Work Text:
“if you can tie a cherry stem with your tongue, you are a good kisser” the girl on the screen smiled, lips glossed, she held up a cherry and slid the stem into her mouth. It came out perfectly knotted, like a neat little magic trick.
The caption was a mess of exclamation marks, hashtags and emojis but the comments were even worse.
Wow, how can you do that?
Cherry = skill check
My boyfriend can’t do this, should I leave him?
My man just failed trying this in front of me. Be so fucking fr rn.
If he can’t do this, babes he’s not the one
I just choked on a cherry pit trying this (╥﹏╥)
Lan Zhan frowned, objectively it was idiotic. why would anyone use fruit as a metric for any skill? Still, the physical premise intrigued him.
Tongue dexterity
Oral precision
Fine motor control
It seemed measurable, quantifiable, learnable.
He, like any normal person, should’ve scrolled away. But, he stood up and walked over to the sealed box of cherries his brother had sent him and like any other sane person at 2:45 pm on a Saturday, sat down to try and knot cherry stems with his mouth.
The first try was a fail—the stem had snapped clean in half.
The second try, he ended up choking on the juice.
The third—he had somehow tied his own frustration into the problem instead of the stem.
He ended up spitting out the soggy, chewed up remains into the tissue, at the end of it the entire process looked less like a challenge and more like self-inflicted humiliation.
He checked the video again.
Slowed it down. Replayed. Observed the tongue movement.
It shouldn’t have been difficult. Just the manipulation of flexible organic material within a confined space.
Simple mechanics
Except… not.
After about the tenth try, his phone pinged a notification from the class groupchat.
“Nie Huaisang stop exposing us” the name spoke for it self.
Wei Ying: lol Lan Zhan what are you posting lmaoo?
Jiang Cheng: wth are you doing with cherries?
Nie Huaisang: Lan Zhan are you trying the cherry knot challenge?
Oh right, he had accidentally posted story. A two second clip of him staring at the screen, cherry stem poking out of his mouth.
He deleted it.
Still the groupchat pinged,
Wei Ying: I never thought I’d see Lan Zhan be interested in following trends like this!
Jiang Cheng: Jesus Christ.
Wei Ying: who are you practicing for?? Is it mianmian? ;)
He did not type anything back, as was usual.
He wasn’t doing it for the kissing implication. And he was definitely not practicing for Luo Qingyang. It would actually be more likely if he was practicing for Wei—
No actually, the kissing part did not matter at all.
The thing was, he hated failing. He was actually—contrary to popular belief—very competitive.
He had tied complex fishing knots underwater.
He had won every state maths championship he had participated in.
He’d won a national fencing championship with one arm bound.
Surely a piece of fruit couldn’t defeat him
He washed another cherry and looked at like it was a problem set. Ok focus, His brain supplied.
A second later, it snapped into two.
He sighed, spat it out and leaned back onto the couch. The faint sour-sweet taste of cherries and failure still lingered on his tongue.
He decided, logically, that he must be missing a key variable.
He’d read once that fine motor tasks involving the mouth were affected by muscle familiarity and intuitive motion.
Things learned through repeated activity.
Kissing, for instance, was said to improve such coordination.
He blinked once. Twice.
No. That couldn’t be…
Unless…
He glanced back at the mess of chewed stems and pits in the tissue.
If the required dexterity of tying cherry stems into knots could improve kissing, then practicing kissing could technically improve his ability to tie a cherry stem.
It was simple cause and effect.
He stood up, washed his hands, and opened his contacts list.
He needed to practice with someone and there was only one person he would let close enough to help him.
Wei Ying
Wei Ying flopped onto the bed, exhausted after a long day in the biology lab, damp hair laid out across the pillowcase, he was scrolling reels with the sort of focus he had never given his textbooks. His phone buzzed with a notification.
Lan Zhan: are you free at 5 p.m?
That’s it. Simple. No context at all.
Wei Ying: Lan Zhan? Is this about the cherry thing?
Lan Zhan: yes.
He burst out laughing. Of course Lan Zhan was still stuck on that thing.
Wei Ying: omg don’t tell me ur still trying
Wei Ying: Really Lan Zhan ur too funny XDDDD
Wei Ying: Ig our ever studious Lan Zhan can’t afford to fail anything hahahaha, what do you need from me?
Lan Zhan: I need practice.
Wei Ying sits up then, slightly shocked
Wei Ying: practice?
Lan Zhan: Mn.
Wei Ying: you need…practice? For what? Tying cherry stems? Lan Zhan!
Lan Zhan: yes.
Wei Ying stares at his phone for a solid minute and then suddenly bursts out laughing,
Wei Ying: ok well, what do you need me to do?
Lan Zhan: kiss me.
Wei Ying’s laugh suddenly turns into choked coughs, he grabs a bottle of water and gulps almost the whole bottle in one go.
Wei Ying: wthh????? What does kissing have to do w that??????
Lan Zhan: it’s simple science really.
Wei Ying doesn’t know what else to say, but if Lan Zhan wants to practice kissing..then who’s he to deny it? Honestly he’s kinda honoured to be the person Lan Zhan would turn to to practice kissing with. Wei Ying still can’t wrap his head around that particular sentence.
Lan Zhan, stoic, unreadable, Lan Zhan, wanting to practice kissing with him, for science????
it wouldn’t be so bad—
His phone pings another notification, he picks it up from where he had flung it across the bed in his shock, and almost screams.
Lan Zhan: I will arrive at 5 p.m, you need not buy anything as I will be bringing the cherries with me. Please be prepared.
Prepared.
PREPARED?
Prepared for WHAT????
What was he supposed to do, light a candle? Dress up? Create an atmosphere? What does being prepared even entail?
He ignored his mind screaming at him and checked the time, 4:53 p.m.
He had exactly 7 minutes before Lan Zhan would be here. And Lan Zhan was terrifyingly punctual.
He launched out of his bed and dove for a drawer, searching for his cherry flavoured lip balm. He thinks he should also scrub his teeth white and so he runs to the bathroom, tripping onto a puddle of water he had ignored earlier in the process.
His phone pinged through all the chaos.
Nie Huaisang: Did I just see Lan Zhan leave a supermarket with three whole boxes of cherries?
Lan Zhan didn’t see why this has to be so complicated.
Wei Ying was loud about everything. Something his own uncle disapproved of during their high school days. But this time, Wei Ying was eerily silent. He sat at the very edge of the couch, nothing like his usual relaxed posture, Lan Zhan calmly set the bag full of cherries down and sat on another edge.
“So…what now?” Wei Ying asked, breaking the silence.
“We kiss.” Lan Zhan said, matter of factly, as if he was explaining the next step of a chemical experiment.
“WHAT—I-what–I–You–LAN ZHAN!” Wei Ying scrambled for words “you can’t just say stuff like that!”
“Wei Ying asked.”
“yeah! I did! But–but I didn’t actually expect you to answer” Wei Ying voice slowly gets lower “this still feels like a setup” he mumbles.
Wei Ying still doesn’t understand why lan Zhan would want to kiss him specifically? He’s not disciplined or calm like an ideal Lan type ought to be, he’s not silent, he’s loud, he’s chaotic, he’s messy, he laughs so loud birds get scared. Lan Zhan shouldn’t be sitting here, he should—he should’ve asked Mianmian instead.
Lan Zhan’s voice cuts through his thoughts “its not. It’s data collection.”
Wei Ying’s mind bluescreens for the third—fourth? Time that day. He stares at Lan Zhan.
Lan Zhan reaches for the jug on the table and pours two glasses of water. Then he methodically unseals one pack of cherries and dumps them into a bowl. He goes into the kitchen to wash them.
Wei Ying’s eyes follow his each movement, he is not quite able to think, he suddenly picks up his glass of water and drinks it all in one go, he pours water into it again and places it back. The movement does nothing to calm his jack-rabbiting heart.
The sound of the faucet running is way too loud in the silent room.
Lan Zhan walks back in, bowl of washed cherries in hand, he picks up a notebook and pen and titles a page ‘kinetic coordination trial’. He sets it down calmly and points to it, “the goal isn’t emotional, so there’s nothing weird about it.”
“this is a procedure?” Wei Ying asks, finally managing to be atleast a little cheeky.
“I like structure.” Is all Lan Zhan says back.
There was a beat of silence before Lan Zhan turned to look at him and asked, “ready?”
“no. But do it anyways”
Lan Zhan looked slightly concerned, but complied anyway.
He was slowly inching closer, and sure enough, the gap between them was closed. The first touch wasn’t anything dramatic.
Just a slow, brief press of the lips, small and oddly clinical. But it still sent a jolt of electric static through Wei Ying.
Lan Zhan was positioned awkwardly over him, the dry-soft slide of Lan Zhan’s lips, the shock of realising that he was kissing his best friend of almost ten years, it was all becoming slowly overwhelming to Wei Ying.
He himself didn’t know where to put his hands, they were hovering uselessly mid-air, Lan Zhan’s arms lay limply at his sides.
It was supposed to be very simply, easy, contact–pressure–done.
But then Lan Zhan tilted his head slightly and it changed everything. He felt himself tense, Lan Zhan’s lower lip dragged against his just barely, like curiosity turned to touch.
It wasn’t passionate. No. Not yet.
But it was intentional.
Very much so.
Then Lan Zhan suddenly pulled back, thoughtful, “you tense your jaw.”
Wei Ying blinked “what?”
“it affects pressure distribution.” Said Lan Zhan calmly, “you can’t move properly if you lock your–”
“LAN ZHAN!!!!” Wei Ying chooses to shriek at that moment. “Why the hell would you say that! Why were you analysing in the middle of a-of a KISS!!!”
Despite all his complaining, Wei Ying didn’t move away.
And Lan Zhan
Infuriatingly handsome, Analytical, scientific Lan Zhan
Tilted his head slightly again and only muttered “one more.” Before leaning in.
This time, the kiss wasn’t so awkward, all the hesitation had melted away the second time around.
Wei Ying’s fingers briefly brushed Lan Zhan’s cheek before firmly settling on the cheekbone, Lan Zhan went still.
It was quiet.
So quiet, that Lan Zhan could hear the soft hitch in Wei Ying’s breathing, the faint exhale of air as Wei Ying slowly relaxed into the couch underneath, the kiss deepened, not messy, but deliberate. Slow and almost frustratingly careful.
This wasn’t supposed to mean anything, but it still did.
Lan Zhan leaned back, slightly breathless, “that helped.”
Wei Ying, still half-leaning forward, murmured dazedly “yeah?”
“Yes. I felt the motion change.”
“cool. Cool, cool. great. Glad I could be of help Lan Zhan” His voice cracked halfway through, Wei Ying stood as if he needed altitude to survive.
“We’re done here right?” Wei Ying asked, ignoring the small pang of hurt crossing his heart. This didn’t mean anything. Lan Zhan was his friend, he was just helping a friend with his research.
Lan Zhan looked slightly confused, “no. Repetition improves consistency.”
Wei Ying must’ve died right there and then. He made a weird sound—somewhere between choking and screaming—and stumbled back onto the couch.
He sighed, “fine, once more, but only because your my dearest best friend. But don’t start analysing mid-kiss again”
“Yes.”
“promise?”
“yes.”
Lan Zhan looked amused, his lips tugged into the slightest smile. Even that smallest half-smile was enough to undo Wei Ying.
So, when their mouths met again, it was no longer careful, no longer measured.
And his time, Wei Ying moved first.
His hand found the back of Lan Zhan’s neck before thought could catch up, fingers locking against the nape as if to anchor himself. He pulled him closer. Too fast, too sure. And Lan Zhan’s breath hitched against his lips. That sharp inhale ghosted across Wei Ying’s mouth, followed by the slow, deliberate exhale that made his pulse lurch.
The kiss wasn’t soft this time. It was a collision.
Messy. Breathless. Hungry.
Lan Zhan met him halfway, the quiet steadying of his breath turning into something rougher, almost defiant.
Their noses brushed, their chests knocked, and the world tilted until it was all heat and noise and the faint trace of cherry on Lan Zhan’s tongue, sweet where everything else burned.
Every heartbeat felt like an argument he had no intention of winning.
The kind that left no space for reason. Only want.
And then—
A soft click broke the silence
“Are you taking notes?” Wei Ying asked, slightly shocked
“preliminary results” Lan Zhan said, deadpan.
“LAN–”
“improved coordination.” Lan Zhan added, “needs refinement”
Wei Ying stood up again, snatched the glass of water and drank it in one go. Then he took the other glass and finished it too.
“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan asked calmly
“I-im. I need a drink. I think.”
“have some water.” Lan Zhan remarked, pouring water into one of the cups again.
“LAN ZHAN YOU–I–NOT LIKE THAT! ugh I feel like I'm dying Lan Zhan protect me” Wei Ying shrieked first before lowering his voice and dramatically, fawning right into his arms, unthinking of his actions.
“Mn. Will protect Wei Ying.”
“Lan ZHAN! You can’t say that so casually!! Think of my heart!”
Hours later, when all had been said and all had been done. Wei Ying lays down on his bed and screams.
He picks up his phone and opens the groupchat “2 idiots and Jiang Cheng”
Nie Huaisang: we really need to change this chat name
Jiang Cheng: truth hurts.
Wei Ying: guysss!!!! I’m having a crisis!!!!
Jiang Cheng: you are a crisis
Nie Huaisang: jiang-xiong shush.
Wei Ying: what do I doooo!!!!!
Jiang Cheng: we would tell you what to do if you told us what happened.
Wei Ying: WE KISSED.
Nie Huaisang: woah woah woah WHAT. Who kissed you?????
Jiang Cheng: wow, someone actually wanted to kiss you?
Nie Huaisang: wait actually wanna bet hundred bucks it’s Lan Zhan?
Wei Ying: how about let’s not bet on my love life, and HOW DID YOU KNOW????
Jiang Cheng: Lan Zhan kissed you??? The Lan Zhan?? That ice-cold rulebook from the physics department?? That one?????
Nie Huaisang: so I was right????????
Wei Ying: you guys are not helpful at all. I’m going to go on a spiritual retreat for like 1046442455 years
Jiang Cheng: good. I’ll appreciate the silence.
Wei Ying: nevermind I’m not going anywhere.
Jiang Cheng: ugh. Jinxed it.
Nie Huaisang: how did it even happen????
Wei Ying: well ugh funny story actually..
Jiang Cheng: watch it be actually stupid
Wei Ying: he told me it was for a research and I agreed.
Nie Huaisang: he kissed you for SCIENCE???
Jiang Cheng: called it.
Nie Huaisang: feel like this is a setup..
Wei Ying: I told him that too and he said “no it’s for science. Nothing emotional”
Nie Huaisang: oh you poor sweet summer child…how will you ever recover?
Jiang Cheng: did it feel emotional?
Wei Ying: define ‘emotional’
Jiang Cheng: Wei Ying! You cant go around kissing ppl randomly!!!
Wei Ying: why r u saying it like it’s my fault!!!!
Wei Ying: I think smths wrong w me
Jiang Cheng: I realised that almost 12 years ago when dad adopted you.
Wei Ying: stfu.
Jiang Cheng: no <3
Nie Huaisang: Wei-xiong calm down for a minute. Nothing’s wrong with you..I think you are just in love.
Wei Ying took a moment to process those words. Was he? In love? He thought over it, again and again.
What was love anyways? Despite all his bragging, he wasn’t at all experienced in these matters and his first kiss was actually Lan Zhan
He had asked his Jiejie once, in curiosity
“jie jie what does being in love or liking someone mean?”
“a-ying, what brought on this question?”
“well remember that movie we were watching yesterday? I just thought, ‘why would someone love someone’ isn’t it a little like chaining yourself to someone else?”
“oh dear, when you grow up, you will understand it by then. Anyways, does my cute little brother like someone? Who’s the lucky girl?”
“jie jie!! No I don’t like anyone! Yingying is only three! Too young to fall in love or anything!”
“that’s right. My little brother is only three” his jie jie indulged
He could not sleep that night. The possibility that he might be in love with Lan Zhan was too much
By Tuesday, he had come to the realisation, he definitely was in love with Lan Zhan. Except for the fact that Lan Zhan was definitely driving him absolutely crazy with his silly research.
After his chat earlier, Wei Ying was sure this was some heat-of-the-moment cherry flavoured lapse in his judgement and that it would never happen again.
He was a human too you know, and it is human nature to make mistakes and also to learn from them
And yet. He found himself on the white carpeted floor of Lan Zhan’s room, Wei Ying was never one to learn from his own mistakes.
“Trial two.” Lan Zhan started, motioning Wei Ying to sit down next to him on the bed.
He sat down, fidgeting in his lap, Lan Zhan placed a calm hand on his and Wei Ying sat straighter, “fine?” he asked. Wei Ying could do nothing but nod.
The bowl of cherries sat innocently on the study table, staring back at Wei Ying like the culmination of all his bad decisions.
It felt uncomfortably like déjà vu.
Wei Ying’s hand trembled beneath Lan Zhan’s hold.
Lan Zhan noticed immediately. He tightened his grip—just enough to steady, not restrain. The adjustment was deliberate. Necessary.
“Wei Ying,” he said, after a pause, his voice even, measured. “You are not obligated to continue.”
Wei Ying looked up.
Lan Zhan did not release his hand.
“I have sufficient data,” he continued. “If you do not wish to proceed, we will stop.”
It was the most he had spoken in weeks.
Wei Ying had the absurd, awful thought that Lan Zhan was, maybe, getting tired of him.
The thought buried itself deep into his chest, settling like a rock.
He laughed awkwardly; if he didn’t, he might start crying.
Gods—when had he become so fragile?
“Lan Zhan, really it’s fine. I-Im just nervous–I think. I’ll be fine! So, trial two! Right?” Wei Ying said quickly, deflecting.
Lan Zhan held his gaze, Wei Ying smiled—too wide, too fast.
It did not reach his eyes.
The minutes stretched on and on before Lan Zhan finally sighed softly and hummed “Mn. Trial two.”
“I am pretty sure we did more than one trial last time” Wei Ying remarked, some of his cheek creeping back in.
Lan Zhan shook his head fondly before leaning in, no hesitation this time. He leaned forward with that unhurried calm of his; each movement calculated. Wei Ying could feel the gravity between them, the pause before impact, the single breath that bridged the space between them.
And then, contact.
The kiss started soft again, yet not as clumsy as before, but more careful and deliberate.
Lan Zhan’s lips were warm, slightly damp, tasting faintly of cherry and the ghost of something sweet Wei Ying couldn’t name.
His breath hitched in his throat, chest tightening as his hand twitched uselessly at his side, wanting and refusing all at once.
The air between them shifted, heavier now, thick with warmth and the quiet sound of breath against skin.
Lan Zhan’s hand rested on the soft bedsheet, fingers splayed, just barely brushing Wei Ying’s thigh, light as a thought he couldn’t afford to have.
For a second—just one—Wei Ying forgot about the experiment, the trials, the pretense.
All he felt—all he knew was the soft drag of Lan Zhan’s tongue against his. The faint exhale of breath and his own pulse thundering in his ears.
Then Lan Zhan pulled away, breaking the moment. “You don’t tense your jaw anymore” his brows were furrowed as he took a moment to note down the development.
“I–what?”
“your jaw. You were less tense than before this time.” Lan Zhan remarked, still writing in his notebook.
“Lan Zhan are you keeping notes on me?”
“Its for control comparison.” Lan Zhan stated
Wei Ying threw his head back, exasperated, and huffed, “you are unbelievable”
Lan Zhan didn’t even flinch, just sat there staring unendingly at his best friend, lips slightly parted, the tips of his ears bloomed pink—as if the warmth had finally caught up to him.
By Wednesday, Lan Zhan noticed that despite Wei Ying’s posturing, he always showed up—even when he swore it was “the last time I’m doing this for you, Lan Zhan.”
He’d knock on the door exactly three times, some extremely sweet drink in hand, mischievous smile in place. He’d tease and prod, and Lan Zhan—he’d just nod stiltedly, ears blazing hot.
Today there was a plate of candied lotus seeds waiting for them
Wei Ying looked over excitedly, “Lan Zhan, candied lotus seeds!? Where did you find these, these are only available during lunar new year right?”
“Mn. Wei Ying is right. I..made them.”
“Lan Zhan!? You made them? Really? Really? Where did you even buy lotus seeds?” he took one and popped it into his mouth, his eyes opened wide, “these are so good!” he chewed it for a moment before swallowing and moving to take another, “but why do we need these?”
“Taste variable. To see whether food affects performance."
Wei Ying blinked at him. “Lan Zhan—you think lotus seeds are going to change anything? What, magically improve my performance?” he took a moment to consider his words, “yeah it probably will, if it helps I guess I’ll have some more”
Wei Ying, like a fool, took one
Wei Ying, a fool, took one.
He took a minute, chewing, still bent over the ceramic plate. When he looked up, Lan Zhan was watching him.
Not studying, watching.
The kind of steady gaze that made him feel like he was pinned even without touch
Lan Zhan asked, “ready?”
This time however, Wei Ying did not answer, he held Lan Zhan’s wrist like an anchor and leaned in-
–In,
In,
until their lips were pressed in a familiar way.
The air around them felt dense, saturated by the smell of those candied seeds and warmth.
Lan Zhan tasted like those lotus seeds, sweetly earthy with a fragrant aftertaste, there was something herby hidden in it too probably due to the green tea he’d had before Wei Ying’s arrival
His hair brushed Lan Zhan’s cheek, for a second neither of them moved. Wei Ying’s heartbeat a faint thrum against Lan Zhan’s own.
They broke off for a brief moment to catch their breaths yet it felt like it was too long to Wei Ying. This time, Lan Zhan did not waste any time leaning forward and catching Wei Ying’s lips with his own.
The world narrowed — warmth, breath, the faint drag of fingers through fabric. The air around them felt heavy, humming with something that had no name and didn’t need one.
When their lips met, it wasn’t the same as before. The kiss started fiercely, all heat and gravity. Wei Ying moved against him, steady but searching, and Lan Zhan matched it, one hand finding the back of his neck, the other grounding him by the waist.
Everything around them seemed to fade: the hum of the air conditioner, the tick of the clock, the remaining plate of sweets.
All that existed was the push and pull of breath, the warmth of skin beneath fabric, the quiet rhythm of heartbeats trading places.
When they finally broke apart, Wei Ying’s lips were slightly parted, eyes unfocused, hair falling messily over his face. His breathing came out slow, like he was trying to steady himself back into his mischievous demeanour
“Lan Zhan i-“ Wei Ying started, once he got his bearings back, “I-I need to confess something, God this is ridiculous! I can’t believe im doing this but–”
“not ridiculous. Wei Ying is never ridiculous” Lan Zhan interrupted.
“Lan Zhan don’t say that stuff! Have some worry for poor ol’ me and my heart!”
Lan Zhan’s expression softened, lips twisted in the slightest of smiles, “I–ok I’m getting nervous and side-tracked, I should just tell you” Wei Ying took a deep breath again.
“LAN ZHAN BACK THEN–REMEMBER BACK AT HIGHSCHOOL? I REALLY WANTED TO KISS YOU THEN!” Wei Ying blurted out, brain to mouth filter completely switched off.
Lan Zhan’s ears looked blazing red, his eyes had widened imperceptibly. The blush travelled down his entire ear and creeped to his neck
But Wei Ying soldiered on, “I have always wanted to you know, you are really wonderful, I like you, Lan Zhan. I really like–no. I really love you Lan Zhan, and–I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to graduate college with you, I want to settle down with you, go to work with you, take care of your pet rabbit” he was aware that he was rambling on right now but he didn’t care, he needed to get these emotions out and if Lan Zhan didn’t feel the same? It would be fine.
Wei Ying thinks it would be worse to live with the regret of not confessing and losing his chance of being with Lan Zhan than confessing and getting rejected.
“—and Lan Zhan, trust me, I’m not joking or playing a prank or anything, I truly love you. Honestly Lan Zhan, even if you reject me it would be fine because you are definitely way out of my league and I’m not even sure if you reciprocate my feelings but even if you do reject me I hope it won’t make things awkward and we’ll still be friend—”
Wei Ying’s blabbering was stopped by a lithe finger pressed to his kiss-swollen lips. “Wei Ying. I..love you..”
“want you..”
“can’t be anyone…except you.”
“don’t want anyone but you…has to be you…no one else will do”
“Yes!” Wei Ying exclaimed, heart threatening to leap out of his chest. He pulled Lan Zhan into the tightest hug he could muster.
Lan Zhan pulled him into another bruising kiss, lasting a few long minutes although if you asked Wei Ying, it was not long enough.
Wei Ying suddenly had an idea, “Lan Zhan wait.” He got off the bed and came back with a box of cherries and a smirk on his face
“So, Lan Zhan you wanna try tying this cherry again?”
Lan Zhan shook his head fondly and took the cherry , slipping the stem into his mouth. Wei Ying looked on curiously and expectantly.
Lan Zhan’s brows furrowed in concentration, his tongue moved slow and deliberate—practiced. He paused for a minute then withdrew the stem and held it up in front of Wei Ying.
It was knotted. Neat.
Wei Ying’s eyes widened in childlike wonder, “LAN ZHAN YOU DID IT!!”
Lan Zhan smiled, lips twisting up unnoticeably, “Mn. All because of Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying planted a hand to his chest—fainting dramatically, “Lan Zhan! Warn me before you say something like that!”
Suddenly he shot up, “Lan Zhan! Do you wanna test it now?”
“Test?”
“yes! Test if the trend is accurate or not?” Wei Ying had the cheekiest smile on face, stretched so long his cheeks hurt
Lan Zhan was quiet for a moment. He looked at Wei Ying—really looked at him—then calmly set the knotted stem aside.
“Mn,” he said. “Testing conditions have improved.”
Wei Ying blinked. “Wait, that’s a yes, right? That’s a yes. That’s definitely a yes.”
Lan Zhan didn’t answer verbally. He reached out instead, fingers curling around Wei Ying’s wrist, steady and warm, drawing him closer with unhurried certainty.
“This test,” Lan Zhan said softly, “requires focus.”
Wei Ying laughed under his breath, already leaning in. “Oh, trust me, Lan Zhan—I’m very focused.”
Their lips met again, easy and familiar now, no nerves left to trip over—just warmth, softness, and the quiet certainty that neither of them was going anywhere.
Somewhere on the table, the cherries sat forgotten.
The experiment, it seemed, had reached a very satisfactory conclusion.
Wei Ying: guess who got a boyfriend!!!!!
Jiang Cheng: oh my god you are going to be insufferable about it now aren’t you?
Nie Huaisang: wow took you long enough, the pining wasn’t enough now we gotta suffer through pda????
Jiang Cheng: I’m not paid nearly enough to deal with this.
Nie Huaisang: agreed.
Later that night, Wei Ying lay awake staring at the ceiling, chest warm and aching in a way he didn’t recognize—except that this time, the feeling had a name, and it was Lan Zhan.
He had a fleeting thought before falling asleep jie, you were right. Love is nothing like chains. I understand now