Chapter Text
There’s a total of five seconds of blessed silence when Mingjue gets home, only for his hopes to be broken when his brother squeals from his room. Sighing as dramatically as he could, he threw his gym bag on the couch and dragged his feet towards the hall.
Huaisang’s door was closed (it had many stickers that had fused to the door with the years, and a metal plaque he forced his brother to buy announcing ‘no people over 190 allowed (yes that’s you, da-ge)).
When he pushed it open, he was received by a nightmare, mountains of blankets and pillows transforming the whole room into a nest, magazines and his laptop dangling dangerously from the bed. With the door now open he could hear the tv blasting one of his goddamn idol’s musical videos, probably the reason for the squealing.
Despite practically drowning in Huaisang’s colourful and exaggerated things, Wangji was sitting with his usual blank expression, light blue pyjamas worn as if they were a suit, as he painted the nails of his friend, who couldn’t be quiet for more than two seconds.
“Oh, you’re back, da-ge! How was your date?”
Mingjue growled and fetched an open bag of gummy bears close to the door, putting a handful into his mouth.
“That bad, huh?”
“Fuck you”
Huaisang’s music always gave him a headache, but he got rid of his shoes and sat on the bed anyway, putting the laptop in a safer place.
“Da-ge, maybe you should stop letting san-ge throw you into blind dates” Wangji pointed without looking up.
On his head, Mingjue could clearly hear Xichen whining about his baby brother calling his friends ‘ge’ but still being very formal with him.
Mingjue grunted in response, throwing himself on his back and lamenting his existence as he put another handful of gummy bears on his mouth. Truth was that Meng Yao was a manipulative piece of shit, and Mingjue was far too weak to tell him no.
“You know what, I should move across the world. No, that may not deter him... I’m moving to Antarctica. Huaisang, pack your stuff”
“What? No! There is no WiFi in Antarctica! And nobody to save me from your death threats!”
He thought about it for a second, propping himself up on his elbow.
“Rethinking it, I wouldn’t want to bring a gremlin as my only companion. I’ll bring Wangji along”
Huaisang gasped, finally free now that his nails were done, and he threw a pillow at his face.
“You steal my gummy bears and now you steal my best friend!? Da-ge, I can’t believe I trusted you!”
Wangji carefully put the bottles of nail polish away from them and retook his bunny plushie (he never parted from it).
“Hmm... can I bring Wei Ying?”
“Yes”
“I’m going”
Huaisang gasped again, louder this time, and sank between his bright orange pillows with fake sobs.
“Aren’t you supposed to go back home?”
“What do you mean, da-ge? This is our home”
Mingjue rolled his eyes. He really didn’t mind Wangji (he was his favourite and everyone knew that), but five days into their ‘sleepover’, Xichen and Lan Qiren should be wondering where he went. After all, Wangji rarely if ever answered his phone —to Mingjue he answered every time. To Huaisang too, or he would never hear the end of it. To his brother, when he felt like it. He never answered to his uncle.
As if he’d been summoned, the familiar tone of a guqin filled the kitchen. Mingjue picked up the phone, taking the chance as Huaisang was too busy stuffing himself on waffles to be a bother.
“Good morning, Xichen”
“A-Jue~ Give me back my baby~! He’s abandoned me again~!”
He rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but smile.
“Wangji, your brother misses you”
The younger Lan looked at him with a deadpan expression.
“Pity”
“He says he doesn’t care” he communicated.
“A-Jue~” Xichen whined again.
For some reason, ever since the boys had started to be a bit more free, he’d attached himself to Wangji as much as possible, doting on him as if he were little again. Honestly, Mingjue couldn’t recall if Wangji ever gave a fuck. Xichen spoiled Huaisang, Mingjue spoiled Wangji, that’s just how it works.
“I’ll trade him for Huaisang, you can have him”
“Stop being mean with A-Sang, he’s the sweetest boy”
“Xichen, I love you, but you’re blind. Blind and dumb”
Nie Huaisang was a fucking nightmare since the second he was born (Mingjue wouldn’t actually change him for anyone else, but nobody needed to know that).
“I wish Wangji could go back to being a baby” Xichen almost sobbed from the other end of the line “did you know he almost smiled at me once?”
Mingjue sighed.
“I know, I know”
Seemed like his morning would consist of consoling Xichen and trying to convince him that no, Wangji most definitely loved him too.
Huaisang was sulking on his room when his phone vibrated. He unlocked it while still pouting, and only smiled when he opened the Instagram notification. Wangji had his account private, and only three people were allowed to see his content (Xichen, Mingjue and Huaisang), but Huaisang had the feeling that his best friend would be trending in a single day with just how... aesthetic his pics were (he once took a blurry photo of Huaisang falling to the pool, and it looked like a masterpiece).
It was a selfie, the buildings and city lights as a background, as he held his plushie up against his cheek. The caption read ‘about to sleep with Wei Ying’.
Huaisang left a like and a thousand heart emojis in a comment.
The story of the plushie was quite cute.
One summer day, many years ago, when they were no taller than Mingjue’s knees, they’d been at the park when an absolute hurricane of a boy and his siblings asked to play with them. He was loud, unrefined, even worse that Huaisang on his most terrible behaviour, everything Wangji would never consider friend material.
By the end of the summer, when the boy’s family was about to leave Qinghe, they were refusing to let go of each other (it was the first time he ever saw Wangji in the border of tears, while his friend wailed, clinging to his neck). Wangji felt so betrayed his brothers didn’t allowed him to keep him, until Huaisang knocked on his door crying himself. He’d bought the plushie with his own savings to make him happy (‘please don’t stop being my friend!’), and it worked. From then on, Wei Ying was baptised after the friend Wangji never saw again, and the black stuffed bunny was always on the bag he carried on his shoulder.
He went back to browsing lazily on Instagram, a sigh escaping his lips. Despite doing his best, he didn’t succeed on keeping Wangji for more than two weeks, and now he was back on being by himself — his brother didn’t count, he was sulking on his room because Meng Yao kept suggesting possible matches.
He stopped when Instagram provided him with the most handsome man he’d ever seen.
Sitting up on the bed, he pressed the user and scrolled down like a maniac.
Oh god! How could someone that frowned so much be so gorgeous! And those eyes— the muscles! where those tattoos?? that was it. Huaisang was dead. He’d die a happy man, at least.
He opened his messages.
BestNie 💚 7:33 seen
WaNGJi
YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE THIS
OMG I CANT
IM DYING
WANGJI, YOULL LOSE YOUR BEST FRIEND TO THE MSOT HANDSOME MAN IVE EVER SEEN
BestLan 💙 7:34
can’t*
I’m*
you’ll*
most*
I’ve*
BestNie 💚 7:34 seen
STOP CORRECTING ME
IM HAVING A CRISIS HERE
BestLan 💙 7:35
no
BestNie 💚 7:35 seen
YOURE THE WORST BESTIE EVER
BUT WATCH THIS
[img.pg]
BestLan 💙 7:37
?
nothing special
BestNie 💚 7:37 seen
NOTHING SPECIAL!?
DISGRACE
DISHONOUR
BestLan 💙 7:39
Mn
BestNie 💚 7:39 seen
????
why arent u answering me sooner ??
suspicious
BestLan 💙 7:40
I just thought he looked familiar
Can’t place it
BestNie 💚 7:40 seen
u must be crazy
or just smitten by how hot he is
BestLan 💙 7:43
Goodnight
BestNie 💚 7:44 seen
whut!? wangji, it isnt even nine!
BestNie 💚 7:55 seen
wangji!?
BestNie 💚 8:01 seen
u traitor im never trustin u again
“No”
“Da-ge, you must let me do this! Please! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please—“
Mingjue covered his mouth with his hand as Xichen giggled. Wangji was focused on his phone, playing flappy bird (the son of a b was on 123 already).
“No is no, Huaisang”
“But it’s nothing bad!” He protested once he was set free.
“You’re not becoming an influencer”
“But I need it!” He begged, making his best puppy eyes.
“I wouldn’t let you normally, so why would I let you for a guy to notice you?”
“Because you’re supposed to be a cool brother!”
Mingjue rolled his eyes.
“A-Jue” Xichen placed a hand on his arm “why not let Huaisang do it? It’s only social media, and as long as we set some rules nothing should go wrong”
Mingjue sighed. Again. But there was some warmth spreading on his chest. ‘You’ or ‘I’ had become ‘we’ when speaking about raising their little siblings some time ago, but it still made him ridiculously happy.
“You don’t even like taking pictures” he replied, taking a sip of his smoothie “you always complain that they’re not perfect”
His small brother smiled smugly.
“That’s why I’m not taking the pictures” he then hooked his arm on Wangji’s “my bestie is”
Wangji blinked, finally looking up. His ability to play stupid mobile games was probably a product from a pact with the devil, because even without looking attention he continued playing (he was around 300 by then).
“Pay me” he demanded.
Huaisang deflated on his seat. Xichen and Mingjue couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ugh.. fine, but since I’m poor I’ll pay you with food”
Lan Qiren only fed his nephews bland vegan food, but Wangji had grown very very spoiled in the Nie home, and now he couldn’t live without greasy, unhealthy stuff, things that not even the elder Nie would buy regularly.
“Acceptable”
Perfect. He turned once more to his older brothers, expectantly. Mingjue hung his head down and Xichen palmed his shoulder, smiling.
“Fine” he agreed, looking up “but you have rules. One, no revealing important or private stuff”
“Don’t post pictures of anyone without permission” Xichen continued.
“Nothing inadequate”
“Don’t speak with strangers”
“And if your notes slack it’s over”
“Yes!” He jumped across the table to hug them tightly “you’re the best!”
Oh, just wait until Huaisang got started. @sandu_shengshou would notice him one day.