against his, and the arms tightly wrapped around his neck. Lan Zhan never wanted to part from him, but of course, that wasn’t possible.
Wei Ying was breathing heavily as they broke apart. His lips were wet, eyes dazed as if he wasn’t quite present.
“Go, Wei Ying, go!”
“I think I’m going to throw up again.”
“I told you they were a thing!”
The people around them kept shouting to drown out one another, but Lan Zhan paid them no mind. How could he when he had Wei Ying in his arms, looking up at him like he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened?
Su She was nowhere to be seen, he noted, having left as soon as Lan Zhan and Wei Ying had locked lips.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said. His voice was softer than usual, and he almost sounded… scared?
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan moved to cup his face again, pressing a small kiss to the tip of his nose. He didn’t like the look of guilt that had shown up on Wei Ying’s face and desperately wanted it gone. But Wei Ying’s eyes remained worried, as if he thought he had fucked everything up between them by kissing him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that. I know you’re not…” Wei Ying trailed off, casting his eyes downward.
He knew Lan Zhan wasn’t… what? Not gay? Not hopelessly in love with Wei Ying? Not interested in kissing him for hours on end? Not interested in marrying him? Because if Wei Ying was considering even one of those options to be true, he was horribly, horribly wrong.
“I believe it’s your turn now,” Lan Zhan reminded him instead. “So ask me.”
“R-right,” Wei Ying finally looked up, meeting Lan Zhan’s eyes. “Lan Zhan, truth or dare.”
“Truth.” Lan Zhan didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“Do you… do you like anyone? Romantically, I mean?” Lan Zhan didn’t miss the flicker of worry in Wei Ying’s voice.
“Yes, I’ve had feelings for a certain someone for several years now.” Lan Zhan’s voice was low enough so that nobody but Wei Ying could hear him.
Wei Ying’s shoulders visibly dropped.
“O-oh. I didn’t know. If I had, I wouldn’t have-”
“It’s you.”
“...Come again?”
“Wei Ying, you’re the one I have feelings for.”
“...Oh,” Wei Ying’s eyes had gone wide, his mouth open in silent shock. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, neither of them making the first move.
“Just kiss again already!” Someone who sounded a lot like Nie Huaisang shouted.
“He does have a point,” Wei Ying said, finally seeming to snap out of his trance. “Lan Zhan, do you wanna get out of here?”
Lan Zhan answered by standing up on his feet, pulling Wei Ying up alongside him. Wei Ying’s legs were definitely weaker now than they had been ten minutes ago, or perhaps he was doing it on purpose, as he couldn’t help but smile when Lan Zhan scooped him up bridal style.
Lan Zhan ignored the mixture of cheering and gagging sounds, which were exclusively coming from Jiang Cheng’s way. He had finally gotten to kiss Wei Ying! And now he even had him in his arms! Nothing could ruin his day now.