Fluffy WangXian Oneshots

The Language of Flowers Part 7

Wei Ying was worried about Lan Zhan.

There was nothing he could actually put his finger on and say, this is it, this is what's wrong. It was more a kind of feeling that was there but not exactly visible, like a canvas newly painted upon...you saw the picture, but could easily ignore the actual background it was painted on.

In the same way, Lan Zhan was Lan Zhan. He still came at five minutes past eleven every day without fail, they still travelled to and from work together, and they still ate lunch together.

This was the fourth day since that corporate party, and Wei Ying was still feeling that undercurrent. It was mostly present when Lan Zhan kissed him, that was the most troubling thing. The affection was still there, the love ever so vivid in those golden eyes, but there was a trace of...regret? Wei Ying wasn't quite sure if he had correctly identified the emotion, a flicker in those hard to read irises, but it was definitely there, and definitely not a welcome feeling at all. An intruder lurking to spoil their bliss, this new ingredient in their romance was an uninvited guest that wasn't leaving.

So tonight, when they met to go home, Wei Ying was lost in thought, and Lan Zhan noticed. Their usually passionate greeting kiss was perfunctory, something to be completed and gotten over with.

When Wei Ying moved to start walking to the underground station, Lan Zhan stopped him with a tug on his hand.

"What is Wei Ying thinking about?" He asked, a trace of worry in his golden eyes.

"Do you really want to know?" Wei Ying said, looking incredibly sad.

"Mn."

"Can we...shall we go and get a coffee or something? I think I want to be sitting down for this conversation." Wei Ying missed the slight widening of his eyes, having turned away already.

There was a cafe nearby, a hit with young instagramming influencers, because they had a wall covered in flowers. These were made out of silk, but the delicate blooms resembled the real thing so effectively that even Wei Ying had trouble distinguishing the difference at first. Even now, there was the steady click, click of cameras taking inventive photos by the flower wall.

Wei Ying thought it was a cruel irony that they had picked this place out of the many cafes to choose from in this busy London High Street, the one that had strong connotations to flowers.

Lan Zhan ordered two hot chocolates for them, loading Wei Ying’s one with extra marshmallows and sprinkled cocoa. He brought their drinks over to the table where Wei Ying was already sitting, his eyes unseeing, while he stared at a stain on the table.

Lan Zhan put his mug in front of him, and held his hand, tracing each knuckle with the soft pad of his thumb.

"Do you want to break up with me?" Wei Ying suddenly demanded, completely out of the blue.

Lan Zhan was so shocked, he lost his words, opting to shake his head vehemently.

Tears of relief gathered in the corners of his eyes, as he wiped them in a futile attempt to stem the flow.

"Why does Wei Ying think....that?" Lan Zhan managed a good few minutes later. He took a sip of the hot chocolate and ended up burning his tongue.

"Well...it’s just...you've been distancing yourself from me...and I don't understand why..." Wei Ying rubbed his eyes with the heels of his eyes. "So what's going on?"

"Cannot say...cannot say here." Lan Zhan said, finally. He was trying to find the correct words to say, just so there would be no misunderstanding between them.

For the first time that day, Wei Ying looked hopeful.

"So there is something wrong, but...you don't want to tell me just yet? Or you want to tell me elsewhere?" He asked softly.