Archive of Our Own

Being born with a soulmark was supposed to be, like, really really cool. Everyone thought it was really really cool. Wei Ying’s jiejie, for example, had a soulmark—on her left shoulder, a pale pink thing—and the whole family thought that was super cool. And Wei Ying’s didi, Jiang Cheng, didn’t have a soulmark, and...he could tell that his uncle and auntie didn’t think that was super cool.

So if having a soulmark was super cool, having two should be even more exciting, right?

Ahaha.

“Look at him,” Auntie Yu had hissed to Uncle Jiang, speaking about him like he wasn’t even there. Wei Ying, six years old and confused, had just sat on the stairs and gazed up at them. Uncle Jiang gave him a reassuring smile, but was quickly yanked back into conversation by Auntie Yu. “Do you see? He has two.”

Uncle Jiang had sighed. “I don’t see how that means we shouldn’t take him in,” he said lowly to his wife. Wei Ying blinked. Two? Two what? “I’ve heard they sometimes disappear before they bloom, I don’t think it’s that crazy.”

Oh.

As they went on quietly arguing, Wei Ying looked down at his hands—more specifically, at his left wrist, where there was an almost iridescent blue-white dot marking his skin. One. He looked himself over a bit and noticed – oh, of course – that he was wearing shorts. She must have seen the similar, olive-green dot on the back of his knee. So, two.

He heard a light thump up the stairs. He didn’t have to look to know it was those other children he’d seen when he and Uncle Jiang had entered. Auntie Yu had sent them up to their rooms immediately, but he knew they were hiding on the landing, listening. He couldn’t blame them—that’s what he’d do.

“It looks like trouble, like scandal,” Auntie Yu was whispering when Wei Ying put his hand in the air.

“Excuse me,” he’d said, drawing the attention of both adults. He blinked his big eyes at them. “I don’t have two.”

Uncle Jiang’s eyebrows quirked a bit but Auntie Yu let out a huff. “Now what are you on about? We’ve seen them both.”

Wei Ying yanked his shirt up a bit to expose his ribs—and the bright orange soulmark stamped over his left side. “No, I’ve got four.”

Uncle Jiang had gone white as paper. Auntie Yu had turned the color of a plum. That was the first memory Wei Ying had in that house.

——

“Don’t they hurt?” Jiang Cheng had asked in a hushed whisper later that night, poking the pale yellow dot on the back of Wei Ying’s neck. Wei Ying hummed.

“Nope.” He lifted his face and grinned at him. “They’re just skin.”

Jiang Cheng frowned. He shifted a bit and pulled the bed covers up around his shoulders. “How come you have four?”

Wei Ying shrugged. “I dunno.” He leaned back on his loaned pillow. “I’ve always had them, how am I supposed to know?”

Jiang Cheng nodded, looking deeply thoughtful. The door to Jiang Cheng’s bedroom creaked open and they both whipped their heads over to look. Jiang YanLi’s head peered in. She pressed a finger to her lips as she slipped in and closed the door behind herself.

“You’re not supposed to be in here,” Jiang Cheng accused. He shifted beside Wei Ying—almost wiggling closer. “Mama will be angry at you.”

“I’m not going to stay away,” she scoffed. She came close to the bed and sat on the floor, smiling at them. “We just got a new brother, how could I stay away?”

“Brother?” Jiang Cheng looked Wei Ying over critically.

“Yes,” Jiang YanLi insisted. She sat up and grabbed each of their hands. “Yes, a new brother. Wei Ying is family, too, now. You know what that means, Jiang Cheng?”

“Look out for each other,” Jiang Cheng recited her speech dutifully, “support each other, and love each other.”

“Exactly. Wei Ying will look out for and support us from now on, and we will do the same for him.” She looked Wei Ying in the eyes and smiled. “Right, A-Ying?”

Wei Ying, who had never had a big sister before, loved this girl more than anything in the world at that moment. “Yes,” he said quickly. “Yes, you can count on me.”

——

Jiang YanLi’s soulmark bloomed in her second semester of college. She came home over spring break with a thousand pictures on her phone and she only wore shirts that showed off her shoulders the whole week.

Wei Ying couldn’t stay away from her.

“This is a nearby coffee place,” she babbled at him. He sat perched on a chair beside her, staring at the girl on her phone. “She and her friends studied there a lot last semester, now she and I go together just about every week…” Her smile was ever-present, these days. Wei Ying watched her scroll through a few more photos of her and her girlfriend. He rubbed his neck absently.

“Is she going to come here?” Jiang Cheng asked from her other side. He was making a strange expression.

“Of course!” Jiang YanLi turned her bright smile on him. “A-Die said MianMian can come for part of the summer break—or all summer, if she wants. She said she’d think about it.”

Jiang Cheng grumbled, looking disgruntled. This was pretty normal for him; he was well-settled into his 14-year-old grumpiness. Jiang YanLi placed a hand on his arm.

“I’ve told her all about the two of you,” she told them brightly, not-so-subtly switching the topic a bit. Jiang Cheng bought it well enough, looking a little less sour.

“Yeah?”

“Of course!” Jiang YanLi turned to face him more fully, and Wei Ying’s eyes were drawn to the pretty lotus bloomed across her shoulder. The center of the flower bloomed out from where her soulmark had been, but leaves and stems curled further away from it, over her shoulder and down her back, sprawling to disappear under the edge of her tank top.

It was beautiful. Wei Ying’s fingers brushed his wrist.

“You will love her, A-Cheng,” Jiang YanLi was assuring their brother. “She’s so, so funny, and super competitive. She would be totally into yours and A-Ying’s volleyball tournament thing.”

“It’s a lifelong tournament,” Jiang Cheng groused. “She can’t just suddenly join…”

“Maybe you can start something new, then,” Jiang YanLi suggested gently. Jiang Cheng shrugged, glancing over at Wei Ying, who was zoning out.

“What are you doing?”

Wei Ying blinked and leaned back, looking at him. “What?”

Jiang Cheng scoffed at him. Wei Ying rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Jiang YanLi. “Jiejie,” he started, his voice quietly curious, “how did you know?”

Jiang YanLi hummed and dropped her chin into her hands. Jiang Cheng grumbled about the return to this topic and stood, slouching away across the porch. “Elaborate,” his jiejie requested.

“Well, does it...feel like anything?” Wei Ying’s brows furrowed as he thought. “When you saw her? Or could you feel the soulmark...germinating?”

She laughed at his wording. “No, I didn’t feel anything physically happening. But…” She averted her eyes as her cheeks tinted pink. “I did feel...nervous, y’know? Warm, a little…” She stared off into the middle distance, thoughtful. Wei Ying waited, but she didn’t continue.

“So how long did it take to notice that it had happened? How did you find her again?”

“A-Ying, we had class together.” She laughed again. “My roommate pointed out that it had happened, and I was like ‘No way! It’s the first day of the semester!’ Well, I had to wait until Thursday because I don’t have the same schedule on Wednesdays, but I wore a sweater that hung off the shoulders so it was visible—even though it was January and still so cold.” She sighed dreamily. “The whole day I was sorta hoping, y’know? ‘I hope it was her,’ I kept kind of thinking…”

She trailed off again and Wei Ying shifted impatiently. “And? It was?”

Jiang YanLi blinked and looked at him again. “And it was.” She smiled. “She noticed my shoulder, though she was pretty bundled up herself, and approached me after class. She almost stripped trying to show me, to prove it was her!” She laughed, covering her mouth. She gazed sweetly at Wei Ying. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, leaning over to squeeze his arm. He realized he still had his right hand resting over the dot on his wrist. “You will know. It will work out. That’s the point of soulmates, isn’t it?”

Wei Ying nodded, hoping she was right.

——

Sometimes he worried he was broken. Why should he have four? What were they for? Were they all going to bloom? Did this spell disaster?

He’d read articles. Okay, stories. Okay...reddit posts, but still! Stories of people with two soulmarks, who had one bloom and lived happily—until their soulmate died. Young, more often than not. And then later, sometimes years later, their second one would bloom.

Each thread he clicked on made his chest seize. Even if he divided the rest of his life evenly into four sections and gave himself a normal life expectancy, that was less than twenty years with each soulmate. And it likely wouldn’t be even. Would he give thirty years of his life to someone only to lose them? Overcome his heartbreak and find his second soulmate only for them to leave him a year or two later?

He had to put his phone down before he had an actual attack.

He thought about Uncle Jiang’s theory from early on—that some of them would fade before they bloomed. Well, he’d done his research there, too. Most commonly, soulmarks faded before one hit their teens. Here he was, almost twenty-one, with four soulmarks and an anxiety disorder. Fantastic.

“Put your phone away,” Jiang Cheng hissed at him, smacking the side of his head and knocking his visor off-kilter. Wei Ying whined incoherently, adjusting his visor and glowering at Jiang Cheng.

“I’m doing research,” he complained. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes as he hoisted the bottle of syrup onto the counter.

“Well don’t do it at work, you’re gonna get in trouble again.”

“We’re the only ones here,” Wei Ying drawled, crossing his arms. Jiang Cheng sighed heavily and opened the syrup dispenser to refill it.

“It’s not like you’re going to find anything new,” he pointed out, very rudely in Wei Ying’s opinion. “Go clean the espresso machine while we’ve got a lull in business, please?”

Wei Ying mocked his tone under his breath, but he slouched to the front of the dinky, stupid coffee shop they worked at and grabbed the bits and ends off the espresso machine to dump them in the sink. He heard Jiang Cheng walking back and forth behind him, refilling napkins and whatever else dumb shit good employees did.

The bell rang over the door and Wei Ying heard Jiang Cheng swear under his breath.

“I hate this guy,” he muttered to Wei Ying. “He’s so rude, isn’t he?”

“Who?” Wei Ying glanced over his shoulder at the person making their way to the counter. He was just some guy—okay, he was kinda hot, with his hair hanging to his mid-back and his whole scholarly-model thing happening. But he didn’t look like anyone Wei Ying had served yet. “He looks fine,” he scoffed, turning back to wiping down the steamer on the espresso machine.

“You serve him, then,” Jiang Cheng grouched. He hauled up his box of straws and stomped into the back room again. Wei Ying let out a huff. Jiang Cheng might be a “””harder worker””” but what did it really matter when he was so shit at customer service?

He turned to the register as the guy approached and gave him a big smile. “Hi, what can I get for you?”

The man paused and blinked at him for a moment. Wei Ying’s smile faltered. Okay, maybe Jiang Cheng was right. Maybe this guy was rude enough to just stare at him for nearly a full thirty seconds.

“Uh.” The customer dropped his eyes. “Chai latte, please. Small.”

“Sure thing.” Wei Ying pressed the buttons on the register. “Whole milk okay?”

“Soy, please.”

“Absolutely.” No, see, he wasn’t so bad! Wei Ying put his bright grin back on. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

“Name?”

“Lan Zhan.”

Wei Ying snatched up a cup and scrawled the name over the side before jotting down the order beside it. He turned to yell over his shoulder, “Jiang Cheng! Come here.” He clicked the button to finish the order and gave the customer the price.

Jiang Cheng shuffled back out and Wei Ying handed him the cup without looking, tapping the button to authorize card payment. “Make this, would you? I’m still cleaning the monster.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t take the cup or say anything. Wei Ying turned to him as the customer went about making his payment with the little pinpad. Jiang Cheng was staring at his hand. Wei Ying blinked and looked down.

Pale blue leaves and flowers were scrawled across his arm. The petals were sharp and elegant, the thin leaves curling neatly around his forearm. At the edges, he could see the plants still spreading, pointing towards the inner crook of his elbow.

“No fucking way,” Jiang Cheng deadpanned. Wei Ying looked up, panicking, and they both turned to the man at the counter, still half-bent over the card reader, wide eyes locked on Wei Ying’s arm. “This guy is one of them?” Jiang Cheng asked, his voice shooting up an octave.

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Ying hissed, turning to him. He mouthed at him to shut up and Jiang Cheng frowned.

“I.” Wei Ying whipped back to face the man at the counter. His eyes were drawn to his hand—to the leaves and flowers flowing from under the cuff of his sleeve and across the back of it. “I have to leave.”

He blinked and looked up at the man’s eyes, which were wide and manic. “No,” he blurted without thinking. Jiang Cheng reached forward and grabbed the receipt from the machine.

“You haven’t gotten your latte?” he tried, waving the receipt a little. The man answered by snatching the receipt from him - which made Jiang Cheng scowl - and grabbing a pen, scrawling a line of numbers across the back.

“I’m sorry,” he rushed out softly. He slid the receipt towards Wei Ying. “I just—need a moment.”

At that, he turned and left the shop.

Wei Ying stared at the closed door with his mouth open. Jiang Cheng shifted uncomfortably and then pointed a finger at him.

“You are not going home early,” he said sternly. He snatched the cup from Wei Ying’s limp hand and peered at it. “Your handwriting sucks. What does this say?”

Wei Ying blinked and looked down at his hand. “Lan Zhan.” He picked up the receipt. A phone number was jotted down on it in neat handwriting.

“Well fuck that guy, he sucks.”

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Ying rounded on him indignantly. “Shut up, you’re not allowed to say that!”

“What the hell!” Jiang Cheng gestured to the door. “He ran out on you!”

“It—!” Wei Ying waved his hands uselessly. “It’s a lot, okay!”

“He! Ran! Out!”

“Shut the fuck up, I’ll decide whether or not I’m mad about that.” Wei Ying stomped to the back of the store. He leaned against the shelving and went to cross his arms but stopped when he again caught sight of the flowers on his forearm.

Oh, god, holy fuck. He put his hands in his hair, pushing his visor up. He met one. He met his soulmate. Actually, he didn’t blame the guy for leaving at all—he wasn’t sure he was ready for this.

What would he think when he saw the other soulmarks? His anxiety about the timeline of multiple soulmarks rose inside of him. What if something bad happened to him? Was he a harbinger of bad things for this man? Was that why he left?

“Are you gonna text him, or what, then?” Jiang Cheng’s voice grumbled. Wei Ying groaned and slid down the shelves noisily to curl his legs to his chest.

“This sucks,” he gasped. “Maybe it is better if he’s left and we never see each other again.”

“What the fuck?” Jiang Cheng sighed, crouching down beside his brother. “No,” he said firmly, glaring at Wei Ying. “You are not some kind of omen. God, I can’t believe you’re still on this shit…” He pressed the receipt to Wei Ying’s cheek and he made a noise, finally looking over. “Text him, you idiot, or I’ll never hear the end of your moaning.”

Jiang Cheng got up and returned to the front of the store. Wei Ying stuck his tongue out at his back before looking down at the numbers.

Essentially, his options were to text this number, or never speak to that man again. He pulled out his phone.

——

He knocked on the door and clenched his hands behind his back. His teeth worried at his bottom lip as he listened to the lock turning before the door opened. He felt himself relax immediately, smiling as he met Lan Zhan’s light eyes.

“Wei Ying,” his boyfriend greeted as he stepped aside and gestured for him to enter. Wei Ying flounced into the entryway and stepped out of his shoes quickly.

“Hiya, Lan Zhan! How was your day? Did your composition teacher like your piece? Well, of course she did, everything you write is wonderful, after all.”

Lan Zhan hummed in vague assent and Wei Ying turned to grin at him. His eyes were focused on the ratty duffle bag slung over Wei Ying’s shoulder. He tilted an eyebrow questioningly.

“Ah.” Wei Ying rubbed his nose, the anxiety coming back. “I was gonna ask beforehand—you can say no, of course—but, um...can I stay the whole weekend?”

Lan Zhan blinked at him for a beat before nodding. “Yes. Of course.” He hesitated. “If that’s what you want.”

Wei Ying sighed at him. “Of course it’s what I want. Can I put this in your room?” He turned and headed that way without waiting for a response, needing the moment to collect himself.

It had been three months since the day they’d met. And everything was wonderful, which was terrible, because Wei Ying was about to ruin it.

In hindsight, Jiang Cheng had been right. “What the fuck?” he’d asked incredulously when Wei Ying had declared his plan—which was to keep his other soulmarks hidden at all times forever and never tell Lan Zhan about them. “You can’t be serious.” Jiang Cheng had actually sat up, at that point, his leg still dangling over the edge of the couch.

“Of course I’m serious,” Wei Ying had bitten back from his sprawl on the floor on the other side of the living room. “I can hide most of them with my clothes. I’ll cover the one on my neck with concealer and always wear my hair down.”

“You’re setting yourself up for disaster. You do know that, right?”

“No I’m not! Explain to me how this isn’t foolproof!”

Jiang Cheng had given him a withering look. “Don’t people who get married and shit, like...get naked around each other?”

That had shut Wei Ying up pretty quick. It didn’t keep him from trying anyway, but it did plant the idea in his head early on that his plan was not sustainable.

Oh well, he thought to himself as he slung his bag off his shoulder onto the foot of Lan Zhan’s bed. They had their run. Three months was a pretty long time, right? Wei Ying could live with that. Even though he was pretty sure his whole body was gonna catch fire and melt into ooze the moment the disappointment and rejection settled into Lan Zhan’s expression. Even though he was pretty sure he was literally going to die when Lan Zhan asked him to leave. He rubbed his forehead miserably.

“Wei Ying.” He whipped around. Lan Zhan hovered in the doorway, looking somehow worried.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Wei Ying asked, immediately forgetting about his own stupid problems. Lan Zhan stepped forward.

“Are you sure?” he asked softly, and Wei Ying winced. Ah. Lan Zhan had noticed.

Noticed him pulling away when making out got a little too heated. Noticed him quickly declining offers to stay the night—“To just sleep beside you,” Lan Zhan had been swift to assure him, and it had broken Wei Ying’s heart to still refuse him. Noticed him always adjusting and checking his clothes.

The thing is, Wei Ying knew Lan Zhan would likely not react well to this. But he still hoped really hard. Because he really wanted to do all those things—sleep beside him and wake up next to him and lounge casually without worrying about his shirt riding up. And he really wanted to let making out get heated and then get super heated and then hopefully end in Lan Zhan railing him passionately.

“I’m sure,” Wei Ying breathed. He pressed his lips together. Should he just do it now? Get it over with? He hadn’t really thought this far ahead, he realized now that he was here.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan stepped closer, the worry more evident now, and placed a tentative hand on Wei Ying’s shoulder. Wei Ying looked at him hopelessly. “What is it?”

Wei Ying let out a long breath. “I have something to tell you,” he admitted. “Well, uh, show you, I guess? And I think it’s going to make you mad.”

Lan Zhan shook his head. “Please. Tell me. I cannot believe it’s that bad.”

Wei Ying rubbed his face and stepped back. “Okay.” He nodded to himself. “Okay.” He gripped the hem of his shirt and stripped it off.

Lan Zhan took a half-step back, blinking in surprise. Wei Ying watched his eyes zero in on the bright mark on his ribs. Watched his brow furrow.

“Wait, hold on,” he rushed to say before he lost his nerve and Lan Zhan said something like ’Well, two isn’t so bad.’ He fumbled with the button and zipper on his jeans before shoving them down. He flailed a little as he kicked them off and Lan Zhan stepped forward, his hands raised, but stopped when Wei Ying waved him off. He turned his back to him and raised his hands to gather his hair off of his neck. He held his pose shakily for a moment before he couldn’t take it. He dropped his hair and reached for his shirt, yanking it back on jerkily. He waited for Lan Zhan to say something, keeping his back to him, and every moment of silence seemed longer than the last. He looked at the flowers sprawled elegantly on his arm - gentians, Lan Zhan had informed him months ago, voice thick - and felt like he was going to throw up.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan finally whispered. Wei Ying’s shoulders rose a bit. “Turn around?”

Wei Ying took a deep breath, but did as requested. “Lan Zhan,” he said quickly. “I can go. You don’t need to—“

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan cut him off. Wei Ying’s mouth snapped shut and Lan Zhan let out a breath. “May I touch you?”

Wei Ying’s brows furrowed. Why would he want to? “Sure?” he hedged, and all at once Lan Zhan was wrapped around him, holding him close and rubbing his back. Wei Ying grabbed onto him instinctively.

“This does not make me want you to leave,” Lan Zhan breathed into his hair. Wei Ying’s fingers curled against his back.

“Are you sure?” His voice wavered more than he wanted to admit.

In answer, Lan Zhan’s hands trailed over his body, one rising to the back of his neck and gripping lightly and the other sliding around to rest over the front of his ribs.

“Part of you,” he whispered. Wei Ying’s eyes were stinging as he blinked at the ceiling. “And I love you.”

Wei Ying started sobbing. Lan Zhan pulled him over to sit at the foot of the bed, staying close, and Wei Ying clung to his shoulders as he cried.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,” he gasped roughly. “What if something bad happens to y—“

“If it did, that would not be your fault.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” Wei Ying gasped. He moved his hands to cup Lan Zhan’s face. His boyfriend shook his head.

“Nor I you.” He turned his face and pressed a kiss to one of Wei Ying’s palms. He held the eye contact intently. “Which is why you won’t be leaving.”

Wei Ying grabbed him for a kiss, and Lan Zhan responded strongly. Wei Ying was halfway into his lap before Lan Zhan stopped him.

“Wei Ying, don’t push yours—“

“Please,” Wei Ying gasped. He wrapped his arms firmly around Lan Zhan’s neck and straddled his lap, fitting himself against him snugly. “I want you to fuck me so bad…”

Lan Zhan made a low sound. “You still haven’t calmed down. You’re upset.” It sounded like he was forcing himself to say the words. He pushed on Wei Ying’s shoulders gently but firmly. “I want you,” he admitted in a whisper, his ears flushed red, and Wei Ying groaned. “But,” Lan Zhan went on, “take another moment. Let me make you dinner. We can do this when you’re in the proper state of mind.”

Wei Ying huffed but let himself be pushed off. “Lan Zhan, why’re you so good,” he asked rhetorically. Then he bit his lip, the tears coming back, because fuck Lan Zhan was good. He was going to let him stay, and he was going to cook him dinner, and later he was going to fuck him until he couldn’t see. He wasn’t going to break up with him just because he had three more soulmarks. Wei Ying wiped at his eyes and Lan Zhan cupped his face, his expression soft.

“Wei Ying deserves good things,” he murmured to him. “I can only hope to be as good as you deserve.”

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whined. “Please fuck me…”

Lan Zhan huffed a laugh and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “After dinner. Take a moment for yourself.”

Lan Zhan stood and left the room and Wei Ying flopped onto his back with a groan.

——

Fitting, that it should happen when Lan Zhan wasn't with him and while they were in a different city.

"I don't know," Wei Ying was gasping over the phone to Lan Zhan, huddled into himself just outside of the public restroom he'd fled three minutes ago.

"Which one is it?" his fiancé's low, calm voice asked, doing all the heavy lifting of pushing the problem solving along.

"The one on my leg, that's why I noticed when I went to take a shit—"

"How many hours ago could it have been?"

"I don't know!"

"You do." Wei Ying wasn't sure exactly how Lan Zhan managed to sound both stern and comforting. "How many places have you been since you last saw that part of your leg?"

"Um." Wei Ying squeezed his eyes shut. "Uh, s-since I left the hotel. I went, um, to the shopping street I mentioned, and also the gallery Jiejie told me about."

"Anywhere else?"

"Well, yes, a cafe, and a 7/11, and a couple of buses--"

"But you didn't speak to anyone?"

"Not really." Wei Ying sniffled and wiped at his eyes. He heard Lan Zhan's breathing change a little.

"I'm sorry. You're crying."

"Not from anything you did, sweetheart," Wei Ying assured him. "Stressed out."

"Come back to the hotel," Lan Zhan requested, his voice softer. "I'm nearly done with work, I'll be back upstairs in two hours tops. We'll talk it through, and tomorrow we can try to retrace your steps."

Wei Ying's breath caught. "Oh."

"Wei Ying?"

"No, nothing…" Wei Ying pressed his hand to his mouth for a moment. "I'm coming back. I want to see you...I don't think I can handle crowded public spaces alone anymore today."

"Mn. Let me know when you get to our room. I have to go back."

Wei Ying bit his lip. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too, Wei Ying."

As he hung up, Wei Ying was thinking about that affectionate way Lan Zhan said his name--like an endearment. He touched his calf absently through his jeans.

How would this person say his name?

He was terrified. That was probably the best word for the emotion locking up all his joints as he made his way back onto the bus headed in the direction of the stupidly big hotel Lan Zhan's work conference was taking place in. What was this person like? What would they think of him?

What would they think of Lan Zhan?

Wei Ying was in the shower already when he remembered he was supposed to text Lan Zhan. He leaned out of the shower and sent a quick, wet message before returning to the shower floor and washing his hair. If they were actually going to track down another of Wei Ying's soulmates, he wanted his hair to be clean.

He heard Lan Zhan come in. He kept scrubbing his face even as the bathroom door opened. "Wei Ying?" his fiancé called quietly.

"Yep, here."

"You sound like you're on the floor."

"I am."

"Are you okay?"

"Um." Wei Ying paused to raise his head and rinse his face. "Yeah."

"Okay. I'll leave you to it, then." There was a pause and then the door closed. Wei Ying let out a tight breath, his shoulders relaxing, and then scrubbed at his face some more.

Lan Zhan was standing at the window when Wei Ying finally came out of the bathroom. Then Wei Ying watched him flit over to the other corner of the room and fiddle anxiously with the hotel notepad. He sighed.

"Lan Zhan." The other man paused his fidgeting and looked up. "We don't have to, um." Wei Ying lifted his hands and twisted his wet hair up against the back of his head. If he'd had a clip, he might have secured it in place; as it was, he let it fall around his shoulders again. "We don't have to find this person."

Lan Zhan's eyebrows rose. "Why?"

Wei Ying huffed. "What do you mean why? Because it's…" Wei Ying twisted his hands and glanced around. "Everything will be different, y'know?"

Lan Zhan was quiet for a moment. "Wei Ying," he eventually said. "Everything is already different, isn't it?"

Wei Ying's shoulders hunched. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He wiped a drop of water from his temple.

"Wei Ying." Lan Zhan sighed and moved to sit on the bed. "Come here."

Wei Ying rushed to join him, settling close even though he felt like he should be preparing for their inevitable separation. Lan Zhan put his hands on him, his shoulder and cheek, and looked at him steadily.

"This is change I've been waiting for," Lan Zhan said to him quietly. "Expecting."

Wei Ying winced. "Lan Zhan, no...I'm sorry—"

"No. No, no sorrys." Lan Zhan's fingers brushed over his face. "Wei Ying, I hope you understand why pretending to believe that I would never see another of your soulmarks bloom would be setting myself up for disappointment."

"But I—" Wei Ying held onto Lan Zhan in return. "I was—I thought it meant you'd d—"

"Yes," Lan Zhan cut him off. "Yes, I understand. I've thought of that too. But I've thought of many scenarios that could play out. This is certainly not the worst one."

"Not the…"

"The worst," Lan Zhan murmured as he kissed Wei Ying's face, "would be losing a life with you, and leaving you behind to face loss and uncertainty entirely alone."

Wei Ying was certainly crying. He rubbed at his cheek. "Lan Zhan…"

"I want to find your other soulmates," Lan Zhan admitted. "All of them. I want to meet and know them all."

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying grabbed his fiance and pulled him tight against him, sobbing a little into his shoulder. "Fuck's sake…"

"Unless you don't want to. In which case, I will be trying very hard to convince you to do it anyway."

"I want to," Wei Ying sobbed. "I can't believe you. You're too good…"

"No." Lan Zhan rubbed his back and Wei Ying sniffled and wiped the wet from his eyes. Lan Zhan pulled back to look at him.

"Tomorrow, we retrace your steps?"

Wei Ying nodded. "As best we can, anyway."

——

The best they could was good enough.

Wei Ying stepped off the bus and immediately stopped to fiddle with his capris. He'd folded them up a bit extra, just to make sure the flowers on his calf - sunflowers - were as visible as possible. He tried not to think about how he looked, today. Two bloomed soulmarks on display, the pair to one standing beside him, also fully visible. It wasn't exactly normal for Lan Zhan to leave so much of his soulmark uncovered, as he had something of a proclivity for long sleeves, but today he had worn short sleeves.

"I want them to know," Lan Zhan had told Wei Ying as they'd dressed that morning. "Right away."

"Know?" Wei Ying had asked.

"The situation. No misunderstandings, no surprises."

And, well, that had simply made sense.

The shopping district had been arduous, but thankfully many people there were too busy for Wei Ying to have chatted with them much. The previous day, he'd mostly spoken to some of the more elderly shopkeepers and artisans, and today he mainly stopped by just to say hello again. The couple of stores he'd actually purchased anything from had turned up nothing, and now, hot from the midday sun and relatively worn out already, they made it to the art gallery Jiang YanLi had mentioned that Wei Ying had already made his rounds of.

"At least there's AC," Wei Ying sighed as they stepped in. He hooked his arm around Lan Zhan's and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

"Mn," Lan Zhan hummed back. "Keep an eye out for anyone you spoke with."

This would be a bit more difficult. Wei Ying had exchanged words with tons of people in this gallery the day before when he'd been less anxious and in brighter spirits. Artists, employees, other guests. He was starting to get extremely worried they wouldn't find the person, and then tomorrow they would leave Qinghe, and—

"This piece is lovely," Lan Zhan commented, pausing by a sculpture. It was very well done, made of entirely clay, but with so many delicate details—the cage, the bird's legs, the fine twigs of the branch said bird was escaping onto.

Wei Ying smiled a little. "I thought you'd like this one. I remember it from yesterday."

"I do like it." Lan Zhan gave him a sly look. "You—"

"You!"

Something crashed into Wei Ying's side, throwing him off-balance, and he fell heavily against Lan Zhan who caught and stabilized him as well as he could. Wei Ying was preoccupied by the loudly babbling mass of limbs that had grabbed his hands when it was done tackling him.

"You! I saw you yesterday! We talked a little! Your soulmark, it matches mine, mine bloomed yesterday, this is all out of order, here—”

Wei Ying watched curiously as the grinning man beside him tried to yank up the leg of his skinny jeans enough to show the soulmark. He was having a lot of trouble. Wei Ying put his hands on his shoulders.

"No, no need, I remember you!" Wei Ying assured him. The man paused and looked up. Wei Ying blinked back at him. He was pretty—his eyes were clear and bright, his smile infectious on pink lips, his cheeks round and sweet. Wei Ying felt something familiar. He could love this man.

"I remember you too! Man, I was really hoping you'd come back! I wasn't sure it was you, but I had a hunch! And here you are! What's that?"

Wei Ying blinked back to reality and realized that his soulmate - whose name he still didn't know - had noticed the soulmark on his hand and arm. He also seemed to finally register Lan Zhan's presence. His eyes shot from soulmark to Lan Zhan to soulmark to engagement ring to Wei Ying's eyes—

"I'm so glad to meet you," Wei Ying found himself saying. "I really am. This is—amazing. Unthinkable. I'm happy." He wasn't really sure who he was assuring at this point, but he squeezed the man's hands in his own. "Can you slip away from the gallery for a bit? I don't even know your name, fuck. We should talk."

The man hesitated a moment. "Uh, Nie HuaiSang." He bit his lip. "Yeah, they've known this might happen. Um. Yeah, one second."

He pulled his hands from Wei Ying's and held a finger up to indicate he should stay put. Wei Ying watched him hurry across the gallery and talk to a tall woman. He clasped his hands together in front of him and felt Lan Zhan come up behind him.

"He is cute," Lan Zhan observed.

"Hey, whose soulmate is he supposed to be?" he joked weakly and without laughing. Lan Zhan hummed ambiguously.

"Being soulmates is not the only reason to love another person."

Wei Ying turned to him, eyebrows raised. "Lan Zhan, are y—"

"Okay!" Nie HuaiSang was walking towards them again, a backpack slung over one shoulder. Although he was a bit more guarded and he eyed Lan Zhan warily, he was still bright. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"Um." Wei Ying's brain promptly deleted the file titled "locations." "Lan Zhan?"

"Coffee, Nie HuaiSang?" Lan Zhan asked in his most calm and soothing voice. Nie HuaiSang blinked at him a bit.

"Yes, coffee sounds very nice," he eventually managed to respond.

"I love coffee," Wei Ying started babbling as they made their way out of the gallery. He wasn't sure what he should do with his hands—he wanted to touch Lan Zhan in some grounding way and also felt drawn to touch Nie HuaiSang but felt like he shouldn't do either of those. "I used to work in a cafe, y'know. That's where Lan Zhan and I met, actually. Stupid, huh?"

"Not stupid, no," Nie HuaiSang replied uncertainly. Wei Ying laughed half-heartedly.

"Um," he started, wracking his brain for words to say as they stepped onto the street. He blinked in the hot sun. "We actually don't live in Qinghe. We're here out of town, from Gusu."

"Oh." Nie HuaiSang nodded a little.

"We don't know the area," Lan Zhan continued in Wei Ying's stead in that gentle voice of his. "Is there a coffee shop you recommend?"

Nie HuaiSang actually managed to look at Lan Zhan. He shifted his bag on his shoulder. "Yeah, I know a place." He nodded down the street and Wei Ying and Lan Zhan followed as he led the way.

"My jiejie told me about this gallery," Wei Ying went on. "I might have mentioned yesterday. She came to this exhibit last week with her fiancée and really loved it."

The word fiancée had Nie HuaiSang glancing at the matching bands on their fingers. He tried for a smile. "I'm glad," he said. "My brother is actually the one who convinced me to submit for the exhibit. Older siblings, huh…"

"That is super interesting," Wei Ying exclaimed. "Older siblings, huh…"

Lan Zhan squeezed his hand and Wei Ying's thoughts flitted momentarily to Lan Huan and the fact that he was one of the only people in their lives who was unaware of Wei Ying's multiple soulmarks. Oh man. Cat was out of the bag now, huh?

No need to think of it now, Wei Ying reminded himself as they followed Nie HuaiSang into a tiny coffee shop squeezed between two larger restaurants. It looked like a real locals' place, not the sort of place tourists like them usually went to. The chairs and tables were blandly mismatched and there were magazines available in racks near every table.

"I get the macchiato," Nie HuaiSang told Wei Ying. "What sort of coffee do you guys usually drink?"

"A macchiato sounds great to me," Wei Ying agreed brightly. "Lan Zhan prefers tea, though. Do they have anything?"

When their drink orders were placed, Wei Ying sat precariously at a table with his fiancé and his soulmate. No, with both of his soulmates. Were they allowed to all be fiancés? Were there provisional laws for situations like these?

Nie HuaiSang seemed to have rallied his courage, because as soon as they sat down he started talking. "I don't mean to sound entitled," he said in an entitled voice, "but I'm pretty confused. You have a matching soulmark with me, but you also have…" His eyes dropped to Lan Zhan's and Wei Ying's wrists. Both of them pulled their hands under the table in unison, and Nie HuaiSang seemed unable to help the twitch of a smirk that crossed his face.

"So, this is pretty world-altering for me, too, just so we're all on the same page," Wei Ying assured him shakily.

"And for me," Lan Zhan pointed out. "We are all of us in a different situation now than we were yesterday morning."

Nie HuaiSang sighed and some of that indignant fight went out of him. "I guess when I think about it, it's obvious," he relented. "You have two soulmarks."

Wei Ying swallowed nervously, but he kept his promise to himself. "I have four," he admitted quietly.

Nie HuaiSang's eyebrows shot up and he stood. The barista called out their order just then and he turned robotically to march over and retrieve it for them. Wei Ying lifted his hands and pulled on his hair.

"This is a disaster."

"Yes, you'll go bald if you keep doing that."

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying complained, but he allowed his fiancé to grab his hands and place them firmly in his lap. Nie HuaiSang came back over to them and sat down, his expression clearer and calmer.

"Four?" he confirmed as he passed their beverages around. "Well, I'll be! Four?? Jesus. No, really, four?"

Wei Ying laughed anxiously. He gathered his hair off of the back of his neck. "Here, for proof, here's the third one."

Nie HuaiSang braced his hands on the table and leaned over to make out the shape of the pale yellow dot there. "Man," he sighed. He sat down again and sipped his coffee. He glanced between Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. "Well," he said. "I-I can see that the two of you are very happy. Very committed." He bit his lip and sipped his coffee again. "I would hate to…to mess anything up."

"You are not," Lan Zhan said before Wei Ying could even open his mouth. He looked over to watch Lan Zhan as he spoke. "I have known about Wei Ying's many soulmarks since early on in our relationship. I, at least, have always been aware of the potential futures that came with them." Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying. "Although we are nervous and this is new, neither of us are upset." His eyes flashed to Nie HuaiSang again. "We are both open to exploring whatever comes."

Nie HuaiSang was surprised and clearly touched by what Lan Zhan was saying—and that Lan Zhan was the one saying it. He sipped his coffee again and looked at Wei Ying.

"Awesome," he breathed. He cleared his throat. "Um, s-so then, tell me about yourselves, what are you doing in Qinghe? What do you do for a living? When did you meet?"

——

"I'm jealous," Nie HuaiSang complained.

Wei Ying huffed a laugh and glanced from his book to his boyfriend. "About what?" he asked, tapping his hand on his chest. HuaiSang grabbed his wrist.

"This," he explained. His fingers traced the lines of Wei Ying's matching soulmark with Lan Zhan. Wei Ying's skin was left warm in the wake of his touch. "It's so pretty. And so obvious, clearly seen! I wish I had this one, too."

"You could always get it tattooed," Wei Ying said mildly as he used his nose to turn the page with difficulty.

HuaiSang went still for a moment before he started flailing. Wei Ying raised an eyebrow and looked over at him.

"That's a great idea!! Do you know anyone who does good tattoos, in light colors like this?"

Wei Ying laughed. He put his book aside and wrapped his arms around HuaiSang as he planted a fond kiss on his mouth. "I'll ask around."

"Would Lan Zhan feel weird about it?"

"No," Wei Ying assured him. He laved his tongue into his boyfriend's mouth and basked in his hum.

"Should he get ours, too?" HuaiSang whispered.

Wei Ying paused. Warm pleasure flooded through his veins, tracing the stems and leaves of his bloomed soulmarks.

"Oh," he sighed. He hugged HuaiSang close. "I would like that so much."

"Do you think he will??"

Wei Ying chuckled. "No." He kissed HuaiSang's neck. "But it's a lovely thought."

"I can still get the blue one tattooed, right?"

Wei Ying kissed him again. "Well, we might as well ask him."

——

Wei Ying sat holding HuaiSang's hand as the droning buzz of the tattoo machine numbed away at his mind. His eyes traced the beautiful, flowing lines of the tattoo that now graced HuaiSang's left hand—a perfect match to him and Lan Zhan. It was still a bit red, but it looked amazing. He was so happy.

"I do lots of imitation soulmark work," Xiao XingChen said brightly. "But it's been a real honor to work on your project. I think I learned a lot, too, copying your real soulmarks."

"We're so grateful to you," Wei Ying told him sincerely for the billionth time. Xiao XingChen smiled pleasantly at him as he popped open a jar.

"I'm sorry, Nie HuaiSang," he said. "This is the last step, and then we'll cover it. Well, technically the last step is the healing, which will take a few weeks, and you need to keep up on applying the ointment—"

HuaiSang groaned and turned his head to the side, holding his arm out. "Just do it." Wei Ying squeezed his hand. Xiao XingChen chuckled and applied a thick layer of petroleum jelly with a gentle hand before wrapping HuaiSang's arm securely in plastic.

"Take it off this evening," he instructed Wei Ying, who nodded. Song Lan came out of the other room and Wei Ying realized the tattoo gun had gone quiet.

"All done," Song Lan informed them professionally. "He may need some help walking, for a few minutes."

Wei Ying squeezed HuaiSang's hand one more time and then stood, following Song Lan into the other room. Lan Zhan was sitting up carefully on the edge of the table, looking a bit dizzy.

"There you go, darling," Wei Ying greeted him sweetly. His eyes flashed down to the pleasant, swirling greenery that now adorned his leg, but he collected his attention again to help Lan Zhan come out to the other room. Song Lan cleaned up a bit behind them. "How was it?" he asked Lan Zhan.

"Fine," Lan Zhan ground out, his jaw clenched. Wei Ying rubbed his back.

"I know it will hurt for a while…"

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan sat on the faded, comfortable couch beside HuaiSang again as Xiao XingChen prepared the camera again.

"After they've healed a bit, maybe you could come back so we could take pictures of all three together," he suggested. His long fingers adjusted the focus on the camera a bit, the dainty lines of a soulmark stretching from his fingers up his arm, around his elbow, and all the way to his shoulder under his shirt. It was a stormy grey color—a perfect match with Song Lan's. There were many flowers and plants present in it, which the two of them had chosen together when they'd designed it before tattooing it on each other. "We'll host a 'guess which one's the tattoo' game on our social media."

Wei Ying loved that idea. Lan Zhan and HuaiSang seemed too tired to agree to anything. When Song Lan came back out, Wei Ying helped Lan Zhan up and assisted with the positioning as Song Lan snapped some photos of the fresh tattoo.

"Thank you so much," HuaiSang was saying to Xiao XingChen in the background. "I didn't even know there were tattoo artists who specialize in this before Wei Ying found you guys."

"Not many do," Xiao XingChen said, repeating what he'd told Wei Ying. "But it's important work. Who says someone isn't your soulmate just because you weren't born with some arbitrary marks? Or even, who says they are just because you were?"

HuaiSang made a sympathetic sound as Wei Ying held Lan Zhan's shoulders and kept him steady so Song Lan could get a good shot of the back of his leg. "As for me…I know who they are to me."

Wei Ying looked over and met HuaiSang's eye. The two beamed at each other.

Wei Ying helped Lan Zhan sit down so Song Lan could apply petroleum jelly and wrap. Xiao XingChen chuckled. "If any more of your soulmarks bloom, Wei Ying, I do so hope that you'll honor us with your business again. I am enamored by your story and this project. We would be very happy to help all of you again."

HuaiSang shuddered at the thought but Wei Ying laughed, subconsciously rubbing at his neck where the yellow soulmark loomed over him. "We don't really know what to expect of our future," he admitted. "But you will always be the first we come to for something like this."

“I’m delighted.”

Wei Ying and HuaiSang fretted over Lan Zhan as they got into a taxi, both stressing about the inconvenient location for a healing tattoo. On the ride home, Wei Ying’s phone buzzed. He wiggled around to remove it from his pocket and check it.

Jiang YanLi
How is it going? I can’t imagine, I bet it hurts.

He smiled as he typed his reply.

Wei Ying
haha, i wouldn’t know, because i didn’t get one! huaisang and lan zhan say yeah, it hurts, though. but now its all finished!

Jiang YanLi
How exciting!! Oh, you absolutely have to send me pictures!

Wei Ying
of course i will!! i’ll let them get home and get some rest first, though. thank you, jiejie :)

Jiang YanLi
😊

——

“He’s not going,” Lan Zhan informed Wei Ying, typing something on his phone.

“Phooey,” Wei Ying grouched back as he slipped into his shoes. “How will we know if it’s good music with neither of the famed Lan brothers there to give their opinion?”

HuaiSang snorted and pulled on his jacket. Lan Zhan rolled his eyes. “You know we know little about rock music. Your sister and Luo QingYang are much better company.”

“Lan Zhan, you’ve gotta call her MianMian, have you seen her face whenever you call her ‘Luo QingYang’?”

Lan Zhan didn’t reply, giving him a kiss instead and then wrapping an arm around HuaiSang to give him the same. “Please have fun and be safe,” he requested of them.

“Of course we will,” HuaiSang assured him. “Have fun watching your seminar.”

Lan Zhan almost rolled his eyes. He didn’t, because he’s Lan Zhan, but he almost did.

The bus ride to downtown was quick and HuaiSang was messaging his own brother the whole way. “He’s narrowed down the dates for his visit,” he informed Wei Ying. Wei Ying liked Nie MingJue perfectly well, though he could be a bit overbearing. He had eagerly joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters Of The Polycule club and was in regular contact with Jiang YanLi and Lan Huan, which seemed to help, but he liked to plan visits every couple of months as well. Wei Ying rubbed his nose, marveling at how it was already time for another visit.

When they got to the music venue downtown, Jiang YanLi was waiting outside for them. She and HuaiSang greeted each other enthusiastically and she wrapped Wei Ying in a big hug.

“Thanks for coming to show your support,” she laughed. They headed inside and went to the bar to grab drinks. “I don’t know about the other band members, but I know MianMian still gets a little nervous sometimes and likes to see familiar faces in the crowd.”

“I get it,” Wei Ying intoned, sipping his beer.

“Sorry Lan Zhan couldn’t come,” HuaiSang said. “We’ll tell him how good it is and how much he missed out and he’ll come next time for sure.”

Jiang YanLi laughed again as she led them through the crowd towards the stage. “Wait to see if you think they are good, first!”

They found a spot to stand and watch. The venue was more like a bar with a stage, but there were lots of people milling about and talking as they waited for the band to come out. MianMian poked her head out of a back room and waved at YanLi, who waved back and blew her a kiss.

The band came out quietly and set up their things and HuaiSang eyed them all. He nudged Wei Ying and nodded at a small woman plugging in a keyboard. “She’s cool, I like her style.”

Wei Ying tilted his head and took in her heavy, sweeping skirt and torn lace top. “Yeah.” His eyes trailed over to the bassist. He had straight black hair that went almost to his waist. He was dressed a little more simply, in a t-shirt with large tears at the shoulders that had 男 painted repeatedly over the right half. Wei Ying nodded to him as well. “Whose hair is longer, his or Lan Zhan’s?”

HuaiSang hummed as the bassist turned around to fiddle with amp settings. There was some kind of embroidery in white over his back pants pocket, but it was too small and too far away to make out what it was. “His, probably.”

The lights went up on the stage and the band introduced themselves and started playing. HuaiSang hung back a bit and watched as Wei Ying and Jiang YanLi pushed closer to the stage, Wei Ying helping YanLi forge a path to the very front so she could cheer on her wife. The music was loud and angry but melodic all the same. After a couple of songs, MianMian dropped to her knees to give YanLi a deep kiss. HuaiSang chuckled at the corniness of it all.

Wei Ying laughed as he made his way back to HuaiSang. “They’re so icky,” he joked.

HuaiSang hummed his assent, but he was distracted by the bassist. While chatting with the drummer, he’d pulled his shirt up to wipe sweat off of his face. There had been something there on his ribcage—something floral and bright orange.

The keyboardist had seen it too, HuaiSang noticed. She was staring at the bassist in shock.

Here we go.

“Wei Ying,” HuaiSang whispered. “Turn this way.”

“Hm?” Wei Ying sipped his beer and let HuaiSang tug him around to face the wall. “A-Sang!” he griped as HuaiSang pushed his shirt up.

“I knew it,” HuaiSang sighed. His fingers traced the leaves that were settling against Wei Ying’s skin. “A-Ying, the bassist.”

Wei Ying went pale. “What?” He looked down at his chest. “Oh, god…”

The band started playing their next song and the two of them looked to the stage. HuaiSang clocked the rattled look on the keyboardist’s face, but Wei Ying was watching the bassist. He hadn’t seemed to have noticed. He was fingering along to the song, his head lowered and his expression peaceful.

Wei Ying fought his way back through the crowd, trying to reach his sister. He apologized to people as he pushed through and when he got up there he grabbed her arm. She turned to him, grinning, but sobered slightly when she saw his expression.

“What’s wrong?” she shouted over the music.

“My soulmark,” he tried to tell her.

“What?” She tilted her head closer.

“My soulmark!”

She shook her head, plugging her ears, and Wei Ying sighed and pulled his shirt up to show her. Her mouth fell open and the music stuttered onstage. From his position further back, HuaiSang watched the keyboardist fumble and stop playing, staring at where Wei Ying and his sister stood in the crowd. MianMian noticed and glanced down at YanLi and Wei Ying. She also was overcome with shock and her hands stopped on her guitar. Confused, the bassist and drummer stopped as well.

“Sorry everyone!” MianMian called. She pulled her guitar off over her head. “Uh, give us five and we’ll be back!”

After a slight delay, the lights went off on stage and came up in the bar. MianMian hopped off the stage and pulled YanLi and Wei Ying back towards HuaiSang and the keyboardist grabbed the bassist and started speaking lowly to him.

“Wei Ying, how?” MianMian was asking.

“C’mon, MianMian, you know how soulmarks work!”

“That’s not what she was asking,” YanLi said.

“It’s the bassist,” HuaiSang cut in as soon as they were close. “The bassist, when he lifted his shirt, I saw it.”

“This is my least favorite way for this to happen,” Wei Ying stressed. He rubbed his face. “At least with you, A-Sang, I had an evening to adjust and prepare.”

“They’re coming over here,” YanLi said, watching the keyboardist and shell-shocked bassist make their way towards them.

“Wen Ning?” MianMian asked HuaiSang incredulously.

“Yes?” the bassist answered timidly from behind her. She jolted and turned to him.

“Oh my god,” Wei Ying whispered. He seemed faint. HuaiSang stepped close to him and wrapped a supportive arm around his waist.

“It’s him,” the keyboardist said to Wen Ning, jutting her jaw at Wei Ying. Wen Ning flushed red and averted his eyes, looking around the circle of people instead.

“It’s just—no way,” MianMian insisted, lifting Wen Ning’s shirt to confirm. Wen Ning slapped her off, but she saw what she needed to.

“Your girlfriend’s brother.” The keyboardist shook her head. “At least there’s someone who can vouch for his character.”

“A-jie,” Wen Ning complained.

“Hi, Wen Ning,” HuaiSang said brightly. He held his hand out and Wen Ning shook it robotically.

“Who’s this?” Wen Ning’s jiejie deadpanned.

“I’m his boyfriend,” HuaiSang snapped back at her. They could have a bitch-off, he didn’t mind.

“Calm down, Wen Qing,” MianMian said.

“Boyfriend?” She sneered. “This is more trouble than it’s worth, A-Ning.”

“And where do you get off making that judgment?”

“A-jie, please…”

“HuaiSang, just cool it.”

“Will someone call Lan Zhan?”

“And who the fuck is Lan Zhan?”

“I need to sit down,” Wei Ying said shakily. “Call Lan Zhan,” he requested of YanLi and MianMian as he pulled HuaiSang out of the circle and towards the entrance of the bar. They could hear arguments continuing behind them.

“Sorry,” HuaiSang said. He meant it—it might have been better to tell him after the show.

“No, no,” Wei Ying assured him. “Just. I just need to sit down and think and talk to you and Lan Zhan for a minute.” He put his hands in his hair. “Gosh, I should call Lan Zhan myself.”

“Maybe YanLi hasn’t gotten through yet?”

They sat down at a small table near the entrance of the bar and Wei Ying called Lan Zhan. He got a busy tone and hung up but Lan Zhan called him back immediately.

“Wei Ying, how are you?” were the first words he said.

“I’m okay,” Wei Ying said, though he was tearing up. He gripped HuaiSang’s hand. “Sorry I’m always calling you in tears to tell you I found a soulmate.”

“Do not apologize.”

Wei Ying wiped his face then took HuaiSang’s hand again. “He’s got a sister. She seems pissed. We stepped away from everyone, A-Sang and I.”

“Who is he?”

“The bassist in MianMian’s band. I guess you have no choice but to come to the next show, huh?”

“I would love to come out and support him. How is HuaiSang?”

“He’s the one who noticed it. Pointed it out to me. I tried to tell Jiejie, then MianMian saw, and it kind of stopped the whole show…”

“You are, indeed, show-stopping. Is it the one on your neck?”

“No, the one on my ribs.”

“Mn. Do you need me to go out there? I’ll drive, it will be faster.”

“No, you’ve got your seminar, I don’t want you to miss it.”

“Tell him to come here, idiot,” HuaiSang hissed to him.

“HuaiSang says you can come if you want, though.”

“I very much want to miss my seminar. I am halfway through, and it is awful. I also want to be with you in this difficult time. I will drive, so expect me there in 45 minutes.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Wei Ying. And HuaiSang as well.”

“Is he coming?” HuaiSang asked as Wei Ying put his phone away.

“Excuse me?”

They both startled and looked over to see Wen Ning standing a couple of yards away. He gave them a horrible, nervous little smile. “I’m very sorry about my sister. And I’m sorry to interrupt. But I was hoping we could chat?”

HuaiSang looked at Wei Ying. “What do you think?”

Wei Ying wiped his face again. “Don’t you have to play?”

Wen Ning held up his very shaky hands. “I don’t think I could,” he chuckled.

HuaiSang dragged another chair over to their table and Wen Ning sat down. “I’m sorry, could you repeat your names for me?”

“I’m Wei Ying,” Wei Ying said in a shaky voice. “And this is Nie HuaiSang. And Lan Zhan is on his way.”

“I see,” Wen Ning said politely. His eyes flitted between Wei Ying’s blue soulmark and HuaiSang’s matching tattoo. “I take it you two are soulmates, then?”

“And Lan Zhan,” HuaiSang put in. “All three of us.”

Wen Ning nodded. His eyes flicked between them and down to his own wrist. “Y-You all have…?” He held up his wrist and tapped it.

Wei Ying sighed. “Well. Yes and no.”

“Wei Ying and Lan Zhan matched,” HuaiSang explained very simply. “Wei Ying and I are also matched. Just as you and Wei Ying are matched. I liked Wei Ying and Lan Zhan’s soulmark.” HuaiSang held his arm up, showing off the detail of the tattoo. “So I had it tattooed, and Lan Zhan got mine and Wei Ying’s tattooed.”

Wen Ning nodded slowly for a long time, like he was processing it all. “Let’s switch gears,” he suggested. “Wei Ying, you know MianMian?”

“She’s my sister in law,” Wei Ying answered. “She and Jiejie have been together for like seven years.”

“Is that your sister on keyboard?” HuaiSang asked as the band set up again without their bassist. Wen Ning nodded.

“Yes. She’s known MianMian for a while and when she told her she wanted to start a band, A-jie volunteered us both.”

“Do you like being in the band?” Wei Ying asked.

“I like playing music,” Wen Ning said, which only sort of answered the question.

Wen Ning was a bit easier to talk to than either Lan Zhan or HuaiSang had been at first, Wei Ying noticed. He was clearly very nervous and excited and confused, but he was making a concerted effort to stay calm and make pleasant conversation. Had Wei Ying been there alone, it might have been difficult, but having HuaiSang there made it easier. Jiang YanLi made her way to talk to them after they’d had some time to settle down and get to know each other, and Lan Zhan showed up not long after.

“Wei Ying,” was the first thing the four of them heard, when Lan Zhan was barely through the door. Wei Ying stood to go meet him, speaking lowly with him. HuaiSang watched them and then turned his attention back to Wen Ning. Wen Ning was staring at the two of them and his cheeks were flaming red.

“Wen Ning?” HuaiSang tilted his head. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were standing very close, but it was nothing particularly risque. Wen Ning looked over to meet HuaiSang’s eyes and tried in vain to cover how red his face was.

HuaiSang smirked. “You’ll like Lan Zhan,” he said, and it was less a reassurance and more a prediction.

——

It wasn’t fair to say that Wei Ying liked any of his soulmates more than any of the other ones. They were simply different. Which is why when HuaiSang asked repeatedly to see his orange soulmark in the weeks after meeting Wen Ning, Wei Ying gently turned him down, but when Lan Zhan asked to see it, he stripped.

Wei Ying hadn’t been feeling up to doing anything sexual in the weeks that he was adjusting to the addition of Wen Ning to their lives, and he felt like that was fair. He had felt similarly a few years ago when they met HuaiSang. His partners also thought it was fair, but HuaiSang was notably nosy, and also kept saying he wanted to look at it for future tattoo plans. But Wei Ying just didn’t feel ready to show it off. It was one he had the ability to hide easily—the only one he had that was for sure hidden every time he left the house. And it was Wen Ning’s. He hadn’t let Wen Ning inspect it yet—or inspected Wen Ning’s, for that matter. It didn’t feel right for someone else to ogle it.

But he knew Lan Zhan wouldn’t ogle.

The two of them were alone, that day, in the apartment the three of them lived in together, when Lan Zhan, after drying all the dishes and putting them away, had interrupted Wei Ying’s phone solitaire session to ask if he could see the soulmark. Wei Ying had shifted uncertainly and sat up to look at Lan Zhan. And then he had led him to the bedroom and stripped down to his boxers.

It was still a bit jarring, seeing all three soulmarks bloomed on his skin in the mirror. He jumpscared himself with the orange one every other day, still. But he felt like this was the best way to fulfill Lan Zhan’s request. So he stripped down to his boxers and sat daintily at the end of the bed.

“Are you nervous?” Lan Zhan asked, squeezing his stiff shoulder. Okay, maybe Wei Ying sat down so straight and tiny because his muscles were wound very tightly.

“Maybe,” Wei Ying replied softly.

Lan Zhan knelt on the floor in front of him. “I don’t have to do this.”

Wei Ying took a deep breath. “I want you to.”

Lan Zhan’s fingers were cold and soft as he traced the lines of the soulmark. Wei Ying closed his eyes and willed himself to move his left arm so it wasn’t in the way.

“The leaves are broad and round,” Lan Zhan noted aloud. “Like a squash, or something.”

Wei Ying nodded. He felt Lan Zhan’s fingers wander higher as he traced the outlines of the flowers. “I think it’s nasturtium.”

Wei Ying didn’t know what to do with his left hand so he just put it over his face. Lan Zhan was quiet the rest of the time that he memorized the design. He traced its whole shape—from its center on Wei Ying’s ribs to the edges of the leaves near his shoulder blade and hip. Wei Ying felt himself getting dizzy under the hypnotizing movements of Lan Zhan’s hand.

When he was done tracing, Lan Zhan wrapped his hand around Wei Ying’s calf, right where HuaiSang’s soulmark sat. “It’s very pretty,” he whispered. “I like it.”

Wei Ying drew a slow breath. “Wen Ning likes you, you know. A lot.”

“Funny. He likes you a lot.”

“It’s not fair that this all happens so suddenly. I wish I could have met him without expectation.”

“You met HuaiSang and I under expectation?”

“Yes!” Wei Ying dropped his hand from his face and rolled his head back to look at the ceiling. “Or, I don’t know. I just wish…I knew it was all free will.”

“What do you mean?”

“I like Wen Ning,” Wei Ying whispered. “But I wish I didn’t fear that he was here because he has to be. Because of this.”

He rubbed a hand over his ribs and Lan Zhan moved up to sit beside him on the bed.

“I think there’s a thought you’re not telling me that would make your point make sense,” he said after a moment.

Wei Ying thought for a bit and straightened up. “This is so much. He didn’t just get me, he got you and HuaiSang, too. Would anyone choose such a chaotic arrangement on their own? I love our relationship, but I know it’s strange and unorthodox.” He swallowed thickly and looked at Lan Zhan, the word ‘uncle’ hanging unspoken in the air between them. “I know it is,” he repeated, “and it’s just getting more so. Would he choose it if he had the choice? Or felt like he did?”

Lan Zhan hummed. They were quiet for a moment as Wei Ying waited for Lan Zhan to put his thoughts in order.

“I think,” Lan Zhan said at last, “that Wen Ning knows he has the choice. His sister refused her own soulmate.”

Wei Ying was taken aback. “She did?”

“Mn. He told me. He said she has always advocated for his right to choose one way or another, and advocates for it strongly right now. As you said, our situation is unorthodox. She certainly knows it.”

Lan Zhan paused and Wei Ying ruminated on that before he went on.

“Wen Ning knows he can make the choice. And he is taking his time to know what he is getting into. I would trust him to make his decisions. And as always, I think you should communicate any uncertainty you feel directly to him, so that the two of you can talk and understand each other.”

Wei Ying leaned his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder. “I am so glad to have you.” Lan Zhan pressed a kiss to his head.

“I am so glad we are all here.”

——

Every year, they celebrate three anniversaries. Lan Zhan, HuaiSang, and Wen Ning. To Wei Ying, it seemed strange when he thought about it. To be the center of things, when you look at it. But when he didn’t think about it, when he simply let it all happen around him, that pressure disappeared. He was at the center of nothing while also being snugly surrounded by all three of his partners. And every year they celebrated a different anniversary, the four of them together. And this went on for six more years.

Wei Ying stopped thinking about the soulmark on the back of his neck. It didn’t really concern him, did it? He and this person were meant to meet. And so, they would. And he had no control over when and how. A younger Wei Ying would have - and did - stress about this. But a Wei Ying surrounded by stability and love simply could not find room in his mind to worry about it while Wen Ning was cooking him dinner and HuaiSang was sending him nudes from down the hall, while their story broke into mainstream media for a flash of fame after Xiao XingChen’s social media post featuring the four of them went viral, while he was being contacted by journalists and researchers conducting studies on the validity of soulmarks and the stock placed into them as a society, while Lan Zhan was planning their wedding, a special permission they’d gotten from their regional government due to their unique circumstance. There simply wasn’t room in his mind to think about the soulmark on his neck beyond passing fondness for whoever might share it with him.

And so life happened. It went on. For six years.

The wedding was really beautiful.

The research paper that finally came out ended up using Wei Ying’s example for both sides. Although he himself stood as a testament to how soulmarks worked as intended, his three husbands who were married to each other but didn’t have each other’s soulmarks showed how little the soulmarks indicated one true love. In the end, the paper concluded that soulmarks could help you find important people that you were always meant to meet, but that romance or exclusivity was not inherent to them.

Reading that, Wei Ying did touch the back of his neck.

So far, having a soulmark had worked out in the romantic department for him. And his soulmarks had worked out for his otherwise untethered partners, as well. But reading that, he did wonder who the last one would be.

——

His sister and her wife were celebrating their ten year wedding anniversary with a big party, and of course it felt like everyone in the world was invited. Jiang Cheng clung to the four of them and sat at a table together with them at the edge of the celebration.

“You should be sitting closer to them,” HuaiSang pointed out. “As YanLi’s brothers, y’know.”

“I’m not going in there,” Jiang Cheng deadpanned, eyeing the crowd of people that was swarming YanLi and MianMian’s table. Wei Ying didn’t say anything, but he had to agree.

“Is my sister here yet?” Wen Ning asked, scanning the venue.

“She will text you when she arrives,” Lan Zhan assured him.

“But what if she’s lost?”

“Jiang Cheng.” HuaiSang leaned across the table. “How is, oh, what’s his name? Your one friend, what’s his name?”

“I have more than one friend,” Jiang Cheng grouched. He crossed his arms. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

HuaiSang sighed and got up from his seat beside Wei Ying to sit next to Jiang Cheng and question him further. Wei Ying met Lan Zhan’s gaze over the empty chair and rolled his eyes.

“Is this seat taken?”

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan looked up. A very pretty, very bored man in a cream-colored turtleneck was looking back at them, one hand on the back of the chair.

“Please, sit,” Wei Ying said before anyone else at the table could reply. The man thanked him and pulled the chair out and took a seat.

“A-jieee,” Wen Ning muttered from the other side of the table. He was endlessly refreshing his texts.

“I do so,” Jiang Cheng insisted petulantly.

“I’m Wei Ying,” Wei Ying introduced himself. “Jiang YanLi’s brother. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh.” The turtleneck man shook his hand. “Jin ZiXuan. I’m, uh, a friend of MianMian’s.”

“Lan Zhan,” Lan Zhan introduced himself as well.

“Su She!” HuaiSang snapped his fingers. “That guy! Yeah, how is he?”

Jin ZiXuan’s eyes snapped over to Jiang Cheng and HuaiSang at the name Su She. Wei Ying watched him take a breath, open his mouth, stop, close his mouth, and roll his eyes. Interesting.

“I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before,” Jin ZiXuan said conversationally to Wei Ying.

“Maybe YanLi and MianMian’s wedding?”

Jin ZiXuan hummed and shook his head. “I couldn’t go. I was overseas at the time.”

“Oh.”

“You might have seen us on social media,” Lan Zhan admitted in a droll voice. “Or perhaps on the news.”

Jin ZiXuan furrowed his brows for a moment and inspected Lan Zhan’s face. “Why?”

Wei Ying cleared his throat. “We’re the, um.” He held up the arm with the blue soulmark and gestured around the table. Jin ZiXuan’s gaze swept around and understanding dawned on his face.

“Ahh, the multiple soulmarks people.”

“Person,” Lan Zhan corrected.

“A-Jie.” Wen Ning stood up with his phone pressed to his ear. “Why are you so late? I’m standing up, can you see me?”

“Person?” Jin ZiXuan repeated.

“It’s just me,” Wei Ying sighed comically. “I carry the weight of all the soulmarks.”

Jin ZiXuan chuckled. “You joke, but three soulmarks is a lot. I’m sure it has been emotionally heavy.”

“Actually,” Wei Ying started, eager to spring this info on an innocent bystander. “I have four.” He turned his head and swept his hair out of the way to show off the one on his neck.

The party was loud and lively, but the table went still and silent.

“That…” someone eventually whispered.

“Wei Ying.” There was the sound of a chair scooting back.

“I’m not fucking Su She,” Jiang Cheng grumbled under his breath.

Wei Ying had a bad feeling about this. He turned his head slowly to look at HuaiSang and Wen Ning. They stared back.

Lan Zhan’s fingers touched the back of his neck. “That’s it,” he whispered. “Th-That’s all. All of them.”

Wei Ying’s eyes crept over to Jin ZiXuan. He had his hands around his own neck. He met Wei Ying’s gaze blankly.

“Should we tell Jiang YanLi?” Wen Qing asked dully. Wen Ning hung up the phone.

Jiang Cheng scoffed. “How do you manage to make every fucking event somehow about you?”

“Jiang Cheng, shut the fuck up.”

“Wei Ying? Should we step away?”

“I should have been at that wedding,” Jin ZiXuan said softly. Wei Ying laughed.

“Well, you’re here now.”

“This is so you, actually.”

“Jiang Cheng, shut up!”

“I’m telling YanLi.”

“Can we confirm it, please?” Wen Ning’s reasonable request rang through. “Jin ZiXuan, was it? Could you…?” He mimed tugging his collar down. Jin ZiXuan obediently swept his hair in front of his shoulder and pulled down the back of his turtleneck. Wen Ning and Lan Zhan crowded over to look.

“I should have been at that fucking wedding.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Wei Ying laughed. Lan Zhan’s fingers traced the back of his neck and he looked up at him. Lan Zhan looked well and truly happy, beneath the shock. All of them, he’d said. They found all of them, and here they still were.

“A-jie went to get your sister,” Wen Ning informed Wei Ying. Jin ZiXuan looked at him and stared. Then he looked at HuaiSang and Lan Zhan the same way.

“I hope she won’t be mad,” Wei Ying stressed.

“Of course not,” Lan Zhan assured him.

“MianMian will be mad,” Jin ZiXuan muttered.

Jin ZiXuan was right. When Wen Qing eventually made it to YanLi and MianMian and brought them back over, Luo QingYang was utterly bewildered to the point of frustration.

“Wei Ying, how?” she demanded as she yanked at Jin ZiXuan’s clothes to confirm his soulmark. He didn’t even protest; he just ragdolled wherever she dragged him.

“You know how soulmarks work. Quit doing that to him.” Wei Ying waved her hands off of Jin ZiXuan.

“You know that’s not what I’m asking! Why do you always act like that’s what I’m asking!”

“It could have been worse!” Wei Ying threw his hands up. “It could have been at your wedding!”

She ruminated on that and Wei Ying looked to his sister. She had a big dopey smile and tears in her eyes.

“Jiejie?”

“You’re not an omen,” she whispered. She reached up and smoothed his hair. “You never were. I told you.”

Wei Ying felt very wobbly all of the sudden. “Oh, Jiejie…”

“At my ten year wedding anniversary party…”

“Did I not also tell you you weren’t an omen?” Jiang Cheng demanded. “I specifically remember saying that.”

“Yeah, thank you,” Wei Ying grumbled, sniffling.

“We are not spending more time on this.” MianMian held her hands up. “A-Li, love, let’s let them catch up. We’ll see you guys later.”

Jiang YanLi smiled and nodded. She kissed Wei Ying on his forehead and followed her wife back into the thick of their party.

“Jin ZiXuan,” HuaiSang called tentatively. “Do you have any older brothers or sisters?”

Wei Ying fought a smirk. It would be utterly perfect if all of them were middle or youngest children with an older sibling fretting about them.

Jin ZiXuan shook his head as he fixed his turtleneck. “No. I’m the eldest.”

HuaiSang took that sentence like a shot through the chest.

——

It was difficult, but they got permission to add Jin ZiXuan to their marriage three years later after some intense political campaigning on ZiXuan’s part. Su She ended up being instrumental—and he was not, in fact, fucking Jiang Cheng.