Emperors Smile

25

After a while Lan Wangji opened his eyes. He felt well rested, he took the cloth that was still laying on his forehead off and placed it on his nightstand where the bowl of water still remained. He got up and opened the door of his room. He could here sounds coming from downstairs. Did gege come in- , after he realised who was in his house, he slowly closed the door and sat down on his bed. He calmly placed his hands on his thighs and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. But the thought of Wei Wuxian's hands on his chest made him blush. He rolled his hands into fists and took a deep breath out. While Lan was trying to get the image of Wei out of his head, Wei was almost done with Wei Wuxian's Special. This time it took longer that he would've liked, but what else can you do when you need to change the whole recipe. He was in the middle of plating it nicely when he heard a door open and close. He looked at the stairs waiting for Wangji to walk down, but he didn't come. Wei looked back at what he was doing and thought, Maybe he went to the bathroom. And he continued plating the food. Wei also thought about bringing the food upstairs, but he wasn't sure if stuck up Lan Wangji would like that. So, he decided to call for him. He placed the plate on the table and when he was about to yell his name, he noticed the bag Lan Xichen bought for his little brother. The memory of a worried Xichen passed through his mind. "...Omg I'm terrible." He quickly took the medicine out of the bag and ran up the stairs to Lan's room. "Hey, I forgot that your brother bought medicine for you." He said as he opened the door. He was once again met with Lan Wangji's naked back muscles. He quickly looked at the ground and said, "Sorry to barge in like this." Lan calmly turned his head and said, "Leave them on the desk." Wei noticed his ear who were bright red, NOO I EMBARRESED HIM, "Will do!" He placed the medicine on his desk and swiftly left as he came. But he turned around and knocked on the door. He waited for his response, but no sound came out of his room. "I made some food for you, it's downstairs." He hesitantly said. There was still no reaction, so Wei decided to go back to the kitchen to clean up.

After Wei left the bar Nie and Jiang finished their drinks before they both left to go back home. But before that Jiang paid a quick visit to the office since he left without giving a heads-up in advance. When he entered the hall, he saw someone running towards him. "Mr. Jiang, we keep getting spam emails from The Nightless City. Should we block them?" Right when Jiang Cheng heard that name, he rolled his eyes. The worker felt like it was meant for them and said with a slight panic in their voice, "I'm really sorry to ask sir." Jiang shook his head a little, "It wasn't directed at you. But in what kind of format have the emails been send? Are they the same or are they different?" "They're all the same sir, spam emails." Jiang Cheng let out a big sigh, "Just ignore them." They nodded, "We'll move them over to the spam folder." He nodded and went to look for his sister. When he got to her desk, he saw that she was talking to Jin Zixuan. Unlike Wei he didn't have any ill intent against him, he seems to be making his sister happy. Jiang Yanli saw Jiang in the corner of her eye, she turned her head and greeted him with a smile. Jiang smiled at her as he went to stand next to Jin. Jin turned his head to him, "Is Wei Wuxian not with you?" Jiang shook his head, "He's helping someone." Jin nodded in understanding and looked back at Yanli. "What were you two doing?" Jiang asked. Yanli had a shy smile on her face, "We hadn't had any time to spend with each other, so I'll be spending the night with him." Jiang didn't know how to react. Jin reassured him that he wouldn't do anything weird, but that only made him more sceptical. Jin shyly laughed Jiang laughed because of him. Yanli had a bright smile on her face, she was happy that her brother and boyfriend were getting close as well. But she remembered the other brother who didn't like him that much, "When is Wei coming back home then?" Jiang shrugged, "I'll see him when I see him." "Are you sure he's safe?" Jin worriedly asked. It warmed Yanli's heart, Awhh he's worried about him! Jiang nodded as a response. "Ah, alright then. But why did you come back? Did you forget something." Jiang had a blank expression on his face and said in a monotone voice, "My sister." He and Jin kept their eye contact strong. Until Jin responded with, "But she wants to come home with me." Jiang lifted his chin up in the air. Yanli giggled and tickled his chin. He giggled, "But then I'll be going home." She nodded, "Text me when you get home." He tilted his head and said no in a cute way, after that he walked away while he heard Jin Zixuan and his sister laugh.

After a few hours past Wei was contemplating if he should go home or stay to see if Lan needs any help. He also thought about that Lan might got bored of him, since it literally hasn't been that long since they hung out. He let out a big sigh, he decided to leave. He already gave him the medicine and he made dinner, so he should be fine. While he was putting his shoes on, he could hear Lan walk down the stairs. Damn, he's coming down as I'm leaving- But now I do feel bad for just leaving- But he came down when he knew I was leaving. He let out another sigh and opened the front door, but he suddenly heard Lan Wangji call his name, "Wei Ying." Wei turned his head, Jeez when has someone used that name for me ,"...Do you need something else?" This time he was fully clothed and asked, "Are you leaving?" Wei nodded, "There is nothing else for me to do." Lan looked away then he looked back at Wei, "It's late, you can stay over." Wei closed the door, "Not sure if I can stay over since I have work tomorrow, but I guess I can stay a little longer." He took his shoes off and followed Lan back to the living room. Wei sat on the couch and said, "I put your food in the fridge." Lan got the food and heated it up in the microwave. Wei turned his head to look at Lan. He catched him staring. Wei flinched and awkwardly said, "Just checking if you grabbed the right plate" he laughed nervously. Lan broke the eye contact as the microwave went off. He took the plate out and sat at the table. Wei got up from the couch and saw across from him, "Tell me if you like it." He smiled. He nodded and started to eat. Wei rested his chin on his hands, and he happily looked at Lan Wangji who was finally eating Wei Wuxian's Special. 2! Suddenly Lan spoke, while eating, "You once called me Lan Zhan, why don't you call me that anymore?" It caught hi off guard, he never talks while eating so why now? "Well... Nobody else calls you that, so I thought it was weird to call you that. And I don't even remember you telling me to call you that." Lan took his eyes of his food and aimed them at Wei's eyes. "You can call me that", he looked back at his food. And he once again left Wei feeling confused. Why now? What does that name mean to him? Why me? But he didn't feel like it was the right time to be asking these questions, did he even have the right to ask them. He laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes. He was getting tired after all that waiting. When Lan finished his food, it seemed like Wei fell asleep. Lan waited a few minutes to move up from his seat, but another thought popped into his head, I want to touch him. He reached his hand out to his cheek, but he didn't make contact. It feels wrong, so he took his hand back and got up from his seat. The sound of the chair moving on the sound woke Wei up. He tiredly lifted his head and looked at Lan who was standing. He sat up and stretched, "Aaah. I should go home." Lan let out a mh and walked to the sink with his plate. Wei got up and asked if he should clean it, but he refused his offer. "You can go. You still have work tomorrow." Wei nodded, "But are you sure that you're alright?" Lan let out a mh. "Alright then. Texted me if you need anything. I'll go now. Byebye." Wei headed to the front door. And Lan turned around and watched him walk away.