Thread by @bee_off_main, OKAY, that's enough work for today, so, THREADFIC PART ONE: Five Partners [...]

OKAY, that's enough work for today, so, THREADFIC PART ONE: Five Partners JYL Didn't Like, and One Who Was Lan Zhan. Based on this tweet, with thanks to Fer and Aubrey for the prompt, and Fer, Aubrey, Lore, and Fey for brainstorming this with me! https://twitter.com/bee_off_main/status/1345433503287095303

https://twitter.com/bee_off_main/status/1345433503287095303

1. The high school sweetheart

The thing is, JYL is happy about this, at first, because he's the first boy Wei Ying dated after coming out to her and Jiang Cheng! So what he REPRESENTS is great.

But unfortunately, this boy makes the mistake that so many others do. He looks at Jiang Yanli's bright, breezy, laughing brother, and assumes he doesn't need to be treated with care.

The first time she meets him, WY jumps at a dog's bark, and the boy laughs. In JYL's eyes, the dinner is all downhill from there.

They break up a little before graduation. WY doesn't actually seem too upset about it. So JYL doesn't need to pretend to be too upset, either.

2. Mianmian

So actually, JYL REALLY likes Mianmian. She might like Mianmian even more than WY does, and he likes her a lot. She hopes WY can be friends with her, going forward. JYL hopes to be friends with her herself, actually.

BUT. She can tell, seeing them together, that WY and Mianmian need different things. And she knows they're going to figure that out, too.

She aches for WY when they break up. He knows it's for the best, but he's SO sad. And he feels even worse about the circumstances.

Their breakup actually came on the heels of a double date. They hadn't even left the restaurant yet. And when WY ducked into the bathroom to pull himself together, he ran into Mianmian's friend, their classmate Lan Zhan, on the way to the door.

And--well, he tried to play things off, but Lan Zhan ended up asking if he was alright. And then one thing led to another, and LZ walked him back to the dorms. So on top of everything, he's pretty sure he blew LZ's date, too!

(Wei Ying feels even worse when he never sees that date around again. If Lan Zhan knew this, he would let WY know that he found said date nice enough, but unbearably self-important. By the time LZ ran into WY, they'd already gone their separate ways.

But unfortunately, Wei Ying assumes that boy was LZ's type, more or less: quiet, serious, studious. The anti-Wei Ying, basically.)

3. Econ Kevin

Later, JYL will realize it was not a mistake that she knows so little about Econ Kevin. Through most of their relationship, she assumes it's because she and WY are both so busy. And also because lately, WY only wants to talk about his amazing new friend LZ.

(What JYL does not know yet is that Wei Ying did not mind, at first, that Econ Kevin is kind of a dick. Wei Ying is still parsing the difference between 'mean in the fun sexy way' and 'mean in the way that makes you feel small and slow and strangely tired.'

People assume that they do not need to treat Wei Ying with care. Wei Ying is the worst offender in this.

Another thing JYL does not know: WY and LZ’s friendship began, in earnest, when WY excused himself from his boyfriend’s side at a party in Mianmian’s dorm to clean a dish., LZ found him ten minutes later still in the kitchen, staring off into space.

WY's smile quickly snapped into place. But he was startled enough to be truthful. "Ah, Lan Zhan. Sorry--I wasn't in the mood to go back, yet." And strangely enough, LZ pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and motioned for him to sit.

They talked for twenty minutes. They would have kept going, had someone not walked in on them.

If JYL had known this, she might have told him exactly what that means, when you could just keep talking like that.)

But JYL does not know any of this. So she doesn't know what's going on with Econ Kevin, exactly, until she gets the text from Mianmian (who thankfully she WAS able to stay friends with.) "Wei Ying finally dumped his ass

"

Startled, JYL has MM tell her the whole horror story from the beginning, ending with lunch today when Econ Kevin laughed unkindly at something clipped LZ had said. "Okay, buddy," he'd mocked. "Good talk."

According to Mianmian, Kevin's sorry excuse for a sense of humor was usually directed at WY himself. And WY usually deflected it with a sense of practiced ease.

Today, he'd whirled around and snapped, "Maybe he doesn't want to fucking talk to you, Kevin."

According to Mianmian, they'd had the rest of the fight around a corner in the dining hall. But she overheard enough that she knew Wei Ying had ended it. He hadn't come back to the table, but Lan Zhan had taken his things and gone to look for him.

(Lan Zhan had found him in the bathroom, on his third round of splashing water in his face.

Wei Ying smiled at him in the mirror, a little wobbly. "I didn't even like him," he said.

"Mm," Lan Zhan said. "Me neither." And it startled Wei Ying into a laugh.)

By the time JYL calls, WY is back in his dorm. He's a little cagey with her, so she has to push him a little. Yes, he tells her, he's safe. Yes, he's home. No, Kevin's an asshole, but he won't cause trouble.

And no, he confirms, when she hears someone moving, he's not alone.

He audibly pulls away from the phone. "Ah--that is to say, Lan Zhan, you don't have to stay. I'm really--"

He doesn't get a chance to finish. There's a knock on the door forceful enough that even JYL hears it.

There’s a flurry of activity on the other end: there’s one voice, low and even, that she can’t make out, and another that she can make out a little too well (“Then he can tell me that himself! Wei Ying! Do you need him to be your SPOKESPERSON, now?”)

And then there's Wei Ying himself. She can hear the click of his throat as he swallows, probably getting ready to do what he always does. Step in, defuse, deflect. She beats him there.

"A-Ying," she says evenly. "Could you hand him the phone, please."

She doesn't know how Wei Ying manages to audibly freeze. But her brother is very talented. "Jiejie," he says.

"A-Ying," she says, again. There's a long beat. And then eventually, rustling.

And then the louder of the two unfamiliar voices. "Who is this?"

Contrary to what WY's high school boyfriend believed, JYL is not "scary." She doesn't believe in threats, really. She just wants to know if this is the same Kevin Zhang with an older sister named Jessica? What a coincidence! JYL went to high school with Jessica!

"It's been so long since we caught up," JYL says mildly. "I should really call her. Especially now that we've met!"

Econ Kevin makes a series of half-noises. And eventually, "You don't have to do that."

"I appreciate that, Kevin," she says. "You can give the phone back now."

More rustling. But in his haste to get the phone the fuck away from him, Econ Kevin did NOT hand it to Wei Ying. Because the next voice she hears is low, even, and very quietly confused.

"... hello?"

"Oh." JYL's rage is still ready at a moment's notice, but with some effort, she tucks it away. "Is this Lan Zhan?"

"I--" LZ seems to be trying to get his bearings. WY is saying something in the background - something like 'it's okay, Lan Zhan, you can give me the phone--'

--but evidently, LZ is far braver than Kevin. JYL feels a little more of the fight leave her. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop him from coming in--"

"I should be thanking you," she says firmly. "For looking out for A-Ying. Will you be staying? I'll send you money for delivery."

Apparently Wei Ying can hear her half of the conversation--she hears him say, again, that Lan Zhan doesn't have to stay.

This time, there's a little muffled sound - Lan Zhan turning, maybe. "Would you like me to go?"

"Ah--" Wei Ying chokes a little on the sound. Later that night, JYL will wonder if she's ever heard him so flustered. "I mean. Of course I don't."

Another rustle. And then that low, even voice brightens a little. "Then I will be staying," he tells her. "But I can buy dinner."

And that's the end of Econ Kevin. But it's the beginning of an extremely important alliance.

To be continued! Tune in later this weekend for #4: The Rebound, and #5: The Acappella Girl. (And of course, Lan Zhan himself.)

PART TWO:

4. The rebound.

The thing is, JYL knows she doesn’t need to explain that James From Lab is wrong for WY. WY does not truly think that James From Lab is his type. This is not about James From Lab. It’s about something WY needs to prove to himself in the wake of Econ Kevin.

But all the same. James From Lab never refills his own glass, but always asks you to do it 'if you’re going to the kitchen already.' He keeps his phone on the table during dates. When Wei Ying tells a joke, he'll say ‘that’s funny’ but will never actually laugh.

JYL doesn’t like to use the word ‘hate’ to describe people. She tries to save it for worthy targets. Politicians. Econ Kevin. Her boyfriend’s terrible cousin. But she—strongly dislikes James.

But the universe is occasionally fair. Even if that awful night in Wei Ying’s dorm led to James From Lab, it also led to JYL exchanging contact information with Lan Zhan.

They don’t text often: they’re both people who appreciate their silences. But they have similar tastes in books, music. They have disparate tastes in food, but they send each other recipes, anyway. And of course, they talk about Wei Ying.

Now. JYL knows LZ is interested. But that said, she’s—not entirely sure what’s going on there. Wei Ying certainly SEEMS to like him back, but—he’s also, by his telling, constantly trying to find someone good enough to set LZ up with.

But either way, she decides not to interfere. Wei Ying is clearly working through some things post-Econ Kevin. She doesn't know that it'd be fair to either of them to try to date right now.

(What's happening, of course, is that Wei Ying already firmly believes he's not Lan Zhan's type. And even though he has a crush - but like, that's nothing special, everyone has a crush on Lan Zhan - he's committed to ignoring it.

That is obviously not how this works. But he's going through a time at the moment, so let's be patient with him.)

In the end, James From Lab is short-lived. JYL doesn’t know how it ended, except that Wei Ying won’t tell her, so he must think that it’s going to make her angry. Wei Ying underestimates her sometimes. She doesn’t have to know what he did to be angry.

Lan Zhan doesn’t give her details. She doesn’t expect him to – their budding friendship isn’t contingent on him violating her brother’s trust, and honestly, the fact that he doesn’t only makes her like him more. He only tells her he's there with WY. Really, that’s all she needs.

(What happened, in the end, was that James From Lab unwisely told a freshman classmate about his amazing date with a Philosophy junior the previous night - and that he was planning to break up with his current boyfriend once he got around to it.

Said freshman was Wen Ning. So of course, he called Wei Ying immediately.

It takes Wei Ying hours to calm down. It takes the better part of an hour for Lan Zhan to even convince Wei Ying to SIT down. All of the anger that never materialized in the wake of the Econ Kevin debacle seems to be spilling out of him now.

"We barely even liked each other," Wei Ying says. He's so furious he's vibrating with it. "It would have been nothing for him to break up with me. Nothing. He could have texted me. He could have written 'it's over' on my whiteboard. Literally anything."

He exhales hard, fingers clenched around where he’d been running his hands restlessly through his hair. He’s looking, glassy-eyed, at a point beyond LZ’s shoulder. “I'll really never—”

He cuts himself off. Laughs, eventually. And he doesn't finish that thought.

But there’s enough of a stumble in that silence that LZ wonders, for weeks, what he meant to say.)

5. The Acapella Girl

To JYL, Wei Ying's new girlfriend Wen Xiaochu is defined more by her absence than her presence. Which is funny, because every time JYL calls her brother, she can always hear her doing vocal warmups in the background.

“She has a concert,” Wei Ying always explains. JYL always faintly wonders how many concerts one single group can book.

All that said, Wei Ying seems to enjoy her company! He even goes to see her group, The Bonnies and the Clydes, in one of their seemingly endless concerts.

JYL, privately, thinks this is very generous of her brother. She doesn't realize this is a burn until she tells her boyfriend this and JZX's eyes crinkle. "I love when you're a little mean," he tells her.

WY also seems to appreciate that he and WXC very much have their separate lives. On the other hand, he and Lan Zhan are all but attached at the hip now.

WY seems to be at the apartment LZ shares with his brother more than his own, these days. He even stays over one weekend when both brothers are both laid up with the flu – JYL gets a flurry of messages asking for recipe advice and checking which cold medicines are most effective.

The subsequent weekend, JYL gets a vidchat from her brother. When she opens the request, she nearly flinches – WY looks pale, exhausted, and miserable, the circles under his eyes dark and pronounced. When he opens his mouth, his voice is barely a rasp.

“Jiejie,” he somehow manages, “please tell Lan Zhan he's being ridiculous.” And then he hands the phone over.

JYL gathers that Lan Zhan had been arguing that he should take Wei Ying to the ER. And while she agrees with WY that the hospital is excessive for now, she's not exactly the moderating force WY had hoped for. (Honestly, she doesn't know what he expected.)

On JYL's orders, Lan Zhan tucks Wei Ying into a few extra blankets. WY makes a few more token attempts to send LZ home, to which he firmly pushes back - he's already been sick, and Wen Xiaochu isn't coming. ("She has a concert," WY protests weakly. JYL wants to break something.)

So they switch to LZ’s phone so WY has his to keep him occupied while he’s sulkily confined to his bed, and JYL has LZ set up WY with a massive glass of water while she talks him through how to make something to WY’s tastes with what little ingredients WY has around the house.

By the time LZ has finished, WY is fast asleep in bed. LZ is tempted to wake him up, but JYL tells him to give him a little longer – WY is always so reluctant to rest when he’s ill.

He settles into the living room, and JYL stays on the call. She'd like to hear what WY's temperature is when he wakes up. And besides, she gets the sense LZ could use some company.

And he could. When he speaks again, he sounds absolutely miserable.

"My brother and I weren't this sick," he says.

"That's how it always is with A-Ying." JYL smiles. "I always got sick first in our family. But when he got it from me, he always got it worse. He'd still come and keep me company anyway, though."

She worries at the hem of her skirt. "I told him once he shouldn't keep coming to see me if it was just going to make him sick, but—he said not getting sick wasn’t worth staying away. It's not your fault. It's just the way he is."

She wipes a hand over her eyes. She gets overwhelmed, sometimes, talking about her brothers. Especially now that she barely gets to see them.

“He’s such a good kid,” she says, a little wetly. Wei Ying isn't exactly a kid anymore, but. Older sister's prerogative.

She’s a little embarrassed, for a second. But Lan Zhan looks at her so seriously across the vidchat. “He’s been—very kind to me.”

She smiles wider, swipes at her eyes again. She’s so glad Wei Ying has him.

Later, when they’ve decided they should wake WY so he can eat, LZ leaves his phone propped against a chair as he goes to sit on the bed. It gives JYL almost too good a view of LZ's face as he brushes WY's damp hair back from his forehead.

“Wei Ying,” he says, so so gently. “You should eat something.”

His hand stays on WY’s forehead as WY clumsily sits up. LZ’s frown deepens. “I don’t think your fever has reduced much. I can try your girlfriend again, if you don’t want me to stay. But someone should be here.”

Wei Ying looks so young, blinking the sleep from his eyes. And he stares blearily at Lan Zhan for so long, JYL has to remind herself not to hope. “Could you stay?” he says.

So LZ does.

(What JYL doesn't know is that she was right to hope. Because after a week of stewing, recovering, and eating the soups Lan Zhan keeps ferrying to his dorm, Wei Ying pushes himself onto his still-shaky legs and walks across the quad to where Wen Xiaochu lives.

“Oh,” she says. “Hi. Are you feeling better?”

WY means to ease her into it. But what he blurts out instead is, “I’m in love with Lan Zhan.”

Wen Xiaochu blinks at him for a good few moments. Starts to smile, stops. And then tilts her head.

"Oh," she says, again. "Wait. Did you not know?"

+1: Lan Zhan

The next time Wei Ying vidchats his sister, he smiles sheepishly and holds up his and Lan Zhan's linked hands. And then panics when she claps both hands over her mouth and bursts into tears.

She cries on and off all the way through Wei Ying's play-by-play of the confession: how he'd showed up fresh from WXC's, flushed and disheveled with his coat buttoned wrong, to gasp out an apology.

He babbled that he knew LZ wasn't interested! Which he completely understood! But—but he didn't want to keep being friends without LZ knowing WY was in love with him. And if LZ was willing to stay friends with him, he wouldn't let it interfere. But if he didn't, he'd understand.

(So of course, after sweeping WY up in such a frantic kiss that WY's feet literally left the floor, LZ was finally like, wait. What do you mean, you thought I wasn't interested.

WY walked him through his reasoning. LZ is still processing it.)

Lan Zhan texts JYL after they hang up, much lengthier than his usual. He tells her that he knows it's hard for her to trust others with Wei Ying – that they haven’t always been worthy of it. He doesn’t expect trust right away. But he’s grateful for the opportunity to earn it.

JYL’s cheeks hurt as she types. She's not sure when she last smiled so hard in one evening.

"There's nothing to earn," she types. "You already have it."

-THE END-

Thank you again to @hyacinthsuns, @aubrey_li, @sanlanglovemail, and @feyburner for riffing this with me a few weeks back, and to @tothedeaths and Wenwen for the extra brainstorming help this morning! I love you all and your giant brains!

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