"Hmm. Gege, I'm hungry."

"Ah..."

Xie Lian blinked.

Rule number one of being a (good) host: If your guest says they're hungry, you feed them.

So Xie Lian smiled and clapped his hands together and told Hua Cheng to wait a bit on the couch.

Then he kept smiling at Hua Cheng as he backed into the kitchen. To which Hua Cheng also kept smiling back.

Xie Lian disappeared into the pantry.

Oh no!

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead. Since when does this pantry have food?! Never!

One must not forget that this dormitory does not have many things to cook with. It wasn't because they were broke students living off of instant noodles but rather because they don't know how to cook.

There were a few cups of instant noodles in the pantry but how could he serve that to his guest?? Well, actually he could... There's nothing wrong with instant noodles! Wait no! What if San Lang's taste is super refined??

Xie Lian shook his head. He looked at the pantry with a determined face. He will find something for Hua Cheng!

Please, please, please have a secret portal to Narnia in the back of this pantry...

。。。

。。。

。。。

Hua Cheng sat on the couch. He looked at the pantry where Xie Lian was currently (panicking) in.

He felt something looking at him.

Hua Cheng turned his head and looked down at the sofa.

"..."

A stuffed fox faced directly at him.

Hua Cheng was pleasantly surprised. So Xie Lian kept it all this time. But... What's with the eyepatch?

Hua Cheng's eyes widened. Could Gege have known??

Hua Cheng picked up the stuffed fox and held it out in front of him.

Did Xie Lian know that this stuffed fox was from that little 'ghost' boy he encountered at that abandoned church?

The fox seemed to stare back at Hua Cheng as Hua Cheng stared at it.

"San Lang!"

Hua Cheng turned around and tossed the stuffed fox over his shoulder. "Gege! What did you get for me?" he smiled.

"Ah... There wasn't much in the pantry but I found this!" Xie Lian walked over, holding a small plate with an apple on it. "Here you go, San Lang. It's already washed." Xie Lian passed the plate to Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng's smile widened. "Looks delicious and nutritional, Gege," he said.

Xie Lian's face lit up. Now he only feels a bit guilty because this apple was supposed to be crushed to be part of Shi Qingxuan's homemade facial mask. Eh... He's sure Shi Qingxuan wouldn't mind. "I picked the best one for you," Xie Lian said, beaming.

"En, Gege," Hua Cheng took the apple off the plate and set the plate aside before taking a bite of the apple.

Hua Cheng munched and said, "Wow, it made that crunch sound and everything! How nice!"

"Mn, this is a great apple!"

The apple was practically blushing from all the compliments.

Xie Lian walked over to sit down next to Hua Cheng. He spotted the stuffed fox upside down on the cushion. Xie Lian picked up the fox and sat down, placing the fox on his lap.

Hua Cheng glanced over. "That's a very, um, cute stuffed fox you have there, Gege."

"Right?" Xie Lian replied. "I have had this since forever!"

"Yeah! And the eyepatch? Very creative, Gege. How'd you think of it?"

"Oh... Something happened and my friend, Mu Qing, accidentally popped out one of the fox's eyes," Xie Lian stated. Xie Lian sat there with an amused expression. "That was ages ago."

Hua Cheng: "..."

Hua Cheng: "Oh, I see."

Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng and scooted closer. "Heyyy, San Lang, how did you know the eyepatch was sewed on, hm?"

Hua Cheng: "Oh, because the thread color was different from the rest. :)"

Xie Lian paused and looked closely at the fox. "Oh, you're right! That's smart, San Lang."

Hua Cheng smiled. "Thank you, Gege!"

。。。

。。。

。。。

Wei Wuxian was stunned. Everyone was with their pen pal or whatnot but his penfriend never showed up! That sucks. He hates when that happens!

Wei Wuxian began to think. Everyone was busy today. He has no one to hang out with. He too was supposed to be busy today.

But then Wei Wuxian remembered someone! There was one person who he could always talk to. Because this person is always at the same place and is good at listening.

Can you guess who they are?

Wei Wuxian headed to Cang Qiong's Shopping Mall.

To Aunt Luo's coffee shop!

When Wei Wuxian got there, he was surprised. Jiang Wanyin was there.

Actually, that wasn't surprising.

"Jiang Cheng! You're here too!" Wei Wuxian spread open his arms as he walked to the counter where Jiang Wanyin was sitting. On the other side was Lan Xichen cleaning a glass cup with a cloth.

Jiang Wanyin turned his head and his face immediately turned into a scowl. "What are you doing here?" he said bluntly.

Wei Wuxian made an offended noise. "What? I can't be here? I just wanna get coffee." Wei Wuxian sat down on a stool next to Jiang Wanyin and picked up a menu.

Jiang Wanyin stared at him. He reached over and turned over Wei Wuxian's menu. Wei Wuxian was holding it upside down.

Wei Wuxian: "Oh."

Lan Xichen: "Hello, Wei Ying."

"Hey! So, do you guys have milk tea here?" Wei Wuxian asked, looking down at the menu. "It's so good to see you, Xichen-xiong, I swear, no one else smiles around here."

Jiang Wanyin scowled.

"Seriously, Wei Wuxian, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at Qingfeng right now, hanging out with your penfriend or something?"

Wei Wuxian turned to look at Jiang Wanyin. Then his face crumpled and he threw his arms around Jiang Wanyin and hugged him.

"WHAT THE F*CK, GET OFF ME!" Jiang Wanyin roared.

"Jiang Cheng! I'm so unfortunate! My penfriend didn't show up! Like, everyone else's penfriend showed up!" Wei Wuxian cried, clasping Jiang Wanyin tightly.

Lan Xichen: "Uh... Please, calm down, this is a cafe-?"

"What does that have to do with me??" Jiang Wanyin hissed quietly, yanking Wei Wuxian's hands from him.

Wei Wuxian huffed and turned back to his menu. "It doesn't! I'm just telling you when I'm here. But anyway, why are you always here? I'm starting to think you two have something going on."

Jiang Wanyin's face reddened. "What are you talking about? I'm just here to congratulate Lan Huan on winning second place in that art competition."

"Yeah, yeah," Wei Wuxian yawned. Then he spotted something over the counter. "Heyyy, is that cake?" On the counter was a small round cake with white frosting sitting in a square plastic box.

Lan Xichen smiled. "Sure is! Wanyin brought it for me as a congratulatory gift!" he beamed.

"..." Wei Wuxian turned to look at Jiang Wanyin who was purposely avoiding his gaze. "Wait a second, is that why you asked A-Jie to teach you how to make a cake???"

Lan Xichen's eyes widened. "I thought you told me it was store-bought!"

Jiang Wanyin: "..."

Wei Wuxian: "Wow, I'm so hurt. Jiang Cheng, you never even made me a cake before. You must really like-"

The glare that Jiang Wanyin sent Wei Wuxian was enough to shut him up.

Lan Xichen looked at Wei Wuxian as if he was waiting for him to continue.

Wei Wuxian: "Er- oh! Um, let's talk about the art competition you won then! It's that art competition that my friend, Hua-xiong, won first place in, right??"

Lan Xichen scratched his cheek. "Is your friend's name Hua Cheng? He's the one who won first place. He was very talented." Lan Xichen smiled.

"Ha, I know right? But you know what's funny? My penfriend, in one of his letters, told me that his brother won second place in an art-" Wei Wuxian abruptly stopped.

Jiang Wanyin: "..."

"Um, Xichen-xiong?" Wei Wuxian asked in a small voice.

"Hm?"

"Do you happen to have a brother?"

Jiang Wanyin: "..."

Lan Xichen: "I do! His name is Wangji. Why do you ask?"

Jiang Wanyin: "..."

Wei Wuxian: "And his birth name doesn't happen to be Lan Zhan?"

"It is! How did you- oh."

There was a moment of silence as the realization dawned on all of them.

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath.

Jiang Wanyin: "I will destroy you if you scream."

Wei Wuxian let out a deep breath.

Wei Wuxian: "..."

Jiang Wanyin: "..."

Lan Xichen: "This is such a curious coincidence."

Wei Wuxian: "... Mn. :("

Lan Xichen: "But I do know why Wangji didn't show up!"

Wei Wuxian: "...!"

Lan Xichen: "It's because...

😁

Thank you for reading!

('▽')/✨

Comments and your vote will be (highly) appreciated! As usual!

Word Count: 1528