Idol Chatter

Lan Wangji teaches guqin at the Gusu Music Conservatory. Many of his students are obsessed with the wildly popular idol WuXian, who happens to be holding a concert in town that night. He also just so happens to come see Lan Wangji at his job before the concert.

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For the 3/07/20 weekly prompt of ":chenqing: :star_struck: :tada:" (they were emojis) from my Cheng Qing Ling and MDZS discord.

In this, their real names are Lan Wangji and Wei Ying and their stage names are Lan Zhan and WuXian (stylized, you know, like P!nk).

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The outside of Gusu Music Conservatory was made of sand colored stone with columns and accents that appeared to be made of large tree trunks. The full campus was made of curved buildings and from above resembled a series of nested crescent moons. There were plenty of large glass windows on the outside, but many of the practice rooms inside had no windows and had been designed to be soundproof and with excellent acoustics.

Lan Wangji loved working at the Conservatory.

His great-great-great-grandfather had founded Gusu Music Conservatory hundreds of years ago – though the current building was something his grandmother had commissioned to accommodate the growing population of students and to stay modern. Lan Wangji's father was the current head of the Conservatory and both his uncle and brother worked there as instructors. His uncle, Lan Qiren, taught musical theory, while his brother Lan Xichen taught xiao. Lan Wangji himself taught guqin.

The oldest student Lan Wangji had ever taught was a woman in her eighties who wanted to use the skill to keep her feeling young. Learning how to move her fingers kept them dexterous and learning the music scores kept her memory sharp. She even composed music and performed at the Gusu Music Conservatory Annual Charity Performance. His youngest student had been five and had thrown a tantrum and given up more than a dozen times over the years, but always came back for more lessons within a month. He was now in high school and wanted to start teaching at Gusu Musical Conservatory after graduation.

The students Lan Wangji had that day were also teenagers. Two of them were only taking lessons because their parents were adamant that every young lady should be able to play a musical instrument and the guqin was an honorable, traditional one. Three others were there for extra practice, since they were part of their school's traditional orchestra. It wasn't his busiest day by far. He would be done and heading home to his rabbits by five.

The morning lessons went well, with barely a hiccup of drama when one of the orchestra girls briefly worried she would flub a key moment in their performance next month. Lan Wangji had simply said, "Have confidence in your skill and your practice." As usual, even a few words from him lifted his students' spirits.

He had always wondered why that was. As someone who had been told countless times growing up that he was terrible at expressing himself and had a resting angry face, the fact that people seemed to gain confidence from his rare speech was still hard to understand. What was it that made people trust him now, but had scared them away when he was a child?

Well, almost everyone. There was one person who stuck by him…

"Oh my god, did you see it?"

"I saw it! Did you?"

"No I didn't! Ahhh! I want to see WuXian's tour bus close up too!"

WuXian.

Lan Wangji's ears perked up and he briefly glanced in the direction of a group of teenagers sitting in the Conservatory's café with him. It was lunch time and each of them had a meal before them, but they were all gathering around one phone to read something.

"Tickets for the concert have been sold out for weeks. Did you get yours?"

"Of course I did! Like I would miss seeing WuXian when he comes to town!"

One of the girls put a considering finger to her lips. "It's great that he always ends his tours here in Gusu, but I wonder why?"

Another smacked her lightly on the shoulder. "Don't question gifts from God, Yang Xia. We are blessed with the chance to see an angel within a hundred feet of us. Accept it!" She whacked Yang Xia again, again, again, until Yang Xia was laughing and feebly trying to escape.

What would those teens do, Lan Wangji wondered, if they knew WuXian's tours always ended in Gusu because that was where he lived – not in Beijing or Shanghai? If they knew that he recorded around half of his songs in a studio in Gusu, not at his record label's main building in Beijing?

"How can he be so baby and yet so daddy at the same time?" one of the girls still staring at the phone asked in a wistful tone. "I wanna protect him but also unf, ya know?"

Lan Wangji's ears burned.

"Get you a man who can do both," another intoned gravely, causing the whole group to start giggling.

Shaking his head once, Lan Wangji turned his gaze back to his food. His mind was stuck on the teens' conversation though.

WuXian was an idol who had appeared on the scene as if from nowhere – though how hard he worked as a trainee was public knowledge thanks to countless videos and interviews. He was known for his dance moves, his angelic voice, and his dizi playing skills, as well as his chaotic but bright, accepting online presence. He was now twenty-six and had six albums under his belt – not to mention millions and millions of followers on social media. If there was an award ceremony happening, WuXian was nominated for something – albums, songs, OST work, composing, dizi instrumental music, even Best Fans and Best Social Media. He didn't always win, but it was common.

Behind him, the teens were still talking about WuXian. How he had chosen his stage name aptly – 'To Have No Envy' indeed. Who would someone as beautiful as WuXian have to be envious of? He was perfection! He was sweet and kind, his smile could cure depression, he volunteered at charities that helped kids, he donated so much money to orphanages and food banks, he could farm, he could paint, and he could code his own robots. What was there that this man could not do?!

"Well, isn't it true that a lot of his most popular songs were composed by Lan Zhan? He might be envious of that," one of the girls suggested, though it sounded like she only half believed it herself.

Lan Wangji stopped eating.

Yang Xia shook her head. "No. If he were envious of Lan Zhan's composing skills or guqin skills, he wouldn't tease so much in interviews. Do you see how he lights up whenever someone mentions Lan Zhan?"

The girl who had smacked Yang Xia hummed. "You know…Maybe WuXian is Lan Zhan? Like, it's a pseudonym for when he plays guqin?"

There was a long pause, and Lan Wangji even held his breath as he waited for what came next. Then all of the girls burst out in laughter at how silly that idea was. Everyone had seen WuXian on that variety show four years ago when they made him play guqin. It was awful! No, no, no way. WuXian was not Lan Zhan.

Finishing his lunch, Lan Wangji stood to throw away his trash and return his dishes to the counter for washing. Just as he turned to leave the café, someone stepped up beside him. It was Lan Xichen, his older brother.

"Wangji," Lan Xichen greeted with a pleasant smile. "Done eating?"

Lan Wangji nodded and started to walk, his brother easily keeping pace.

Lan Xichen looked at him for a few moments, then said, "You're amused."

As always, his emotions were clear as ink on a page to his brother. "Some of the students were talking about WuXian and Lan Zhan being the same person."

That earned him a chuckle. Lan Xichen put his hands behind his back. "Well, I wouldn't say they were exactly wrong. You two know each other. Though your personalities are so different, I would trust your word for his and his for yours, isn't that right?"

That was right, but Lan Wangji wasn't about to say so. His ears were already burning as it was. "Brother."

"Don't some of your students come for lessons so that they can learn to play Lan Zhan's music?" Lan Xichen asked, his voice light. He was teasing.

It was indeed true that he had several students that had openly admitted they only took up the guqin in order to learn the music behind some of WuXian's songs. Personally, Lan Wangji was okay with that. Whatever brought peoples' attention to traditional Chinese instruments and kept them there was fine. Whatever made them happy was good.

"Don't you lose many students when they realize a xiao is not the same as a dizi?" Lan Wangji answered.

Lan Xichen gave a chuckle and held up his hands. "Fair. Fair."

They walked quietly in the direction of Lan Wangji's practice room – where he held lessons – for a few minutes. There were students and teachers wandering here and there, carrying all manner of instruments. People nodded to them – some even stopped to give full bows – but no one tried to start a conversation. They were the heirs of the Conservatory, the best musicians it had produced as far as the current and past students were concerned. While that earned them respect, it also kept most people at a distance.

"Did you need something?" Lan Wangji asked when his room door came into view.

Lan Xichen tilted his head slightly. "Are you attending the concert tonight as well?"

The ticket was in his jacket pocket. "Do you need me tonight?"

There was nothing planned for the school, but maybe Lan Xichen needed help with something personal? He did have that alumnus who kept coming around. Had Lan Xichen finally admitted to himself that he thought Meng Yao was attractive?

Shaking his head fondly at his brother's defensive response, though most would think it had been a simple question, Lan Xichen said, "Have fun, Wangji."

With that, they said their goodbyes and parted ways. While he waited for his next student, Lan Wangji sat behind his guqin and played a song he had composed in high school. The song was sad – mourning a separation – and yet hopeful for returned feelings.

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The sun was getting on in the sky when Lan Wangji said goodbye to his last student of the day. A quick check of his watch told Lan Wangji it was nearly five. He would have plenty of time to go home and get ready for the concert that night at eight.

Just as he finished cleaning the practice room and was about to leave, the door swung open without a knock. The person who swept into the room wore a red knit beanie over black hair pulled into a short ponytail, a poofy black jacket with red lining, and a mask over the lower half of their face that had the image of a comically large animated smile on it.

"Wei Ying."

What was he doing here? It was almost five o'clock.

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying cheered, throwing his arms wide and rushing forward to give Lan Wangji a big hug. "Lan Zhan, it's been too long! I've missed you!"

He pulled back from the hug only to latch onto one of Lan Wangji's arms instead.

Wei Ying let out a huge sigh. "Don't get me wrong, I love performing and I love my fans, but I am so glad the tour is over after tonight. I can finally come home and spend time with you!" He gasped. "How are the bunnies? I miss them. Do they miss me?"

Lan Wangji nodded. "Mm. They miss you."

Wei Ying pulled the mask down, revealing his natural beaming smile. It was Wei Ying's smiles that had drawn Lan Wangji to him at first – and indeed that was what his fans said made them fall in love with him. When Wei Ying smiled, the entire room felt brighter.

"The concert," Lan Wangji said, glancing to the closed door as if Wei Ying's manager would come bursting in any moment.

Wei Ying shook his head. "I'm all yours until six." At Lan Wangji's lifted eyebrow, he jumped to attention and held up three fingers. "I swear! Sound check starts at six. Costumes and makeup after that. I'm following all the rules, Lan Zhan! Have a meal with me!"

He tugged on Lan Wangji's shirt sleeve, like a child asking a parent for candy, chanting 'food, food, food, food' over and over.

"It is less than an hour until six," Lan Wangji pointed out. The thought of finally getting to enjoy a meal with Wei Ying again – after almost two months of separation – made his stomach flutter pleasantly, but he didn't want to get Wei Ying in trouble or hurt the concert in any way. So many people were looking forward to it, after all.

Wei Ying pouted and crossed his arms. "Do you not want to eat with me?"

"I do."

Beaming, Wei Ying grabbed Lan Wangji's hand and started pulling him toward the door. "Then let's go! I'm feeling Thai tonight. Bonus! It's practically on the way to the arena from here, so I can spend more time with my Lan Zhan before I have to leave!"

Shaking his head, Lan Wangji let himself get dragged along. He and Wei Ying could eat a meal together every day after tonight – when Wei Ying was back in their shared apartment, in their shared bed – but it was nice knowing that Wei Ying had missed him enough to not want to wait another second.

As they walked – Wei Ying with his mask over his face once more – Wei Ying chatted amicably. Did Lan Zhan see the latest interview? People are still asking who 'Lan Zhan' is. Oh, what would they do if they knew 'Lan Zhan' was a stage name for esteemed guqin player Lan Wangji of the Gusu Music Conservatory – so stoic and thick faced?

"Sometimes I wonder if we should just tell everyone who you are," Wei Ying admitted, then grinned, "but it's so fun teasing people about your identity that I don't want to stop."

He continued talking, but Lan Wangji's attention was divided when his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket, he saw text messages from Manager Wen.

.

-He had better be with you or I will skin him alive

-I may skin him anyway

-Sound check is in less than an hour

-Where the hell are you?

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Of course Wei Ying hadn't gotten actual permission to leave just before a concert.

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-We will be there in time for sound check.

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-Lan Wangji

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-We will be there.

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But first, a meal with the one he loved. The concert, and the fans, and everything else would come later.

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fin

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If you like my writing style, check out my other fics and look me up on goodreads (Jessica M. Dawn) for more.