Chapter Text
The door slams as Jiang Cheng walks in. Wei Wuxian is currently upside down on the couch, eyes closed.
“Are you listening to this again? I can’t count how often you played the piece in the last five days.”
“ChengCheng!” Wei Wuxian turns right side up and smiles widely. “What are you complaining? Is it not the best thing you ever heard?”
“No?”
“You have no taste.”
“Wei Wuxian!”
There is a giggle behind Wei Wuxian’s brother and he can see his older sister – round as a balloon.
“Shijie!,” Wei Wuxian greets her. “You are on my side, right? This is how heaven has to sound. It’s just so-”
“Aw, A-Xian.” Jiang Yanli comes over to him and pats his head, before she sits down beside him with a huff.
“He is embarrassing. It’s just music,” Jiang Cheng says, while he carries something into their kitchen.
Wei Wuxian gasps. “No, it’s not! Take that back!,” he yells after his brother, which earns him another giggle, and he turns back to her. “I didn’t know you were coming today.”
“Me neither. But then I started making soup and I thought I could bring some to my favorite brothers. As a surprise.”
He smiles, before his face falls. “The peacock let you come alone? With the heavy soup?”
“A-Xian.” She slaps him lightly on the arm. “You promised you would stop calling him that after the marriage. And I’m just pregnant, not fragile.”
“But you’re …” He gestures at her belly.
“Don’t say anything stupid,” Jiang Cheng says behind him. “Or please do. When she kills you, there will be more soup for me.”
Jiang Yanli gives him an exasperated look, before she has to smile. “There is enough soup for both of you.”
After some small talk, they settle down to eat the soup.
“So good, Shijie!,” Wei Wuxian praises, as he digs in happily. It’s his comfort food since he was adopted by the Jiang family.
“Can you switch the music?,” Jiang Cheng asks, as the piece starts again for the umpteenth time.
“No.”
“You will be over it by next week if you continue to loop it.” Jiang Cheng warns. “It’s a wonder you’re not annoyed already.”
Wei Wuxian rests his head on his hand. “I think I’ll never tire of it. I wish I could meet them …”
Jiang Yanli grins at him. “Maybe you could change to another song?”
He sighs. “I listened to their other songs. But I always come back to this one. It’s just so sweet and flowy. Then it builds momentum, and it sounds like a wave crashing onto shore.” He knows he has a dreamy look on his face. “Or maybe like an avalanche.”
Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes at him. “So sappy. Change. It.”
After some grumbling, Wei Wuxian puts some other songs on the waiting list.
“I think it really is nice music.” Jiang Yanli smiles.
She’s just the best. “Thank you. See, ChengCheng, at least someone appreciates my music choices.”
His brother throws a napkin at him.
“Do you know if they play concerts? Are they local?,” Jiang Yanli asks.
Wei Wuxian stares at her. “I … I haven’t looked.”
“Maybe you should.” She pulls at the cord around her belly to grab her phone. “What’s their name? Is it a band or one person? Did you google them?”
“Only their music. I think it’s only one person and they are male.”
“You think?” Jiang Cheng raises his eyebrows.
“The picture of the artist is backlit, so you mostly just see a dark silhouette.” Wei Wuxian pulls up the artist information in his music app to show them the picture.
Jiang Yanli nods. “Hm, you’re right. With the long hair, it could be either, but I’d also go with male. He seems pretty tall and broad.”
“The only real clue is the name.”
“Give me that.” Jiang Cheng grabs the phone. “Yeah, I’d say man. Hanguang-Jun? A little pretentious, right?”
“Not when he can play like that.” Wei Wuxian gets his phone back.
Jiang Yanli taps at her phone. “Hanguang-Jun,” she murmurs. “There are some more pictures, but all are like this.” She shows Wei Wuxian her display and navigates to an official-looking website. Before he can get excited, he sees that it only shows the same photos and lists the titles of the songs.
“Very minimalistic,” Wei Wuxian says. “Nothing personal?”
His shijie navigates the tabs. They find a list of instruments Hanguang-Jun plays and year of birth. Only a year older than me. The last tab has a contact form and a privacy policy.
“Hm, strange. No events – either new or old.” She clicks back to her search and Wei Wuxian googles for himself for a while – with no results.
“It seems like he never performs in front of a live audience.” Wei Wuxian worries his bottom lip. He hasn’t even thought about going to a concert before, but now it feels like a missed opportunity.
“Maybe he is very private? Which is why all the pictures from the interviews are the same.”
“But why bother with interviews at all?” Wei Wuxian scrolls through one. It focuses on the music and a specific piece. It reads like a deep dive into the making of the record. “Maybe he enjoys talking about it, but wants to remain anonymous,” he answers his own question.
“Or he is either anti-social, has stage fright or is not that pretty,” Jiang Cheng chimes in, helping himself to another bowl of soup. Which reminds Wei Wuxian of his own neglected bowl with now lukewarm soup. He puts his phone down to eat properly.
Jiang Yanli is still scrolling a few minutes later.
“You can stop, it’s fine, Shijie,” Wei Wuxian says.
She blinks as if she has forgotten that they are also there. “Eh?”
“I don’t mind, really. Until you said something, I haven’t even thought about seeing him perform.”
She nods and lets her phone slide along the cord, a faraway look on her face.
“What is it?,” Jiang Cheng asks.
“I just wonder why they are so secretive. This is somewhat intriguing, don’t you think?” She looks from Jiang Cheng to Wei Wuxian.
“Well-”
Her face lights up and she interrupts him: “Couldn’t you invite him for an interview?”
His eyes grow wide, a smile bursting from his lips. What a great idea! His smile dims. “I’d need a good reason, though.”
Jiang Cheng snorts. “What? Sounding like heaven isn’t enough?”
Wei Wuxian tosses the napkin back at him. “Not for the boss.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Jiang Yanli says. “We help you!”
“We?!”