Secret & Lies (the forsaken #1) [WangXian FF]

32

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian entered the dining room to find that there were already two people there, each eating a plate full of huge rare steak and drinking red wine. They looked up from their plate when they heard them coming, and the one that resembled Lan Wangji smiled at Wei Wuxian while ignoring Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian could hear Lan Wangji's groan from where he was standing.

"Wei Wuxian I presume?" The man stood up and came closer to observe Wei Wuxian. "I'm Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji's brother. I must say, you look dashing." He suddenly moved even closer and… sniffed Wei Wuxian. "Hmm…" he then looked at Lan Wangji who frowned at his brother.

"Brother. I was about to call you. I need your blood."

Wei Wuxian raised his brow when he heard what Lan Wangji had said. He needed his brother's blood? Was he a vampire? But a vampire did not drink another vampire's blood, did they?

Lan Xichen looked at his brother without any expression on his face.

"You want to open the vault?" He got right to the point, and walked back to the table to continue eating. His companion, a tall and muscular man with eyes as dark as midnight sky, observed Wei Wuxian thoroughly. Then he talked to Lan Xichen.

"He's not fully human. I get some kind of weird vibe from him."

Lan Xichen nodded and spoke again.

"Pardon me, this man is Nie Mingjue, he's my Head of Security and my partner." He then gave Lan Wangji a smirk. "Although it's a bit different with your relationship to my brother."

"Xichen." Lan Wangji glared at Lan Xichen and the latter just shrugged.

"Hey, I'm just saying. He's the shadow guard of the Wen's fake vault. What do you suggest I should think?" Lan Xichen put a huge chunk of bloody meat into his mouth and chewed.

"You can think whatever you want to think. I don't give a damn." Wei Wuxian spoke in a calm manner. He had seen many types of people, and Lan Wangji's brother was borderline rude and not respecting his brother at all. And he didn't like that. Then he turned to face Lan Wangji.

"Come, Lan Zhan, I lost my appetite here. We should open the door and windows of this place to replace the air. It stinks of shit."

The other three people became silent as Wei Wuxian opened the windows to let the soft breeze in, when suddenly he heard a huge roar from where Lan Wangji's brother was sitting. He turned around and was ready to defend himself, in case the brother turned out to be a lion or something like that, but he saw that Lan Xichen was laughing. And Nie Mingjue too.

Wei Wuxian was baffled as he looked at Lan Wangji, who shook his head in disbelief. He always knew that his brother loved to look down on people, after all they're dragons, the most majestic of all beasts. This was the first time someone dared to defy him to his face, a mere human too, whom he could have crushed to death in one arm. But he knew his brother just tested Wei Wuxian. Lan Xichen was pissed because Lan Wangji made an unknown human, a Wen's shadow guard of all people, to be his person, a first in thousands of years.

"Now I know why you like him, brother." Lan Xichen smirked and he threw a vial of red liquid to Lan Wangji. "Just come back home when you need more. We missed you, you know."

"I know, brother."

A short while after Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue left, the table was cleaned to serve another serving of dinner for Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. They put aromatic candles and dimmed the light to make the atmosphere more romantic, and soon after, the dinner was out. 

It was a six course meal, starting with Scallop Crudo with enoki mushroom, pink peppercorn and yuzu, then followed by Grilled Oysters with Zucchini Pearls and Sevruga Caviar. After that, the Peppered Tuna Tataki with warm soy sauce vinaigrette, before the main course of Veal Ravioli with Porcini Mushroom and Bone Marrow and Lamb Rack with Summer Truffles, Provençal Vegetables and lamb jus. The dessert was a Cheesecake Dome filled with Raspberry Coulis and candied Meyer Lemon Zest.

"Oh my god." Wei Wuxian exclaimed after he devoured the dessert. "This is so good! I've never eaten anything as delicious as this before!" He exclaimed in happiness before spooning the cheesecake into his mouth. "You're the best, Lan Zhan. I guess being the Most Wanted Bachelor has its perks, yeah? You've got to bring numerous dates and eat something delicious like these." Aside from the cheesecake–which was a piece of art–the other food was also delicious. Their portion was small, but not small enough to make him hungry. The seafood was very fresh, the ravioli was handmade and the lamb was soft and juicy. Everything was top notch, unlike the bloody steak that Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue had eaten. Ugh. Wei Wuxian shuddered when he remembered the bloody meat, just like back then in the amusement park with Xue Yang and Xiao Bai.

"Mm, I wouldn't know. Never had a date before." Lan Wangji calmly sipped his Glenfiddich and watched as Wei Wuxian's face lit with surprise. 

"Are you for real?" He stopped eating and gawked. "You? The… the most beautiful man I've ever seen in my life, never had a date before? Now I know you're lying." Wei Wuxian pointed his small dessert spoon at Lan Wangji.

"Never have the urge to please anyone else before." Lan Wangji smirked behind the glass that he held. This man was so cute when he did that.

"You're saying that… you want to please me?" Wei Wuxian became more baffled. "Why?"

"Because you're mine."

With those words, Wei Wuxian's heart beat faster, and he could feel that his face became warmer. And it was not from the wine he downed because he was nervous and shy. He tried to hide his reddened face by shovelling the rest of the cheesecake into his mouth.

"You do know that you are mine ever since you signed that blood contract, don't you?" Lan Wangji smirked because this man was so easy to read. But he felt the warm feeling in his heart too, and it was chasing away the coldness that had been haunting him for decades. And he wondered if he really was developing feelings for this… beautiful man.

"I do. Just, please stop saying things that make me… misunderstand things." Wei Wuxian poured the Glenfiddich and drank it in one big gulp. It burnt his throat but it also cleared his head.

"You're not misunderstanding anything, Wei Ying." Lan Wangji stood up and offered his hand to Wei Wuxian. "Now, shall we go and enter the real Forsaken?"