And most of the times, it's fine. He sends Huaisang a text with his location and goes to his hookups' house. Huaisang sees when he leaves, where he is, when he gets home, it's fine. It works. Until one day, Huaisang doesn't get the message right away.

WWX waits for a few minutes, but the text just isn't going through. And usually he wouldnt think twice about it, he'll get it when he gets it, but for some reason he's feeling insecure today. So he stars going through his friendlist to see who else he can share his location with.

Wen Qing? No. It's 2am and she keeps her sound on in case there are emergencies. WWX isn't supposed to bother her this late. Jiang Cheng? No way. Pass. Wen Ning is too much of a cinnamon roll for him to even think about it, so no hope there.

JieJie? Maybe. WWX considers it for a minute, knowing his sister would understand and be fine with it. But he'd rather not have her knowing about his sex life, thank you very much. His fingers go down his friend list, finding the only name he hasn't considered yet. Lan Zhan.

WWX's gut reaction is to not want to send it at all. He doesn't know why, though. Lan Zhan is his friend. His best friend! And he probably does this too, right? They never talk about their sex life with each other, but he would understand it if he saw it, right?

Plus, it's 2 am. LWJ is surely already sleeping. If WWX sends his location to him and comes back home before 5am, he can delete the text and act like it never happened. He doesn't even have to know. (WHY he doesn't want LWJ to know is NOT something WWX is gonna unpack right now)

It's the perfect plan. WWX gets in the uber and sends LWJ his location. His phone immediately starts buzzing with a call.

WWX picks it up on the third ring, bracing himself to hear his voice. "Wei Ying?" WWX almost chokes on his own saliva. LWJ's voice is groggy with sleep, low and hoarse, and he doesn't know what to do about the way his body responds to it. "Hey, Lan Zhan..."

"What happened? Are you in trouble?" "No, I'm okay! I didn't know you'd be awake. Please go back to sleep!" "Why did you send me your location?" Oh no. LWJ's voice is sounding more and more awake with every sentence. WWX really fucked it up, as always.

"I just needed someone to have it! Don't worry, I'm okay. Just go back to sleep." "You don't sound okay," LWJ says. "Do you need me to call the police?" WWX's eyes go wide. Fuck. "No, no police. I'm fine! I'm just going somewhere." "Where are you? I'm coming right now." Fuck.

He's gonna have to say it, isn't he? Please don't make him say it. "Listen, Lan Zhan, you don't have to come. I'm going to someone's house. I'll be back in... 3 hours?" "Wei Ying, it's 2 am." "I know, and I'll text you when I get back. Don't worry." "Whose house is it?" LWJ asks.

WWX bites his lips before answering. "Just... This guy." The silence on the other end lasts for way longer than Wei Ying anticipated. "Oh," LWJ says, after what feels like eternity.

"So... yeah. I'm okay. I's just a safety measure, you know, just in case. But I'll be fine! I always send my location to Huaisang when I do this, and nothing ever happened. He's not answering today though, so I thought..." "Always?" LWJ's voice sounds tiny over the phone.

"Not that-- I don't- It's not that I do this often," he lies. He can hear Lan Zhan's breathing throgh he phone. Why is he making excuses for it, anyway? He enjoys having sex. There's nothing wrong with that. Still, the dip in Lan Zhan's voice feels like it's going to haunt him.

"We're here," the driver says. WWX almost jumps from his seat. "Lan Zhan..." he trails off. "It's fine. You should go." "I'll call you when I get home, okay?" "Wei Ying, it's fine. I'm... sorry I overreacted."

"No," Wei Ying grabs the phone tighter. "I'm sorry I woke you up. I thought your phone would be on silent." "Not for you," Lan Zhan says. Wei Ying closes his eyes. "Go back to sleep." "Mn." They hang up the phone, and WWX wonders if he's even in the mood for going up anymore.

But he's already here. He paid for the drive. He goes up anyway. WWX tries really hard being good company, but the truth is, he can't keep his mind off of LWJ the entire time. The guy he's seeing tries putting up with it, but it comes to a point where he can't. WWX goes home.

He does what he always does when he doesn't want to think about what he's feeling. He drinks until he doesn't feel it anymore. WWX falls asleep on top of his phone, and wakes up next morning with a bad taste in his mouth and a sense of dread in his guts.

He realizes, desperately, that he forgot to send LWJ a message telling him that he got home. He turns on his phone and sees a text already waiting for him, from LWJ himself. 5:17 am LWJ: Alright. WWX frowns, and clicks the conversation.

There are a few audios he sent LWJ while he was drunk. WWX's heart stops beating when he sees it. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he doesn't remember sending them at all! He clicks them, already knowing there's no way this can be good.

"I'm hoooome!" he hears himself saying. "Actually I've been home for... hmmm an hour? My hookup was ruined. Ruineeed. Did you hear that, Lan Zhan?" He pauses, and there's a sound of something falling on the floor. "Why did you have to be ssso worried about it? You made me-

get worried, too. And then I felt guilty. Because you were worried. Not for anything else, you know, because I don't feel guilty about this. I don't." There's a hiccup. And then more things falling. "Why wouldn't I send you my location? We're friends. Aren't we? Friends friends-

friends friends. For years. Don't you ever have hot dates? You should send me your location too Lan Zhan, you know how dangerous it can be. Are you just going on dates without telling anyone? Nooo. That's dangerous. Let's make a pact. We're FRIENDS. It's what friends do.

promise me you're being s- safe. safe is important. Next time you go out, text me. Do it. We have to be here for each other Lan Zhannn. This is fine. This is what friends would do. And that's what we are. So promise me. Promise me." That's where the audios end.

Wei Ying looks at Lan Zhan's dry response again, and buries his face in his hands. Fuck. What did he do? He calls Lan Zhan right away.

"Wei Ying," he picks up on the 2nd ring. "Lan Zhan, I'm so sorry about yesterday. All of those messages, listen, don't feel guilty about being worried, you had every right to be worried, you had no idea what was going on, and I-" "Wei Ying. You were right." WWX freezes. "What?"

"You were right," Lan Zhan repeats, but there's something weird about his voice. Something distant. "This is safer." "Yeah, but I should've warned you. I mean, I would be super worried too, if I got a text like that and didn't know what was going on." "Don't worry about it."

WWX hesitates. "What, seriously? You're not upset with me?" "There is nothing to be upset about," LWJ says. "We are... friends. You texted me to be safe." WWX wants to believe the words he's saying, but something about it feels wrong.

"Lan Zhan, are you sure?" "Mn," LWJ says. His voice doesn't sound... harsh, it still sounds warm, in his way. But... "You should go back to sleep. You still sound hungover." "Yeah," WWX agrees. His head IS spinning like crazy. "Maybe that's what it is." "We'll talk later."

"Lan Zhan," WWX says, just because he needs to make sure. "Are we really okay?" Lan Zhan's response comes so low WWX almost doesn't hear it. "We're always okay," he says. It soothes a bit of the worry in WWX's heart. He hangs up the phone and goes back to sleep.