Work Text:
Wei Ying was exploring the museum on a sunday afternoon, there was a new exhibition he was dying to see. He took pictures of everything he saw to show them to Jiang Cheng, he was never really interested but Wei Wing always forced him to look at his art (pictures, paintings, sculptures).
He stoped at a flute looking at it with curiosity, suddenly he saw himself playing the flute and riding a donkey, a man with white robes in front of him. 'How funny, maybe a memory of my previous life' Wei Ying joked, his imagination was truly something else. Wei Ying was good at imagining but this time it felt real, maybe it was the atmosphere of the museum. He took a picture and smiled, he wondered how the life of the owner of such a beautiful flute was, maybe it belonged to a talented musician.
Wei Ying read the information text, there was a legend about this flute, aparently it belonged to a demonic cultivator known as the yiling partiarch who caused a lot of harm. This cultivator was feared by a lot of people and had a tragic dead, Wei Ying got goosebumps reading the legend. There wasn't a lot of information about the yiling patriarch but Wei Ying tought it was an interesting story deserving of it's own novel.
He kept walking when a painting of bunnies caught his attention. 'You like bunnies!' Wei Ying heared himself say... his mind must have been playing with him, to even think about himself talking to someone else just seeing this painting and not just someone but that man in white again. Wei Ying was probably inspired by the exhibition, should he write a novel about this man in white? He could even include that legend about the demonic cultivator. Wei Ying shook his head and kept walking (after taking a picture of the bunnies).
After this weird expiriences Wei Ying waned to go home and forget this strange feeling. He kept thinking about this 'memories', he decided to call this products of his imagination memories because that's what they felt like. Were they truly memories of his past life? That couldn't be right. Wei Ying decided that he was just not sleeping enough and the memories were so real because he was so tired.
He looked intersted at a sword, there was something writen on it. "Suibian" Wei Ying read out loud, another memory appeared. This time Wei Ying had that sword in his hand and was practicing with Jiang Cheng, they were both really young. With each memory Wei Ying felt more and more nostalgic, he was ready to go home and take a nap but he had a feeling he should keep walking through the museum.
Wei Ying saw two ribbons displayed on a wall, one of them red and the other white. He looked at them for a while when he noticed that a man was standing next to him, the man was just slightly taller than Wei Ying and was wearing a light blue sweater. The man turned his head and looked at Wei Ying, looking at his golden eyes Wei Ying remembered.
He remembered the cloud recesses, lotus pier, his previous life.
"Lan Zhan" Wei Ying whispered, did Lan Zhan also remembered the past?
"Wei Ying"
So he did remember, Wei Ying smiled and hugged Lan Zhan who happily returned the hug. Wei Ying separeted a bit from Lan Zhan to take his face in his hands.
"Lan Zhan, I found you, you found me, we found each other" Wei Ying said. In their previous life they sweared to always be together, even in their next life. He didn't expect to get his memories back when he promised Lan Zhan to find him in their next life, it was just another thing lovers said to each other.
"Mn. I will always find you" Lan Zhan assured him with a soft smile. Wei Ying kissed Lan Zhan and hugged him tightly. He was feeling a lot of things, with all of his memories back he also remembered his shijie. It felt terrible to remember that but in this life she was alive, he had a good relationship with his siblings and now Lan Zhan was with him. Wei Ying promised himself to hug Jiang Yanli the next time he saw her.
"I can't belive all of our things are in a museum now. I saw chenqing a while ago, I'm a legend Lan Zhan" Wei Ying said, someone beside them heard Wei Ying claim this and looked at them with confusion, Wei Ying laughed a bit embarrased. They explored the exhibition sharing stories about the things they saw.
"Come with me" Lan Zhan said taking Wei Ying's hand to guide him out of the exhibition. "Lan Zhan, already thinking about that?" Wei Ying teased. He tought about how much he missed teasing his dear husband and how much he would tease him in the future.
"I'm buying you lunch" Lan Zhan said. That was perfect, Wei Ying was hungry and they could talk about what they have been doing. Lan Zhan always knew when Wei Ying was hungry, he used to say this was Lan Zhan's super power.
They found a nice cafeteria near the museum, Lan Zhan ordered a tea and Wei Ying a sandwich. "I'm really happy we are together again, we have to marry again in this life and you... Lan Zhan, you can meet my parents" Wei Ying said, in this life Wei Ying's parents were both alive. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli were still his siblings but that was because they were chlildhood friends.
"We will marry as soon as we get to know our familys, they are probably not going to get their memories back." Lan Zhan said taking Wei Ying's hand.
"I'm sure my parents and my shijie will love you, I'm not really sure about Jiang Cheng but we never cared about that did we? Do you think I can make a good impresion on your uncle this time? Maybe he will love me in this life" Wei Ying said full of excitment.
"You will have to meet my parents first" Lan Zhan said calmly. Lan Zhan's parents were also alive in this life, this made Wei Ying extreamly nervous for some reason.
"What if they don't like me? Will you still marry me?" Wei Ying asked genuinely concerned.
"Wei Ying is charming, they will like you and if they don't I will still marry you. Uncle didn't liked you but we still married" Lan Zhan said calming Wei Ying.
"Lan Zhan, even after all this years you still make me blush when you say things like that" Wei Ying said hiding his face with his hands, he knew Lan Zhan was smiling. "To something more serious, the Wen siblings went to university with me and I have been visiting our A-Yuan. He is doing well, he is smart and energetic" Wei Ying said.
"That is good to know, can I see him?" Lan Zhan asked.
"We will visit them as soon as posible" Wei Ying said with a smile, Lan Zhan nodded.
After they finished they went out of the cafeteria and walked around. Wei Ying learned that Lan Zhan is a teacher now, he had a house in a nice area (were they decided to live together because Wei Ying was just renting a small apartment), and he liked pizza. They knew each other better than anyone else but at the same time they were asking questions you ask someone you meet for the first time.
"What do you do?" Lan Zhan asked after telling him everything about being a teacher in a high school.
"I'm an artist. It's nice to work from home, people look at my art and just say 'I but it'. I think it's funny"
It was getting late and cold, Wei Ying didn't wanted the day to end and go home. "Wei Ying, let's go home. You are cold" Lan Zhan said. Go home together... that made more sense.
"Let's go Lan Zhan. Every day means every day" Wei Ying teased, he saw Lan Zhan's ears turn red. They hurried back, when Wei Ying entered the house he started to look around. The house was what Lan Zhan described, it had three rooms and a big kitchen. Wei Ying inspected the kitchen noticing there was not even a bit of spice around "Lan Zhan, we have to go shopping, this lack of spice is unacceptable" Wei Ying scolded.
"Mn, tomorrow. You can change whatever you don't like in our house" Lan Zhan said hugging Wei Ying from behind. Wei Ying decided to move in as soon as he could, his family would tell him how crazy that is but the didn't know their past.
"You can't wait to go to bed, but Lan Zhan you have to remember that I'm in my original virgin body, you have to show some mercy on your Wei Ying" Wei Ying said turning around to kiss Lan Zhan. They kept kissing slowly as they walked to Lan Zhan's (their) bedroom.
The next morning Wei Ying woke up using Lan Zhan as a pillow, he was already awake and was just looking at Wei Ying. "Like what you see?" Wei Ying asked softly kissing Lan Zhan's chest.
"Mn. I bought breakfast" Lan Zhan said softly.
"Lan Zhan, you still get up early? Nice to know you haven't changed" Wei Ying said standing up. "Wait... it's monday, you have to go to work. It's probably super late"
"I still have time, you woke up early" Lan Zhan said. That was a surprise, Wei Ying never woke up early, not in his previous life and not on this life.
"Do you have time to shower with me?" Wei Ying asked walking towards the bathroom with a smirk, Lan Zhan nodded and followed Wei Ying.
After the shower and breakfast Lan Zhan gave Wei Ying the key to the house and left to work. Wei Ying went to his apartment and worked for a while on his projects, he had a lot of work to finish. He couldn't really concentrate, he was just thinking about Lan Zhan and how much there was to do before they could just relax and be together. They had to meet each others familys, move in together, have a wedding. After a few hours he packed a few of his things to leave them at home before oficially moving in, he felt a bit strange about this. He knew Lan Zhan, he had all the memories of his previous life back but yesterday he was just living a normal life.
Wei Ying went home and waited for Lan Zhan so they could go buy decent things for the kitchen together. When Lan Zhan finally arrived Wei Ying hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. "Hi, how was work?" Wei Ying asked with a smile.
"Good. How was your day?" Lan Zhan asked with his arms still around Wei Ying's waist. "Good, do you want to come with me and buy groceries with me?" Wei Ying asked. "Mn"
They went to the closest shop and bought everything Wei Ying needed for the kitchen, his favorite cereal (not the boring 'cereal' Lan Zhan had), lots of spicy things and snacks. "Lan Zhan, you have to try this cookies, I just know you will love them"
At home Lan Zhan cooked dinner for Wei Ying and they watched a movie, then they did their every day activities. "Wei Ying, there is a family dinner next saturday. Do you want to meet them?" Lan Zhan asked with Wei Ying using him as a pillow again, he smiled against Lan Zhan's chest.
"Of course, I was going to ask the same. My family dinner is on sunday. We will have to think of a good story about how we met each, our family won't belive that we met at the museum and randomly got our memories from our previous life" Wei Ying said.
"Mn. Sleep now, you have to rest" Lan Zhan said.
"You're right, because of you I always end up tired early... I love you" Wei Ying said hugging Lan Zhan and bringing him closer to him.
"Love you" Lan Zhan said kissing the top of Wei Ying's head.
Wei Ying was nervous and at the same time he wasn't, he didn't really care about the approval of anyone but he hoped to have a good relationship with Lan Zhan's family. He carefully tought about what to wear and the story of how they met.
Saturday arrived, most of Wei Ying's things were already in his house with Lan Zhan. He decided to wear a black suit (to look formal) without a tie (to make it more casual). "Lan Zhan, do I look good? I know you will love me regardless of how I look but I really want your family to like me, I want to be your uncle's favotire nephew" Wei Ying said.
"Wei Ying, you look good. Don't worry, just be yourself" Lan Zhan said looking at Wei Ying softly and like he wants to eat him at the same time, Wei Ying wondered how he could do that.
"Can you play wangxian for me before we leave?" Wei Ying asked pouting, Lan Zhan smiled and did as Wei Ying asked.
The dinner was at Lan Qiren's house, wich wasn't really a house but more of a mansion. Lan Xichen was the one to open the door, Wei Ying was happy to see him again. "Wangji, you are here. And this must be your partner" he said with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Wei Ying" he said returning the smile. They went in and Lan Xichen went to look for his uncle who was in another room.
"Wangji?" Wei Ying asked, did Lan Zhan have a courtesy name in this life?
"My family is very tradicional" Lan Zhan said. Lan Qiren came in and looked at Wei Ying.
"Uncle, this is Wei Ying, my partner" Lan Zhan said, Wei Ying was more nervous than he should be.
"Nice to meet you" Wei Ying said, he really wanted to say something dumb and make Lan Qiren angry but decided that this time things would be different between them. Before they could start having a conversation the bell rang, Lan Zhan's parents arrived. Now Wei Ying was really nervous.
Lan Zhan's mother was truly beautiful, she was smiling and that reminded Wei Ying to Lan Zhan's smile. She looked at Wei Ying as soon as she entered the room, she hugged her sons and turned her attention back to Wei Ying.
"You must be Wei Ying, my son told me you were coming today. You are a handsome young man, I hope my son treats you well" she said softly.
Wei Ying smiled. "He does treat me well, more than well" he said looking at Lan Zhan.
"I still can't belive my son finally brought someone home, he must love you very much" she said trying to tease her son.
"Mn. I love Wei Ying very much" Lan Zhan said. Wei Ying blushed a bit, he always blushed a bit hearing those things.
"Oh my! I wanted to tease him but he is indeed in love with you" she said laughing a little. Then Lan Zhan's father joined them, he looked at Wei Ying with a smile.
"So you are Wei Ying, I'm glad you can join us for this dinner" he said. Wei Ying just smiled nervously.
"So, how did you two met? Delight us with your love story" Lan Zhan's mother said when they were sitting around the table with some boring soup in front of them. Wei Ying invented a love story for them, something casual but sweet.
"Well around seven months ago we met at a museum, I think it was love at first sight, so I asked him on a date and he said yes. Now we are here happy and in love" Wei Ying said taking Lan Zhan's hand, everyone smiled at them softly (even Lan Qiren).
"Well tell more about yourself, we would love to get to know you more" Lan Xichen said.
"I'm not that interesting haha... I'm an artist" Wei Ying said nervous. He was afraid Lan Zhan's family wouldn't like that, the stereotype of artists being poor or lazy was strong.
"Art is very important, what type of art do you do?" Lan Zhan's father asked, so he aproved of that?
"I do everything. Photography is one of my favorite things to work on but essentially I could do anything that is asked me to do" Wei Ying said.
"You seem like a talented young man, my nephew is very lucky" Lan Qiren said, that was a big surprise. Wei Ying wanted to laugh but tried his best not to, maybe he could really be the favorite nephew.
"I'm the lucky one, but thank you" Wei Ying said because that was a nice thing to say.
After dinner they went home, very happy. "Lan Zhan, that was so much fun. I love your family and I think they don't hate me." Wei Ying said.
"Mn. Everyone loves my Wei Ying" Lan Zhan said, Wei Ying laughed and hugged him. They found each other just a few days ago but had been in love for so many years, everything felt right when they were together.
"You keep saying sweet things gege, you have to take responsibility". Lan Zhan stayed silent and picked Wei Ying up to carry him to their bedroom.
"Lan Zhan! That's not what I meant... hahaha you can't get enough of me can you? That's alright, I can't get enough of you either" Wei Ying said. Lan Zhan looked at him, his eyes were full of love, and desire, but mostly love.
The next morning Wei Ying woke up and was alone in bed, Lan Zhan was in the kitchen making breakfast (shirtless for Wei Ying's delight). Wei Ying hugged Lan Zhan from behind amd kissed his shoulder.
"Meeting family 2.0 today, are you prepared?" Wei Ying asked.
"Mn. After this we start planing our wedding" Lan Zhan said softly. To be honest Wei Ying was a bit nervous, he would be with Lan Zhan regardless of his family's reaction but he wanted to spend the holidays with Lan Zhan and their family.
After eating the eggs Lan Zhan prepared Wei Ying insisted on helping him choose his outfit, he carefully looked through Lan Zhan's clothes and picked a blue sweater and cream color pants. "This colours suits you well gege" Wei Ying said handing the items to Lan Zhan.
They showed together, had lunch and stared to get ready. When they were ready to go Wei Ying hugged Lan Zhan one more time... for 10 minutes, Wei Ying would never get tired of hugs. Hugs were Wei Ying's favorite thing, feeling close to Lan Zhan, feeling safe with Lan Zhan, hugs often leading to other activities (with Lan Zhan).
They finally left the house and soon arrived to the house were Wei Ying grew up, it was a small house but just right for a family of three. "I think my parents will love you, you are very lovable. My shijie will love you for sure and I honestly don't know about Jiang Cheng, their parents will not be there because they are on a buissnes trip or something so we don't have to worry" Wei Ying said in front of the door.
"Does your family usually have dinner with the Jiangs?" Lan Zhan asked.
"We're basically one big family" Wei Ying said. He opened the door and his mother runed towards him.
"My beautiful son! And a beautiful young man!" She said lookig at Lan Zhan with a smile. Wei Ying was not really nervous this time but he could see that Lan Zhan was, of course he was the only one to notice but he liked being the only one noticing Lan Zhan's feelings.
"Good evening, I'm Lan Zhan" he said polietly, Wei Ying loved when Lan Zhan was being polite, he loved him when he was not being polite, he just loved him.
"He is really nice, well done my son" she said winking at Wei Ying. Soon Jiang Yanli arrived with Jiang Cheng.
"Who is this? I tought we were having family dinner" Jiang Cheng said looking at Lan Zhan confused.
Before Wei Ying could even start to defend his boyfriend/husband his mother pushed Jiang Cheng lightly. "This is my new son, be nice" she said and Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes, Wei Ying saw Lan Zhan's ears turn red.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jiang Yanli and this is my brother Jiang Cheng, I hope you have heared something about us? Perhaps something good?"
"The pleasure is mine, I have only heard good things about you" Lan Zhan said smiling at her. Wei Ying could screem every time he saw Lan Zhan smile (wich was quite often but not that often in public).
Jiang Yanli gestured Lan Zhan to come closer, so he did. "You better treat him well, I will be watching you and he will never admit it but Jiang Cheng will also be keeping an eye on you" she whispered. "Welcome to the family" she then said in a normal voice with a smile like she didn't threatened Lan Zhan.
They finally left the entry and went to the living room were Wei Ying's father was waiting for them. "Hey dad! This is Lan Zhan, my boyfriend" Wei Ying said proud.
"I see, nice to meet you Lan Zhan" he said not fully convinced. Wei Ying had to fix this awkward situation. "You are both teachers, talk about it" Wei Ying said proud at himself, Lan Zhan amd Wei Ying's dad were rather quiet persons but they would be able to have a conversation.
"You are a teacher? What do you teach?"
"Music at a high school" Lan Zhan said, from there everything went smoothly. They had an enjoyable dinner, Jiang Cheng was being nice with Lan Zhan and only rolled his eyes at Wei Ying (because he was throwing flirty comments at Lan Zhan).
Before they left Wei Ying's mother insisted on giving him tupperwares full of food for home, she hugged Wei Ying and Lan Zhan and Wei Ying's father smiled at them. "They love you Lan Zhan, I knew they would but it was a good dinner" Wei Ying said as they walked back home.
"Mn" Lan Zhan replied taking Wei Ying's hand just because he liked taking his hand. When they arrived Wei Ying went to the kitchen to put the food in the refrigerator and look for a snack.
"Lan Zhan, would it be too much if I put hot sauce in ice cream?" Wei Ying asked lookig at his bowl with chocolate ice cream, Lan Zhan just looked at him concerned. "You are right, it is too much. I was just thinking I need something sweet but also spicy but also cold but also a little bit hot?" Wei Ying explained sitting next to Lan Zhan on the sofa.
"Are you tired?" Lan Zhan asked with one arm around Wei Ying's waist.
"Not really, are you? I would understand if you're too old to stay awake with me"
"Wei Ying" Lan Zhan said to stop him from teasing him like that.
"I'm here, why are you calling me?" Wei Ying said with a seducing tone. Lan Zhan looked at him with that look and Wei Ying knew what was coming.
"I know you want us to go to the bedroom but let me finish my ice cream first" Wei Ying said pouting, he really wanted to eat his ice cream.
"Mn. Hurry" Lan Zhan said with his head renting on Wei Ying's shoulder, Wei Ying laughed and kissed Lan Zhan's cheek. "You love me so much... I love you too" Wei Ying whispered, he felt Lan Zhan's smile on his shoulder. He loved being like this with Lan Zhan, just hugging and teasing and loving each other.