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It had started out so sweet and innocent.
Wei Wuxian knew that he was lucky to meet Lan Wangji when he did. Recently kicked out of his foster family’s house and couch surfing on his friends’ rapidly dwindling goodwill, Wei Wuxian was slowly becoming more and more desperate for a more permanent living situation and any sort of cash flow.
Bills were piling up and since he had been cut off, he also had to find a way to pay his tuition by himself which was next to impossible for a college student with a full course load. He knew he could have turned to his foster sibling who had rebelled against him getting kicked out, but he could never have asked Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng to go against their own parents for him. He had caused enough strife in the Jiang household as it was.
He just had to find a part time job that paid well… but as the days dragged on and his bank account dwindled to nothing, Wei Wuxian could feel his hope dwindling as well.
As he debated on whether he could resort to selling his kidney on the black market and still go on functioning with just the one kidney, Wei Wuxian bumped into Lan Wangji at the local music shop. The man was picking up new strings for his guqin and Wei Wuxian had just come out from a bombed job interview. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, he accidentally crashing into the man and knocking his merchandise clear out of his hands.
The first though that ran through Wei Wuxian’s mind was that he had clearly slammed into some actor or runway model going incognito. The man was ungodly handsome in a way that made Wei Wuxian blush and his brain completely stutter to a complete halt as he tried to collect himself. Realizing he was staring like a lovestruck fool, Wei Wuxian let out a nervous laugh.
“Sorry about that!” Wei Wuxian quickly apologized and bent down to pick up the package of strings. He held them out to the absurdly handsome god staring at him. “I hope I didn’t disturb your shopping.”
The man stared at him with an unreadable look that made Wei Wuxian squirm a little under his golden gaze. His eyes were such a pretty color, Wei Wuxian thought dazedly. They seemed to pin him in his place, arresting him on the spot. He had never seen such a pretty person with such unique eyes.
“It is alright,” he finally replied with a small nod.
“Let me treat you out to coffee,” Wei Wuxian pointed a thumb at the adjacent coffee shop. “They serve really good mocha lattes. It’s the least I could do after crashing into you like that.”
Normally, Wei Wuxian wouldn’t offer to buy random strangers coffee, especially with his financial troubles but something about Lan Wangji drew him in and he desperately wanted an excuse to stay closer to him.
The man seemed to debate a moment before nodding again.
“Alright.”
“Cool,” Wei Wuxian beamed brightly, “My name is Wei Wuxian but you can call me Wei Ying! Can I get gege’s name?”
“Lan Wangji,” the man replied in answer, “Lan Zhan.”
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian called, testing the name on his tongue and finding it pleasing, “Lan Zhan!”
To Wei Wuxian’s delight, the man’s pale lips upturned in a tiny smile that seemed to make that handsome visage even more otherworldly. It was a wonder how this man hadn’t caused any traffic accidents if he smiled like that in public.
Despite Wei Wuxian’s protests, the man paid for their coffees as well as a pastry that Wei Wuxian thought he was eying secretively enough. He nibbled at the pastry gratefully, enjoying the taste of sugar after having gone with just the bare minimum.
Wei Wuxian expected them to be awkward and weird, being complete strangers sitting across from each other, but Lan Wangji was incredibly interesting to talk to despite the fact that the man didn’t seem to let much emotion show on his face. The man had a dry sort of wit about him that charmed Wei Wuxian and before he knew it, he was agreeing to a date tonight at some fancy place way out of his price zone.
He had tried to conceal his stress about paying for it, but Lan Wangji seemed to pick up on it immediately and gallantly offered to treat him, as a gesture of their new friendship.
Dinner turned into dessert which turned into Wei Wuxian staying over for the night.
It had been fate, Wei Wuxian liked to laugh about it to his friends in the aftermath.
They were inseparable.
Lan Wangji was the epitome of a generous lover, showering Wei Wuxian in expensive yet thoughtful gifts, taking Wei Wuxian to high class restaurants and spoiling him with the best foods, and just spending time with Wei Wuxian and listening raptly to his ramblings about his comparably mundane life. In turn, Wei Wuxian had learned that Lan Wangji was the vice president of his family’s conglomerate, played the guqin, and secretly loved bunnies.
The last little tidbit endeared Wei Wuxian to Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji was a sweet, gentle man who treated him like he hung the moon and stars.
The man had seemed so worried that his job and his disposition would turn off Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian, feeling his soft heart bleed for the caring man, had vowed that he would never leave.
Not even a week into their relationship, Lan Wangji asked Wei Wuxian to move into his apartment. Like a besotted fool, Wei Wuxian had agreed without a thought.
It was like something out of a fairytale at first.
They were like newlyweds, living in each other’s pockets and enjoying every second of it. Every morning, Wei Wuxian woke up to his lover’s face, and every night he fell asleep with his lover’s kisses lingering on his lips.
Nothing seemed like it could shatter this dream.
But then it had started getting suffocating. He was spending every waking moment with Lan Wangji. He started to notice that Lan Wangji had been telecommuting from home more, to spend more time with Wei Wuxian. He was also growing more and more observant that Lan Wangji was finding every opportunity to keep him at home.
It started out innocently at first.
Lan Wangji convincing Wei Wuxian to stay home instead of going out with his friends and watch sappy romcoms that Lan Wangji unironically liked. Kissing Wei Wuxian into a stupor whenever he tried to leave for classes in the morning, and convincing him to stay home and get notes from a classmate later. When his tuition deadline came rolling around, Lan Wangji merely kissed him and told him not to worry about it.
Whenever Wei Wuxian felt any inkling of doubt, Lan Wangji was there to softly reassure him that all was well, and all Wei Wuxian needed to do was stay by his side.
All very innocent things that Wei Wuxian could pass off as being a clingy lover. Lan Wangji had mentioned how this was the first time he had fallen in love, how Wei Wuxian was so special so that he wanted to spend every moment with Wei Wuxian.
It had sounded so sweet.
Until Wei Wuxian had noticed that he hadn’t seen his friends in weeks, and he had only been to class one day out of the entire week. Try as he might, his grades were slipping and there was a serious concern that he would be put on academic probation if he didn’t get his shit together.
The final straw was when Lan Wangji had asked him to drop out of university when he brought up his academic woes.
“I will provide you anything you need, Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji had replied with a soft smile, like he was offering Wei Wuxian a great boon. “Didn’t Wei Ying say he wanted more time to focus on his hobbies? Wei Ying can stay at home with me and focus on what he likes to do.”
In theory, the idea sounded like it was all for Wei Ying’s benefit, but Wei Wuxian knew what Lan Wangji was trying to do, how the man was trying to trap him in this house, keep him isolated away from anything and anyone who was not Lan Wangji.
Wei Wuxian had been struck dumb but Lan Wangji’s suggestion. He couldn’t believe how he didn’t see the signs sooner.
“I am not dropping out of university,” Wei Wuxian answered snappishly. “That is out of the question.”
Lan Wangji frowned and tilted his head to the side as if he couldn’t comprehend Wei Wuxian’s ire.
“Why not?” Lan Wangji asked, wrapping his arms around Wei Wuxian and tucking his face into the juncture of his neck. “Drop out of school and stay with me.”
Lan Wangji trailed a line of kisses behind Wei Wuxian’s ear, giving his lobe a tiny nip that sent shivers down Wei Wuxian’s spine. Wei Wuxian felt his conviction waver at the onslaught of Lan Wangji’s kisses, distracting him and causing his head to dive into a muddled fog, but he could not give in.
“No,” Wei Wuxian’s voice was muffled by Lan Wangji’s possessive lips, “Get off of me!”
At Wei Wuxian’s shout and his hands shoving at Lan Wangji, the man stumbled to the ground in surprise. The silence between them was tense except for the sound of Wei Wuxian’s rapid exhalations.
“I am not dropping out of university and that is final,” Wei Wuxian said acidly. “If you actually knew anything about me, you wouldn’t be asking me this.”
“I do know Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji whispered brokenly. “I know Wei Ying better than anyone else.”
Wei Wuxian glared at Lan Wangji, “You know how important my education is to me. I can’t even believe we are having this conversation.”
“If Wei Ying knew how much I loved him, he would know why I am asking him of this,” Lan Wangji said sadly. “Please try to see it from my point of view, Wei Ying.”
Lan Wangji picked himself up from the ground and cupped Wei Wuxian’s cheek.
“You spend so much time outside, hanging out with your friends and going to classes that stress you out,” Lan Wangji bit his lips and looked tenderly at Wei Wuxian, “I get… lonely. Every moment I spend without Wei Ying is torture. Doesn’t Wei Ying also feel the same?”
“I do but… Lan Zhan, I don’t think I’ve been out of the house in a solid week,” Wei Wuxian laughed self-deprecatingly. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone else but you in weeks.”
As Wei Wuxian said all of this out loud, he realized how bad it was, what Lan Wangji had done to him. Stepping away from Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian ran his hands through his hair. He had been so wrapped up in his love life, he hadn’t seen the glaring warning signs.
“I think we need to be apart for a few days,” Wei Wuxian suggested without looking into Lan Wangji’s devastated eyes. “We need some time to clear our heads and figure out who we are outside of this relationship. I think we lost ourselves a little.”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji reached out to him again, but he dodged the man’s seeking hands. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we need to take a break,” Wei Wuxian replied with a level tone.
“Where will you stay?” Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes, his hands balling into fists at his sides, “You have nowhere to go.”
Wei Wuxian couldn’t believe those words, stabbing him like knives to his heart. Did Lan Wangji really think so little of him, like he was some useless waif without Lan Wangji? For a moment, as Wei Wuxian eyed those tight fists, he was afraid of Lan Wangji would use force to keep him here.
“I’ll figure it out,” Wei Wuxian responded tersely.
Lan Wangji looked at him, eyes wet like he was about to break down into sobs.
“Wei Ying, please…”
“I’ll call you,” Wei Wuxian said shortly, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and walking out of the door without a backward glance.
Out on the street, Wei Wuxian fished for his phone and dialed a number.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Wei Wuxian shut his eyes tightly. “I’ve made a big mistake.”
--
It had been a week and Wei Wuxian had to block Lan Wangji’s number after the first night apart. The man had sent him a frankly disturbing amount of texts, begging him to come back so they could talk about this but Wei Wuxian had deleted them all with a sickening feeling in his stomach.
A break was definitely needed if this was the response Lan Wangji was giving him.
“Is there an event going on today?” Nie Huaisang, the friend he’d been staying with, asked.
Wei Wuxian peered up from where he was shoveling his stuff into his bag at the end of their lecture.
“No, not that I know of,” Wei Wuxian replied. “Why?”
“There’s a huge crowd at the front of the school,” Nie Huaisang said, staring out of the window. “Maybe a flash mob or some sort of performance is going on? Want to go check it out?”
Wei Wuxian peeked at the time on his watch and shrugged his shoulders. He had some time to kill in between classes so why not?
There was a gathering at the entrance of his university and Wei Wuxian, curious about the commotion, swanned his way up to the front where a familiar car was parked.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji’s eyes lit up at the sight of him. The students gathered around began to whisper among themselves, staring at the unfolding drama with unconcealed interest. Wei Wuxian could feel himself redden in embarrassment, squirming uncomfortably at being placed in the spotlight like this.
“Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian replied in trepidation. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to bring Wei Ying home,” Lan Wangji answered with a sad expression that should not have looked so sweet on a grown man’s face. “Wei Ying hasn’t been home in a week now.”
The words, coupled with the forlorn look in the man’s eyes set the whispers into overdrive, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t take more of this humiliation. He was sure to be the talk of the rumor mill this entire week if he didn’t nip this at the bud.
“I’ve told you before, we’re over,” Wei Wuxian hissed, cheeks reddening in indignation. “I cannot believe you would come to my school like this. You’re making a spectacle of us.”
“If making a spectacle is the only way Wei Ying will come home, then I will make a spectacle of myself,” Lan Wangji said resolutely.
Wei Wuxian could not believe the audacity of this man. Did he think that Wei Wuxian would follow him home like a lost puppy if Lan Wangji begged prettily enough?
“Go home,” Wei Wuxian ordered and then spun on his heels to head to his next class. A hand on his wrist stopped him, nearly causing him to tip off balance and fall flat on his bottom. Wei Wuxian turned around, incensed and ready to tell Lan Wangji off but was stopped short but the man’s fierce expression.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji called out, his voice a little firmer, “I wasn’t asking.”
A shiver ran down Wei Wuxian’s spine at the sudden coldness in Lan Wangji’s tone. He had never heard Lan Wangji ever direct such a firm tone at him before. It was unsettling and rang all sorts of alarm bells in Wei Wuxian’ head.
All of a sudden, Wei Wuxian realized how dangerous Lan Wangji could really be. The man towered over him by a couple inches and his bulkier frame, which had entranced and delighted Wei Wuxian before, now looked imposing.
“Let go of me!” Wei Wuxian shouted. When Lan Wangji didn’t, Wei Wuxian shook even harder. “I said let me go!”
Lan Wangji finally let go as he didn’t want to hurt Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian was breathing hard and glared balefully at Lan Wangji, “From now on, I don’t want to see your face anymore. We are over, Lan Zhan. If you come here, I’ll… I’ll… be so angry at you!”
And with that, Wei Wuxian headed back to his classes without a backward glance. Hopefully, Lan Wangji got the message, and this would be the end of it.
“What was that about?” Nie Huaisang asked, finally having caught up to Wei Wuxian.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Wei Wuxian said shortly and prayed Lan Wangji would be gone before he ended classes.
--
To Wei Wuxian’s horror, he saw Lan Wangji still waiting outside the front gates at the end of the day, leaning casually against his car as a crowd began to gather around the man yet again. By now, the entire campus had heard about the commotion and rumors were flying about that Lan Wangji was Wei Wuxian’s sugar daddy even though the man barely looked older than the general populace of the campus.
Wei Wuxian had to duck away from his peers the entire day to avoid them asking questions about the well-dressed man who seemed to be pining after Wei Wuxian. He thought he had successfully avoided them all as well as Lan Wangji, but luck did not seem to be on his side.
Luckily, Lan Wangji hadn’t seemed to have spotted him just yet.
“On second thought, maybe I’ll take the back entrance today,” Wei Wuxian said, ditching Nie Huaisang and quickly making his way to the back of the school.
“H-Hey-… wait up!” Nie Huaisang tried to stop him, but Wei Wuxian was long out of earshot, intent on escaping before Lan Wangji noticed him.
He had nearly made it to the bus stop when a hand clamped down on his wrist like a shackle. To his shock, it was Lan Wangji who looked as if he sprinted across the entirety of the campus to catch up to Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian stared at him in shock. How in the hell had he caught up with him so fast?
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said in relief. “I’m so glad I found you. I thought you had left for the day-”
Wei Wuxian didn’t even dignify that with a response and merely turned on his heel and bolted away in the opposite direction. There was another bus stop on the other side of campus and if he cut through the track field and jumped over the fence, he could lose Lan Wangji.
But just when Wei Wuxian thought he had finally made his escape, he saw Lan Wangji rounding the corner, eyes searching through the crowd of milling students for Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian felt his stomach sink to the floor as he backpedaled and returned back to the campus.
How did Lan Wangji find him so quickly? Wei Wuxian knew this school like the back of his hand, yet Lan Wangji seemed to be able to catch him no matter what route he took.
The only other option was to hide somewhere and wait him out then. Mind made up, Wei Wuxian entered a random building and began searching for any empty room available. Noticing the signs and realizing he was in the chemistry department, Wei Wuxian knew that they had individual restrooms here with locks. It would have to do for now.
Wei Wuxian rounded a corner and headed into the restroom, intending to lock himself in it and then call for campus security to escort him off campus but before he could click the lock, the door was pushed open. Wei Wuxian felt a shiver run down his back as he slowly backed away from Lan Wangji who stepped closer to him.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji murmured sadly, like all of this is just some minor inconvenience.
“Stay back,” Wei Wuxian warned, fear licking up his spine.
“Can’t we just talk, Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji pleaded. “I just want to talk with Wei Ying. I’ve missed Wei Ying so much this entire week.”
“I think we were done talking when you decided to invade my campus,” Wei Ying retorted harshly.
“Didn’t you promise me you would never leave me, Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji asked. “Wei Ying promised to stay with me forever. Do our vows mean nothing to you?”
All of a sudden, Wei Wuxian made a break for it, running straight at Lan Wangji in an attempt to bowl the man over with the element of surprise but Lan Wangji merely caught him and held onto him tightly. He clearly underestimated how strong Lan Wangji was which was stupid of him because he knew how the man looked under that uptight suit of his. Wei Wuxian had reveled in his lover’s immense strength when Lan Wangji held him down during their passionate love making, orgasmed again and again when Lan Wangji fucked him into the mattress.
Now, he was cursing that same strength as he wriggled ferociously in a futile attempt to dislodge Lan Wangji’s hold on him.
“That was before I found out what a possessive stalker psycho you were!” Wei Wuxian screamed, flailing like a caught fish on a line. “Let go!”
“Wei Ying…”
“What part of ‘we are over’ do you not understand?” Wei Wuxian growled in frustration.
“Wei Ying made a promise with me,” Lan Wangji intoned gravely. “Wei Ying must keep his promises.”
“Well, those don’t mean shit when you’re chasing me down like a madman!” Wei Wuxian shouted, struggling fiercely against the iron bands wrapped around his torso. Holy fuck, how much arm strength did Lan Wangji have? “If I knew you were this crazy, I would have never gotten together with you in the first place!”
The statement seemed to break something in Lan Wangji who looked on the verge of tears. Any other time, Wei Wuxian would be more remorseful about how callous his statements were but not now as he was being held captive.
“How could you?” Lan Wangji asked, voice absolutely wrecked. “How could Wei Ying be so cruel?”
“Let go of me, you fucker!” Wei Wuxian screamed right in Lan Wangji’s ear, hoping to disorient him into letting him go but it only seemed to make Lan Wangji even more agitated.
“Enough!” Lan Wangji pinned Wei Wuxian against a wall, knocking the breath out of him. His head connected painfully against the tile, momentarily disorienting him.
Wei Wuxian wheezed out a painful gasp as he was pressed bodily against the wall with no way out. His hands were held above his head as Wei Wuxian tried to blink out the stars in his vision.
“Ugh…” Wei Wuxian groaned unintelligibly as he tried to regain his bearings.
“I didn’t want to have to do this but Wei Ying has left me no choice,” Lan Wangji said conversationally. “An interesting proposal landed on my brother’s desk lately. I recognized the name of it immediately because I remember everything Wei Ying has told me. Jiang Fengmian is Wei Ying’s foster father, correct?”
Once the words processed in Wei Wuxian’s cotton filled brain, ice filled his veins. No, this couldn’t be happening. Lan Wangji couldn’t possibly be doing this to him.
But the glint in the man’s golden eyes told a different story.
“Don’t,” Wei Wuxian whispered. “Please don’t.”
He had caused enough trouble to his foster family already. He couldn’t bring this to their doorstep too.
“I don’t know what Wei Ying is talking about,” Lan Wangji answered emotionlessly. “I won’t do anything as long as Wei Ying chooses to remain at my side.”
Wordlessly, Wei Wuxian nodded. Lan Wangji smiled in satisfaction at his lover’s answer.
“I knew Wei Ying would come to see things my way,” Lan Wangji said with quiet joy, kissing Wei Wuxian’s lips softly. “I love Wei Ying so much and I know Wei Ying loves me just as much.”
Wei Wuxian shut his eyes as Lan Wangji began to kiss his neck and then lower, slowly unbutton his shirt while he did so. A tear slipped down his face as the man began unbuttoning his jeans too.
“Why are you doing this?” Wei Wuxian cried, tears slipping down his cheeks. Lan Wangji tongued away each and every one of them, savoring them like fine wine. “I loved you, Lan Zhan.”
“It is because I love Wei Ying this much that I am doing this,” Lan Wangji kissed Wei Wuxian’s hips and delved lower to the very center of him. “Wei Ying needs to see how much we belong together, how we complete each other.”
The worst part was that Lan Wangji was so gentle, as gentle as he always had been, making Wei Wuxian feel pleasure with his every touch. When Lan Wangji entered him, Wei Wuxian let out a sweet gasp at the feeling of ecstasy piercing his core.
Lan Wangji looped Wei Wuxian’s arms around his neck and pulled him into his lap, pressing their bodies as close as possible to savor the warmth between them. The motion caused Lan Wangji’s cock to impale even deeper into Wei Wuxian’s tight depths and he cried out in shock at the feeling.
“I love you, Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji groaned into his sweat slick skin, fucking deep into him like he was trying to meld their bodies into one. “I love you so much.”
Wei Ying didn’t say anything, all words gone as Lan Wangji’s thrusts grew even more erratic until the man reached his climax, moaning into Wei Wuxian’s ear and emptying himself into Wei Wuxian’s body. To his shame, his body reacted to the influx of come flooding his tender insides and Wei Wuxian shuddered as he came too.
Lan Wangji let out a sound of pleasure at the sight of Wei Wuxian’s pearlescent come covering their chests, as if the sight of Wei Wuxian’s supposed enjoyment was proof of their ardent love for each other. Lan Wangji devoured Wei Wuxian’s lips, laying kiss after kiss as if he were trying to steal the very breath from his lungs.
When they were done, when Lan Wangji had his fill, Wei Wuxian slumped against the wall, face red and flushed from exertion.
“Let’s go home, Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji kissed Wei Wuxian’s sweaty temple and carried him back to their home.
Forever.