Wei Ying wakes early in the morning. He's alert for once, and that in itself is strange, because this rarely happens to him.
He has jerked awake in Lan Zhan's arms, and even now, the sliver of moonlight illuminates golden eyes staring back at him, concerned.
"Sleep, Wei Ying. It is still early for you." Lan Zhan says, in a coaxing manner.
He's worried for Wei Ying, even if he doesn't vocalise his thoughts. Ever since Wen Qing had told them about the biopsy, Lan Zhan has been researching what it is, and what it could mean.
Just the thought that something could be physically wrong with his Wei Ying, it was a terrible idea. He hated it. This bright, beautiful man, so loving and tender...and to have that threatened in any way was so abhorrent to Lan Zhan.
But the simple truth is, until they get the results, all of this worrying and thinking is useless.
And it's enough that Wei Ying is worrying enough for the both of them. Lan Zhan knows that one of them must remain calm.
He puts aside his concerns and focuses on Wei Ying.
"I don't think I can sleep any more, Lan Zhan." He says quietly, sure of his words. "And I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Mn?" Lan Zhan pulls him closer, content to be able to do just this.
"Well, you know how you mentioned that you don't need to actually sleep? So how come you are? Like, here? If you're not sleeping, that is."
Lan Zhan can feel the heat from his blush. He can imagine what Wei Ying would look like as his cheeks go pinker than normal, a smattering of freckles generously dusted over his nose as if an angel went to town with freckle glitter, just on Wei Ying's face. Maybe the angel tripped...
He smiles at the thought, and this time, it's Lan Zhan who cuddles closer, taking a deep breath and inhaling that beautiful, mouth-watering (in a non-hungry way), lotus flowers and vanilla fragrance. It's so natural and seems to be concentrated in the space between Wei Ying's neck and shoulders.
It is tantalising, and fresh, and Lan Zhan feels like he would be in heaven if he got to smell that forever. He nuzzles even closer, his nose tickling Wei Ying, enough to make him giggle. His arms tighten around Lan Zhan's body.
"Not that I'm complaining. Far from it, actually. I sometimes wonder how on earth I slept by myself, before." Wei Ying continues.
Lan Zhan remembered that there was a question previously.
"I like this." He murmurs, softly.
Those three words didn't seem enough. He loved this, lying next to Wei Ying, closing his eyes next to the safest person in his life. Wei Ying knew what he had become, and yet his love had overflowed like a fountain, regardless. Wei Ying wasn't scared of him, even in the times that Lan Zhan was scared of himself, of what he could do. Especially if anyone threatened his family.
There was so much uncertainty around them, a sea of it surrounding them, and Wei Ying was his island of refuge. The only safe place, and now that was in jeopardy too. In that second, Lan Zhan vowed to himself that no matter what happened, he was going to keep Wei Ying safe.
"You like this?" Wei Ying echoed, kissing his hair. "Really?"
"Mn."
"So, I'm not calling you out on that, but Sweetheart, isn't it ... boring?"
Lan Zhan's teeth grazed Wei Ying's collarbone, his favourite place.
It was a warning.
"Only because you're so active during the day, and I just thought, if you felt you had to stay -"
"No." Lan Zhan licks a stripe, following the pattern of hollows and jutting bone, content to simply taste him like this.
Wei Ying shivers, laughing.
"No? That's all you're gonna give me?" His words are laced in disbelief and amusement.
"Is it not enough?" Lan Zhan pauses his delightful exploration of delicious warm skin, a little annoyed that he has to stop, to answer what is, in his opinion, a silly question.
"Well, could you elaborate?" Wei Ying holds his gaze, his tongue peeking out at the side of his beautiful mouth.
"Or...I can show you how much I love this."
Lan Zhan rips off his pyjamas with his teeth, all the while holding Wei Ying down.
"Omg, that's so hot!" And that's all he's able to say after that.
************
"You know, you've destroyed so much of my clothes." Wei Ying says breathlessly, afterwards.
"Is Wei Ying complaining?" One golden eye opens to observe him. There's even a raised brow in serious disbelief. "Because, just now Wei Ying was moaning and saying har-"
Wei Ying quickly covered his mouth, shaking his head and laughing.
"Besides, Wei Ying can afford replacements now." Lan Zhan licks his hand, smug when he sees the rekindled desire flare like charcoal on fire in those beloved silver eyes.
Precious warmth is what Lan Zhan feels, every time he looks at his Wei Ying.
"How does Wei Ying feel, slumming it with me now?"
Wei Ying rolls over to lie on his chest, looking into a face full of mirth. He likes that only he is able to detect the multitude of emotions that Lan Zhan's face betrays, but not to everyone else. It's a special delight all of his own, like their own little secret.
Though the children seem to have no problem understanding how Lan Zhan is feeling at any given time, either. And to be fair, Lan Zhan is more vocal with them, too.
It's as if they are their own jigsaw puzzle, a family fitting together like the perfect picture they are.
It makes him feel all kinds of giddy warmth inside.
"You and me know, neither of us has ever been slumming it." Wei Ying protests.
"Mn. Wei Ying can be my Sugar Daddy." Lan Zhan continues, without a trace of embarrassment.
Wei Ying barks out a laugh at the unexpected label.
"Wow! I didn't even think you would know what that meant," he gasps out, after catching his breath.
"I am aware." He pursed his lips. "Though admittedly, the idea was never appealing before." He gazed pointedly at Wei Ying's lips to convey the meaning that it was only with Wei Ying as the candidate, was it in any way acceptable.
"On a serious note though, how do you feel about not working? If you had the choice?" Wei Ying asks him.
"I might like it for a while, but eventually, I'd be bored. It's not as if my current job is taxing in any way. I am able to easily complete it and keep myself busy, and still maintain my love for cooking. And Wei Ying." Lan Zhan flips them over, his golden gaze roaming all over Wei Ying's face. "What about you?"
Wei Ying looks up into glorious sunshine eyes, filled with warmth and understanding. They're precious like liquid gold with swirls of shining glittering flecks.
"I don't know," he replies, honestly.
Lan Zhan leans down to kiss him gently. It's what they both seem to need now.
"It's okay not to know," he reassures Wei Ying, afterwards. "Knowing is overrated, anyway."
"But I'm an adult, so shouldn't I know? I mean, that's what it's supposed to mean, right?" He ends lamely.
"Who says?" Fierce, blazing eyes turn to silver, confused ones. "Why do we have to know already? Isn't it better to take our time and weigh our options? Like that, we have all the time in the world." This time, Lan Zhan lets his lips rest on Wei Ying's forehead.
"I suppose so. When you put it like that, I guess that makes the most sense. I think, whatever we do, we should think about what is best for the children first, and that should make our choices easier. Maybe we should stay here for now." Wei Ying sighs. "But if they're going to change schools, then the earlier, the better. This isn't exactly a safe area to bring up kids...but it was all I could afford."
"Now Wei Ying has a lot of choices." Lan Zhan continues his worship of deliciously tempting skin. "What about the Coffee Carousel?"
"That was a pity job."
"Mn?"
"MianMian only hired me because Wen Qing made her. I kind of always felt that I had to justify my employment there, and go the extra mile, you know?"
"So, if Wei Ying leaves, it will be alright for your employer." It's a statement.
An excited one.
"We can do whatever we want to." Lan Zhan goes on, now suddenly impatient.
"You, mister, are already doing what you want." Wei Ying half accuses him.
"Mn. But I want Wei Ying to have the same freedom." Lan Zhan is so sure about that, and about everything.
It brings tears to his eyes.
Lan Zhan, alarmed, quickly wraps him in a warm embrace. "Mn?"
"It's just that sometimes, I'm astounded at how much you believe in me. When I find it hard to believe in myself." Wei Ying says, his breaths shuddering.
"I will always believe in Wei Ying. No one is brighter, beautifuller, or smarter."
His words do the opposite of calming Wei Ying; instead, his tears fall harder.
Lan Zhan kisses them away.
"Why is it so hard for you to believe?" He asks, holding Wei Ying close and letting him cry.
"For so long, I was alone. And looking back, it terrifies me how strong I had to be, not just for myself, but for A-Yuan, too," he says, finally.
"But you did it. And maybe it was a challenge thrown at you by the Universe, and Wei Ying passed. No more staying alone, now Wei Ying has me, and A-Yuan, and A-Yi. We will always stand beside Wei Ying."
And that was the end of it, as far as Lan Zhan was concerned.
**********
"I can't believe it's Thursday already." Wei Ying said, polishing off his pancakes.
Lan Zhan thought everyone was in need of cheering up, and what better way than hot pancakes drizzled with chocolate syrup and banana slices, so the fruit was consumed to lessen the guilt?
While Wei Ying showered, he cooked breakfast. It was, in his opinion, a very good partnership.
The children had inhaled their breakfast and left them to it, so it was just the two of them in the kitchen, when Wei Ying got a call.
It was from an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, is this Mr Wei?"
"Yes. How may I help you?" Wei Ying thought it was the doctor's receptionist first, but as the call went on, he realised it wasn't, but it turned out to be just as important.
"The Authorities have informed us that a child is currently living with you now? His name is Lan JingYi, and his parents are, well, his mother is recently deceased, and father is missing? Wanted by the police." The woman goes on, making his blood cold.
"Yes, that's correct." Wei Ying's mouth has gone dry.
Lan Zhan can hear everything perfectly clear. He reaches across and takes Wei Ying's hand in his own, bringing it to his lips. He plants a kiss on the back of Wei Ying's hand, whispering, "together."
Wei Ying nods at him, and throughout the duration of the call, he does not look away once.
It's a lengthy call, mostly questions on their side and Wei Ying answering yes or no. He can tell the person on the other side is reading through a list of mandatory questions from a screen, and to be honest, they're not that concerned about his answers.
It's almost as if this is just another formality that has to be gotten over with, especially on their end.
The questions are seemingly endless, ranging from whatever he knows about JingYi's injuries, to the conditions in his apartment and his safety aspects. Wei Ying isn't allowed to say anything extra, such as how often he used to go and drop off JingYi to his home, or how many times the little boy had stayed over with A-Yuan, doing their homework together. Or how much he feels as if JingYi is already a part of their family, and how he's scared, terrified really, that the Social services are going to take away his other little boy.
Wei Ying doesn't know when it happened, but slowly like a moving cloud, how it's impossible to chart its progress, and then suddenly when it's looked for, it is miles away; that's how his love and acceptance of JingYi has grown. And no matter how unintentionally it has happened, he knows without a doubt that he loves that little boy just the same as A-Yuan.
Looking into Lan Zhan's beautiful golden eyes, he realises that Lan Zhan also feels the same way. He offers a warm smile and answers the questions with a renewed vigour.
In the end when he ends the call, he feels a little bit better.
"They're coming on Monday, after school. To check us out and make sure JingYi is happy here," he tells Lan Zhan.
"Mn. It will be alright. Wei Ying is a good parent. They will be pleased that JingYi is safe, and loved." Lan Zhan smiles back.
"But my love, what if JingYi asks about his mother? And why didn't she come here yesterday?" Wei Ying gives up trying to stay away, and climbs into Lan Zhan's lap.
Lan Zhan does his best to think about Wei Ying's questions, but it's difficult when his arms are full of soft Wei Ying, looking deeply into his eyes.
He would do anything to protect this precious man.
"Okay, first question: JingYi hasn't asked yet. If he does, we do our best to tell him the truth. Even better if his mother does." Lan Zhan says without a trace of guilt. "Second question: it is worrying that Mrs Lan did not turn up. She does not seem like the type to break a promise."
"Yeah, I was thinking about that, too." Wei Ying rests his arms on Lan Zhan's shoulders. "I want her to be safe, for JingYi's sake, but I'm getting a bad feeling about her not being here. I kind of hope she didn't find her husband. I know she's determined to stop him from getting to her son, but I don't know how she would fare going up against someone clearly stronger than herself."
"Mn. Both problems are outside our current scope." Lan Zhan surmises. "Therefore -"
"Pointless to worry about." Wei Ying finishes off his sentence.
**************
Wei Ying goes to work as normal. The Coffee Carousel is just as busy as normal and there's not much time left to think about the many problems on his horizon.
The gaps of time when he does have a moment to himself, that's when the panic sets in.
Wei Ying is, of course, on edge about the biopsy that the doctor wants to do on him, and he still can't shake the feeling that he's being watched. If it is indeed JingYi's father, then he hopes Mrs Lan is around to protect him. Too late, he remembers that he forgot to tell Lan Zhan about this, the prickly feeling every time he looked up.
MianMian provides a great distraction in the form of two rings which she asks Wei Ying his opinion of. She's planning to propose to Wen Qing, and Wei Ying is very happy for both of them. She swears him to secrecy because she's not sure when exactly she's going to pop the question, and she's nervous because Wen Qing has told her that there's a lot going on lately, with her work.
Wei Ying doesn't want to comment here; he sticks to smiling politely because he can think of a dozen reasons why Wen Qing would be stressed.
His main problem was whether or not they could trust her.
He thought back to all the times she had interacted with himself and Lan Zhan, all the times she should have been surprised but showed only a mild surprise, if that.
The first time was seeing the bite marks on Lan Zhan's neck; she had made it out to be some pranksters playing at dressing up and pretending to be Dracula. Wei Ying hadn't thought much of it.
But then why didn't she say anything when she saw the colour of Lan Zhan's 'blood' the second time she drew it?
And what was the reason for making them come to her top secret Lab with the crazy security, just to show them what their blood looked like under a microscope, and even though it was fascinating, was it worth the clear danger they had been put in? When she could easily have told them over the phone?
And she hadn't asked any questions when she heard about the goings-on in apartment 613; that if anything, plus when Wei Ying had mentioned the amount of blood, all of that would have inspired some kind of interest, a slew of questions and speculation about what could possibly have happened up there.
But there was nothing.
Separately, none of these points would have made him suspicious about her. But when he put it all together?
Red flags were going up in his head left, right and centre.
He was suddenly really glad that neither Lan Zhan nor himself had mentioned the suppressants or told her about F4keSt0ries.
He had a feeling that F4keSt0ries would be a valuable source of information, especially if they knew to ask the right questions.
MianMian was talking about colour schemes and venues, and Wei Ying was ashamed to realise that he had unconsciously tuned her out. He sighed internally and vowed to do better.
When they next catch a break, Wei Ying pulls MianMian over to one side.
"Boss, how bad would it be, if I was to quit? I mean for you?" He says this cautiously, not wanting her to worry.
"And what are you going to do instead?" She replies, with both eyebrows raised.
Wei Ying remembers what Lan Zhan had told him earlier that day, when the sun had not shaken off his slumber, yet. Lan Zhan wanted him to be in a position where he was free. If that happened, what would Wei Ying do?
"I'm thinking about it," he tells her with his trademark smile, not wanting to lie.
And it's the truth.
"Can you afford to not work here?" She asks him, serious now.
"Yes, I've come into a little bit of luck. I think...if I have the luxury of time, then I would like to explore my options. See what else there is in the world, that sort of thing." Wei Ying knows he's being vague, but it's the best thing he can come up with, at short notice.
He doesn't want to tell anyone anything else yet, but he's always been a practical person at heart.
From the moment he discovered what a biopsy was supposed to be testing him for, a part of him has kind of accepted it already. The sensible part of his brain agrees with Lan Zhan; they really don't know what Wei Ying's condition is yet, and he shouldn't be jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions.
But the irrational side of his head is already planning for the worst.
If it's cancer.
He can make a rough guess that since he's been fainting and getting headaches, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that his condition has something to do with his head.
So the worst case scenario he can come up with is that he might not survive this.
If that's really the case, then he wants to spend as much time as he can with A-Yuan, A-Yi and Lan Zhan.
That's his only wish.
And to do that, he can't waste time doing a job he doesn't need to do any more.
That's six hours daily, times six days, which is thirty six hours more that he'll be able to spend as he wishes. Not that working in a coffee shop is bad; far from it.
Wei Ying enjoys making small talk with the customers, chatting about anything and everything, and trying to make them feel better. Like any other job in the service industry, he has his regular customers too, and he's going to miss them. Hopefully, they'll miss him as well.
But he's not going to let himself spiral into depression and melancholy.
He wants to be the complete opposite of those feelings and make whatever time he has left to be the best, the most joyful for the people around him, and in doing so, it will be the same for himself.
***************
When he comes out of the Coffee Carousel at three-thirty, it is with the knowledge that he will only be working there for another week, at best, so it's looking like the following Tuesday will be his last. Just until MianMian finds another replacement for his position.
She asked him six times if he was sure.
Wei Ying has to smile at that.
Plus she complained that she might have to hire two people to replace him. And who was gonna fix the temperamental steamer which only worked when hit in a certain area, that only Wei Ying knew how to do?
No matter what happened, he was glad about this job, and still grateful that he was able to work there.
Lan Zhan smiles encouragingly at him, when he sits in the passenger seat and fastens his seat belt.
"Ready?" Lan Zhan leans over the gearbox to kiss his lips. "For good luck."
"Thanks." Wei Ying says back, only now remembering where they are to go from here.
The doctor's receptionist had advised them to come a little earlier, so they would have time to prepare for the procedure and to talk to the doctor, so he could explain what would happen.
That's why the children were staying at home.
"Did Wen Popo arrive?" Wei Ying asks, as they drive off.
"Mn. She wants to ask you something about next week. Her building is going to be fumigated for silverfish, so she's asking about staying over." Lan Zhan informs him.
"That's fine." Wei Ying fiddles with the radio, switching it on.
It's classical music, and soothes him as they drive to the doctor's practice.
When they park, Lan Zhan surprises Wei Ying by going to the trunk and taking out the holdall he had used to bring his clothes from his flat to Wei Ying's apartment.
"What's that?" Wei Ying asks him.
"A change of clothes, in case Wei Ying needs it. And some snacks, in case Wei Ying gets hungry." Lan Zhan won't look at him.
"Let me carry it." Wei Ying tells him, smiling because he knows something's up.
Lan Zhan refuses.
"Just to see!" Wei Ying insists.
When he's given the bag, he struggles to hold it.
"Lan Zhan?!! This is far too heavy for just clothes and snacks! What did you put in there?" Wei Ying demands.
He's both exasperated and overcome with affection for this delightful man.
Lan Zhan is so thoughtful and caring, it should be a crime.
Wei Ying drops the bag and throws his arms around Lan Zhan's neck, hugging him close.
"You know what? It doesn't matter. I love you seven ways to Sunday, and in all the hours in between. My heart, you are simply amazing." Wei Ying kisses him deeply.
Lan Zhan holds his waist tightly and kisses him back.
They're in the parking lot, in full view of anyone who chooses to look their way, and yet neither one of them cares.
When they break apart, Wei Ying gives Lan Zhan the brightest smile.
"Let's go in there and kick some ass!"
***********
A/N
Dear Beautiful Readers,
I'm dedicating this Chapter to @chocolatewithtea
I hope it provides a distraction from real life and you know what they say, let's chew gum and kick some ass. I always reply with, better not get those two mixed up...hehe.
Tomorrow is another day, and it's like a blank piece of paper. We can write anything we want to on it, and it will be new and exciting.
Hopefully with a lot of chocolate!
Charlie