Chapter Text
It was another dreary cold Wednesday, and Lan Zhan could feel the mood starting to affect him. It was the middle of the workday, and most students were still in school, so the most action he saw was the group of college kids that came in earlier who ended up causing so much noise Wen Qing threatened to call the police on them. Even with that, it had been extremely quiet at the library, which normally would be a blessing for him...except he had finished all of his work and he was ahead of schedule on his never-ending first draft of his book. With a sigh, Wen Qing came over and sat down across from his desk. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, which she met in turn.
“Lan Zhan, it is almost 3 PM, and this rainy weather has to be dragging even you down.” He looked at her with an unimpressed glance and returned to his reading. Sighing again, Wen Qing stretched her arms up above her head and rolled her wrists. “You know what I could go for right now?” Lan Zhan did not look up, “Some tea from that cafe A-Ning works at,” Lan Zhan did look up then, just in time to see Wen Qing smirking at him.
“Tea would be... ideal I suppose,” He started to say, but before he could finish Wen Qing was already pulling out her wallet and handing him some money.
“Great! It’s on me; I will take a medium Jasmine. Thanks, Lan Wangji!” He stared at her, but she had known him for long enough to know he was essentially glaring. While Lan Zhan knew she was serious about the tea portion of her ruse, one little detail was between the lines: Wednesdays were inventory day, which meant the cafe's owner was going to be there. In all the years the cafe had been opened, Lan Zhan had spoken to this man zero times. Sure, he’d stared and pined from afar, but any time the owner met his gaze with that warm smile, Lan Zhan would quickly turn and walk away. He’d even done it so suddenly once he’d bumped into a young lady on her way into the building. It was embarrassing. He had tried to get the courage to speak to the man, but something held him back each time and made it nearly impossible to talk to him. Eventually, he realized the pattern of the man’s schedule and chose days he was not there to go in for his morning tea. But Wen Qing’s brother, Wen Ning, must have plotted this, otherwise, Lan Zhan suspects she would not have been so adamant about him going. With another stare that was essentially a glare, Lan Zhan grabbed his coat and umbrella and walked outside. The cafe, Lil’ Apple, was just up the street; thankfully, the rain was barely a mist. Lan Zhan looked into the cafe and saw Wen Ning standing at the counter talking to someone just out of sight. With a small sigh, Lan Zhan opened the door and walked in.
“Lan Wangji! How are you?” Wen Ning said as soon as he saw Lan Zhan. He simply nodded to the young man and walked up to the counter.
“I am well. Your sister has sent me and requested a medium Jasmine tea.” Wen Ning nodded and began getting to work. Lan Zhan tried his best not to let his eyes wander in the direction Wen Ning had been talking about a bit ago, but he failed. Standing towards the back of the store surrounded by boxes was the young man. He looked no older than Lan Zhan, and his hair was currently up in a bun on top of his head with a bright red chopstick holding it all together. He was counting something on the clipboard in his hands in comparison to the box, and Lan Zhan let himself stare for a moment. The owner of the store (who Lan Zhan longed to know the name of) was truly beautiful when lost in thought, one eyebrow slightly raised and bent as he concentrated on what he was doing. Sensing someone staring, he raised his head and met Lan Zhan’s eyes. Blushing, Lan Zhan quickly looked away and was met with a smirking Wen Ning. It was eerie how much he looked like Wen Qing when he did that, thought Lan Zhan.
“Wen Ning, who is your friend,” the man in the corner asked, and Lan Zhan froze. Wen Ning looked at him for a moment before smiling at the man.
“This is Lan Wangji, the head librarian at the branch down the street where A-Qing works. Lan Wangji, this is the owner of the store Wei Wuxian.”
Wei Wuxian.
After months of longing, Lan Zhan finally had a name. Wei Wuixian smiled as he got closer. “Please,” he said, “call me Wei Ying.” It sounded beautiful in Lan Zhan’s head, and he forgot how to breathe for a moment. With a slight nod, Lan Zhan began to give him a bow when Wei Ying laughed and put his hands on Lan Zhan’s shoulders. “Please, no need for the formalities! We are very lowkey here. I am still trying to get this one on board with that,” which caused Wen Ning to stumble. Lan Zhan could feel the subtle panic kicking in, and he quickly grabbed his mugs and put the money down on the counter.
“It was nice to meet you Wei Wuxian. Wen Ning, thank you for the teas.” Before either of them could say anything, he turned and left the building. By the time he made it back to the library, he hadn’t even realized he’d completely left his umbrella there and was currently soaked from the rain that kicked up.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost Lan Wangji,” Wen Qing smirked as he handed her the mug. He simply stared at her over the cup, and she laughed. “How is A-Ning?” Another stare. With another chuckle, she returned to the cataloging she had been working on. Lan Zhan walked back to his desk and sat down only to be met with a blank page on his book draft. Sighing, he closed the tab and opened up his email. When it was finally time to close at 3:30, Wen Qing set about vacuuming and dusting while he closed out the administrative work for the day. They usually worked quickly between the two and were out the door before 4. Wen Qing made her way up to the cafe while Lan Zhan walked in the opposite direction to his bus stop. Thankfully the rain had passed as his usual bus stop was not covered. He put in his earbuds, pulled up the audiobook he was listening to, and settled in for the 10-minute wait. When the bus showed up, he started to board and find his usual seat. The bus was about to pull out when a sudden last-minute passenger jumped on with a flurry of apologies. Before Lan Zhan could process what was happening, he looked up in horror as Wei Ying boarded the bus and their eyes met. With a smile, he waved and sat in the seat across from Lan Zhan.
“Hey! Lan Wangji was it? How have I never noticed you on this bus? I mean I guess it makes sense since I usually take the 5 PM bus, but today I finished early. What a small world!” Lan Zhan could feel his brain trying to formulate what to say in response, but Wei Ying had already moved on. “So do you live around here? I live just a little up the way closer to the city. It’s convenient that we are on a bus line out here, wish I could be in the city.”
“Yes. My stop is in two stops from now.”
“No way! I’m one after you! I am surprised that the Wen’s aren’t on this bus, since Wen Ning and Wen Qing live in my building while they finish up their schooling.” Lan Zhan knew that Wen Qing was pursuing a degree in Behavioral Psychology as he would help her study and put the necessary books on hold for her when they came in. They had even set up a private room for her bigger exams so that she could study if it were not too busy during the day (which it normally wasn’t at this point in the semester). Most of her classes were online, so it was an easy setup for both of them. He was unaware that Wen Ning was also in school, and wondered what he was studying.
“Mn. Wen Qing mentioned they were meeting up with family tonight and caught a different bus.”
“That explains why they both hung back a bit and looked stressed. Damn.” Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying and saw his thoughts run across his face. With a small shake of his head, he turned back to Lan Zhan. “By the way, I believe this is yours? I was going to take it home with me and swing by tomorrow, but this is perfect!” He turned, pulled the umbrella out from the bag on the chair, and handed it to Lan Zhan. It was such a small gesture, but Lan Zhan could feel the blush rising to his cheeks. With a small nod, he took the umbrella back just in time to see his stop was after the next one. He quickly packed his stuff up, and Wei Ying noticed as well. When his stop was announced, Lan Zhan quickly pulled the string to signal the driver and stood up. Wei Ying looked at him like he wanted to say something but couldn’t form the words. As Lan Zhan got ready to leave, Wei Ying grabbed his wrist. “It was nice to meet you face to face today, Lan Wangji.” He dropped Lan Zhan’s wrist, and Lan Zhan began to make his way to the door. Before he got off, he turned and looked at Wei Ying.
“Please, call me Lan Zhan,” he said and stepped off the bus.