Wei Wuxian was preparing for the night with his friends when suddenly the front door was knocked.

He frowned because it was way too early for Xie Lian or Shen Qingqiu to come, and he was literally elbow deep in his kimchi making. He was wearing specially made rubber gloves that covered him up to his mid biceps, to make the kimchi and there's no way he could take it off by himself without getting himself wet and dirty in the process. So he decided to just tell them to come in.

"Come in, it's open! I'm in the kitchen!"

Then he continued to mix the ingredients for the next year's kimchi. They needed to be put inside the huge onggi–the earthenware jars that were used to store Korean kimchi and Japanese pickles for a few months in the cool basement until they were ripe and ready to be eaten.

Shen Qingqiu and Xie Lian were supposed to help, but they ran late and he couldn't wait longer because then the process would take even longer. So he decided to mix all the ingredients for the kimchi paste and let his friends cut the vegetables later.

He heard the footsteps move closer and without turning around, he pointed at the mountain of already-brined napa cabbage and chives beside him.

"Hey, help me cut those please? I'm literally elbow deep in this shit." He groaned, and heard a light chuckle. "Knife is at the usual place, go ahead, do your worst."

Wei Wuxian heard no response, and he quirked his brow in question. Shen Qingqiu usually already complained and Xie Lian would make some kind of small talk with him.

He was curious, so he turned around, only to see a handsome stranger standing in the middle of his kitchen. His breath hitched in surprise and he took a step backward only to bump into his kimchi paste mixture and fell down to the floor.

But before he–and the huge bowl of brine–could hit the floor, he was caught by the man and pulled back up–the bowl included. He then quickly put the bowl on the table, while still holding Wei Wuxian's waist tight.

"Are you okay?" The voice was so deep and reverberated within his whole body–making him melt in his very strong pair of arms.

Wei Wuxian was then hit by a faint scent of sandalwood and fresh citrus, and also he could feel the warmth of the body of the stranger who hugged him like he was a doll, and he couldn't help but sigh in contentment.

This man smelled so heavenly.

Then he looked up to see the man from up close and he gawked from surprise to see how ethereally handsome this man was. And he was frozen in place–still gawking like an idiot.

"Are you… okay?" The man repeated his question again, arms still around Wei Wuxian's waist, and his delectable lips turned up a bit at one of the corners in amusement.

And that made Wei Wuxian snap out of his reverie.

"What? Oh shit…" He tried to stand up but his traitorous legs failed him so he slumped back into the stranger's arms–who finally smiled cheekily.

"It's okay, you can stay as long as you'd like here."

Wei Wuxian felt that the man tightened his grip on his waist and he inadvertently blushed.

"Oh, geez, I'm so sorry!" He tried to stand up by reaching out to the counter, but he slipped on the floor and as a result, hugged the man's neck with both of his arms for support. Their position was somehow getting more intimate than the previous one.

"Easy…"  The man's breath was very close to his face, and Wei Wuxian realized that their lips were only a breath apart and he blushed even deeper before he pushed the man away. But the man caught his hand and pulled him closer, while not letting go of his waist. So, now they were in a dancing-like position.

"Uhm… thanks?" Wei Wuxian almost couldn't breathe from the closeness with this man–who smelled so good, and had a lean and hard body. "Not to be ungrateful but… who are you?" He flustered so hard but he was feeling so weak that he was unable to get away from the man.

"Hmm… I am actually your neighbor." The man suddenly smiled so bright, it almost brought Wei Wuxian to his knees. "I am sorry that it took me this long to introduce myself." He moved even closer to him, and whispered in Wei Wuxian's ear. "My name is Lan Wangji, but you may call me Lan Zhan."

At that moment, Wei Wuxian was so overwhelmed by the man's presence, he almost passed out from the intimate whisper in his ear.

His voice was low and seductive, and turned his inside out, making him look like a maiden.

Well…

Then suddenly he heard a loud cough from the open door, and thankfully, Lan Wangji retreated before he passed out, or worse–kissed him. Thank god to send whoever it was on his door.

Wei Wuxian cleared his throat and looked over at the door–only to find another handsome man, with long hair this time. And yes, he suddenly had this strange feelings that both of them were so familiar.

"Wangi, what took you so long?" The new man spoke to Lan Wangji, and then he saw the state that both of them in. He couldn't help but smirked. "Your shirt is red all over. Did he try to murder you?" He pointed his chin to Wei Wuxian–who just realized that he smeared his dirty hands all over the pristine white shirt that Lan Wangji wore.

"Oh god! I'm so sorry!" He tried to clean the shirt but forgot to take off his gloves, so instead of wiped the red sauce off, he added more to the now ruined shirt.

Wei Wuxian almost screamed from his frustration when suddenly that pair of strong hands stopped what he was doing.

"It's fine, Chef Wei." Lan Wangji chuckled and started to take the button off his shirt. "It's just a shirt, and it was my fault to surprise you anyway." Wei Wuxian could hear the man with the long hair snorted from the door, but he couldn't tear his eyes off the suddenly naked chest.

It was lean, with enough muscle, and looked very strong–and familiar.

Then he gawked once again and gasped loudly this time.

"You!" He pointed his finger at Lan Wangji. "You're my neighbor!"