Chapter Text
Chapter 1
A manicured garden stretched wide beneath the summer sun, hedges trimmed to perfection, gravel paths raked smooth, koi pond glinting like polished glass.
A white mansion stood in the distance, stately and silent, its tall windows reflecting the sky.
But Wei Ying wasn’t looking at any of that.
He was crouched in the grass, sleeves already grass-stained despite the expensive fabric, absorbed by the frog hiding beneath a broad, waxy leaf.
Seven, maybe eight years old, all restless limbs and sharp curiosity.
He nudged the creature gently with a stick. Once. Twice.
It flinched.
A shadow fell over him.
“Stop doing that. You’re hurting it.”
Wei Ying squinted up, the midday sun haloing the other figure in blinding white. For a moment, he saw nothing but light.
Then his eyes adjusted.
Another boy stood there, perhaps a year or two older, immaculate, chequered blue shirt buttoned to the collar, dark hair neatly combed. Not a blade of grass clung to him.
Wei Ying blinked.
He knew exactly who he’s looking at.
Lan Zhan. Second son of the Lan family.
The quiet one. The well-behaved one. The one adults compare children to.
Wei Ying’s smile came easy. “Hurting it?” he echoed lightly. “I’m just saying hello.”
Lan Zhan's gaze dropped to the frog, then back to him. Serious. Unmoved.
“It cannot defend itself.”
Something sharp flickered through Wei Ying’s chest. He didn’t let it reach his face.
Instead, he laughed softly. “You’re very kind, Lan Zhan.”
Not a compliment.
An observation. Maybe even a challenge.
Lan Zhan crouched, adjusting the leaf so the frog was shaded. His movements were careful, precise. Gentle.
Wei Ying watched him.
A mischievous thought bloomed in his brain.
“Oh,” Wei Ying said suddenly, as if struck by inspiration. “If you’re so worried about it… you should take care of it.”
He reached for the frog.
It sprang away in a blur of green.
Lan Zhan straightened at once. “Don’t do that.” Then he turned, already composed again. “You should… clean up. Our fathers asked me to find you. It is time for tea.”
Tea.
Wei Ying nearly laughed.
Of course Lan Zhan would say it like that. As if it were a solemn ceremony instead of a room full of adults pretending not to discuss business arrangements over porcelain cups.
He brushed dirt off his knees lazily. “I know where the house is.”
Lan Zhan did not reply.
He simply began walking back across the pristine lawn.
Wei Ying watched him go.
Watched the straight back. The tidy hair. The polished shoes left by the entrance steps.
And then…
Oh.
His grin turned wicked.
In one swift movement, he scooped the frog up again before it could escape beneath another leaf. It wriggled indignantly in his hands.
Wei Ying lowered his voice conspiratorially. “You’re going somewhere nicer,” he informed it.
He tucked it carefully into the pocket of his shorts.
Then he pictured it: Lan Zhan sliding his perfectly clean foot into his shoe, expecting smooth leather and finding instead something damp, slimy, and very much alive.
Wei Ying had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing aloud.
Oh, that expression would be worth everything.
—
Wei Ying blinked his eyes open, groggy and disoriented.
“Excuse me? Can we pay?” An irritated voice cut through the haze.
A customer stood on the other side of the counter, fingers drumming beside a small pile of items waiting to be scanned.
Oh.
Right.
The omega swiped at the corner of his mouth, quickly wiping away the telltale line of drool before offering a bright, practiced smile.
“Sorry,” he said. “Pronto.”
He reached for the scanner, movements a little slower than usual, and began swiping the items across the reader.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Third part-time job of the day.
The convenience store night shift was always the hardest. Fluorescent lights humming overhead. Air too cold. Time crawling.
He’d already worked sixteen hours.
Four more to go.
His shoulders ached. His feet burned. His eyelids felt as though coins had been laid across them.
But his smile didn’t falter.
His mind drifted anyway.
Why that dream?
It hadn’t even been a dream but a memory fragment pulled from somewhere deep in his childhood.
Every summer, without fail, his parents had brought him to that mansion. Trimmed hedges. White walls. Endless sky.
And Lan Zhan.
They never became friendlier after the frog incident. If anything, Lan Zhan had grown quieter around him; more distant, more composed, while Wei Ying had only learned new ways to provoke him.
Still, they saw each other every year.
At some point, when he was old enough to understand the tone but not the implications, he’d overheard the adults discussing a betrothal.
Between the two of them - an Alpha and an Omega.
No one had asked him.
No one had asked Lan Zhan, either.
The last time they visited, Wei Ying had been fifteen.
After that…
The invitations stopped. Or maybe they were the ones who stopped going.
Everything unravelled so quickly it was hard to remember which came first: the whispers, the arguments between his parents, the divorce or the creditors.
Now, standing beneath humming fluorescent lights in a twenty-four-hour convenience store, he almost wondered if he’d imagined it all.
The mansion.
The polished floors.
The carefree summers.
Lan Zhan’s pristine shoes by the door.
It felt like a lifetime ago. Like it had belonged to someone else.
The sliding doors parted with a soft electronic chime.
Wei Ying didn’t look up immediately.
Another customer.
“Welcome,” he began automatically.
Then he glanced up.
The man who had entered was dressed too well for this neighbourhood. Dark tailored suit. Polished shoes that had never touched a muddy pavement.
He didn’t head for the aisles but walked straight to the counter instead.
Wei Ying straightened slightly. “How may I help you, sir?”
The man studied him for a moment before speaking. “Mr. Wei Ying?”
Wei Ying’s smile didn’t waver. “That depends who’s asking.”
“I am a representative of the Lan family.”
The words were delivered calmly.
But they landed like a stone dropped into still water.
For a second, just one, Wei Ying forgot the hum of the fluorescent lights. Forgot the ache in his feet.
The Lan family.
The white mansion.
Summer sunlight.
Lan Zhan.
He forced a soft laugh. “That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.”
“My employers request your presence,” the man continued as if reading from an invisible script. “Transportation has been arranged.”
Wei Ying’s fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the counter.
“And if I’m working?” he asked, gesturing vaguely to the shop.
The man’s gaze flicked to the convenience store logo on his uniform, then back to his face.
“We have already spoken to your manager. You have been granted leave for the remainder of the evening. We will recompense you for the pay and the shop for closing early.”
That was very Lan.
Thirteen years.
It had been thirteen years since he’d last stepped foot in that place.
Now this?
His first thought was practical.
Did his father owe them something?
The bankruptcy had been messy. Loans, investments, whispered accusations. Wei Ying had never been told the full story, only that money had vanished and so-called ‘friends’ had followed.
The Lan family had been ‘gracious’ - his parents had said at the time.
He leaned his elbows casually on the counter, masking the way his pulse had quickened.
“And what,” he asked mildly, “does the Lan family want with me?”
The suited man did not hesitate.
“You have been invited to the Lan residence this evening.”
Wei Ying studied him carefully. Curiosity stirred beneath his suspicion.
If it were about money, they would have sent lawyers.
If it were about debt, they would have sent documents.
Only one way to find out.
—
It was still the white mansion.
But it had changed. If anything, it was even more luxurious than he remembered.
The exterior remained pristine and imposing, but inside: marble floors gleamed beneath warm recessed lighting. Glass railings replaced carved wood. Clean, modern lines softened what used to feel almost austere.
It was no longer just old money.
It was power.
And then there was him.
In a faded grey hoodies, black tracksuit and cuffed trainers that had seen too many shifts and too many steps when he couldn’t afford the bus fare.
The attendant stopped before a set of double doors and pushed them open quietly.
“Mr. Wei Ying has arrived.”
Wei Ying stepped inside.
The lounge was warmer than the rest of the house, amber lighting reflecting softly against marble floors. Deep tufted sofas framed a low glass table laid out with neatly arranged fruit and porcelain tea cups.
After-dinner refreshments.
Seated at the center were Lan Zhan’s parents.
And Lan Zhan. In a white polo neck, the fabric smooth and uncreased, sleeves fitted neatly along his arms, light beige trousers fell in clean lines to the floor. Not a wrinkle in sight. Not a strand of hair out of place.
Immaculate, the way Wei Ying remembered him.
For a brief, absurd second, Wei Ying wondered if Lan Zhan had ever owned a hoodie in his life.
“Ah, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan’s mother said warmly, though her posture remained perfectly composed. “You have grown so much.”
“Uncle. Auntie.” Wei Ying inclined his head with an easy smile.
“It has been a long time,” Lan Zhan’s father added. There was more silver than dark hair on him now.
“Mm. Thirteen years,” Wei Ying replied lightly, almost amused.
Lan Zhan said nothing. He lifted his teacup with steady fingers and took a measured sip. The porcelain made the faintest sound when it met the saucer again.
Fruit was offered. Tea was poured.
They exchanged polite questions: his health, his work, how his parents were faring, where he was living now.
Wei Ying answered easily.
“Well, I’m freelancing,” he said with a shrug. “Across a wide range of fields.”
Convenience store. Burger joint. Cleaning agency.
A diversified portfolio.
There was the faintest flicker in Lan Zhan’s eyes that Wei Ying was unable to read.
Lan Zhan had not spoken until now. He set his teacup down.
“Is that what you want to do?” he asked when he finally spoke.
Wei Ying’s eyebrow twitched before he could stop it.
What kind of question was that?
This prince, raised behind white walls and marble pillars, with every door opened before he even reached for it, was asking him about wanting.
As if wanting had ever been the deciding factor.
Wei Ying leaned back slightly, smile still in place despite his annoyance.
“What I want,” he said, his own scent bristling, “is to pay my rent on time.”
For a moment, the room seemed to recede.
They held each other’s gaze as though the marble floors and porcelain cups had dissolved, leaving only the two of them suspended in the space between past and present.
And beneath the polished air of the lounge, Wei Ying caught it: a subtle thread of scent, clean and steady, wrapping around him before he could stop it.
His pulse skipped involuntarily.
Lan Zhan did not look away. “There can be a solution to your predicament,” he said smoothly.
Wei Ying almost laughed.
Before he could respond, Lan Zhan’s father set his teacup down.
“It may have been some time,” he began evenly, “but the betrothal agreement between our families was never formally dissolved.”
There it was.
The reason he had been invited tonight.
“Betrothal?” Wei Ying repeated, one eyebrow lifting.
Lan Zhan’s mother smiled gently. “You were very young then. There must be much you were not told.”
“Your parents and we agreed that you and Lan Zhan would wed when you came of age,” she continued. “Circumstances changed, and we did not press the matter. It was… an unfortunate time for your family.”
Unfortunate.
That was one way to put it.
“It saddened us,” she added smoothly, “what happened to your family’s business. But the agreement itself was never dissolved. We believe it is right to honour it.”
Wei Ying nearly choked on his tea.
He set the cup down carefully before he did something undignified.
“An arranged marriage?” he echoed, incredulous.
Lan Zhan’s father’s gaze sharpened. “We would not frame it so crudely,” he said evenly. “We are offering stability.”
He folded his hands calmly.
“Your remaining debts would be settled. You would receive proper training in the profession of your choosing. Support. Security.”
A pause.
“As you are now an adult, we felt it more appropriate to present this to you directly rather than through your parents. Of course, you may consult them before deciding.”
It was delivered like a business proposal.
And the terms sounded…generous to Wei Ying.
Debt erased.
No more three shifts a day.
No more choosing between eating and paying the electricity bill.
Wei Ying’s pulse thudded in his ears.
It sounded like a rescue.
Then he stopped himself. If something sounded too good to be true, it probably was too good to be true.
“So,” he started cautiously, “what’s in it for you?”
His gaze moved deliberately to Lan Zhan’s father. Lan Zhan’s mother. Then Lan Zhan. And back again.
The question lingered in the warm air.
He wasn’t naïve.
A brief pause.
Lan Zhan’s father answered. “The Lan family values stability. Reputation. Continuity.”
He continued.
“A long-standing agreement between respected families should not be discarded lightly. It is in our interest to maintain alliances that were once deemed suitable.”
Lan Zhan’s mother added gently, “You are someone we know. Someone whose character we have observed since childhood. That holds weight.”
Wei Ying almost laughed.
He glanced at Lan Zhan again.
“Is that how you see it?” he asked. “An alliance?”
Lan Zhan met his gaze without flinching. “I see it as fulfillment of a promise.”
The words were calm and unadorned.
But there was something in his eyes that made Wei Ying pause for a moment.
The air shifted.
Lan Zhan’s scent, once faint, seemed to thread closer now. Composed yet carrying a quiet heat beneath it.
It brushed against him before he could brace for it. The omega's pulse skipped again and a warmth followed.
A promise.
Wei Ying cleared his throat and forced a small laugh. “You make it sound romantic.”
Lan Zhan did not look away.
“Mn.”
—
To be continued
Author’s notes: If you reached here, thank you for reading my Wangxian Omegaverse AU 🥳
I hope you enjoyed this opening chapter and the tension between them. Since this is a modern AU, I’ll be referring to them by their birth names. The omegaverse elements are subtle for now, but they’ll gradually become more layered as there’s still so much for them to discover about each other.
Please do leave me a kudos/comment I’d be so happy~🥰 And I hope you’ll keep reading!
Next chapter: Will Wei Ying accept an arrangement that appears flawless on paper - to wed an alpha who stands worlds apart from him, even as his pulse betrays him at a single breath of his scent?