Chapter Text
“What do you mean, you’re ‘cancelling the trip’?” Wei Ying asked, incredulous, into the speaker of his phone.
“I said I’m cancelling, didn’t I? Isn’t that clear enough?”
“No? I need at least some reason to understand why you’re cancelling at the last minute,” Wei Ying said. He did his best to bite back the snarkiness in his tone, knowing already just based off of the tone of voice Jiang Cheng was speaking in that the conversation would get nowhere if they were both pissed off.
”Jiang Corps needs me immediately,” Jiang Cheng answered after a brief pause. “I don’t have the luxury of the carefree whims you can indulge in when I have so much responsibility already.”
Wei Ying didn’t say what was on his mind — that Jiang Cheng didn’t exactly have any responsibility because it had only been three days since they’d both graduated from university, and that their jobs at Jiang Corp, whose president was Jiang Cheng’s very understanding and pacifistic father was the one who had initially encouraged them to go on the holiday in the first place. He didn’t mention that they were both starting at the same time, that there was no rush, that their vacation was already paid for (Jiang Cheng’s portion by his father, and Wei Ying’s through the gruelling hours working nights through school).
What he said instead was, “Madam Yu wants you to start immediately, doesn’t she?”
It wasn’t the right thing to say — Jiang Cheng was tetchy about his mother on the best of days, and it wouldn’t do well to anger him more, but Wei Ying was far past caring. The anger that he usually kept under wraps could only be contained for so long when he was tested.
“My mother wants me to get as much mentoring as I can while we’re in the summer low period.”
”And what of me?” Wei Ying asked. “No mentoring needed? Seems unlikely that she’d say that.”
The line went quiet, even the sounds of barely-there breathing no longer coming through the speaker. Wei Ying pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment, just long enough to have the screen of his phone light up so that he could confirm that the call hadn’t disconnected, before he pressed the phone to his ear again.
”Hello? Earth to Jiang Cheng?”
On the other line, Jiang Cheng cleared his throat. “You won’t be with Jiang Corps,” he said. Wei Ying’s stomach dropped like a stone in water.
”Excuse me?”
”The position was redundant,” Jiang Cheng continued. “It has been eliminated, and you won’t be working with us.”
With us, he said.
Wei Ying had already quit his job that he’d kept through school, the small Hunan tavern that had paid him well enough to be able to afford the trip in the first place. Wen-popo, his boss, hadn’t even been upset when he’d given her his notice. She’d been so happy for him, so proud that he’d be graduating and taking a nice vacation after watching him work so hard for so long.
It meant that Wei Ying had no job, no prospects, no money. He had a full vacation planned on the other side of the world and no one to share it with anymore. And then he’d have to come home and hustle for a job. Fuck.
“You didn’t want to tell me this in advance?” Wei Ying asked. The urge to be argumentative was impossible to suppress. Frankly, he thought, since he wasn’t going to be working with Jiang Cheng anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to argue back a little bit.
”You act like I knew in advance.”
”You sure as hell knew more than I did, didn’t you?” Wei Ying said. “Why didn’t Jiang-shushu tell me? Or Madam Yu?”
”They have been otherwise engaged,” Jiang Cheng sniffled a bit on the other line, his nose sounding too dry to be crying. He wouldn’t, anyway. For all that he might say to Wei Ying that they’ll be partners in crime until the very end, Jiang Cheng had always been susceptible to the whims of his parents, the expectations of his father and the judgements of his mother.
”Already a corporate mouthpiece, I see.” Wei Ying rolled his eyes. “Whatever, then. Enjoy the job.”
Wei Ying hung up the phone before he could hear any other excuses from Jiang Cheng, before there could be any justification for the shitty treatment. His phone in his hand shook a bit from the anger, the frustration at being so coldly dismissed by someone he considered a close friend. They’d never be brothers — that had been made clear many times over the years since he’d been fostered with the Jiangs — but he thought that he had earned more than such detachment.
”Fuck,” he shouted. “Fuck!”
Wei Ying only began to regret not cancelling and absorbing the loss of a couple of thousands of yuan when he had gotten through airport security and stood face-to-face with his gate.
He’d already fuelled up on Suzhou-style noodles and soup dumplings at one of the restaurants in his terminal, and the only thing left to do was to go sit at his gate and await his fate. It was hardly something he was used to — typically, during the few times he’d travelled with either Jiang-shushu or Jiang Cheng, he’d evidently not been alone. He was used to blabbering his mouth the entire time, from departure to arrival, and being alone wasn’t conducive to that.
It was something he would have to learn to get used to, he supposed, as he looked around the gate. He pulled out his phone, thinking to occupy his time with something, anything, to get his mind off his burgeoning regret, and came across a WeChat message he hadn’t noticed he’d received.
Nie Huaisang
you and Jiang-xiong leave today right??
have a safe flight. I expect no less than five pictures a day so i can live vicariously through you
still cannot BELIEVE the audacity of da-ge to tell me I can’t go just because i need to take a few summer courses and graduate 1 whole semester late
a SUMMER semester. like it doesn’t even count, wtf
anywayyyyyy message me when you get there i want to see the sea
It took Wei Ying a moment to read through the messages, his stomach sinking with each one he read. He’d forgotten that he hadn’t told anyone about the way Jiang Cheng had cancelled. Evidently, Jiang Cheng hadn’t felt any compulsions about telling Nie Huaisang, either, judging by the contents of his messages. He took a deep breath and thought of what to write, doing his best not to be too dramatic.
Wei Ying
im not going w/ jiang cheng anymore
he had to cancel
but i still will send some pics u know me !!
Nie Huaisang
what do you mean he’s not going?????
no one told me this
you have to tell me the tea
wei-xiong??????
Wei Ying watched the messages ping on his phone as he scrambled to open up to his digital boarding pass, and then he was on the plane and all thoughts of his phone disappeared into the back of his mind.
The airport in Athens was busy, sticky from humidity and too many bodies squeezing past each other, and hot from the sun that seemed to counterpass all logic and manage to shine brightly in the windowless room the baggage carousels sat in.
It wasn’t a long wait to grab his luggage — too big, perhaps, for the few clothes he’d brought, but he wanted the space for souvenirs. Plus, while the hotel he’d booked ages ago with Jiang Cheng in mind had a laundry service available, he was almost entirely sure his wardrobe of black and red clothes would need some supplementation of some of the classic white linens he’d always seen in Greek-inspired movies.
He hadn’t slept well on the plane, plagued by random nightmares of missing flights and having a snakes-on-a-plane situation with bloodthirsty dogs. Then the wait to be shuttled from the airport to the budget car rental shop he’d booked at took well over an hour of standing in the hot, sunny car park next to the over-loud takeoffs. He thought, for only a moment, if he shouldn’t even bother, if he should just get back in the airport, go up the stairs to departures, and book another flight home. It would be a waste of money, yes, but the regret he felt about the whole ordeal crept up on him and held onto him like a vice.
And then, suddenly, with the rental car secured way later and with a deposit much more expensive than he’d have preferred to pay, he was alone on the winding roads. The windows were rolled down, and the sun roof was open, and the energy drink he’d secured for the drive was secured in the middle console, sweating from the coldness inside the can. The world, suddenly, felt perfect, like there was nothing that could stop him.
The roads from Koropi south-bound passed through mountains, and he’d set the GPS navigation to take him on the most scenic of roads. He stopped along the side of the sea just to take in the smell of salt water and the heat of the sun on his too-pale skin as he ate one of the dodgy snacks he’d picked up from the vending machines in the rental building.
He thought, perhaps for the first time in his life, that he understood what it was his parents had died for all of those years ago, if this was the kind of life they’d lived. His heart clenched, and the thought made him sad, sadder than he’d ever like to be, but he thought that they might be happy for him. They’d be proud that despite being forced to take the journey alone, he’d still done it.
Wei Ying arrived at the hotel later than he’d expected, having taken too many opportunities to pull over on the snake-like roads to get out and appreciate the beauty of the sea, of the ships and small islands in the distance. It was only as he pulled the car up the incline to the hotel and parked in the little, narrow space, that exhaustion began to creep up on him.
The hotel wasn’t exactly what Wei Ying had expected —- and perhaps it was for the best that Jiang Cheng wasn’t with him.
He hadn’t been expecting a five-star experience, of course, because they’d picked a place that Wei Ying would be able to afford, too. Despite that, the building looked older than he’d thought. It wasn’t unlike the other buildings in the little complex — white, plaster walls, big tiles on the ground and stone pavers in the grass, and deep, beautiful blue roofing. The garden looked like it had seen better days, and the sign on the front of the entrance had faded from sun exposure and the sea spray that was strong enough to reach up the shallow incline from the nearby beach.
Despite these things — or perhaps in spite of them — the hotel was charming, and the small lobby was cooled with the breeze of the open-shuttered windows. There was no one at the front desk, and he double-checked his reservation just to make sure that there should be someone at the concierge counter and that he hadn’t stumbled in to the wrong place.
He slapped his hand down on the little bell, then, waiting to see who he’d summoned. The overhead light flickered a bit, and Wei Ying was caught between wondering why the light was even on when the windows definitely did enough to illuminate the place and the thought of all the movies he’d watched with Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang over the years that had flickering lights as a sign of impending danger.
His thoughts were immediately dashed when the receptionist came through the small, arched doorway. It felt like every thought Wei Ying had ever had leaked from his ears as he looked at the most beautiful man he’d ever seen in his life.
He looked like he was carved from the marble Greece was so famous for, like he’d been lovingly chiseled by a master artisan. His hair was long, a sleek black sheet against his skin, and braided back with a white ribbon. A beam of light from the sun shining through the window caught his face at just the right angle and Wei Ying noted the golden hue of his eyes before he passed into shadow again.
”Hello,” the man said to him. It took Wei Ying a second to realise that he wasn’t being spoken to in English, but that the beautiful man had addressed him in Chinese. He remembered, on the booking website, that it said that there was service in Mandarin available, and yet he hadn’t expected it to come from the prettiest man with the deepest, most alluring voice. One word and he was already obsessed with this man before him.
”Hi, I’m Wei Ying,” he said quickly. He tugged his luggage close, pressed along the length of his leg. “I have a booking for two weeks?”
The man behind the counter let out a soft hum of acknowledgement before facing the screen of a computer that Wei Ying hadn’t noticed before. It was an old, clunky thing, and next to it sat an open logbook with what looked like a written out list of general booking times. From his angle and his compounded tiredness, Wei Ying couldn’t exactly read what was written there, but it was hardly important.
”The booking was for two single beds,” the receptionist said, barely glancing away from the screen. “My apologies, but the room you booked is currently not available. I can put you in a room with a double, if you and your travel partner are agreeable?”
Wei Ying’s stomach did a series of odd movements, and then he internalized the words. “Oh,” he said a little dumbly. “It’s actually going to be just me. My, uh, travel partner couldn’t make it. That’s not a problem, is it?”
The receptionist looked at him with an unreadable, flat gaze. “That is not a problem,” he reassured, and then, “I take it that means you are amenable to the individual bed?”
“Oh, yes, sure, of course!” Wei Ying smiled, broad and cheery, still feeling that post-scenic-road glee. Wei Ying batted his eyelashes and asked, “what name can I use to thank you for such a generous upgrade, gege?”
The man looked at him with another unreadable, slightly withering look. “Lan Zhan,” the receptionist said.
Wei Ying thought that it was a nice name. It suited him, Wei Ying noted, looking at the pale blue of his blouse, at his slim, strong hands, at his thick forearms where his shirt was folded up to beat the heat.
“Pretty name for a pretty gege,” Wei Ying said with a wink. He let out a laugh at the small huff the man let out as he continued to look at the screen, and didn’t get any answer for his comment.
”You’ll be on the third storey,” the receptionist — Lan Zhan — said. He pulled out a proper key, no electric card to be read, and handed it over to Wei Ying. “There is no lift,” he said, sounding a bit apologetic about it. “If you would like assistance with your valise, I can accompany you.”
Wei Ying thought of it for a moment. “You know what?” he answered, “that would actually be so great.”
A handful of minutes later Wei Ying was in his room, shoes finally kicked off after much too long wearing them. Lan Zhan had, as offered, brought his luggage up to the third storey. Even through the linen of his shirt Wei Ying could see the strength of his arms, the bulge of muscle straining the fabric. The sight had made Wei Ying simultaneously impressed and jealous, heated in the face even though Lan Zhan didn’t even break a sweat the entire way up the narrow, plaster-walled staircase that wove in and out of being indoor-outdoor.
The room was definitely an upgrade, even though the general outdatedness of the hotel lingered in the old furnishings and worn floor tiles. The view, and the balcony that came along with it, was enough to justify it all. The sightline of the sea wasn’t perfect, obscured a little by the large, flowering trees just out of reach, but it was amazing nonetheless.
Wei Ying
im here at the hotel
check out this view
[img.2005091845]
hot guy at reception upgraded my room for free
Nie Huaisang
ooooh stunnin glad you survived the travels
wait
hot guy ???? I want pics of HIM
wei-xiong you better not leave me unanswered again
who is the hot guy???????
omg unbelievable
Wei Ying didn’t set an alarm, and woke ten hours later with his hair in disarray, drool dried on his cheek, and the pain in his lower back that could be nothing but the protests of his body squeezing into a skinny economy seat for twelve hours.
It was earlier than he’d ever woken up in his normal, daily life. The sun was still making its way up the horizon when he looked out the big window next to his bed. He could barely see the orange and yellow peeking over the calm seas in the distance, and felt a simultaneous heaviness and lightness in his chest.
He laid up, back against the headboard, as he contemplated what to do.
He’d cancelled the bookings he’d been able to get refunds for — he hadn’t been particularly interested in the activities that Jiang Cheng had wanted just to larp as someone worldly and wealthy (as if he wasn’t already) just for Weibo. Wei Ying had no interest in party yachts with foreigners getting too drunk to walk off the boat without assistance, and he had no use for wine tastings that came with a thousand euro price tag. One of the tastings Jiang Cheng had wanted was clearly from a serial killer, locked in the man’s private collection in his personal wine cellar. Wei Ying had no idea what Jiang Cheng had planned on with that booking, especially considering his Greek was non-existent and his English was negligible at best, and entirely unintelligible at worst.
Wei Ying stretched and stood, his feet warm against the cool ceramic beneath him. It was a pleasant feeling, even as the cold forced a shudder up his spine and down his arms. He pushed open the siding door and stopped on to the balcony right as a rooster began singing to the sun in the distance.
Outside on the balcony there was the wear and tear of age, too. Chipped plaster on the rounded corners of the building, a few brightly-coloured roof tiles loose-looking, and the grout of the tiles underfoot in need of a deep clean. It was beautiful anyway, the repairs needed nothing of a deterrent. He remembered the orphanage he’d been in before Jiang-shushu and Madam Yu had begun fostering him, and that was significantly more run down, and he’d survived. His mettle was tough, and he’d easily survive a hotel that needed a bit of TLC.
He sat on one of the dainty chairs, tucked under a tiny, rickety table, and thought as he looked out on the view. What wasn’t monopolised by sea views was left to mountains — some tall, some more stout, some close and some far. They were lush and green, and they seemed to sway a little bit in the breeze coming off the water.
He had nothing to do today, no responsibilities or assignments, no expectations for him to do anything. It was a bit disorienting, if he was being honest with himself. After so many years of chasing after some goal or another, it was almost uncomfortable to sit with himself, no one to listen to his rambling, as he contemplated what to do with a full day of empty time.
Besides doing all the things Wei Ying classified as ‘clout-chasing on the internet’, he and Jiang Cheng had thought to maybe just relax on the beach, eat good food, drive for a few day trips and see nearby ruins. He thought he’d like that, still.
Wei Ying wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep again, but he had to admit that he was impressed by the structural integrity of the wobbly little wooden table, and was shocked it hadn’t collapsed.
The sun was high in the sky, then, and he could feel the heat of it burning on his dark hair. He’d drooled on his arm and over his cheek again, but it was easy enough to wash his face and brush his teeth. He thought there would be no point in getting a shower in yet, not when the sea seemed to call for him and the high-beating sun had warmed him enough to want to jump right into the water with no care for the temperature of it.
He didn’t check a clock before leaving his room, only spending enough time to throw a towel and his keys in a loose bag after he’d thrown on his swimmers and a t-shirt.
Wei Ying made a startled noise upon seeing Lan Zhan in the lobby again, though he wasn’t sure why. Lan Zhan, as an employee, surely was in the hotel often enough.
”Good morning,” Lan Zhan said, voice steady even though he’d looked up like he was as startled upon seeing Wei Ying as Wei Ying had been seeing him.
”Is it still morning? I thought I might have slept through the morning right on my balcony. The sounds of the waves and that rooster put me right back to sleep, outside and vulnerable and everything!”
Lan Zhan made a face like he was slightly disturbed by such words. “It is unwise to sleep in direct sunlight. You may get burned.”
It wasn’t what Wei Ying had been expecting. “Ahaha, Lan Zhan, don’t worry about little old me,” Wei Ying laughed out. “I’m so used to the sun back home that I don’t burn, I just tan.”
”It would be prudent to apply sun cream regardless. You shouldn’t damage your skin recklessly.”
”Keep saying things like that to me and I might think you think I’m handsome, Lan-gege,” Wei Ying smiled at him. Lan Zhan looked away from him, eyes darting to look at his computer screen. Wei Ying saw that his ears were bright pink, exposing his embarrassment. It made Wei Ying feel giddy, made him feel like he wanted to get an even bigger reaction out of Lan Zhan.
”I’m heading down the beach for a swim,” Wei Ying shared. “Know any good spots nearby for breakfast?”
Lan Zhan blinked at him, then said, “There are various inns and cafés on the main road, a right turn then straight on to the first cross street. However, I keep a stock of fresh fruit and salad if you would prefer to eat on the beach. I can pack you a small box.”
Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan, thinking about the words. It would be nice to eat on the beach, actually, and if it was being offered then who was he to decline?
”Sure, Lan-gege, that would be great!”
Lan Zhan looked at him with another indiscernible look that was impossible to read, then headed behind the counter through the arched doorway. He came back only a few minutes later with two containers filled with fruits, olives, a Greek salad, and a disposable fork.
”This looks amazing, Lan Zhan, thank you so much! How much do I owe you?”
”It’s free.”
”Come on, Lan-gege, you can’t just give me free food because I’m pretty,” Wei Ying teased. He leaned an elbow on the counter and continued, “I’ll owe you one, okay, gege?”
“You needn’t worry.”
”Ah, and yet I will still owe you one!” Wei Ying jokingly sighed and pushed himself off the countertop. “See you later, gege!” he said, waving goodbye as he pushed through the lobby’s door and out into the sun.
His beach breakfast was perfect, actually. He didn’t think he’d enjoy something with such simple flavours as much as he did, but he thought it was a good acclimatisation to the flavours of Greece instead of the tongue-burning food he typically consumed.
He spent the rest of his morning swimming, exploring around alcoves in the high cliffs and diving. He wished he’d brought swim goggles, if he was honest, but he was sure that there was a shop in town that sold some that he could pick up later. He lounged on the beach and listened to the sounds of the waves caressing the shore and appreciated just how nice it was to do absolutely nothing after so many years of running, of non-stop working towards goal after goal, the posts always moving.
He let out a laugh, sarcastic and unfunny down to the core of it. So much running, so much of trying to be the best at what he put his mind to, so much pretending to be less-than to buffer Jiang Cheng’s fragile ego, and for nothing. He was across the world from home, all alone, and free for the first real time in his life. It was enough to drive a man mad.
When the afternoon rolled around, he left the beach. It was too easy to get lost in thoughts with no one around, he’d found.
He nosed around the little gift shops on the main road that Lan Zhan from the hotel had told him about. He picked up a silly penis-shaped bottle opener, a couple fridge magnets, a few postcards that he could mail home and would arrive probably months after he’d return home, long before the recipients receive their snail mail.
He went to one of the taprooms and got to practice his English with some of the employees, and learned how to say a handful of Greek words while he’d ordered ouzo and kopanisti and bread. The older madam and her husband were nothing short of darling, and he had more fun than he could recall having in a while, doing his best to communicate in a language that none of them spoke all too well.
He walked along the main road back to the hotel, stopping to attempt to pet some of the stray cats that shouted at him, only to have them immediately run away from him. It made him laugh that even the strays here didn’t care much for him — somehow the same way that animals back in China would treat him, with trepidation and a lack of trust.
There was a calmness to the small town that he enjoyed, a lack of urgency that made the day feel long in a pleasant way. He passed by old, salt-and-pepper haired Greek men that had been sitting at the same café since he’d passed by an hour or two earlier, just taking in the breeze and the aroma of coffee and honeyed desserts and wondered what it might be like to just slow down. It was so very different from his life in China.
There was something that was itching under his skin, though, even though he felt more relaxed than he had in his entire life.
When he’d been planning with Jiang Cheng, they’d packed most of their days with activities to keep occupied because there was nothing worse to the two of them than the idea of staying in a hotel and doing nothing else. There were a few bookings he’d been unable to cancel, but now he wasn’t sure he wanted to do them. Staying in town was so nice already he was inclined to never leave.
He made his way back to the hotel in the late afternoon.
The first thing he did upon pushing open the door was look over to he reception desk, wondering if he’d see Lan Zhan again. It was perhaps a bit odd to want to look at the other man so much when they’d only known each other for a few minutes spread over the course of 24 hours and were virtually strangers. Based on the quietude of the hotel he had gathered he was one of the only people staying, which made it all the easier to find Lan Zhan, even if Wei Ying didn’t want to admit that fact to himself.
It wasn’t hard to find Lan Zhan, sitting with perfect posture and rolled up sleeves, behind the reception desk. He had a pen in between his long fingers, held steadily as he read something on the screen, like he was going to take note of whatever was written there. When Wei Ying peeked at the page, he noted that what was written was in Greek and he understood absolutely nothing of it. Lan Zhan, however, seemed to have no problem, which was just so hot. If there was one thing that Wei Ying could appreciate it was someone smart.
”Do you make any other expressions, or is your face just always stuck in ‘model-perfect blankness’ mode?” Wei Ying asked. Lan Zhan didn’t startle, to his disappointment, but he did give Wei Ying a withering look.
”Did you have a nice time at the beach?” Lan Zhan asked instead. The question came out smoothly, but Wei Ying saw that Lan Zhan’s ears were pink.
”The breakfast made it even better,” Wei Ying flattered. “And I had a great time walking around the main road. You really weren’t kidding when you said there are lots of taverns and cafés. If I keep eating like that, I’m going to get fat!”
Lan Zhan let out a little huff of breath, and Wei Ying’s heart jumped from the reaction.
“Lan Zhan, tell me something — you know enough of the culture I imagine?” Wei Ying asked, leaning his elbow on the counter so that he could look more directly into Lan Zhan’s eyes. Lan Zhan’s gaze left his computer screen, and he gently put his pen down. Wei Ying continued, “What’s with all the dicks around?”
Wei Ying thought the way that Lan Zhan’s lips parted just the slightest bit must be the equivalent of another person’s baffled guffaw.
“I believe it is to honour the god Priapus, or perhaps Dionysus,” Lan Zhan explained with a slightly pinched face. His ears were bright red, and Wei Ying couldn’t help but want to tease him more.
“Too bad they’re all made of wood,” he winked. “Hard to honour these gods the way they deserve if none of their relics are made of silicone.”
A borderline angered look crossed Lan Zhan’s face, and his eyes darkened as he looked at Wei Ying. It felt like he was being preyed upon for a moment.
”I am sure that you will find. a way to honour the gods despite the nature of construction of their souvenirs.”
Wei Ying stared at Lan Zhan then let out a loud, breathless laugh. “Lan-gege, you can’t make jokes like that with me,” he gasped out. “Warn me if you’re going to be funny!”
”I will endeavour to do so,” Lan Zhan replied back, and it looked like he was amused, his eyes shining with something akin to mirth.
”Say, gege, what time does your shift finish? Come get dinner with me,” Wei Ying said. He was feeling bold, feeling like he wanted to get to know Lan Zhan better, like he wanted to explore the inexplicable connection he felt toward him.
Lan Zhan looked at him, and there was something in his face that Wei Ying couldn’t quite parse. Maybe it was shock or surprise, but it lasted long enough on his face that Wei Ying began to worry that maybe he’d read their banter entirely wrong.
“Let me think of where I can take you,” Lan Zhan replied finally. “I have our evening employee coming in an hour and a half, if you’d like to rest and freshen up.”
Wei Ying smiled, “Are you telling me I stink, gege?”
Lan Zhan looked at him, then looked back at the computer, picking his pen up again. Wei Ying let out a chortle and headed to the stairs, carrying his little bag of souvenirs, including an ostentatious wooden penis, up to his room.
Wei Ying
i have a d8 w/ lan zhan tonight
nothing like vacation romance amirite
Nie Huaisang
Who ??
how do you have a date?
you NEVER go on dates
and with a lan ????
Wei-xiong do NOT start stories you aren’t going to finish
what happened to the hot hotel guy??
I’m invoicing you for this betrayal just fyi
The evening had perfect weather — the heat comfortable and balmy on Wei Ying’s skin.
The sun had dipped lower on the horizon in the time that Wei Ying had taken to freshen up and get in a short nap, and now the golden rays of light spilled over Lan Zhan like the gods themselves were trying to highlight his beauty. He looked different in the sun, out from behind the reception desk — a good different, of course, that showed off his long legs in his pale, beige linens and his sensible yet fashionable shoes. It was as endearing as it was distracting to Wei Ying. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Lan Zhan, and he didn’t want to, either.
Wei Ying thought that he might already be gone for this man, and what a crazy thought that was for an as-of-yet lifelong virgin.
There was a relaxed energy between them, though, that made Wei Ying feel like he had nothing to worry about, that made him feel like he could talk about whatever he felt like. Lan Zhan would look at him with his intense, golden eyes and wouldn’t judge or make passive aggressive comments like the ones Wei Ying had gotten so used to from his family, and he was obsessed with the feeling.
Wei Ying realised that, perhaps for the first time in his life, he was truly at ease, relaxed. He didn’t have to look over his shoulder and worry about how his actions would be perceived by Madam Yu. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so well-rested, and after so many years taking life so fast-paced and go go go, he felt like maybe he could get used to slowing down, especially if it meant being around Lan Zhan.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Lan Zhan guided them toward a line of motorcycles parked not far away from the hotel. He didn’t think anything of it, imagining that maybe Lan Zhan knew a secret shortcut up to the main road and that they’d get dinner together somewhere nearby, but he was promptly proven wrong as Lan Zhan stopped by one of the motorcycles and opened the back hatch, pulling out two helmets.
“You drive a motorcycle?” Wei Ying asked a little incredulously. He thought that he couldn’t be faulted — Lan Zhan dressed like a proper, well-to-do young man, the kind of guy Madam Yu would look at leaving important business hub buildings and point out to Jiang Cheng to compare how he should look if he wanted to be successful. She never did the same for Wei Ying, always just sneering about how he’d always be some good-for-nothing street urchin. At the time it had hurt as much as it had made him laugh. He thought that now, perhaps, Madam Yu would eat her words knowing just how much of a secret rebel Lan Zhan was.
“It is… convenient for getting around.” Lan Zhan didn’t make eye contact as he said it, and the tilt of his head did nothing to cover the pinkness of his ears.
“You just like zooming around the bends on the coastal roads, don’t you?” Wei Ying playfully elbowed Lan Zhan in his side, crowding up to him to see all of his reactions. Lan Zhan smiled a little, his lips barely upturned.
“It is one of the perks,” he agreed mildly.
Wei Ying let out a loud laugh, bracing his hands on his hips as he tossed his head back. “Ahaha, Lan Zhan, I knew you had a secret dangerous streak in you. No one as good looking as you can always be a straight fuddy-duddy.”
The fond look in Lan Zhan’s eyes didn’t fade even as he turned to Wei Ying and forcefully pulled the helmet over his head. It fit surprisingly well, even though he did have to tug Wei Ying’s signature high ponytail low down on his skull, loosening the hair in its tie. Wei Ying vehemently refused to think about the spark that shot down his spine at having his hair tugged in such a way.
Being on the motorcycle was as thrilling as Wei Ying had always imagined it might be.
He’d driven along the winding, cliffside road to get to the hotel initially and had fun doing it, but being on the back of a motorcycle and taking tight turns, revving and speeding with caution thrown to the wind, had the adrenaline rushing through him like never before. He clung tight to Lan Zhan, thighs tightened as much as he could and his arms gripping like an octopus as he rode pillion. Through the layers of clothes he could feel the taut muscles of Lan Zhan’s stomach and chest and decidedly put the thoughts of washing his laundry against Lan Zhan’s washboard abs to the side.
Wei Ying couldn’t tell if the ride lasted five minutes or twenty-five for all the fun he was having doing it. It ended sooner than he would have liked, in what seemed like the next town over from the little settlement he was calling his temporary home at the hotel.
The town was charming, with palm tree lined roads and pavers that were clearly well-maintained and neat. The restaurant Lan Zhan drove them to didn’t have a view of the sea, but it hardly mattered when the view of the mountains more than made up for it.
The owner of the establishment looked at Lan Zhan like it wasn’t the first time he’d been there, and Wei Ying swallowed down the vague feeling of jealousy that crept up his throat. He had no right to feel any sort of way about any of this, he thought. Lan Zhan was more than entitled to bring whoever he wanted to the restaurants he frequented, even if Wei Ying didn’t care for the feeling of being a hot hotel employee’s latest conquest. He was sure that Lan Zhan had plenty of people throwing themselves at him — Wei Ying could hardly be the first.
They exchanged a few words in what wasn’t Mandarin, and wasn’t English, either, and suddenly Wei Ying was struck with the realisation that Lan Zhan spoke Greek, too, he didn’t just write it. It should have been obvious, but the fact still struck him. The thought was terribly attractive, unfortunately — Wei Ying was, at his core, someone who thought intelligence was too hot, and every little thing he learned about Lan Zhan was just painting an image of his ideal person.
The owner of the restaurant turned to Wei Ying with a friendly, if slightly sly, smile, and guided them through the restaurant and out a back door, into a secluded little veranda. There were grape vines covering the trellis that made up the roof, and they were the only two in the private little spot.
“I’ve known little Lan since he was young,” the owner said to Wei Ying in accented but understandable English as they walked through to their table. “He’s a good boy. He must like you to bring you here.”
Wei Ying beamed at him, but he left them quickly to their own devices. Lan Zhan barely looked at the menu, and enough of the words were just translated phonetically from Greek to English that Wei Ying didn’t quite grab all of it. Instead he turned to Lan Zhan and said, “Order whatever you want. I’m not picky with food. No allergies or anything, even dairy I can handle like a champ!”
When the owner came by, Lan Zhan ordered for them, pointing out a variety of dishes on the menu. Wei Ying thought it would likely be way too much food for the two of them, but he wasn’t about to complain, even if it would slightly blow his budget to split such a hefty bill. The prices weren’t necessarily crazy high, but he was more than familiar with the way that lots of small expenses could add up quickly.
“Wine?” Lan Zhan asked, turning toward him. Wei Ying looked at the menu, then back at Lan Zhan with a sheepish smile.
“I’m not sure which one would be good,” he admitted. “Should you be drinking if you’re driving?”
“I do not drink. It’s for you.”
“Ah, well, in that case, the cheapest one?”
Lan Zhan gave him an inscrutable look that he couldn’t quite parse, and then looked to the owner and finished off their order.
The sun was setting, then, lower and lower on the horizon, but hadn’t quite disappeared behind the peaks of the mountains. It was romantic — terribly so — with the distant sounds of waves, lyre music wafting from a nearby street performer, and the flickering flame of the candle on the table between them.
Wei Ying looked up just in time to see Lan Zhan looking away, shy, like he didn’t want to be caught staring. It sent a flicker of something through Wei Ying’s stomach. Butterflies, perhaps. He’d never felt such a way before, no matter how many times he’d flirted with pretty girls back home. Jiang Cheng used to call him all sorts of names, taunt him for being so easy with his affection, but he’d never been on the receiving end of any real feelings. Sure, the pretty girls had flirted back, but it was always just a game. Something about being there with just Lan Zhan, tucked away and hidden from the life he’d grown up in, felt leagues more real than ever before.
Wei Ying didn’t think he’d ever had someone’s full attention for something other than being berated before, and it felt intoxicating. Even more so that it was Lan Zhan and his intense, stunning gaze that was pinning him in place. He thought, for a moment, that he’d never felt such a way when a girl stared at him, obviously admiring his good looks, and it finally clicked for him. He perhaps didn’t like girls the way that he thought he should.
The thought alone was as terrifying as it was electrifying.
The subsequent thought that he might have been reading way too much into Lan Zhan’s actions stung like a wasp. He swallowed down his feelings about it all. He’d mastered getting through situations via playing it by ear, and this time would be no different.
The thing about eating dinner was that even though the food and wine kept coming and no end seemed to be in sight, it was some of the most fun Wei Ying had had in a long time.
Lan Zhan wasn’t much of a talker (something Wei Ying had learned was a result of growing up in a strict household) but he was a great listener. When he would talk, he’d make pointed comments that expanded on Wei Ying’s stories, or would ask interesting questions that made Wei Ying stop and think. It was easily one of the best nights he could remember having.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan asked, a little later, after he’d paid the bill behind Wei Ying’s back and refused to be bashful about it when Wei Ying whined at him for the betrayal. “Why did your travel companion not join you?”
Wei Ying blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that question, and to have it asked so blatantly as they walked around the little town was shocking.
“I was going to come with my brother,” he said, then quickly corrected: “Foster brother, I guess. And he cancelled to start working instead.”
“Your foster brother?”
“Oh, uh, yeah. I guess it’s kind of non-standard, isn’t it? But my parents died young and my dad’s old friend took me in,” Wei Ying explained. He felt sheepish for his explanation, like there was something wrong with it, but he’d always felt that way. Since he’d been taken in by Jiang-shushu and Madam Yu he’d known he was an extra, a spare child that they didn’t quite love. It was an odd feeling to feel like he’d never belonged, but he’d gotten used to it. Yanli-jie had always done her best to make him feel like part of the family, and Jiang-shushu would sometimes reminisce on his parents’ memories when he was drunk and Madam Yu was out of town with her friends.
“My parents also passed when I was a child,” Lan Zhan said. He didn’t sound like he was trying to gain sympathy points, or like he pitied Wei Ying — he said it like he was relating to him, like he understood some of those deep-seated insecurities and struggles without ever having to put words to them.
Under the cover of the set sun, in the shadows of too-close buildings, Wei Ying reached his hand out to touch Lan Zhan’s. Their fingers met in a tight squeeze, comforting and close, and Wei Ying didn’t care in that moment about the judgement of society against him. It was, in an incomprehensible way, the most seen and understood about his family that he’d ever felt in his life.
They made their way to a little tavern after, with their hands unlinked but brushing up against each other inconspicuously.
It was a bit of a dingy little place, with plastic table covers and time-worn menus. The wood bearings and clay brick smelled aged, but it was charming and comforting in the same way that the old restaurant he’d eaten at so often during university did. Wen-popo, and her student grandchildren, had been a second family while he’d been at school. He’d loved picking up a few dishes, helping out around the place even though he didn’t have to. He hated to think it, but it really did feel like more home than the Jiang Estates ever had.
“Why are you in Greece, then?” Wei Ying asked. He’d sobered up — though he’d been hardly tipsy from just the wine — and was nursing a hefty glass of ouzo. The black licorice flavour wasn’t something he was used to, a truly foreign flavour that he’d never quite become acquainted with, but he was nothing if not up for a challenge.
Lan Zhan seemed to hesitate, like he hadn’t been asked such a question in a long time.
“My mother owned the property,” he said finally. He took a sip of his sparkling water, the lime slices bobbing amongst the ice, as reprise from speech. “She left it to my brother and I when she passed.”
Wei Ying didn’t know what to say to that. He had pegged Lan Zhan as an honest guy, but he didn’t know that that honesty would continue for such personal questions. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Wei Ying said, finally, for lack of anything else to say.
“It was a long time ago.” Lan Zhan said it like it was a dismissal, but the look on his face said the opposite. “She was remarkable — well-travelled, loved to learn. I keep her legacy by running the hotel in the summers, and staffing it while I’m away.”
“You own the hotel?” Wei Ying nearly exclaimed, lowering his voice once he realised that he had pitched up the volume without meaning to.
“Mn,” Lan Zhan confirmed.
“‘Only mn’, that’s it?” Wei Ying taunted. “You don’t have anything else to say to me? I thought you were just the hot desk clerk, what the hell?”
“You were not aware?”
“I mean obviously not!” Wei Ying said. A few heads turned, but it seemed no one understood Mandarin, and he was safe from any weird assumptions. “I thought you were just, like, the summer guy.”
“I can assure you that I am not, as you call it, ‘the summer guy’.”
“So then tell me more!”
Lan Zhan stopped for a moment, as if he had to think over his words. Maybe, Wei Ying thought, Lan Zhan was lacking someone to talk to honestly, just as he was.
“I finished university a year ago,” Lan Zhan said. “It has been a dream since my childhood to come to the place my mother loved so much and restore it the way she always wanted.”
“That’s admirable.”
“Some would say otherwise,” Lan Zhan looked away. It was a story for another day, perhaps. Something that Wei Ying would learn with given time, instead of prying it from Lan Zhan like he was wont to do. Lan Zhan turned to him, and the first Wei Ying hadn’t noticed was clenched softened where it rested against the table. He asked, “Why did you really come to Greece?”
For anyone else perhaps the question would seem nonsensical, the kind of question that would be bamboozling to another. Wei Ying had some sort of implicit understanding of what Lan Zhan meant, though, knew what he wanted to convey with his line of questioning.
“I told you I was supposed to come with my foster brother. He cancelled because he’s starting at the family corporation and my role was eliminated for ‘redundancy’. His mum hates me, so I can’t say I’m totally surprised, but I figured that I already paid for it and I might as well take advantage of the tickets and shit that I paid for already.”
There was a silence like Lan Zhan didn’t have anything to say, that Wei Ying’s story wasn’t worth responding to. Something in his eyes said entirely otherwise, though. He looked as if he was contemplating, understanding things, making peace with the concepts and internalising them.
“You shouldn’t have had to go through that as a child,” Lan Zhan said.
Wei Ying didn’t know what to say. He snaked their hands together, wrapped one around the other, under the cover of the table.
“I shouldn’t have,” Wei Ying agreed quietly. The hands that they had discreetly linked under the table squeezed together.
It was only when they were walking back to Lan Zhan’s bike (with Lan Zhan completely sober and Wei Ying still giggly and giddy from the sharp alcohol running through him) that Wei Ying felt another surge of confidence.
“You know, I cancelled most of my plans when my foster brother dropped out of the trip,” he said, aiming for casual and hopefully coming across as not too eager. “I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you. It would be nice to do some things together. It would be nice to have some company on the excursions I couldn’t cancel.”
Lan Zhan looked like he had a lot of things going through his mind, and it took him some time to gather his thoughts. It didn’t bother Wei Ying, rather the opposite, actually — he liked how Lan Zhan took his time and was thoughtful. It was the opposite to how Wei Ying was, always speaking and thinking as he spoke. Lan Zhan was so purposeful.
“It sounds lovely, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan started. “I’m rather preoccupied with the hotel, unfortunately. I’m not sure that I’d be able to spare the time.”
They stopped and looked at each other. Lan Zhan was cautious enough not to get too far into Wei Ying’s space, and Wei Ying knew enough from his research that it was better to be low-key outside of the big cities.
“I’m pretty handy,” Wei Ying winked. “I can always help get things done faster. If it means you can come on some of these ridiculous boat excursions it’s worth it. Plus, you get to see more of me, wouldn’t you like that?”
The look Lan Zhan gave him was dark and difficult to read, but Wei Ying liked it. It made him feel a bit dangerous, a bit like prey under the watchful gaze of a predator.
“I would like that,” Lan Zhan said, voice quiet and low. It sent a shiver of excitement through Wei Ying.
The drive back to the hotel was as exciting as the drive to it had been. It was different in the dark of the night, with nothing but distant lights to prove the presence of islands on the horizon and the impending curves of the road they were driving on.
The wind gusted around them and made Wei Ying cling tightly to Lan Zhan’s back, and he wished a little that he didn’t have a helmet on so that he could rest his cheek against Lan Zhan’s back and absorb his warmth.
Back at the hotel, Lan Zhan walked close enough to him that their fingers kept brushing over and over. Wei Ying wanted to lace their fingers together and press his hand to the calluses of Lan Zhan’s, but he didn’t want to push things. As much as he’d felt that Lan Zhan’s feelings were like his own, he wasn’t sure, either, and felt some nerves from it. Wei Ying found himself thinking he could easily spend the rest of his time in Greece teasing Lan Zhan, getting to know him, forcing deep reactions out of him. He barely knew Lan Zhan and liked him more than most, if not all, of the people he knew back home.
It was dimly lit, with a few strays slinking around in the bushes and flowers lining the entrance. It would be a lie for Wei Ying to deny the disappointment building inside of him — he didn’t want the night to end, even though he could clearly see that there was a tiredness to Lan Zhan that betrayed his exhaustion.
They hovered in the lobby for a few moments that might have been awkward to someone else, but Wei Ying was much too accustomed to forcing a positive space, to smoothing things over to let it be so. He was intimately familiar with the kind of subject-changing small talk needed to transition into another conversation, or to steer away from bad energies. It wasn’t like that then, though — there was just the energy between them that refused to dissipate, like there were things unsaid and actions incompleted.
Wei Ying didn’t know where Lan Zhan lived. He wasn’t sure if it was in a private, permanent room at the hotel, or if he had a flat a few kilometres away. It was a question that nagged at him, a piece of the puzzle that he needed to know to put all of Lan Zhan’s intricacies together in his mind. He wanted to know. He was torn between asking and inviting Lan Zhan to his room, except both questions seemed to push some boundaries that hadn’t been crossed yet, and he was equally as enthralled by Lan Zhan as he was cautious to push any buttons.
“I had a nice time tonight,” Wei Ying settled on. It hardly encapsulated the grand emotions he was feeling, hardly made a dent in the immense wall of emotional sensations he was having.
Lan Zhan didn’t exactly smile, but there was a warmth to his face that Wei Ying was beginning to understand. He was so pretty that Wei Ying thought he might just fall to his knees, then, on the floor. He’d never been one for swooning (ignoring the fact that no one has ever made him want to swoon) but he thought that he might in that moment.
Lan Zhan reached out and his hand hovered just over Wei Ying’s jaw, like he wanted to cup his face. Wei Ying pushed his face into it, establishing contact, and wondered if he wasn’t in some kind of Gu Man1 novel.
“Will you think about coming on some of my excursions, then?” Wei Ying asked. The harshest burn of the ouzo had burned away on the ride home, but he still felt some of that alcohol-induced confidence. “The thought of only seeing you when you’re all put together behind the reception desk kind of sucks, not going to lie.”
Lan Zhan’s eyes looked like they went half-lidded, like he was interpreting the words exactly the way that Wei Ying was thinking. If they were in some kind of romantic drama show, the camera would have panned out and they’d share a sweet, passionate kiss, just out of view to pass any censorship. It would be just long enough to convey their feelings, but short enough to be acceptable for evening television.
Wei Ying felt bold, though, after the alcohol and the motorcycle and the general energy that Lan Zhan had given off. He didn’t have to lean up far, the height difference between the two of them negligible for the most part, but it felt nice to push himself onto his tip-toes and press a kiss to Lan Zhan’s cheek.
He smelled of some kind of cologne, a sandalwood aftershave, maybe, and the lingering smell of garlic and oregano from their meal. Wei Ying thought that if he didn’t have the chance to smell Lan Zhan close up again soon, if he couldn’t press their lips together and lose himself in the feeling, then he may well go insane.
He pulled back after his lingering kiss and inhaled just enough to smell the wafting of his cologne before lowering back onto his feet, no longer on his toes. It wasn’t enough, yet, but the fact that Lan Zhan hadn’t pushed him away — even though he looked mildly shell-shocked and entirely too needy for more — left Wei Ying feeling like he had the world in the palm of his hands.
“Goodnight, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said, only a moment later. His hand reached up and tucked an errant strand of hair behind Wei Ying’s ear whilst the other curled around his waist. Wei Ying was lost for words when Lan Zhan leaned in and pressed a gentle, easy kiss to his cheekbone, right where he felt the heat of his flush was warmest.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Wei Ying asked.
“I’d have an unpleasant day if you didn’t,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Ying couldn’t help the giggle from his lips and the smack of his hand against Lan Zhan’s chest.
“You’re a flirt, you know that?” Wei Ying said over his shoulder as he started to walk up the stairs. He blew a kiss before going up the stairs quickly, wanting to both linger alongside Lan Zhan and also get far enough away from him that he could kick his feet and squeal like a lovesick teenager.
Wei Ying
u know like. love at first sight ?
do u believe in that shit
bcs i think i found it
Nie Huaisang
???
What the hell does that mean
Who did you meet
Who are you IN LOVE with ?????
STOP GHOSTING ME OMG