Two weeks after the start of seventh grade, one could find Lan Huan smiling brightly. No longer single—he had a girlfriend, and he was so incredibly happy. Two weeks before the end of seventh grade, Wei Ying called him out on "talking shit in the boys' locker room" and threatened to "beat your face in, you son of a—"
No more ice cream for Lan Huan.
It is common knowledge that Mo Xuanyu is better at the whole dark magic business than Xue Yang, but he never does anything without Wei Ying's permission, so going to him is useless. Wei Ying himself will never help Lan Huan, even if Nie Huaisang asks him, so their only option left is Wen Ning. Problem: Wen Ning is a bit of a wild card. With Wei Ying, at least, you can rely on him to do the most absolutely inconvenient thing at any given moment, but Wen Ning swings all over the spectrum. At times, he's so kind and sweet that you can only think of him as a cinnamon roll, and at other times it becomes very apparent that all the bullying he went through in elementary and middle school has not left him and he's still an incredibly spiteful person.
It's a game of chance, going to him for help. Hopefully, you'll catch him in a good mood.
Lan Huan and Nie Huaisang do not catch him in a good mood.
During her freshman year, Wen Qing commandeered the school's extra science lab and made it very clear that it was her's, and the only reason anyone should go in was to ask her for help. The next year, when Wen Ning arrived at school, he joined his sister in her science lab, taking half of it for his own use.
Wei Ying breaks in and hangs out every now and then, much to Wen Qing's chagrin (though, she can't do much when the target of her ire can lose his corporeal form whenever he wants to) but, generally, people only go to the Wen Lab for specific reasons. Lan Huan and Nie Huaisang have a very specific reason, so they see no reason to not knock on its door.
When the door swings open, they find themselves face-to-face with a very disheveled Wen Ning. He squints at them, stares blankly at the lights, and then sighs and ushers them inside. "Lan Huan," he says, voice painfully scratchy—from disuse, probably, "Nie Huaisang. What brings you here?"
"Ah, I can tell that you're preoccupied," Nie Huaisang says, eyeing the squirming gray mass of…something…squirming between some prongs on Wen Ning's desk. It manages to wiggle free. Wen Ning blandly takes a carving knife and stabs it into the mass, which lets out a hoarse scream before going limp. His expression does not change. Nie Huaisang continues, "We'll make this quick."
"Go on," he says.
"Did you give Meng Yao a voodoo doll?"
"No," Wen Ning replies shortly. "I specialize more in the matters of life and death—linking life forces to inanimate objects are part of Wei Ying's repertoire. Anything else?"
The gray mass has started moving again, screaming and reaching toward Lan Huan, who lets his curiosity get the best of him. "What is that?" he asks.
Wen Ning stares at it. "A manifestation of negative emotions, I think. I don't know—like I said, it's not really my forte. Wei Ying wanted me to play around with it." He turns a blank stare to Lan Huan. "…you take it."
Lan Huan blinks. "What?" And Lan Huan finds a writhing, squishy, gray mass shoved into his hands. It curls around the middle and pointer fingers of his left arm, snuggling close, and Lan Huan repeats, "What?" The mass snuggles closer.
Wen Ning, as monotone as ever, says, "Consider it a gift." Then he bodily shoves both Lan Huan and Nie Huaisang out of the Wen Lab, ignoring their screeches. "Thank you for your business." And so the door is slammed shut.
Nie Huaisang stares at it, then at the gray mass. "It needs a name," he decides, because of course he does. "How about Bob the Blob?"
Bob the Blob bobs up and down in agreement, and who is Lan Huan to disagree with it? Nie Huaisang grins. "Looks like we have a child, now, Lan Huan."
For the second time today, Lan Huan is absolutely sure that he's going to die.
Both Lan Huan and Nie Huaisang collectively procrastinate on confronting Wei Ying—for good reason, of course. There is a very real chance that he'll turn them away once he finds out about Lan Huan's involvement in the ordeal.
During this period of procrastination, Bob the Blob grows from the size of his thumb to the size of his palm, and it keeps trying to curl up on Lan Huan's middle and pointer fingers, and he tolerates it right up until it feels too warm, too heavy, too real. People touching him there is Not Good, for Reasons. He makes sure to pry it off and explain, very gently, that it cannot do that anymore.
His blob child proceeds to continue to do it, so the next time Lan Huan pries it off, he's firmer. It still does it. The final time he pries it off, he yells, "Stop touching my hand!"
That is what his brother opens the door to. Lan Zhan stares at him, then Bob the Blob, and goes, "Oh." He walks in and closes the door shut behind him. "Is Baobei giving you a hard time?"
His little brother has already named Bob the Blob, and he's named it Baobei. It makes sense, of course—Wen Ning did mention that Wei Ying had given it to him, and Lan Zhan seems to know everything that Wei Ying does, so of course he already knows about Lan Huan's blob child. Lan Huan states very clearly, "This is Bob the Blob, your nibling."
Lan Zhan pauses. "I apologize."
"You are forgiven." He goes back to Bob the Blob. "It's grown quite a bit."
"It grows in conjunction with negative emotion."
"Then it would grow less if it stopped touching my hand."
"Boundaries are important," Lan Zhan says patiently to Bob the Blob, who immediately lets go of Lan Huan's fingers and shrinks away. "Good child," Lan Zhan says.
Lan Huan's blob child promptly scurries up his arm and rests itself atop Lan Huan's head, which is arguably worse. "Come down," he says sharply. Bob the Blob clings on tighter and Lan Huan just sighs. "Disobedient child."
"What is so bad about it, Brother?" Lan Zhan asks, blinking up at it.
Lan Huan frowns. "I don't like it touching my hand or my head."
"Why?"
"No reason." Many reasons, actually. But they can broadly be categorized as one reason that Lan Huan refuses to think about. Oh, but now he's thinking about it, isn't he? He's thinking about the way she would stroke his hand and pat his head and— "Bob," Lan Huan says, immediately gripping Bob the Blob, "do not go on my head, either!"
Bob the Blob lets out a whimper and Lan Huan immediately hugs it close as an apology. Lan Zhan observes it all with a critical eye, then says, "Brother…she was very kind. It is okay to miss her."
And it's definitely not his fault, but his words were the exact wrong thing to say. So, Lan Huan says, "A-Zhan, I need to be alone for a bit."
Lan Zhan's face twists up in an expression that Lan Huan approximates to "hurt and concerned" but leaves without a protest. Bob the Blob curls around Lan Huan's middle and pointer finger, and he thinks.
Jiang Yanli was actually the one who asked him out. The thought of dating her hadn't even crossed his mind before then, but he wasn't against the idea when she brought it up. And, with a smile, Lan Huan got his first (and only) girlfriend at the age of twelve. They did the normal couple things, dating as well as middle schoolers could, and even his uncle found it somewhat amusing.
To be honest, Lan Huan doesn't remember much of their time together. Though it mattered at the time, the feelings have long since faded away.
By the end of the school year—exactly two weeks beforehand—Lan Huan was once again single, and he entered the boys' locker room mere minutes afterward. Wei Ying floated in a few seconds later.
Lan Huan left the boys' locker room with his fate sealed.
Now, he stares at Bob the Blob and whispers, "Just…don't touch my fingers or face, okay?"
Bob the Blob nuzzles into his chest, and Lan Huan counts that as a win.
The next day, at school, Lan Huan is eating quietly with Meng Yao—Bob the Blob set in his backpack so it doesn't try to steal a bite—when someone places a bottle of lemonade next to him. He blinks at it, perplexed, then looks up. His eyes widen in delight. "Mingjue!" he says. "You're back!"
"Yeah," Nie Mingjue says, slumping into his seat. "That flu shot really screwed me over."
Lan Huan nods sympathetically. "They can be rather strong, yes." Nie Mingjue is odd like that—he can handle chopping wood and battling whatever monstrosity Xue Yang sets loose on the town just fine, but even a slight cold will have him out of commission for a week at least. "But you're feeling better now?"
"Yes," Nie Mingjue agrees. His eyes aren't on Lan Huan, though. Instead, he's staring intently at Meng Yao, who's grip on his soup spoon is so tight that his knuckles have faded to snow-white.
Bob the Blob tries to crawl out of his backpack, so Lan Huan shoves it back inside. "We're all back together, now," Lan Huan says sunnily. "Isn't this nice?" It is not nice. Meng Yao still has that Nie Mingjue voodoo doll shoved into his backpack and Nie Mingjue still looks like he's going to pummel Meng Yao if he so much as looks at him funny. They used to be best friends—better friends with each other than with Lan Huan, in fact. But, of course, that was all back in that nebulous timeframe where things were Somewhat Okay, but now they are firmly out of that timeframe, so Lan Huan is caught in an endless tug-of-war between the two of them, desperately trying to keep his balance.
It is not going very well, as evident from the voodoo doll, but he is trying. Bob the Blob grows to the size of his hand, which is something he can sense—a feature that is horribly unhelpful in managing anxiety, if you ask him.
Meng Yao says, "Nie Mingjue. I see you're doing well."
Nie Mingjue responds, "And I see you're still a piece of shit."
Meng Yao lets out a deep breath, then sends him a tight-lipped smile. "And I see that you're still a—"
"How about we eat?" Lan Huan asks. "Come on, eating is fun! Nutrition! Fueling ourselves for the rest of the day!" Lan Huan smiles and he looks down at his food. It is another lettuce sandwich that he had to pick the turkey off of. Meng Yao has been too preoccupied to give him gummy bears. The lemonade Nie Mingjue bought him is his least favorite brand. Lan Qiren still doesn't understand why he would bring lunch from home.
Lan Huan would really like to cry right about now, but he forces himself to finish eating. "Mmm, nutritious." Lies, all of it. He eats anyway.
He's rewarded for his efforts by Nie Huaisang who, after lunch, corners him and drags him off. "We need to meet Wei Ying," he says. "Soon."
"Didn't you eat lunch with him?" Lan Huan asks. "Really, you can ask him—"
"No!" Nie Huaisang denies. "Wei Ying is very straightforward! He bails out at the slightest hint of deception, and he can sense these kinds of things, you know. Ghosts can do that." He waves his arms around cryptically, and his phone accidentally smacks Lan Huan's chest. Memories from the locker room grip him. He might faint.
Nie Huaisang continues, "We have to be sneaky about it! We have to—"
"Ask my brother, perhaps?" Lan Huan asks vaguely. "Wei Ying listens to A-Zhan."
Nie Huaisang stares. "Lan Huan," he says, "you're a genius! I knew I liked you for a reason!" He reaches up and pulls Lan Huan down for a quick, tight hug, then grabs his arm and starts dragging him to Lan Zhan's next period.
…well then. Nie Huaisang "likes" him? The thought brings a grin on his features. He can work with that.
The orchestra teacher, Mr. McHugh, isn't all that interested in actually, you know, teaching. Luckily, the entirety of the orchestra is largely self-sufficient, doing their own work and planning their own events. Lan Zhan once explained the proper procedure for getting Mr. McHugh's approval for anything: slipping the paper in front of him, saying very clearly, "Sign," and then watch as Mr. McHugh signs his signature without even looking away from his computer.
So, of course, he doesn't care when two students walk into his classroom. Actually, he probably doesn't even notice them. Vaguely, Lan Huan wonders if he should report such an obvious oversight to the administration.
…nah.
Lan Zhan is sequestered in the strings section, messing with a metronome with narrowed eyes, when Lan Huan and Nie Huaisang ambush him. "Hey," Nie Huaisang says sweetly, "Lan Zhan, we need a favor."
There is a very real possibility that the only reason Lan Zhan doesn't proceed to elbow them both in the rib cage is because Nie Huaisang is his best friend and Lan Huan is his older brother. He lets himself be hauled out of his chair and into the hallways, where he taps his foot in time with the metronome. "What happened?"
"Did Wei Ying ever give A-Yao a voodoo doll?" Lan Huan asks.
Lan Zhan stares into the distance, eyebrows furrowed, but eventually manages, "No, I do not believe so."
"Oh," Nie Huaisang says.
"But, if you're concerned, all life-binding magic can be neutralized by flames," Lan Zhan says.
"How do you know that?"
"Wei Ying told me."
Oh, well, fair enough. Nie Huaisang smiles. "Ah, we'll let you get back to your violin now—"
"Viola," Lan Zhan says, and it's almost a hiss. "I play the viola."
Nie Huaisang stares at him, and then a look of unbelievable sorrow falls over his face. "Oh, Lan Zhan…you poor thing…"
"The viola is valid!" Lan Zhan yells before sharply turning his back to Nie Huaisang and walking back into the orchestra room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Nie Huaisang bursts into delighted giggles once Lan Zhan is out of hearing range. "I've been calling his viola a violin since sixth grade and he always gets so mad! It's amazing!" He gestures to Lan Zhan who is typing aggressively on his phone, probably to tell Wei Ying about how horribly callous Nie Huaisang was being to him. Wei Ying will, of course, lightly pet his head and curse Nie Huaisang's name. It really is too adorable to see.
Nie Huaisang eventually calms down, grinning up at Lan Huan. "Well then, we can defeat the doll with fire, so now all we have to do is get the doll. That's gonna be on you, okay?"
"What?" Why him? He can't sneak at all! How is he supposed to steal Meng Yao's Nie Mingjue voodoo doll from right under his nose? This is not a plan meant for him, who, according to his martial artist younger brother, always "projects his movements". Bob the Blob echoes his anxiety by wiggling around in his backpack. He does his best to project all of these thoughts to Nie Huaisang.
Nie Huaisang seems to understand because he just waves Lan Huan's concerns away. "Don't worry, you won't be doing anything especially reprehensible! Just distract him and leave the rest to me!"
And now Lan Huan faces a dilemma: help distract Meng Yao and possibly end up getting caught and losing his respect…or not do it and face Nie Huaisang's sad gaze for the rest of his days. The decision of course, is an easy one—especially with Nie Huaisang smiling up at him so brightly.
The problem with trying to drag Meng Yao's attention away from his bag is that he never actually lets his bag be. When Lan Huan talks to him, it's under his arm; when Lan Huan forces him to turn and do vigorous activity, it still stays close to his body; when Lan Huan starts an in-depth conversation, Meng Yao puts it in his locker and shuts the door. No matter how much Lan Huan and Nie Huaisang try, the doll stays safely out of reach. Not even Lan Huan actively trying to take the bag—out of sheer frustration, of course—works! Meng Yao ends up tugging it back to himself with twice the force, his smile not shifting an inch!
Bob the Blob is very disappointed in its Uncle Meng.
Three days after deciding to steal the voodoo doll, Lan Huan makes another blood-covered trudge to the boys' locker room where Nie Huaisang sits on the bench. He tries not to look as panicked as he feels.
"Lan Huan," Nie Huaisang says with a sigh, "this isn't working."
"I know," Lan Huan agrees, setting his stuff down and heading into the showers, drawing the curtain behind him. He's brought his own, bigger towel this time, so he'll be completely covered when he steps outside. Everything should be fine…and then Nie Huaisang keeps talking to him. While Lan Huan is showering. Why.
"So I was thinking," he says, voice loud enough to be audible over the spray of the shower, "we need to up our game. We need to get more intense, regardless of the potential consequences. You know, A-Huan?"
"Yes!" Lan Huan says, even though he can barely hear him.
"So, I have an idea," Nie Huaisang replies. "Let's break into Meng Yao's house."
Lan Huan promptly slips on the tile, tilting backward, his head colliding loudly with the floor. Vaguely, he hears Nie Huaisang's panicked yell, but all he can do is clutch his head and grit his teeth through the agony. Eventually, the waves fade away and Lan Huan opens his eyes to find Nie Huaisang, drenched, leaning over him. "Are you alright?" he demands.
Lan Huan groans and mutters, "Yeah, yeah."
"Here, get up. Are you dizzy?"
"No." It just hurts. Lan Huan remembers the summer of sixth grade when Nie Mingjue dared him that he couldn't jump down from the top of the tree in Nie Mingjue's yard. Lan Huan insisted that he could. Suffice to say, he one hundred percent could not. "Just…give me a minute."
Nie Huaisang nods, supporting him as he stands, and it takes another few moments for Lan Huan to realize an incredibly important fact: he is naked. As in, completely, birthday-suit naked. Perhaps this will be the time that some passing deity will take pity on him and put him out of his misery.
…nope. Lan Huan immediately pulls away and laughs, "Thanks! I'll just…continue my shower…" There's still blood stuck in patches all over him. This is an absolute disaster.
Nie Huaisang leans closer, concerned. "Are you sure? You really should go to the nurse…"
"After I get washed up!" Please take a hint, please take a hint, please—
"I'll help! My brother sometimes gets sports injuries so I've learned how to do it!"
What. The. Fuck.
Lan Huan grabs him by the shoulders and turns him around, escorting him out of the showers. "I'm fine," he insists one last time before pulling the curtains closed.
He decides to take a very cold shower.
Breaking into Meng Yao's house proves impossible, and for good reason: though he and his mother don't live in the same house as Jin Guangshan, they do live in the same incredibly-expensive apartment complex, as per the agreement reached from Meng Shi's court case against Jin Guangshan. Being able to break into the virtual fortress is predictably impossible. So, Nie Huaisang and Lan Huan construct a Plan B.
The Meng-Lan-Nie tri-weekly sleepover has been a tradition between the three of them since the sixth grade, when Lan Huan first introduced his Home Ec tutor-turned-friend to his childhood friend. The two of them hit it off spectacularly and, before everything went so spectacularly wrong in the summer after seventh grade, Lan Huan started the tradition.
They have never stopped, even after Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao had their falling out, and this week, it's Meng Yao's turn to host them.
There is a very strict set of rules when it comes to visiting Meng Yao's apartment: 1) Bring your own damn supplies. 2) Never get noticed by Jin Guangshan. Ever. 3) If you manage to catch Jin Guangshan's notice, immediately deploy Lan Huan, who Jin Guangshan finds the least reprehensible of the trio, and put his incredibly boring rants about the history of cheese to good use. 4) If Lan Huan is not available, deploy Jin Zixuan, who is always willing to help Meng Yao in an effort to somewhat make up for the years of trauma he's managed to collect. Not necessarily effective, but his heart's in the right place. Finally, and most importantly, 5) always be kind to Meng Shi. Bonus points if you bring her a gift.
Lan Huan has three stacks of Lan Zhan's homemade cookies—the least he can do for a woman who's about to have four kids dumped into her lap instead of three. Well, hopefully. The plan is for Nie Huaisang to pester Nie Mingjue until he brings him along to the sleepover, and considering Nie Huaisang's skills at pouting, there is an almost one hundred percent chance that he will be showing up. And, of course, Meng Yao and Meng Shi both genuinely like Nie Huaisang, so they won't protest to him staying over.
With that in mind, Lan Huan has asked Lan Zhan to prepare his special cinnamon spice cookies, to which his brother stared at him blankly. "The last time you asked me to bake these, it was for Jiang Yanli."
Lan Huan sighed. "I need enough cookies to make up for dumping another child onto Ms. Meng. Cinnamon spice is appropriate."
"Brother. Take lost children to the authorities. Please."
"I never said anything about lost children. Nie Huaisang just—"
"Ah," his brother interrupted. "I understand now." And then he just walked into the kitchen and started to pull out his supplies, leaving Lan Huan wondering what the heck that was all about.
It took Bob the Blob's (imaginary) eyes giving him a pointed look before it finally clicked, Lan Huan's face went red, and he ambushed his brother, insisting, "It's not like that, I swear!"
"Sure," his brother said simply before proceeding to make the cookies in the shape of little hearts. The disobedience! The nerve! (Lan Huan still shoved three into his mouth before his brother reminded him that he was supposed to give them to someone, but that's beside the point.)
October in Michigan is…not fun, to say the least. However! Lan Huan has come prepared with several layers to keep him from freezing to death. While the wind eats away at him at the front gates, he dares not move an inch—he always has to walk in with Nie Mingjue to make sure Meng Yao doesn't immediately kick him out on sight. Not that he would immediately do that, but the fact that Lan Huan can't guarantee anything is rather telling.
When Nie Mingjue does finally arrive, Lan Huan immediately feels sweet relief from the knowledge that he could finally go inside. In fact, he even decides to pre-emptively give him a cookie because this is just that great…until he realizes something: Nie Mingjue is alone. As in, without Nie Huaisang, who was supposed to help him steal the voodoo doll. Shit.
Lan Huan makes sure to keep his smile firmly intact while he indulgently offers some cookies to Nie Mingjue, who just shakes his head. Lan Huan says, "A-Zhan made them." One is shoved into Nie Mingjue's mouth before Lan Huan even finishes his sentence.
"How come your brother cooks so well when you can barely make cereal?" Which is a massive overstatement! Lan Huan is perfectly average in the cooking department, it's just that when you compare him to his brother, his meals are of vastly lower quality. It is very much not indicative of his actual quality of cooking, thank you very much! So, he would very much appreciate it if people stopped dramatically tackling him when he offers food to children.
Meng Yao certainly did not help with the issue when he recounted the tale of how badly Lan Huan failed at doing his laundry upon his first attempt, back when Meng Yao was still merely his tutor. It was just some torn clothes, nothing serious! (Though, it did prompt Meng Yao to ask if he was in any sports. Lan Huan, horrified, made it very clear that he was a band kid, not a jock…even if he participated in three sports.)
But that's beside the point. All that matters is that Lan Huan can, in fact, cook, and Nie Mingjue is walking away too quickly for Lan Huan to comfortably correct him. No more cookies for Nie Mingjue. Lan Huan hugs the stacks closer to himself as he follows.
"Say, Mingjue," he says, "you seem a bit on edge. Is everything alright?" He actually doesn't look too bad, but there is a good possibility that he's had an argument with Nie Huaisang…specifically about coming here. Perhaps Nie Mingjue will give him information, if Lan Huan is stealthy enough. Maybe he should have signed up for AP Psych—then he'd be able to wring the info out of him.
Nie Mingjue just snorts. "Huaisang begged me to let him come along."
Ah. Lan Huan had forgotten that Nie Mingjue wasn't especially invested in keeping secrets from him—or in general, really. Well, that's all the more convenient. "Why didn't you let him?" Because that would have been very, very convenient.
Nie Mingjue frowns. "You always said this sleepover was just the three of us. That's why Wangji, Huaisang, and all of Meng Yao's assorted siblings were never invited, isn't it?"
Lan Huan seals his eyes shut and wishes that his past self would stop making such logical decisions—they're getting rather annoying. Well, whatever. He'll have nine weeks before the next sleepover at Meng Yao's apartment and that's more than enough time to figure out a more fool-proof plan to approach this. He makes sure his smile is still intact and then forges on forward.
Nie Mingjue and Lan Huan find Meng Yao hanging outside his front door, periodically throwing around nervous glances, phone clutched tightly in hand. Aren't the Powerball lottery numbers supposed to come out soon? Meng Yao usually reserves the entire day for staring intently at his phone, but today the drawing date has managed to fall upon their sleepover. Lan Huan predicts for Meng Yao's phone to never leave his hand…which is incredibly convenient, actually. Not that he can do much without Nie Huaisang at his side, but it's still good information to tuck away for the future.
The thought makes Lan Huan smile brighter. Meng Yao smiles back and tries to grab a cookie. Lan Huan steps away. "Your mother gets first pick," he reprimands. He spies Meng Yao's eyes narrowing onto Nie Mingjue's mustache which, yes, still has cookie crumbs in it. Lan Huan forces his mouth to maintain its shape. Meng Yao does not comment and Lan Huan decides to afford him a few points for that—not that it cancels out the whole "bought a voodoo doll of your ex-best-friend" thing but, you know, baby steps.
Meng Shi is sequestered away in the kitchen, simultaneously cooking some dinner and grading the latest AP Stat tests…which must be some kind of health-code violation, but Lan Huan does not dare say a word against a woman who is both wielding a kitchen knife and a red pen. And, no matter what rumors anyone spreads behind her back, everyone has to admit: she's incredibly talented. College-educated, master-chef level, ambidextrous, child-rearing sensation…who also adores Lan Zhan's cookies, and thus adores Lan Huan. Ah, to have talented siblings.
Meng Shi greets both Lan Huan and Nie Mingjue with a kiss on the forehead before snatching up the cookies and dashing back into the kitchen, where she will probably eat half the stack before distributing it out to the three of them. In other words, business as usual.
The first official Meng-Lan-Nie sleepover was held at Nie Mingjue's house in the sixth grade, and its main highlight was when Nie Huaisang ran face-first into Nie Mingjue's door, resulting in a heavily bleeding nose and a quick doctor's visit. Lan Huan thought nothing would top it. He turned out to be wrong.
You see, Lan Huan almost misses Nie Huaisang's text because a) he's still not used to texting, and b) Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue are having a staring contest over the remote to see who will get to choose the movie they watch (it will be Lan Huan; it is always Lan Huan). He only feels the soft buzz and the faint ping! out of sheer dumb luck. He observes his phone. His eyebrows furrow.
Huaisang: I made it!
Me: Mingjue will be mad
Huaisang: He doesn't have to know
Me: He'll notice that you came
Huaisang: Just don't make a scene when you let me in
Huaisang: Also can you let me in
Me: This is a gated community
Me: Someone will notice
Huaisang: No the gate was easy
Huaisang: You can see me right?
Huaisang: Let me in
…what? Lan Huan's eyes snap up.
Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue are preparing to arm wrestle over who gets to choose the movie. Meng Yao will lose. Usually, this is when Lan Huan steals the remote and sets up whatever movie he wants while those two are competing, but this time he's too confused trying to figure out what's going on.
And then he hears it: a faint tapping, barely audible over Meng Yao's cries of pain as his hand is shoved into the table. Lan Huan glances in the direction from which it came. There, standing on the other side of a window a good three stories high, phone in one hand and gripping the wall with the other, is Nie Huaisang. He smiles nervously.
Lan Huan sets his phone down and puts his face in his hands. Meng Yao demands a rematch. And Nie Huaisang…is unbearably hot.
Well, crap.
