#listen i didn't spend all my middle and high school years attending bullshit sunday school classes to NOT make a wangxian au out of it

[theinkquiry]

so it’s MDZS but they’re all in prep school or something because all Chinese American kids know the struggle.

one summer Wei Wuxian gets shoved into SAT prep in an attempt by the Jiangs to get him to either behave or just leave for like a couple goddamn hours so they can get some goddamn quiet. 

meanwhile, Lan Wangji has been going to summer/weekend prep r e l i g i o u s l y for like the past ten years. Lan Qiren’s probably had him in some kind of tutoring or extracurricular class since he was able to read and write. 

having been in prep for so long, Lan Wangji isn’t exactly surprised that someone like Wei Wuxian is there... but no one’s ever been there for so long who is also so annoying.

Wei Wuxian of course gravitates towards Lan Wangji because in what universe does he not? Wei Wuxian can spot uptight, repressed gay from miles away (despite being an equally repressed, though nowhere near as uptight himself). 

and so it begins.

rule #1 in any type of prep class is to shut up, so that’s already moot. Wei Wuxian won’t shut up for his life. He gets sent out to copy lines all the time but that doesn’t stop him from doing it really fast, coming back, and starting the whole process all over again.

he never does his homework and always ends up asking questions no one can answer. he’s made at least three teachers quit because they don’t get paid enough to teach these rat kids on their time off, even if they are being paid under the table and have no other means of income.

it’s that bad.

Wangji doesn’t know how to get him to stop. sometimes Wei Wuxian tries to prod him into a conversation (all the times, Lan Wangji ends up responding). 

Wei Wuxian is hanging over Lan Wangji’s shoulder as usual, and Wangji just learns to deal with it. he starts to think that maybe sometimes the acting out is a little bit warranted because this new teacher is being really mean to students who are genuinely trying hard. and Wei Wuxian is the only student who cannot possibly disappoint the school any more than he already has so he’s the one who sticks up for the students who get yelled at for forgetting homework or getting a question wrong.

Wangji does not admit it, but he thinks that its very admirable of Wei Wuxian to do so.

one time, Wei Wuxian actually corrected a question Lan Wangji was working on while ignoring his own twenty-page packet of pirated practice book questions and Wangji has never felt so embarrassed and enamored at the same time.

but then one day, Wei Wuxian’s gone.

good, Lan Wangji thinks, now the class can get back on track.

he pretends not to notice the insufferable silence. the chalk is too loud against the board. the chairs squeak too much. he can’t focus on what the teachers are saying, (even if, as Wei Wuxian once pointed out, they really don’t do that much teaching in the first place). 

it isn’t like they ever really talked. were they even friends? Wei Wuxian had a way of always making it feel like they were friends. but they never exchanged numbers or anything. they didn’t go to the same school. 

he still does his work. he’s Lan Wangji, after all. his uncle still expects perfection, after all. and that’s what Lan Wangji has always delivered, after all.

but he always wondered what happened to Wei Wuxian...

it isn’t until the first day of college. a posh, uppity, ivy league, just like his uncle has always dreamed for him. he was one of the first students to move in and so one of the first to be completely left alone as everyone else is busy decorating their rooms and such.

Lan Wangji isn’t... good at any of it.

but then, between the bustle of orientation and icebreakers and communal lunches, he hears that boisterous laugh. the one that drove the prep school teachers up the wall and the one that’s been echoing in his ears for so long.

well if it isn’t Lan Wangji! Wei Wuxian runs up to him as if they were only separated for a few days. funny seeing you here! haha, not really... you were always super smart. of course you got in here.

the compliment is one Lan Wangji’s received millions of times before, but coming from Wei Wuxian it made his ears go bright red.

how? Lan Wangji couldn’t help but wonder. how are you here?

Wei Wuxian just laughs at him. what, like it’s hard? ahh, sorry you probably don’t get that reference. don’t worry! hey! you should come over to my dorm and we can watch movies together. what’dya say?

what else could Lan Wangji say? 

to the one he’s been searching for. the one who he’s been wondering about. it is true, Lan Wangji is rather boring compared to his more social classmates. he was not outspoken and not very good at keeping up with “popular culture.” he thought he was content for so long to keep his head down and keep working, keep getting good grades, keeping making his family proud.

he couldn’t even remember the last time he’s watched a movie out of enjoyment and not for an assignment. he’s certainly never watched anything with a title like Legally Blonde. 

Wei Wuxian looks at him, excited, but there’s not a single expectation in his eyes. he’s bouncing up and down on his toes and he’s looking at Lan Wangji with pure, unadulterated joy and acceptance. well? how about it?

he says yes.