Work Text:
Anticipation filled Lan Wangji’s chest as he pulled into the, as per usual, near empty parking lot of the generational used bookstore in Yiling.
His mother had brought him to The Bookmine when he was very young and even after her death he had been permitted to return as an affection for a secondhand book shop had been considered more virtue than flaw by his uncle. He’d grown up visiting The Bookmine and coming to know, somewhat, the family that ran it as the old woman that insisted on being called Popo had given up her post to her grandchildren.
Whenever possible he came in and went to dig through piles of old, often dry, books and sometimes even scrolls in what they called the Annex. The Annex was where books of a more scholarly or old nature were put due to the unlikelyhood of them being bought. Lan Wangji loved going to the Annex and finding hidden gems.
It had been six long months since he’d been able to come to The Bookmine as he’d been traveling to help implement changes in the family company’s international locations.
Six months without the comfort of the Annex, of being surrounded by old books and nostalgia that soothed the raw edges of anxiety and temper that the world liked to scrape raw in him.
Far too long but now he was back and would not only get his hit of peace, he’d be able to make the offer to invest in The Bookmine that he’d been planning to make before his brother had dropped the task of overseeing the company changes in his lap. The shop had been in declining financial health over the last five years for a variety of reasons and the owners kept being rejected for loans. Lan Wangji didn’t want it to go under and vanish so he would offer an investment loan so The Bookmine would remain a fixture in his life and Yiling.
He got out of his vehicle, made sure it was locked securely as there was an appallingly battered, graffitied, and shady looking vehicle nearby, and headed for the door.
Taped to the door, that was already plastered with flyers advertising various local events and book signings, was a sign that made him pause.
‘Please Pardon Our Dust. We Are Undergoing Renovations To Better Serve You.”
Had they already found someone to invest in the shop? Or finally found a bank willing to loan them the capital to stay afloat?
A vague sense of disappointment niggled at him over being too late to help but he pushed the door open, the chime of the bell on the door making the woman behind the glass display counter that served as the check out look up.
“Lan-xiansheng, welcome back.”
He nodded to her. “Thank you, Wen-xiaojie.”
She moved out from behind the counter. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to spend any time in the Annex as usual. It’s in the middle of remodel so all the books there have been put into storage until it’s finished.”
He didn’t twitch in frustration though it was a near thing. “It is good that the Annex is being revised.”
“It’s been long overdue and our new partner was adamant that the Annex get renovated first. I can’t say he’s wrong,” the last was a dark mutter.
“Partner?” Lan Wangji wanted a name, needed to look into whoever had invested in The Bookmine to ensure they wouldn’t take advantage of Wen Qing or her brother and ruin the shop.
“I’ll introduce you. He’s doing some of the work on the Annex himself.”
Lan Wangji followed her through a maze of shelves and stacks to the very back right corner of the shop where the corridor into the Annex was. When they stepped into the corridor, which had been stripped of shelves, to his dismay, and replastered, a loud voice from inside the Annex came clearly through a plastic dropcloth that was taped up preventing any dust or debris from escaping.
“Dogeared! A seventy year old issue of the Analects! It’s criminal NingNing, don’t you agree?”
The voice was bright and smooth and almost musical but something about the way its owner so casually called Wen Ning affectionately where anyone could hear put Lan Wangji’s back up. He suspected it had its roots in the absence of any who would call him so affectionately with ease.
“Mm-hmm! W-Wei-xiansheng y-”
“What’s this xiansheng business? Didn’t I tell you to use my name? I’m working with you now! You don’t need to be formal!”
“B-but you’re the m-majority partner now it’s-”
“Peh! That’s for lawyers and government officials. Wen Qing bosses me around plenty, you can at least call me Wei-ge if you won’t use my name. Pass me the thirteen millimeter spanner, will you?”
“Sure, Wei-xi- I-I mean W-Wei-ge.”
It was at that point they stepped through the clear plastic drop cloth barrier and into a bright, open construction space and Lan Wangji got a full view of the man that was changing what he’d considered to be his space within the Bookmine.
His thoughts, which had been casting aspersions upon this Wei person for bullying Wen Ning, came to a screeching halt so abruptly that it was a wonder it couldn’t be heard outside of his skull.
There was a man standing on a ladder scaffold, half turned to accept the spanner from Wen Ning with a blindingly brilliant smile on the most beautiful face Lan Wangji had ever seen in his entire thirty-six years of life.
Gleaming eyes so pale a gray they appeared silver in the bright sunlight coming through the new windows of the Annex with a wide, peach-blossom shape sat below arched, well defined brows that led the eye to a faintly tip tilted nose that put Lan Wangji in mind of a fox. That impression was assisted by the high, sharp edges of his cheekbones that gave the face a vixenish appearance. His mouth, even stretched in a grin, was full and ridiculously luscious.
Shaggy bangs brushed against a keenly angled jaw and drew the eye to a slender neck so that you couldn't help but follow the line down to the shoulder where a tight black tee clung to a defined deltoid. From there Lan Wangji’s eyes slid further down the arm, mouth watering as he dragged his gaze over an excellent bicep and tattooed forearm until it reached the elegant fingers with chipped black polish curling around the wrench confidently.
Then the absolute vision of a man straightened and turned back to his task, installing some climate control unit, and Lan Wangji near to swallowed his tongue.
Well turned shoulders narrowed quickly to a stupidly small waist that then expanded to what had to be the most incredible ass to ever grace the earth encased in sinfully tight black jeans that also clung to thick thighs made for either cushioning or crushing a lover. He barely noticed the rips in the jeans as he took in the way they fit the man in front of him.
A shift of the glorious butt drew Lan Wangji's attention to the tool belt set on intriguingly wide hips then up to the small of the man's back, where the shirt rode up a bit to expose golden skin and black lines of part of a tattoo. A flick of motion from a nod or shake brushed the very end of a pony tail against that sliver of exposed flesh.
Lan Wangji followed the tail, wavy and gleaming with the faintest bit of auburn in the sunlight, up to an exposed nape and bloody red dyed undercut with a design shaved into it.
Then the man tossed back his head and laughed. The sound was full of joy and warmth and made something in Lan Wangji’s chest crack.
The spell he was under broke as Wen Qing briskly snapped out something beside him but Lan Wangji already knew he'd been fundamentally changed.
He watched the dark celestial turn, blink in surprise, then jump, ignoring all safety rules, off the scaffold, his shirt, now revealed to be a band shirt that had seen better years, rising up briefly to give a glimpse of a smooth, soft belly with a ring in the naval.
Then the man was sauntering up to them, grin mischievous.
“Qing-jie! You never bring guests back. This one must be something special.”
“This, you impossible pest, is one of our best, most frequent customers, Lan Wangji. Lan-xiansheng, this ridiculous fool is our new business partner, Wei Wuxian.”
Lan Wangji blinked twice in surprise as the dark celestial whined at Wen Qing about using his business name.
“Qing-jiiiiiie, I’m not Wuxian here. Why would you give me away like that? I thought we agreed no business names.” The full mouth pouted and the silver eyes took on the appearance of the most pitiful kitten in existence.
Lan Wangji was torn between wanting to pet the man and wanting to demand why one of the most successful biotech CEOs in the world was playing at construction in a second-hand bookstore on the edges of a city that was barely a shaky step up from the population threshold of a town.
The name Wei Wuxian and his company, Suibian Technology, had spread like wildfire throughout the country and then the world. Not only were they on the cutting edge of biotech and medical technology but they were consistently on the top of the list of the most ethical companies in the world. Suibian Tech had beaten out Gusu-Lan Incorporated on that level for the last three years to both his uncle and brother’s frustration.
And its CEO was in Bookmine wearing a tool belt and an outfit more suited to a punk band’s roadie while looking so beautiful he could have descended from the heavens.
It was no wonder Lan Wangji felt like someone had put a pot over his head and banged a metal spoon on the outside of it.
“Excuse me for attempting to preserve some measure of your dignity,” Wen Qing huffed.
“Now why would you do that? Dignity is overrated. At least for me.”
Lan Wangji suddenly found himself under the full force of a bright, friendly smile and his heart somersaulted in his chest.
“Are you the customer Wen Ning told me about? The one who spends hours in the Annex digging for the gems?”
Lan Wangji forced his mouth to work despite being so stunned, “I do spend a great deal of time in the Annex.”
“Great! Then you’re the best person to give an opinion of how we’re remodeling it.”
He reached out and curled his hand around Lan Wangji’s wrist, tugging even as he walked over to a curved wall that appeared to be freshly replastered.
“You can call me Wei Ying, by the way. Wuxian is for when I’m in the business world and that’s not here. Anyway, we took the walls down, repaired every crack and hole that could bring in a draft or let in vermin, replaced the old insulation with Icynene along with installing a ventilation system and the bones for the climate control, then rebuilt the inside wall and used plaster to give it the feel of an antique library.”
Lan Wangji listened, enamoured of the cheerful, musical sound of Wei Ying’s voice, but more of his attention was on the warmth of the hand around his wrist and the feel of the rough callouses on that hand. Wei Ying was clearly accustomed to doing much more than paperwork with his beautiful hands and something about that made Lan Wangji want to take those hands in his and kiss every square centimeter of them.
“We’ll be using reclaimed wood for the shelves once it’s time to move them in. Anchors are already installed so the shelves will be stable. You can see that we widened the windows and added more, and skylights, to brighten it up. All the windows are coated with a frosted UV shield so that there won’t be any sun damage and no one passing by can just look in and see what’s in here.
“I don’t have to tell you that the way the texts in here were piled up was just heartbreaking. Not Qing-jie or A-Ning’s fault, not enough labor and too many donations that don’t get bought was bound to result in crowded stacks. But now we’re going to have a better system and shelving and more staff so that won’t happen again. Traditional style desks and cushy kneeling chairs instead of regular tables and recliners in here for the most part though there will be a couple spots for that too.”
Lan Wangji half imagined his pupils had taken the shape of little hearts as he listened to Wei Ying explain what was planned for the Annex so enthusiastically. This had been his safe retreat for so long and the description of how it would change into a comfortable space made to properly examine texts and find new treasures among the discarded was more than perfect. Not only that but the measures to protect the books and rare scrolls that were being put into place actually made his heart flutter with how impassioned Wei Ying was about it.
Knowledge, books, and learning clearly mattered to this incredibly beautiful man. How could he be so perfect?
“Aiya, I’ve talked your ear off without giving you a second to respond! You shouldn’t let me do that, Lan-xiansheng.”
“Lan Zhan.” It came out unbidden but he didn’t feel like recalling the words. Instead he borrowed from Wei Ying’s earlier statement. “No business names.”
Silver eyes sparkled in delight. “Lan Zhan it is then! So, what do you think of everything so far, Lan Zhan?”
Lan Wangji scanned the current state of the Annex, considered the texts that had been housed here and would be housed here again. “Almost perfect.”
“Oh, well that’s a challenge,” mischief and that challenge settled on the beautiful face, “What’s missing then?”
“There are some texts that are too fragile for casual handling. There should be a protective space for them and an area for more sterile examinations of those texts.”
The smile shifted to something warmer, a soft pleasure in Wei Ying’s expression that had Lan Wangji imagining waking to see it every day.
“We added a room,” Wei Ying gestured in the direction of the ladder scaffold where, just under the climate control unit, there was a solid double panel sliding door, “for the examinations. The doors are going to be painted to look like traditional paper screened doors but they seal shut. The corridor was widened so it can fit glass display cases for the more fragile books.”
“Then it is perfect.”
“Be careful complimenting me, gege, it might go to my head.”
“Mn.” Lan Wangji’s wrist was still in Wei Ying’s hand and he didn’t particularly want to lose that contact so he sought to keep Wei ying’s attention on him. “Do you have plans for the rest of The Bookmine?”
“Of course! Qing-jie and A-Ning had to sign off, this is their family legacy after all, but we’re going to clean it up section by section. Though the next stage is to take that empty offshoot at the back left and turn it into a cafe. People expect bookstores to have attached cafes these days and if they don’t they lose business. No food or drink is going to be allowed in the Annex but elsewhere will encourage people to browse longer.”
Lan Wangji nodded. So long as the oldest, most valuable texts wouldn’t be at risk of spills and crumbs it was understood and acceptable to compromise on allowing food and drink around the other books.
“Of course the policy of ‘You damage it you buy it.’ will remain in effect should anyone splatter a drink all over any books,” a wicked look gleamed in Wei Ying’s eyes as he said that.
“A sensible policy.”
Wei Ying laughed. “And we’re going to have another aspect to the cafe that should bring in new customers. We’re working with a bunny rescue to make it a bunny cafe.”
Lan Wangji’s eyes widened. A bunny cafe. He’d heard of, and often enjoyed visiting, cat cafes but never heard of a bunny cafe. If he had he’d have been a daily visitor.
Wei Ying was still talking, his thumb absently beginning to stroke over Lan Wangji’s pulse.
“The bunnies will live in the outer part of the cafe and people who come in can see about adopting a bunny if they bond with one. No door into the cafe from the back so people who want to visit the bunny cafe will have to come through the shop and how can you just walk by so many books and not get tempted by at least one, right gege?”
Lan Wangji wanted to hit his knees and offer to worship this man. “Mn.”
“Wei Ying! Stop flirting with Lan-xiansheng and finish that install!” Wen Qing’s voice broke the moment and had Wei Ying jolting and realizing he still held Lan Wangji’s wrist.
“Ah! Sorry, Lan Zhan. I shouldn’t have just grabbed you. And um,” Wei Ying’s face was turning a fetching red, “I wasn’t flirting. I swear I wasn’t. I’m just friendly. You don’t have to worry that I was trying to come onto you.”
Lan Wangji stopped the cascade of words by saying, “Not worried.”
He watched Wei Ying pause and eye him speculatively. “No?”
“No.” Lan Wangji stepped a little closer, too close for polite, friendly strangers. “When the cafe is completed, I would like to share some tea with Wei Ying.”
Sliver eyes widened, full lips parted in surprise on a soft gasp before Wei Ying grinned, wide and delighted. “That’s a long time to wait, gege. Maybe I want to share a drink with you sooner. Oh, and now I am flirting just so you know.”
Satisfaction bloomed in Lan Wangji’s chest. “Today is Saturday, are you available tomorrow?”
“For you, gege, I’ll make sure I am.”
Lan Wangji pulled out a business card and a pen and neatly wrote his personal number on the back of the card before passing it to Wei Ying.
Whose brows lifted upon reading the face of the card. “Gusu-Lan Inc, so it’s er-gege.” He pulled out a phone in a military grade protective case and fiddled with it for a minute.
Lan Wangji felt his phone vibrate in his pocket but was transfixed by the playful look Wei Ying gave him.
“And now you have my number too, er-gege. Text me after you have dinner and we’ll work out the plans for a coffee-tea date.”
Date. Lan Wangji savored that word and inclined his head. “Mn, I will. I should let you return to your work here now.”
“Before Qing-jie throttles me.” Wei Ying nodded, winked, then quickly clambered back up the scaffold to finish his earlier task.
Lan Wangji reluctantly followed Wen Qing out of the Annex. Just before exiting the corridor, he heard Wei Ying’s voice exclaim, “Holy shit, NingNing, why didn’t you warn me that the Annex favorite was so fucking hot?! And smart. And just...so much. Fuck, I kinda wanna marry him, is it nuts that I wanna marry a man I just met?”
Stepping out of the corridor, ignoring the way Wen Qing facepalmed in despair, Lan Wangji felt like he was walking on air. When he returned home, he would have to look into who the best, most ethical designers of wedding rings were. He might not yet know enough about Wei Ying to know what sort of design he’d like but there was no reason not to be prepared for when he learned.
Because, nuts or not, Lan Wangji fully intended to marry the man he’d just met.