Lan Zhan

I kept my head lowered and moved between the patrons. The band onstage were called "Sun-shot." They were a relatively new pop- rock group. The lead singer had asked if Xichen and I could give them some feedback after the show. So, I'd spent their set seated discreetly at the bar, listening and observing. When they announced their last song, I got up to make my way backstage before the lights came up. The last thing I wanted was to be caught on the floor of a show Xichen and I were headlining. People were moving around everywhere, bodies brushed mine as I sidled to the void at the back of the room. I stopped short at the figure slouched against the wall. My body shivered with recognition. What is he doing here? His eyes were closed and the noise in the room was jarring. So I felt pretty safe stepping closer. Coward. I registered the empty glass next to him and how tightly his arms were folded across his chest. He looks like shit. He was alone, radiating torment. I couldn't know that. But I felt it. It twisted something inside me. The words came out on an exhale that I could not retract.

"Wei Ying."

I didn't wait for him to react, I pitched myself into the crowd. Mortified at my lack of restraint.

Wei Ying

The attendant at the door shook my hand and waved me into the venue. The final support band were finishing up their set, so the place was packed. The crowd swayed and jostled each other forward in preparation for the headliners. I had seen the Lan's here a few times. In fact, this was the place I'd first heard them. Inadvertently. I paid the group onstage no mind and headed to the bar. I ordered a whiskey and downed it. Then another. I decided to slow down around my fourth. I was tense and the alcohol was having no effect. There was a buzzing in my head. A taunting litany. When will you stop fucking up, Wei Ying? You're never getting out. It's over. You blew it. Again. You blew it. I blew it. I stalked to the back of the room. My heart was thumping out a chaotic reminder that the only other liquid in my bloodstream to counteract the whiskey was coffee. I couldn't sleep. Hadn't eaten a thing since Yanli announced her engagement. I'd barely made it back to my place in time that day to hurl up my guts. I thought I was past all that. I took a shuddering breath and pressed my back against the wall. I gulped down the whiskey and closed my eyes. What am I even doing here? Where else can I go? I slapped the empty glass onto a table next to me. Should have bought the bottle. I folded my arms. I tried to count. I focused on my breathing. But my heart was trying to jackhammer its way out of my chest. And the music wasn't loud enough to drown out my thoughts. I'm losing it.

"Wei Ying."

I opened my eyes to a whispering voice. A voice I knew. But one that I had never heard say my name. Then the sounds of the room came rushing back in. There were people everywhere, chatting excitedly while the bands were changing over. I relaxed against the wall and kept my eyes open. Whiskey must be kicking in.

Months ago…

Wei Ying

"Come on! They'll be on any second!" The brunette tugged at my hand. All the good it did her. I didn't budge from where I lazed on the leather sofa. What's her name again? I pulled her back into my lap and she swatted at me. The people in the room were all converging on the small stage. Some hotshot two piece were playing. Brothers. Acoustic guitars. Gag me.

She sat up and pushed a very biteable bottom lip out. "I want to get a good spot!"

"Why? Something wrong with your ears?"

I caressed her left ear, letting my hand trail down her jaw, her throat. She gave me a conflicted look. A hush fell around us and she jumped back onto her six inch heels.

"Wei Yiiiiing! Pleeaase," She begged. I let my head loll back dramatically before letting her haul me to my feet. She clasped my hand and tripped into the push and pull of people. I steadied her before she could face-plant and she smiled up at me. She really was cute. Whatever her name was. I let her pull me deeper into the crowd as the room went completely dark. I mean black as fucking pitch. It was kind of nice. No eyes could find me in here. I sensed the change in the air right before the silence in the room was ushered out on the back of a delicately plucked chord. Followed by another. Cutie squealed and I wanted to hush her. I couldn't see in front of me. So how was someone playing a damn guitar in this abyss? The pace quickened. A melody poured forth. Each strum in the dark was like a caress. I felt it all over my body. How much did I have to drink? Clearly, I wasn't the only one affected. Cutie pressed her back to my chest and then we were moving. Everyone was. The music from that lone guitar invaded all of us. We were hapless. Utterly willing. I had never heard anything so intoxicating in my life. A voice joined the guitar in the darkness and the crowd lost all control. The lights came up and unveiled two ethereal figures. Cutie wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down so she could whisper in my ear. "That's Lan Xichen. He's the older brother." She pointed at the singer. He was tall, he stood with a relaxed grip on his mic, an easy smile permeating his features. He was a good-looking guy. The ideal frontman. While he had a guitar hanging from his shoulder it remained untouched. My eyes didn't linger on him long. "And that's Lan Zhan." The younger Lan, I deduced. She pointed to the lead guitarist. He was something else. I felt my heartbeat stutter. "It's weird right? They could be twins." She released me and continued to dance. It was weird. But not because they resembled each other so closely. One look at Lan Xichen and you had seen all you had to. Which was a straight up handsome dude. His looks were both familiar and forgettable. But Lan Zhan. He lifted twin ice chips of the sexiest amber at the crowd, and I forgot to draw breath.

Wei Ying

My heartbeat relaxed into a more bearable rhythm. I was downright euphoric by the time the Lans finished their set. Bewitched more like. I don't know what I had done to deserve such a gift. Not a damn thing. I moved back to the bar and took a seat. Lan Xichen appeared first and I felt my heart sink a little. Where's Lan Zhan?

I took in the elder Lan as patrons converged on him. He took them in stride, smiling and shaking hands. He even stopped to take photos. He spotted me and recognition flickered through his features. He made his way to me purposefully when I was struck with a long-forgotten memory. I stood and extended a hand to him.

"We've met, haven't we?"

Lan Xichen's face lit up with a genuine smile as we clasped hands.

"Some time ago, yes."

"I don't know how I didn't make the connection." I gestured to the bar and Xichen nodded. "Though I was rarely sober at those society shindigs so that might have something to do with it."

Xichen chuckled at my bashful grin. He ordered a cabernet and I ordered another whiskey. I filed his drink order away.

"My attire is a little more casual these days. It's been the perfect disguise actually."

He wasn't kidding. He looked nothing like the buttoned up young man that I remembered standing at his fathers side. Tonight, the heir to the Lan hotel fortune, wore ripped jeans and a black tank. I wasn't sure when he had abandoned the sky blue shirt he had worn onstage. His long hair was untied and I noticed chipped black polish on his fingernails. Slick.

"What about the hotel biz? Have you stepped away from it?"

"My uncle assures me my position isn't going anywhere." His uncle. Not his father. He hadn't been seen since...Madam Lan had mysteriously passed away. Loss had a way of unmaking people. And remaking them. I wonder who it remade Lan Zhan into...

"But you wish it would?"

He smiled into his glass.

"You're frighteningly observant, Wei Ying."

I flashed him a grin. "Don't worry. I won't tell."

I winked and he grinned back and clinked his glass against mine.

"So, where's your brother?" I asked innocently.

Xichen's mouth quirked slightly.

"Wangi had an appointment to get to."

"This late?"

Xichen shot me a look. "I imagine you're no stranger to late night appointments." Touché.

"So he has a girlfriend?"

Xichen shook his head immediately. "No, nothing like that."

I raised my eyebrows at him and Xichen laughed.

"Would it bother you if he did?" His question caught me off guard. No? I mean, Lan Zhan is stupid attractive but he can date as he pleases. Women or men. Or both. However many he chooses. I wonder if he likes men? Fuck. We technically haven't met and I'm wondering about his love life? Oh. I've been quiet a really long time, haven't I? I cast a sidelong glance at Xichen.

Amusement lined his features as he watched me.

"Any thoughts you care to share aloud?"

"We seem to keep missing each other," I mused.

"You certainly do," Xichen murmured. He finished his drink and turned to me. "Another?"

Lan Zhan

I set my guitar aside. I had been idly plucking away at it from bed since I had returned from a meeting with Jin Zixuan. I took a deep breath to quiet my raging thoughts but I couldn't focus. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the cushioned headboard. Our conversation was a carousel in my mind that would not stop turning.

"You still have no intention of telling Xichen?"

The look I gave Zixuan had him nodding gravely at me. I understood the position I had put Zixuan in all those months ago. He and Xichen were friends, and he was keeping secrets from him on my behalf. And these were no ordinary secrets. But ours were not ordinary families to begin with. Zixuan produced an envelope and slid it across the table to me.

"Wen Chaos movements this month. He's gotten sloppy...sloppier," Zixuan muttered. He took a sip of whiskey. The glass he had poured me remained untouched at my elbow. I opened the envelope and my eyes perused the contents. "And Jin Guangyao?" Zixuan visibly stiffened at my question but recovered quickly. I felt regret there too. That I was enabling and encouraging Zixuan to spy on his own brother. Though his brother was working for the man that had killed my mother among others, so in truth, Zixuan's surveillance had begun long before I came along. "Him too. He's careful but he likes to be seen. It will be his downfall." He kept his voice even despite his eyes growing cold. I scanned the pages and stopped abruptly. "What is this address Guangyao visited twice in the last three weeks? I dont recognise it." I looked up at Zixuan. He smiled. It was small and kind of sad. "His downfall." I stood and Zixuan rose with me. "It's too early to act on it, Wangi," Zixuan said quickly. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? This could be the key to everything." I stepped away from the table, needing space as my heart quickened in my chest. "This is a good first step. We're on their trail," he continued. He's right. I know he is. I replaced the documents in the envelope and folded them into my inner coat pocket. "You won't go anywhere alone," Zixuan said. I glowered at him. "This only works if we trust each other. The moment you go rogue you leave me with no choice but to apprise Xichen."

"Are you giving me orders now?"

"No, I'm trying to do right by you. And my friend. Letting you get yourself killed kind of goes against that."

"I have never been one to behave rashly," I said tightly.

"I know that. I thought maybe you needed reminding."

Well I don't. "Thank you," I murmured. There will be no mistakes. And I will get Wen Ruohan. He will pay for what he did to my mother. Zixuan approached me and clasped my hand. "There's just one more thing and it's not in the envelope," he said. I motioned for him to continue and he seemed to weigh his words. "I'm certain it's nothing but in the event it's not-

"What is it?"

Zixuan resumed his seat and tipped the rest of the whiskey down his throat. Not inspiring confidence, Zixuan.

"It's probably nothing." He seemed to be reassuring himself. I sat down opposite him once more and met his eyes.

"What is probably nothing?"

Zixuan leaned over to pour himself another glass.

"Wei Ying," he said.

Wei Ying.

He had been seen around Qishan. At Inferno. Among other unsavoury establishments. It wasn't so unusual as a fellow club owner and veritable player. He was perpetually on the town. All towns. But it bothered Zixuan. As Zixuan relayed what he knew to me I couldn't keep the memory of Wei Ying standing at the back of that crowded room tonight from my mind. He had looked so defeated. And alone. Why had he come to a bar across the city to stand alone in the dark?

I left Zixuan with a promise to meet again at a new location soon. We never met at the same place twice and he always picked the venue. Each one more ostentatious than the last. Typical Jin. Zixuan had warned me off doing any surveilling as he always did. I was far too recognisable. But that didn't mean I couldn't do a little digging of my own. I was a musician after all. That guaranteed me access to all kinds of people and places. And I could take care of myself. The sound of the front door opening pulled me from my thoughts. I checked my phone, the hour was approaching four in the morning. It was later than I thought and Xichen was only just getting in. I heard a thud followed by smothered laughter. Did he bring someone home with him? I pulled on a shirt and stepped into the hallway. Xichen and I shared the penthouse of a smallish high rise just outside of Gusu. Just out of reach of my uncles sphere of influence. Something about being a Lan meant we were all drawn to the clouds.

I blinked at the scene that greeted me. More like assaulted me. What sorcery is this? Sprawled next to my brother on the floor of the entryway was Wei Ying. Looking gorgeously dishevelled. He was shaking with silent laughter as he tried and failed to pull Xichen to his feet. How did he manage to never be where he was supposed to and somehow always in front of me simultaneously?

"SSHHHH!" Xichen whisper-shouted. "You'll wake, Wangi."

Another laugh spluttered out of Wei Ying and Xichen joined him. I don't know how they heard me clear my throat over their baying but two pairs of eyes shot to me as I closed the distance between us. "I was already awake," I murmured. Not looking at either of them as I leaned over their tangled mess and closed the door. "The neighbours on the other hand-

"Wangiiii!" Xichen roared. I pressed my lips into a thin line and extended a hand to extricate him from the floor. I could feel Wei Ying's eyes on me but I ignored him. Xichen took my hand but before I could haul him up he yanked me down between them. We were evenly matched for strength but I had not been expecting it. I blinked up at my brother in horror. I am SO getting you for this later. Wait. Did he just smirk at me? What is he up to?

"Wangi, meet Wei Ying!" He chirped.

I refused to turn my head in his direction but I didn't have to. A moment later Wei Ying was towering over me, in all that beautiful black with his hand extended to me. His brown eyes were full of mischief exactly as they had been in that damn photograph. Oh no you don't. I stood abruptly, bringing Xichen with me.

"You two kept missing each other so I brought him with me-" Xichen said excitedly. Completely unaware of the look Wei Ying and I exchanged. He slipped his hands into his pockets smoothly though his eyes stayed on mine. Him and I. Face to face. With barely a foot of room between us. My thoughts were coming too quickly and I couldn't form the words. I tuned back into Xichen's drunken rambling then "Wei Ying should stay, it's too late to go home now!"

"No." Finally. He speaks. I tightened my grip on Xichen. "It is late. Wei Ying should be going."

Wei Ying seemed to freeze momentarily at my words before his mouth split into a grin.

"I do have an appointment I'm late for." Those were the first words he had ever directed at me. And they were as much a dismissal as mine had been. I swallowed a snarl. A snarl? I'm snarling now?

"Xichen, thank you for a fun night."

My brother beamed back at him. "The pleasure was all mine, Wei Ying."

"I'll see you both next week."

Next week?

"Until next time, Lan Zhan," he murmured. And with that he leaned over and brushed his knuckles down my cheek. I froze. I would have recoiled but I couldn't without dropping my brother. Wei Ying smirked and let himself out. Bastard. I turned my head to my brother while my heart kicked into a gallop.

"Next week?"

"Oh yeah! Lotus are hosting a big private party with a roster of local bands and Wei Ying asked us to join."

"And you didn't consult with me?"

Xichen's head came down on my shoulder. "How much did you drink?" I grumbled as I dragged him to his bedroom.

"What did you think of Wei Ying?" He asked as I half tossed him onto the bed. "He's great, isn't he?"

"You can take your shoes off yourself," I muttered as I stalked for the door.

"And he really wants to be friends with you."

I paused in the doorway. "People like Wei Ying don't have friends. They have playthings."

"That's exactly why you would be good for each other."

I turned back to my brother. He was kicking his shoes off and pulling blankets around himself. He threw me the most tranquil smile I had ever seen on his face as he shut his eyes.

I returned to my own bed where sleep eluded me. Every time I closed my eyes I felt knuckles brushing my skin and the whisper of a name over and over again. Wei Ying. Wei Ying. Wei Ying.

Wei Ying

The back of my hand was on fire where it had grazed Lan Zhan's cheek. I couldn't help myself. He had looked so appalled by me and refused to take my hand. I had to touch him. I had to know if he was as cold as he looked. He wasn't.

Outtake

Xichen and Wei Ying earlier that night...

Xichen circled me on the dance floor. I threw my head back and laughed. I'd lost all track of time partying with the elder Lan brother. Lost count of the drinks. The men and women we had danced with. And maybe not just danced with. Tee hee. Am I giggling? I had been waiting all night for a reprimand for my poor business etiquette that never came. I tried to bring it up a few times but Xichen merely guided me to the bar and ordered me another drink. He had a knowing smile on his face. What did he have to be so knowing about anyway? I really didn't know and I didn't seem to care either. I twirled towards him and he caught me and spun me out again, rather exuberantly, into some unsuspecting ladies. Who didn't seem to mind at all.

At some point we wound up on a lounge together. My head was spinning. Or maybe the room was. Or maybe I was. I am sitting, aren't I?

"Yes, you're sitting," Xichen affirmed beside me. He had some beautiful blonde dude on his other side making moon eyes at him. Oh, I must have said that out loud. Xichen whispered something to him and he smiled and made his way back to the dance floor.

"I hope you didn't do that for me," I said quickly. "Go get him, Xichen."

He chuckled beside me. "Tell me something."

I quirked a brow at him. Or at least I hoped that was what I was doing. I couldn't exactly feel my face.

"Did you come here tonight looking for Lan Zhan?"

Oh. Fuck. Kind of.

Xichen chuckled again and slid lower on the lounge.

"I knew it," he murmured.

Must have said that out loud too.

"You tell me something," I said.

Xichen nodded at me to continue. Or maybe I was nodding.

"Why did you decide to start a band?"

Xichen regarded me silently and then he sighed. "For Wangi."

Oh.

"I'll let him tell you the rest."

I cast him a look. "What makes you think he would tell me anything?"

Xichen smiled that knowing smile again and tried to stand up. I caught him when he stumbled and we both laughed. "Come on. I'll take you home."

"Is the room spinning or are we?" He asked me seriously. Lan Xichen. Asking the big questions.