Wild Creatures

Chapter 28

Wei Ying was skim-reading the previous articles on his phone, while Lan Zhan’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, waiting for him to respond.

"I'm trying to get a feel for the writer." He explained. "Some of this seems to be correct, but they are tossing in unbelievable things…and my gut is telling me those parts are on purpose."

"Mn. That's what I thought. And that's why I think we can ask them a question and they are going to be honest about it. We can try, right?" Lan Zhan says, and an unintentional smile lifts his lips.

Wei Ying notices.

"What?" He asks, self-consciously.

"Nothing…I am simply admiring my boyfriend." Lan Zhan turns back to the screen, as if he doesn't know what he's doing.

"Terrorist…that's what you are!" Wei Ying mumbles to himself, red-faced but smiling.

Lan Zhan slips an arm around his waist, pulling him closer.

There's not long to go before Wei Ying has to leave for his first shift at the Coffee Carousel, and Lan Zhan is all too aware of the passing seconds. But since he has asked Wei Ying to think about leaving his job already, he can't say anything more, just yet.

But he still feels impatient about it.

And then he has the brightest idea.

While Wei Ying is still reading, he pops into the kitchen and quickly prepares snacks for later when they'll return with the children after school. Then it's just a few extra minutes getting the prep done for the evening meal. Tonight, he thinks they might enjoy spaghetti. It might be messy with six year olds…but isn't that part of the fun?

He remembers eating with his uncle and older brother; his chopsticks had a bunny topper, so he could learn how to use them properly. He thought back to how he pretended not to have mastered this skill, just so he could keep using the bunny addition.

To this day, he thinks both uncle and Xiongzhang were onto him, but they never said anything.

It is moments like this he wishes for his new family.

When Wei Ying said he had been alone up until now, it had caused Lan Zhan a physical pain. His heart organ might not be functioning, but how it was connected to his feelings was as right as rain, and it was hard not to be affected by the hardships suffered by his mate.

The truth was, Lan Zhan wanted to take over Wei Ying’s life, to protect him from the things that might cause him pain. He wanted to provide for Wei Ying, A-Yuan and JingYi, the latter now under the umbrella named 'His People' with the others.

But Wei Ying was a sensitive person, and the last thing Lan Zhan wanted was for him to feel obligated in any way. He was going to have to ease Wei Ying into a lighter way of life, even better if Wei Ying made better decisions to help himself.

Lan Zhan was convinced that all Wei Ying needed was the sunshine of love, and the fertiliser of self confidence, and he would flourish, growing towards the sun all by himself. And that being the case, Lan Zhan was going to be there for him.

All the way.

He goes back into the living room, feeling energised and ready to tackle whatever comes at them.

"Ready?" Wei Ying turns to him, the brightest smile on his face.

Lan Zhan cannot resist.

He sits down with practised, effortless elegance, and takes that beautiful face in his hands. His lips hover, watching the delightful way Wei Ying’s eyes flutter closed, the cutest pout on his pink lips and Lan Zhan swoops in.