Chapter Text
“Wei. Wu. XIAN!” Jiang Cheng shouts after gritting his teeth for a while. It is a torturously long time sitting in his car until his step-brother finally shows his face, dragging behind him a big suitcase, a hefty gym bag, a side bag, and most important of all, a small bunny in hand, nibbling on a piece of carrot. Not only is he bringing a lot of baggage, there’s a lot of accessories he is wearing too, because there’s nowhere to put them anymore. Wei Wuxian has a pair of ornamental, metal glasses that have round lenses on his nose bridge, and a pair of sunglasses on the crown of his bushy hair. All of his stylish bracelets are hanging on his arms and each of his finger has at least a ring on it. A scarf is thrown around his neck despite it being summer. Overall, it is a truly chaotic scene.
Jiang Cheng is honestly too used to this kind of behavior, and he naturally does not comment because he doesn’t even notice it. Wei Wuxian opens the door to front passenger seat and plops himself down on the leather heavily with a huff after shoving all the luggage into the trunk. Jiang Cheng starts the car and Wei Wuxian immediately begins his endless chattering, soft bunny happily dozing on his lap, starting with “Jiang Cheng ah, Jiang Cheng ah, I’ll be out of your bum from now on. You gotta be happy and smile more ok!”. Wei Wuxian never stops talking aside from letting Jiang Cheng reply for the entire journey. After they arrive at the dormitory, or “halls of residence”, Wei Wuxian still hasn’t stopped chatting Jiang Cheng’s ears off, and Jiang Cheng has to utilize the ear-muffs that he has prepared beforehand. Wei Wuxian gets the message and lets his mouth rest. Talking is actually how Wei Wuxian deals with extreme nervousness, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t know that. They both get out of the car carrying luggage and wander around to find Wei Wuxian’s dorm room.
The dormitory has several main doors, and only after a while storming around the corridors has passed that they find the double-room they were looking for: 105, as in on the ground floor, the fifth room. The door is made of black wood and the metal knob is nicely polished. Before Wei Wuxian inserts the key, Jiang Cheng stops him and dumps all the luggage on Wei Wuxian, then leaves. Wei Wuxian, “…”. He thinks, “This guy is sooo anti-social that he won’t even meet my roommate!!” With arms full of bags again and bunny hidden in the big pocket of his short-sleeved jeans jacket, Wei Wuxian unlocks and opens the door, only to come face to face with a nice, pale, well-sculpted chest. Wei Wuxian “…”ed the second time that day in quick succession.
He isn’t that much of a pervert though. He quickly averts his eyes and finds the owner of that fine chest’s face. The first thing that catches his eyes is the ribbon. The ribbon is white and has a good quality, which can be seen at first sight, and it seems to strike a chord in Wei Wuxian. He feels like he really should remember something associated with the white ribbon, a sense of nostalgia rising in his chest, but Wei Wuxian ignores it. The next surprising thing about this person is that he got golden eyes. They are sharp and almost as if able to see through his thoughts. Before Wei Wuxian can stare any further, that person says, “…Are you my roommate?” The voice is low and quiet, just enough to hear, and Wei Wuxian likes it since the first word flew out of that person’s mouth. His brain short-circuits, and he says, “Oh my gawd, we’re roommates!!”
They stare at each other in silence, and Wei Wuxian has never felt so awkward in his entire life under that intense gaze. Eventually, he has to speak up, “Ah-” and his momentum drains.
“…”
“…”
That person turns around to put on a t-shirt and Wei Wuxian starts functioning again. He grins, his shamelessness returning again as he introduces himself properly, “Hi, roommate! My courtesy name is Wei Wuxian. Call me Wei-xiong!” The other person also gathers his composure and recites monotonously, “Courtesy, Lan Wangji. I prefer to be called Lan-er-gongzi.” Despite the flat tone of Lan Wangji’s reply, Wei Wuxian cannot help but ask, “You have a courtesy name too? What a coincidence! You’re the second son? Aiyo, Wangji-xiong, isn’t that too formal?” he then drifts off, and Lan Wangji replies curtly, “Yes, yes. And no, Wei-gongzi.” He then moves to help Wei Wuxian pick up his bags and put them on the floor on Wei Wuxian’s side of the room. After they are done, ignoring Lan Wangji’s stranger-zoning him, Wei Wuxian exclaims, “This is such a spacious room! Don’t ya think so, Wangji-xiong?” Lan Wangji says “Mn.” again but with a questioning, degrading look. He rearranges something in his bedding and leaves without a word.
The moment the door clicks behind Lan Wangji’s back, Wei Wuxian breathes in relief, “Whew!” Lan Wangji is not the usual candidate that Wei Wuxian will find attractive, especially with that aloof, passive demeanor, so he’s not sure why he finds him somehow, strangely pleasing to the eye. His heart has been beating fast and it has just slowed down just now. The nostalgia still lingers, but it will soon pass. Wei Wuxian scratches his head in confusion and puts his limbs to work, putting his stuff in their right places.
Afterwards, he explores their joint bathroom and is not surprised when he finds out that Lan Wangji uses separate bottles for his products. There’s a bottle for body soap, a bottle for shampoo, a bottle for conditioner and a bottle for face wash. Wei Wuxian looks at his own 5-in-1 in shame. Very timidly and hesitantly, Wei Wuxian puts his bottle on the stand next Lan Wangji’s, as if wanting to hide its existence. Apparently, the bathroom has a toilet, a bathtub and a shower, wash basin,… , very accommodating. Overall, their entire dorm room is pretty well-maintained and spacious, all the things Wei Wuxian can ask for, except that the room is still a bit dusty. He then very sneakily pulls out his bunny, who pokes his face out of the pocket to watch around curiously. Holding the black bunny up to his face, he says, “From today on, Suibian has to be good! Wangji-ge will throw Suibian away to the wolves if he finds out! Sshhhhhh.” The bunny stares with his shiny black eyes silently, then bites Wei Wuxian’s hand, as if saying “I don’t believe you ruffian! I refuse!” Wei Wuxian pretends to bite Suibian’s paw as payback. Before leaving the room, Wei Wuxian borrows a broomstick, cleans up their dorm thoroughly and mops the floor too.
By the time he returns, the lights are already off, and the only source of light is the moon shining through the gaps of the curtains in strands of light. Lan Wangji is sleeping soundly on his back with hands on his stomach. Quietly, Wei Wuxian takes a quick shower, brushes his teeth and goes to bed. As Suibian snuggles up Wei Wuxian’s t-shirt, he stares at Lan Wangji’s side profile, finding that slope of his nose is really too similar. But then soon, with a warm, fuzzy bunny cuddling him under the comfort of the blanket, Wei Wuxian is lulled to sleep.
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Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were playing at the silver-eyed boy’s cottage. They hadn’t met for a very long time, because Lan Zhan was taken to see his parents in jail by his uncle and big brother. His mother killed someone, and his father covered for her, but justice would always be served and they were both put into prison. After the scandal of the married couple, people began to pay more attention to Lan Zhan and Lan Huan, putting them under constant criticism. His father’s younger brother, Lan Qiren, was then responsible for their up-bringing as their guardian, and not being able to stand people badmouthing his nephews, he moved them to a remote place. The remote place really was remote. There was barely any humans there. But the scenery was very nice and calming, a good environment to smooth the children’s grieving souls. The place where they chose to stay, was right next to the beach. Then a little away, there was a lush forest. Children naturally loved nature after all, and the Lan siblings grew to like the place a lot.
There, Lan Zhan met Wei Ying.
Wei Ying was playing by himself by the beachside, using a small stick to poke at a live jellyfish. The jellyfish had been casted up-shore by a strong wave, and it had been stuck there ever for a short while. Lan Zhan was making himself accustomed to the surroundings when he saw Wei Ying reaching out a hand to touch the jellyfish. Lan Zhan, the good child he was, immediately ran up to Wei Ying and stopped him by the hand, saying, “Jellyfish can be dangerous!” in his young, five-year-old voice. Wei Ying was first surprised, then he turned delighted, exclaiming loudly, “Hi!! Are you new here?” Lan Zhan nodded as confirmation. Wei Ying said, “Wait here.” Then he ran into the depths of the forest then ran back out again, holding a big, green leaf that was as big as his body. With the help of his new friend, they put the jellyfish onto the leaf without touching it, and pushed it to sea. The jellyfish immediately swam away, out of sight in no time. Wei Ying giggled, and Lan Zhan grew fond of the sound. Wei Ying put his hand on Lan Zhan’s wrist and pulls, laughing, “We’ll be friends from now on!”
“I’m Wei Ying!”
“I am Lan Zhan.”
Their friendship started ever since, and they hit it off perfectly. So of course, when Lan Zhan was away to visit his parents for a few days, they both missed each other dearly. Therefore, when they met up again, they spent a lot of time playing with each, even playing through dinner. Wei Ying’s parents saw that they were so attached to each other, and had no heart to separate the pair of friends. However, the sun had to set and the night had to come. It soon grew darker and darker. Lan Qiren came over when he decided it was late enough to pick up Lan Zhan, but Lan Zhan, as a rare display of disobedience, refused furiously. Lan Zhan gripped Wei Ying’s hand tightly, and he didn’t let his uncle touch him at all, refusing to hear any explanation. Lan Qiren was pleasantly surprised, then with reassurances from Wei Ying’s parents, he agreed to a sleep-over. Only when Lan Qiren said yes affirmatively that Lan Zhan interacted with his uncle again. Peeking up at Lan Qiren, he held up a pinky, and they did a pinky promise. Lan Qiren returned home to look over Lan Huan.
That night, they had their first sleep-over. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan cuddled each other on Wei Ying’s soft bed with a warm, fluffy blanket covering them. Lying on the bed, Wei Ying had rambled on and on, telling bedtime stories, fairy tales, and stories of warriors and dragons that he had made up himself. Lan Zhan always replied with “Mn.” at any appropriate part, and with this rhyme, combined with his established body clock, he fell asleep first. Wei Ying gazed at Lan Zhan’s young face curiously under the moonlight, and he observed the slope of his friend’s nose. Then Wei Ying paid attention to Lan Zhan’s white forehead band, which he always kept on him. Wondering how the fabric felt like, he reached up a hand to touch Lan Zhan’s forehead band. His fingers had just touched the band when Lan Zhan opened his eyes, the color of molten gold bright in the darkness. Wei Ying was startled and he retracted his hand, apologizing. But Lan Zhan said nothing. Instead, with eyes looking down shyly, he took Wei Ying’s hand to put it on his forehead ribbon.
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Wei Wuxian wakes up with the longest sketch ever, then a gigantic yawn. Halfway across the yawn however, he realizes that he is not sleeping alone anymore and he forcefully snaps his mouth shut. Lan Wangji is reading through the text books beforehand on the study table of his side of the room, and a small smile tugged at his lips. The smile is small, secretive, and Wei Wuxian thinks it’s the cutest thing he has ever seen. Guessing that the smile probably means “You don’t have to be embarrassed.”, Wei Wuxian greets the other enthusiastically, “Good morning, Wangji-xiong!!” Lan Wangji is still apprehensive about how Wei Wuxian addresses him, but he replies with his own quiet “Good morning.”
Wei Wuxian checks that his black bunny is still hidden inside the blankets, then he gets up, cracking his spine. As his spine pops satisfyingly, Lan Wangji says, “Look at the time.” Instinctively, Wei Wuxian looks up at their wall clock and he immediately panics. He runs inside the bathroom at top speed to clean himself up, then runs out to get clothes then in again to get dressed. By the time Wei Wuxian opens the door to reveal his mismatched buttoning, Lan Wangji already has his backpack slung across his shoulder. He points at Wei Wuxian’s table, “Breakfast for you. Thanks for cleaning the room.”, then he disappears. Only then does Wei Wuxian realizes that there is food in the room, and not only is it food, it is exotic food. Wei Wuxian has never seen real American pancakes in his entire life! There is even a carton of sugar-free milk next to the plate of pancakes. Wei Wuxian quickly gathers his stuff, finishes the pancakes in big bites, drinks up the milk in two large gulps and disappears from the room too, with his black bunny in pocket.