Blue orchids and gentian flowers.

It wasn't just the colour, though that vivid blue, stronger than baby blue but not as green as turquoise, it never failed to remind Wei Ying of a certain somebody. Why, he could not say, because Lan Zhan had never actually said he liked them, but Wei Ying had been particularly observant when it came to the second Jade of Gusu, and it wasn't his fault if he noticed that blue was Lan Zhan's favourite colour, nor that their emblem, the insignia for House of Lan was basically these two flowers.

Lan Zhan had told him ages ago that XiChen had added the gentian, to commemorate their mother, and Wei Ying had thought it so sweet, that the two boys remembered her that way.

He smacked himself.

The material now had wet patches on it and Wen Qing would yell at him, not for spoiling the fabric but because he had cried, again, over him.

He grabbed the pair of tailoring scissors and cut away at the fabric, ignoring the pattern papers scattered all over the floor. Half an hour later, the dress was almost finished, with just the inside stitching to do. His hand stitching was immaculate, something he had taken great pains to perfect. Wen Po Po had drummed it into his brain, saying over and over again, a stitch in time, saves nine.

She wasn't wrong, and many a time, Wei Ying had remembered her wise words as she taught him. At first, he used to accompany Wen Ning home, just so the boy got there safely, because Wen Chao had been looking to retaliate after that humiliating first fight. Wei Ying couldn't help but smile at the almost super human strength their new friend had displayed, crushing a violent fist with a single-handed determination, both literally and physically.

Something had happened to him that day, when he had looked into those stunning golden eyes, wanting to drown in them. Maybe after that, it was the reason he was always on the look out for Lan Zhan, sensing his loneliness, and of course his own. If Wen Ning tagged along, so what? The more, the merrier.

Po Po seemed to know why he came along, and decided to teach him something in return. After he had made his first pair of shorts, he was hooked. He spent every afternoon after school with the funny old lady, who was by turns, stern yet weirdly optimistic, her sharp humour adding to his wit. More often than not, she was content to just hear him prattle away as he told her about his day.

Wen Ning would sit in the corner with his laptop, ever watchful, waiting until his sister got home from work. Wen Qing worked in a supermarket then, with big dreams of owning her own shop, saving every penny. And Wei Ying tried to help, because Po Po used to take on work, mending and doing alterations on her little Singer sewing machine.

As her eyes became weaker, Wei Ying took over, claiming he had nothing better to do, and learning a skill set in return was rewarding enough. Wen Qing would feed him in return for all he was doing, and despite feeling guilty that he was encroaching on their food and their time, something he was smacked for mentioning, he used to love spending time with them like that.

It made him feel as if he belonged.

When they moved away, it was the single worst thing to happen to him.

And the first of many heartbreaks to come.

Wei Ying sighed and lifted up the dress. It was finally ready. This particular piece wasn't for anyone, unless he counted himself.

No one had asked him to make it, but it had called out to him, sitting on the shelf, barraging him with image after image on how great it would look in that style. It would have worked as a skirt too, but a dress...a dress was just a chef's kiss: magnificent.

A statement piece.

He walked through the mess of threads and bits of fabric on the floor and went to dress the mannequin in the window. With any luck, it would be gone by the evening, because Betty was good like that. Wei Ying had named all three mannequins in the window, but Betty was his favourite. Jolene and Mianmian were great too, but Betty never failed to sell his designs.

Wen Qing came in then, and handed him a mug of coffee. She eyes the mess over the rim of her red mug, and then took a good long look at him.

"How long have you been here?" She asked sharply.

"Good morning, to you too!" He replied, a little too cheerfully.

"Answer the question."

"Did you ever think about being a cop?" He asked, with a grin.

She smiled, despite herself, realising what she sounded like.

"Couldn't sleep again?" Her voice was softer now.

A kind of desperation flitted through his expression as he thought of a way to avoid answering her. The truth was, he had trouble sleeping ever since he left that apartment...that place he had called home. Over the years since then, he had come to understand that home wasn't a place, it was the people who accepted you, who loved you without question.

And every time he had tried to make it a place instead, he had ended up getting kicked out of it for his trouble. First Madam Yu, and then Uncle Qiren. Lan Qiren, he should say, he corrected himself. But he had gotten used to calling him Uncle because Lan Zhan did.

It did not do to dwell on the past.

Wen Qing looked through the bagged clothes, all the alterations Wei Ying had finished, and then she watched the young man tidy up his mess, no doubt because she was standing there. He worked so hard, barely sleeping, and even eating too. She would have to remind him, again and again. One time, she had yelled at him when he passed out, and he had promised not to do it again, but he never took it seriously.

His heart was trying to mend itself, but he wasn't helping it.

She sighed and went to open up.

This was her dream come true. To own her own business, to be her own boss. She could take a break whenever she wanted to, she didn't have to ask anyone for a loo break, and it was up to her, every single decision. Who knew that Granny Wen, Po Po had been squirreling away all her money, every single penny she had earned, that Wei Ying had helped her with, all those years ago? She left it all to Wen Qing and Wen Ning.

Wen Ning was doing okay for himself too. A natural recluse, he had found solace in computers, especially when they moved away after Po Po died. He missed Wei Ying too much, and his stutter had come back with a vengeance. When he expressed an interest in computer technology, Wen Qing had encouraged it. It seemed to bring him out of his shell. She didn't quite understand his job, but it paid well and he was happy.

If there was a sadness in his eyes when they ate spicy noodles, neither of them mentioned it.

The decision to buy this shop happened by accident...in fact, everything leading up to this moment had occurred by some strange miracle. At the time, Wen Qing used to volunteer in a soup kitchen in a shelter for the homeless. Imagine her surprise when she saw Wei Ying queuing up. She hadn't believed it, hadn't believed it was really him.

She made him wait after eating, and took him straight home, where both he and her brother had cried when they saw each other again after so long.

And then the whole story had come out, why Wei Ying was homeless, why he was sleeping on the streets. Her fists curled, as that all too familiar anger came into her mind. Uncle Qiren was a cold-hearted bastard, and she really wished someone would teach him a lesson soon.

The little silver bell above the door rang, and her first customer of the day entered. Sad stories forgotten, she went to help the elderly lady.

********

Wing Fabrics.

Wei Ying touched the cursive writing on the bag fondly, remembering the day Wen Qing had told him of her plan.

She was going to buy a shop, at least rent it for now and buy it outright when she made enough money. And she wanted him to be a secret partner. The 'w' in Wing was for him, but it could easily be their surname, Wen. And 'ing' bit was in all three of their names, and it provided the best cover. There was no way Uncle Qiren would know what Wei Ying was doing.

It was a small shop, in the middle of nowhere, and they were making ends meet, their way. They weren't hurting anyone, just three siblings, living their best life.

Wei Ying had told her not to think of himself in the name, and she had told him to shut up, because all those years ago, all that sewing he had done for their grandmother was the money she had put aside; so since he had helped to earn it too, they were partners whether he liked it or not. And then she had stuffed a dumpling in his mouth and that had been that.

Now Wei Ying lived upstairs because the apartment came with the shop in the lease, and he sewed full time in the back room. As he was never visible to the customers, he could work in secret. After all, it made sense for a fabric shop to have its own in-house tailor.

Business was great so far, as they took in alterations like Po Po used to do, a supplement to actually selling fabric. Wei Ying was beyond fast, and it became their unique selling point.

It was a natural leap for him to start making clothes. The customers liked that he gave suggestions on what would look nice, colour, pattern, style to suit their complexions and body shapes. In short, he was doing what he did as a designer, but on a much smaller scale.

Wen Ning helped out whenever he could, preferring to stick to tidying as opposed to actually helping customers. His was a strong solid presence in the shop and both Wei Ying and Wen Qing felt better when he was around.

Today, they were expecting a delivery in the afternoon, a collection of printed silks from Italy. Wei Ying couldn't wait to dress Betty in something from their new range.

When their little bell rand again, he didn't turn around from arranging the fat quarters on the counter, but instead yelled, "just leave it by the door, I'll pick it up in a minute."

However, the bell did not ring again, signalling the exit of the delivery guy.

So Wei Ying turned around, a bright cheerful smile on his face.

"You can just leave-"

But his words died on his lips.

It wasn't the delivery guy.

It was Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan, who was suddenly crying, Lan Zhan who walked up to him and hugged him as if he would never let go.

That soothing yet simultaneously appealing scent of sandalwood drifted into his senses, and Wei Ying closed his eyes.

It felt like a dream.

Maybe he had been mooning over the man so much, that his fantasies had manifested in broad daylight, so to speak.

"Did the material arr-" Wen Qing burst into the shop, but she stopped speaking when  she saw what was happening.

She frowned, straight away, even as Wei Ying was trying to disentangle himself.

"What's he doing here?" She didn't care if her voice sounded hard.

"I don't know." Wei Ying whispered.

Lan Zhan had yet to speak, but the tears wouldn't stop. Wei Ying wiped them away, searching for tissues.

"Um, I'm taking a break. You can close up without me." He said, shrugging on his coat.

It was a bit difficult because Lan Zhan wasn't letting go of his hand yet. Wei Ying led him to the coffee shop across the street. Mo XuanYu, who ran the place was a friendly sort of guy. When he saw what Lan Zhan looked like, he motioned upstairs.

"Just give me your order and I'll bring it up shortly. There's no one up there." He smiled kindly at both of them.

Wei Ying beamed at him and took the almost catatonic Lan Zhan up the stairs to a dimly lit room, normally open to the customers. It was warm and private, and the yellow lighting gave it a soothing quality.

Lan Zhan still hadn't said anything.

Wei Ying couldn't quite believe he was here. His finger lifted up and he poked the Jade in his squishy cheek.

Lan Zhan was coherent enough to look confused at that.

"Just checking."

"..."

"If you're really here." Wei Ying explained.

How naturally they could slip into this pattern, where Wei Ying, always the more talkative one, would somehow know already what Lan Zhan was thinking. Jiang Cheng had once roasted  him on this very fact, and been ignored. But Wei Ying wondered if he hadn't been right after all.

Mo XuanYu brought up two steaming mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows.

"His is on the house. Ordered one earlier but left it."

"Left it?" Wei Ying turned to look at Lan Zhan who was staring at his own hands now.

"Yeah, he must have seen something, I don't know. Came straight to yours." He grinned and left, whistling a merry tune.

Wei Ying waited until they were alone. He pushed the sweet drink towards Lan Zhan.

"Here, drink this. It will help."

Obediently, Lan Zhan picked up the mug and swallowed most of the contents. Wei Ying took his own mug and sipped cautiously, watching him.

"Why did you come?" He asked, not wanting to beat about the bush.

"I've been looking for Wei Ying."

How Wei Ying had missed that voice!

It was deep yet had a pleasant timber, and always, never failed to do something to his insides. He shivered involuntarily.

Lan Zhan shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"Ah...thanks?" This was getting awkward. "Why were you looking for me?" Then he frowned. "Look, I thought we had put everything behind us! I'm not even doing anything wrong, no-one knows I'm working there, no-one will find out!"

Now it was Lan Zhan who was frowning.

"What does Wei Ying mean?"

"Uncle Qiren, no wait, Lan Qiren's stipulation. I'm not doing anything wrong." But would that even matter to him?

Wei Ying stood up, already having made the decision.

"Look, I'll leave, I'll go away. Just...just leave Wen Qing alone. She hasn't done anything to you, it's me that you hate, right?"

Lan Zhan was looking more and more confused, but those last words snapped him back to the present.

"I love Wei Ying."