Work Text:
Ye Baiyi was in trouble.
Not that this was much of a novelty really, but this time he definitely was in trouble. The lovely young man with the high cheekbones seated opposite of him was oddly charming, in spite of his prickly demeanour. Ye Baiyi couldn’t look away from him – the long dark hair, full lips, dark eyes and oh yes, did he mention those cheekbones already?
Yes, the full pink lips were currently sneering, and the dark wing-like brows were drawn together, and the sharp cheekbones were stained red with anger, but Jesus! Fucking! Christ! The man was absolutely delectable! Even when he was snarling.
”... don’t know who the hell you think you are, old man?! Are you saying I look desperate enough to fall for your stupid pick-up lines? Besides, I’m not gay!”
”I wasn’t saying you were”, Ye Baiyi said mildly. Well, mildly for him. ”I was just asking if you’d reconsider your stance on heterosexuality.”
He grinned insolently at the young man who hissed and cursed him and his ancestors, looking as unhappy as a wet cat.
”You could at least buy me tea before spouting all that crap”, the cantankerous but still very, very beautiful man groused. Yes, he was beautiful, and yes, Ye Baiyi was repeating himself, everyone was welcome to sue him because this was one fine specimen of a man!
”Oh, I’ll buy you tea and anything else you ask for gorgeous”, he purred. The other man rolled his eyes at him, but chose to stay silent.
Yes, Ye Baiyi was most certainly in trouble. He was captivated by the young man’s beauty the moment he laid eyes on him, but good-looking men were common enough. What really caught his interest was the fire. He’d watched the man for a while since entering the bar, and noticed he kept snarling and hissing at anyone trying to make a move on him. There were plenty of interested patrons, both male and female, who attempted seduction in different ways, but they all slunk away with tails between their legs after a few minutes. Though the man was beautiful, his vocabulary was definitely not.
It was a good thing Ye Baiyi wasn’t the kind of man who was attracted to sweet-natured, pliant men. Lately he hadn’t really been attracted to any men at all, to be honest. It wasn’t age – he wasn’t that old! It was just... the one-night stands had lost their allure, and he had more or less gotten used to being alone. And no one could really measure up to his dangerous, lovely Xie’er, only Xie’er was long gone and Ye Baiyi was tired.
The young beauty in the bar had sparked something in him that he had almost given up on. No, not just the horniness, although that did raise its head too. It was interest. The man intrigued him, and no one had intrigued him in years. He just had to try and poke him and see if he’d bite.
”So where’s my tea?” A raised eyebrow and a haughty tone couldn’t quite conceal the tiny tremor in the man’s voice.
”If I’m buying you tea, I want to know your name first”, Ye Baiyi said.
”It’s... Jiang Cheng.” It almost sounded like the young man had lost a bit of his vitriol.
”Jiang Cheng. Lovely name, but not as lovely as you. Tell me, Jiang Cheng, what do you fancy? What kind of tea, I mean.” He caught the other man’s gaze and wiggled his eyebrows comically.
”You are so cheesy it’s a wonder the neighbourhood rats aren’t all over you”, Jiang Cheng snorted.
”What makes you think they’re not?” Ye Baiyi grinned and wiggled his eyebrows again, making Jiang Cheng roll his eyes at him.
”I don’t know why I’m still here. Or why you’re still here. As I said, I’m not gay, and I’m not interested.”
”It’s my magnetic personality. You might not be gay, but you’re still considering going with me.”
”You smug bastard! Going with you where?” There were two red spots on those high cheekbones now, Ye Baiyi noted with satisfaction. Oh, this was fun! He hadn’t enjoyed himself this much in years. A gorgeous man with a fiery temper and a tongue that could flay a person at ten paces. He couldn’t help but wonder what else that tongue could do.
”YOU...!! You are an absolute asshole and my tongue is none of your business!”
Oops. He must have been thinking really loudly. Oh well. Ye Baiyi smirked and leaned a little closer to Jiang Cheng, so much so he was practically lying on the table.
”I’ll tell you what - why don’t you let me buy you a drink instead of tea? I might be an asshole, but I’m the lovable kind. I’d really like to get to know you, and not just in the biblical sense.”
”... ok?”
**********
”... and that was how the happy couple first met, and here I am, two years later, holding the best man’s speech!” Wei Ying concluded triumphantly, waving his champagne flute in the air with a beaming smile. The wedding guests hooted and whistled. The groom in the purple suit flicked a piece of the wedding cake at his brother, hitting him on the cheek.
”Who told you all that crap anyway, you miscreant?”
”Oh... I have it from the very best source”, Wei Ying grinned. He absolutely didn’t wink at the groom in the white suit. ”Very, err, credible.”