Archive of Our Own ^beta

Something was very wrong. Lan Zhan woke up at his regular time of five in the morning, he was in his own apartment, in his usual bed, and in his favorite bunny pajamas. Nothing was out of place or out of the ordinary. But still, from the second that his consciousness had returned to him, Lan Zhan was unable to shake that strange feeling of wrongness. He went about his morning routine: a brisk jog through the nearby park, a shower, and congee for breakfast. Everything was exactly as it should be. Why then, did Lan Zhan feel like he was missing a part of his very essence?

“I am having a problem, but I do not know how to describe it.” Lan Zhan was sitting in his older brother's office, facing him from across his large wooden desk. It was now seven in the morning and the siblings were having their daily pre-work chat. 

Lan Huan gave him a soothing smile and took a sip of his tea. “We have some time before school begins if you would like to try.” Lan Zhan hummed as he nursed his own cup of tea. Did he want to explain the feeling that had plagued him all morning? Or would giving voice to it only make it worse? 

Of course, the answer was obvious. He had already given it when he brought this up in the first place. If he truly did not wish to discuss it, he would have kept it to himself. “Ever since I woke up this morning I feel as if I am… missing something. Something important. It is as though I am trying to play the violin without any strings, or the piano without any keys. Nothing is actually out of the ordinary, and yet the feeling persists.” 

Now it was Lan Huan’s turn to hum as he mulled over Lan Zhan's admission. “Do you think it has to do with our mother? I know your melancholy usually only comes with the first snow, but perhaps it has simply adapted to start with the cold weather itself?” 

Lan Zhan looked out the window of Lan Huan's office at the red and orange leaves all around them. It was nearing the end of autumn, and the air had already turned quite chill. His ‘melancholy’ as Lan Huan had tactfully put it wasn't seasonal depression, it was somatic grief born from their mother's death back when Lan Zhan had been only 7 years old. To this day he still didn't know all the details of her death, something that he had chosen for himself long ago. All he knew was that his mother had been very sick for his entire life and one cold winter day, the day of the very first snow that year, she finally succumbed to her illness. His father had been overcome with grief and after the funeral, he dropped his two sons off with his brother and disappeared. No one had ever heard from him again. Ever since then, whenever it would start to snow, Lan Zhan’s mood would dip for up to a whole week. 

The problem was that this, whatever this actually was, didn't feel like his usual grief. In fact, grief felt like too small of a word for what he was feeling. He looked at the concern laced deep within his brother's soft eyes and knew that he shouldn't tell his brother that particular piece of information. So instead of the truth he simply said, “Perhaps.” With that solved, at least in Lan Huan’s mind, the two spent the rest of their morning tea in a peaceful silence. But for the first time in his life, Lan Zhan didn't feel his usual sense of calm as he walked out of the office towards his classroom. And he certainly did not feel ready to begin a full day of teaching music to teenagers. 

The heaviness in Lan Zhan's heart had only gotten worse by the time he finished up his work day. Usually, seeing the youth of Gusu eager to learn music would lift his spirits, but one of his favorite students, Lan Jingyi, had been struggling for a while now. He was very gifted at playing piano, but he had recently just stopped putting in much effort for some reason. Today Lan Jingyi had just sat on his piano bench and stared off into space as if he wasn't even there at all. Maybe whatever was bothering Lan Zhan had also gotten to his young student. He would have to remain diligent and keep an eye on Lan Jingyi for his safety, Lan Zhan knew from experience how dangerous this feeling could be. 

Lan Zhan decided to walk the long, scenic route back to his apartment, the one that took him straight through the heart of Gusu. If it was his ‘melancholy’ or even seasonal depression, getting more fresh air was supposed to help. Besides, their small town was quite charming and Lan Zhan had always loved strolling through to watch the people flit about their daily lives. For example: just now he saw Jiang Yanli give her husband a quick kiss before she disappearing into Lotus Pier, the luxury hotel that she now owned and ran. He gave a small nod to Jin Zixuan as he passed by. Then he spotted Jin Guangyao as he came out of the shops with a few bags, most likely on his way home to cook for his live-in boyfriend, Nie Mingjue. 

Lan Zhan stopped outside of the local bar, Nevernight. He felt a strange zing of deja vu as he stared at the vivid yellow doors of the bar, and without thinking he even began to take a few steps towards it. It was as if something inside of him was telling him that he belonged there right now. That he was supposed to be sitting at the bar listening to… listening to… And that's where Lan Zhan's mind went blank. He shook his head rapidly as if the motion could somehow clear up this mental fog he found himself in. 

“Lan Zhan! Perfect, just the man I wanted to see!” Nie Mingjue’s naturally booming voice called out to him from just a bit further down the street. Lan Zhan just barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he turned to face the large man. It wasn't that he disliked Nie Mingjue at all, it was more to do with the fact that he knew exactly what was coming. And sure enough, once Nie Mingjue caught up to him he said, “Look, I know it's supposed to be your brother's turn to take on the next case, but this one is pretty high profile and they've already assigned me to be the lead officer. If you really don't feel up to another case yet, given what happened on your last one, of course I'll ask A-Huan but-”

“I will do it.” Lan Zhan interrupted. It was rude. But he didn't want to hear Nie Mingjue of all people flounder around with his words, “And I believe he asked you to stop calling him that last year.” Nie Mingjue visibly flinched. It had been a rather low blow, but Lan Zhan had been on edge all day and dealing with the man that had dumped his brother and broken his heart had not exactly been in his plans for the evening. At least Mingjue had the decency to look ashamed at the accidental intimacy, but if Lan Huan had been around to hear it… No. That wasn't worth dwelling on. There was apparently another case, and that meant that Lan Zhan needed to focus.

With Nie Mingjue leading the way, the pair walked together while Mingjue debriefed Lan Zhan on the case, “About four o’clock this morning, little Mo Xuanyu came across a body underneath Gusu Bridge. At first, he thought that the guy was dead and had been planning to nick any cash off him for a meal or two, but as he got close enough, he noticed that the man was actually alive. The guy was rushed to the hospital and he's been stabilized, but he hasn't shown any signs of waking up yet. His injuries are congruent with a fall from the bridge itself. No one has recognized or identified him as of yet, so he's most likely not from Gusu. I've been called in to investigate his identity and the cause for his fall. I need you to check for any signs of a curse or resentful energy, and to perform Cleansing and Rest to aid the healing process.” 

Well, that explained why they were walking away from the precinct then, they were headed for the hospital. Lan Zhan nodded, but his mind wasn't on the case, it was stuck on the nagging feeling that had been plaguing him all day long. What if he had been cursed? That would explain a lot. He would have to ask his brother to examine him later, despite how much he dreaded bringing the topic up with him again. He probably would have to tell him how he came up with the idea in the first place, which would lead to talking about Mingjue, which would end with Lan Huan's feelings being hurt once more. Maybe Lan Zhan would just have to try to examine himself after all. Sure there were plenty of cultivators in Gusu who could trace and break curses, but the Twin Jades of Lan were the absolute best at it. And there was no one else Lan Zhan would feel comfortable with asking for help on such a personal matter. No. He would either ask Lan Huan for help, or he would take care of it himself. It would most likely be the latter. 

He was cursed. Not Lan Zhan, but Wuming. With the victim's identity still being unknown, he was being called Wuming, or No Name, to make things simpler. None of the doctors on the schedule for the day had any training in curse detection, so Lan Zhan had ended up needing to search Wuming’s body for curse marks himself. It had been a tedious process for many reasons. One being that Lan Zhan didn’t particularly enjoy touching strangers, and two being that even battered and bruised, Wuming’s body was extremely fit and attractive. Lan Zhan had felt himself instantly drawn towards the striking features and once again had felt that irritating sensation of deja vu.

He’d spent an embarrassing amount of time investigating the small mole just under Wuming’s bottom lip under the pretense of checking if it was actually a curse mark. He had seen them that small before so it wasn’t too much of a stretch. Lan Zhan moved methodically as he examined the rest of Wuming's body, trying to move from the least private areas first before revealing more and more skin. By the time he’d finally found the mark, Wuming was only covered by a small blanket over his groin. The mark itself was just above Wuming’s lower dantian. It was oval shaped with an ornate design that Lan Zhan couldn’t quite decipher. There were small black lines emanating from the oval that resembled cracks in pavement. He had never seen anything like it before. 

Once the curse mark was documented completely (Lan Zhan was definitely going to delete those pictures from his phone after sending them over to the police), and Wuming was once again fully covered by the hospital gown, Nie Mingjue returned with the nurse on the case, Qin Su. They went over Wuming’s treatment plan and ensured that Qin Su would contact Lan Zhan first and then Nie Mingjue at the first sign of Wuming waking up. With everything settled, Lan Zhan summoned Wangji and settled himself down next to the patient’s bed. Qin Su requested to stay and watch and Lan Zhan nodded his agreement. She would be able to benefit from his playing as well, so he saw no harm in it. He played Cleansing first before moving on to play Rest. By the time he finished, Wuming appeared the exact same, but Qin Su had a healthy glow to her skin as if she’d just gotten out of a hot shower. She thanked Lan Zhan profusely as he left, claiming that she hadn’t felt so good in years. 

That night, Lan Zhan went about his usual routine, all the while thinking about the cursed stranger laying in that hospital bed. He'd never seen a curse mark that detailed before. And the timing was also incredibly suspicious. What were the odds that his ‘melancholy' and this stranger's curse were completely unrelated? When it was time for his shower, Lan Zhan looked over his body for any signs of a curse mark, especially one with black cracks like the ones on Wuming’s sun-kissed skin, but there was nothing. Although he did take note of what appeared to be scratch marks scattered all over his back that he couldn't remember ever receiving. Once he was settled in his usual sleeping position (on his back in the dead center of his bed), Lan Zhan staunchly refused to keep thinking about the case. He would have time tomorrow for the case. Now, it was time to sleep. 

That night Lan Zhan’s dreams took him through some of his memories. His days at school as a teenager, his first ever night hunt, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan's wedding, and so many more. There was only one difference. In the dream, Lan Zhan wasn't alone like he had been in real life. No, in this dream there was another man constantly by his side. The man's image was fuzzy and Lan Zhan’s head would ache whenever he tried to focus on him, but there was always one stark detail that let Lan Zhan know it was consistently the same person through it all. Shining through every lonely moment of Lan Zhan's life was a bright, beaming smile. The next morning when Lan Zhan awoke, all he could think about was that smile, and how he wished he could have had someone who smiled at him like that in real life too, like Lan Zhan was the best and brightest part of the other person's life. But he never had someone like that. Not even once. 

The rest of Lan Zhan's week was more of the same. His routine was technically undisturbed, yet he could still feel a gaping hole in his heart, one he had never felt before in his life. But at least, thanks to his new dreams, he could put a name to the feeling. It turned out that he wasn't just feeling his usual melancholy, he was simply lonely. He refused to share this update with Lan Huan. It was mortifying enough that he'd spoken to him on the subject at all, now that he understood what was truly going on. He knew that his brother was lonely too, but he at least had loved and been loved in return. He had friends and people in his life outside of the two of them. Lan Zhan only had Lan Huan. Well, he had their uncle too, but their relationship was complicated to say the least. 

Lan Zhan visited Wuming in the hospital every day after work and played both Rest and Cleansing for him. He could feel some of the resentment leaving the unconscious body, but the curse mark remained unchanged. The young man was still in a coma with no signs of awakening soon. He resolved to spend his weekend researching the curse mark that he found, but unfortunately, Lan Zhan had already deleted the pictures that he had taken for the official documentation. Which meant that he needed to take another picture of the mark. 

After taking a quick picture, while preserving as much of the unknown man's modesty as possible, Lan Zhan went into his photo album to double check that the image was detailed enough for his research. But when the app loaded, he saw that his total number of photos was wrong. It listed over 4,000 images, but that was impossible. The only things Lan Zhan ever had pictures of were his brother and various animals he saw either in Gusu or while out on a night hunt. He frowned and cleared the app before opening it again. 384 pictures. There, that was much better.

Since it was a Friday night, Lan Huan came over to Lan Zhan's apartment for dinner. This was a tradition that they had begun after Nie Mingjue broke up with Lan Huan two years ago and it had simply stuck. 

“So, how have you been feeling since Monday morning? You have been remarkably quiet about it, even for you.” Lan Huan wasted no time getting to the point, speaking the very moment that both of their chopsticks were set down onto the tops of their empty bowls. Lan Zhan gave his brother a glare that they both knew he didn’t really mean.

“I am fine.” Lan Huan began cleaning up as he usually did. He had offered to cook for Lan Zhan before, but as much as Lan Zhan loved his brother, Lan Huan’s cooking was notoriously bad. Like, sending you to the hospital and having to call out of work for an entire month level of bad. After that memorable incident, both brothers agreed that it would be best if Lan Zhan handled the cooking and let Lan Huan clean up afterwards. 

“Didi, I know you too well for you to successfully hide something from me. You’ve been acting strange during our morning tea all week. Please. If you don’t want to talk to me about it, just tell me that. You do not need to lie to me.” Lan Huan spoke as he cleaned, not letting Lan Zhan escape the conversation for even a second.

“I am not lying.” Lan Zhan lied, “I am working on a case with Nie Mingjue. I have simply avoided talking with you about it in consideration of your feelings.” He felt a small twinge of guilt at steering the conversation away from his personal problems by throwing Lan Huan’s in his face. But only a small one. He loved his brother dearly, but sometimes he felt that they were a little too close. Perhaps they would benefit from another brotherly squabble soon. Lan Huan managed to almost keep his composure at the mention of his ex-boyfriend’s name. His only visible reaction this time was a slight twitch of his fingers. 

“I see. I thought that you were supposed to be off duty for another two months. Why would you- oh.” This time Lan Huan visibly deflated. “Am I really so obvious still? I had thought I was hiding it better. I even gave A-Yao a housewarming gift when they moved in together.” 

“You bought him a plunger.” Lan Zhan pointed out, holding back a smile at the memory.

“Yes, well. I could have done much worse.” Lan Huan actually did smile and just like that things almost felt normal between them again. At least until, “But that will not work, A-Zhan. You are avoiding talking to me about something. What is it?”

Lan Zhan huffed in irritation, clearly he was not getting out of this conversation after all. “I have come to two possible conclusions.” His brother waited patiently before Lan Zhan forced out, “I am either under the influence of a curse, or I am simply… lonely. I have searched, but found no signs of a curse mark on my body, which leads me to believe that it is the latter.” Lan Zhan looked anywhere but at his brother. He didn't want to see the pity that he knew he would find there. This was the first time in his 30 years of life that he had ever considered himself lonely. He normally enjoyed his solitude. It had always suited him.

But now there was no denying the emptiness that he felt. His apartment now felt too small, too clean, too organized. His spare bedroom now seemed to taunt him. Even though this was exactly what he had always wanted for himself. His food even seemed to almost taste, dare he say it, bland. He was too quiet, too controlled, too rigid. He wanted, well, he didn't know what exactly but, he wanted more. And something inside of him was telling him that his 'more' was tied to another person. A lover, perhaps. And that thought was the scariest of them all. He never wanted to fall in love in the first place. And after seeing how love had devastated his older brother, he was even more adamantly against the entire concept of it. And yet, here he was, finding himself longing for a partner.

Lan Huan didn't say anything, but he did place a gentle hand on Lan Zhan's shoulder. That one small act said more than words could ever have done. The small twinge of guilt Lan Zhan had felt earlier suddenly grew much larger now that the truth was out in the open. Now that he understood how truly awful loneliness felt, how could he bring up Nie Mingjue like that? He knew that his brother was still helplessly in love with the police chief. He couldn't imagine having found the person who fit his needs so perfectly only to lose them and have to watch them be happy with someone else. Although to be honest, Lan Zhan couldn't even imagine finding someone who would want him in the first place.

Lan Huan left shortly after their conversation ended, but he did make sure to let Lan Zhan know that he was there if he ever felt ready to talk about it. That made Lan Zhan wonder. Would he ever really feel ready to talk about this? Could he ever tell his brother that every night he would dream of a smile that lit up a room, of laughter that pierced through the icy exterior of his heart, of a warm body to cling to whenever he wanted? He could barely admit these things to himself. He had even managed to convince himself, at least for a short time, that this had all been a curse in order to avoid admitting to his own weakness.

That night he had another dream, but this one was somehow even more vivid than before. And yet, Lan Zhan's dream partner was still blurry and impossible to decipher. But this time the two of them were having a picnic in the local park. There was nothing particularly special about the picnic, they sat on one of Lan Zhan's blankets and were eating Lan Zhan's cooking. They talked and laughed together about nothing and everything all at once. It was just an ordinary conversation in a park, with the addition of ordinary food. And yet, Lan Zhan's heart ached. He longed for this, longed for that companionship, longed for the easy flow of words between the pair of them.

Then the dream changed, not by much but just enough that Lan Zhan was able to tell that the scene had changed. They were still at the park, still having a picnic on that very same blanket. But this time instead of the loose flowing clothing from before, both men were bundled up in soft layers, and Lan Zhan's mystery partner wore a crimson red scarf around his neck. In fact, that was the only detail of the other man that stuck out clearly within the dream. As they sat there together, Lan Zhan felt his dream self's heart racing as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. The mystery man laughed at the sight and reached into his own pocket to pull out a similar sized pale blue velvet box. When Lan Zhan awoke the next morning, his pillow and eyes were wet with tears as he looked down at his bare left hand.

Now that Lan Zhan was aware of his problem, it became increasingly obvious that there was a person-shaped hole in his life. With every step of his daily routine, he found himself imagining a partner beside of him. He had long known that if he ever did choose to have a romantic partner, that person would be male. That fact had been made glaringly obvious when he had been an impressionable young teenager and had seen Nie Mingjue fresh out of the shower when he and Lan Huan had first started dating. But beyond that… He had no idea. Well, he had some idea. His mind once again flashed with the memory of that bright smile and joyful laughter from his dreams. Yes, he definitely had some idea of what it was that he was missing in his life. Now the only problem was finding it.

After exhausting all of his own personal resources, Lan Zhan was left with no choice other than to turn to the Cloud Recesses Library for more information on Wuming's mysterious curse. When Lan Zhan had been only 5 years old, his parents had decided to grant access to the once exclusive library to all cultivators, and life in Gusu had been forever changed. Cultivators from all across China flooded to Gusu in swarms, and disturbed the usual serene town for good. With more people gaining access to the knowledge contained within, more people were willing to contribute their own previously secret records to the already vast storage. It also brought the clans together more often and helped promote unity between them all. In a way, this action had also led to Lan Zhan gaining the closest thing he's ever had to a friend, Jin Zixuan. When the local inn was unable to keep up with the massive amounts of visitors, the Jiangs had bought a plot of land and built up their luxury hotel, Lotus Pier. As their only child Jiang Yanli grew up and fell in love with Gusu, she took over Lotus Pier after school finished. And wherever Jiang Yanli went, Jin Zixuan followed. The annoying part of opening up their library was the sheer amount of people constantly within it's hallowed walls. With so many people, even if every single person did their best to stay quiet, the noise was more than Lan Zhan could normally handle when trying to focus.

Just as he had feared, the library was overflowing with eager cultivators and even some non-cultivators who were simply curious about the lifestyle. He winced as every single one of his senses was assaulted as he entered the building, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through it. There was someone who depended on Lan Zhan's ability to cure him right now. Who knew if the man had a family at home, wondering what happened to their brother, their husband, or their father. Lan Zhan may be alone, but that was by his own choice. Most people wanted to find a significant other, someone to spend their lives with. And Wuming had been exceedingly handsome, even with all of his devastating injuries. While searching for curse marks, Lan Zhan had even seen the signs of extra wrinkles around his eyes and his lips. Wrinkles a person got when they laughed a lot. Wuming was happy. Happy and handsome. Someone like that was bound to have people that loved him and were waiting for his safe return. And it was Lan Zhan's job to see that his safe return happened sooner rather than later.

It took him four hours of pouring through books after books before he finally found something, and even then it wasn't much. It wasn't about the ornate oval design of the main curse mark, but about those black crackling lines that had emanated from it. According to the book, those lines were the sign of a curse with a time limit. Until those black lines covered the entire body of the victim, the curse would still be able to be broken. However, by the time that the entire body was covered, the curse would become a permanent reality, never to be broken. Horror flooded through Lan Zhan as he snapped pictures of the evidence he'd found. He needed to get to the police office and look at those original photographs of the curse mark to compare to the one he had taken just the day before. He needed to know how fast those marks were growing, and how long he had to save this man.

To Lan Zhan's disappointment, Nie Huaisang, was the officer in charge of evidence that day. Nie Huaisang was Nie Mingjue's little brother. The two of them had moved to Gusu years ago when Mingjue and A-Huan had first gotten together. Huaisang had tried to befriend Lan Zhan, but the two of them were just too drastically different for a friendship to truly work out. It wasn't that Lan Zhan disliked Nie Huaisang as a person, they just had nothing in common. That being said, Lan Zhan truly despised having to work with the younger Nie brother on anything at all. Nie Huaisang had absolutely no interest in his job, and he made sure that everyone knew it. He moved slow, and always acted like he was confused when asked questions. Lan Zhan was sure that it was all an act, but as he had no evidence to prove his point, he kept that thought to himself.

"Ah, Lan Zhan! I thought you were supposed to be off duty for a while after you almost drowned fighting that Waterborne Abyss! What are you doing here?" Huaisang asked, genuine surprise on his face at the sight of Lan Zhan in the precinct.

"I am working a case with your brother so that my brother does not have to spend time alone with the man that left him." Lan Zhan supplied, "I need pictures of the curse mark on the current Wuming in the hospital. I found something that I believe to be both crucial and time sensitive, so expediting the process is imperative." Just as he'd hoped, Nie Huaisang's easy smile dropped and he nodded, quickly typing into his computer to find the evidence number that he would need.

"Alright, Da-ge's current cases… Ah, Wuming. Here we go. I've sent in a request for the file and it should be up in just a minute. It's pretty crazy we have a guy that's been in the hospital this long and not a single missing person has been reported yet. Not many people travel to Gusu solo anymore. I asked Da-ge if they found any other bodies, but there's been nothing. Do you have any theories?" There was a twinkle in Huaisang's eyes that made Lan Zhan think the man already had a few theories of his own. He decided that it was best not to respond and simply waited in silence for one of his ridiculously numerous cousins to show up with a three prong binder labeled "Wuming #424" and hand it over. Lan Zhan thanked Lan… something or other and quickly turned to the pages of the pictures he needed. As he compared the cracks in the first photographs to the more recent ones on his phone, he could see that the cracks had in fact extended outwards slightly, but thankfully not by much.

"Huaisang, I will send you this picture of Wuming's curse mark and it will need to be added to this binder. We should take a picture once a week and record the progress of growth of these black lines. This is extremely important and could mean life or death for the victim. Do you understand?" He hoped that this statement would push past the other man's apathy. He knew that although Huaisang resented working on the force instead of pursuing his dreams of becoming an artist, he was still a good person who didn't want innocents to die. Huaisang gave him a serious look and nodded, letting Lan Zhan breathe out in relief and he sent the picture to Huaisang's cell. Once the small man confirmed that he'd received it and would do all that Lan Zhan had asked, Lan Zhan left the precinct.

After leaving, he was unsure of where he should go. Normally he would go back home to compose at this time on a Saturday, but he didn't even want to think about the moody disaster he would create in his current mental state. So he let himself wander through town aimlessly until once again he found himself standing outside Nevernight. He glared at the yellow doors as if it was their fault that he was here again. But since the doors clearly couldn't convince him to go back home, even if he could scare them into submission, he sighed and opened them to enter the bar.

"Welcome to Nevernight, sit wherever you like." Wen Qing called lazily without even turning to look as she continued to clean the counter of the bar. Lan Zhan awkwardly made his way to the counter and sat down directly in front of the woman, finally causing her to look up. "Oh! Lan Zhan, what brings you in here? Is that good-for-nothing Wen Chao involved in yet another case? Why didn't you just say something when you came in?" She set down her cleaning rag and gave Lan Zhan her undivided attention.

"No. I am not here for a case. I am here for…" he started, but what was he even here for? He had no clue, he didn't drink alcohol and everyone knew it. He'd had one sip in college and had gotten blackout drunk. His brother still had videos of that night on his phone. It was mortifying. But he had to say something so he concluded with, "a drink." Wen Qing's eyes widened.

"Uh… O-kay?" She drew out the word as she reached for a menu to hand over to him. "I can make pretty much any of these options virgin if you'd like." She added, still giving him that weird look. Which was pretty fair honestly, even Lan Zhan had no clue what he was doing here. He gave a hum to acknowledge that he heard her and looked at the menu, hoping that his hair covered the tips of his ears which he was sure had turned pink at the word 'virgin'. He was well aware that the word simply meant that the beverage was non-alcoholic, but it still felt a little bit like he was being called out. The menu offered a wide variety of drinks, but all of them had absolutely ridiculous names. There was even a whiskey drink that looked particularly disgusting that was simply named The Chao-er and it was made with what Lan Zhan recognized as a very expensive whiskey, due to his brother's indulgences.

He grimaced at The Chao-er before he settled on a baijiu called Emperor's Smile. Wen Qing had given him another strange look and asked for confirmation that he actually wanted to drink alcohol. Lan Zhan responded with his trademark look of disdain which got her moving to pour him a glass without another word. Although he did note that her facial expression didn't change in the slightest. Not that he blamed her, of course. He stared at the class of baijiu in front of him, flummoxed as to why he chose this particular drink at all. He took a small sniff, it smelled rather sweet for alcohol so he took a tentative sip. The drink was warm as it dripped down his throat and sat in his belly, but it was actually rather pleasing to taste. He took another small sip. Without a word, Wen Qing slid a food menu over to him, still giving him that judging look of hers. He ordered something heavy to help soak up the booze and finally looked around the place.

The bar was mostly empty given that it was only early evening, but there were a few patrons scattered about. The decor, if it could be called that, consisted of fake suns all over the place and pictures of the Wen family. Although Lan Zhan failed to see any pictures that included either Wen Qing or her brother, Wen Ning. As he sat there sipping on Emperor's Smile and eating his carbohydrate loaded meal, Wen Chao himself strode through the gaudy yellow doors.

"Ah, beautiful cousin! There you are!" He practically crooned as he caught sight of Wen Qing. Just the sound of it made Lan Zhan shudder in revulsion.

"A-Chao, how good to see you." Wen Qing deadpanned, "When you didn't show up to open the bar on time I was so worried about your health. I had thought you were dead or something." The way she spoke made Lan Zhan certain that Wen Qing actually did wish for Wen Chao's death.

But the man was as oblivious as always and simply grinned as he slid to join her behind the counter. That was when he caught sight of Lan Zhan. "Oh-ho! Look what we have here! Has even the famous lightweight of Gusu heard so much about our delicious drinks that he had to come and see for himself? What an honor!" He made a show of bowing in Lan Zhan's direction. "A-Qing dear, make sure to let our honored guest try our best drink when he finishes with that. He looks like the kind of man to really appreciate The Chao-er. What do you think, Lan-er-gongzi?"

Lan Zhan took another sip of the baijiu and prepared to say that he would rather not, but what he actually said was, "I would rather die." Wen Chao's face turned almost purple with rage and Wen Qing snorted before faking a cough to try to cover it up. Lan Zhan examined his glass and was shocked to discover that he'd already drank over half of what he'd been given. He stood up and gave a small bow in apology before asking Wen Qing for the check. No more alcohol for him tonight, he was most likely already drunk and would probably black out soon. He should get himself far away from a disgusting pig like Wen Chao before that happened. With the bill settled and Wen Chao still silently raging in the corner, Lan Zhan walked back out into the chilly air wondering where he would go next.

He should have known that he would end up here. In fact, he wondered if his little interlude at the bar had simply been to give him an excuse to come here, a cover. He didn't know why he came to visit, he was drunk! Drunk people do weird things all the time. He still didn't feel drunk yet, perhaps just a bit tipsy. But all his faculties were present, he just seemed to have lost his usual politeness filter. And he had allowed himself to visit Wuming in the hospital.

He stood next to the unknown man's bed and found himself just staring at his sleeping face. He was still covered in cuts and bruises from his fall, but there was something about him that just drew Lan Zhan in. He was handsome in an obvious way, but it felt like it was something more than just his good looks. Without knowing anything about the unconscious man, Lan Zhan felt as though he was the carefree sort. Someone who could laugh in the face of struggle, make a joke out of a bad situation, and be there to pull his loved ones out of the trenches so to speak. Someone that Lan Zhan wanted in his life.

"Who are you?" Lan Zhan asked, still staring at the other man, "What has happened to you for you to be here like this?" As if it was moving on its own, Lan Zhan's hand reached out to gently stroke the only unblemished portion of the man's cheek. Once his brain caught up to his actions, Lan Zhan pulled his hand back as if it had been burnt and he glared at it for betraying him so. When he turned to look back at the man, he found deep grey eyes staring back at him. Wuming had woken up.

Lan Zhan practically rushed out the door, probably a sign that he was more than just tipsy, to notify someone that the man was awake. Luckily, the room was right next to the nurse's desk and Qin Su was working. Her eyes went wide at the news and she called a doctor to notify them before she followed Lan Zhan back inside. The man's eyes were glued onto Lan Zhan as people rushed in to check his vitals. He couldn't speak because of the tube in his throat to assist his breathing, but the doctor informed both Lan Zhan and Wuming that he would be able to remove the tube shortly. He requested that Lan Zhan leave the room for the procedure as it could be disturbing to witness. Lan Zhan nodded mutely, left the room and finally remembered to call for Nie Mingjue. As expected, the police chief was on his way instantly.

Lan Zhan waited for Mingjue's arrival before he returned to the man's room. This was both for the patient's privacy and for himself to sober up a little. He figured that the patient would appreciate being alone while he was looked over by the hospital staff, informed the extent of his injuries, and notified about how long he had been unconscious. But before either of them could go into the room, the door opened and they could hear shouting from inside.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who has a brain injury! Not me! Get out! All of you get out! I want La-" the shouting voice said as the doctor and nurses, except Qin Su, left the room. The door closed before they got a chance to hear the sentence finish. The doctor noticed Lan Zhan and Mingjue and came to them with an apologetic look on his face.

"I apologize gentlemen. The patient has woken up extremely distressed. I must ask that you wait to question him until tomorrow. I doubt you would get any sane answers tonight anyway." They thanked the doctor and agreed to his request. But before Lan Zhan could slip away, Mingjue pulled him aside.

"Look, I wasn't going to say anything tonight, but since we can't go in there yet I might as well. What the hell do you think you were doing in there? Please tell me it had something to do with the case and you were going to tell me about it afterwards." Nie Mingjue spoke in a hushed voice so only Lan Zhan could hear, but his voice was still stern.

"I do not see how my actions are any of your business if they were not related to the case. Besides, I did in fact make a minor breakthrough on the curse earlier. I would have thought your brother would have informed you by now." Lan Zhan huffed. He was in no mood for a lecture.

Nie Mingjue's eyes went widened comically, "Holy shit. Lan Zhan, have you been drinking? What the hell were you thinking? You know your body can't handle that stuff! I've held my tongue all week about your behavior lately. But this is too much. What is going on with you? Are you alright? Did I bring you back to work too early?"

Lan Zhan didn't want to hear this from anyone, let alone Nie Mingjue. He didn't need a lecture and he most certainly didn't need concern from the man who had made his gege cry. With the alcohol guiding his way, he raised his voice to the other man for the first time in his entire life. "It is none of your business. I am a grown man and I can have a drink on a Saturday evening if I wish! I do not need the concern of a man who cheated on my brother and broke his heart! You have no right to speak to me as if you care." Nie Mingjue flinched at the accusation.

Ah, so he didn't know that Lan Zhan had figured it out? Some cruel part of him deep inside felt a strange glee at Mingjue's reaction. "You think I did not know? You were with A-Huan for four years and then you started dating Jin Guangyao only three weeks after you dumped him. It is obvious that you were unable to keep it in your pants. I am sure that everyone in Gusu knows what an unfaithful scoundrel you really are! Now leave me be. I do not wish to speak to you outside of the case."

The rush that Lan Zhan had felt at the wounded expression on Nie Mingjue's face faded the moment that he got back into his apartment. What has he been thinking? Yelling at Mingjue wasn't any of his business. It was his brother's job to do that if he wanted to. Lan Zhan groaned and went to his cupboard to get the bottle of wine he kept for his brother. He decided to forgo the glass and drank straight from the bottle. That was the last thing that he remembered that night.

When Lan Zhan awoke, it was to a glaring sun and a blinding headache. He groaned pitifully and tried to roll over to block out the light, but it did nothing to deter the throbbing pain in his skull. He slowly opened his eyes, grimacing at the new waves of pain the action brought, and looked at his clock. It was already 9am. 9am? He had practically slept the whole day away! For the second time in his life, Lan Zhan resolved never to drink again.

Given the time and his nausea, Lan Zhan elected to skip his morning run and breakfast and instead went straight into the shower after taking medicine for the pain. The hot water and steam helped ease some of Lan Zhan's suffering as he waited for the medicine to take effect. And only after the throbbing had muted to a dull ache, did he leave the shower and get dressed. He went to check his phone, only to see that his drunk self had completely neglected to plug it in. He sat down on the edge of his bed, plugged in his phone and waited for it to gain enough battery to turn on. To his horror, it turned on to reveal twelve missed calls from his brother and texts from both Lan Huan and Nie Mingjue.

He risked looking at Nie Mingjue's text first which turned out to simply be a notification that he wanted them both to stop by Wuming's room together and to schedule a time. It was short and professional and completely ignored Lan Zhan's outburst. A fact that Lan Zhan was grateful for. But Lan Huan's texts were another story. Apparently, drunk Lan Zhan had texted his brother in a grand show of solidarity, claiming his steadfast support and unending love. His texts had then quickly devolved into some sort of moping mess about how Lan Zhan wanted them both to find their other halves, get married, and each adopt lots of babies. He had talked an awful lot about really wanting babies.

Lan Huan had first been surprised, then amused, then angry, before finally landing on concerned once he had apparently spoken to Nie Mingjue himself and found out about Lan Zhan's drinking and what he had shouted at the hospital. The most concerning text of all was from half an hour ago when Lan Huan said he was coming over and bringing some form of Yunmeng cuisine as a 'hangover cure.' Half an hour from Lan Huan's apartment? That meant that his brother would be here any minute! As it always was with such things, the moment this thought occurred to Lan Zhan there was a knock at his door signaling his brother's arrival. Well, at least he had already showered to avoid this being even more embarrassing than it already was.

Lan Huan was remarkably gentle and caring when he first entered Lan Zhan's apartment. He ensured that Lan Zhan had taken proper medication and the food he had brought over was only mildly spicy enough to leave a pleasant tingle on Lan Zhan's tongue without burning his mouth off. It also did a surprisingly good job of settling his stomach. Once Lan Zhan's hangover had been taken care of as much as humanly possible, however, Lan Huan's demeanor changed completely.

"Feeling better? Good. Because I need to yell at you and I had no desire to do so while you felt so ill. A-Zhan, what the hell were you thinking talking to A-Jue like that? My relationship or lack thereof with him is absolutely none of your business! I would have let this slide given your recent personal revelation, but why did you accuse him of being unfaithful? Where did you even get such a ridiculous idea?" Lan Huan didn't often get this angry, but when he did he never held back. Lan Zhan felt foolish and as if he had aged backwards at least ten years.

"Xiongzhang," he started, hoping that showing some formality would help his brother see how deeply he regretted his actions from the previous night, "I do not know why I acted the way that I did last night. I have no excuses, only regrets. I had assumed, given the timeline of your break up and his new relationship that he had slept with Jin Guangyao while you two were still together. I apologize for overstepping. I need to see Mingjue later for the case, I will also apologize to him in person at that time."

Lan Huan sighed heavily and all the rage evaporated into a look that Lan Zhan was now very familiar with, dejection. "Ah. I suppose that is partially my fault. I never did tell you what happened between us. I never intended to be so secretive, I assure you. It was only that I did not wish to hurt you. Oh didi, he did not cheat on me. In fact, I actually introduced the two of them." Lan Zhan listened as his brother finally explained his breakup. Apparently Nie Mingjue had asked Lan Huan to marry him, but he was concerned that Lan Zhan would feel abandoned if Lan Huan married while Lan Zhan had no one of his own. Nie Mingjue had said that although he loved Lan Huan dearly, he couldn't afford to put his own future on hold, especially given the average life expectancy of someone in his field of work. And so, Lan Huan had introduced him to Jin Guangyao. He had hoped that adding a third person into their relationship would give Mingjue what he needed until Lan Huan was ready to take the next step, but Nie Mingjue had not wanted to share, so he had to choose between them.

"I admit, it hurt more than I had expected to see them move forward together so quickly, but in the end this was my decision. He may have technically been the one to break up with me but I am the one who truly ended our relationship." He concluded. Lan Zhan simply stared at his brother. He wasn't sure what to do with this information. So his loneliness had ruined his brother's relationship with the love of his life? How was he supposed to handle this news? No wonder A-Huan hadn't said anything before.

"Ge," Lan Zhan choked out. So it was his fault after all. His inability to connect with others had actually led to his own brother's ruin as well. It was too much. It was all too much.

"A-Zhan, no. No it is not your fault. This was my decision. I only did not tell you because I knew that you would feel this way. But it is my fault. Only mine. I was too weak to leave you alone, when in all honesty we both know that you would have only gained more family in your life. I think that I used you as an excuse because I was scared. After what happened with our parents… I am not truly sure, but I do know that this was never your fault."

Once that embarrassment was settled, it was time for Lan Zhan to face the music and meet with Nie Mingjue at the hospital to talk to Wuming about his curse. Luckily, his older brother was a brilliant man and had gotten one of Mingjue's favorite snacks from the same shop where he'd purchased the hangover meal for Lan Zhan, giving him something to bring as a peace offering. Mingjue, for his part, seemed perfectly content to completely ignore that Lan Zhan's little outburst the night before had never even happened, Lan Huan's work most likely. Lan Zhan made a mental note to buy his brother something extra nice in gratitude.

"I spoke with the doctor more this morning while I waited for you to be ready. Our victim is named Wei Ying. He claims that the day before his fall was his 32nd birthday. He seems to have no recollection of any other details of his life, but while he was unconscious he overheard the chatter at the nurses desk and his brain filled in the gaps with the names and stories he learned that way. He is still confused and believes that he knows all of us personally, but he is no longer violent about it. We have been given permission to question him, but if he gets riled up again we will have to leave. Any questions before we proceed?" Mingjue asked as he popped one of the candies Lan Zhan had brought into his mouth before stowing the bag away. Lan Zhan shook his head.

Wei Ying was awake when they entered the room. His eyes lit up as they fell on Lan Zhan, and he opened his mouth to say something before his face fell and he closed his mouth once more. But his eyes, those beautiful grey eyes, never left him for a moment. Lan Zhan felt his heart thump a little faster in his chest.

"Hello there Wei-gongzi. My name is Nie Mingjue and I am the Chief of Police here in Gusu. My comrade here is Lan Zhan and he is a fellow cultivator with expertise in curse-breaking. We are the two people in charge of your case. I will debrief you first and then Lan Zhan will go after me. If you could please wait until we are both finished before asking questions, we would greatly appreciate it." Wei Ying dragged his eyes away from Lan Zhan to give Mingjue his attention and nodded slightly. Nie Mingjue filled Wei Ying in on how he had been found at the base of the bridge at the entrance to Gusu, how long he had been unconscious and the status of their investigation into the incident. Wei Ying simply kept nodding and began to chew on his bottom lip as he listened.

And then it was Lan Zhan's turn and those eyes locked on him once more. He cleared his throat before speaking, unable to trust his own voice, "I want to apologize if this makes you uncomfortable, but I had to search your body for a curse mark. You do have one, it is located directly above your golden core. Given that I had already invaded your privacy enough in searching for the mark, I did not check on your qi, but the doctor has said that it is stable considering everything else. As for your curse mark, I have never seen anything like it. The design is exceedingly intricate, almost delicate. I did, however, make a breakthrough on the black marks that extend from the original design." He explained to Wei Ying about the time limit to break the curse and for the first time, he noted a touch of fear in the man's face. He added that he believed the man's amnesia to be tied to the curse and not just from his physical injuries.

When he finished, Wei Ying finally was able to speak, "Can I see the mark?" His voice was light and melodic and altogether very fitting for the man. With a hum of acknowledgment from Lan Zhan, Wei Ying ensured the blanket covered his lap and pulled up the hospital gown. The cracks that Lan Zhan had mentioned were still growing, but thankfully at a very slow rate. Although Lan Zhan felt his gaze lock on where one black line reached the slight 'V' of Wei Ying's obliques, something that the man definitely noticed when he glanced back up judging by the smirk on his face. "Like what you see, gege?" Heat rushed through Lan Zhan at his words, focusing on the tips of his ears. Wei Ying glanced at his ears and grinned mischievously at the sight of the bright pink splotches. But then the hospital gown was dropped and Wei Ying held out his left arm. "Since you're investigating this curse, you should check on my core yourself. I don't mind as long as it's you."

Lan Zhan ignored the look that he knew Nie Mingjue was giving him and crept forward to take Wei Ying's arm. He pressed two fingers to the inside of his wrist and closed his eyes to focus on his spiritual energy as he sent it into Wei Ying's meridians. He probed through them, marveling at how open and smooth the pathways were. This man was clearly an extremely powerful cultivator in his own right. But when he tried to reach Wei Ying's core, he felt a barrier of resentment blocking it off, preventing any further flow of energy. Lan Zhan frowned and sent a stronger force of qi against the barrier, hoping to break it, but he was forced back roughly. He gasped and stumbled backwards as he let go of Wei Ying's wrist. Both men in the room looked at him expectantly.

"Your core itself is fine, very strong. You are most likely as talented as my brother and I in cultivation, potentially even more so. However, the curse has set a barrier around it preventing the flow of energy either in or out, essentially sealing your spiritual power off completely. It is unprecedented. I have never experienced anything like this before."

Wei Ying's right eyebrow raised and that cocky smirk from when he'd caught Lan Zhan's wandering gaze returned. "Oh really? You felt pretty powerful. You really think there's a chance that I'm stronger, gege?" Lan Zhan panicked internally at Wei Ying's teasing, but he kept his face as neutral as possible, something he had plenty of experience doing. He hummed again, definitely not able to trust himself to respond. And then Wei Ying laughed. His laugh was bright and bubbly, and the accompanying smile took over the man's face completely. Lan Zhan needed to get out of there as soon as possible before he embarrassed himself. He was far too hungover for this. Far too off-kilter to be able to handle this Wei Ying.

That night Lan Zhan had another one of his vivid dreams. This time he was a teenager again in school, shortly after he figured out that he preferred the male figure, but well before he accepted that he could be interested in any sort of figure at all. In the dream, a young man showed up and sat down at the desk next to him. At this point even asleep, Lan Zhan fully expected to turn around and see a faceless teenager. But when he turned his head, he was instead faced with what he imagined a teenage Wei Ying would look like. Youthful, beautiful, radiant. He froze at the sight and found himself fully entranced.

Of course, the teenage Wei Ying picked up on Lan Zhan's stare and flashed him with a mischievous little smirk. "Like what you see, gege?"

Lan Zhan felt his entire body heat with embarrassment as he exclaimed, "Ridiculous!" and turned back to face the teacher.

"What's ridiculous? You were the one staring. It's okay though, I stare at myself all the time. I don't mind a beauty like you enjoying the view as well. I'm Wei Ying by the way, what's your name?"

Lan Zhan clenched his hands into fists on his lap and hoped that the lesson would start soon to free him from this tease of a boy next to him, "Shameless!"

"Huh. That's an interesting name. Okay then Shameless-gege, since you were staring at me it's only fair that I stare back at you. I mean, I know I'm good to look at but you look like you came down to us all from the Heavens. " Lan Zhan could feel Wei Ying's smile boring into his ear. An exceedingly red ear as he sat there and endured the relentless teasing. A teasing that didn't stop once class began, simply changed form. Instead of the incessant compliments and calls of 'gege', Lan Zhan was pelted with little pieces of paper folded up into different little animals. The animals swiftly transformed into a bunch of little paper bunnies as soon as Wei Ying caught Lan Zhan's small but pleased gasp at the sight of his favorite animal in paper form.

When class ended, Lan Zhan realized that he'd barely paid any attention to the teacher at all. He'd been too distracted by the new boy's antics. But his torment still had yet to end. When Wei Ying finally got up to leave, he slid one last piece of paper onto Lan Zhan's desk. This one was not folded, it had instead been transformed into a portrait of Lan Zhan holding a bunny in his arms while an entire colony surrounded them. The image was remarkably well drawn, but Wei Ying had given him an expression that Lan Zhan had never seen on himself before. His eyes were slightly wide and seemed to sparkle as they took in the fluffy creatures before him, and his lips looked full and almost wet as they parted in a delighted but minuscule smile. He looked… ethereal. His heart thumped in his chest when he noticed the man's signature in the bottom right corner, accompanied by a phone number.

The next week passed surprisingly similar to the week before. Wei Ying might have woken up, but his memory was still addled by the curse and he had no recollection of the entire day of the attack. Lan Zhan continued to research by day and be plagued by dreams of a friend/lover at night. The biggest difference was that Wei Ying now replaced the faceless man in those dreams, and having a face attached to his desire only made the dreams feel more real, more like a memory than a passing fantasy.

Nie Mingjue's inquiry into Wei Ying's supposed past had also turned up nothing. The man claimed that his parents were Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren, a pair of famous cultivators that never had any children. Mingjue had used all his available resources to find another couple with the same names but found nothing. In an attempt to help Wei Ying clear up his confusion, Nie Mingjue assigned Song Lan to be his psychologist. Lan Zhan thought of the haunted look that persisted on Wei Ying's features when he thought that no one was looking. A psychologist seemed like a very good idea.

Wei Ying had also apparently decided that having his phone returned to him meant that he should send picture updates of his curse mark to Lan Zhan every single day, claiming that it was all Nie Mingjue's idea and that the officer had even been the one to give Lan Zhan's number to Wei Ying. Lan Zhan loved hated receiving those pictures. That Friday's picture had been especially frustrating because not only had it been an image of the curse mark, but for some reason Wei Ying had chosen to angle himself in a way that showed off his tiny little waist and grabbable hips. He had also opened said shameless picture just before his final class of the day and students were filing into his classroom while Lan Zhan fought for his life to stay calm and collected.

Earlier that morning during their usual pre-work tea, Lan Huan had informed him that he would need to cancel this week's dinner. Apparently their conversation last Sunday had inspired Lan Huan to attempt dating again and he had set something up with someone down in Caiyi, the little lake town at the base of the mountain. A change that turned out to be rather fortunate. After school was finished for the day and Lan Zhan was packing up, he received a phone call from Wei Ying's doctor. Apparently, the man was now healed enough that they would normally recommend he return home to convalesce there. But Wei Ying was a visitor. And an unknown one at that, so he had no place to go. Before Lan Zhan's brain caught up with his mouth, he had already offered to bring Wei Ying to his apartment to recuperate with him.

That was how Lan Zhan found himself in a clothing store on an early Friday evening. The weather was starting to shift from chilly to just plain cold, which meant that freezing temperatures and snow were soon on their way. Wei Ying had no memory of where he'd left his belongings so his only clothes were the bloody robes he'd been discovered in. There was no way those robes would keep that man warm in the weather to come, especially with how small he seemed to be. Lan Zhan used his nearly perfect memory to determine sizing and bought enough warm clothes to last Wei Ying a little over a week between washes. Just as he was leaving the last store on his way to pick him up, he spotted a crimson red scarf on a nearby mannequin. It looked eerily similar to the one from his dreams, and Lan Zhan was a weak man so he couldn't stop himself from buying the scarf for Wei Ying.

Lan Zhan showed up at the hospital ten minutes later than he'd promised. It was the first time that he had been late for anything in years, but he had let himself get carried away buying clothes to dress Wei Ying up in. He had also then needed to rush home to drop off most of the clothes, and get his car. Normally he preferred to walk given that Gusu was a manageable sized town, but Wei Ying was supposed to be resting and probably should not be expected to walk all the way from the hospital to Lan Zhan's apartment. Back at said apartment, Lan Zhan had panicked and set up the guest bedroom to be ready for a future inhabitant. But Wei Ying hadn't seemed to mind that Lan Zhan was late, in fact he seemed to delight in it.

"Ah. You mean the great Lan-er-gongzi I've heard so much about isn't as punctual as everyone says? Or did something special hold you up?" Wei Ying joked.

Having anticipated his body's inevitable betrayal around this particular person, Lan Zhan had worn his hair over his ears. A decision he was grateful for as he felt them burn as he thought about how eager he had been to dress up a man he didn't even know. But he simply nodded and held out the bag of two potential outfits he had brought with him. Wei Ying gasped, and Lan Zhan noticed that although he had appeared to be happy before, there was a noticeable change in his demeanor as he looked through the clothes that Lan Zhan had bought. Tension that had been carefully disguised seemed to actually disappear as he gleefully unfolded every single item.

"Wow! Did you go out and buy this for me? Such expensive quality! I'm honored, gege. And it's exactly the type of thing I would normally wear." Then, as if he forgot that there was someone else in the room with him, Wei Ying began to strip off his hospital gown. Lan Zhan coughed and quickly turned his back to Wei Ying to give the man privacy, ears aflame and heart racing. "Lan Zhan? What are you- oh. Right. Sorry. I probably should have gone into the bathroom to change, it's just that walking is still a little difficult. Without access to my core, I'm healing a lot slower than normal. Lucky for me, I've got a master in musical cultivation to play for me or I'd still have broken bones and there's no way they would let me out of the hospital yet. I hate hospitals."

Lan Zhan listened to Wei Ying speak and tried to focus on the sound of his voice and not the sounds of clothes rustling or the soft grunts that he heard as the man tried to get dressed while still laying in a hospital bed. Because of this, he was able to notice the drop in Wei Ying's energy after he had noticed that Lan Zhan had turned his back to him. Strange. He wondered what that could possibly be about.

When Wei Ying finished dressing, Lan Zhan turned back and was once again momentarily stunned. Wei Ying had chosen the loose black pants and the red sweater combination. He had wanted to start the man off with clothes that would be easy to put on and take off while he was still healing, but it also had the added benefit of making Wei Ying look cozy and snuggly. Seeing him dressed and no longer completely covered in cuts and bruises, Lan Zhan had to finally admit that Wei Ying really was the most beautiful man that he had ever seen.

Lan Zhan looked away again, for his own sanity, and noticed that the clothes Wei Ying had not selected were strewn about on the hospital bed and even over the bag they had been brought in. Grateful for something to distract him, Lan Zhan smoothly picked up each item of clothing, folded it, then placed it back into the bag as if they had never been touched in the first place. Wei Ying rubbed at his nose and gave a sad little smile at that.

"Sorry about that. I forgot how you used to- I mean, I forgot that most people aren't as messy as I am. I'll try to be better while I stay at your place. But you should know, that this is pretty typical for me. I hope that won't be a problem?"

It would, but Lan Zhan knew that was not the answer that Wei Ying was hoping for so he shook his head and said, "I have simply grown accustomed to a certain way of living. I will do my best to ensure that I do not impose my personal… predilections on you. I have been informed that I can be rather imposing." Even though he had carefully crafted each word in an attempt to please Wei Ying, the other man seemed more upset than before Lan Zhan had spoken. He should have stuck to his simple hum, that always seemed to serve him well in the past.

Before Wei Ying could respond, Qin Su came into the room and busied herself with helping Wei Ying sign all the necessary documents for his discharge. She pointed out a packet of instructions for Wei Ying's continued care at home, and then she had Lan Zhan come help lift Wei Ying and get him settled into a wheelchair. After looking over the list of instructions, Lam Zhan called out of work indefinitely so that he could stay home to care for Wei Ying. The man was quiet throughout the process, and something about this man in particular being silent seemed wrong. What had Lan Zhan even said to bother the other man so much? Had he already alienated yet another person too?

The silence persisted between the two of them until their arrival at Lan Zhan's apartment. Wei Ying seemed confused for some reason as he caught sight of the place, but kept whatever it was to himself. The wheelchair had been left behind at the hospital, so Lan Zhan gave Wei Ying a rather quick tour of the apartment while supporting almost all of his weight on one arm.

"Have you eaten yet tonight? I would normally make dinner for myself and my brother on Fridays so I have enough supplies to cook for us both." Lan Zhan asked as he gingerly deposited Wei Ying on his sofa.

"Hah, no. I haven't, hospital food is disgusting. You don't have to change your routine for me though, Lan Zhan. I know how difficult that can be for you. I mean I know it can be rough for some people. If you want to have your brother over for dinner that's fine. I can order takeout or something and eat in my room. The doctor said that my wallet at least still had some money in it, even if my cards don't work anymore."

"You did not force me to cancel anything tonight. He had a last minute change of plans." He did not like the idea of Wei Ying hiding away with some unknown takeout meal just after getting out of the hospital. He handed the TV remote to Wei Ying and went to the kitchen to begin cooking. He tried very hard not to think about the fact that he now had a strange man in his house. A cursed man with no memory of his life before. An extremely attractive cursed man who was probably not available was going to be sharing Lan Zhan's rather cozy apartment and winter weather was officially starting. Which meant that the very attractive, most likely unobtainable man was going to want to bundle up under blankets, potentially even crave the body heat of the only other person nearby…

Lan Zhan chopped the vegetables a little more aggressively than normal as he tried to stop that line of thought from continuing on any further. Since his apartment was rather small, the stove and counter-top were the only barrier between the kitchen and the living room where Wei Ying was currently seated trying to find something to watch on the TV. If Wei Ying had noticed Lan Zhan's lack of control while he cooked, he didn't seem to show it. Thankfully, Wei Ying selected something to watch and Lan Zhan was able to glance at the screen to distract himself whenever this thoughts tried to wander. Soon enough dinner was ready, but next he was stuck trying to decide where they should eat. It would be best for Wei Ying to move as little as possible until his muscles got used to working properly again, but if they ate on the couch there was a chance that some of the sauce on the noodles would drip onto the couch and leave a stain.

He must have stood there deliberating for too long because Wei Ying said, "Is dinner ready then? Could you help me walk to the table? I wouldn't want to risk staining your white couch. What kind of manners would that be? Hah." Lan Zhan hummed gratefully, glad that he didn't need to make the decision anymore. He set the food down at the table before he went to help Wei Ying, once again doing his best to ignore the warmth emanating from the other man as he pressed his body up against Lan Zhan's.

"My brother and I are both vegetarian, I hope you do not mind. I am willing to cook dishes with meat for you in the future, but this is all that I have for tonight." Wei Ying gave him a grateful smile as he settled in his chair and picked up his chopsticks.

"That's alright, it smells delicious. It's probably best I kind of ease back into eating certain foods anyway since I've essentially been on a liquid diet for so long. Besides, you don't need to cook for me all the time. Once I'm healed up enough I'll take care of myself. I'm already being enough of a bother." Wei Ying took a bite and began searching the table for something, "Where is the chili oil? Isn't it usually next to the salt and pepper?"

Lan Zhan blinked at Wei Ying, "I do not keep any chili oil in my home. I apologize. Is the food not to your liking?" Was Wei Ying trying to politely tell him that he was a bad cook? He knew that both he and his brother had developed a rather particular palette thanks to their uncle's strict diet, but he still didn't like the idea of this man not enjoying the food that he had made.

"What? No! That's not it at all, gege! It's delicious, really it is! I just tend to like things really spicy and I just forgot- you know, forgot that I shouldn't even be having spicy food just yet anyway. Hah. And I just don't want to be a burden. I hate feeling like that more than anything else. And here I am, some stranger living in your house that can't even go to the bathroom without at least a little assistance. Needing you to care for me, use your spiritual energy for me, even help cure my curse for me! It's a lot to ask of anyone, but especially someone who doesn't-" Wei Ying's voice caught and it almost sounded like he was biting back a sob, "Someone who doesn't even know who I am."

Lan Zhan examined Wei Ying's face as he spoke. Although his voice betrayed him with that flash of emotion, his face still seemed to radiate joy. It was only the slight reddening in his eyes that gave away that anything was amiss. It appeared that the random assumption he had made about the man when he'd been asleep was true after all. Wei Ying was definitely the type of person to smile and tell you that everything was alright even as he drew his last breath. For some reason, this thought made Lan Zhan incredibly sad.

"I do not mind any of that. While you are living with me you will find that I am rather particular about quite a lot of things. I have… difficulty adjusting to changes in my routine. Cooking is something that I have always done, it is part of this routine and it soothes me. I believe that it would be best for both of us if I simply take on that particular responsibility myself." Memories of frantically cooking in order to calm down panic attacks rushed through his mind as he spoke. Cooking was nice, clear, organized. You follow each step that you are given without deviation and you end up with a result that makes people happy.

As he should have expected, his words ended up leading into a conversation about each of their expectations now that they were going to be living in the same place. Obviously, Lan Zhan had more rules than Wei Ying. He liked order, cleanliness, structure. He wasn't used to sharing any sort of space with another person for long periods of time. He informed Wei Ying of his weekly dinners with his brother and invited for the man to join them if he wished, an invitation that was rather eagerly accepted. Wei Ying, apparently, liked chaos and clutter. He agreed to try his best to contain his mess to his bedroom, but Lan Zhan had agreed to attempt more leniency on this matter. Especially given Wei Ying's current physical state.

It was only later, while he was washing up the dishes, that Lan Zhan realized that he had not only broken one of his standard rules by speaking throughout the entire meal, but he had also completely neglected to mention it to Wei Ying at all. He was lost in this thought when there was a soft knocking on his door. He quickly dried his hands and went over to open the door to see his brother. Lan Huan had a slightly loose smile on his face, his eyes were puffy and red and his normally stick straight posture was lax and almost precarious. Lan Zhan leaned in slightly and he could smell the unmistakable stench of alcohol on his brother's breath. What had happened on his date to make him end up like this? Almost forgetting Wei Ying's presence, Lan Zhan ushered his drunk sibling inside and began to lead him to the couch, where the forgotten guest was still sitting.

"Oh, hello there! You're a cutie aren't you? A-Zhan, you should have told me that you had a date too! Although if you two decide it's not working out, I'm available too. I'm so available. Maybe not emotionally, but definitely physically!" Lan Huan practically shouted the moment he caught sight of Wei Ying on the couch. Wei Ying gave an uncomfortable laugh and shot Lan Zhan a confused look.

"We are not dating. This is Wei Ying. From the case. He needed somewhere to stay after his discharge from the hospital. I have a spare room so I offered my apartment." Lan Huan fell into the sofa next to Wei Ying and began to laugh loudly. Lan Huan had a habit of getting louder and louder the more he drank, until he would pass out and be dead to the world for the night. "Ge, did something happen tonight?" This wasn't exactly a conversation that he wanted to have in front of a complete stranger, but between Wei Ying's feeble body and his brother's obscenely drunken state, he knew there weren't many other options available for them.

"I went on a date! That's what happened. He was great too. Gorgeous body, lovely personality. But he wasn't A-Jue. None of them will ever be A-Jue. But it's fine! I was fine!! I was doing so great!! Until he kissed me and I didn't want him to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me. I only want him to kiss me. After three years I still only want him!!!" Lan Huan was starting to slur as he shouted and Lan Zhan made a mental note to bake some apology muffins for his neighbors tomorrow. He hoped that the sheer volume of his last sentence meant that Lan Huan was about to pass out and he could move on to the next step of this entire debacle, but unfortunately he continued. "Have you kissed Mingjue? He's a great kisser!! The best!!" He turned to Wei Ying and pointed a finger almost directly in the young man's face.

Wei Ying looked incredulous as he shook his head, "Ah. No. But I'm sure he is. He's very handsome."

Lan Huan nodded sagely, "Isn't he? A-Zhan sure thinks so too!! We have very similar taste in men, I'll have you know!! That's how I knew this was a date the moment I saw you!!! You have very kissable lips!!! Have you two kissed yet?!" At this, Lan Zhan's ears burned hotter than ever before, but then thankfully, Lan Huan passed out. Lan Zhan rushed forward to catch him.

"I will take him into my room so that he can sleep in there." Lan Zhan pointedly avoided looking anywhere near Wei Ying as he gathered his elder brother into his arms and carried his slumbering form into the bed. On the rare occasions that his brother had gotten drunk and passed out in Lan Zhan's apartment, he would stay in the guest bedroom. That was obviously out of the question for the night, so his own bed was the next best thing. Lan Zhan would simply have to sleep on the couch this time. Once his brother was settled so that he wouldn't choke if he threw up in the middle of the night, Lan Zhan returned to his living room.

"Wei Ying, I apologize for my brother. He is not normally like this-" He began.

"Hah. Lan Zhan, it's alright. I'm just surprised is all. I don't think I've ever seen your brother like that even when he's been drunk before. I mean, what even was all that nonsense about not getting to kiss Mingjue-ge anymore?"

Lan Zhan answered on instinct, "Tonight was his first date since he and Nie Mingjue broke up three years ago. We both thought that after all this time he would be ready, but- it appears that we were wrong." But when he finished speaking, he realized that what Wei Ying said had made no sense at all, "What do you mean you have never seen him like that before? Did you meet my brother and Mingjue when they were dating?" Wei Ying spluttered and rubbed at his nose, looking almost sheepish.

"Ah… No. I don't- I'm sorry, I must just be confused. From the curse. Hah…" He didn't meet Lan Zhan's eyes as he spoke, "Look I just- This is gonna sound absolutely insane, I know. But I think- I think when I was asleep for that… uh… week? I think it was a week. Anyway, when I was asleep I guess I had a dream? The psychologist said that my brain was turned into a blank slate from the curse, so when my subconscious overheard stories from the nurse's at their desk, it tried to fill in all those blank parts. Maybe I knew someone similar or something. You know, before." Lan Zhan wasn't sure if he believed Wei Ying or not. Not that his story didn't seem plausible, no. It was just that there was something about the way Wei Ying said it that made Lan Zhan question every word.

But it was nearing nine and after so many deviations from his regular schedule in one night, Lan Zhan no longer had the energy to try to figure out the truth. He hummed his agreement and returned to the kitchen to finish up the dishes. Wei Ying was mostly silent as Lan Zhan helped him go through his nightly routine, only interjecting with happy sounds as he saw all that Lan Zhan had purchased for him earlier that very evening. The most difficult part of the entire process was when Wei Ying teasingly admitted to not usually sleeping in pajamas as he changed into one of the new sets that Lan Zhan had bought him. Lan Zhan once again had his back turned to the man, but he stayed in the room just in case he needed assistance for any reason. He decidedly did not comment on Wei Ying's normal lack of clothing in bed, nor did he mention that the bunny print pajama set that Wei Ying had put on to placate him was the black version of Lan Zhan's personal favorite set. He actually owned that very set in both a white and a pale blue for himself.

"Where will you sleep then?" Wei Ying asked after he was finally settled under the covers.

"The sofa is a pull-out. I will sleep on that for the night. Please feel free to shout if you need me, regardless of the time. I am a rather light sleeper and I will wake easily." Lan Zhan resisted the strange urge to kiss Wei Ying's temple as he said goodnight and as soon as the light was off, he fled.

Unsurprisingly, Lan Zhan was the first to wake the next morning. Knowing that he had two guests to cook for this time, he checked the fridge and made a mental grocery list before he bundled up for his typical morning jog. He stopped at the store on his way back home and began to cook breakfast for everyone as soon as he had showered. He kept the noise down to allow his guests to sleep, but also to be able to hear if Wei Ying woke up and needed any assistance.

Lan Huan woke next, and he shuffled his way into the kitchen looking every bit the picture of death. Lan Zhan quickly started making their typical jasmine tea and motioned for Lan Huan to sit at the table.

"I am so sorry, didi." He mumbled as he sat down before he buried his head in his arms as they rested on the wooden surface. Lan Zhan hummed and finished brewing their tea.

"How much do you remember?" He asked as he set down the hot cup next to his brother's miserable form.

"Ugh, too much. You know, sometimes I wish I had your penchant to forget everything the next day. I would feel at least a little less awful right now if I didn't remember trying to kiss your curse victim." He only barely lifted his head enough to drink his tea before he plopped it back down. "Oh gods, did I whine to him about Mingjue?"

"Mm. If it helps, I am sure that you kept him entertained. He did not even bother to turn the television back on after you arrived." His brother laughed at that, but quickly winced and held a hand to his head. Lan Zhan handed him the pain reliever he had already set aside.

"He is very attractive though, your Wuming. I cannot recall his name at this moment, so you will have to forgive me. I see now why you have been so distracted. You should have told me. Here I have been concerned for you when it is simply that you have developed a little crush." Lan Huan took another sip of tea and Lan Zhan decided not to comment any further to avoid revealing anything more about his so called crush.

Just as he finally finished making the pancakes, Lan Huan's preferred hangover food, there was a loud thud from the guest room accompanied by a muffled grunt of pain. Since the difficult part of cooking was finished, Lan Huan offered to finish plating to allow Lan Zhan to check on his guest.

When he opened the door to the guest bedroom he was greeted with the sight of Wei Ying wrapped up in a bundle of blankets on the floor. It was a rather endearing sight, especially when Wei Ying popped his head out from under the blankets and pouted at him.

"Er-gege. I just wanted to get out of bed on my own, but your bed was so comfy that my body decided not to listen, and then I got into a bit of a fight with the comforter and now… Well you can see what happened." And if he wasn't already adorable enough, Wei Ying next lifted his arms out from the blankets and made grabby arms at him. "Will you please help this poor invalid get up?"

Lan Zhan's heart melted at the sight and he knew that his brother had absolutely been right, this was most definitely a crush. He huffed softly and bent down to pick Wei Ying up. At his behest, Lan Zhan took him to the bathroom first, waited outside until he was called back in, and then he helped Wei Ying to the kitchen so that they could both eat their pancakes.

"Ah, I believe that I owe you an apology for my atrocious behavior last night uh- gongzi. And another one for forgetting your name. I promise that I am not normally like this. You did not meet me on my best day." Lan Huan was sitting and extremely hungover so he didn't do a full bow, but he still managed to clasp his hands together and perform a slight nod.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I've definitely been more drunk than you were last night in my life, and I've seen a lot worse too. No need to apologize for last night, it's always flattering when a handsome man compliments and tries to kiss you." Wei Ying waved off Lan Huan's 'bow' before adding, "And it's Wei Ying. Ying as in infant. So I'm fine with you calling me anything you want as long as it's not Ying-er. I got that enough as a teen and I'm kind of over it now." He laughed his tinkling laugh and Lan Zhan felt warmth spread through him at the sound.

Silence fell as they started to eat, but Wei Ying didn't know the rule so he soon began to speak again, "I have to ask, why did you think I was Lan Zhan's date last night? Does the handsome Lan-er-gongzi have a boyfriend that he's been hiding from you?" For some reason, Wei Ying's shoulders were tense as he waited for the answer. Lan Huan raised an eyebrow at Lan Zhan when he didn't immediately correct Wei Ying for speaking during the meal. He raised the other eyebrow when Lan Zhan motioned for his brother to actually answer Wei Ying as well.

"Ah, no. Not that I am aware of at least." Lan Huan's eyes gleamed with mirth and Wei Ying visibly relaxed, "I would ask about yourself, but I have marginally returned to my senses enough to recall that your memory has been cursed. I believe that after some food is in my stomach and I have another cup of tea, I will return to myself fully. I normally work alongside my brother on cases that involve complex curses, and I would like to volunteer my services in place of the apology that you do not seem to want."

After breakfast was finished and cleared away, and Lan Huan made a side comment to Lan Zhan about the matching bunny pajama set on Wei Ying, it was time to look at the curse mark again. Unabashed, Wei Ying unbuttoned his pajama top completely and tossed is haphazardly to the ground. Lan Zhan took this as an excuse to look away as his brother examined the other's form and he bent down to fold the pajama top to avoid wrinkles.

"Oh! I have never seen anything like this before. It is truly remarkable. It is incredibly ornate almost like-" Lan Huan started as he leaned in close, almost touching Wei Ying's exposed abdomen.

Unable to handle it anymore, Lan Zhan broke yet another rule and interrupted his brother. "Almost like a piece of jewelry, or a decoration of some sort." He glared at Lan Huan's offending hand as he set the now folded top down on the table. Lan Huan quickly pulled his hand back and stood up, backing away from Wei Ying.

"Yes exactly. I think we will need to pull A-Yao in on this case." He pulled out his phone and began to swipe across the screen as he explained to Wei Ying, "Jin Guangyao is our local jeweler. He grew up surrounded by riches and jewels beyond imagining and developed a taste for it. His knowledge in customized pieces is extraordinary. Ah, I just need to send him a picture of the mark itself, is that alright?" He may have been asking Wei Ying for consent, but it was Lan Zhan's eyes he met as he asked. When both men agreed, Lan Huan took a picture and sent it off. Lan Zhan frowned at his brother. How long had he still been in contact with the very man he lost the love of his life to? And why? But Lan Zhan was quickly distracted when he noticed that the black cracks had grown more in the past 24 hours than they had in the past week. What had caused this change in pace? Was it a fluke, or would it just continue to speed up?

"Er, Lan Zhan? Could I maybe shower now? I haven't had anything other than sponge baths since I was cursed and now I'm shirtless and stinky in front of two extremely attractive men. I think I'll be able to do it on my own, as long as you help me get in there and all that." Wei Ying rubbed his nose and did one of his awkward little laughs. Lan Zhan hummed and helped Wei Ying get into the shower. He showed him where everything was and ensured that he could reach it all without any issue. He hung a clean towel on the bar just outside of the shower door and swiftly left the room, blushing so hard he was sure even his cheeks were betraying him this time. Once he heard the water turn on, he returned to his brother.

The two of them waited in a silent stalemate, neither wanting to bring up their questions for the other, lest it end with the tables being turned and they would be left having to explain themselves instead. Lan Huan's phone buzzed a few times and he would type in his normal calm, controlled manner each time, betraying nothing about the content of the messages or the identity of the recipient. Normally their silences were calming, but today Lan Zhan felt only more tense as the time stretched on. Once again, they were interrupted by a soft grunt of pain from Wei Ying, except this time it was louder and there was no bang to accompany it. They both turned around to see Wei Ying still slightly damp from the shower and just the white towel wrapped around his waist. Lan Zhan felt his mouth water at the sight and he tried his best to keep his face neutral.

"Sorry, we forgot to bring in a change of clothes, and I really wanted to just go in and do it myself, but my legs are still pretty weak. And honestly, they hurt a bit after standing in the shower for so long. I think I'm going to need you to help me get dressed, er-gege," Wei Ying informed them. Lan Zhan swallowed and nodded. He moved on autopilot as he wrapped an arm around the mostly naked man and went through the miserable process of getting him dressed while trying his best not to look and invade his privacy. Although it really didn't seem like Wei Ying cared at all, the man was truly shameless.

By the time that Lan Huan left, Lan Zhan was extremely flustered and both Lan Huan and Jin Guangyao had been successfully roped into the investigation. Jin Guangyao had apparently even taken the initiative to start a group chat, much to Lan Zhan's chagrin. Wei Ying continued to smile and laugh through everything, but Lan Zhan could tell that he was hiding some form of grief behind it all. He wanted to break this curse as soon as possible, to let Wei Ying get back to his loved ones. Because despite them not knowing for sure, Lan Zhan knew that someone as incredible as Wei Ying would definitely have someone at home. The more he came to know Wei Ying, the more sure he was of this fact.

It took another full week of a strict regiment of Rest, Cleansing, and a transfer of Lan Zhan's own spiritual energy for Wei Ying to begin to be able to move around on his own again. He would tire much faster than would normally be expected for his physique, but Lan Zhan could tell that Wei Ying was beginning to get a little stir crazy being cooped up at home all day every day. And Lan Zhan, likewise, was more than ready to return to work. He and his brother had replaced their morning chats in the office to morning video chats, and in his embarrassment, Lan Huan requested to pause their weekly dinners until the case was solved. During these video chats, his brother claimed that his substitute was doing well, but Lan Zhan worried about little Lan Jingyi without him there to pay him the extra attention he seemed to need. With them both struggling to stay confined for so long, Lan Zhan had suggested that they both go for a stroll around Gusu.

As they walked, Lan Zhan took the opportunity to fill Wei Ying in on all the places and people that they passed. There were times that he could have sworn he saw Wei Ying's eyes light up, but they would always fade to a dull grey when they continued on. He wondered if this was tied to that story that Wei Ying had told him on their first evening together, the one about his brain concocting a story using names he'd overheard while in a coma. Lan Zhan had always left the apartment whenever Song Lan, Wei Ying's psychologist, came over for their sessions so he hadn't heard anything more since then. But even so, he still suspected that there was something more to the story than he'd been told.

The biggest surprise came when they passed by Lotus Pier Hotel and saw Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli having a rather loud argument just outside. Wei Ying froze at the sight of them and stared, eyes growing wet.

"That is Jin Zixuan and his wife, Jiang Yanli. Do you know them?" Lan Zhan asked, unable to stop himself once he noticed such a strong reaction. Wei Ying opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he was unsure of how to answer. Jin Zixuan shouted something angrily at his wife before he turned and stormed off, not even noticing Lan Zhan or Wei Ying as he passed. But Wei Ying's gaze remained locked on Jiang Yanli as she cried out for her husband and started to follow him, only to stop and slump in defeat.

"What- what were they fighting about?" Wei Ying asked, ignoring Lan Zhan's question completely. He sounded dazed as he stared at Yanli's dejected form.

"I am not exactly sure. I do not engage in gossip."

"Oh."

They moved on, but Wei Ying had slowed down drastically, clearly still thinking about the beautiful woman they left behind. Lan Zhan wanted to ask, but just as he gained the courage to speak, he noticed a white flake land on Wei Ying's red knitted hat, right on the pom at the top. He froze and stared at the speck as more started to fall. Oh no. Not now. Not while he was taking care of someone who needed him at his best. But just as he began to worry, the first flurry of snow began to fall, and so did his spirits. He felt a familiar weight settle into his limbs and his heart began to ache for a woman he barely even remembered anymore.

"It's snowing." Wei Ying's eyes widened as he came back to himself after whatever had happened back at the hotel. He looked at Lan Zhan concerned, before his face morphed into another one of his smiles that Lan Zhan was sure was actually just a mask. "Lan Zhan! It's snowing! Do you know what this means? The first snow means that we need to go get some hot chocolate with extra marshmallows! Where would that be?"

Lan Zhan remained still for a moment, letting his body remember the loss of his mother. He closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths. When he opened his eyes he looked at Wei Ying and was surprised to see genuine worry on the other man's face. Was his distress really so obvious? "Perhaps we can stop at a store on the way back home. You have walked quite a ways today. I would not want to aggravate your injuries just as you are beginning to heal."

"What? No. Nope. No way. We are not going home like this. I can see your face, er-gege. The snow… it bothers you doesn't it? That's okay! I used to know someone who had trouble the first time it would snow. The best cure is to go out and have hot chocolate with all the mix ins. Trust me on this one. Hm, oh look! I bet that place with the ugly yellow door will have hot cocoa inside. Let's go!" And then Lan Zhan found himself being ushered into Nevernight against his will.

Wen Qing was behind the bar and Wen Ning was waiting tables, so there was at least a small chance that Wen Chao wasn't in tonight. Even so, he had zero desire to be out in public on the night of the first snowfall. Wei Ying paid him no mind and practically shoved him into a chair at the only remaining open table. Soon after they sat, Wen Ning shuffled over to take their order.

"H-hello Lan-er-gongzi. Hello g-gongzi. What c-can I get f-for you tonight?"

"Lan Zhan here is in desperate need for some of your best hot cocoa. With as much sugar on top as physically possible. And I'll have one of the same. It'll help him pretend that he's just doing it to appease me." Wei Ying gave a big, showy wink to their nervous server who flushed darker than Lan Zhan had ever seen and rushed off.

"Wei Ying. This is a bar. I doubt that they have anything remotely resembling hot chocolate."

"Trust me. They'll have it. Anyway, what's the story about this place? And that server? He's cute isn't he? And did you see his little blush? I bet he has a crush on you." Once again, Wei Ying's teasing seemed laced with a hidden sorrow. It had been pretty clear to Lan Zhan that Wen Ning's crush had been on Wei Ying and not himself, but perhaps Wei Ying had gotten it wrong out of… jealousy or something? Over Wen Ning? Although, Lan Zhan had also wondered if Wei Ying had taken a fancy to Jiang Yanli judging by his strange reaction to the woman's anguish.

"Nevernight is owned by Wen Ruohan from Qishan. While the business technically belongs to him, he has sent his son, Wen Chao, here to run the place. He, in turn, hired his cousins Wen Qing who is at the bar and Wen Ning who is our server." Wei Ying's face fell again for some reason.

"So this Wen Chao is the boss of the other two?"

"Mm."

"There wasn't, I dunno, some scandal about Wen Chao that got him arrested or anything like that? Or, anything that would switch possession into Wen Ning's hands?" Lan Zhan frowned. Wei Ying was back to speaking nonsense again it seemed. But he was thankfully rescued from having to respond when Wen Ning showed up with two large mugs covered in whipped cream, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and what appeared to be peppermint candies.

"Th-this is from m-my personal s-stash. It's n-not normally on the m-menu, but I am p-partial to all s-sorts of hot ch-chocolate." He placed the obscene drinks in front of both men, and Wei Ying stopped him before he left.

"You are the absolute best, did you know that? This is incredible. You should really put a hot cocoa bar on your menu or something. Anyway, I have some questions for you. I'm Wei Ying and I'm-" Wei Ying hesitated, "I'm new around here. Lan Zhan has been my tour guide and he took me by this gorgeous hotel, but I noticed a lovely young woman outside arguing with someone who looked to be her husband. Lan-er-gongzi here is too much of a fuddy-duddy to gossip, so he could tell me absolutely nothing. But you! You work in a bar, you hear everything. So come on, for a new friend. Fill me in?"

And so Wen Ning stuttered his way through the story of Jiang Yanli and her marriage to Jin Zixuan. It was common knowledge that the two had been exceedingly close friends as children. They would always accompany their mothers to Yunmeng, Lanling, or even Gusu whenever they would get together. This led to an unspoken agreement that the two of them would marry when they got older, to bond the families together even closer. However when they were teenagers, Jin Zixuan's mother Madam Jin, suddenly pulled away, refusing to even let her son visit Yunmeng. However, when Zixuan turned 18 he left Lanling for good and went to Yunmeng first to explain everything to Yanli. Her love for him had never faded, in fact it had only grown when they were apart. So the Jiangs took Zixuan in as family. The two married young and moved to Gusu when the Jiangs opened a branch of Lotus Pier Hotel here. The pair had been happy and even trying for a child when Yanli's parents died in a plane crash somewhere over Qishan. After that, everything changed. Jiang Yanli took over for the Jiangs as the head of the company and her new hours prevented her from having the time to have children. Their relationship had been visibly strained ever since.

Wei Ying's face went through a myriad of emotions as he listened to the story. "But, why did she have to take over for her family? Didn't she have a younger brother? Why didn't he help?"

"Oh. Y-you probably didn't know, b-but her brother J-Jiang Cheng… H-he died. He fell through th-the ice while ice sk-skating here in Gusu when he was o-only eight years o-old. His f-friend, Luo Qinyang tr-tried to save him and f-fell in too. Help arrived in t-time to save her, b-but it was too late for Jiang Ch-Cheng. Luo-guniang h-has been ill ever s-since." Wei Ying looked like he was about to throw up as Wen Ning spoke. Lan Zhan understood the sentiment to some degree. He had never been particularly fond of Jiang Cheng, but he had been close to Luo Qinyang when they were small. And anyone hearing about someone passing away so young would be sad. However, Wei Ying seemed to be more affected by this news than anything else he had heard tonight. It almost felt as if Wei Ying had somehow known Jiang Cheng. Wei Ying gave Wen Ning a weak thanks and said that he had heard enough. Wen Ning flushed and apologized as he left, leaving their table weighed down by the heavy silence that had followed his tale.

Lan Zhan was completely at a loss for how to help Wei Ying recover from his shock since he wasn't even sure what exactly caused such a visceral reaction in the first place. If he didn't know any better, he would think that Wei Ying had just received the news that a beloved family member had passed away. He wondered if this had anything to do with the curse. What if Wei Ying was from Yunmeng? And he had known Jiang Cheng when he was a child? This could be similar to the current melancholic feeling Lan Zhan was experiencing. The body sometimes just remembered things that the mind didn't necessarily need to. He was flummoxed as he looked between their over the top mugs of what he highly doubted could even be classified as 'cocoa' and Wei Ying's devastated face.

"Wei Ying. If this… hot chocolate," he struggled to get out those words to describe the sugary concoctions before them, "is supposed to help me with my personal issues surrounding the first snowfall, perhaps it will also help you?" Wei Ying's glassy eyes locked onto his and he nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah. It's certainly worth a try." He gave a weak smile and reached out for his own mug. Determined to try to cheer Wei Ying up, Lan Zhan also reached out for his own and took a sip. It was surprisingly… delicious. The cocoa itself was a deep rich chocolate to offset all of the sugar piled high on top of it. And it seemed that Wen Ning had even added some peppermint oil to the cocoa itself, making the entire drink feel reminiscent of the winter season that was now officially upon them. Without realizing it, he must have smiled or shown some of his delight on his face because Wei Ying actually laughed. Not his fake laugh but a real full laugh.

Then, without warning, Wei Ying leaned forward and brushed his thumb across Lan Zhan's upper lip. Lan Zhan sat there frozen in shock at the gesture. He wondered if he was experiencing some sort of whiplash from the other man's ever changing emotions, because the moment he saw Wei Ying's finger move away covered in the whipped cream that must have been on his own face, he leaned in and licked that finger clean. Neither of them moved, they both just sat there and stared at Wei Ying's now wet finger. What the hell had he been thinking? Why had he done that? He wanted to apologize for his inappropriate actions, but before he could do so Wei Ying moved. He sat back in his chair, face bright red and lips still parted slightly.

"Wow. Did Wen Ning spike the cocoa or something?"

"Wei Ying, I am sorry I-"

"No! Nope. No apologies. That helped more than you can possibly even know. I'm glad you enjoy the cocoa though, it really works like a charm, huh? Anyway, let's just try to move on from what just happened and then break this damn curse."

"Mm." Lan Zhan agreed. They both obviously still had their respective 'melancholies' going on, but the company and the embarrassingly delicious cocoa actually did help Lan Zhan feel a bit better. He still missed his mother, but it no longer felt debilitating like it normally would. When Wen Ning came by with the check, Lan Zhan paid before Wei Ying could even attempt to object. "Wei Ying. I want to thank you for this. When I was six years old, my mother died. It was the same day as the first snow of the year. Ever since then I have struggled whenever it started to snow. But tonight was different. You made it different."

Wei Ying's cheeks turned an adorable pink as he stood up to put his coat back on. The sight flustered Lan Zhan and he quickly turned away, using leaving the bar as an excuse for his actions. Wei Ying rushed after him and took his arm as they left the warmth of the bar to brave the chill of the snow. But as they began their stroll back towards their apartment, Wen Ning rushed out from Nevernight with Wei Ying's red scarf in hand. Still lost in the rush from the cocoa, Lan Zhan took the scarf and tied it around Wei Ying's neck himself. He took his time, savoring having an excuse to be so close to the other man. When he finished, his eyes shot up to meet the deep stormy grey ones that were wide and glued on him. There was a flash of pink as Wei Ying licked his lips and Lan Zhan felt himself lean forward as if there were magnets between his lips and Wei Ying's.

But just before their lips could brush, Lan Zhan suddenly returned to his senses and pulled back, ears burning and heart racing. Wei Ying was cursed, he had no memory of who he truly was or who was in his life. This was wrong. This was a mistake. It didn't matter that Wei Ying currently seemed to want this too, he didn't even know who he was at this moment. Lan Zhan had been about to take advantage of the man's curse. He wanted to apologize, he should apologize, but he couldn't. He couldn't speak. He had never felt like this before. He had a small crush on Nie Mingjue when he was younger, who wouldn't the man was a fine specimen, but even that crush had not developed farther than typical teenage stuff. But tonight with Wei Ying, sitting together and drinking liquid happiness, finding joy with another despite any pain out in the world. He wanted more. He wanted to do this more. He wanted to spend every day walking side by side with Wei Ying, listening to him laugh, seeing him smile. He knew it was too soon, he had only known Wei Ying for about two weeks. And yet somehow he knew. He was falling in love with him.

That night Lan Zhan had another extremely vivid dream featuring Wei Ying. As he probably should have expected, it centered around first snows and hot cocoa. As usual for these dreams, it almost felt as though he were watching memories from another life. The difference this time was that it seemed to be multiple memories spanning over years all crammed into one unending vision. It started with him as a teenager again, surrounded by a bunch of his classmates all rushing outside to play with the fresh snow at the end of a school day. Lan Zhan had no desire to share in the communal joy surrounding him so he started to walk home. Alone. But Wei Ying, as was usual for the Wei Ying in his dreams (most likely the real one as well), refused to let him go all alone. He waved farewell to his friends and grabbed onto Lan Zhan's arm just like he had earlier that evening as they left Nevernight in the real world. He talked about anything and everything, acting as though he was completely oblivious to Lan Zhan's sadness. At least until they stopped outside the cafe that had been overtaken by Wen Ruohan a few years later.

He ushered Lan Zhan inside, ordered them both a cup of hot chocolate (normal this time) and they sat next to a TV showing a fireplace on the screen. Wei Ying listened to Lan Zhan's story about his mother's death and shared that his own parents had passed away on a night hunt in the winter. By the time both young boys left the cafe, a warmth had spread throughout his body, mirroring the mind fogging warmth that had almost led to a kiss on the snowy streets of Gusu.

Over the years, it had become a tradition for Wei Ying to take Lan Zhan out for a walk through the snow to get hot cocoa and reminisce. Eventually, Wei Ying suggested that they include family and each year the number of people filling up Nevernight and then some bar Lan Zhan barely recognized grew and grew. Until the first snow of the year became synonymous with love and family instead of loss and loneliness.

They didn't talk about the almost kiss. Wei Ying had seemed to want to until he saw Lan Zhan's expression. Instead they focused on healing Wei Ying's body and trying to find out more about the curse. Each time Lan Zhan would check the curse mark, those awful black lines had grown. They never appeared to grow at anything resembling a steady rate at all. Some days it looked as if they had only reached a minuscule amount of growth, but others it felt like they doubled in length.

By the time Lan Huan had rushed into the apartment claiming that Jin Guangyao had found something, Wei Ying's entire torso was covered in black lines. Lan Zhan had actually even been in the middle of examining that day's growth. Although more accurately he was being distracted by one black crack that had reached one of Wei Ying's nipples. When it came to Wei Ying, Lan Zhan was a very weak man. Lan Huan had thankfully kept his mouth shut while Wei Ying put his shirt back on and the three of them made their way over to Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao's home.

Jin Guangyao greeted them all and led them to a rather spacious living room. Lan Zhan had never been to this house before, but it felt like something his brother would have chosen for himself rather than something Nie Mingjue would have picked. He glanced at his brother, and the way that the man avoided his gaze told him everything he needed to know. Mingjue and Huaisang were seated on one of the sofas and rose to greet them all when they entered. Once all the greetings were complete and Jin Guangyao sat with the Nie brothers, the other three men sat on the second couch.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. I enlisted A-Sang to help me look for a necklace with the design in this image, and we finally located it. The necklace itself is very old and has never been seen in China as far as we can tell. Until now that is," Jin Guangyao began.

Huaisang decided to hop in and tell the rest of the story after only one look at Lan Zhan's murderous glare at both Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue cuddling up in front of his brother. "The first time I've seen this necklace crop up was back in the 1940s in Bedford Falls, New York. It belonged to a woman named Mary Bailey. She and her husband claimed that the necklace had not only saved their marriage, but also her husband's life. Her husband, George Bailey, claimed that he had been at a very low point in his life when all of the sudden the world around him changed. He said that one night, on his way home from purchasing this very necklace as a gift for his wife, his depression got the best of him and he found himself wishing that he had never even been born. He was feeling so depressed because he had just-"

"A-Sang, please. The curse?" Nie Mingjue interrupted his brother.

"Ugh, fine. Anyway. He opened his eyes and his wish had come true. He was still there, but the world around him had changed. The world around him became a world in which he, George Bailey, had never been born at all." Wei Ying began to squirm as Huaisang spoke, and suddenly a lot of strange things about Wei Ying began to make sense. Wei Ying always seemed to just know things about Gusu that couldn't be explained. He also had strong reactions to news about people that he supposedly didn't know. But what if he did actually know them? What if Wei Ying knew each and every one of them? What if Wei Ying had woken up one day to find that he now lived in a world where he had never even been born?

"Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren…" Nie Mingjue muttered, just barely audible. Ah yes, the people that Wei Ying had claimed to be his parents, but who were well known to be childless. That one detail in this case had irked Nie Mingjue to no end. But this would explain it completely.

"How was the curse broken?" Lan Zhan asked quickly. Understanding what the curse was may have been important, but knowing how to break it was even more so.

"Well, the curse started because he truly believed that the world would be better off without him in it. So it broke when he learned to appreciate what he had in his life and no longer felt that way." Everyone turned to Wei Ying who frowned at them all.

"But that's the thing, I was happy. Like really happy. I had everything I could ever want!" Wei Ying started and Lan Zhan's stomach dropped. He should be happy. He should be glad to hear that Wei Ying had everything. But he couldn't help it. If Wei Ying truly had everything, then he definitely had someone romantic in his life. And when they broke the curse, Lan Zhan would go back to being all alone, except this time he would be forced to watch Wei Ying be with someone else. "I don't exactly remember the night that I was cursed, but I can't imagine ever wanting that again. I mean, sure, when I was younger I had some issues, but not anymore."

"Well, maybe you need to figure out what happened that night. Whatever wish you made is the key to breaking the curse. But you need to be careful. You can't tell anyone you knew previously the truth about your relationship to them. I found some records of bad things happening to people when they found out. One woman told her wife that they had been married before the curse, and an hour later the wife died in a car accident. There's a lot more like that, but I'm sure da-ge doesn't want me to go on." Wei Ying paled at this news and his eyes flicked towards Lan Zhan momentarily before moving through each person in the room, almost deliberately.

Wei Ying might know them all. Lan Zhan might have known Wei Ying. Perhaps they had been friends. Perhaps even in Wei Ying's real world Lan Zhan had fallen for him. There wasn't a world that Lan Zhan could imagine where he wouldn't fall for Wei Ying. He noticed that the only person Wei Ying avoided looking at was Nie Huaisang and he felt even worse. Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue were brothers, and although they shared a father, they had different mothers. Mingjue had taken after their father; tall, rugged, muscular, and emanating masculine beauty. But Huaisang had taken after his mother; small and slender, skin so pale it looked as though a light touch would bruise it, and his own beauty was exceedingly feminine. Both Nie siblings, like Wei Ying himself, were bound to draw the eye of anyone interested in males romantically or sexually.

Not that Lan Zhan and his brother were ugly, no he knew that people considered them both to be particularly handsome men. But everyone constantly reminded him that his face made him look like a widower, and that no one could fall in love with him if he didn't change his personality. Why would someone as gorgeous and fun as Wei Ying want someone like Lan Zhan, especially with Nie Huaisang around. He needed air, a moment alone or something. He excused himself and practically fled to the bathroom that Jin Guangyao had pointed out for him when he asked. Once inside, he gripped the edge of the sink and tried to calm himself through his breathing. He had known that his feelings for Wei Ying were bordering on inappropriate, but now he knew just how inappropriate they really were. Inappropriate and completely, utterly hopeless. The worst part of this entire revelation was that there was a small part of Lan Zhan that hoped the curse would never break so that he could keep Wei Ying for himself.

Wei Ying had been quiet the whole way back home. Nie Huaisang had warned him that details about someone should never be told to that specific person. But that sharing information about others should be safe as long as there was no risk of overlapping information. So it would be better to only share things if he absolutely needed to. Lan Zhan had so many questions, so many things that he both wanted and didn't want to know. Who was he to Wei Ying? How had he known Jiang Cheng? Had Jiang Cheng somehow survived his fall in Wei Ying's world for him to be so shocked by his death? Did he know Wen Ning? Was that how he knew about the hot chocolate? But he knew better than to risk asking any of them. Little did he know that Wei Ying would be the first to break the silence.

"Lan Zhan? Can I ask you something?"

"Mm."

"Nie Mingjue… He kept talking about my parents and it sounded… Well it sounded like he knew them somehow? But that makes absolutely no sense. My parents died in Yiling when I was only four years old. How could he possibly have met them?" Wei Ying looked so lost as he collapsed onto Lan Zhan's sofa and put his feet up onto the new ottoman that Lan Zhan had purchased specifically for Wei Ying a few days after he moved in.

"Wei Ying. Your parents… Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren… Wei Ying, they are alive and well." This news sent a myriad of emotions through Wei Ying as he processed what exactly that meant. If this reality was a world in which Wei Ying had never been born, and his parents were alive in this world and dead in his original world… That could only mean that Wei Ying's existence somehow led to his parents' deaths. Lan Zhan couldn't even imagine how that must feel. "I am sorry. I- Perhaps I should not have told you."

"No! It's okay. I'm glad you did I just- fuck this is a lot. On the one hand, this curse has given me a world where my parents are still alive. Something I've always dreamed about. A chance to introduce them to my husband and show them who I've become. But- on the other hand my brother is dead, my sister is miserable, my nephew doesn't even exist, Wen Chao is still in charge of Qing-jie and A-Ning. And you-"

"Wei Ying! Careful!" He interrupted. Wei Ying stopped, terror overtaking his features.

"Oh gods. I almost just- I'm so sorry. Lan Zhan, I'm so sorry. I almost risked your life. I didn't mean to. I-" Lan Zhan rushed over to the couch and took Wei Ying's face into his hands to calm him.

"Wei Ying. It is okay. I cannot begin to understand what it is that you are going through. I think, perhaps, you should call Song Lan and have a session with him. I can go and visit my brother to give you space. We have to have a conversation that I believe is long overdue anyway." Wei Ying shook his head and simply stared at Lan Zhan. It made Lan Zhan hope that the person Wei Ying wanted close by right now was Lan Zhan, but he knew he was just fooling himself. Wei Ying loved Nie Huaisang. Or maybe even Wen Ning. He had referred to the Wen siblings rather intimately after all. "Let me call him for you. Wei Ying, please." Begging apparently worked. Wei Ying closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. But when Lan Zhan moved to grab Wei Ying's phone, Wei Ying reached out to stop him.

"Don't go just yet. Please. Just… Can you just hold me for a little while?" Unable to resist, Lan Zhan agreed and soon found himself seated on the couch, Wei Ying laying down with his head in his Lan Zhan's lap. Lan Zhan tried exceedingly hard to keep his mind from wandering as he sat there, stroking his fingers through Wei Ying's surprisingly soft hair. He now knew for certain that he had fallen in love with someone who was already taken. There was never any hope for a future with Wei Ying, no matter how desperately Lan Zhan longed for it. But for now, he could enjoy the intimacy of getting to be the one that Wei Ying sought comfort from. This would make it hurt worse when the curse was broken and Wei Ying returned to Nie Huaisang or Wen Ning or whoever his husband was. His husband's identity didn't really matter. The only thing that truly mattered was that Wei Ying wasn't in love with Lan Zhan, but Lan Zhan was in love with Wei Ying.

After about an hour of being snuggled together like that, Wei Ying finally got up and called Dr. Song. When Song Lan arrived, Lan Zhan bid them farewell and claimed that he was going to see his brother. But that was a lie. Lan Zhan had no desire to talk to Lan Huan about the mess between him, Nie Mingjue, and Meng Yao. But he did have something in mind that he needed to do without anyone else present. Especially Wei Ying.

It was a few more days before Wei Ying felt ready to walk around Gusu again, but this time they left with the intent to go to Nevernight. Wei Ying had told Lan Zhan that there was something important he needed to speak to the Wen siblings about. It was actively snowing outside, so they both bundled up once more. This time, Lan Zhan did not tie Wei Ying's scarf for him, although he really, really wanted to. And Wei Ying chose to wear the ridiculously adorable soft hat with the red pom on the top again that made Lan Zhan melt at the sight.

Wei Ying started off relatively energetic, laughing and teasing as they walked through the snow. But the more they walked, the quieter he got, the less he bounced around Lan Zhan, the less he teased. It didn't take a genius to see that Wei Ying was incredibly worried about this conversation with the Wen siblings. Lan Zhan's jaw clenched as this only further worked to prove his theory that Wei Ying had been married to Wen Ning before the curse. They were just outside of Lotus Pier Hotel when Wei Ying's steps faltered for the first time, and they were only a few steps away from Nevernight when he froze completely and Lan Zhan couldn't take it anymore.

"Wei Ying, are you sure that you need to have this conversation with the Wens? If you are this concerned before we even get inside, maybe you are not ready-"

"No! I need to know this Lan Zhan. I have to. The curse mark has already started to take over my legs now, I'm running out of time and we still have absolutely no clue how to break it. The only theory we have is that there is still something I need to learn to be even more happy with my life as it was. And he- this is one of the most important parts of my life. Maybe there's something here. And if not… Well, I need to start to prepare for this reality to become my only reality. It's already bad enough with Jiang Cheng dead. I just… I need him to still be okay." Wei Ying fidgeted with his scarf and stared at those garishly colored doors. Through the window, Lan Zhan could see that Wen Chao was working alongside Wen Qing and he instinctively knew that whatever discussion Wei Ying needed to have, Wen Chao should not be a part of it.

"Wei Ying. Is this something that you could ask me?" Wei Ying's eyes flitted to the windows to see the obnoxious Wen behind the bar alongside Wen Qing and he grimaced.

"I- I mean I guess I could try, right? Do you- Do you know about a little boy? A young Wen boy? Named Wen Yuan?" Wei Ying's eyes drifted away from Wen Chao to give Lan Zhan a complicated look. Lan Zhan frowned and tried to think back to all the Wens that he knew of.

"Wen Yuan? I… I believe the name is familiar. There was a young boy with Wen Qing and Wen Ning when they first moved here. His name may have been Wen Yuan."

Hope flickered across Wei Ying's face, this child was clearly extremely important to him. "Yeah, that would definitely be him! He was their little cousin, but his parents got sick and died just before they came here. What happened to him? Is he still here? Wen Qing is clearly not a doctor for some reason, so maybe it was to keep him? I know she had been thinking about that before I adopted him myself."

Lan Zhan's heart raced. Wei Ying had taken this child in. This Wen Yuan had been Wei Ying's adopted son. And now he had to tell him Wen Yuan's fate in this cursed world, a fate that he knew instinctively that Wei Ying would not be happy with. "Wei Ying. I know what happened to him. To a certain extent. Wen Qing did in fact quit medical school in order to try to care for the child. Unfortunately, that meant that she was stuck working for Wen Ruohan and Wen Chao who liked to schedule her more often than not. She was still unable to provide and had to set him up for adoption with someone else. I do not know the identity of the couple that adopted him, but I do know that the adoption was a closed one. They did not want to confuse the child further by keeping him in contact with his 'old' family."

Wei Ying's steel grey eyes turned wet and glassy as he looked at Lan Zhan. "He's… he's gone? They don't even get to see him anymore? I won't-" his breath hitched, "I won't get to see my little radish anymore?"

Lan Zhan's body moved of its own accord and he pulled Wei Ying into a tight hug. "They were a properly vetted family. He is happy, in this world. But we will break this curse. We will bring him back to you. I have not given up on this, so you should not either."

Wei Ying melted into Lan Zhan's embrace and the two of them remained like that for a very long time. Lan Zhan couldn't help but enjoy the way his sandalwood scented shampoo smelled in Wei Ying's hair, especially the way it combined with the naturally spicy scent that always seemed to emanate from the smaller man. Lost in his own thoughts and enjoyment, Lan Zhan pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Wei Ying's head.

Wei Ying gave a soft gasp and looked up, "Er-gege," he whispered. Lan Zhan felt his ears flush and he scrambled for an excuse. But oddly enough, Wei Ying was the one to change the subject after only a moment spent worrying at his bottom lip. "Have you ever been in a snowball fight, er-gege?" Lan Zhan wanted to say no, the word was on the tip of his tongue. But for some reason, he had a vague idea of him tossing and dodging snowballs with a man and a young child. He clung to the elusive image in his mind, but it slipped away just as quickly as it had come. It must have been one of those dreams. The dreams where he had inserted Wei Ying into his fantasies. And now that he knew Wei Ying had a child, his mind had conjured up a young boy as well.

"I am not sure. I do not believe so." That response earned him a mischievous grin that made his heart stutter inside his chest. Next thing he knew, Wei Ying slipped out from his grasp and dove into the fresh snow to gather it into a projectile weapon. When Wei Ying flung the first bunch of snow, Lan Zhan's instinct as a cultivator kicked in and he gracefully spun to dodge the incoming missile. He waved his hand to send spiritual energy out to gather some snow into a ball of his own, not wanting to bend into an undignified position to do so by hand.

"Aiyoh! That's cheating!" Wei Ying cried out, but he used the distraction of his shout to land a successful blow square on Lan Zhan's chest. Lan Zhan hadn't intended on using his cultivation for anything more than creating his snowballs, but if Wei Ying wanted to play dirty, then Lan Zhan would be forced to stoop to his level. He sent the ball flying and used his spiritual energy to guide it to hit Wei Ying precisely where he himself had just been struck. Wei Ying burst into laughter at what Lan Zhan could only presume was his success in goading Lan Zhan into actually cheating.

With that, the game was on. Lan Zhan quickly got so swept up in the snowball fight that he lost any pretense of dignity and he found himself diving into the snow himself to dodge or to whip up some new ammunition. This was fun. Lan Zhan had never had this much fun before in his entire life. He spent every waking moment trying to walk the line between following the rigid structure that his uncle had instilled into him, and breaking out to find himself in this world. But he had never done something simply for the joy of it, not even with his music.

Wei Ying laughed and shrieked with glee as they played, Lan Zhan even felt himself grinning with unbridled joy. He wondered what it must look like on his face, would it even be visible? He had always been told that he barely made any expression at all, despite how he felt on the inside. But it seemed that it was at least a noticeable smile, because Wei Ying froze when he caught sight of it. Lan Zhan had been mid-lunge and he ended up accidentally tackling Wei Ying into the fresh snowdrift that the younger man had been using to make snowballs just moments ago.

A gasp escaped Wei Ying as Lan Zhan's weight landed on top of him and for a moment, he worried that he'd accidentally aggravated on of his still healing injuries. But one glance down quickly absolved him of that. Wei Ying's pupils were blown wide, his cheeks and nose were a vibrant pink, and his lips were such a vivid red that Lan Zhan's gaze was instantly drawn to them. His heart was pounding, a combination of exertion and the closeness to Wei Ying. He looked breathtaking like this, ripe and ready for the taking. And Lan Zhan was only human. Before his brain could even begin to process his own actions, before he could think about Wen Ning or Nie Huaisang, or whoever it was that held Wei Ying's heart, before he could worry about what a horrible mistake this would be, Lan Zhan bent down and captured Wei Ying's lips with his own.

His lips were soft, slightly chapped from the cold, and they tasted faintly spicy from the gallons of chili oil that had been poured over his meal before they left the apartment. When Wei Ying's lips parted, most likely out of surprise, Lan Zhan shamelessly took advantage and began to explore Wei Ying's delicious mouth with his tongue. He drank in the other man's muffled sounds and gave in to his desires, kissing Wei Ying with wild abandon. At least, he did this until his brain caught up with his actions and he pulled back in horror.

"Fuck. Lan-er-gege…" Wei Ying moaned breathily as their lips parted. He looked wrecked just from that small bit of kissing and Lan Zhan had to fight to stop himself from taking more and more until Wei Ying forgot all about his lover from his normal world. Until Wei Ying was his and only his. But as he looked down at Wei Ying, his head suddenly began to ache. Lan Zhan groaned and rolled to the side so as not to put even more of his weight on the much smaller body of Wei Ying and he raised a hand to his forehead as if that would stop the pain.

Images rushed before him, images of every dream that had made him ache, every dream of Wei Ying. They flashed by in chronological order and for the first time Lan Zhan was able to see them for what they were. Not dreams, but memories. Memories of meeting Wei Ying back in school, of Wei Ying refusing to leave him alone, of Wei Ying slowly helping him get past his minor agoraphobia, of hot chocolates with Wei Ying and family every year, of helping Wei Ying adopt A-Yuan to keep him near family, of years and years of tension before finally breaking and kissing Wei Ying senseless in front of everyone they knew, of his proposal to Wei Ying where Wei Ying had also been planning on proposing to him, of marrying Wei Ying, of adopting A-Yuan as well. It was all real. He was the one that Wei Ying had loved, that Wei Ying had chosen. The mysterious partner he had been so desperately jealous of had been himself all along.

He remembered how he had woken up the morning after Wei Ying's curse and how he had just known that something was wrong. He had been right! He may have been cursed into a world where his true love had never even been born, but his very soul had still remembered. Curse or no curse, Wei Ying was his zhiji, his soulmate, his other half. And right now his other half was understandably freaking out.

Wei Ying had reversed their positions so that he now lay on top of Lan Zhan and was cupping Lan Zhan's cheeks with his warm gloved hands, "Lan Zhan? Are you okay? Oh shit, please be okay. Please. I can't do this without you."

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan croaked, still a little weak from his memory returning to him in such a rush, "Husband. I am alright. I-"

"You remember." Wei Ying finished for him, gazing down at him in awe as his eyes turned wet once more. "Oh thank fuck, you remember!" And then Wei Ying's lips were back on his and they were kissing again. They kissed and kissed as if they had never kissed each other before. All their shared pain from this horrible curse was poured into the other and turned into their love for one another.

Lan Zhan had no idea how long they lay in the snow kissing, but they were rudely interrupted by a disgusted shout, "Ugh! Disgusting! No one wants to see people sucking each other's faces out in public. Get out! Fuck off. You're scaring away my customers!" It was Wen Chao. Wei Ying giggled as he got up before he flipped Wen Chao off.

"You're just jealous because no one would ever want to kiss a face as hideous as yours." Wei Ying taunted as he helped Lan Zhan up, and then the two of them rushed back to the apartment, laughing the whole way.

It wasn't until the next morning that they realized that something was still very, very wrong. They had been too distracted to notice, but now that they had gotten most of it out of their system, they were able to see that the curse had not fully been broken yet. For one, the apartment. In their real world, they had a house for both them, their son and their little herd of rabbits. They had a garden that Wei Ying loved to tend to where he grew special snacks just for the rabbits, a fact that Wei Ying still didn't know Lan Zhan knew. Their house was nextdoor to the house that Lan Huan shared with his husband Nie Mingjue, a house that now Nie Mingjue shared with Meng Yao.

Somehow their kiss had broken the curse for Lan Zhan, but not for everyone else. Lan Zhan insisted on looking at the curse mark again, something he hadn't really paid much attention to the evening before, and they found no new growth but also no signs of it fading. Wei Ying was understandably frustrated, but Lan Zhan still had hope that they would be able to fix it. They had a son to get back after all. Lan Zhan suggested that they both write the differences between their world and the cursed reality they were currently trapped in. Wei Ying's previous suggestion of the cure being somewhere within those changes made a lot of sense, and it wasn't as if they had any other clues of what to do.

When their list was completed, even Lan Zhan was shocked at the sheer amount of lives that were affected by Wei Ying's existence. He had always known that his husband was an amazing person who made the world a better place, but this definitely proved it. There were the obvious changes, like Lan Zhan's entire life. Without Wei Ying he had never learned how to fully break free from the restrictions he had grown up with and he had become a complete recluse. There was the Jiang siblings, without Wei Ying being there to pull Jiang Cheng from the icy depths mere moments after he had fallen in, the younger Jiang sibling had perished. His death had forced Jiang Yanli to take over the family hotel business and prevented her from opening her restaurant and having the time to give birth to Jin Ling, which in turn caused trouble within her marriage to Jin Zixuan.

Without Wei Ying to support the Wens with A-Yuan, Wen Qing had dropped out of medical school and never became the great doctor that she was always meant to be. And since Wei Ying had been the one to expose Wen Ruohan and Wen Chao's illegal activities surrounding their various businesses all over China, Wen Ning never took over Nevernight to turn it into the lovely cafe that the Burial Mounds had been. With Lan Zhan left all alone, Lan Huan had rejected Nie Mingjue's proposal and ended up sending Mingjue off to Jin Guangyao and caused whatever complicated mess was going on with all three men. Nie Huaisang had never been given the courage to open up his own art shop and had ended up being stuck working on the police force against his will. Lan Jingyi, without Wen Yuan in his life, never felt fully confident to be himself and let himself slowly slip into depression as he tried his best to follow the same rules that had nearly broken Lan Zhan himself. But there was still more that had surprised Wei Ying from Lan Zhan's list. In the end, the only person in their entire lives that seemed completely unaffected by Wei Ying's existence was Su She. In both realities that man was just a miserable wretch who lived on the sidelines.

Thinking about all these changes reminded Lan Zhan of a rather important difference, one that the two of them had yet to mention again: Wei Ying's parents were alive in this reality. "Wei Ying. The other day, when you had Dr. Song over for your impromptu session, I did something. I- I hope that you are not angry with me for being so presumptuous, but I looked for your parents' current location, and I found them. Wei Ying, your parents were nearby in Caiyi so I invited them up to Gusu. They are currently staying in room 1031 at Lotus Pier Hotel. I wanted… I wanted to give you something good in this world."

Wei Ying dropped the pen that he had been chewing on as they deliberated together. "Oh shit. I forgot about… I mean, not forgot forgot but… holy shit. They're here? I- they're here?" Lan Zhan nodded helplessly, extremely unsure if he had done the right thing or not. If things were reversed, and he had a chance to see his mother again, he would have taken it in a heartbeat. But his father… that was a different story. But Wei Ying's parents had died when he was so young that he barely remembered them. They had spent many nights where Wei Ying bemoaned not remembering what either of them looked like. Even in this world, the two rogue cultivators weren't fond of their pictures being taken so he knew that there had been nothing left behind in the original one either. "You brought them to me, so I could meet them? I could see what mama and baba look like?" Wei Ying's voice was uncharacteristically soft and quiet, like the child that had just lost his only source of love and safety, "I could talk to them?"

In the end, Wei Ying decided that he wanted to see his parents so with a single phone call everything was set and Lan Zhan was walking with his husband towards Lotus Pier Hotel. It was strange to walk up to a place that he now had two vastly different memories of. In their reality, when Jiang Cheng had taken over the hotel he had completely changed the aesthetic from the stuffy, fancy place it currently was and had turned it into a family spot, approachable but still luxurious. Wei Ying had been silent for the whole journey, and now he clung to Lan Zhan's entire arm as opposed to just his hand. When they were just outside the hotel room, Wei Ying paused and took a few deep breaths. Only when Wei Ying gave him a nod, did Lan Zhan reach up and knock.

A man with a striking resemblance to Wei Ying opened the door at the sound. Although, if Lan Zhan had thought Wei Ying look like Wei Changze, he was even more shocked when he caught sight of Cangse Sanren. He'd seen them before of course, but that had been in the world without Wei Ying and until he saw them all together again he couldn't begin to comprehend their similarities. It seemed that Wei Ying was mostly the spitting image of his mother, but with the eyes and masculine features of his father. Wei Changze's eyes locked onto Wei Ying as he ushered them both inside the room and led them to the couch. Over the phone, Lan Zhan had simply told the couple that he had a guest with him who would be very interested in meeting the pair of them. He had wanted Wei Ying to be in control of his story.

"Um… Hi. You don't know me, and I know everything I'm about to say is going to sound utterly insane. But- I'm your son." This statement caused vastly different reactions from the couple.

Wei Changze was outraged and promptly exclaimed, "How dare you! What kind of sick joke is this? All of the cultivation world knows of my wife's struggle with her infertility. How dare you just barge in here and-"

"Changze," His wife calmly intervened. Wei Changze instantly stopped and turned to look at her. "Look at him. Didn't you feel it when he walked through that door? That is our son. I don't know how, but I know it is true." She smiled at Wei Ying and asked, "I had a name picked out for my son, if I was ever lucky enough to be blessed with one. A name that only Changze and I knew. What name and character was it? What do you claim your name is, sweetheart?"

Lan Zhan gave his husband's hand a soft squeeze of support as Wei Ying answered, "My name is Wei Ying. Ying as in infant." Wei Changze gasped and by the time Lan Zhan blinked, the man was back at his wife's side, holding on to her shoulder. Wei Ying then told them his story. About their real world. The world in which the two people who gave birth to him had passed away when he was only four years old. It didn't take long before every person in that room was in tears, but with Lan Zhan's support, Wei Ying continued on. Then Wei Ying's story turned into their story. The story of how they had fallen in love, how Wei Ying had met Lan Zhan and knew instantly that he wanted him, so he teased Lan Zhan mercilessly until he caved. He told his parents about their son and the life the three of them shared together. By the time he got to the curse, however, his voice cracked and he was unable to continue. So Lan Zhan took over for him, and filled in the rest of the details.

When the story was finished, the sound of sniffles and quiet sobs echoed throughout the hotel room. Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren were clinging to each other as they gazed at Wei Ying, at the son they never got to know in either lifetime. Until now.

"Oh my sweet, precious boy. I am so sorry that we were unable to be with you. But I am glad that you were able to find someone like your Lan Zhan. We've met him a few times, and his reputation as a strong and capable man and cultivator both are well known. Oh A-Ying. My precious baby boy." Cangse Sanren said, tears spilling fresh once more. She held out her arms and Lan Zhan let Wei Ying go so he could run into his mother's embrace for the first time since he was four years old. Wei Changze bent down and wrapped his arms around his wife and son and the three sobbed into each other, mourning what could have been and what never was.

Lan Zhan watched and fought back his tears. This was Wei Ying's time, not his. And his husband always loved to turn things around to comfort Lan Zhan during the few times that he would actually cry. He didn't want that here. He even wondered if he should leave and give the family privacy. He stood up to go, but Wei Changze noticed him and stopped him from leaving.

"You're our son too now. Come here. Let us embrace the man who has loved and cherished our son in our stead." The man waggled his fingers in the same 'come here' motion that Wei Ying would always use. Lan Zhan was touched and he happily went over to join the family hug. Knowing that these were the people that brought his other half, his soulmate into the world made it so that the embrace that would otherwise have been suffocating to someone like Lan Zhan, was warm and comforting instead. They remained like that for a very long time, until Wei Ying's stomach garbled loudly and made everyone laugh. Lan Zhan offered to buy everyone dinner and they all agreed as long as they stayed in the room. Every person there wanted to stay in the happy family bubble for a while longer.

They ate and joked together. The Lan Zhan with Wei Ying in his life had long ago thrown out the no speaking while eating rule, so even he joined in when appropriate. The Wei's had so many questions about Wei Ying's life and when Wei Ying answered too humble, Lan Zhan would always correct him. He wanted Wei Ying's parents to know the truly incredible man they had brought into the world, and how much he affected that world for the better.

As amazing as this experience was for both Lan Zhan and Wei Ying, it had to end sometime. Just in case the curse didn't break, both Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren gave Wei Ying their phone numbers and told him to contact them whenever he needed. Before phones were put back in anyone's pockets, Lan Zhan suggested that they take some family pictures. Soon all four phones had images of Wei Ying with his parents and even a few that included Lan Zhan.

As they were walking back to the hotel room door, Wei Changze grabbed Wei Ying's hand to halt him, "Before you go… A-Ying… We want you to know how incredibly proud we are of you. Even without us you have grown into the man we always dreamed you would become. No, you became even better. If you are anything like me, I know seeing us alive after this curse must only increase the blame you put on yourself. But we don't want you to blame yourself. If bringing you into this world means that we have to die, we will gladly give our lives again and again. You are our legacy, our hearts, our very souls. We live on through you. So please don't forget this when you break the curse. We love you. And we are so thankful for this opportunity to see who you've become and to meet your lovely husband." This, of course, led to more tears and hugging and then the door closed behind Lan Zhan and Wei Ying, and it was over. Although Wei Ying's eyes still shone with unshed tears, he seemed a bit lighter somehow. Lan Zhan understood. Despite everything this curse had taken from them, from Wei Ying, he was given this. It almost made it worth all the pain.

The curse still wasn't broken. It had been two weeks since they met Wei Ying's parents and the curse marks were now covering everything except Wei Ying's head and neck. And there were now black lines creeping just above Wei Ying's collarbones, getting ready to seal his fate. Neither of them had really given up on trying to break the curse, but at this point they were both out of ideas. They spent their spare time just trying to enjoy their new lives and Wei Ying had admitted that he was grateful that he at least had Lan Zhan back. Lan Zhan returned to work and now that he understood what was going on with Lan Jingyi, he was able to offer him more one on one time to help lift up his spirits. Wei Ying's parents agreed to stay at Lotus Pier Hotel until the curse was broken so that Wei Ying could see them as often as he liked, and he took them up on it whenever Lan Zhan was working. Lan Zhan had offered to foot the bill, but they had refused.

Whenever things got too sad, they both would turn to music. This was something they had always done together, even before they had ever kissed and became a couple. There was something melancholy in the air, a chill that had nothing to do with the blizzard outside. Lan Zhan kissed Wei Ying before he knelt down in front of his guqin and he began to play the song he had started to write the very day that he met Wei Ying. Even through all these years, through all their shared milestones, the song had never fully been completed. It was still missing… something. Wei Ying gave Lan Zhan a delicate smile and brought his dizi to his lips to join in. And suddenly, the pieces clicked into place. As they looked at each other and played, a new melody was born. A melody that told the tale of chaos meeting order, and restrictions being set free. Their shared love and loss and everything in between. A melody that told the tale of two people falling in love again and again, no matter their circumstances.

Finally completed, the two lovers played Wangxian with their whole hearts. When they finished, the final note hung in the air between them. Lan Zhan swore it became something tangible, weaving into a red thread between him and Wei Ying, growing and growing until all Lan Zhan could see was Wei Ying and red. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes until finally the red was gone. And with the red light gone, so was the apartment. They had started playing Wangxian in Lan Zhan's small little apartment from the cursed reality, but when they finished they were sitting in the music room of their home and surrounded by folded paper bunnies. Wei Ying's eyes widened and he looked down at his body, tugging at the neck of his shirt to get a good look.

"It's gone. Lan Zhan! The curse mark is gone!" Wei Ying quickly lifted his shirt to let Lan Zhan see his bare chest. That momentarily derailed them, but soon they were back on track. Just as they were dressed and ready to go out into the storm outside, the front door opened with a loud bang and two young teenagers burst in.

"Baba! A-Die!" Wen Yuan cried out as he rushed into Wei Ying's arms. "Oh I missed you so much. I don't know what happened! One day I woke up and I was somewhere in Lanling. I was told that I had been adopted by the family I was with. They weren't even cultivators! I- I didn't understand and my core was gone and I couldn't reach either of you…" Their son cried into his baba's arms as Lan Jingyi came over to Lan Zhan.

"Lan-laoshi! I wanted to thank you for all your help. You were the only one who saw how sad and lonely I was and actually did something about it. When A-Yuan appeared beside me and my memory returned, I knew I needed to come and tell you first thing!" Lan Zhan nodded and surprised everyone in the room by pulling the youngster into a hug.

"I was once like that when I was your age and I did not wish to see you become as I was, unhappy and alone." Lan Zhan let his student go and looked back at his son and husband. A-Yuan let Wei Ying go once Lan Jingyi stepped back and then glomped onto Lan Zhan.

"A-die! I missed you so so much! I was terrified that I would never see you guys again. That family was fine and all, but they weren't you! When I asked them if they would grow me some siblings in the garden, they just said, 'It doesn't work like that,' as if I didn't grow from a radish patch!" Lan Zhan huffed as he held onto his son for the first time in far too long.

"Ridiculous." he muttered, letting his son go and looking at his family, whole and healthy once more.

"Oh gods, Jiang Cheng! I need to find Jiang Cheng!" Wei Ying shouted after a moment and without another word, he slipped out the front door. Lan Zhan shook his head and smiled fondly before he followed suit. His phone began to buzz in his pocket as people around Gusu began to wake back to reality and were either confused or concerned. But Lan Zhan felt no rush to contact everyone right away. The curse had been broken, Wei Ying had been returned to him. All was well in the world again.

Eventually things began to calm down and everyone agreed to meet up at the Burial Mounds cafe to celebrate the curse being broken since they had been unable to do their usual hot cocoa ritual on the first snow. Wei Ying, Lan Zhan, Wen Yuan, Lan Jingyi, and Jiang Cheng were the first to arrive at Wen Ning's cafe and they helped the man clear out enough room for the sheer amount of people who would be taking the building over in a matter of moments.

And take over they did. Their group grew as more and more people came in, followed by a flurry of snow each time that bright yellow door opened. Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, and Jin Ling joined first much to Wei Ying's glee. Jin Ling was only a year younger than A-Yuan and Lan Jingyi, but he already had more of an attitude than both his friends combined. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying had often commented on how adorable Jiang Cheng's attitude was on such a small little body. Wei Ying still thought that attitude was adorable on his fully grown brother, but Lan Zhan disagreed there. He had grown to care for his brother-in-law, but he still could only handle him in small doses.

Soon they were joined by Qin Su, Mo Xuanyu, Luo Qinyang, Nie Huaisang, and Ouyang Zizhen. Then Song Lan came in with his husband, Xiao Xingchen, and daughter, A-Qing. Even Xue Yang slipped into the cafe and tucked himself into a little corner until Mo Xuanyu and Qin Su noticed him and dragged him over to their table.

Last to join them all was Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangyao, and Lan Xichen. As the door closed behind them, Lan Zhan locked eyes with his brother and the two of the instantly went to hug the other. There was no need to speak their apologies, there never had been between them. They both knew each other too well for that. But Lan Xichen still felt the need to explain at least a little, so he told Lan Zhan about the complications of having memories of before the curse and during the curse. Any affection between the three of them was obviously still there. But they all agreed to take their time and figure it all out. But Jin Guangyao has offered to step aside if need be and he even wants to return to his name from before the curse, Meng Yao.

Once everyone had their own personal rendition of Wen Ning's delicious hot cocoa, the festivities truly began. Music blasted through the cafe and people chatted and enjoyed being back to normal. Lan Zhan let the pleasant buzz of chatter warm his heart, just like it did every year that they did this. All because Wei Ying had wanted to help Lan Zhan learn to love the snow again.

There was a small awkward moment where Nie Mingjue asked Wei Ying if he remembered how he was cursed and Wei Ying confessed that Su She had handed him the necklace and tricked him into saying the trigger words. But he shrugged it off and asked that nothing more be done about it. He claimed that Su She had wanted to change his life, but his life had been the only one completely unaffected by the curse. He said that was enough punishment for him. Lan Zhan shot Nie Mingjue a Look™ and he received a Nod™, reassuring him that Su She would see justice for his actions no matter what Wei Ying said.

After another hour of merriment, Lan Zhan and his brother found themselves together again with their fourth mugs of hot chocolate. Lan Xichen had some alcohol mixed in with his latest cup and was now at the point of the night where he got all sentimental.

He turned to Lan Zhan, placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Oh, A-Zhan. I'm so grateful that the curse has been broken, but I am truly sorry that I was not able to be there for you on the first snow this year."

"You do not need to apologize, ge. I was not alone." Lan Zhan looked around the cafe full of people he now considered friends and family. He was completely surrounded by people that he loved, and who all loved him in return. 'No,' he thought to himself, 'Thanks to Wei Ying I will never be alone again.''