Rewatching Guardian, we caught this bit in episode 5. At night Shen Wei is out on the university campus communing with the foliage (introducing himself to the flower yashou chieftain). It’s presumably quite late, as he materializes his weapon to prove his identity without worrying about being seen. While out, he sees Zhao Yunlan ride past on his bike:
Then Zhao Yunlan is at Professor Shen’s office door, and is about to give up when Shen Wei answers
And they proceed to grin at each other happily and go into his office to talk.
Two things about this:
One, Shen Wei clearly teleported across campus into his office, so he wouldn’t miss the chance to spend time with Zhao Yunlan.
Two, it being so late, why would Zhao Yunlan know Shen Wei was still in his office? Either he knows his office hours (1-3 a.m. on alternate Tuesdays?) or more likely he was loitering outside their apartment building, waiting for Shen Wei to get home to casually bump into him and chat, but eventually got impatient and just went and sought him out.
In conclusion: these absolute goobers, they both have it so bad.
I swear I started working on this but then I got distracted by the doodle art asks hahaha
Shen Wei felt a little self-conscious as Zhao Yun Lan kept staring at him. It wasn’t the first time the man was trying to undress him with his eyes, nor was it the first time he did it in front of their co-workers in the SID.
Zhu Hong coughed into her fist and the chief reluctantly pulled his eyes away.
Zhao Yun pulled the lollipop from his lips with a loud resounding pop and now it was Shen Wei’s turn to be distracted.
He could see that the chief was making an address to the new case at hand. He could see Zhao Yun Lan’s lips were moving, but the words felt on deaf ears. Shen Wei was no longer paying attention to the meeting, but admiring the man he had the fortunate of calling his lover.
When Kun Lun disappeared several millennia ago, Shen Wei could feel a part of him disappear along with him.
Everything around him changed with time, but the feelings within him were still as fresh and painful as the day he hid away from the world. He had a duty to carry out; he was the Black Cloak Envoy. But when Zhao Yun Lan appeared, his world was turned upside down.
He let Kun Lun slip away once, he couldn’t let it happen. No, he won’t.
Not when he learned that the man he fell in love with had already been by his side. Whether he was Kun Lun or Zhao Yun Lan, the man was the same person, and the one he fell in love with.
Zhao Yun Lan looked over at him and smiled. Shen Wei reciprocated it without a second thought, momentarily forgetting about their audience.
“Please stop flirting in the office,” Da Qing groaned and the rest of the office gave some form of support ranging of head nodding and sounds of agreement. Zhao Yun Lan looked at them, feigning hurt which caused Guo Chang Cheng to shift nervously but everyone else simply rolled their eyes at the chief’s antics.
“Fine, Xiao Wei and I will be taking the rest of the day off. The rest of you, do your jobs.”
Shen Wei flushed at the nickname, but no one noticed as they were too busy cursing the chief in their mind before moving to their respective work stations. Zhao Yun Lan snorted at the reactions he got.
He then reached over and intertwined his hand with Shen Wei’s.
Seeing the other man look at him like a deer caught in the headlights, Zhao Yun Lan flashed a bright smile before pulling him along as he exited the office.
The sun was bright, Shen Wei noted when they were out on the streets. But his life was dark before the Zhao Yun Lan entered his life, after all, the other was the sun to his dark presence.
“Hey Xiao Wei, guess what I’m thinking about!”
Shen Wei shook his head at the question but a smile pulled onto his face as they drove through the city in Zhao Yun Lan’s car.
“If I knew,” Shen Wei started as he watched the people and buildings go by, “I would not be so worried about you.”
Zhao Yun Lan laughed.
“I was just thinking about what a lucky man I am,” Zhao Yun Lan said as he briefly turned to look at Shen Wei, “to have you in my life. To have you love me back. To have you come save me time after time, even if I did stupidly rush into danger head first.”
Shen Wei wanted to cry. Just before they reached their destination, he whispered, “I never thought I’d be so lucky, especially not in this lifetime.”
It didn’t matter if Zhao Yun Lan heard him or not. As long as they were together, nothing else mattered.
Guo Chang Cheng watched as Zhao Yun Lan kept putting food on Shen Wei’s plate. He noticed the touches to Shen Wei’s shoulder, to his waist. He even noticed the looks Chief Zhao kept giving Professor Shen.
It wasn’t all one sided either. Professor Shen had a look of longing on his face the entire evening. He always seemed to know where Chief Zhao was at any point in time.
They reminded him of his peers from school, young and in love. Even his aunt and uncle still acted this way, kind and doting on one another.
But had Chief Zhao and Professor Shen actually gotten together? When had this happened?
The questions swirled in Chang Cheng’s head until Chief Zhao looked over and demanded he spit out what he was thinking so hard about.
“Chi-C-Chief Zhao… Y-You and Pr-Professor Shen… You two are a couple?”
Professor Shen’s pale face turned pink immediately before he quickly said, “We are not a couple.”
“Yet!” Everyone turned to look at Chief Zhao after his interjection. “We are not a couple yet.”
Professor Shen got a dreamy look on his face before he came back to himself. “Wait, what?”
“Xiao Wei…” Chief Zhao snatched up several skewers like a bouquet and bowed while presenting them to Professor Shen. “Please do me the honor of being my boyfriend.”
“I…”
“Oh d-do say yes, Pr-Professor Shen!” Chang Cheng immediately slapped a hand over his mouth after his outburst. Lao Chu also hit Chang Cheng, calling him an idiot under his breath. “I-I mean…”
Professor Shen sighed and accepted the skewer bouquet. Although Professor Shen sounded burdened, his eyes seemed to be shining. “I accept, Ah Lan,” Professor Shen said with a teasing lilt to his voice. Chief Zhao immediately stood up, a beaming smile on his face. “As your first duty as my boyfriend, I want some tea.”
“As you wish!” Chief Zhao then kissed Professor Shen’s knuckles and ran off to the staff kitchen.
Everyone stared dumbly at what had just happened. Da Qing was suddenly the first to speak up.
“So who else are you going to end up matching together, Xiao Guo? Or has your taste for matchmaking been satisfied?”
Chang Cheng made a face which made everyone else but Professor Shen laugh.
(Later that night, Professor Shen pulled Chang Cheng aside. “Thank you, Xiao Guo. Your words gave Yun Lan and I courage today. I hope you also find a similar happiness.” Chang Cheng took the blessing to heart and thanked Professor Shen in return.)
It had been a while now since Sang Zan had come to join the SID as resident librarian.
Not that he could read all the characters in the books, but he was good at matching them and Wang Zheng was happy to teach her love slowly. It was a process and Sang Zan had been a committed student.
Recently Wang Zheng had covered conversation topics with Sang Zan and he was exceptionally happy to practice with everyone that stepped into the library. This mostly consisted of Da Qing and Zhao Yun Lan.
Da Qing, however, was not one for conversation with Sang Zan. It was more like bullying a child that didn’t know he was being bullied, but Sang Zan happily chatted away regardless in his stuttering Mandarin and Da Qing would preen (cat or human form) over the things he got Sang Zan to say.
Zhao Yun Lan was often too distracted to chat properly.
“Ch-C-Chief Zhao, what’s yo-yo-your favorite color?” Sang Zan asked.
“Shen Wei,” Yun Lan had replied dismissively. He then immediately pulled his head out of the book he’d been reading before asking, “Wait, what was the question again?”
Sang Zan only smiled with good humor and nodded before going back to sorting books and Yun Lan didn’t think anything else of it. Later, Sang Zan pulled Wang Zheng aside and asked her what Chief Zhao’s answer meant.
Wang Zheng rolled her eyes. A strange expression that Sang Zan was still getting used to. “It doesn’t exactly mean anything. ‘Shen Wei’ is not a color,” Wang Zheng explained patiently. “That Chief Zhao is so in love with Shen Wei that he heard you say, ‘favorite,’ and said the first thing that came to mind.”
Sang Zan was still confused, but he could understand love. And if Chief Zhao loved Shen Wei, then he supposed that made Shen Wei Chief Zhao’s favorite in a lot of things, even if they didn’t make sense.
(Shen Wei would later come into the library, curious to see how Sang Zan was doing. Sang Zan would relate this story with his vague understanding. Shen Wei was amused, and also did not correct the assumption. “Chief Zhao is my favorite color too,” he would say instead. Sang Zan decided that this must be some sort of idiom or saying that Wang Zheng hadn’t taught him yet.)
Zhao Yun Lan crept back into the apartment. When he stepped over the threshold, the lights immediately flickered on and off before an ominous wind blew and Shen Wei, still in his pajamas, appeared out of a rift in reality.
“Xiao Wei! There’s no need to be so dramatic!” Shen Wei stomped over, a piece of paper clenched in his fist. “You were sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you. I left you a note before I stepped out for a bit!”
“A NOTE?!” And despite how his lover looked every inch the murderous demon eating, soul hunter he was born to be, Yun Lan couldn’t help the twitch of his dick at the sight of Shen Wei storming forward. “You left me a note? You went out and left me a note?!”
“Well… yeah? It’s better than to ask permission,” Yun Lan said as Shen Wei pushed him against the wall. It took only one hand and a piercing gaze to pin Yun Lan there.
“It’s not even a good note!” Shen Wei unfurled the paper in his other hand and furiously waved it in Yun Lan’s face. “It says, ‘If you’re reading this, I’m already dead.’ What sort of note is that?!” Shen Wei stuffed the note into his pocket before resting his forehead against Yun Lan’s. “I literally spent the last 15 minutes searching all of creation and hell for you because of this note.”
“Xiao Wei, baby, you didn’t have to-”
“YOU LITERALLY LEFT ME A NOTE THAT SAID YOU WERE DEAD.”
“Okay…” Yun Lan cupped Shen Wei’s face in his hands. “But I’m okay. I’m sorry, I thought you’d find it funny.”
“It’s not funny.”
“Okay, Xiao Wei, I get that now. I’m sorry.” Yun Lan pressed an apologetic kiss to Shen Wei’s cheek. The effect was immediate. Shen Wei turned from furious god-like entity to a doe-eyed, blushing lover in the blink of an eye. “How about I show you just how okay and still alive I am?”
“Huh?”
Yun Lan stepped out of the cage formed by Shen Wei’s body and slowly dragged him to the bedroom. “You’ll see, come on.”
“Yun Lan!” Shen Wei walked into Zhao Yun Lan’s office and Yun Lan immediately sat up straight. “Of all the irresponsible things you could have done-”
“Xiao Wei, I am responsible!” Yun Lan gestured to all the completed work on his desk. “See! I’m an adult! I know what I’m doing!”
Shen Wei crossed his arms, his eyes were still stern, but the corners of his lips were twitching. Yun Lan knew he just had to push a little harder and Shen Wei would give up the disciplinarian act. “You literally set Da Qing on fire.” Yun Lan paused for a moment at Shen Wei’s raised eyebrow. “Your cat. On fire.”
It was a little more difficult when put like that, but Yun Lan mustered his most charming smile. “Yes, but I take responsibility for it!” Yun Lan pulled out the papers from the vet. “See, I got him treated and we put him out very quickly. He didn’t even get proper burns.”
Shen Wei heaved a great sigh, but Yun Lan knew he had won. “But still…”
“Is he still whining out there? The fat cat?” Yun Lan pulled Shen Wei close, sealing the deal with a hug. “Yun Lan is sorry, Xiao Wei. But it won’t happen again. Besides, he’s being pampered so well by Xiao Guo out there. He’ll get over it.”
“But…”
“No. No more buts or cat butts,” Yun Lan said with a smirk on his face. “Just talk about my butt.”
Shen Wei wrinkled his nose, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips and Yun Lan knew he’d just gotten away with his little mistake. And when Shen Wei pinched Yun Lan’s butt, Yun Lan knew he was still going to get punished, but he’d enjoy it.
The Last Good Bar 
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