Past 

*Fifty years after YiJun and Shen part with Xian's parents*

YiJun forgets about his prey and follows the young boy secretly. The boy goes inside a house, and YiJun follows.

YiJun had not had blood for almost two weeks. He was on edge. His mind was in a haze, and his senses were weak. 

Shen had forced him to go and hunt, but just a moment before he was going to persuade his pray, his eyes had fallen on a young boy who looked and smelled like his Xian.

When YiJun doesn't return home, Shen goes in search of YiJun. YiJun's scent leads Shen to a house. He finds the occupants of the house looking dazed and huddled in a corner. Then his eyes fall on a young boy struggling in YiJun's arms. 

The boy screams, "Sir, please, help me... Save me."

YiJun cups the boys face in his palms and breaths deeply. YiJun's hands go on the boy's belts, that are holding his top garments. But before he can take it off, Shen pulls him away. 

"YiJun! Control yourself! He is scared of you. He is not Xian."

"But uncle, look at him. He looks exactly like Xian."

Shen hugs YiJun. "Son, you haven't fed in two weeks. The restlessness you are feeling right now is confusing you. Why don't you feed first? I will make sure he is here when you return."

"Uncle, please," YiJun begs.

"If it's not him and you mark him, you know what will happen." Shen reminds him. The thought of losing Xian forever brings YiJun to his senses. He goes out and hunts before returning to the boy's home. 

One whiff of the boy tells YiJun that it's not his Xian; he leaves the boy and his family alone and runs off.

They leave the village the same night. YiJun hugs Xiao Xian the whole time, apologizing for the mistake he had made: of touching another person, of embracing another human. He apologizes for betraying his Xian.

After what he had done, YiJun had realized that it had happened because he had not fed. That made him change his attitude towards drinking blood. Because he was scared of making the same mistake again, he started feeding regularly. 

In the beginning, feeding made him feel remorse, but as he started feeding more frequently, his heart hardened, and so did his attitude. 

Present 

Xian takes a cab home. When Yanli asks the reason for his early return, he tells her that the message he had sent was a joke; that nothing was going on between him and his boss; that some documents had to be signed for which Mr. Lan needed him. After which he had gone to a park and studied.

In the evening, he goes to the club, and after the performance is over, he goes to the locker room to pick up his things and finds XiChen waiting for him.

"Hey, what a coincidence!" Xian says, walking towards XiChen.

XiChen smiles, "It's not a coincidence. I was waiting for you."

Xian cocks his head to a side, "Why?"

"Because I wanted to ask you if you got into trouble because of me yesterday?" XiChen asks, looking concerned.

'Why can't Jun be more like him?' Xian wonders, "No, you didn't get me into trouble."

"So would you like to go out to grab a coffee with me?"

Xian wants to say yes. No, not because he likes XiChen. He wants to say yes, because he wants to make Wangji jealous. But try as he may, he just can't lead XiChen on like this, "Sorry, I can't. I have homework." He lies.

XiChen walks closer, "Xian, are you by chance dating our boss?"

Xian gulps, "Of course not!"

"Are you sure?" XiChen asks, smiling mischievously.

"Yes, there is absolutely nothing going on between us. I have someone in my life. I love him."

XiChen stops dead in his tracks, 'He is in love with someone else!?' 

"May I ask who... " XiChen doesn't get to finish his question. He trails off when he sees Wangji enter.

Wangji looks from XiChen to Xian. "Xian, I was waiting for you outside. What is taking so long?"

"Mr. Lan, I can go on..."

"Your sister is worried about you. She called me up to ask if I am overworking you!" Wangji says in an irritated tone.

"Mr. Lan, I am sorry. It was my fault. I was talking to him. Xian, we will talk tomorrow." XiChen apologies, trying to leave.

"XiChen, wait," Xian calls out.

"It's my birthday tomorrow. I will text you the address and time. Please do come."

XiChen smiles brightly, "Thanks, I will be there."

Wangji turns to leave too, but stops when Xian addresses him. "Mr. Lan, why did you lie to XiChen?" Xian asks, walking closer to Wangji.

Wangji ignores him.

"Mr. Lan, how did my wounds heal?"

Wangji ignores Xian again.

"Mr. Lan, I need to tell you something. Can we go somewhere- Ouch!" Xian's words get cut off as Wangji pulls him towards the car. "Get in."

Xian gets in without any hesitation, "Where are we going?"

"You will see." Wangji starts the car and drives them to Lan Mansion.

"Why are we here?" Xian asks, once they are inside.

Wangji takes a deep breath, "I need to tell you something." Wangji pauses; he takes Xian's hand in his, "You promised to give me what I want. I had thought of asking for it tomorrow, but I can't wait that long."

"I remember my promise."

"Xian, what I am about to tell you, you may find it hard to believe. After listening to all of it, please don't hate me. That is all I ask. Don't ever hate me."

"I promise that I won't hate you." Xian reassures, and Wangji blurts out, "I am a monster. To survive, I drink human blood. I am almost four hundred years old."

Xian knows that this information should scare him; that he should run. But for some reason, his heart as well as his mind remain calm, "So, like a vampire?"

"Yes, you could call it that. But I am not just that, I am also part wolf."

This part leaves Xian speechless. 'Dawn!' 

Things start falling into place slowly. But that still doesn't explain why Mr. Lan is calling himself a monster. Then it occurs to Xian that vampires kill humans, "How many?" Xian's voice trembles. But the truth Xian realizes is that, even if the answer is in hundreds, he still wouldn't love Jun any less.

"How many what?" Wangji asks instead of answering.

"How many have you killed?"

"Xian! I have never killed a human. I promised you..." Wangji trails off.

"Who did you promise?" Xian cocks his head to a side.

"The one I love. The one I have always loved."

'He loves someone else....but he said he loves me.' Xian searches Wangji's eyes. There is pain in the immortal's eyes, 'I love you. I want you. But I can't be with you. It's wrong.' Wangji's words come back to him. 'So he can't be with me because he already has someone.'

"Ok." Xian nods. "Is that it?"

"No. There is more. " Wangji says, looking away, "I can persuade people to do what I want them to do and then make them forget about it... I have done that to you several times. I have done things....."

'Does it really work on people?' Xian wonders. 

"How many?" He asks, trying to keep his voice steady. 'How many times have you kissed and fucked people!?' Xian wonders. He feels like crying.

"Hundreds...I have lost count." Wangji says in a small voice.

Xian chuckles sarcastically as his heart breaks into pieces, "How did I compare with your other conquests?" Xian asks coldly.

"What?" Wangji asks, feeling lost.

"If Mr. Lan wants me to say the words, then I will." He walks over to Wangji and grabs his collar, "How many people have you persuaded and taken to bed, Mr. Lan? I am asking: how many people have you fucked, slept with, touched, kissed!?" The young man yells. 

"Xian!" Is all Wangji can say. Tears start making their way down his face. Streaks of blood stain his beautiful features.

Xian immediately lets go of Wangji and steps away. 'Thats why his tears are red; he isn't human!!'

"If I told you that you are the only living person I have ever touched, would you believe me?" Wangji asks, falling to his knees.

Xian doesn't understand why, but he knows that Wangji is incapable of lying to him. "Yes, I will believe you," Xian says, crouching next to Wangji.

Wangji cups Xian's face, "There are only two people I have ever held in my heart, and you are one of them. I want to show you something."

Wangji takes Xian to his room. Once they are outside, he looks pleadingly at Xian, "He is inside, the man I have always loved."

"Isn't this your bedroom?" Xian asks, his brows crease.

Wangji nods, "The man I love is in a sort of coma. He can feel and hear me. And I have been waiting for him to wake up."

Xian feels a crushing pain in his heart. 'He is waiting for his lover to come back. Will he leave me when that happens?' He remembers that Jun wanted to know something. What was it that His Jun wanted to know? It leaves Xian confused.

Wangji opens the door and walks them inside. Xian's eyes fall on a man's back. He looks around the room. He knows that people in a coma need special care. Yet, the man lying in bed seems like he is just sleeping. 

When Wangji had said that he had held two people in his heart, somehow, Xian had not felt threatened. He was ok with that. But having loved someone and letting go was much different from keeping the first lover in bed. Xian feels confused, "For how long has he been in this state?"

Wangji answers in a small voice, "Four hundred years."

Xian's breath hitches. He realizes a few things simultaneously. Why had he never felt threatened by Jun when he had found him in his bed? Why had he reacted to Wangji like he had, the first time they had met? Even after Wangji had tried to use his powers of persuasion on Xian, why had he never questioned it? Why had he not felt scared, even after hearing that Wangji was a vampire? When Wangji's cut had healed right in front of his eyes, why had he not been surprised. 

There was certainly something not quite right about this situation. Yet, since the time Xian had met Jun, his heart had felt full, complete somehow. Why?

"Mr. Lan, why are you telling me all this?" Xian asks, looking away from Wangji and the sleeping form on the bed.

"Because I wanted you to know about me. I wanted you to know what I am."

Xian still doesn't understand why Wangji is telling him these things. He needs time to think. To process what he had just heard, "Mr. Lan, I think I should go home."

"Do you hate me?"

"No."

"Are you scared of me?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Mr. Lan, I still don't understand why you shared your secrets with me. Why are you saying that you hold me in your heart when you are still in love with him?" Xian asks, pointing towards Xiao Xian.

Xian can feel it in his heart that the man in Wangji's bed is never going to wake up, but he can't bring himself to say it out loud either.

Wangji looks away and blurts out, "I don't want you to date anyone except me."

'He is jealous: of XiChen and himself.'

Xian knows two things for sure now: he knows that Wangji loves him and that the other person in his heart will never be with him.

"I don't know about that, Mr. Lan, I have already told you that I have someone, and that I love him."

Wangji eyes fall to the floor, not knowing how to react. "But you haven't even seen his face. He could be hideous."

"Not possible. I know he is gorgeous." Xian walks closer to Wangji. "He is perfect. Mr. Lan. When I kiss him, the way my name drops from his lips is beautiful."

Wangji gulps; the tips of his ears turn red, "He is lucky."

"Yes, he is. And he is going to get luckier tomorrow night. I have invited him too. I want you guys to meet." Xian says, looking into Wangji eyes.

"I don't think that will be possible," Wangji says, cupping Xian's face, caressing his bottom lip.

Xian holds Wangji's fingers, "Mr. Lan, I don't think my boyfriend would approve of your behavior."

"I don't care," Wangji says, leaning in a little.

"Mr. Lan, I think I should leave now," Xian says, getting away from Wangji.

Xian turns, but before he can take a step away from Wangji, the immortal hugs him from behind. "Don't go. Please."

"Mr. Lan, please, I can't betray Jun," Xian whispers, trying to control his breathing. His heart wants to jump out of his chest.

Wangji can't take it anymore. He turns Xian in his arms, "Say that you want me." Wangji begs, pulling Xian in by his waist.

"Mr. Lan... " Xian moans, as their lower bodies make contact.

"I know you want me, please say it," Wangji begs again. 

"Mr. Lan, what are you doing!?" Xian tries to push Wangji away. 'Say that you are Jun.'

"You are hard for Me... For me.." Wangji whispers in Xian's ears.

'Damn it, Jun.' 

 Xian stares into Wangji's eyes, "I love My Jun. I want him; I am hard for him; I want him to touch me. Mr. Lan, either let me go or PERSUADE me to stay."

"Damn it! Xian, please- " Wangji begs.

"I am sorry, Mr. Lan, but I can't stay," Xian says, feeling disappointed. He steps away from Wangji; he turns and starts walking away. He doesn't understand why Wangji just doesn't want to admit that he is Jun; his Jun.

His hand goes to turn the lock when Wangji holds his wrist.

"I am sorry," Wangji whispers in Xian's ears.

"Mn?" Xian tilts his head.

"Look into my eyes," Wangji says once again. And Xian looks. He has no choice. "Once I tell you, you will forget this ever happened."

Xian nods, keeping in character.

"Do you love Jun or me?"

Xian finds it crazy, "Both."

"Who do you love more?"

"I love you both equally."

"Damn it, Xian!" Wangji's control is hanging by a thread. He caresses Xian's jaw.

Wangji steps a few feet away from Xian. He presumes that if he is away, Xian can speak his mind without physically getting affected, "Will you hate me if I kiss you?"

"No. I love you."

"What about Jun?"

"I want him too. I want both of you." Xian answers. 'Why is it so hard to admit that you are Jun?'

Wangji walks closer. He takes Xian's phone, types a message, and sends it to Yanli before throwing the phone on the couch.

"Xian, will you let me..." Wangji doesn't even know how he wants to end that sentence. He had promised himself that he wouldn't use his powers on Xian again, but here he was, doing it again! 

"Yes," Xian consents, hugging Wangji. He can't take being away from his Jun anymore. He knows that tomorrow is his birthday, and Wangji had promised him things. He knows irrespective of how tonight goes, Wangji will keep his promise. He knows he should probably wait, but he couldn't anymore.

"Mr. Lan... " Xian presses himself closer. He buries his face in Lan Wangji's neck, breathing him in, "Kiss me."

{Note:- Word count 2641

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