The line between love and obsession

The big reveal

The next couple of weeks were the happiest weeks of Wei Ying's life. Lan Wangji's presence in his life was like the presence of warm sunshine on a very cold day, bringing warmth he hadn't even realized he severely lacked. Lan Wangji had already carved a space for himself in Wei Ying's life, and also quite literally in Wei Ying's apartment. Lan Wangji's stuff was everywhere- his toothbrush in the bathroom, his slipper by the door, a tiny suitcase with an extra change of clothes by Holly's cage, and the organic fruits he brought from the farmers market sat gloomily on the kitchen counter.

On Weekdays, they talked and texted as much as possible, but on weekends, Lan Wangji stayed over at Wei Ying's. He never complained about sleeping on the tiny-stiff-old couch of Wei Ying's. Wei Ying did feel little guilt as he saw Lan Wangji rubbing his stiff neck in the morning, every time he spent the night sleeping on that horrible couch, but there were no viable solutions available. He couldn't afford a bigger bed, a bigger apartment, or a better couch presently, and he didn't want to take money from Lan Wangji. They could have gone to Lan Wangji's apartment instead, but Wei Ying worried about his son not feeling comfortable in an unfamiliar place. Wei Ying wanted to be sure of the relationship before he took a such step.

And every time, when Wei Ying told Lan Wangji to go back to his apartment and sleep comfortably in his own bed after they had had dinner, Lan Wangji would dismiss him with a wave of his hand, claiming vehemently that he didn't mind sleeping on the couch. The good thing about Lan Wangji staying over was that they got to make out for hours on the couch after A-Yuan fell asleep. They did no more that some touching and making out as they were hyper-aware of the sleeping child a few steps away, inside the bedroom, and they both were scared of traumatizing the said child.

One evening, when Wei Ying had to work late, instead of bothering Wen siblings, he had asked Lan Wangji to babysit A-Yuan, and when he had returned home that day, almost midnight, the domestic sight that had greeted him- Lan Wangji passed out on the tiny couch, A-Yuan sleeping peacefully in the bedroom, the home-cooked dinner laid out on the table for him-had jostled his dream of a family, which he had buried deep underwater, upward towards the surface.

Sometimes, they went to the park together, and the sight of A-Yuan running wild, happy, made him the happiest.

On Sunday, they went to the museum, A-Yuan in the middle, holding both their hands, resembling a very happy family. Lan Wangji was so patient with A-Yuan, so patient with A-yuan's queries and curiosities. Lan Wangji was inherently so quiet and peaceful that Wei Ying had expected him to get little affected by the loud father-son duo, but the man remained unbothered by A-Yuan's overly enthusiasm, or by Wei Ying's occasional obnoxiousness.

As they walked out of the museum, A-Yuan pointed towards the street artist on the corner of the street, so Wei Ying and Lan Wangji tried very hard to fit on the tiny bench, with A-Yuan on Wei Ying's lap, to get their portrait painted. Although Wei Ying wasn't so vain by disposition, he felt utterly disappointed by the final result as he felt that the painting didn't really do justice to his beauty.

"Aiyah, you made my nose too big. You made me ugly," Wei Ying began his argument.

"Wei Ying is pretty. Wei Ying always looks pretty, even in the badly painted painting, like this one here," Lan Wangji said, promptly cutting the artist off, who was about to open his mouth.

"Lan Zhan, please stop. Bad for my heart," Wei Ying said blushing heavily.

"Just stating the facts. That's all," Lan Wangji replied with utter sincerity as Wei Ying blushed further.

The artist didn't look so offended by being told that his painting was bad as Lan Wangji remunerated him with a huge sum of money.

"If Wei Ying didn't like the painting, then he should give it to me. I'll take this one," Lan Wangji said, although teasingly.