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Today is the day of Chu Wanning’s sentence.
Mo Ran says he’s exaggerating, reassuring him with wide smiles and gentle kisses, but even then, this whole situation feels like he’s awaiting a legitimate sentence for the wrongdoings he’s committed—quite literally, if he’s feeling slightly inclined to analyze the reality of his and Mo Ran’s relationship.
It’s been two years since Mo Ran graduated, and one year since they got in contact again after meeting by chance and began, well… talking with other intentions. It had never crossed Chu Wanning’s mind that Mo Ran would want him, out of everyone in his life, so it had taken them around five months to finally set the grounds for a proper and formal relationship despite their past as teacher-student.
Dating Mo Ran was everything Chu Wanning ever imagined, and even more. It’s easy to get lost in everything: the gentle smiles, the bright eyes, the loving words, the electrifying kisses, the warm touches—Mo Ran is simply perfect and Chu Wanning finds himself, more often than not, being led by stupid impulses that result in really, really terrible outcomes.
The source of his terrible week was yet another of those stupid impulses. He hadn’t seen Mo Ran in two weeks—the end of the semester and a work trip made it impossible for them to meet, so immediately after leaving the train station, Mo Ran rushed to Chu Wanning’s office on campus, still carrying his luggage and all, not even knowing on the door before lounging himself towards Chu Wanning.
It’d be a shameless lie to say Chu Wanning hadn’t missed him, and even more of a daring lie to say he wasn’t happy to see him, so much that he was a little more eager to deepen the kiss, all of their surroundings blurring so that only the warmth of Mo Ran's touch remained after so long of being apart.
So perhaps it was all the result of bad timing. Mo Ran's hands started to wander lower and lower, and none of them truly remembered to lock the door to Chu Wanning's office on campus. Right in the engineering department, where tons of professors were used to leaving late during midterms. When Mo Ran's big hand squeezed his butt, Chu Wanning's mouth parted in a silent whine just as the door opened wide and the department's head’s voice carried, loud and boisterous.
“Hey, Yuheng! Do you—”
Chu Wanning pushed Mo Ran away, but it was too late. Xue Zhengyong’s eyes and mouth were wide open, and he remained frozen still. That was not only terrible because Xue Zhengyong was his boss, but it was also downright atrocious because Xue Zhengyong was Mo Ran’s uncle.
Mo Ran blinked, a strained smile appearing on his handsome face. “Oh, hi there, Uncle. I—I’m back.”
Xue Zhengyong cleared his throat, confusion coloring his tone. “I…can see that, Ran-er...”
Chu Wanning swallowed, trying his best to subtly fix his shirt and school back his expression into impassiveness. Maybe if he pretended nothing happened, then all of them would begin to believe nothing truly happened. “Mr. Xue, was there something you needed?”
Xue Zhengyong looked at both of them, expression unreadable. Chu Wanning, in all twenty years of knowing him, had never seen that expression on him. Something heavy settled, then, the realization of having made a big, big mistake finally dawned on him. “I was just gonna ask if you wanted a slice of cake but never mind that. I’ll…I’ll see both of you for dinner this Saturday, all right?”
Left with no option, both of them nodded like scolded children and watched in silence as Xue Zhengyong locked the door, closing it behind him without saying a word. The sound of his footsteps echoed down the hall until only their quiet breathing remained.
“So,” Mo Ran sing-sang after a moment, turning to Chu Wanning with a dimpled smile. “I guess introductions were due to, anyway, right?”
Chu Wanning shoved him away harshly, walking back to his desk to plop himself down on the chair and bury his head in his hands. They were absolutely fucked.
—
They’re both standing outside Mo Ran’s family home, and Chu Wanning’s glum mood only gets worse when Mo Ran opens the door and gently ushers him inside.
“This is a bad idea, Mo Ran.”
“It’s not, Wanning. They’ve known you for longer than I’ve done,” Mo Ran repeats for the nth time, a reassuring hand hovering on the low of Chu Wanning’s back. “Everything will be fine, baobei. Stop worrying your pretty head over this, yeah?”
Chu Wanning is not any more reassured by hearing it for the nth time, but he appreciates Mo Ran’s effort, deep down. Very deep down, in the part of him that wasn’t waiting for this dinner to end terribly. It doesn’t matter that they’d known each other for twenty long years—Xue Zhengyong, freshly out of college, had worked as a substitute teacher during Chu Wanning’s first year of high school, and they had somehow ended up with a good relationship. Years later, they met again at Sisheng University, where Xue Zhengyong worked as an engineering professor. Now he’s Chu Wanning’s boss, and despite taking years to acknowledge it, he’s also Chu Wanning’s good friend.
What truly matters is that Chu Wanning was once Mo Ran’s professor, and that Mo Ran is the nephew of his boss and friend, the nephew that is a whole ten years younger than him, at that. Putting it like this, Chu Wanning’s mood drops even lower, body tense as they enter the dining room, where the table is already set with a variety of dishes.
All eyes turn to them; Mrs. Wang is smiling, albeit a little nervous. Xue Meng’s—also an ex-student of Chu Wanning and heavens, he remembers looking at baby pics of him back in his high school days—expression is tight, torn between glaring at Mo Ran and trying to smile at Chu Wanning. The worst is Xue Zhengyong, whose expression remains unreadable even now.
“Take a seat, Chu-laoshi,” Mrs. Wang offers, trying to dissipate the strange atmosphere in her cozy dining room. “My husband told me you liked mild foods better, so we prepared a variety of dishes, hoping they’re to your liking.”
“Thank you,” Chu Wanning says firmly, sitting down with stiff movements, ignoring the term of address directed his way.
Mo Ran sits at his side, his warm presence remaining a comforting balm for this whole situation. He leans to the side a little and whispers, “I also told Auntie about your favorite desserts.”
Chu Wanning turns to give Mo Ran a stern glare, but he is thankful nonetheless for the information. At least there's something to look forward to during this excruciating dinner.
“How…” Xue Meng begins somewhat awkward. His eyes never seem able to look at them for long, but Chu Wanning understands. “How’s teaching going, Laoshi?”
“No need to call me Laoshi, my name is fine.” Chu Wanning knows there’s not much he can do to make the situation any better but at least, ignoring it for a bit longer would help it be a little less worse. “It’s fine. Students change every semester, and new experiences are bound to happen.”
Xue Meng nods, seemingly content with the response, and asks nothing else.
“Let’s eat,” Xue Zhengyong says next, grabbing his pair of chopsticks and placing a huge piece of meat on his wife's plate. “Help yourselves to any of your liking.”
And so they do. Dinner is such a quiet affair that Chu Wanning begins to feel choked with every bite of food he swallows. Not even having Mo Ran draw soothing circles on his thigh seems to make it better, deeply aware that meals with the Xue family were never meant to be such an awkward thing, and it’s solely his fault they’re like this now.
It’s not like he never expected to be introduced to Mo Ran’s family, especially when he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that this was something that would last for long. It was bound that, at some point, Mo Ran came clean to his family about their relationship, and Chu Wanning was willing to accept it, albeit with the slightest bit of apprehension because of the familiarity between Xue Zhengyong and himself.
But to be discovered in such a foolish way, right in his workplace, was just mortifying.
“Mr. Xue, Mrs. Wang.” Chu Wanning addresses them directly, unable to withstand the silence anymore. He leaves his chopsticks on the side and looks them in the eye. “I know this is not what—”
“Wanning—” Mo Ran begins, the hand on his tight squeezing it as a quiet signal for him to stop.
But this is not the time to shut down, not when he has to say something, anything, to make dinner a more manageable affair. “Not what you expected, and that it took you by surprise—”
“Wait,” Xue Zhengyong interrupts him. “Let me speak first.”
All of the people at the table turn to look at him, his wife and son with understanding, but Mo Ran and he with both confusion and apprehension. Even Mo Ran, who has been all smiles throughout the dinner, gains a serious expression and Chu Wanning’s stomach drops.
“Xiao Chu,” Xue Zhengyong looks at him for the first time since the discovery, and Chu Wanning is surprised to find warmth in his gaze. “I’ve known you for almost as long as I’ve known Meng-er,” he begins, his expression turning reminiscent. “I’ve known you for longer than I’ve known Ran-er, and I never expected to see the day…the day something like this happened.”
“Mr. Xue, this is not—”
“I've tried to introduce you to so many people, set you on multiple blind dates, but all you've ever said was: I'm not interested, so I gave up after the fifteenth attempt. To say the nature of your relationship with Ran-er took me by surprise would be an understatement.” He shakes his head, but the corners of his eyes tilt up slightly. “So I’ve prepared something for both of you.”
“What?”
“Uncle...”
“Come right in!”
The doors of the dining room open up to let in a crowd of people of all ages cheering loudly, one of them rolling a cart that appears to carry a big cake on it. When Chu Wanning turns to look at Mo Ran, wordless with disbelief, he's even more shocked to find his mouth and eyes wide open with surprise. “Auntie Zhen? Chen-ge? Grannies Liu? What…what is everyone doing here?”
Xue Zhengyong laughs, the sound rumbling despite the noise of the crowd setting in the dining room. He stands up and slowly walks up to stand between Chu Wanning and Mo Ran, settling both of his hands on top of each of their shoulders. “This occasion called for a big celebration.”
He makes a sign for the cake to be brought over, and when Chu Wanning looks at it, the very top layer reads: Happy life to the lovers ♥️
Speechless and feeling his face burn from shame and embarrassment all the same, Chu Wanning turns to Mo Ran, who simply winks at him and offers a sheepish smile.
“Congratulations, Xiao Chu!” Xue Zhengyong cries out, catching his attention. “I never expected to see the day you finally found yourself a rightful lover with my own old eyes.”
Congratulations from all the people present start to pour in, despite this being the first time that Chu Wanning has ever seen most of them. Truthful wishes and blessings are said to them more times than he can process, and by the time the sixth aunt is telling him how handsome he is and how happy she is to see Mo Ran date him, he begins to tune out the whole thing, a little dazed but mostly, definitely confused.
After a short while, Mo Ran takes his hand and laces their fingers together, raising their hold to place a gentle kiss on Chu Wanning's knuckles. “Yes, Grannie. I know I'm lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend. I will treasure him immensely.”
Chu Wanning burns from head to toe, but his chest feels strangely warm despite how unsettled he feels after all the unexpected response to his dear relationship.
Xue Zhengyong, talking with a group of people on the other side of the room, raises his cup full of wine when their eyes meet, and Chu Wanning raises his back in acquiescence, feeling his lips tilt up in a tiny smile.
Maybe things are never as terrible as he thinks they will be, and he's grateful for that.