Wei Qing hasn’t yet remembered that it’s his birthday when the first gift lands.
“Fang Yichen? Really? Haven’t I already been blacklisted by him?”
Yue Fei kisses the tip of his nose and adds the finishing touch of paprika to Wei Qing’s Eggs Benedict.
“Not blacklisted. He just stopped responding, and you didn’t bring him back, or apologize, so things deteriorated.”
But with a strong enough bedrock, a good deal of things can be forgiven.
“Ahhh, apologize for what? Don’t look at me like that, I know I’ve been awful, but I don’t remember what exact awfulness led him to cut me off.” Wei Qing sighs in misery. “I should know so I can apologize properly, and avoid speaking things I shouldn’t.”
Fair enough.
“You invited him to Stripes, went to the bathroom to do coke off some boy’s ass, and stayed gone.” Wei Qing thunks his head against the breakfast bar, but motions Yue Fei to continue. As much as his stomach flips, he can’t atone if he doesn’t know the full measure of his sins. Yue Fei ruffles his hair and tries to summarize without minimizing, explain without sending Wei Qing into an abyss of shame that will keep him from ever facing his old friend again.
It’s a tall order, given the night’s events.
“You ended up escalating, so I went to check on your guest. He was being aggressively approached by a man he was not interested in. I intervened on your behalf and helped him get home. By the time you finished, he was gone and you forgot you’d invited him out at all.”
Wei Qing groans.
“…And after all that, you say he wants to catch up and get lunch?”
“Mhmm.”
“Yue Fei, did you bribe him?”
“I did not.”
“Yue Fei, corruption has no place in the revolution.”
“Don’t think too much. I just let him know that you were your old self again, and asked if he’d be interested in seeing for himself. He agreed. After all, don’t you have a reunion in a few years? No time like the present to start overplanning.”
Wei Qing is still cultivating his feelings with the marble countertop.
“Fuck, Xiao Fang isn’t even gay, not even a little bit.” They’d been such friends, how could he throw him aside so easily? Just because his brother hurt him, it made it okay for his bad behavior to endanger others? He’s scum!
“That’s the impression I got as he was heaving into the bushes.”
“What kind of gift do you bring for something like that? Is there an Edible Arrangement that says, ‘Sorry I left you to be bullied and then forgot about it for years, here’s some melon?’”
“I’ll call the florist and check.”
“Yue Fei!”
“It’s fine. Well, it’s not, but Fang Yichen is very forgiving. As long as you don’t do it again, he won’t hold it against you.” Yue Fei kisses the top of Wei Qing’s hang-dog head. His master isn’t the only one that’s too easy to coax into forgiveness. “It’s just lunch, it’s low-stress, don’t you want to try it?”
“Ah-” Wei Qing knits his fingers into a cradle and twiddles his thumbs. “-I mean, if he’s willing, I can’t very well stand him up?”
“There’s the Wei Qing I adore.”
Wei Qing can’t eat his breakfast after all; first, because he’s horrified, then, because his stomach is filled with bubbles over Yue Fei adoring him. Adoring him in the same conversation in which he describes him at his very worst! Who adores someone with such a messy resume, much less when they were around to witness every debauched moment of it?
Wei Qing isn’t sure which god he brushed against, to have such favor after his rebirth, but he hopes they continue to take mercy on him. Otherwise, he’ll collapse under the speedrun of mistakes he’s made, in those years of aimless hurt.
—
Wei Qing is the one who invited Fang Yichen (via Yue Fei), so naturally, he’s paying, and they choose a restaurant that fits his budget. Up in the clouds, all elegant long wood in modern shapes and excellent sound insulation. The kind of place that poor Fang Yichen, with his excellent salary but lack of free time, doesn’t even have the chance to notice normally.
There’s no doubt that it will be the nicest meal Fang Yichen’s had since- heh, probably since Wei Qing’s twentieth birthday, when his brother and parents invited a private chef on their yacht and had a ‘grown up’ party for their youngest son and his pretending-to-be-grown university friends.
The harried salaryman checks his coat for lint as the maître d’ leads him to a table with a stunning view-
And forgets his self-consciousness completely, when he sees Wei Qing and Yue Fei framed by the early afternoon light, looking like business gods. Ah, this really is the gulf between the elite and mere mortals. His boss had given him the entire afternoon off when he heard that his lunch date was with that Wei Qing.
The flavor can only be called bittersweet.
It took weeks of coordination and covering to earn the right to take care of his Mom after her hip surgery, but he can drop everything for- Ah, no need, no need, he doesn’t need to understand it to appreciate the chance at good food and reconnecting with an old friend. Life isn’t fair, it’s enough to eat well when you can!
“Fang Yichen! Good to see you again!”
Fang Yichen smiles at the clean look in Wei Qing’s eye, and the lack of alcoholic drink in his hands. He accepts the hug and returns the greeting with an ease that surprises even him; it’s like they’re back in the student union after a holiday break, eager to share their trip photos (or in Fang Yichen’s case, funny stories from his extra holiday jobs).
“You too. Wei Qing, you look well.” Healthy. Sober. Not miserably self-destructive. The two men break apart and Fang Yichen shakes Yue Fei’s hand as well, feeling almost as honored by his friendliness as Wei Qing’s. After all, even as an assistant, Yue Fei is older than them! He’d been a real adult when they were still fumbling along. If Fang Yichen thought of Wei Qing as a princely older brother, Yue Fei was the worldly eldest brother of them both! At least in his boyish heart.
Later on, when he learns about the relationship of these two ‘brothers’ of his, heh-
There are fancy appetizers and homely entrees, cooked to sublime perfection. A single cocktail each, enough for it to be a proper lunch between friends, without giving anyone flashbacks to Wei Qing ordering bottle service. Don’t look at how he’s dating the boss, Yue Fei is still an all-around assistant, and knows how to set a moment to show Wei Qing to his best advantage.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf jkxkjgvcfrr bo j ibcu qjgalcu ribkis wfiar jkjs, ilxf rcbk lc rqglcu.
“Yt, jcv gfwfwyfg atja klcafg vjcmf? Qtfc kf aglfv ab yf jii Cwfglmjc, jcv jmmlvfcajiis fcvfv eq mibrfg ab qgbralaealbc lcrafjv?”
“Gbc’a! Gbc’a! Tbe qgbwlrfv kf’v cfnfg-” Mjcu Tlmtfc ibbxr sfjgr sbecufg, jr tf rageuuifr ab mjamt tlr ygfjat. “Ct, jcv gfwfwyfg biv Oe’r bgjcuf-qffi ojmf, ktfc tf tjv ab fzqijlc ab er kts j yjmtfibg jemalbc vlvc’a tjnf atf rjwf oijnbg klat remt j rxfkfv gjalb?!”
“That woman in the Chemistry department-”
“Dr. Huang! Oh, I still don’t know if Dr. Huang wanted to take you home for her daughter or herself!”
Wei Qing clicks his tongue and laughs.
“It’s one of the great unanswered mysteries of my existence; I’ll never again experience being chased by such a regal cougar-”
Yue Fei coughs, lips twitching with amusement. And Fang Yichen, delighted by the ease of picking up this friendship, can’t help but include the mostly-silent man in this trip down memory lane.
“Yue Fei! Yue Fei, do you know something? Oh, you do, don’t you?!”
Wei Qing joins in, cajoling. “Yue Fei, if you know something, you have to spill! Tell the truth, did you catch Dr. Huang and those magnificently muscular arms of hers shimmying up our drainpipe one eve, forced to spirit her away lest she pollute my innocence?”
“Yes.”
…
“-What?” A bit of crab falls from Fang Yichen’s open mouth. Wei Qing throws a napkin.
“He’s lying! Don’t believe him, Comrade Fang! He’s good at it, but I’m learning his tricks!” Eyes crinkled in delight, Wei Qing slides his foot up Yue Fei’s calf, an example of his own tricks. Fang Yichen remains blissfully oblivious.
“Very well. There was no late-night cat burglary that I saw, but she did slip her daughter’s matchmaking portfolio into your final exam packet.” Yue Fei looks into the distance as if lost in memory. “Nice girl, evidently plays the guqin. Eventually married a doctor, so I’m afraid you missed your chance.”
“Ah, what a shame, I’m afraid I will never love another woman~”
The table descends into full-bellied laughter, the kind that makes their stomachs ache and their eyes mist up with unshed tears. And this is why they are in a place with such excellent soundproofing. Others might use it for tense conversations and secret assignations, but they only need it to contain their pleasure.
Yue Fei really is a comprehensive kind of assistant.
By the time the dessert cart leaves, they already have plans for another lunch, not even on the pretext of planning that far-off reunion, but just for the pleasure of time spent with old friends. Wei Qing is able to spend the Wednesday before his birthday imbued with a lightness that he didn’t know he still had; a delight at the feeling of friendship that he didn’t miss until it was given back to him.
Yue Fei leans in and steals a kiss in a private corner before they walk back to the office. “Consider this the start of your birthday, then.”
Wei Qing extends the kiss with an extra nibble before chasing him to the valet stand.
“Start? Start? Hey, Yue Fei, what are you planning? And can I get another kiss?”
Yue Fei unseals his lips– for another kiss, not more clues about the next week’s events.
Ah- by the time they break apart for a second time, Wei Qing doesn’t seem to have any complaints about the information diet he’s given. He doesn’t have any complaints about anything, except the fact that they’re in public and he can’t climb the man.
—
The next day, Wei Qing’s wacky week continues with an invitation to the top floor, by his brother, the president. He stares hard enough to leave a hole in Yue Fei, but his boyfriend stays impressively stoic and innocent-looking– which is proof that he isn’t.
Palms sweating and filled with a nervous energy that he doesn’t quite know how to name, Wei Qing is convinced to head up and hand-deliver this week’s (increasingly less) snarky brotherly gift:
Gold and red wrapped royal jelly that Wei Qing only bought halfway out of the desire to imply that Wei Qiwan was post-menopausal. The other half of him still remembers being barely old enough to reach the counter, watching his teenage brother adding the stuff to his pilfered coffee, even though their grandparents insisted that young people didn’t need such things.
Wei Qing nearly shatters the small-batch artisanal stuff, twice, but luckily, his awkwardness at the prospect of an unplanned meeting with this brother is negated by his recently-improved reflexes. All those video games might be paying off after all! (They are not).
Still why does Wei Qiwan want to see him? Did he do something wrong? Is the project being canceled-
Ah, did something happen with Mom or Dad?!
He’s managed to work himself into a tizzy by the time the doors open. He’s so nervous that Wei Qiwan’s living-embodiment of striped wallpaper, Receptionist Mi Huang, actually comes out from behind her tidy and personality-free desk, holding an epi-pen like she’s not sure what part of her training covers this.
His thighs are in danger.
Wei Qing waves the treatment away. The last thing he needs is a concentrated shot of adrenaline. On unsteady feet, he rushes into Wei Qiwan’s office, voice hoarse with the unreasonably certainty that their parents are in grave danger, if not d-
“Da-ge! Mom and Dad- are they- what happened?”
Wei Qiwan turns and nearly spills the lattes in his hands. One of them has sprinkles all along the rim like something vomited out of a young woman’s Instagram. (It is, that’s exactly where this folly originated). Things like this are why Wei Qiwan is still single, this late into being a bigshot man.
“What? Why do you think something happened?”
Wei Qiwan does indeed end up spilling, sloshing perfectly brewed coffee and sweetened milk all over his poor desk as he checks his phone, gray-faced and looking for some notification that doesn’t exist. Idiots, the pair of them.
“Nothing- Wei Qing, did you hear something?” There’s anxiousness in his tone, the bond of being adrift in a liferaft. Wei Qing blinks at him, young and uncertain.
“No? But why else would you call me up?”
“…” We work together! Why would you-
It’s a long silence. Finally, Wei Qiwan manages to break it.
“…Your birthday. Dinner?” Wei Qiwan picks at his nailbed. “Like… before?”
….
The finest education money could buy, for both of them, and look at the results of it. Their poor, totally fine parents. Those innocent lattes. The desk. The Chinese language. All collateral damage.
Wei Qing exhales weak-kneed into a comfortable leather chair, Wei Qiwan awkwardly follows a few beats later, sliding the slightly-ruined coffee over towards his catastrophizing little brother. Who apparently gets it from him.
Wei Qing doesn’t accept or reject the invitation, so Wei Qiwan speaks to fill the silence between them.
“I know it’s not until Wednesday, but your boyfriend suggested a weekend thing, you know, in case… we argue. Not that we have to. We used to have fun, right? Or at least not-” He waves to the air between them, as if the distance between them is a tangible thing.
“Yeah, we used to-” Wei Qing goes from dreamlike to stick-straight. “Wait! How do you know-?”
The eye-rolling is also inherited.
“Tch. If you want privacy, maybe don’t conduct your assignations in my elevators.” Wei Qiwan snorts, then remembers Yue Fei’s warning about tone (which he had not appreciated, but still took note of), and tries again. “I’m… not that opposed to it. He can’t do better, and you could do worse.”
Wei Qing chokes on a flurry of sprinkles, Wei Qiwan tries again (again).
“Of course, if you have any complaints, let me know and I’ll handle him.”
…
Oh good, more silence.
Okay, he tried.
Wei Qiwan really tried! But he’s out of things to say, the gulf between the two of them still too great to bridge with a little small talk, especially one-sidedly discussing a topic that requires audience participation, like the dating life of the person still quietly sipping coffee to your side.
Maybe he should find some napkins for the mess on the desk? That could be a good distraction- Yes! That’s thousand-year-old cypress, that’s what he’ll do! Cleaning, cleaning is always the correct choice as you wait to find out if the baby brother who’d once hero-worshipped you was still willing to eat stupidly expensive beef on your tab.
Shit like this is why Wei Qiwan doesn’t bother dating. Interpersonal relationships- yesh.
By the time he addresses the mess and turns around, there’s a brightly wrapped package sitting on the end-table between their two seats. And Wei Qing looks shy but ready to speak, like when Wei Qiwan had brought him along to his high school and introduced him to all the future business elite.
—
Wei Qing’s head is spinning. He suspects LSD has contaminated the sprinkles of his frankly terrible coffee.
On one hand, their parents are fine. On the other, it seems very possible that his elder brother is having a stroke and/or is currently being possessed by an earlier version of himself. Ah, is this the fabled double-rebirth that he’s read about in those novels of his? …Although, no… wouldn’t a rebirth mean he’d be older, not younger?
Yep. Brain damage it is.
“-I don’t have any complaints.” Yue Fei is perfect. Your approval is… appreciated? And annoying? But also baffling? Mostly baffling.
Wei Qing’s thoughts spin.
During the party, Wei Qing had thought that perhaps Wei Qiwan blamed Gao Zhong for bending him onto the path of homosexuality, and that explained the (belated) angry protection. Maybe all that acceptance when he’d first nervously brought a boy home had been washed away by the sheer number of bedmates he’d had since, and all his bad publicity. One boy is fine, but a parade of them was embarrassing.
But if Wei Qiwan was still accepting of his sexuality, was even willing to acknowledge him being with his assistant without pushback or suspicion… What the fuck had Gao Zhong done, for Wei Qiwan to so snub him?
These are probably the kind of questions that he can only have answered if he starts spending more time with his brother. And, what’s the worst that can happen? He’s disdained and embarrassed? He’s thrown out of a party? He runs into the arms of someone unworthy and ends up falling to his death?
Been there, done that.
There’s a bravery that comes from already facing down your fears, even if you didn’t survive them.
Yes, this dinner can be tactical! He’s not necessarily giving in by accepting it!
“Sure. Dinner would be… nice to have. Oh, and-” He straightens out the slightly crinkled gift wrap and motions, “-weekly… whatever, hand-delivered since I was ambushed into courier service.” He sounds the tiniest bit bullied.
Wei Qiwan relaxes enough that Wei Qing almost believes he was the one worried about being rejected.
His older brother unwraps the jelly and sighs, running his fingers across the embossed letters that promise everything from immortality to relief from menstrual cramps. He reads the card that Wei Qing hadn’t thought to snatch back, one eyebrow rising higher and higher as the words become more and more ridiculous.
Tucks the thing into his jacket pocket before Wei Qing can burn it to hide the evidence.
“Thank you. Lately, my PMS has been an absolute bitch.”
Deadpan.
Wei Qing takes an unfortunately timed sip and ends up sending coffee and color-leached sprinkles all over his nice heather grey slacks and the poor, just-cleaned desk. What. Is. Happening.
He doesn’t know how to interact with a brother like this!
—
Wei Qing whine-brag-worries all the way through dinner and into their post-dinner snuggling and palace watching. In this episode, they might finally discover if the missing concubine has survived her fall down the well and is ready to counterattack, or if the Empress Dowager has successfully swapped her out with her twin sister. That bitch!
Well, if Wei Qing doesn’t keep getting distracted, that is.
“-and then, he actually said he had PMS. Hey, do you think I heard wrong, or has he finally found a sense of humor?”
“He might have ruined that desk, grandfather will definitely come back and haunt him as punishment-”
“…I wonder if it’s the same steakhouse, no one does a blueberry port like they do, I really miss it…”
“The drink he made was really cute. Tasted terrible, but there’s a charm in that?”
“-it’s not a trap? Right? Like, he’s not mentally ill or anything and this is just a moment before relapse?”
“-have asked him if he smelled burnt toast? If he dies of an aneurysm, is it my fault?”
Finally, the notes of worry overwhelm the cautious optimism. There’s nothing for it- Yue Fei pauses the episode and rains kisses down on Wei Qing’s furrowed brows, smoothing away that expression that says he’s a kid with an empty bowl, afraid to ask if he can really have some more. His voice is lovely, dark, and deep as he soothes him.
“It’s not a trap. Or a medical emergency. Wei Qiwan is growing, just like you have.” Yue Fei licks and bites under Wei Qing’s chin. Over-extends an arm to ladder his fingers slowly up the soft ridges of Wei Qing’s ribs. “Perhaps your good example has inspired him.”
Yue Fei gives up on the storyline of the swapped concubine and instead twists himself until he’s fully pressed against Wei Qing. Then, because this is dangerous, and Wei Qing is far too pliant, he grabs his boyfriend by the hips and gently encourages him to participate in a roll that sees Yue Fei laid out on the sofa, and Wei Qing straddling him. Controlling the pace.
Yes, far safer. Or… much more dangerous?
Yue Fei pushes anyway. He can’t help it, he’s weak with the need to praise Wei Qing and make up for everyone who doesn’t remember to remark upon his brilliance.
“You have been excellent.”
“Really?” Wei Qing is smiling again, like a crafty fox who doesn’t actually have any dastardly plans.
“Really. So good. The best.”
Wei Qing rolls against him experimentally, following the hitch of Yue Fei’s breath and the contours of his body to seat himself perfectly, torturously right where Yue Fei most craves him. Smiles down at him with wicked promise, leans forwards, and explores under Yue Fei’s mussed shirt and up his bow-tight chest.
“Baby~”
“-Yes?” Anything you want, say the word and you’ll have it.
“Pass me the remote?”
Ah. Well, then.
Yue Fei pulls him down and kisses him senseless, before doing just that. Passing him the remote and returning to the story of the missing concubine. (She’s dead after all, but her twin is here for revenge, not replacement. How wholesome!). Yue Fei watches attentively, no matter what his wandering hands or misbehaving hips suggest. Even with his boyfriend running riot, he watches the show very diligently. Could even tell you with about a coin-flip’s certainty the general plot. Even if he’s edged to the point of insanity, he stays focused.
Wei Qing’s not the only one who can be a good boy, yeah?
—
Whether or not Yue Fei’s goodness is rewarded is something that stays between the two of them and their frequently cleaned couch. What’s certain is that, the next day, Wei Qing is so happy that he’s slightly worried the universe is playing a great joke on him, even as he dresses immaculately for the office, wearing a suit worthy of the steakhouse that he’ll be eating at.
“You’re really not coming?”
“We don’t have to be attached at the hip. Spend the night with your brother. I have some cleaning to do that you’re too distracting for me to otherwise take care of.”
“Oh? But what if I want to be attached to your hips?” Wei Qing hides his nervous energy with sexual energy instead, turning unnecessary assistance with tie-straightening into unnecessary (but welcome) trapping of Yue Fei against the full-length mirror in his closet. “And what if I like being distracting?”
This is the problem with hanging one’s appetite. It’s fun, but the hunger just keeps growing and growing until you end up wanting to serve someone lovingly against the fogged glass, able to watch from every angle as they fall apart with the force of your devotion.
But they’ve got meetings and deadlines and responsibilities outside of this closet.
“Wei Qing. Be good.” Yue Fei presses an amused kiss against those smirking lips.
“What? We’re early, especially if we grab a to-go breakfast.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Probably because I’m about to spoil said breakfast?”
And before Yue Fei can respond, Wei Qing drops to his knees, the carpet fibers of the walk-in ruining all Yue Fei’s careful work lint-rolling his blue-black slacks. And then- ah, then, the image of Wei Qing, dressed like a master of the universe and looking up at him like a groom on his wedding night, all eagerness– then, Yue Fei forgets any objections he might have. To-go is fine. Another pass with the lint roller is fine.
Anything’s fine, as long as Wei Qing keeps looking at him like that.
In the mirror, Wei Qing makes eye contact with himself, slides off that understated belt of Yue Fei’s, and does just what he promised: ruins his breakfast.
Even grabbing dumplings on the way out, they still arrive late to the office.
Eh, it’s fine. Perks of being the boss and the boss’s assistant.
Author’s Corner:
Shameless!
It’s good to have friends, though Wei Qing really didn’t take very good care of them in the past~
(Also for those concerned about what kind of story this is~ while there’s nsfw occurring more and more frequently because we’re ramping up to a Big Event, I solemnly swear that there is a plot! Once things reach a certain point, most harmonious activities will be more poetic/implied except when plot-relevant or in nsfw-centric chapters)
I am a lurker but I must say your novel is the joy of my week! It brightens up my day. Thank you for writing such a wonderful story~ and while Wei Qing threw up sprinkles and coffee, I throw up rainbows reading ♥
I love the NSFW and theres plenty of plot alongside it imo.
I love your writing style. Thanks for the chapter!
I just really need to take a little break to calm myself down 😂😂 can’t help it tho, the two idiot brothers’ overdramatic reaction to their parents’ non-existent accident is really too hilarious and when Qiwan admits his PMS hahaha i lost bro 😂
Ok, I’m done laughing, gonna continue reading~
I’m so glad their lunch went well with the added benefit of winning Fang Yichen some leisure time. And I hope Wei Qiwan got some real pleasure out of shocking his little brother with his joke 🤣.
Thanks for the chapter~
Love it!
This story is such a lovely way to start my day! Funny, hot, heartwarming with a good bit of plot!
Great work!
thanks for the chapter <3
Great chapter as always ❤❤❤ It’s so nice to see Wei Qing finally reconnecting with people!! My boy deserves the world!!!
The collateral damage part. I cackled, CACKLED.
Thank you for the chapter, oh the second-hand embarrassment ~
So glad I stumbled on this novel! I am in (platonic) love with QianQian and his Yue Fel, and big brother too. I don’t feel like the NSFW is too much 😍
im so envious to death with Wei Qing, to have such a boyfriend like Yue Fei. Huhu Yue Fei always gives sooooo much past the bare minimum to Wei Qing (likewise, wei qing)
i dont feel like the nsfw is too much at all, (i quite enjoy it) although im confused if they already stuck it in? Like you know… Or is it still pure oral? I dont know cuz although i read it clearly, there’s still many words of the author that I’m confused asf hahahaha
Haha–
When they go all the way, you’ll know it. 😉
Plot is never necessary when there is so much sweetness and healing.
🐥🥰
I love the stump man. 😂😂