Thread by @yumichanhamano

Dadji thread I promised @gusucloudbunny I would write at some point XD (let's see how much I can throw out before I have to run off to dinner)

Modern AU, single dad lwj, wwx is a disaster as per usual, cue mutual pining because 👌 #MDZS #MoDaoZuShi #WangXian

Wei Ying loved his nephew, even though he was a mini version of his dad. But he was also Jiang Yanli's son so he had to grow out of his peacock tendencies... right?

Either way, Wei Ying would never turn down an opportunity to pick up his favourite nephew from childcare.

He was a freelancer artist, which meant it was easy to rearrange his schedule. His sister ran a restaurant and she was busy with some businessy thing. He never pried into whatever she did at the restaurant since it was too boring.

Right at 4pm, Wei Ying was at the childcare.

He even left the house early for this! He's such a good uncle.

The children were all out in the playground, working off their excess energy before they went home with their parents. Great way to wind down the day in Wei Ying's opinion.

The playground was sectioned into two parts, one side for the preschoolers and other for the toddlers. Sometimes, you'll see the two age groups try to trade toys between the gate that separated them. Very cute.

However, to get to the toddlers, you need to pass the preschoolers.

There was a chorus of "Wei-gege!" as Wei Ying became surrounded by preschoolers.

"Hello hello!" he responded cheerily at the mob of little children. "I hope you've all been good."

(a/n: there is a certain sadness not being able to write Xian-gege because no courtesy names 😔)

"Yesssss," the mob of children replied. Some of them got his attention and ran off to play. Others started rambling at the same time about something Wei Ying wasn't able to hear. Eventually, they too were satisfied and ran off to play as well.

One little girl came back and handed him a shovel from the sandbox before running off. After the passionate Ouyang Zizhen finished retelling a romance tale to Wei Ying, he too ran off. It left him with one little boy clinging to his pant leg the whole time.

"A-Yuan, aren't you going to play with your friends? Look, A-Yi is... Don't do what he's doing, but go have fun!" Wei Ying coaxed.

Wei Ying used to volunteer with the toddler room because Jin Ling was there.

(woops, dinner time)

It was by chance that Wei Ying was asked to help in the preschool room when they were short a volunteer.

The preschoolers all loved Wei Ying and he came back a few times to help out. One time, he brought in his paintings and everyone except two kids wanted to paint that day.

All his visits to the preschool room, Lan Yuan always stuck close by to him. He was told that Lan Yuan had been struggling with separating with his father in the mornings so tended to stick with an adult for a while.

Wei Ying thought nothing of it since Jin Ling used to raise hell when separated from his mother. Lan Yuan was a quiet child that clung to Wei Ying's pant leg like a little ghost.

He jokingly called Lan Yuan his shadow once and all the kids caught on. Lan Yuan didn't seem to mind

Wei Ying was broken out of his own musing by a smooth deep voice behind him.

"A-Yuan."

"Father!" A-Yuan cried with a wide smile. His small hands still clung onto Wei Ying. He was sure he would be been freed if A-Yuan's parent was here, but it didn't seem to be the case.

Wei Ying turned around to greet the man but he lost his words upon seeing him. The man must have won a life with a handsome face like his.

"Hi," Wei Ying managed to say without making a fool of himself. "You must be A-Yuan's father. I volunteer in the preschool room sometimes."

"This is Wei-gege!" A-Yuan supplied happily. This is also when Wei Ying realized he forgot to give his name.

"Wei Ying!" he hastily added before Lan Yuan's handsome dad potentially called him "Wei-gege" too. Wei Ying would die. He would sink to the ground and perish.

"Well met, Wei Ying." He is not melting at that gorgeous voice speaking his name. The man turned to the little one and said, "A-Yuan, it's time to go home."

"Wei-gege, read me a book?" A-Yuan asked, turning back to Wei Ying.

"He needs to go home too, A-Yuan," the man said.

A-Yuan looked up at Wei Ying with pleading eyes. He would be a monster to turn it down. In the corner of his eyes, Wei Ying caught sight of the little one he came for.

"A-Ling!" Wei Ying called out and the grumpy face that resembled Jiang Cheng stared back at him. "Home time?"

Just as expected, Jin Ling shouted "NO" and ran off back into the playground.

It was a game he played with Jin Ling. Since Jiang Cheng didn't tolerate this behaviour, he can only do this with Wei Ying. He called himself the favourite uncle for this reason.

"I have some time, but if you need to go home..." Wei Ying looked over at Lan Yuan's father.

"We can read a story at home," the man reasoned.

A-Yuan pouted and pulled at Wei Ying's pants. He was grateful for the inventor of belts or he might have flashed the hot dad.

"But I want Wei-gege to read it to me..."

Wei Ying saw the man's defense crumble at A-Yuan's insistence. No one could resist the teary-eyed look A-Yuan gave. It was a dangerous weapon to get whatever he wanted.

"One book and then you go home with your father, okay?"

A-Yuan cheered and ran off. There was a basket of books that was brought out for children that wanted to sit down and read instead of playing.

"Don't be too hard on him. I usually only come here once a month so I guess he's just having withdrawals," Wei Ying tried to joke.

"I should apologize. He isn't usually this demanding."

"Don't be! A-Yuan is a great child. Look at my nephew for example!" They turned to the toddler side of the playground and Jin Ling was watching them through the bars of the gate again.

His chubby cheeks were squished against the bars, not small enough to fit through, and his hands grasped just below his face.

"A-Ling, home now?"

"NO!" and he ran off again. This time, he bumped into another child walking by. The two of them got up and went their separate ways.

Wei Ying laughed at the slight frown on the man's face. A-Yuan was an agreeable child so it was hard to imagine when he was going through his own "no" phase.

"Wei-gege! This one!" A-Yuan shouted as he ran back. The smile on his face was infectious.

"Ah, let's see what you have here?" Wei Ying asked as he took the book from the excited child. "A-Yuan, aren't you a little too old for The Three Little Pigs?"

"No!" A-Yuan said with a big smile. Who was Wei Ying to deny him?

After all, a young child like him doesn't understand the hidden horror story of killing your enemy alive because he tried to eat you first.

They sat down on the bench, perfect for two adults and a small child. Wei Ying thought the man looked out of place in his suit.

He didn't even expect him to sit on a bench where who knows what these kids put on it.

Wei Ying tried to do outdoor painting and it got everywhere. Luckily it was easily washed off with a hose, but the bench has been through a lot.

A-Yuan sat on Wei Ying's lap as he always did in the preschool room. He would have started reading if the deep voice did not call out to him and distract him with the beautiful way he said, "Wei Ying."

Was Wei Ying being dramatic? Probably, but A-Yuan's dad was hot.

The man said no more put pointed towards the toddler side of the playground. Among the chaos, he could make out Jin Ling's pouty face.

"Ready to go home?" Wei Ying called out.

This time, there was no reply but Jin Ling kept staring back at him.

It was weird because when Jin Ling was ready to leave, he would have held up his hands to be picked. Sometimes, he remembered to use his words so he'll add a "yes".

Wei Ying wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation.

"A-Yuan, I need to check on Jin Ling," Wei Ying explained and handed the book back to the boy. A-Yuan looked up at him.

"Can I help?"

Wei Wuxian sometimes "borrowed" A-Yuan to help when he was getting overwhelmed. One of his favourite things was going into the toddler room.

"Sure!" Wei Ying chirped. He nearly forgot that A-Yuan's father was there with them as he followed them across the chaos of preschoolers to the gates.

Wei Ying sat down on the ground and stared back at his grumpy nephew. "A-Ling, do you want to leave? Go home?"

Jin Ling stared at Wei Ying before shaking his head and looking down at the book in A-Yuan's hands.

"Book," he said before looking back at Wei Ying.

Jin Ling was the cutest nephew in existence and Wei Ying was not taking any criticism. Yes, even if he acted like a mini peacock.

"Do you want to read with us?" A-Yuan asked. His eyes were sparkling. A-Yuan loved reading books with the toddlers.

The whole situation was too cute. If he wasn't surrounded by running preschoolers or next to the hot dad, he probably fall over dramatically clutching his chest.

Perhaps he should have pursued theatre instead.

"A-Yuan, why don't you go ahead with your dad? I'll come over with A-Ling in a second okay?" Wei Ying asked. He still needed to talk to the educator after Jin Ling's day. He was having a biting problem lately.

Luckily, there was no biting accidents, related to Jin Ling at least.

When he walked back to the bench with A-Ling in his arms, A-Yuan was recounting his day to his dad. Wei Ying still didn't know his name sadly.

"Jingyi destroyed the tower with a ROAR and it went everywhere!"

"I hope he asked before he destroyed the tower," Wei Ying interjected. A-Yuan smiled at him and shuffled closer to his dad to make room for Wei Ying.

"He did! We would build the tower together and it was Jingyi's turn to destroy it!"

Wei Ying never quite understood the destructive needs of children. They were having fun so he never looked into it too much.

"Will you read now?" A-Yuan asked, holding out the book.

"Book!" Jin Ling agreed and placed a hand on the cover. How could he say no? Not that he was.

Wei Ying had to be evil to say no to the two cutest faces.

Taking the book from A-Yuan, Wei Ying started reading the tale of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. He gave each of the characters a different voice and added a little more personality to the story.

He named the three little pigs A-Yuan, A-Ling, and A-Ying.

Jin Ling didn't look too happy since his house was the first to fall. A-Yuan let out a soft 'aww' when his house fell. At the end of the book, A-Yuan started clapping so Jin Ling followed.

Wei Ying hoped they were clapping because the story was over and not because the wolf was boiled alive.

He handed the book to A-Yuan to put it back.

"Home time?" Jin Ling asked after A-Yuan ran off.

"Home time. Are you tired?"

"No." Wei Ying knew he will sleep on the bus.

"I hope that didn't ruin your evening plan, Mr....?"

"Lan. Lan Zhan."

"... Mr. Lan," Wei Ying finished. Wow, what a beautiful name. Lan Zhan.

"Thank you for reading to my son. He is fond of books," the man, Lan Zhan, said. God, Wei Ying had hots for A-Yuan's dad. Fuck.

"It's no problem. I knew A-Ling didn't want to leave immediately so I usually come right at pick-up so he's ready to leave before they end up closing up," Wei Ying explained. He learned his lesson after carrying a screaming Jin Ling onto the bus. Not pleasant for anyone involved.

"Have a good evening," Lan Zhan said when A-Yuan returned. They parted ways and Wei Ying wondered if he'll see Lan Zhan again tomorrow.

He still had a week and a half to pick up Jin Ling from childcare. But maybe Lan Zhan's wife will come tomorrow, or he'll come later.

Wei Ying climbed onto the bus that arrived a few minutes after he waited at the stop. He left behind his thoughts about Lan Zhan as he called his sister.

"Yup. We're on the way!" Wei Ying said as he peeked at A-Ling in his arms. "He's a little sleepy right now."

"Are you sure about dinner? I can just grab something on the way to my apartment," Wei Ying said. Although Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan were married for a few years now, they never really got along. Tolerating each other's presence was a good way to put it.

Although they understand how important the other was to Jiang Yanli, there were personal differences that were hard to put behind.

Jin Zixuan, growing up as an only child, didn't understand their way of affection. Wei Ying didn't understand why rich people flaunt their wealth.

"Only for you jiejie," Wei Ying eventually caved in. He could never say no to her. "But if he's still wearing that ugly yellow suit-"

"I will tell him nicely that he looks like a peacock!"

"Yes. I'm sure they'll let me in since they've seen my handsome face many times now."

Dinner went well since Wei Ying only laughed once at Jin Zixuan's bright yellow tie with small white polka dots. Jiang Yanli handed him some leftovers for breakfast and lunch. Then she invited him for dinner again.

Jin Zixuan didn't object since he was busy with Jin Ling.

The next day, Wei Ying arrived at the same time Lan Zhan did. His bright smile was acknowledged by a small nod. He counted it as a win.

"It's you again!" Wei Ying said in delight. He meant that his wife wasn't picking up A-Yuan. From the furrow of his brow, the point was missed.

"Your wife is waiting at home for you both?" Wei Ying said instead. This time, Lan Zhan frowned.

"I do not have a wife."

"Oh, so a husband then?"

Lan Zhan stared at Wei Ying for a moment and made him nervous. It would be awful if A-Yuan's other parent was dead.

"I do not have a partner," Lan Zhan simply replied. Wei Ying let out a breathe of relief. He wasn't an asshole after all.

"Must be tough being a single parent," Wei Ying said as they arrived at the playground. The children were crowded together, so A-Yuan didn't notice them yet.

"I would not trade it for anything."

Now that Wei Ying knew that hot dad was single and ready, nothing was stopping his stupid crush from growing. A single father who loved his son? Wei Ying wanted to kiss him. But that would be bad; he's sure Lan Zhan doesn't feel the same way.

A-Yuan ran up to them again once they were spotted. Wei Ying pouted when he attached himself to his dad before smiling at Wei Ying.

"Will Wei-gege read to me again?" A-Yuan asked. Wei Ying agreed if Lan Zhan was fine with it. With permission, A-Yuan ran off to get a book.

Jin Ling was staring through the gates. This time, Wei Ying asked if he wanted to read the book with them again. Jin Ling nodded and held his hands up to picked up.

"Meet you on the bench," Wei Ying said with a wink. Then walked away in mortification that he winked at hot dad.

With a quick chat, Wei Ying walked to the bench where A-Yuan was sitting on Lan Zhan's lap with a book in hand.

Wei Ying read the book. A-Yuan placed the book back where he found it. They part ways for the night. Then they do it all again the next day until Friday evening.

Jiang Yanli had expected to be busy all the way up to Thursday in the next week. When they parted ways on Friday, Wei Ying expected to go back to the childcare to see them again.

During Sunday lunch with his siblings, Jiang Yanli informed him that she was free again.

There was a lot of organizing needed but her staff team pulled through. She was now free to pick up A-Ling again.

Wei Ying should be happy since he had more free time now, whether to work on his commissions or personal work. But he kept thinking about A-Yuan and Lan Zhan.

"Let me come with you on Monday," Wei Ying said. Jiang Cheng gave him a weird look but didn't say anything. "I had been reading with this preschooler during after hours and I never got to say goodbye."

As the kind and benevolent person Jiang Yanli was, she smiled and said yes.

On Monday, Wei Ying could not sit still. He tried to do some work, but his brain was blank and he made a mistake on an email. It was awful.

Instead, he decided to lay in bed and mindlessly scroll through social media. After refreshing the app three times, a thought popped up.

He sometimes does this with a potential /client/, just to avoid being scammed and wasting his time. But it wasn't weird to look up a friend... right?

Were they even considered friends? Wei Ying didn't finish that thought before he hit search on google.

There was a surprising amount of pictures of him, and whom he supposed is his twin brother. There were way too many photos with two Lan Zhans. Who has the time to photoshop all these right?

Lan Zhan never talked about himself and the little things he knows is from A-Yuan.

In the middle of reading an article on Lan Zhan, because the man doesn't have social media, his sister called him and he nearly dropped his phone in surprise.

"Jiejie!" Wei Ying answered cheerfully, willing his heart to stop racing. He felt like a teen caught watching porn.

"A-Ying, come by the restaurant for lunch! I know you haven't eaten yet. We'll go to the childcare after."

"Jiejie is the best to A-Ying," Wei Ying said with a smile. He loved his sister so much. The best person in the world.

(Another thing to be sad about, no XianXian 😭)

He briefly thought about Lan Zhan but shook those thoughts again.

After a few more compliments, Wei Ying ended the call and looked at the time. It was already past one in the afternoon. No wonder his stomach was trying to eat itself again.

The article stared back at him and Wei Ying left it up as he locked his phone and went to change.

He always tried to look more presentable going to Jiang Yanli's restaurant where she sometimes hosted wealthy patrons. He might have been dressing up a little for Lan Zhan too.

Wei Ying arrived at the restaurant just before 2pm. Jiang Yanli already had a set meal ready for him by the time he arrived. She sat with him in her office as he ate.

"Who are you meeting up with?" Jiang Yanli asked and Wei Ying nearly choked on water.

"A-Yuan! The cute preschooler that has sensory overload sometimes," Wei Ying said. "I've been reading him a story during pick-up and it became a ritual. It would be rude to not show up when I promised to come back on Monday."

"Oh no. Will he be sad when you stop reading to him?"

"I still volunteer at the center when I have time!" Wei Ying said. Jiang Yanli drove him home after his shifts when she came to pick up Jin Ling those days. "I don't have a lot of work this month so I can drop by again."

"How are you?" Jiang Yanli asked. "Do you need more work?"

Freelancing was an unstable source of income. He used to work part-time at the restaurant, but it didn't work out for him. The reason he started freelancing was to leave the restaurant.

The first few months he was on his own, he struggled with rent and groceries.

Wei Ying was too stubborn to ask for help since he wanted to make it work.

Needless to say, if Jiang Yanli hadn't called him for a sibling brunch and saw how poorly Wei Ying was doing, he probably would be starved to death in his apartment.

To this day, he still feels bad making his siblings worry about him. But it really helped that the restaurant promoted his work.

His first big job was to redesign their menu. It caught the eyes of the patrons and he got more work contracts.

Since then, he had made enough money to have savings and money to spend during dry spells.

"Yes, jiejie. Remember I promised to say something otherwise?" Wei Ying said, "And and, you keep giving me leftovers when I came over for dinner the last week."

He saved money on a whole week of groceries just from that!

"Well, I was thinking about a summer special for the restaurant," Jiang Yanli said with a sparkle in her eye. After Wei Ying redesigned their menus, he had been designing seasonal and holiday special flyers.

It helped the restaurant and Wei Ying's freelance business, a win-win.

"Jin Zixuan is paying me again?" Wei Ying asked and Jiang Yanli giggled. The first time she tried to give him the payment for the redesigned menus, he refused to take it.

Then when Jin Zixuan handed him a cheque with the same amount of money, he took it.

Wei Ying insisted it was different even though he knew that it really wasn't. It was the principle of things. He can't take money from his sister, but Jin Zixuan has a lot of money.

"I'll send you the details later on. After the banquet," Jiang Yanli said and patted his arm.

The banquet was the reason why Jiang Yanli was working overtime. They were hosting some well-known celebrities and there was a lot of work that goes with it.

Wei Ying doesn't know the details since it was part of the reason why he went off on his own. This was not his business anymore.

"Thank you jiejie. A-Ying will do his best," Wei Ying promised.

"A-Ying needs to finish his food so we can pick up A-Ling," Jiang Yanli teased.

Wei Ying was absolutely not ready to tell the father-son duo that he would not be coming for pick-up anymore. Instead, he focused on pouting at Jin Ling who squealed in delight at seeing his mother.

"Mama! Mama! Mama!" Jin Ling cheered, jumping up and down.

"Hello to you too, little traitor," Wei Ying said as Jiang Yanli picked up her son. Jin Ling ignored him like he always did in the presence of his mother. Wei Ying related. He liked to ignore Jin Zixuan's presence in favour of talking to his sister too.

A little body attached to his leg and Wei Ying knew he couldn't run away anymore. As Jiang Yanli talked to the educator, Wei Ying turned to A-Yuan. Apparently Lan Zhan were here already too.

"Wei-gege!" A-Yuan greeted with a sunny smile.

Wei Ying had walked to the toddler side when A-Yuan was distracted by his friends.

"A-Yuan!" Wei Ying exclaimed and picked up the child. He laughed as Wei Ying settled him on his hip. "How is my favourite baby?"

"Not a baby!" A-Yuan laughed.

"Oh yes, A-Yuan is a big boy now."

"Hello to you too, Lan Zhan." Wei Ying smiled at the man.

-

When Lan Zhan arrived at the childcare, he saw Wei Ying walking together with a woman. His heart soured at the fact that he had found a partner during the short time they were acquainted for, which was less than a week

To say that he was smitten with the man with easy smiles and loved by A-Yuan was an understatement of the typhoon of emotions that hit him after their initial meeting.

Lan Zhan had met a lot of people over time but no one smiled so naturally at him, that wanted nothing from him.

Wei Ying acted like a born natural caretaker when talking to A-Yuan, dealing with A-Ling interesting temper, and the way he brought the story books to life.

He also freely talked to Lan Zhan as if he wasn't afraid of his stoic demeanor.

Lan Zhan knew a few things about Wei Ying, who loved to talk.

He was adopted & adored his brother and sister. His sister married a "peacock" and Jin Ling was their son. (Lan Zhan belatedly connected that peacock and Jin Zixuan were the same person. They were business partners.)

He moved out when he was 19 to start his own freelance career. He lived alone but also worked from home.

Despite his poor luck with dates, Wei Ying hoped to someday have a family of his own.

The last one was something Lan Zhan couldn't stop thinking about over the weekend.

He was still thinking about it until he saw Wei Ying with the woman earlier. But his worries were unfound as Jin Ling screamed at the top of his lungs for "mama" even before Lan Zhan had taken a good look.

He met Jiang Yanli a few times at corporate parties.

Feeling a little silly, he caught A-Yuan's attention before gesturing to Wei Ying. The man was smiling at the mother and son before A-Yuan collided into his legs. Lan Zhan still needed to work on stopping that habit.

Wei Ying lit up upon seeing his son. It warmed his heart.

Lan Zhan had too much time over the weekend to think. It was a dangerous thing after all. But Wei Ying fitted seamlessly into their lives. A-Yuan was attached and so was he.

He knew that it was all temporary but he enjoyed the short time where he could be in Wei Ying's presence.

When A-Yuan ran off to find a book, Lan Zhan was left with no defense against Wei Ying's beautiful smile. Lan Zhan knew logically one cannot die from happiness, but it felt like a near thing.

"Mr. Lan, nice to see you here!" Wei Ying turned to his sister. Lan Zhan looked too.

"Mrs. Jin," Lan Zhan greeted and Jiang Yanli let out a delighted laugh. Jin Ling seemed to be glaring at Lan Zhan from where he was perched in her arms.

"You can call me Yanli in our personal time," Jiang Yanli said, "Or Yanli-jie. Mrs. Jin makes me sound old."

"Jiejie is not old!" Wei Ying chimed. Lan Zhan watched as Jiang Yanli lightly pinched his cheek and laughed softly.

"A-Ying was always a little sweet talker."

"No! A-Ying speaks the truth! A-Ling, mama is pretty right?"

"Mama pretty!" Jin Ling agreed with a serious nod.

Lan Zhan felt like an outsider as he watched the three of them talk. His family wasn't cold, but they didn't laugh easily or tease each other. Lan Zhan could relax a little bit around his brother and A-Yuan, but it wasn't the same as how Wei Ying and Jiang Yanli interacted.

"Lan Zhan." He snapped out of his thoughts at the call of his name. "You know jiejie?"

"Jin Zixuan is a close business partner. I have met Mrs. Jin at social events," Lan Zhan explained.

"Yanli-jie," both siblings said and laughed. Lan Zhan smiled a little too.

"If I'm correct, I think it was Mr. Lan that suggested this childcare," Jiang Yanli said as she shifted the fussy baby in her arms.

"Eh, Lan Zhan did?" Wei Ying looked between them comically.

"They have been kind to my work hours and A-Yuan loves the staff," Lan Zhan explained.

"We're grateful too. A-Ling has been doing well here, isn't that right?" Jiang Yanli said as she nuzzled her son's cheek with her nose. Jin Ling giggled.

"How about some love for your uncle too?" Wei Ying said with his arms out. Jin Ling looked at him and turned away.

"No love for Uncle Wei," Wei Ying cried and leaned closer to Lan Zhan until they were pressed arm to arm. Lan Zhan willed himself not to react. "At least A-Yuan loves me."

"A-Yuan loves who?" The two men turned around to see the boy looking up at them with a book in hand.

"Does A-Yuan love me?" Wei Ying asked with a pout. A-Yuan smiled and nodded furiously.

"A-Yuan loves Wei-gege!"

The two of them were a dangerous combination for his heart. A-Yuan let out peals of laughter as Wei Ying picked him up and spun him in circles.

Hope was a fatal thing. But seeing A-Yuan's cheeks flushed with happiness and Wei Ying looking at him with joy, Lan Zhan wished that they were a family where he could have this everyday.

"Wei-gege, book!" A-Yuan exclaimed as Wei Ying moved to put him down again.

The three adults fit snuggly on the bench. Wei Ying sat in the middle with A-Yuan in his laps since Jin Ling has not parted from his mother since he was picked up. A-Yuan saw the chance to sit on Wei Ying's lap and took it.

Lan Zhan didn't blame him. He would have done the same.

He tried to focus on the book, something about rabbits, but Lan Zhan was too focused on the warmth radiating from Wei Ying's thigh pressed against his.

He felt like a middle schooler who's crush agreed to sit with him at lunch and was reveling in the other's presence.

Curse Lan Huan and his dramas. It was putting weird ideas in his head.

But there was no denying that Lan Zhan was more focused on Wei Ying's face, how his brows furrow when voicing the old turtle or how his face softens when he tried to mimic a female voice.

It was only when A-Yuan cheered that Lan Zhan looked to see Wei Ying close the book.

"That's the end!" Wei Ying cheerfully announced. Lan Zhan mourned that their time together has ended again. "Put this away please, little bun?"

Lan Zhan's heart raced at the familiar nickname. How did Wei Ying know that he called A-Yuan that?

"Too bad there was no peacock in that story," Wei Ying said and tapped Jin Ling's nose. "You'll just have to be little duck then. Quack Quack."

"No!"

"Too bad, you're a baby duck now!" Wei Ying teased and Jin Ling looked like he wanted to bite.

"A-Ying, stop teasing him now," Jiang Yanli said as she soothed her son.

"Yes, jiejie," Wei Ying said and turned to Lan Zhan instead. "So, what did you think of the story?"

Lan Zhan panicked since he was too busy ogling Wei Ying to pay attention. He didn't even know what book they read.

"I..."

"Wei-gege!" Lan Zhan's shoulder's sagged in relief as A-Yuan climbed up Wei Ying's legs again to sit on his lap. "I did it!"

"Good job! You have to be a good bun and listen to your dad, okay?" Wei Ying said and A-Yuan nodded. "Ah, A-Yuan, I have some bad news too."

"Bad news?" A-Yuan echoed.

"You see, this nice lady is A-Ling's mama," Wei Ying said. "She's not busy now so I won't be coming tomorrow."

The feeling of his heart breaking was both because of Wei Ying's bad news and seeing A-Yuan tear up. Wei Ying hugged A-Yuan and whispered promises of visiting again and he will see A-Yuan again, but it did nothing to help the emptiness inside of Lan Zhan.

They were nothing more but two strangers that cared about A-Yuan and spent half an hour everyday reading a picture book to entertain two little ones.

But Lan Zhan wanted to know him more, to see Wei Ying outside of pick-up time at the child care, to be closer than two strangers.

"Are you free to babysit?" Lan Zhan asked before he registered what he said. Wei Ying looked back at him, stunned. A-Yuan sniffled into his shoulder.

"Pardon?"

"I... I work late sometimes." Lan Zhan didn't know what he was doing anymore, but at least what he said made sense.

"I need someone to pick up A-Yuan." He doesn't. Lan Huan understood if he needed to leave on time. Lan Zhan sometimes used this as an excuse to leave a meeting early. "I don't want him to be the last to be picked up."

He made a mistake once. He was too engrossed in his work.

He had recently adopted A-Yuan then. He wasn't well versed in being a parent.

It was only when the center had called him, he rushed to the center. He would never forget the teary face of his son looking up at him like he was being abandoned again.

"It will only be a few nights. Not an ongoing thing," Lan Zhan added when Wei Ying didn't respond. "It will not get in the way of your work.

"A-Ying." Jiang Yanli gave him a little nudge.

"Oh! Sure, I mean yes. But uh, I don't have any formal training. Mostly just Jin Ling."

"That is fine. I will provide you with the details later." Lan Zhan pulled out his business card and handed it to Wei Ying. "You can call my cell number."

"A-Ying, your card," Jiang Yanli whispered and handed him something.

"Oh! Here's mine!" They exchange cards.

"Clients often email me so my phone is free! I mean, you can text me. Or call me! Whatever you prefer. I live alone so it won't be bothering anyone. I mean-"

"What A-Ying is trying to say is thank you for the opportunity," Jiang Yanli said with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, that. Thank you." Lan Zhan found his rambling very endearing. He looked at the card. It was rather eccentric as it was all black with red foil lettering.

"A-Ying designed the menus at my restaurant," Jiang Yanli added. She ignored the whiny "Jiejie..." and kept speaking.

"His designs are very beautiful. If you come by my restaurant, I'll give you a discount too," Jiang Yanli said with a wink, "If you or anyone you know needs a graphic designer, artist, or anything in-between, you know who you find."

"Jiejie, I don't need you to advertise for me. I'm only going to babysit A-Yuan, not redesign his company's logo!"

"I can speak to my brother about it," Lan Zhan said. Jiang Yanli blinked in surprise and Wei Ying gaped at him.

"Hahaha, Lan Zhan, you're very funny... I don't-"

"For our promotional work. We need designers to work on our banners and other materials. Wei Ying might be a good fit," Lan Zhan elaborated. Wei Ying blinked and then threw his head back laughing. A-Yuan looked rightfully confused but said nothing and continued to hold onto him.

"Ah, Lan Zhan. I didn't expect you to have such a good sense of humour," Wei Ying said. Lan Zhan loved how Wei Ying smiled, his eyes sparkled with glee. "I have a link to my portfolio on the back of my card. I'll be waiting for your email if you do decide to hire me."

"Mm. I will not keep you here any longer than. A-Yuan, we're going home now," Lan Zhan said. A-Yuan clung onto Wei Ying's shirt and gave his father a sad puppy look.

"You'll see me soon!" Wei Ying said and the sad puppy look redirected to him. "Your dad is a hard worker."

"To help him, I will be coming to pick you up!" Wei Ying said.

"Tomorrow?" Wei Ying laughed at his eagerness, all tears gone.

"Not so soon. Your dad will tell you, right?" Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan at the same time as A-Yuan.

Faced with the force of two of the most endearing individuals in the world, Lan Zhan almost wanted to work late tomorrow to give them both what they wanted.

"I'm afraid not. Wei Ying is also busy," Lan Zhan said. At least he hoped so. He sounded like he was doing okay.

However, Wei Ying shrugged before handing him A-Yuan. "It's okay. I have time. But remember what you promised? You said you would listen to your dad."

A-Yuan pouted but Wei Ying didn't cave.

"I will listen to father," A-Yuan promised. "But Wei-gege will come back?"

"Yes, Wei-gege will come back."

If Lan Zhan was a weaker man, he would have asked out Wei Ying instead of hiring him to pick-up and babysit his son.

As he watched Wei Ying talk to A-Yuan, assuring him that he won't be gone forever, Lan Zhan knew that Wei Ying was the one.

Wei Ying had no idea how to take care of kids. He can barely take care of himself!

It's fine when he accidentally starved himself because he miscalculated but now he's in charge of a child! But what's done is done. Wei Ying promised to take on the job and he'll do a good job.

He didn't hear back immediately from Lan Zhan, which was a little disappointing, but he got a few new clients.

One couple wanted artwork to put on their wedding welcome bags. Wei Ying offered to customize design the whole package.

In another email, a small business wanted to know if Wei Ying wanted to work a short term as their graphic designer for a project. After discussing the project details, Wei Ying accepted. It was mostly working from home with a few meetings with the team, but flexible enough.

The latest one was from the granddaughter of a sweet old lady who made soap bars. She wanted to help her grandmother net in more business by putting up products online.

It was a sweet gesture so Wei Ying offered a decent price to build the website in addition to posters.

For the rest of the week, Wei Ying focused on working on his current workload and tried not to look at his phone too many times as if that will make Lan Zhan call or text him faster.

He near completion with his other projects and started on a rough draft for the couple.

He didn't think too much about it until he was at Sunday lunch with his siblings again.

The banquet had been a success, which Wei Ying was told right after it happened. But it also meant that Jiang Yanli had time to pester him with the new summer special promotional design.

"Ah jiejie, did you try to sell me out to people again?" Wei Ying asked. Jiang Cheng grumbled about something about him being ungrateful but Wei Ying was curious where the new clients came from.

"A few of them did take your card, but I didn't say much," Jiang Yanli explained.

"Did something happen?" Wei Ying shook his head.

He normally thought that any corporate clients were from Jiang Cheng's recommendation and anything else was from Jiang Yanli. He did some promoting himself so he usually knew their situation before they sent in the details.

Part of him might have hoped that the clients came from Lan Zhan's recommendation. His siblings usually told him before hand if anyone seemed interested in his work.

"Just some new clients," Wei Ying explained. He was lucky enough to have recurring clients, aside from his sister

"Has Mr. Lan contacted you yet?" Jiang Yanli asked. He couldn't even be mad that she nailed down the issue he was suffering from.

"What has the idiot done this time?" Jiang Cheng asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing bad! Just babysitting his son!" Wei Ying protested.

"Why are you- You know what, I'm not questioning your love life."

"Love what? A-Cheng, you think you highly of me to think that such a high grade man would date someone like me," Wei Ying said.

Normally, Jiang Cheng fought back. Instead, he looked at him with furrowed brows.

"You know you aren't as bad as you say."

"A-Cheng, say anymore and I will throw up my lunch."

"A-Ying, he's right." Jiang Yanli put her hand over his clenched ones. "It's been a while since you last dated someone. I've seen the ways you looked at Mr. Lan."

"I'm just babysitting," Wei Ying whined.

"Yes, but you look at Mr. Lan like the sun faces the flower."

"Gross."

"A-Cheng."

"Sorry A-Jie."

"Anyway, Mr. Lan didn't seem opposed to you and even asked you to watch his son. Does that not mean anything?" Jiang Yanli asked.

"It just means he trusts me with his son. Nothing more," Wei Ying said, ending the conversation. The Jiang siblings took the hint and moved onto another topic. Wei Ying was grateful.

The rest of lunch was uneventful. But Wei Ying enjoyed his time with his siblings.

It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that he got a long text from Lan Zhan.

At first, he thought it was Jiang Yanli reminding him to eat lunch but when he opened it, he got the longest text he had seen in his life. He then finally looked at the contact name and saw Lan Zhan's name.

It was basically an email packed into a text message. Wei Ying wanted to cry at how cute Lan Zhan was.

He had a meeting on Thursday and required Wei Ying to pick up his son. A-Yuan will have the house key in his backpack and Wei Ying go to his house directly.

Wei Ying might have been a little flustered at the idea of being inside of Lan Zhan's house. But he was going to be professional about it. Though, he can be a little excited to be inside of hot dad's house. For professional reasons, is what Wei Ying said to himself.

He might be a little sad that he didn't get to see Lan Zhan until he got home, but he got to spend them with little A-Yuan!

Wei Ying responded to the text to inform Lan Zhan that he didn't own a care and will have to take a bus with A-Yuan. He got the okay a few minutes later.

He might have accidentally told Jiang Yanli on Wednesday that he was picking up A-Yuan the next day so he was invited back to the restaurant on Thursday for lunch.

"Jiejie, I'll eat you out of business like this," Wei Ying whined as he put on his seatbelt. Jiang Yanli giggled.

"Then I'll start a new business that is making sure my brother is eating well," Jiang Yanli teased as she started the car.

"That's a terrible business. No revenue, only expenditure!" Wei Ying countered.

"My revenue is seeing my brother healthy and happy. Enough for me."

"Jiejie," Wei Ying sobbed. If she was not driving, he would have pulled her into a hug and cried into her nice cardigan.

A-Yuan had pounced on Wei Ying once he stepped into the play space. Jiang Yanli giggled watching them interact before going to pick up her own son.

Lan Zhan had already told the preschool room staff that Wei Ying was the one picking up A-Yuan so he ran into no issues.

A-Yuan never rode a bus before, after being in Lan Zhan's care, so he watched with bright eyes as the bus rolled up to the stop.

Wei Ying demonstrated how he paid for his bus fare and A-Yuan mimicked it with his own bus pass. Lan Zhan had gotten it solely because Wei Ying didn't have a car.

It was incredibly sweet.

"Another little one?" the bus driver asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Babysitting this time," Wei Ying explained. He already looked up the bus routes to get to Lan Zhan's house. Luckily, they only had to change to another bus rather than Wei Ying's normally convoluted route.

"Next time, I want to see your kid!" the bus driver laughed merrily.

"Perhaps!" Wei Ying chirped. He walked over to the seats that A-Yuan occupied. He was standing on one of the seats to see outside.

Wei Ying helped him take off his backpack and placed it on his seat before holding him. He didn't want A-Yuan to lose balance when the bus moved.

"So A-Yuan, what do you normally do when you go home?" Wei Ying asked. They completed their book reading ritual, which took them 20 minutes. The bus ride was another 25-40 minute journey depending on traffic.

"Father and I cook dinner!" A-Yuan said happily.

His eyes glued to the scenery so he didn't see Wei Ying's panic.

"Cook dinner...?"

"Yes! I watch him cook and sometimes I help!" A-Yuan said. It helped Wei Ying's predicament anymore. Lan Zhan looked like the kind of parent that fed his child a beautiful homecooked meal.

But Wei Ying is a gremlin that survived on instant noodles and potato chips.

It wasn't that he couldn't cook. But he usually had Jiang Yanli around who did most of the cooking.

This was fine. He'll just look up a recipe now and drop by a grocery store on the way there.

"A-Yuan, what do you like to eat?" Wei Ying asked as he thought about the different dishes Jiang Yanli made for him before.

"Hmm." A-Yuan was taking his nice sweet time thinking as if every second was not ticking towards Wei Ying's inevitable destruction.

This is it. Lan Zhan is going to find out he is a disaster human and never want Wei Ying near him or his child.

Wei Ying would have broke out into tears if A-Yuan didn't give a little shrug and said "I don't know" in a cute, non-condescending way.

It's okay. He can fix this.

He can't fix this, Wei Ying thought to himself as he stood in the grocery store with a preschooler in one hand and a shopping basket in the other.

He couldn't even recall the last time he had been inside of grocery store, always opting for the local convenience store.

Something caught A-Yuan's eyes and he was tugged along by the child. Wei Ying nearly wept in relief when asked if they could buy some fruits. Apparently he had apple slices last night and wanted to eat oranges today.

Wei Ying wasn't about to get between a child and chocolate.

They picked out two oranges, one for them to share and one for Lan Zhan. A-Yuan is the sweetest child and Wei Ying will fist fight anyone that said otherwise. Jin Ling was a brat even if he was Jiang Yanli's son.

"What do you normally eat at home?" Wei Ying asked.

He was looking at the variety of vegetables because those are good for children. Or so he heard...

When A-Yuan listed off names of actual dishes and not just some random combination of spam, egg, and instant noodles, Wei Ying was near the verge of a breakdown.

Wei Ying was completely out of his depth. What was he doing??

"Wei-gege?"

"Yes, A-Yuan?" he asked as if he's not about to have a panic attack in the grocery store with a child.

"Can we have noodles?" A-Yuan truly was a godsent child.

Wei Ying dropped the basket in favour of picking him up to kiss his chubby cheeks. A-Yuan squealed in delight.

Realizing they were probably creating a disturbance, Wei Ying put him back on the ground, picked up the basket, and went to find noodles.

A-Yuan wanted ho fun (picture below) and who was Wei Ying to say no?

He could probably make some soup noodles, add some vegetables and meat into a pot and cook it for a while. That was easy enough!

At the meat section, Wei Ying was debating between red or white meat when A-Yuan pointed over to the fish balls. Wei Ying patted his head and added it to the basket.

A-Yuan didn't have an opinion when it came to vegetables so Wei Ying looked up what went well in soup noodles.

"What a cute son you have." Wei Ying didn't know he was being addressed until he looked up and saw an elderly woman smiling in front of him.

"Oh, I'm not-"

"So well behaved too. Have some candy," the woman handed A-Yuan a piece of wrapped candy.

A-Yuan took it and looked up at Wei Ying. He knew little about dental health and children, but he wasn't the one to make the call.

"Say thank you to the nice lady. I'll put it in your backpack for later."

"Thank you!" A-Yuan gave a toothy smile and the woman laughed.

"You're a dutiful husband too. My husband would never do a grocery run, much less pick up our kids."

"You're misund-"

"Be a good boy," the woman once again ignored him and turned to A-Yuan. "Remember you listen to your dad."

"..."

"I will!" A-Yuan chirped.

The woman left and Wei Ying turned to A-Yuan the same time the boy looked up at him.

"A-Yuan, why didn't you correct her?" A-Yuan blinked cutely and then shrugged. Wei Ying sighed. The first time he was babysitting and he was mistaken to be the child's parent.

Wei Ying grabbed a bag of bok choy and some scallions for garnish.

He didn't want to raid Lan Zhan's kitchen for ingredients so he got some flavour cubes as well for the broth. When he put the bottle of chili oil into the basket, A-Yuan asked him what it was.

"To make your food spicy!" Wei Ying explained.

"Spicy?" A-Yuan asked with the adorable head tilt.

"Have you not eaten anything spicy before?" A-Yuan shook his head. "Well, Wei-gege will teach you then!"

"Yay!" A-Yuan cheered. Wei Ying wondered what else he hadn't tried before.

At checkout, the cashier told him how cute his "son" was again and ignored when Wei Ying tried to explain A-Yuan was not his son. He had started to wonder if A-Yuan was really his son or some relative Wei Ying never knew about.

The meeting ran longer than Lan Zhan expected. Having escaped many of the afternoon meetings, he never realized how tedious and annoyingly long they ran.

He had already announced that he would stay for the full duration of the meeting so he could not use A-Yuan as an escape.

When the meeting finally came to an end, Lan Zhan checked his phone. There were two messages and it was from Wei Ying. It was a photo of him and A-Yuan on the childcare playground, followed by "Target acquired! Now en route to drop off location. Meet you there!"

Lan Zhan held back a snort but Lan Huan could see the amusement on his younger brother's face.

"Meet someone new?" Lan Zhan locked his phone and shoved it in his pocket.

"I need to get home. A-Yuan is waiting."

"Ah, must be the sitter you hired."

Sometimes, he really disliked how well his brother can read his miniscule reactions. Lan Zhan resorted to not answering and trying to keep his face blank so Lan Huan couldn't read anything more. But the damage is done.

"Say hello to the babysitter and A-Yuan for me."

"Have a good evening, brother," Lan Zhan said before walking out of the meeting room. He grabbed his coat and briefcase.

He debated on calling Wei Ying but didn't want to come off as distrustful. Lan Zhan could see how much A-Yuan taken a liking to Wei Ying.

He didn't call and headed home directly.

Lan Zhan was surprised when he got home and Wei Ying was wearing his apron. This was bad for his heart.

"Lan Zhan!" "Father!"

The twin smiles were too much. His heart was so full. He will mourn when Wei Ying leaves. He was greedy now.

"I uh, wasn't sure what you usually made at home so I had A-Yuan help me choose! I have to say that A-Yuan has great taste," Wei Ying said and winked at the child. A-Yuan tried to do the same but ended up blinking really hard at Wei Ying. Lan Zhan found the scene endearing.

"Sit down! You must be tired after a long day," Wei Ying talked as he walked back to the stove top.

Lan Zhan sat down next to his son and A-Yuan wanted to feed him a fish ball. Wei Ying saved him by placing his own serving in front of him, but it was red compared to A-Yuan's.

"I wasn't sure how spicy you liked your food so I only added some!" Wei Ying said with such a bright smile that Lan Zhan swallowed his next words. "A-Yuan didn't do well with spice so I gave him a new bowl. Hope you don't mind me eating some too!"

"You worked hard. Join us."

Lan Zhan genuinely wanted Wei Ying to enjoy the food he made himself, but he also wanted to spend more time with him.

"Is that alright?" Wei Ying asked. "I don't want to impose..."

"Eat with us!" A-Yuan added happily. Wei Ying finally acquiesced. A-Yuan smiled at his father.

Lan Zhan turned back to his food and stared at it for a moment. He was used to eating more plain flavours, but he also didn't want to ruin Wei Ying's effort.

"Father..." A-Yuan looked at him pitifully after seeing his bowl. Wei Ying came back and his bowl was even redder.

"Spicy is the best! Too bad A-Yuan can't handle it," Wei Ying said. A-Yuan nodded a little hesitantly. "Were you waiting for me? You should have just started eating! It's probably late for you too. A-Yuan told me about your bedtime. Eat eat!"

Lan Zhan watched as Wei Ying picked up the noodles with his chopstick, coated in the red sheen of chili oil and ate. Lan Zhan picked up strands of noodle and put it into his mouth.

The spicy hit him immediately; his tongue burned. Wei Ying smiled at him from across the table.

"How is it? Good right?" Wei Ying asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Good," Lan Zhan responded. His throat burned too.

"More milk?" A-Yuan asked, pushing his half full cup towards Lan Zhan. His son was giving him an out. He could feel himself tear up from the spice.

He took the cup and walked to the fridge. He poured more milk for A-Yuan and another glass for himself. He tried to be subtle but downing half the glass was the least subtle thing he could have done.

When Lan Zhan went back to the dinner table, he finished the spicy noodles.

It wasn't easy when his eyes were watering with every bite. The milk wasn't as effective over time and he was losing feeling in his mouth. He could barely taste the food with the chili oil and his numb tongue.

If A-Yuan said it was good, Lan Zhan had no reason to disagree.

Dinner went well, overlooking the fact that Lan Zhan probably can't taste anything with his numb tongue for the next few days.

Wei Ying even bought fruit on A-Yuan's insistence.

There was something oddly domestic about the affair that Lan Zhan will look into at another time.

Right now, he needed to bath A-Yuan and put him to bed.

"Leave the dishes in the sink," Lan Zhan said. "I will clean it up after A-Yuan sleeps."

"It's not much work! I'm just going to rinse everything before putting it in the dish washer. I'll leave after," Wei Ying smiled.

It was only now that Lan Zhan fully registered Wei Ying standing in his kitchen wearing his light blue apron with a white bunny eating a carrot.

He only hoped his face betrayed nothing before A-Yuan spoke up again.

"Wei-gege is leaving?"

"He needs to go home too," Lan Zhan said patiently. A-Yuan never threw a fuss when they left childcare after storytime with Wei Ying. But now, he looked close to tears and Lan Zhan is at a loss on how to comfort him.

"Aww, why is our little A-Yuan sad?"

Wei Ying had dried his hands and walked over to A-Yuan, currently perched in against Lan Zhan's hip. He bent down to match A-Yuan's level but all Lan Zhan could focus on was how close the other was.

"Storytime," A-Yuan whimpered, valiantly holding in his tears.

"We already read a story together, remember?" Wei Ying said patiently. A-Yuan sniffled.

"Bedtime story."

"I will read you one," Lan Zhan cutted in. Wei Ying already did more than necessary. "Say goodbye now."

"Noooooooo," A-Yuan whined and the waterworks started.

Before Lan Zhan could reprimand his son, Wei Ying said, "I can read you a bedtime story."

The tears stopped immediately and A-Yuan looked at Wei Ying like he was a saint.

"Really?" A-Yuan asked, eyes bright with hope.

"Just one," Wei Ying said. He even gestured with his hand.

A-Yuan grabbed the one finger with his small hands and nodded.

"And, you have to be a good boy and go take a bath with your father," Wei Ying added. A-Yuan nodded and turned to Lan Zhan.

"I'm sorry. You don't-"

"It's okay, I sleep late anyway. Go wash up. Curfew is coming."

Lan Zhan usually bathed with his son. It saved time and served as a bonding moment. Since Wei Ying was here, he didn't want him to wait for too long.

A-Yuan pouted when Lan Zhan rolled up his sleeves instead of joining him, but the reminder of Wei Ying turned it into a smile.

A-Yuan recounted his day for Lan Zhan since he didn't pick him up at childcare.

"And then, the cash lady-"

"Cashier."

"She said that I was cute!" A-Yuan said with pride. Lan Zhan always knew he was a cute child. He didn't think it was parental bias but this only solidified it.

"A-Yuan, do you like Wei Ying?" Lan Zhan asked.

"Wei-gege is very nice and pretty. The old lady called him A-Yuan's dad."

Lan Zhan meant as a babysitter, although he could tell that Wei Ying was very good with children and A-Yuan. But what is he supposed to do with this info??

"Did... what did Wei Ying say?" Lan Zhan asked.

"Wei-gege said he is not my dad," A-Yuan said nonchalantly as he squeezed his rubber ducky.

Lan Zhan expected the answer, but it didn't hurt any less.

It was terrifying how well Wei Ying fit into his life, their little family.

When Lan Zhan came home, it really felt like a home. Not that he was looking for someone to stay at home, take care of A-Yuan, and prepare dinner so Lan Zhan could come home to a prepared meal.

Wei Ying fit so seamlessly into both their lives, a source of warmth and happiness.

Lan Zhan always had a hard time letting people in, yet Wei Ying easily possessed a spot in his heart.

On a selfish whim, Lan Zhan asked the man to babysit his child that he was fully capable of caring for himself. Said man went as far as to buy groceries and make dinner.

According to A-Yuan, Wei Ying was a little lost, following the 3-year-old's lead. It was endearing and A-Yuan caught the rare smile on his father's face.

He liked to think he smiled more around A-Yuan. The boy cherished each point, making sure to point it out.

Despite their talking and few shocking revelations, A-Yuan was washed in record time and dressed in the pjs he chose himself. They were little blue with cloud and bunny pattern.

Lan Zhan dried his hair before they found Wei Ying on his phone in their living room.

"All clean?" Wei Ying asked. He looked up frrom his phone with a big smile. A-Yuan, who ran over to sit beside Wei Ying, nodded. "Okay, show me your room! Do you have a book you want to read or do you want me to make one up?"

"Wei-gege's story!!" A-Yuan cheered.

"Is there something A-Yuan needs to do before bed?" Wei Ying asked, looking at Lan Zhan.

"No, he is ready for bed." Lan Zhan said. Normally, A-Yuan is in bed later, but he can already tell his energy is waning.

"Okay, off to bed we go!" Wei Ying stood up and took A-Yuan's hand.

Wei Ying stopped just before passing by Lan Zhan. "I turned on the dish washer. I don't know how long it runs but I thought I'd let you know. Also, feel free to take a shower or something. I'll make sure he's asleep so you can have a break!"

"A-Yuan, what kind of story do you want?"

"Bunnies!"

"Again? You'll turn into a bunny too!"

"A-Yuan is a little bun!"

"Eh, who said that?"

"Father said I'm his little bun!"

The door closed after and Lan Zhan could not hear them anymore. It was too cute for him to handle.

Lan Zhan didn't realize how tired he felt after the long meeting. Even when helping A-Yuan bathe, he was too busy with his thoughts about Wei Ying.

He lingered for a bit longer, thinking about how well Wei Ying and A-Yuan got along.

Wei Ying would make a good parent to A-Yuan.

Lan Zhan shook his head. He shouldn't fantasize about Wei Ying. He should take him out on a date or something, or at least state his intentions.

With his mind made up, Lan Zhan went to take a shower.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, luckily clothed, Wei Ying also left A-Yuan's room. Lan Zhan was drying his hair with the towel as he watched Wei Ying slowly close the door. He turned and jumped slightly at the sight of Lan Zhan, patting his hand on his chest.

They walked back to the livingroom before Wei Ying spoke again.

"You scared me," Wei Ying said and took a few deep breaths.

"My apologies. I did not intend to."

"It's fine. I was just... A-Yuan is asleep. We didn't finish the story so he might ask you about it."

"You can continue next time."

"Next time?" Lan Zhan paused.

"My apologies for assuming. I thought that you would-"

"OH!" Wei Ying exclaimed, then clamped his hands over his mouth. He then whispered, "Oh, I would love to babysit A-Yuan again. I thought you would fire me."

"No, you did wonderfully. A-Yuan is very happy," Lan Zhan explained. "A-Yuan will be happy to see you again."

"Oh, yeah. A-Yuan is a good kid," Wei Ying said and shuffled his feet a little. "I should- I'll go now. It's getting late."

"Let me drive you," Lan Zhan blurted out.

"I'll take the bus. They run until 3 in the morning on weekdays. I only know because- Anyway, I'll-" Wei Ying waved his hand towards the entrance, "Good night, Lan Zhan."

"Good night," Lan Zhan said. Wei Ying smiled at him before he closed the door and left.

Wei Ying's heart pounded in his chest when he ran out into the streets. He already looked up the bus route back home, but he's full of restless energy now.

He was sure his dumb crush was just a temporary infatuation. He wasn't supposed to get closer to Lan Zhan or fall in love.

Lan Zhan was probably too nice to say anything rude to him. He was just naturally good.

Even if he looked like he wanted to die from the sheer amount of spice, Lan Zhan didn't say anything and braved it.

To Wei Ying's defense, he accidentally poured more chili oil than normal.

He meant it as a joke when he gave it to Lan Zhan. Jiang Cheng would have tried to kick him if he pulled that off with him.

Wei Ying groaned as he plopped onto the bench while he waited for his bus.

It was a babysitting job. He's meant to watch A-Yuan until Lan Zhan came home. Not cook dinner and play house.

Wei Ying wanted to cry. He loved babysitting A-Yuan, one of the easiest to take care of children in the world. But he has to do something about his dumb crush.

Lan Zhan was far too kind, far too hot, and far too out of his league.

The bus arrived and Wei Ying got on.

He sat in the near empty bus, wondering what went wrong in his life when his phone pinged with a new message.

From Lan Zhan:
Message me when you arrive home.
Also, we did not discuss the payment for your services today. I will pay you back for the groceries as well. Thank you again.

"Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan. Why are you so good?" Wei Ying whispered at his phone before typing a reply.

Sorry, didn't mean to leave this thread alone for so long 😭🙏

Here's the beginning for those who haven't read it yet or need a refresher!

https://twitter.com/yumichanhamano/status/1330296670383443970

Wei Ying was asked again to babysit on Wednesday. This time, there was a link to a recipe and a picture of the ingredients in what he assumed to be Lan Zhan's refrigerator.

He thanked the man and Wednesday evening was less of a disaster.

Wei Ying stayed for dinner again, on Lan Zhan's insistence, but left after the dishes were washed.

They eventually fall into a nice rhythm.

On days Wei Ying is asked to babysit, the fridge and cupboards are filled with the needed ingredients and links to the recipe on his phone

Lan Zhan would come home to two warm smiles and a homecooked meal. They all sat at the table to eat, Wei Ying and A-Yuan talked about their day, and Lan Zhan contributed when asked.

When dinner is finished, Lan Zhan and A-Yuan bathe while Wei Ying cleaned and washed the dishes.

By the time Lan Zhan and A-Yuan step out of the bathroom, Wei Ying is gone.

Sometimes, A-Yuan is able to convince Wei Ying to stand for a bedtime story. Sometimes, he doesn't.

Eventually, Wei Ying started bringing his laptop so he can do some work while waiting for A-Yuan to be bathed.

There was once that Wei Ying became super engrossed with explaining to A-Yuan his work that he forgot to cook dinner. Lan Zhan ordered takeout after he got home.

Then, he joined Wei Ying and A-Yuan on the couch as Wei Ying continued to explain the different tools and tricks he used to draw.

He dew multiple bunnies on the canvas at the request of A-Yuan to show off the different brushes. A-Yuan asked him to print it out.

The picture was framed and put up in A-Yuan's room.

Two weeks later when Wei Ying entered A-Yuan's room to read him a bedtime story, he burst out in laughter over how cute A-Yuan was. Lan Zhan's ears were burning so hot that he didn't get a chance to explain it was his idea.

Lan Zhan was used to using body language to get his thoughts across. But he wasn't sure how to read Wei Ying's body language.

Wei Ying would sling his hand over his shoulder, pull him around by the wrist, and sometimes hug him before pulling away.

Lan Zhan tried to reciprocate: guiding him away from table corners by the elbow, sitting closer than necessary, and staring way too long in Wei Ying's direction.

His brother suggested he simply talk to Wei Ying, but it was a terrible idea. What would be do if Wei Ying said no?

Even worse, what would be do if Wei Ying said yes?

Lan Zhan had once thought he was too difficult to love. A-Yuan broke his expectations and called him Father. He accepted it as a one time thing. Then Wei Ying barged into his life with a bright smile and kind laughter.

-

Wei Ying always knew that Lan Zhan was too good for this world, too precious to belong to anyone, but there was an undeniable /want/ when it came to the little Lan family.

A-Yuan was an absolute delight and Lan Zhan was... simply Lan Zhan. There are no words to describe him.

Wei Ying wasn't trying to be subtle, but he didn't want to ruin the nice dynamic between them either.

Lan Zhan might not be noticed, but Wei Ying always saw how his mouth is curved down like a pout when he said he couldn't stay longer. It was devastating to Wei Ying's heart.

He started bringing his laptop before his heart gave out on him. Lan Zhan didn't understand the power he held over him.

It was by chance that A-Yuan asked him what he did for work and it ended up being all they talked about for hours.

Wei Ying felt bad when he forgot to cook dinner. He was so excited to make scallion pancakes with A-Yuan, but they didn't have time to make something. When he stopped rambling, he finally noticed that he was getting pretty hungry too.

It was always the little things that Lan Zhan did that made Wei Ying fall deeper and deeper in love.

Lan Zhan was always messaged him in the afternoon since Wei Ying is rarely awake in the mornings. He would send A-Yuan to daycare with an extra scarf for Wei Ying, who forgets.

He reminded Wei Ying to eat on days they don't meet and ask if Wei Ying had been sleeping well when his texts stop making sense.

Lan Zhan went as far as to bring him dinner with A-Yuan when he admitted to forgetting to eat while chasing a deadline.

So maybe it was more than a little crush and Jiang Cheng was tired of hearing him go on about how kind and sweet Lan Zhan was.

But it wasn't as easy as Jiang Yanli made it out to be. He can't just tell Lan Zhan, "Hey, I think you're really cute and we should date."

"You can do something nice for him. His birthday is coming up," she said like it was not a big deal. It was a big deal; a huge deal. How did she even know his birthday was coming up?

(During Wei Ying's panic, she told him she learned from Lan Huan, who was Lan Zhan's not twin.)

Maybe Wei Ying was a little panicked when Lan Zhan texted him about babysitting A-Yuan the same before his birthday. There was a recipe for chicken fried rice, which was apparently A-Yuan's request, but he wanted to so something with just the two of them.

When he asked Jiang Yanli to take A-Yuan for the evening, she was more than delighted to help. A-Yuan was equally easy to convince when it meant he had time to play with Jin Ling outside of the childcare.

Wei Ying worked hard on the birthday meal for Lan Zhan.

Even if it doesn't work out between them, Wei Ying still wanted to do something nice for Lan Zhan.

He was just finished cooking dinner and plated everything when the oven started smoking. He realized he was baking the cake and it was likely burning.

That's the scene that Lan Zhan returned home to. Wei Ying opening the windows in the kitchen to air out the smoke while the burnt remains of the cake sat on the counter.

Lan Zhan barely said his name before Wei Ying crumbled to the floor and started crying.

Wei Ying tried so hard to make something nice but he always messed things up.

He didn't realize Lan Zhan was holding him until he felt a warm breath on his ear. "I'm here," Lan Zhan said and it was all Wei Ying needed to turn limp in Lan Zhan's arms.

When he finally calmed, he felt embarrassed crying all over Lan Zhan's expensive suit jacket.

"Sorry, I wanted to do something nice for you and ruined your baking pan."

"Mm, it's fine. A-Yuan?"

Of course Lan Zhan would be worried about his son. He had no right to be upset.

"With my sister. I thought we could have a nice dinner together since it's your birthday tomorrow."

"My birthday?"

Wei Ying pulled away from Lan Zhan and saw the confusion etched into his handsome features. "Lan Zhan, it is your birthday tomorrow, right?"

Lan Zhan frowned. "Mm, it must be since brother asked me to join him for lunch tomorrow."

"Lan Zhan, did you forget your own birthday?"

"It is unimportant."

"What do you mean unimportant? It's super important! It's your birthday!! You only have one birthday a year!"

"Mm. When is Wei Ying's birthday?"

"Huh? We're talking about your birthday! That is tomorrow!"

"Hm, but I wish to know Wei Ying's birthday so I can celebrate it with him," Lan Zhan said earnestly, then added, "together."

"Lan Zhan! It's your birthday and I made a mess of your kitchen. Can we focus on /your/ birthday and now I ruined your surprise?"

"Not ruined. I am surprised," Lan Zhan said and Wei Ying whined. He notice how Lan Zhan's hands still haven't left his waist. "Thank you, Wei Ying."

"I should have just bought a cake," Wei Ying muttered.

"Wei Ying can bake me a cake tomorrow," Lan Zhan said. "Or the day after. Anytime he wishes. I will eat anything Wei Ying makes."

"Geez, Lan Zhan, you make it sound like a marriage proposal," Wei Ying joked.

After realizing what he said, Wei Ying mentally slapped himself.

"Hm, is Wei Ying opposed to it?" Wei Ying grew red.

"Take me to dinner at least! And- and get me flowers! I want to be taken on a nice date first!" Wei Wuxian sputtered out of surprise.

"When are you free?"

"Lan Zhan! You- You can't just! Just!" Lan Zhan looked on with amusement. Wei Ying's brain turned to mush the moment Lan Zhan stared back at him with fondness.

"Mm?"

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying whined and fell forward, back into Lan Zhan's arms. "I like you, okay? I like you a lot but all I do is make a fool of myself whenever I'm around you."

"Mm. I like Wei Ying too, no matter what you do."

"Even if I almost burned down your kitchen?"

"Even then."

"You won't get mad?"

"No. I will worry if you or A-Yuan gotten hurt. I can replace the kitchen. I cannot replace Wei Ying."

"Lan Zhan! We're not even together and you're saying such sweet things to me!"

"Are we not? I am taking you out on a date," Lan Zhan said. Wei Ying's laugh was muffled on his suit jacket, but it was enough to soothe the tension in his body.

Wei Ying sat back again. This time, he cupped Lan Zhan's face in his hands. "My handsome boyfriend."

Lan Zhan smiled. "My clumsy boyfriend."

Wei Ying frowned but Lan Zhan did what he always wanted to do. He leaned forward and kissed Wei Ying. The frown was gone and Wei Ying became a sputtering mess again.

By the time they ate, the food was cold.

It didn't matter as they were too busy staring at each other.

The next day, Wei Ying went over to Lan Zhan's house. This time, the three of them worked together to bake the cake. It wasn't the best cake they had, but it didn't matter as it was shared with the people they loved.

The end :)

Of course wangxian got married and lived happily ever after :) I just ran out of brain cells for this thread lol

Here's the tweet from the beginning!

https://twitter.com/yumichanhamano/status/1330296670383443970