Chapter Text
If anyone asked Wei Ying about his life he would laugh about tough times but hey who's life wasn't tough from time to time. But how he really felt was that his life just sucked. He grew up in shitty foster homes and even shitier group homes. College was a great escape for him, he worked his ass off for the scholarship to pay for his schooling. And at least managed to get through school debt free. If only he realized that getting a job in his field afterwards would be next to impossible without connections to get his foot in the door. So he works a crappy job at a café, it's not a great job but it pays his bills. His apartment may be small and a bit run down but it's his. He has had so few things that he could call his own.
Truthfully, Wei Ying is tired. He smiles through the day and once he is home away from prying eyes he rips off the mask. He is tired of trying so hard just to never get anywhere. Working day in and day out and his shitty life never changes. Wei Ying just wants to be loved and taken care of for once.
His current shift has been dragging along so slowly. If waking up early wasn't such a hassle he would much rather work mornings. It’s too busy for him to notice the time passing and since he sees more customers his tip outs are always better. As he wipes down the untouched counters again he hears the door jingle signaling a customer. He smiles brightly, turning to greet the person, when he sees the most ridiculously handsome man walking into the café. He looks like he just walked off a runway, dressed in a cream suit that probably cost more than Wei Ying makes in a month.
“Welcome in. What can I get for you?”
The man with a perfectly chiseled jaw, sharp eyes, maybe he is a model. He is tall, imposing, and is staring intently at Wei Ying. Wei Ying can definitely imagine seeing his face on the covers of magazines. Is it possible for one person to be so perfect? He takes in the man's large hands, eyes sliding back up to his sculpted jaw, long silky hair falling behind his shoulders.
Feeling nervous under this guy’s intense gaze, Wei Ying rubs the back of his neck.
“Uh, do you need a minute to look at the menu?”
The man’s eyes never move from Wei Ying but he finally says something.
“Herbal tea?”
If it wasn’t bad enough that Wei Ying’s imagination was filling him with images of climbing the man like a tree, wanting nothing more than to watch him for hours on end and see if he can get his beautiful face to make a different expression. But hearing his deep baritone voice Wei Ying now wants nothing more than to hear him talk more. Maybe hear him groan low if Wei Ying were to run his tongue along his throat. He is broken out of his fantasy when he hears his own name coming from the man’s mouth.
“Wei Ying?”
“Huh, sorry. Have we met before? I don’t think I would ever forget a face as beautiful as yours..” he starts to ramble.
“Name tag.”
Is the blunt unimpressed response ignoring Wei Ying’s rambling. Wei Ying smiles back up at him, still ignoring the question he had been asked.
“Can I have herbal tea?” the beautiful man asks again firmly.
It’s enough to finally break Wei Ying out of his stupor and remember he is in fact working.
“Tea, really? Most people don’t come here looking for that.”
“It’s on your menu.”
Wei Ying's turns to read the menu himself, “Well what do you know, Learn something new everyday. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen any tea here.”
Wei Ying started shuffling around, looking for tea, although he was sure there was no tea anywhere in this building. After making a good show of looking for the non existent tea. Wei Ying finally comes back over to the handsome man.
“So no luck with the tea. How about a coffee instead?”
With a sigh the man concedes, “Coffee black.”
“You got it. Name?”
“I am the only person here.”
“Humor me, will ya.”
“Lan Wangji.”
“One black coffee for Lan Wangji. Coming right up.”
He poured the coffee into a to-go cup, fixed with a lid wishing he had a reason to keep him here longer.
“Here you are.” he says, handing the cup over.
Lan Wangji hands him a bill much too large for a single coffee and turns to leave, saying nothing more. Wei Ying is already disappointed watching him leave, figuring he'll never see him again, except maybe on a billboard or in a magazine.
Wei Ying is surprised when Lan Wangji comes back again the next night. He still asks for tea that they don't have and begrudgingly accepts coffee, paying again with more money than necessary and leaving without another word. Much to Wei Ying's dismay Lan Wangji completely ignores his flirting, probably since he is way out of his league. This routine continues for a week, baffling Wei Ying but he's not gonna complain. He enjoys the little bit of company and the tips are great.
“Welcome in, oh hey Lan Wangji guess what?”
Lan Wangji did not guess he in fact just raised an eyebrow and continued staring at Wei Ying waiting for him to continue.
“You're no fun. You have to guess.” Wei Ying pouted but if Lan Wangji learned nothing else in this last week it is that Wei Ying has very little patience and waiting him out will be easy.
“You know I don't have the patience for this and use it against me.” Wei Ying whines before bouncing back.
“But check this out we finally got some tea in and the fancy kind that doesn't even come in a bag.” He exclaims showing Lan Wangji the three new teas they got in.
Wei Ying watches his face for a reaction he doesn't smile. But it's almost as if his features soften, Wei Ying is still counting it as a win.
“So what will it be?”
“Wei Ying may choose for me.” Lan Wangji nods
“You put a lot of trust in someone who likes super sugary coffee” Wei Ying laughs, making quick work of preparing the tea. Before taking it over to Lan Wangji. He is however surprised when Lan Wangji still simply accepts the drink paying and promptly leaves without another word.
Wei Ying had truly believed the tea would get him to stay just a little longer. At least long enough to try it and tell him his opinion. He figured his flirting was obvious but maybe the guy just wasn't into him. It was discouraging but at least the tips he got from him in the last week had been great.
Their days continue as such Lan Wangji comes in orders, pays and leaves. Wei Ying continues to flirt although it feels pointless but he just can't help himself. He knows he is making a fool of himself at this point but he really just can't stop.
Today the hours passed slowly for Wei Ying. He waited for Lan Wangji to come at the same time as he had for the last two weeks but he is surprisingly late. Wei Ying wonders if he has finally grown tired of his insistent flirting and decided to get his tea elsewhere. Probably wherever he had been going beforehand. Eventually it's time for him to close up for the night and he is ready for a hot shower hopefully if the plumbing cooperates before crashing into his bed for the night.
He turns down an alley, a shortcut he usually takes to get back to his apartment, he gets chills up his spine. Wei Ying turns expecting to see a person or eyes following him but as far as he can tell there is no one out her but him. He walks faster; it's not like the universe had ever done him any favors and as he rounds the corner back onto the main road something grabs his arm. But before he can turn to see who grabbed him, a cloth blurs his vision covering his face and mouth. Wei Ying's body grows heavy before going lump collapsing against whoever grabbed him.