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Wei Ying
Sunday morning
Wei Ying slowly returned to consciousness, aware of the unfamiliar weight of a person beside him in bed, of bare skin and firm muscle under his arm. He took stock.
His head hurt just a little bit – not unsurprising, that was normal for him after late nights. He shifted his leg and, wow, his muscles ached, indicating some pretty vigorous physical activity that he wasn’t accustomed to the night before. His ass was just a little tender.
He had a ring on his left hand ring finger.
He looked over at the man beside him, still asleep, and saw a face he had never seen before yesterday morning. Wei Ying stared, absorbing the man’s features, the entire situation. As if he could tell he was being observed, the man beside him opened his eyes – they were a beautiful honey-brown colour.
As he watched the man’s lips tilt into a small smile, Wei Ying could feel an answering grin breaking out on his face.
“Good morning, husband,” Wei Ying said, leaning over to kiss Lan Zhan.
“Husband,” Lan Zhan agreed, before kissing him back softly.
Nie Mingjue
Sunday morning
Nie Mingjue was having a great time. His younger brother’s friends weren’t so bad, and it was really nice to see Huaisang letting loose in front of him a little bit. His brother was always so worried about his judgment – of course it would take his own bachelor party in Las Vegas to relax him. Last night, he and Huaisang had gotten drunk enough that they had a heartfelt conversation and cried and hugged. Like men. Absolutely worth the pounding headache he felt sitting here at brunch, waiting for his mimosa to arrive (and, secondarily, for the rest of the bachelor party group to show up).
“Can you believe him?” Nie Mingjue heard Jiang Cheng say. He looked up to see Wei Ying moving towards them, holding on to the hand of a tall, beautiful man who Nie Mingjue had never seen before. Hm, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Wei Ying much yesterday, and not at all last night after dinner.
Nie Huaisang, sitting beside him, suddenly tensed up.
“What? Finally getting cold feet?” Jiang Cheng joked, nudging him in the ribs. Nie Huaisang didn’t relax.
“Hands,” Nie Huaisang whispered. “Look at their hands.”
Nie Mingjue didn’t bother to look too hard so had no idea what he was talking about.
Wei Ying sat down across from them, and the guy sat in the chair beside him.
“Hey, that chair was for Wen Ning!” Jiang Cheng protested.
“We’ll get another chair when Wen Ning gets here,” Nie Huaisang said distractedly, still staring.
“Hey guys! I want to you meet Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, gesturing at the man beside him.
“Your husband?” Nie Huaisang asked.
The table fell silent.
“Ugh, of course you noticed the rings even though you drank enough last night to fell an elephant. Don’t you even get hangovers?” Wei Ying protested.
Nie Mingjue was waiting for Wei Ying to laugh, to explain Nie Huaisang’s joke.
But instead he shrugged, nodded, and smiled blindingly. “My husband!”
“What.” The word came from Jiang Cheng’s whole chest.
“We got married last night. We weren’t going to say anything quite yet, I didn’t want to steal Huaisang’s thunder, but...” he glanced over at the man beside him – his husband! – and gave him a little, private, smile, “we really didn’t want to take the rings off.”
“You can get it annulled!” Jiang Cheng yelled out. “A drunk marriage in Las Vegas, that’s exactly what annulment is for.”
For the first time since they arrived, Wei Ying actually focused his attention on something other than the impassive face of... that guy. He looked at Jiang Cheng, a little confused.
“We weren’t drunk,” Wei Ying said.
“You... weren’t drinking?” Nie Huaisang asked. “You got married and you weren’t even drinking?”
Nie Mingjue was also confused. Why would you come to Las Vegas and not be drunk?
“Of course not! Making a decision about marriage while drunk would be a terrible idea,” Wei Ying said, as if this was obvious. Nie Mingjue considered this and silently agreed. “Besides, Lan Zhan doesn’t drink!”
Lan Zhan inclined his head.
Wei Ying picked up the menu in front of him. “I hope there are some good plant-based options here, Lan Zhan is vegetarian.”
Nie Mingjue turned to see the waiter finally bringing his mimosa, as Jiang Cheng seemed to be getting ready to start yelling again. Man, his little brother’s friends really weren’t so bad at all, this was turning out to be a great weekend.
Lan Huan
Sunday morning
Lan Huan woke up at 4:54 am and let himself drift a little until his alarm actually went off at 5:00 am. It was Sunday, but he had a lot he wanted to get done and he just felt better getting an early start. He pre-emptively turned off the alarm on his phone and saw, to his surprise, that he had multiple texts from his brother.
Lan Zhan had sent him multiple texts? Past 10 pm? Wasn’t he off performing somewhere this weekend?
Lan Zhan, 11:32 pm: I know that with the time difference you probably aren’t awake, but I wanted to tell you as soon as possible: I am getting married.
Lan Zhan, 11:33 pm: In case my previous message wasn’t clear, I mean I am getting married right now, not at some undetermined date in the future.
Lan Zhan, 1:51 am: [IMG98938.jpg]
The picture was of his brother along with another man, who was holding the camera to take the shot as a selfie. They were both showing their adorned ring fingers to the camera. His brother was smiling. He didn’t recognize the man.
Lan Huan wondered if he was still asleep. But no, this wasn’t a dream, the bed felt solid under him and as he lowered his head back to the pillow, he could feel it adjust to the shape of his head.
He remembered now, Lan Zhan had gone to Las Vegas. Could he have been drunk? Lan Huan pulled up the photo again and looked carefully. His brother had gone through a phase of trying to learn to enjoy alcohol - an experiment which had ultimately failed, in part because of his dramatic reaction to even small amounts. This reaction inevitably included a hot, flushed face.
But no, in the picture his brother’s face was its usual colour, if maybe a little more luminous than usual. He was not drunk.
Lan Huan had been trying to convince his brother to be more open to letting people into his life, but he had never expected this. At 34, Lan Zhan had dated men in the past, some seriously enough to mention to his brother, but none seriously enough to bring home to meet him. Lan Huan had spent years trying to get him on the apps, trying to set him up with people, until Lan Zhan had sat him down and explained that he had no desire to date for the sake of dating and that he was happier alone than with the wrong person. After that, Lan Huan had simply switched to bothering him about finding friends, rather than a significant other.
So what could have caused this sudden change? What could have made his painfully reasonable brother get married to someone he had just met?
Lan Huan sat up in bed again, determined to get his day started.
The answer, of course, was that Lan Zhan was certain. As unconventional as the circumstances were, Lan Zhan must have truly thought that this was the right choice for him.
Lan Huan, 5:12 am: congratulations! ❤️ I can’t wait to meet him.
Jiang Yanli
Sunday afternoon
“A-Ying,” Jiang Yanli greeted as she answered the phone. “Are you having a good time in Vegas?”
“It’s been great!” came the voice of her brother through her bluetooth headpiece. She could stir her risotto and talk at the same time.
“I’m surprised you called, is everything okay? Did A-Cheng get himself in some trouble?”
“No, he’s good. Actually, I just needed to tell you – I met someone.”
“Met someone?” She was surprised enough that she forgot to keep stirring. “Like, met someone met someone? In Vegas?”
“Well yes, we met here, but he’s from the city too! So it’s not like long distance is an issue. And, Yanli, he’s, like, perfect.”
Jiang Yanli was used to her brother falling deeply into crushes. He liked being infatuated. She smiled. “Tell me about him.”
“His name is Lan Zhan,” he started.
“Chinese?” she interrupted. “Are you going to be bringing someone home my mother will actually approve of?”
“Ugh,” he said – she could picture the exact way his nose was probably wrinkling. “That is a downside I hadn’t considered. He’s so nice. And gorgeous! And, I don’t know, intense. He’s a lawyer, he does environmental law for a non-profit. But he’s also a musician! Can you believe it? Who even does that? He’s here playing violin with an orchestra!”
“He sounds great,” Yanli said. It was true – so far he sounded better than the last few guys Wei Ying had dated. This guy sounds like he has his life together, to some extent, and Wei Ying sounded really happy.
“He is,” Wei Ying said, dreamily. “Yanli, I...”
“Let me guess,” she said, the warmth in her heart spreading to a smile on her face. Wei Ying was such a good person, he deserved to have a relationship with someone nice. Even if it ended up being a flash in the pan.
“Guess what?”
“You’re about to tell me you’re going to marry him someday.”
“Uh,” Wei Ying replied. His hesitation had not been what she was expecting. He had been sounding so sure! “Well. I suppose.”
“You suppose?”
“It’s true that I am going to marry him someday, if by ‘someday’ you mean, specifically, yesterday.”
“Yesterday?!”
She kept forgetting to stir. The risotto was going to be a loss.
“I know it sounds nuts,” Wei Ying said in a rush. “But he’s just... I like him so much. I love him! It feels right.”
“That’s... a huge step to take,” Yanli said, as neutrally as she could. She remembered the years leading up to her marriage, the uncertainty, the slowly blossoming relationship, the gradual building of trust, the year of incredibly painful wedding planning and family negotiations... Well, she could see the advantage in Wei Ying’s method.
“It’s not like we can’t get divorced if we’re wrong,” Wei Ying pointed out. “Not that I’m thinking about divorce! But, you know, life is unpredictable. Who knew I would start believing in love at first sight at the age of thirty-two?”
“I certainly couldn’t have predicted it,” Yanli said.
“I can’t wait for you to meet him. You’re going to love him. He’s going to love you! I’m just so happy about all this.”
He really did sound happy, she had to admit.
She spared a thought for whoever had to deal with Jiang Cheng’s reaction to this news, and then did her best to unstick the rice from the bottom of the pot.
Jiang Cheng
Monday morning
Wei Ying was sitting in the seat next to him on the plane, and he was glowing. Fucking glowing.
“So where’s your husband?” Jiang Cheng asked sarcastically.
Wei Ying hummed happily at the thought. “He took a red-eye home last night. He got home safe, he already texted me! He’s making me dinner at his place tonight.”
“What the fuck, Wei Ying,” Jiang Cheng said. “Just, what the fuck.”
“I know, right?” Wei Ying shrugged. “It’s wild.”
“Haven’t you had enough upheaval in your life lately? You needed to add another layer to make everything worse?”
It had been hard seeing Wei Ying lose his job (despite supposed ‘whistleblower’ protections, what bullshit). Hard to see him be blacklisted and slowly run out of money, be forced to give up his apartment. His brother never accepted his help, no matter how much he yelled, not even when he had been eating ramen for at least two meals a day.
He finally seemed to be back on his feet, and now this?
“Ha!” Wei Ying acted as if Jiang Cheng’s last comment had been a joke. He settled into his seat and pulled his earphones out of his bag. “Lan Zhan sent me some recordings of him playing the violin, they’re so good! I’m going to see if I can get some sleep.”
What the fuck!
Well, if/when everything crashed and burned, he’d be there. Maybe this time Wei Ying would let him at least pay for the ramen.
Lan Qiren
Two weeks later
Lan Qiren stared at the man sitting across the table from him.
Lan Zhan’s new husband.
He looked nervous. Lan Zhan had his hand on his knee.
“Lan Zhan tells me you’re an engineer,” he said.
“Yes, I’m a materials engineer. It’s actually a lot of fun!” he replied, thawing a little. Well, that wouldn’t do.
“Do you have a graduate degree?” Lan Qiren asked.
“Uh, no,” Wei Ying said. “I started working right after I graduated.”
“Hmm.”
He let the silence linger. They all ate some of their soup.
“Should I still come by at ten tomorrow for the move?” Lan Huan asked Wei Ying.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you – I couldn’t get a truck until eleven, so if you could get there at noon, that would be great.” Wei Ying answered.
“You are moving?” Lan Qiren asked.
“Yeah, we figured it made more sense for me to move into Lan Zhan’s place rather than waiting until we get a new place together.” Wei Ying turned to Lan Zhan. “Honestly, I like your place! We don’t need to get an extra bedroom!”
“Mm,” said Lan Zhan, neutrally.
“Moving in together after two weeks? That seems hasty.” Lan Qiren said.
“Uncle,” Lan Zhan said, as dry as the Sahara. “We’re already married.”
“So you say,” Lan Qiren said.
Lan Huan tried to hide his smile, but Lan Qiren always saw.
Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan with concern, but Lan Zhan must have squeezed his knee because he relaxed a little again.
Lan Zhan was a good boy, surely he picked a good partner. Lan Qiren reflected that his own parents had married on the day they met, and their marriage had been successful. True, their marriage had been arranged by their families, and Lan Zhan had apparently found this one wandering at a casino, but one had to make allowances for the modern world.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t keep the boy on his toes around him for a few weeks. Respect for elders was always a good lesson.
Madam Yu
One year later
“Not terrible,” Madam Yu allowed, looking around the room.
The couple had reserved a modestly-sized hotel space to have a one-year anniversary party, since no one had attended their actual wedding. Because they had gotten married in Las Vegas immediately after they met. Absurd. Just the sort of thing Wei Ying would do.
“I think it looks lovely,” Jiang Yanli said.
“Of course you do,” Madam Yu muttered, rolling her eyes.
Wei Ying and his husband came up to greet them. Madam Yu didn’t understand what that nice boy Lan Zhan saw in Wei Ying.
Wei Ying greeted Jiang Yanli warmly and herself respectfully. Lan Zhan thanked Yanli for coming quite sincerely, and gave Madam Yu a frosty glare before moving away.
Madam Yu respected that.
She knew she hadn’t been good to Wei Ying, the child who arrived in her household on top of the two children she already wasn’t sure she wanted. If Wei Ying’s husband did anything less than hate her, he probably wasn’t a very good husband.
But that ridiculous child managed to find an accomplished, rich, handsome husband on a trip to Las Vegas. At least he had been smart enough to lock him down right away.
She needed to find Jiang Cheng. She hadn’t reminded him yet today that he also needed to find a wife, and he needed to get working on it soon. Not everyone had good husbands appear out of thin air!
--------
Wei Ying
5:48 AM, Saturday
Wei Ying slowly returned to consciousness. He took stock.
He knew in his bones that it was early, way too early to wake up after having drank so much last night. His head was pounding. He also knew that he wasn’t going to fall back asleep. He was such a bad sleeper, and travelling just made it worse.
Jiang Cheng was still fully out in the other bed, so Wei Ying moved around the room as quietly as he could. He took some Advil, showered, got dressed, left a note that said ‘went to visit the flowers!!!’ and slipped out of the hotel room.
He had come prepared with a list of things to do in the mornings in Vegas. First stop, Starbucks. Second stop, the Bellagio Botanical Gardens. Yes, it was kind of cheesy, but it wasn’t far and Wei Ying liked plants, okay? So sue him.
It was a smaller space than he had been expecting, but it was set up to celebrate Lunar New Year and was really quite pretty, even it it was a bit more trippy and fantastic than he usually liked his botanical gardens. Rabbits were prominently featured. He caught sight of a man looking meditatively at the roundel of a gold and red rabbit, placed between two huge golden lotuses.
He was tall, and his long hair was gathered in a neat low ponytail. He was wearing some kind of white linen shirt over jeans, and it should have looked casual, but didn’t. He wasn’t exactly broad, but he seemed solidly built. Muscular. Nice ass.
Oops, the man turned at just the wrong moment and caught him staring at that nice ass.
His face was beautiful in an otherworldly way, and so angular and stern that Wei Ying was sure he was about to get yelled at. But then the corner of the man’s mouth twitched up, and he took Wei Ying in with a slow, obviously assessing gaze. Not quite an elevator look, but not far from it. Wei Ying grinned broadly, and walked over to him. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?
“Hi,” said the man, and oh, even in that one syllable, his voice was low and rumbly.
“Hi," Wei Ying replied. “I’m Wei Ying.”
“Lan Zhan,” the man said, still looking at him as if he was measuring him up.
“It’s early to be up and about! I’m an insomniac, what’s your excuse?”
“I’ve always been an early riser. As well as the time difference from the east coast.”
“Oh, I’m from the east coast too. New York, actually. I’m just here for a long weekend, it’s my friend’s bachelor party.”
“I’m also from the city,” Lan Zhan said, and there are 10 million people from New York City so it can’t quite be called a coincidence, but it felt like a good sign.
They did the requisite exchanging of neighbourhood information, with the standard ‘oh, my friend lives near there!’ and the ‘there’s a great café not too far’s.
“So, uh, do you like flowers?” Wei Ying asked, before he realized how dumb it sounded. “Sorry, I mean, everyone likes flowers, but do you like... these flowers?” Well that wasn’t much better. He would have sworn he used to be better at this.
But Lan Zhan just half-smiled again, and said: “Too ostentatious for my taste, but yes, I like flowers. I have a little rooftop garden at home.”
“Oh wow, you’re lucky! I’ve always wanted to do some of my own gardening. I got a plot in a community garden one year but it was just too hard to fit into my schedule and I didn’t bother again.”
“It was...” Lan Zhan paused, and continued with some difficulty. “It was my mother’s hobby. She passed away when I was young, but I remember planting seeds with her.”
Wei Ying couldn’t reply for a second – he hadn’t been expecting something like that from someone he had met five minutes ago and it could have felt like a weird overshare, but it didn’t. It felt like he was being shown something precious without having earned it at all.
“I’m sorry,” Lan Zhan said, misinterpreting his silence. “That was too much.”
“No!” said Wei Ying. “No, I’m glad you told me. I’ll save my story for another time, but I get it.”
Lan Zhan’s face softened again and, oh god. What was happening in his chest? That didn’t feel normal.
“Would you like to get a coffee?” Wei Ying blurted out.
“Do you mean, as a date?” Lan Zhan asked calmly, and only his tone saved Wei Ying from a temporary nervous breakdown. “Because I don’t drink coffee, but I would really like to talk to you some more.”
They ended up at another Starbucks, this one in the Bellagio. Wei Ying was just as happy to get some more caffeine, since his headache was lingering just a bit. Lan Zhan ordered an iced passion fruit tea and looked a little embarrassed about it, which was extra adorable. (“I usually go to independent tea houses in the city, but I have to admit I do like these occasionally.”)
They spoke a bit about basics: why they were in Vegas (a bachelor party; a orchestral performance the previous night), their jobs (engineer; lawyer and musician), their family backgrounds (moved to America from China as a young child; born in America to a fairly traditional first-gen Chinese family). Lan Zhan wasn’t exactly talkative – he spoke to communicate, and rarely used more words than were needed. But Wei Ying didn’t think that make him a bad conversation partner, since he himself was perfectly capable of filling any gaps and Lan Zhan was a good listener.
They had both finished their drinks, but Wei Ying was enjoying this too much, so he wasn’t going to mention it.
It was when Wei Ying was talking about his sister and Lan Zhan was looking at him with that soft expression again that he stopped mid-sentence.
“This is weird, right? It’s not just me?” Wei Ying asked, motioning between them.
“Weird?” Lan Zhan looked a little hurt.
“I don’t feel like I’m talking to a stranger,” Wei Ying explained, before Lan Zhan could look like that any longer.
“I don’t either,” Lan Zhan agreed. “In fact, I don’t talk to strangers, as a rule.”
“Well I guess I’m just special, then!” Wei Ying joked.
“You are,” Lan Zhan said with the utmost gravity.
“Oh my god,” Wei Ying said, hiding his face in his hands. “You’re making me blush.”
Really, the number of feelings Lan Zhan was making him have was just... too much. He jumped up from his seat.
“Do you want to go for a walk? Along the strip, maybe?” Wei Ying asked, needing to move for a bit.
Lan Zhan nodded, and off they went.
They chatted, and enjoyed the early morning sunshine – bright but not yet oppressively hot – and let their hands and shoulders brush every once in a while. They ended up back at the Bellagio fountain, and stood to watch it for a bit.
Well, Wei Ying was watching it. He turned his head to find Lan Zhan watching him, instead.
“Can I?” he asked as he moved closer, cupping Wei Ying’s cheek in his broad, strong hand.
Wei Ying moved the rest of the way and they were kissing – a little tentative at first, then more surely as they learned each other’s habits. It was magical. Who knew kissing could be like this when he wasn’t even drunk or high? Wei Ying felt like he was tingling from his head to his toes.
He was aware that they were out in public, and it was probably too early in the day for this much tingling in a public place to be acceptable. So he pulled back and they smiled at each other before resting their foreheads together for a moment.
“I like you so much, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said.
“I like you too, Wei Ying,” he replied.
Wei Ying now felt tingly and warm.
“Ugh, this feels backwards! I’m so used to online dating, where you already know what someone is looking for before you start seeing each other, or hooking up, or whatever. What are you looking for, Lan Zhan? I just want to know before I get my hopes up.”
“With you?” Lan Zhan spoke carefully. “I haven’t dated anyone seriously in some time, but I would be interested in something serious. However, if you don’t feel comfortable with that yet—“
“I’m comfortable with that!” Wei Ying cut him off, hugging him and tucking his face in the crook of Lan Zhan’s neck, as if to hide his face from the passing crowd. They held each other silently for a few more moments before Wei Ying pulled back and looked at Lan Zhan determinedly.
“Let’s get lunch.”
Wei Ying texted Nie Huaisang while he and Lan Zhan waited for a table at one of the more casual lunch places in the Bellagio, just to let him know that everything was okay. Nie Huaisang replied that he would demand details of Wei Ying’s adventure later, and that their dinner reservation was at 7 and Jiang Cheng would kill him if he wasn’t there.
Lunch was great – well, the food was fine, but Lan Zhan was great and he was here so lunch was great.
They were lingering, probably for too long, but Wei Ying was enjoying himself more than he had in a long time. But there were some things nagging at him that he just couldn’t put off anymore.
“Listen, we’re both old enough that we have a pretty good idea of what we want and what our dealbreakers are. I don’t want to start something and find out later that we disagree on something important.” Wei Ying needed to take a breath at the thought, and wasn’t that already way too much? “I really don’t want that.”
“I agree,” Lan Zhan said.
“So this feels like some pretty wild first-date conversation, but...”
Lan Zhan inclined his head, indicating that Wei Ying should continue.
“Do you want kids?” Honestly, Wei Ying expected Lan Zhan to knock his chair over in his haste to run away, but he didn’t.
“Growing up, having children wasn’t something I pictured. But lately I have been considering the possibility more seriously. I think, yes, I would like to have children.” Lan Zhan looked at him, waiting for his reaction, and Wei Ying thought he looked nervous.
“Oh good,” Wei Ying said. “I mean, it doesn’t have to happen right now, or soon, even. And I think I might want to adopt an older kid, someone who needs us, you know?”
Lan Zhan reached across the table and briefly squeezed his hand – it felt like he was squeezing his heart at the same time. “Yes, I know.”
“Do you have any big dealbreakers to ask about?” Wei Ying prompted.
Lan Zhan considered the question seriously. “I suppose, yes. My values are very important to me, and while there are many things I could disagree with a partner on, I believe there needs to be a shared basis of belief.”
Wei Ying nodded. “Totally.”
“I work for a climate non-profit. Are you a Republican?”
“Oh my god, no,” Wei Ying replied, horrified. He clutched his chest. “Do I seem like a Republican? How can you even ask that?”
“It seemed better to ask than to end up dating a Republican.”
“Fair, but... wow. Okay, I’ve got another one. Sexual compatibility.” Wei Ying flushed a little. It’s not that he was embarrassed about sex, but there was something strangely transgressive about talking about it in such a matter-of-fact way over a lunch table.
Lan Zhan looked him in the eye and said: “I’ve been saving myself for marriage.”
Wei Ying gaped. How... What... What was even— Then he noticed that slight uptick on the left side of Lan Zhan’s mouth. His tension dissolved into shocked laughter.
“Oh fuck, now you’re also funny? No fair!”
“You’re right that it’s important,” Lan Zhan answered, finally, “but I don’t foresee it being a problem.”
Wei Ying narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”
“I just have a feeling. And I find you very attractive.”
Wei Ying could feel his face getting redder, but he pushed on. “I prefer to bottom.”
Lan Zhan raised his eyebrow. “Many of my past partners haven’t wanted penetrative sex, but I prefer to top.”
God, how was him saying “penetrative sex” in that deep voice of his getting Wei Ying going? Who says that? It was definitely working for him, though. Why would anyone turn down ‘penetrative sex’ with a man this hot?
“Well that’s.... good,” Wei Ying managed. He felt Lan Zhan’s hand move to his knee under the table, felt it pressing on his leg, warm and firm. A slight motion upwards.
“We could just find out,” Lan Zhan said, and arousal rushed through Wei Ying, starting at his centre and spreading outwards until he felt like every part of his body was tensed and ready to go.
“Here?” Wei Ying squeaked.
“Hm,” Lan Zhan paused. “That’s something to consider for another day. But we’re currently in a hotel – the one I happen to be staying at.”
“Yes,” Wei Ying breathed out. “Yes please.”
The time it took for Lan Zhan to charge the cheque to his room felt interminable, but finally they were on their way to the elevator and Wei Ying was buzzing.
“Shit, wait, do you have condoms? I didn’t bring any - I was just going for a morning walk to see some flowers!”
“Yes,” Lan Zhan answered. “In the room.”
“Thought you might be having some fun this weekend?” Wei Ying grinned.
“I’ve learned that it’s prudent to bring my own, even if I’m not planning on anything.” Lan Zhan replied, somewhat cryptically.
“Allergic to latex?” Wei Ying asked.
“No,” Lan Zhan answered, but didn’t elaborate.
The elevator arrived and they went in, and others joined them so they stopped talking, but Wei Ying felt the connection between them as if it was a string pulling taut – he wanted to lean further into Lan Zhan, and thought that the longer he went without touching him, the more likely he was to just snap.
Wei Ying barely noticed how nice Lan Zhan’s room was before he found himself being held against the wall, even before the door had finished closing. Lan Zhan’s breath was hot on his neck and his body was there – right there – and warm and...
He let out an involuntary sound as Lan Zhan pressed his teeth gently into that spot under his ear and, at the same time, moved a firm thigh between Wei Ying’s legs. Wow, he was already hard, and Lan Zhan’s angle was just perfect. He pulled Lan Zhan into a frantic kiss and he couldn’t help rocking back and forth on his thigh, just a little bit.
Wei Ying whined as Lan Zhan pulled away, but he was also panting, and his eyes were so, so dark.
“Bed,” he said, maintaining eye contact with Wei Ying as he started unbuttoning his shirt.
Wei Ying wasn’t going to argue with that. Much less smoothly, he drew his t-shirt off over his head and started to wiggle out of his jeans while still moving towards the bed, resulting in an ungainly walk-hop motion. Down only to his underwear, he threw himself on the bed on his back and looked back at Lan Zhan.
His shirt was off and his pants were open but not off, and Wei Ying could see his treasure trail and it was so goddamn sexy.
“Come here,” Wei Ying demanded, and Lan Zhan did, climbing on top of him so that his leg was once again between Wei Ying’s thighs and they were separated only by the slightest wisp of space, space that felt warm and charged against Wei Ying’s skin.
Lan Zhan moved his hand down to the front of Wei Ying’s black boxer-briefs and asked, “May I?”
“Uh huh, yes, yup,” Wei Ying gasped as Lan Zhan felt him through the fabric, somewhere between a tease and an exploration. He already felt so worked up that he didn’t think he could handle much teasing, so he shifted to pull his underwear down and off, and it joined the rest of his clothes somewhere on the floor.
Lan Zhan’s hand on skin felt even better, and they weren’t quite kissing but panting into each other’s mouths, and Wei Ying found himself whining again, a small high-pitched sound he couldn’t quite help.
“Can you,” Wei Ying pulled himself back a bit and leaned on his elbows. Sentences weren’t working great for him, but he gestured vaguely and said: “Pants. Your pants, can you, can we...”
Lan Zhan hesitated for such a short time that Wei Ying almost missed it, but then he pulled off his jeans and his white briefs and—
“Oh holy shit,” Wei Ying breathed.
“We don’t have to,” Lan Zhan started, but Wei Ying cut him off.
“We definitely have to!”
The whole bringing his own condoms thing and, oh yeah, the partners not wanting penetration – it all suddenly made sense. Lan Zhan was huge. Huge! But not, like, in a grotesque way. Just in a really good, oh my god, but ‘probably can see why some folks don’t want that on a weeknight’ kind of way.
“I mean it,” Lan Zhan said. “There’s lots of things we can do and I don’t want you to feel any pressure.”
“Oh, I wanna feel the pressure,” Wei Ying grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
Lan Zhan’s brow was furrowed and he hadn’t gone back to leaning over Wei Ying, keeping himself a bit apart. Wei Ying sat up a bit more, enough that he could reach Lan Zhan’s face with his hands. He cupped both over Lan Zhan’s cheeks.
“I hear you,” Wei Ying said. “But I promise, I’m into that. This is all really doing it for me.”
Lan Zhan relented and pushed him back down to the bed so Lan Zhan was on top without resting too much of his weight on him. He rolled his hips so they rubbed against each other and kissed Wei Ying fiercely, running his hand up Wei Ying’s chest to rub his nipple for a bit, before reaching down to grab his ass. Their cocks were pressed together with more purpose now and Lan Zhan’s fingers were almost – almost – in the crack of his ass, and then they moved closer to his hole and—
“Lube,” Wei Ying gasped out. “Get the lube.”
Lan Zhan looked amused, but did as instructed. He put some on his fingers before returning to their previous position, and now his forefinger and middle finger danced across Wei Ying’s asshole, barely touching, and Wei Ying felt like he was about to come, just from Lan Zhan’s body on his and his fingers teasing where he wanted him the most.
Lan Zhan was so big, wider around than his biggest dildo, if not by that much. Maybe he could convince him... Wei Ying’s heartrate shot up at the thought.
“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, I need you to fuck me. Right now.”
“Right now?” Lan Zhan asked, that faint amusement still on his face, as if it was somehow cute that Wei Ying was losing his mind.
“Yes, right now. Condom and lube. No fingers.”
Lan Zhan stiffened, but Wei Ying could feel his cock twitch against his thigh.
“We need to prep and go slow,” Lan Zhan said, frowning. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Don’t you, maybe just a little bit? Wei Ying thought, but he kept this to himself for now, as it wouldn’t help his argument.
“Trust me, I want it. It’s fine. Oh god, please!” Wei Ying felt almost delirious with desire. He was rubbing his cock a bit against Lan Zhan’s leg, helpless to stop himself. If Lan Zhan wasn’t in him, right away, oh god, he couldn’t think, he needed...
Just when he thought, to his mild horror, he might start crying, Lan Zhan clearly came to a decision and snapped into action. He leaned over to the bedside table, rolled a condom on with a practised but shaking hand, and coated himself generously with lube. Then paused again.
“Do you... not want to?” Wei Ying asked, trying to sound calm and not pathetic. He was a mature adult. This was important. More important than the frantic need racing through his veins (if only barely).
For just a half a second, he saw a flash in Lan Zhan’s expression, showing him the lust and rapaciousness under the calm and responsible composure. Wei Ying hadn’t realized until that moment how much Lan Zhan was holding himself back.
“I want to,” Lan Zhan’s voice made his skin tingle, like it had so many times already today. “But if it hurts—”
“If I want you to stop, I’ll tell you to stop, okay? I promise.” Wei Ying tilted his hips up in invitation.
Lan Zhan lined himself up and pushed in, the lube letting him force his thick cock through the tight ring. He kept his eyes locked with Wei Ying, as if he was expecting to see a sign in his eyes to stop even before his mouth said anything.
Wei Ying’s eyes widened at the feeling, that immense stretch and the pressure against new places, not yet touched today, and it was even better than he expected, the sensation swallowing him whole.
“Oh, fuck, oh my god, what—” Wei Ying was babbling, losing control of himself entirely.
“Should I stop?” Lan Zhan stopped before Wei Ying could reply, looking like he was ready to run away and put himself in time out for his transgressions.
“No! Oh fuck, no, keep going, you, I need—”
Lan Zhan pushed further into Wei Ying and sucked in a breath, as if he was finally letting himself feel it too. He looked down their bodies to see Wei Ying’s cock, leaking pre-cum and all red and so, so hard.
“You like this,” Lan Zhan said, his tone tinged with just a little bit of disbelief. And maybe a little bit of satisfaction.
“Yes! I do, I— please, all the way, oh god, fuck me for real,” Wei Ying couldn’t keep himself together at all, he had been so turned on before and now Lan Zhan was pushing him past the edge of sanity, giving him what he wanted, and his ass was throbbing in a way he had maybe never felt before – a really, really good way, the kind that pushes pleasure backwards and forwards, until there was so much that he could barely contain it in his body—
“So fucking desperate for it,” Lan Zhan rasped into his ear.
Then Lan Zhan shoved all the way in, hard. Wei Ying came.
He shouted and his eyes flew wide open as his cock, untouched, pulsed in time to the short, sharp thrusts Lan Zhan was giving him to carry him through it, through a short second crest as he felt his ass pulse around Lan Zhan’s length, so hard in him, and a long tail in which he didn’t breathe at all.
Lan Zhan had also stopped and wasn’t moving, but Wei Ying could feel the fast expansion-contraction of his ribs as he panted.
“What,” Wei Ying said.
“You came,” Lan Zhan said, not quite a question – he had been there for it - but still clearly asking for a response.
“That’s never happened before,” Wei Ying felt like he was floating above himself, someone who had owned a body for thirty-two years and still apparently didn’t know quite what it was capable of. What the fuck.
Lan Zhan raised that devastating eyebrow.
“I mean, not without touching my dick. And not, um, so fast.” Wei Ying was about to wonder if he was supposed to be worried about his stamina, when Lan Zhan headed that thought off.
“So hot. Wei Ying, that was so hot.” Lan Zhan hadn’t come, of course, and he was still hard in Wei Ying and he could feel the tension all through Lan Zhan’s body.
“Keep going,” Wei Ying whispered to him, running his hands through his hair and holding on to the back of Lan Zhan’s head.
Lan Zhan let out a very faint whimper of his own, but said, through heavy breaths: “Won’t that be too much?”
“I want too much,” Wei Ying said. Lan Zhan started moving again, slowly, and it was a lot, it was, but there was also an echo of pleasure, as if his body wasn’t quite done with the orgasm, and a syrupy undercurrent of arousal as if he was getting ready for the next.
Lan Zhan was into it, he could tell, but...
“I want you to do whatever,” Wei Ying told him.
“Whatever?” Lan Zhan asked.
“Mm,” Wei Ying said, moving his hips a little, releasing some tension and building some up. “I bet you’re the kind of guy who’s always careful, always puts his partner first. So good. Aren’t you?”
“I...” Lan Zhan hesitated.
“What I want,” Wei Ying said deliberately, “is for you to let go. Do whatever you want. Take whatever you want.”
Wei Ying knew he had won when Lan Zhan put his head on Wei Ying’s shoulder, groaned, and then looked back up at him with hunger in his eyes.
He got up on his knees, lifting Wei Ying’s ass with him. He spread Wei Ying’s legs wider, pushed his legs back, and set a hard and fast pace, filling Wei Ying so deep, so hard, again and again and again.
And he started talking.
“Love having you spread out for me like this, love seeing you take my cock so well, like you were made for it. No one’s ever liked it as much as you did, you came just from me getting inside you,” Lan Zhan said and oh god, he was a dirty talker, and his voice was Wei Ying’s weakness. Well, his voice and his cock, apparently.
“Yeah, yes, I did, keep going,” Wei Ying begged.
“I didn’t even stretch you at all.”
“I wanted it so bad. Still want it.”
“Yeah, you do, even though you already came. It must hurt, but you need it so desperately.”
“Doesn’t hurt,” Wei Ying moaned, and it didn’t, but it was so much, so much, and there were tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
“I can see it,” Lan Zhan said, and he meant it literally because he had pulled back enough to look where they were joined, and Wei Ying could see the Lan Zhan’s own desperation in his expression.
He let go of one of Wei Ying’s legs and Wei Ying quickly pressed his arms to the inside of his own knees to hold himself open for him.
“Amazing,” Lan Zhan said, staring and running his thumb along Wei Ying’s rim, stretched obscenely around his length.
“Oh fuck,” Wei Ying said, with dawning astonishment. “I’m getting hard? Again??”
That was apparently too much for Lan Zhan, because he fell forward over him and fucked him hard and fast until he was shuddering and Wei Ying let go of his legs to hold Lan Zhan as he came.
Lan Zhan kept moving a little longer, then stopped, took some breaths, and moved to pull out.
“No,” Wei Ying whined, “Stay.”
“Condom,” Lan Zhan reminded him, kissing his cheek, his nose, his chin as he held on top the base of the condom and pulled out. He quickly tied it off and put it on the wrapper, then moved back next to Wei Ying, who had made a reluctant sound of agreement.
Lan Zhan cuddled him for a few seconds, then kissed that spot under his ear – how did he know about that? - and said, “I want to make you come again.”
“Okay,” Wei Ying said weakly, and gestured down.
Lan Zhan took him up on the invitation and moved down the bed. He used one hand on his cock and one to play with his ass, sometimes just teasing, sometimes pressing firmly (oh but not as firmly as his cock had, and Wei Ying remembering that feeling was helping the process). He went slow and steady, and kept up a steady stream of compliments, telling Wei Ying how beautiful he was, how hot he was, how much Lan Zhan liked his laugh, his ass, his sense of humour, his cock. It wasn’t quite dirty talk anymore but it had Wei Ying squirming, and that little bit of embarrassment and discomfort pushed him over the edge.
Wei Ying rested his head on Lan Zhan’s chest as they both let their breathing return to normal and gathered themselves a little.
“Well,” Wei Ying said, finally. “I don’t think sex is going to be a problem.”
“Mmm,” Lan Zhan agreed, nuzzling his hair.
They showered together, then drank some water and got back into bed. They talked as Wei Ying ran his fingers through Lan Zhan’s damp hair and Lan Zhan ran his thumb gently up and down where he was resting his hand on Wei Ying’s waist.
The vulnerability of nakedness, and the safety of closeness, let them talk about some of the less happy things they needed to know about each other: the circumstances of each of them losing their parents, the difficult family situations they had growing up. It was never easy for Wei Ying to talk about this stuff without joking about it, but for whatever reason, he wanted Lan Zhan to know him. To really know him. Lan Zhan said he also wasn’t used to talking about these things, so at least Wei Ying felt like they were in the same boat.
He told Wei Ying, haltingly, that, while he had a few close friends, most people found him cold and off-putting. Wei Ying laughed before he realized that Lan Zhan wasn’t joking this time, and murmured reassuring words about how his sister would love him, and Jiang Cheng hated everyone anyway, so it didn’t matter.
Wei Ying drifted a little, not quite asleep but not quite awake, held by Lan Zhan, and it was so good.
When he was actually awake again, he felt a little like he was coming out of a fog. The day with Lan Zhan was almost over and he was going to have to go back to the real world. What was he doing?
“I’m scared,” Wei Ying said, keeping his head on Lan Zhan’s chest. He didn’t want eye contact for this.
Lan Zhan made an inquiring noise
“I’m scared that we’ll get back to the city and it’ll be like this never happened. ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,’ right?”
Lan Zhan stayed silent for a moment, some tension gathering in the muscles under Wei Ying’s cheek. “Do you think that you’ll feel differently about me when we get back home?”
“No!” Wei Ying sat up sharply and turned to kiss him. Maybe they did need eye contact for this after all. “No, I’m sort of embarrassingly gone on you, that’s not it. Like, spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you gone on you. Oh my god, pretend I didn’t say that, let’s circle back to that later.”
He had quirked his lips up all throughout the day, and he had smiled softly and gently at Wei Ying a lot, but this time the smile took over his face - Lan Zhan full-on beamed. Wei Ying just had to kiss him for that, it was too much.
“Okay, but seriously,” he tried again, after he pulled back. “My life is messy – I was unemployed for a while and I had to move in with some roommates, so I don’t own any actual furniture even though I’m supposed to be a grown-up.”
Lan Zhan stared at him, perplexed. “You think I’ll lose interest when I realize you don’t own a couch?”
Wei Ying groaned. “You make it sound so silly! I just mean, I don’t have my shit together. I have a good job now, one I really like, but I don’t have savings, and I’m late to everything all the time, and I’m an insomniac and I’m super fucking needy—”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan cut him off. “None of that bothers me.”
“You say that now, but it might be different when we’re back and you actually see it.”
“What can I do to make you believe that I’m not going to change my mind?” Lan Zhan asked.
“Nothing,” Wei Ying sighed, and lowered his head back down to rest on Lan Zhan. “You’ll just have to actually call me when we’re back home, and I’ll worry until then.”
Wei Ying sat with his feelings for a minute, and then noticed the sound of Lan Zhan’s heart speed up against his ear.
“What if we got married?” Lan Zhan asked, softly.
“What?!” Wei Ying sat up again to face him. Lan Zhan’s expression was so vulnerable, so precious.
“I’m really very certain how I feel about you. I know it’s not... usual for people to be certain after such a short time, but I suppose I’m not always usual. I’m not in a rush, and I don’t want to scare you away, but I also don’t want you to be uncertain about how I feel.”
“How do you feel?” Wei Ying asked, and he wanted so badly to hear it.
“I love you,” Lan Zhan said, and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips.
“I love you, too,” Wei Ying said. “That’s fucking crazy, isn’t it? That’s not how life works. But I do.”
Lan Zhan pulled him into a hug, and they held on to each other as Wei Ying tried to let himself believe that this was all actually happening, that they were in this together, that whatever wild journey he was going on in this one day, Lan Zhan was here with him for it.
Wei Ying pulled back, sniffling just a bit.
“You don’t have to marry me just because I’m insecure,” he joked. Maybe joked?
“Wei Ying, I want to marry you. Whether it’s today or in a year or in ten years doesn’t matter.” He paused and frowned slightly. “Well, I admit waiting ten years would be hard on me.”
Wei Ying snorted. He thought about it, really thought about it. Lan Zhan looked peaceful, waiting for his answer.
“Yes,” he said.
“Yes?” Lan Zhan smiled, and god, Wei Ying loved that smile.
“Yes,” he agreed. “If we’re both sure, waiting is silly. I want to start being with you forever right now.”
The feeling bubbling up in him – joy, he informed himself – made him pull Lan Zhan back into a kiss, but they could barely keep it up, what with both of them smiling so hard.
He caught a glimpse of the bedside clock out of the corner of his eye.
“Oh shit!” Wei Ying yelled, startling Lan Zhan pretty significantly. “Is it really six o’clock?”
“Yes?” Lan Zhan said, looking at the clock and then back to Wei Ying.
“I said I’d be back in our room by six so we could get ready and pregame and get the restaurant by seven!” Wei Ying had already jumped out of the bed and was gathering up his clothes, still scattered around the room. “Jiang Cheng is going to be so pissed.”
“Do you...” Lan Zhan watched as Wei Ying ran around the room, putting clothes on, trying to fix his hair. “Do you still want to get married?”
Wei Ying’s attention snapped back to him, and he ran back to the bed. He kissed Lan Zhan firmly but quickly. “Yes, absolutely. After dinner.”
He went back to his frantic preparations. “I’d say you should come with me, but, honestly, if they knew about us getting married, they’d try to stop me and it would end up being a whole fraught thing. Do I look okay?”
“Better than okay,” Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying leaned back over the bed and draped his arms around Lan Zhan’s shoulders. “It would be fraught and I don’t want it to be fraught. I want it to be like the rest of the day has been. Like this,” he said, finally slowing down enough to kiss Lan Zhan properly.
“I’ll look up some options for venues. What time do you think you’ll be done?” Lan Zhan asked.
“Don’t know. I’ll text you. Love you, bye!” Wei Ying said as he headed to the door.
“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan called. It couldn’t quite be called yelling but it certainly had some volume.
“Yes?”
“You don’t have my phone number.”
They stared at each other.
“Oh my god, I don’t have your phone number. And you don’t have mine!” Wei Ying said through his laughter. “Oh my god, can you imagine? If we realized that in thirty minutes?”
“I think that might have impeded our plans.”
After phone numbers were exchanged and confirmed – Wei Ying was taking no chances – he really needed to go, and headed to the door again.
He went back and threw himself at Lan Zhan again. Leaving was so hard! Especially when his fiancé (fiancé!) was still all naked and warm.
“As much as it pains me to say this, you need to go,” Lan Zhan said.
“I know,” Wei Ying pouted, “but I don’t want to.”
“Go to your dinner, be there for you friend.” Lan Zhan cupped his cheek in his hand and kissed him softly. “I’ll see you soon and we’ll get married.”
“Yeah,” Wei Ying felt it again, that bubble of joy moving into his chest. It was so big, so solid, that for a second it almost hurt. “I’ll see you soon and we’ll get married.”
Lan Zhan
6:36 AM, Saturday
Lan Zhan was looking at the rabbit, thinking about how he’d always felt like rabbits were lucky for him. Maybe this would be a good year. Suddenly he felt a strange pressure in the room, and then the sense that someone was watching him.
He turned around to see a guy staring at his ass.
He looked so startled to be caught that Lan Zhan couldn’t help but smile.
The man was beautiful in a way that he wasn’t expecting – how could you expect something like this? Lan Zhan had the bizarre feeling that the man’s eyes were seeing him, really seeing him. It was new and a little terrifying.
The man noticed that Lan Zhan was smiling – a lot of people didn’t notice when it happened – and he smiled back, and started to walk over to him.
The small part of his mind that wasn’t focused on the approaching figure thought about how strange it was that love at first sight was a real thing. He had never thought it was.
“Hi, I’m Wei Ying.”
It’s a good thing I met him in Las Vegas, Lan Zhan thought. I saw a chapel just a few buildings over.