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"They're definitely going to have sex in the changing room," Wen Qing announces in a dry, almost bored voice.
Wen Ning's eyes grow wide. "It's only 11AM."
Wei Ying snorts. "Wen Ning, never underestimate a couple of horny college students. Any time is the right time." He pauses, gaze flickering over to the young man and woman wearing sweatshirts from the local college, giggling as they clutch Halloween costumes to try on. "I cleaned up the vomit yesterday from the drunk freshman, it's your turn Qing-jie."
She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Yeah, yeah, fine." Wen Qing slips her phone into the pocket of her costume (an ER doctor) and heads off toward the changing rooms.
It's mid-October and Halloween costume shopping is in full swing. The gay bar Wei Ying had been working at for the last four years closed its doors over the summer, and in his desperation for another job he ended up at the Halloween store that opens a few months every year. He's always been fond of the spooky holiday; it's his birthday, he’s an avid horror movie fan, and he has a penchant for wearing all black with too much eyeliner. It feels like fate. Halloween was meant to be his holiday.
Getting a job at a store selling Halloween costumes was, in hindsight, a good way to dampen his love for the spooky season. There are only so many times he can hear that stupid animatronic clown laughing before he takes a baseball bat to it. The store is littered with animatronics, but this clown is the worst. It only has a torso and stands on freakishly long arms. The torso does a full spin around and around as the clown cackles so loudly. Way too damn loud. Whoever created the thing seriously needs to adjust the volume.
The door bell jingles, signaling more customers entering. Wei Ying adjusts the parrot on his shoulder and heads over to greet them.
"Arr mateys, welcome to Spirit Halloween!" All employees need to wear one of the store's costumes while they work. Wei Ying had chosen the pirate costume. It fits his all black aesthetic, and has the bonus of being both a bit sexy and queer. The neckline of the black blouse plunges low, revealing an almost-but-not-quite risqué amount of Wei Ying's chest. The flouncy sleeves and pants make him feel like he could easily continue wearing it to bartend at his old job. And the knee-high black boots with a slight heel? Fabulous. It even has a sword he can store at his waist, which makes him feel weirdly suave given that it's fake as hell. The green and yellow parrot on his shoulder is a bit much, but the kids love it, so it keeps the costume from tipping too far over the line into inappropriately-sexy-for-work.
Wei Ying grips the hilt of his sword and gets a better look at the new customers, and fuck. Okay, Hot Dad alert. A man who looks a few years older than him, with piercing eyes and cheekbones to die for, holds his son's hand as he glances around the entrance of the store, taking in the fake trio of witches that cackle as newcomers walk by. The boy, possibly four or five (Wei Ying is shit at guessing ages), stares at the parrot on Wei Ying's shoulder with wide eyes.
"Baba, look at the parrot!" he says in a tone that might've been an attempt at a whisper, but his little voice carries loudly.
Wei Ying watches the dad look his way, his eyes narrowing on Wei Ying’s exposed chest. He probably disapproves of the amount of skin Wei Ying is showing; he’s had a few parents make remarks. Whatever, they should be glad he didn’t go for the sexy fireman costume.
Ignoring the judgmental father’s gaze lingering on his chest, Wei Ying turns back to the boy. "Do you like him?" Wei Ying pats the head of the plastic bird on his shoulder.
The little boy nods furiously. He looks up at his dad, who nods at him, answering a silent question, and then looks back to Wei Ying. "What's his name?"
Wei Ying lets his eyes grow wide and slaps his forehead. "Blast! I haven't given him a name yet. Arr, what a fool I be. Young man, what do you think his name should be?"
"Crackers!" The boy blurts out immediately.
"Aye." Wei Ying nods and scratches under Cracker's beak. "That be an excellent name, young man. Crackers it is!"
The boy beams at him and tugs on his dad's hand. "Baba, I named the parrot! See, I come up with the best names."
"Mn, you do." The man looks softly at his son and fuck if it doesn't make Wei Ying's heart swoon a bit. So sue him, he is a sucker for soft dads with their kids. Not a great type to have as it means there's almost always a loving wife in the picture, but whatever, he can enjoy it in the moment. And despite the initial disapproving look over Wei Ying’s costume, the man hasn’t actually said anything about it, so there’s nothing to break Wei Ying’s delusion of riding off into the sunset with him.
“Thanks Baba!” The boy grins, snapping Wei Ying out of his thoughts. Because, right. These are customers. In the store where he works. He needs to focus.
Wei Ying puts his hands on his hips. "Now, how can I help this young buccaneer today?"
"Baba and I are looking for costumes!" The boy cheers. "I'm old enough to go trick or treating this year. I wasn't allowed last year because I was too young and Yeye thought the costumes would scare me. They wouldn't though because I'm a big kid and don't get scared, but I didn't want to worry him so I said okay. Baba bought me candy anyway, but this year I wanna get it myself."
The words come out in a stream-of-consciousness rush, so fast Wei Ying can barely take it all in. He blinks a moment and claps his hands together. "Right, well I'm glad you can go trick or treating this year. Is it just a costume for you or is your Baba getting one too?"
"Baba is getting one too!" The boy cheers, jumping up and down, still clutching his dad's hand.
"Excellent," Wei Ying enthuses, matching the boy's energy. "Well my name is Wei Ying and I'm here to help you with all your costume needs."
"Hi Wei Ying, my name is Lan Yuan but you can call me A-Yuan because you're bigger than me. And this is my Baba." He holds onto his dad's hand, swinging it back and forth while beaming up at Wei Ying.
"I am Lan Zhan," the dad says, face blank yet still unfairly handsome given the garrish lighting in the store. (Another annoyance for Wei Ying - the bright lights clash with the spooky Halloween vibe. Clearly they should be going for a darker, moodier setting!)
Wei Ying smothers a smile. These two are cute. He loves the difference in energy - a little boy who is chatty and bubbly with a calm and reserved father. From the fond looks they give each other, the bond between them is readily apparent. Ugh, Wei Ying loves good fathers.
He clears his throat, and decides fuck caution and asks, "And uh, is there a third person you'll also be buying a costume for? We've got costumes that work for trios."
"No, it's just us. My uncle is in San Fra-San Fra, what's it called Baba?"
"San Francisco."
"Yeah, that! My uncle is there all month so he's not dressing up with us. And my Yeye says Halloween is a sinful holiday for bad people to run wild and he wants no part of it."
Wei Ying snorts. "So no costume for Yeye, got it."
He smothers down the glee from the lack of a second parent being mentioned. There’s an uncle and grandfather in the picture, and that’s it. No loving wife at home. Not that it matters, not really. They're just here to try on costumes and then they'll leave, but at least it means for the next thirty minutes, Wei Ying can let himself live a guilt-free fantasy where he goes home with them and lets Baba pin him up against a wall.
The college couple who were definitely planning to fuck in the changing room slink out of the store next to them, purchases in hand, setting off the cackling witches again. Of course Wen Qing somehow managed to both bust them and still force them to purchase something. She has skills Wei Ying can only dream of possessing.
"Okay, so what kind of costume are you thinking of?" Wei Ying asks. "We've got superheroes, animals, silly costumes, and so much more."
For once Lan Yuan doesn't blurt out an answer, instead looking up at his dad with big eyes.
"We are not sure," Lan Zhan responds. He turns back to Wei Ying, evidently looking for guidance. His gaze flickers over Wei Ying’s chest again, but he still doesn’t say anything, so Lan Zhan must have decided that it’s more important that they get Wei Ying’s help than it is to scold him for his revealing outfit.
"Not a problem," Wei Ying says. "I'll take you over to the kids section and we can see what jumps out at you."
He leads them through the store, which is littered with fake cobwebs and skeleton decorations. They go by a gravestone that has a sobbing woman carved on top, and Wei Ying is close enough that he sets off the sensors. The woman spins around with a scream and becomes a skeleton with bright red eyes.
Lan Yuan laughs at the sight. A kid after his own heart (and clearly Yeye was wrong about him being too scared).
"What did you like to dress as for Halloween when you were a kid?" Wei Ying asks Lan Zhan, both to help with costumes and also just because he wants an excuse to talk to him. His voice is deep and smooth like honey, and Wei Ying has not heard enough of it.
"I did not," Lan Zhan responds.
"What?" Wei Ying asks in surprise. "You never went trick or treating as a kid?"
"No. Shufu did not allow it."
"Ah, he and Yeye have that in common then?" Wei Ying asks, avoiding the bigger question of where his parents were. Wei Ying knows all too well what the answer probably is.
"They are the same person. A-Yuan refers to my Shufu as his Yeye. He is the only elder relative he has," Lan Zhan explains.
"Gotcha. So Shufu hates Halloween. It's nice of you to let A-Yuan participate." Wei Ying flashes him a grin.
"Last year at school he was the only one without a costume for Halloween dress up day. I do not want him to be left out again." Lan Zhan glances at his son, who is busy laughing at an animatronic man waving a chainsaw around.
Fuck fuck fuck, Wei Ying might as well melt into the ground right now in surrender. Nice, soft dad with a freaky chatty son is clearly the ideal duo, Wei Ying has decided. It is law.
He clears his throat. "Well that seems like a good decision, he's clearly very into this stuff."
"Mn," Lan Zhan agrees, looking fondly at his son as if he were playing with butterflies instead of jabbing his fingers into the eye socket of a skull covered in spiders.
"Okay, here are the kids' costumes," Wei Ying says, gesturing at the area around them. It contains several shelves full to the brim with costumes. Each costume is in a plastic bag with a photo on the front of a child wearing the costume.
Lan Yuan gasps and runs towards a costume, seemingly at random. "I could be a blow up chicken!"
Wei Ying snorts. "Yeah, yeah you could. If you like the inflatable costumes, there's also an inflatable dinosaur."
"Chickens are better than dinosaurs. My Baba has chickens in our backyard and I get to feed them," Lan Yuan says.
"That's really cool. I wish I had a pet." Wei Ying pouts.
"You have Crackers!" Lan Yuan screeches, pointing at his shoulder.
Wei Ying slaps his forehead. "Arr, what a fool I be,” he says, putting the pirate voice back on. “How dare me forget about Crackers."
Lan Yuan nods seriously. "You should say sorry to him. He's a parrot so he can talk and understand things."
Wei Ying turns to look at the parrot on his shoulder. "I be very sorry for forgetting about you. Do you forgive me, Crackers?" He presses his lips together and slyly out of the corner of his mouth makes the parrot respond in a high pitched voice, "Crackers forgives you, Crackers forgives you."
Lan Yuan shakes his head. "That was you, not the parrot!"
Wei Ying gasps. "You caught me! Aiya, you're too smart for me A-Yuan."
Out of the corner of his eye, he could swear he spots Lan Zhan smiling at him. Or at least a smaller, muted version of a smile. Reserved, but there nonetheless, and Wei Ying will take what he can get and cling to it, like a dragon hoarding pieces of precious gold.
"Okay, so chickens beat dinosaurs. What about other costumes?” He moves toward the movie section. “We've got Buzz Lightyear. Do you like Toy Story? You could be Buzz and we've got an adult Woody costume your Baba could wear." Wei Ying presents the Buzz costume with a flourish.
Lan Yuan scrunches up his nose. "What's Toy Story?"
Wei Ying gasps. "Lan Zhan! You haven't shown your son the best kid’s trilogies of all time, hell one of the best trilogies period?"
"Aren't there four movies?" Lan Zhan frowns.
Wei Ying holds up his arms in an X shape. "Nope. There are only three. We do not acknowledge anything beyond that, Lan Zhan. Any additional movies only exist because capitalism results in a focus on profit rather than creativity."
"Mn. Well, Lan Yuan has not seen the trilogy. I try to limit his screen time." Lan Zhan rifles through the bags of costumes as he responds.
“I’m not surprised you limit screen time, you seem like a very responsible parent.” Wei Ying has the urge to pat Lan Zhan on the shoulder. It would seem normal, wouldn't it? A shoulder pat could easily go with what he just said and wouldn't be weird or creepy or anything. Right? Plus Lan Zhan definitely maybe smiled at him earlier, which means he’s not angry about Wei Ying’s chest anymore so might be open to pats?
"Look at the big monkey!" Lan Yuan shouts, snapping Wei Ying out of his thoughts. (He's definitely missed the moment for a shoulder pat thanks to his indecisiveness, fuck.)
"That's Donkey Kong," Wei Ying supplies.
"Why is he called Donkey if he's a monkey?" Lan Yuan asks.
Wei Ying scratches his chin, playing up thinking about the question. "Huh, I don't know. I've never thought about that before. That's a very good question."
"Baba says I'm good at asking questions," Lan Yuan nods and moves along the costumes.
"Mn, you are," Lan Zhan agrees, gently ruffling his son's hair.
Goddammit.
"Pardon?" Lan Zhan asks.
"What?" Fuck. Did he say that out loud? He must've. Wei Ying flashes a grin and scratches the back of his neck. "Ah, nothing nothing. Don't worry about it." Distraction, he needs a distraction. He grabs the closest costume. "What about this?"
"That's a girl's costume," Lan Yuan replies, scrunching up his nose.
Wei Ying looks at his hands and sure enough he’d grabbed a frilly pink princess costume.
"You can wear any costume you want," Lan Zhan says firmly. "There is no reason this costume is only for girls. Anyone can wear it."
Yep, yep, Wei Ying is doomed. He is so doomed he may as well lay flat down on the floor and become one with the Halloween decorations. Deceased adult male, done in by love sickness, taken from this world too soon when Hot Dad left the store, never to be seen again. $59.99 to the first taker.
Instead he nods and says, "Gender is a social construct," as if he fully intended to grab the princess costume.
"Mn," Lan Zhan agrees, a fire in his eyes that Wei Ying can't say he has any complaints about.
"What's a construct?" Lan Yuan asks.
"Something people have made. Like how a construction worker makes a building," Lan Zhan explains.
"Oohhh." Lan Yuan nods seriously and turns back to the costumes.
Wei Ying sidles closer to Lan Zhan and says in a low voice. "You handled that really well. Some people make it seem like an impossible conversation but it really is that easy."
“Those people are fools.” Lan Zhan's jaw works back and forth, like he's tensing it. He takes a deep breath and says, "I am a gay man who adopted my son. I knew from the start these conversations would be part of my son's life."
Ohmygod. Chill, he's got to be chill and calm and not start jumping up and down cheering like he wants to because fuck yes, Hot Dad is gay. Which means Wei Ying has a chance. Okay, maybe not really because he works in a fucking Halloween store and Hot Dad is probably a super impressive lawyer or engineer or something, but at least it means he’s not living in a complete fantasy dreamworld.
"You adopted him? That's awesome. I'm also adopted,” Wei Ying offers. Sure his adoption was with a family that sometimes seems to barely tolerate him, but he doesn't need to bring down the mood with that painful tidbit of information.
"Me too. By my Shufu. He is family, but that still counts as adoption." Lan Zhan says, making direct eye contact and not breaking away. It absolutely does not make Wei Ying's heart leap into his throat, no way.
"It totally does." Wei Ying nods vigorously. "It most definitely counts."
"Baba, what about this?" Lan Yuan's voice cuts in, forcing them to look away from each other. The little boy is holding up a costume of the murderer from Scream.
"We have an adult version too, if you want to go as the same thing," Wei Ying volunteers.
"We can be twins, Baba!" Lan Yuan screeches in delight.
Adorable twin murderers, yes please.
Wei Ying leans over to Lan Zhan, any excuse to be closer and feel the air pulse between them, and whispers, "In case it matters, that is the serial killer from the Scream franchise."
"Here, let me hold it for you to try on." Lan Zhan reaches out for the costume, answering that question. "Are there any others you would like to try?"
"This!" Lan Yuan grins and grabs a ghoulish killer clown costume, with a jeering blood-red fanged mouth and frizzy green hair.
Truly a little freak after Wei Ying's heart.
Wei Ying presses his lips together to stop himself from laughing. "We, uh, also have adult versions of that."
The slightest of grimaces passes across Lan Zhan's face. "Great."
"I'll go get it for you," Wei Ying grins.
"The adult Scream villain too, please," Lan Zhan says.
"Coming right up."
Wei Ying rushes off to the adult men section, not wanting to lose too much time with the adorable father-son pair.
When he gets there, Wen Qing is restocking the sexy firemen outfits. She looks over at him and smirks. "You're paying a lot of attention to those customers. The father looks handsome."
Fuck, is he that obvious? No, he can't accept the thought. "What?" he asks, because he is innocent and surely has no idea what she could mean. "I am helping some customers, because this is retail and that's what I'm meant to do, Qing-jie. I am here to help customers, and those are customers who I am helping."
"What a diligent employee," she replies, mocking him.
"I am, thank you," he says, refusing to acknowledge the sarcasm dripping from her voice. "The manager might even start up an Employee of the Month award just for me, because I'm that good."
"Yeah, that's definitely what's happening," Wen Qing rolls her eyes.
He grabs the costumes for Lan Zhan, picking a few different creepy clown ones in case he wants to be a slightly different version from his son, and heads back over.
He rushes over so fast he forgets that stupid fucking laughing clown animatronic is on the way, and sets it off spinning around, its cackles echoing through the store. Why on earth is it so damn loud?
"I will pay someone to break that thing," Wen Qing mutters, walking past him to the back room for more stock.
"Arr mateys, I had to sail the high seas to get them, but I come bearing the spookiest of costumes," Wei Ying announces, slipping back into his pirate persona with a wink at Lan Zhan. He can't lie, he very much enjoys the way his ears redden slightly in response. Okay. Okay, maybe he can work with that.
"Yay, Baba let's try them on!" Lan Yuan jumps up and down with excitement, setting off a pumpkin animatronic. The top half of the pumpkin springs up, displaying pumpkin guts stringing down between the top and bottom halves. “Cool!” Lan Yuan explains, reaching out to touch the fake pumpkin guts.
Lan Zhan watches his son fondly and whispers, “When he was two, his favorite toy was a zombie doll he found in the Halloween decor aisle of Target.”
Wei Ying smothers a laugh. “Of course it was.”
“He took it everywhere,” Lan Zhan recounts. “And would throw it to the ground shouting ‘dead’ while laughing.”
“And his Yeye thought he’d be too scared to trick or treat?” Wei Ying asks, incredulous.
“I believe he is in denial about A-Yuan’s interests,” Lan Zhan says, stepping aside so they can move single-file past a large white ghost dangling from the ceiling.
As they approach the fitting rooms, Wei Ying gestures towards them with a flourish, "Right this way." The duo enter the area and for the first time, Wei Ying feels some hesitation. Should he leave? It made sense to tag along to help them find the costumes, but it's not like they need him now, right? It would be weird, probably, to hang about.
Lan Yuan puts him out of his misery though, saving him with a, "Gege, you have to tell us which costume is better, okay? We can do a fashion show for you!"
Wei Ying raises his brows and looks at Lan Zhan. "Oh yeah? Are you gonna do a fashion show for me?"
"You heard him," Lan Zhan says, taking his costumes and marching into one of the dressing rooms with his son.
Wei Ying leans against the wall as he hears giggling and shuffling from behind the curtain. After a few minutes, the pair come out, both dressed as the Scream villain. They're fully covered in black cloaks with the infamous screaming mask covering their faces. Despite the ghoulish nature of the costume, Wei Ying can't help but smile at how cute they look. There's something adorable about a tiny little serial killer jumping up and down next to his stoic, much larger counterpart.
Lan Yuan stares at himself in the mirror and then turns around to Wei Ying. After a short, calculated pause, he springs forward and jumps toward Wei Ying with a "Boo!"
Wei Ying gasps, clutching his heart and jumping backward. "A-Yuan, don't scare a guy like that, my poor heart can't handle it!"
Lan Yuan laughs and rubs his hands together. "Were you really scared? Did I scare you?"
Wei Ying nods. "You did. I wasn't expecting you to jump toward me like that, especially in that scary costume."
"Baba, I scared him," Lan Yuan tugs on his dad's hand under the costume. "That's part of what Halloween is about. Jingyi said that there's a house on his street where the Baba sits in a chair all night and jumps out at people. I can do that and scare people too."
"If you do that, it means you would not be trick or treating," Lan Zhan points out.
Beneath the robes of the Scream costume, Lan Yuan's shoulders slump. "Oh yeah. I want to trick or treat really bad."
"You can jump out at people when you're older," Lan Zhan suggests.
That gets the slump out of his son's shoulders. "You're right! I can trick or treat this year and then next year when I'm practically grown up I can do the scaring."
"Mn, that is a good plan."
"Come on Baba, let's try on the clowns," Lan Yuan grabs his dad's hand and pulls him back into the changing room. Lan Zhan nods at Wei Ying as he allows his son to tow him into the room, making Wei Ying’s stomach flutter.
What is he supposed to do with that? He’s being ridiculous, he knows he is. This is a very beautiful, handsome man and his adorable little son. They are shopping for Halloween costumes. Wei Ying is being paid to help them.
That’s it.
That’s all this is.
It’s not like Lan Zhan is going to leave the changing room, clown costume clinging to all the right places. It’s not like he’s going to march up to Wei Ying and rip the clown mask off his face, close with a palpable heat burning between them as their gazes meet. It’s not like Lan Zhan would crowd him up against the wall, breath hot and mingling with his own as they pant with the intensity of the moment, Lan Zhan’s eyes glued to Wei Ying’s lips, like Wei Ying is a meal he can’t wait to devour.
The metal rings on the curtains squeak against the rail as Lan Zhan exits the changing room, snapping Wei Ying out of his thoughts. Fuck, what’s wrong with him? Thinking things like that when the man and his son are ten feet away.
(He also can’t help but judge himself slightly for having a fantasy involving a creepy clown costume. He needs to redownload Grindr. Fuck.)
He looks over to see the pair in their clown costumes. They are truly horrifying. Is there ever a clown costume that isn't? Wei Ying suspects you could put a clown in literally any situation and it would be at least slightly terrifying. A clown standing in the middle of an aisle at a grocery store? No thank you, Wei Ying is backing the fuck out of that aisle. He’d rather starve. A clown going for a swim in the community pool? No matter how much Wei Ying loves swimming, he will wait for another day.
Lan Zhan and Lan Yuan are wearing different versions of the creepy clown costume. Lan Yuan chose a deranged one with a giant, gaping mouth covered in red, with curly green hair that juts out all over the place. The outfit is a tacky clash of neon pinks and oranges. Lan Zhan wears one a bit more subtle - a red and white striped outfit, with a white mask with tears of blood running down its face, and a red cone hat.
Lan Zhan lifts his mask off and with a twinkle in his eye asks, "How do we look?" His voice is light, like he's come around to actually enjoy the horrifying costume. Maybe he is enjoying it, since it's something he's doing with his son. He's clearly the type to do anything for his kid.
"Truly terrifying. I feel unsettled just looking at you. Lan Yuan, if you want to scare people as you trick or treat, this is the costume for you," Wei Ying declares.
"We did it, Baba! We found the scariest costume," Lan Yuan cheers, practically vibrating with excitement.
"We did," Lan Zhan agrees, patting the curly green hair on his son's costume.
Despite how unsettling they appear, Wei Ying can't help but feel a bit… jealous as he watches the pair. Lan Zhan is hot and clearly a fantastic father, which ticks a whole lot of boxes for Wei Ying. If he could, he'd love to imagine a world in which he could slot into the adorable little family. Which, okay, maybe is a bit creepy considering he's known them for all of twenty minutes, but they're not mind readers, they don't need to know his business. Anyway, he'd love to imagine it, but in reality? It's silly. He's the third wheel helping them because they're here for a purpose and that purpose is to get costumes.
Lan Yuan rushes over to Wei Ying, startling him out of his thoughts. "Guess what?"
"What?" Wei Ying asks eagerly, making sure to inject plenty of cheer into his voice.
"We match!" Lan Yuan says.
Wei Ying looks down at his pirate costume, "How does a pirate match with a clown?"
"A clown can be a pirate!" Lan Yuan explains. "There's a show Jingyi and I watched where everyone was a pirate and one of the pirates was a clown."
Any thoughts of being a third wheel flit out of his mind, because here is this adorable kid who both wants to be a ghastly horror and is also clearly a total sweetheart. How can Wei Ying feel sad in the face of that?
"Wow, you're right, we do match!" Wei Ying grins. "I'm glad we can all be on a pirate crew together."
"Me too," Lan Zhan adds, voice muffled through the clown mask.
It's silly. It's silly. He's reading into things that aren't there, obviously. But then Lan Zhan's hand brushes past his on the way back to the fitting room when it would've been easier to not touch him at all, so maybe he's not. Maybe.
All too soon, the pair have bundled themselves back into their regular clothing and exit the changing room.
“Where should we leave the Scream costumes?” Lan Zhan asks. He’s put the Scream costumes neatly back in their bags, because of course he’s a considerate shopper and not one of those assholes who leaves clothes strewn about all over the place in fitting rooms.
Wei Ying reaches out. “Here,” he grabs the bags from Lan Zhan and places them in the pile of costumes to return to the floor. “Okay, since you’ve picked your costumes, I’ll take you over to the checkout area,” he forces enthusiasm into his voice so he doesn’t out himself as being bummed they’re done already. Why couldn’t they be customers who try on ten different costumes and take ages to figure out which one is best?
He tries his best to stretch out the short walk by showing Lan Yuan as many spooky decorations as he can along the way. He particularly enjoys the demonic bat that jumps up and spreads its wings, screeching at them as it does so.
“Baba, I want to be a bat!” Lan Yuan exclaims, eyes wide with glee as he watches the animatronic.
“For Halloween?” Lan Zhan asks, frowning down at the clown costumes in his hands.
For a second, Wei Ying’s heart leaps. If they decide on new costumes, that means he gets more time with them!
But his hopes are quickly crushed when Lan Yuan shakes his head. “No, I mean when I grow up. I want to be a bat when I grow up.”
“It is not possible to become a bat. You will be an adult human when you grow up,” Lan Zhan informs him.
“Oh,” Lan Yuan’s shoulders slump. His lower lip quivers as he says, “But I wanna be a bat.”
Not wanting to see the adorable little boy sad, Wei Ying jumps in, “Maybe you could work with bats when you grow up.”
“Is that a job?” Lan Yuan’s eyes grow wide.
Wei Ying nods. “Yeah, you can research bats, or work in a rehabilitation center - that’s where you help hurt bats feel better - or work with them in a zoo. There are lots of bat-related jobs.”
“Cool!” Lan Yuan exclaims. “Baba, when I grow up I’m gonna be a bat nurse.”
“That sounds like an excellent job,” Lan Zhan says. He moves closer to Wei Ying (and sure, maybe Wei Ying is aware of every cell in his body closest to where Lan Zhan’s arm is, but that’s no one’s business but his own) and whispers, “Thank you.”
Wei Ying runs a hand through his hair. “Ah, no problem, Lan Zhan. I have a nephew and unfortunately he’s developed the spoiled brat gene from his father - my poor sister, she tries her best - so I’ve gotten good with kids and averting meltdowns.” A chill jolts through him as he realizes that might sound like he was calling A-Yuan a brat. In a rush he adds, “Not that I’m saying A-Yuan is a brat. He’s the exact opposite, such a nice, sweet kid, Lan Zhan. You’re doing a really good job! The best, really. I can tell even after half an hour with you. I just meant that as an example of why I’m good with kids and averting meltdowns.”
“Mn, that is evident. You have been excellent with A-Yuan today,” Lan Zhan replies, kindly ignoring the verbal diarrhea Wei Ying had unleashed upon him.
“Ha, thanks.” Wei Ying feels his belly flutter and heat rising to his cheeks. Which is like, objectively ridiculous that he’s developed such a crush on someone he’s not even known for an entire thirty minutes.
In what feels like the blink of an eye, they’re at the front counter. Wen Ning is there, but one look from Wei Ying has him muttering, “I think I heard something fall,” and scurrying off (Wen Ning is objectively The Best).
“Okay, I’ll ring you up,” Wei Ying announces, reaching for the clown costumes.
Lan Zhan hands them over and once again their hands brush against each other. Wei Ying’s breath catches in his throat and he darts a look over at Lan Zhan, who stares back unabashedly. It has to be intentional. It’s a large costume bag, it’s once again easier not to touch than it is to touch. If he didn’t want to touch Wei Ying, he could’ve put the costumes on the counter and slid them over, or held the far end of the bag. Instead, he grasped it all the way down one side, the side closest to Wei Ying, and brushed against his hand.
So. There’s a chance. Which means it is time for Wei Ying to make a move before they leave the store and he never sees them again. Thankfully, he’s a very smart person and so he has a plan. He’s going to write his number on the receipt. It’s a classic, can’t go wrong. Then, when Lan Zhan gets home, he’ll see the number and he’ll text Wei Ying to set up a date and they’ll live happily ever after.
He scans the costumes, reads out the total, and watches, heart beating furiously in his chest, as Lan Zhan slides his card through the card reader. It’s almost time. The receipt is going to start printing any second now.
He grabs the receipt and slides it onto the counter, trying to be as subtle as he can as he reaches out for a pen -
“I do not require my receipt.”
“What?” Wei Ying looks up, eyes wide.
“We have tried on the costumes, I know they fit. There is no need for a receipt,” Lan Zhan says, crushing Wei Ying’s plan, and with it his hopes and dreams for getting railed and also becoming a stepfather.
Fuck.
Wei Ying wilts at his seemingly foolproof plan turning out to be, well, not so foolproof.
Okay, no, he can save this. He can save this.
“You - you should take your receipt anyway.” He scribbles his number on the paper as he talks to Lan Zhan. “What if you change your mind? Or find a really cool bat costume or something and decide to return these? Can’t do that without a receipt. Receipts are very important, Lan Zhan.”
“We will not change our minds. That would be disrespectful to the time and care you have shown us today,” Lan Zhan insists, sounding earnest. He’s really too good.
Wei Ying forces out a laugh. “My time? No, who cares about my time? Don’t worry about it. It’s A-Yuan’s first Halloween trick or treating, which is very special. You should definitely take the receipt to be safe. Or like, as a keepsake? A receipt from your first Halloween costumes. Isn’t that special? You probably can’t keep the costumes, because who has that kind of storage space, right? But a receipt, that’s an easy and small thing to keep, so you should take it and keep it.” He’s babbling, he’s absolutely babbling once again and fuck Lan Zhan probably thinks there’s something wrong with him.
“If it is that important-”
“It is!” Wei Ying nods vigorously.
Lan Zhan reaches his hand out for the receipt.
Success. Fuck yes.
…And then immediately looks down at it.
Wei Ying’s eyes go wide as he feels his chest tighten. No. No. Lan Zhan isn’t supposed to look until he leaves the store. That way, if Wei Ying is reading into things and Lan Zhan gives zero shits about him, Wei Ying won’t have to be rejected in person. He’d just look at his phone repeatedly for a week and feel a sinking disappointment whenever there was no new text from an unknown number. Which yes, would suck, but at least he could lick his wounds in private.
Lan Zhan frowns at the receipt. Fuck. He must be angry that Wei Ying did this in front of his son. Was that inappropriate of him?
“There are scribbles on the receipt,” Lan Zhan says.
“What?”
Lan Zhan turns the receipt around so Wei Ying can take a look. Instead of writing his phone number legibly, he’d made a mess of it and written the numbers on top of each other so it looks like a mass of scribbles instead of an intelligible phone number. That’s what he gets for trying to be subtle and not look at the receipt as he wrote.
“Oh. Ha, well, okay, funny story, Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying fiddles with the poofy sleeve of his shirt. “Or I guess not really funny at all?” He takes a breath for courage and pushes on, “That’s meant to be my phone number.”
Lan Zhan’s lips part and his eyes widen as he looks back down to the receipt and then up at Wei Ying. “Your number?”
“Yeah, in case you-”
“Hey,” a man barrels up to the counter and stands next to Lan Zhan, “I bought this last week and need to return it. It has a spill on it.” He holds out a military costume that has a giant red stain in the middle.
Fuck’s sake.
“Sorry, I’m in the middle of helping another customer-”
The man interrupts him, “It’s completely unreasonable for you to sell a costume for $60 that has a stain on it. The level of service at this establishment is abysmal I -”
“Did you spill red wine on the costume?” Lan Zhan demands, staring down at the blotchy red stain.
“W-w-what? No - no, of course I didn’t,” the man sputters.
Lan Zhan’s gaze hardens. “You are suggesting a red wine stain was on the costume sold in the store.”
“Yeah, I mean look at that guy-” he gestures to Wei Ying “-he probably drinks when customers aren’t around. Look at all the eyeliner he’s wearing.”
“Hey, what does my eyeliner have to do with anything?” Wei Ying protests. Since when is there a correlation between eyeliner and drinking habits? He does love a good red wine, but this guy certainly doesn’t need to know that.
“The employees here are professional and hardworking. Do not tell lies. You spilled wine on the costume and now want to cheat them.” Lan Zhan’s brow furrows as he adds, “Go see a dry cleaner.”
“But-”
“Go. See. A. Dry. Cleaner,” Lan Zhan, Wei Ying’s hero, reiterates. “Learn to take better care of your property. Do not lie and cheat others. Go.”
The man withers under the force of Lan Zhan’s glare and bumbles out of the store. It’s hot. Another thing to add to the list of things that do it for Wei Ying - hot dads who are gentle and nice with their kids but able to be mean when the situation calls for it.
“Good job, Baba!” Lan Yuan calls from the side, where he is currently busy pretending to be a witch stirring a bubbling cauldron.
“Man, I wish I could do that. Thanks Lan Zhan, if you weren’t here I would’ve had to accept the return.” Wei Ying rolls his eyes and says mockingly, “The customer is always right.”
“That man will never be right,” Lan Zhan says as he watches the man slink back to his car. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out his phone, unlocking it and holding it out. His long, slender fingers, perfect except for the purple marker smudge on his pinky, wrap around the edges of his phone. “Your handwriting is atrocious. Please enter your number in my phone instead.”
Wei Ying barks out a laugh and grabs the phone to type in his number. “Savage, Lan Zhan. I wasn’t even looking at the receipt when I wrote that. My writing isn’t normally that bad.”
“Hm,” Lan Zhan’s voice is tinged with disbelief as he takes his phone back. He types something and says, “I have sent a message so you have my number as well.”
“Cool.” Wei Ying grabs his phone and sees a simple Hello, this is Lan Zhan message on his lockscreen. As if he wouldn’t know you it was from otherwise. He feels his lips turning up into a grin; the message is so endearingly straight forward.
“Wei Ying?”
He looks up just in time to see Lan Zhan take a deep breath. “Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow?” Lan Zhan asks.
“Yes,” Wei Ying responds immediately, warmth bubbling up through his chest. “I’d like that.”
“Good,” a smile, small, like the first hints of moonlight brightening the night sky, crosses Lan Zhan’s face.
“Good,” Wei Ying echoes, meeting with him a smile as bright as the sun.
He can’t wait.