Fluffy WangXian Oneshots

A Stitch in Time Part 1

Fashion was a risky business.

It was arguable that any business was, but Fashion with a capital letter was more so.

It relied upon the expertise of the creator, the designer who had vision, enough to not only provide something eye-catching and innovative, but an item of clothing that appealed to the masses. Alright, the majority of them probably couldn't afford one of his designs, but Lan Zhan was usually confident in whatever his hand drew.

Fashion was the epitome of art, and his art sold well. The degrees in said subject, sitting in an office drawer somewhere, were the stamp of approval for any doubters, including his uncle, a stickler for rules and the draconian beliefs that they needed to be adhered to. Lan Zhan had believed it too until he had met a red ribboned genius who could produce a whole collection in two weeks, the talent who had taken the fashion world by storm.

If Lan Zhan was honest, and he always was with himself, Wei Ying was probably ninety percent the reason why he had stayed in university. They had met in high school and it had been a rocky start until one day, they both had caught a younger boy being bullied by Wen Chao and his cronies.

Wen Ning had a stutter, so it was already harder for him, but he was a gentle giant, and Wei Ying  referred to him as a cinnamon roll. After that day, Wei Ying had taken him under his wing and no one had bothered going after him from there on. His sister, Wen Qing was a formidable woman, very protective over her real brother and then somehow, she'd adopted Wei Ying as another one.

Lan Zhan had seen two boys standing up to seven, and couldn't tolerate something so unfair.

When he had walked towards the group that day, Wen Chao had mistakenly assumed he was going to be on their side. Crowing right up until he went to stand next to Wei Ying, close so that Wen Ning was protected. The look on his face was priceless, and he could feel the other two people staring at him too.

But undaunted, he stood tall, thinking about whether he could take all seven on by himself, because the young boy next to him seemed too slim, too weak and other than bravery, he didn't seem to have much else.

"I can smell something..." Wei Ying had said, completely seriously.

Some of the seven started sniffing the air already.

"I thought it was because we were standing so close to the toilets, but no..." Wei Ying deadpanned. "It's definitely reeking of cowardice." He folded his arms across his chest and looked pointedly at Wen Chao.

"Why, you cheeky little gutter rat!" Wen Chao went to punch him, but Lan Zhan caught his fist in one hand and squeezed.

Tighter and tighter until Wen Chao was all red, gasping at the pain, still in shock at the sharp crack as one of his knuckles broke.

He screamed, and Lan Zhan let go, his face devoid of any emotion.

Wen Chao fell on the ground, still screaming and catching the attention of a few teachers; his friends ran away and Wei Ying discreetly kicked him.

"What happened here?" Mrs Jones asked sternly, and Lan Zhan remembered wanting to tell the truth.

But Wei Ying had put a hand on his arm, and looked at him.

After that, Lan Zhan didn't remember too much, there was something about Wen Chao catching his hand in the door of the girl's toilets, Wei Ying had emphasized that part, and an ambulance had come to take the injured boy away.

But Lan Zhan had fallen in love in that one second. Those beautiful silver eyes had looked into his soul, and a small part of Lan Zhan knew he would never love anybody else, ever again.