Wei WuXian's POV

Location: Earth.

Dimension: Undisclosed.

The tea warmed me like a whore eager to please her client. Seriously, it almost gave me a stiffy. Then again, the sight I had woken up to might have helped too. 

Eyening the entrance of the cave and dressing in the lingerie the jade-like man had left for me, I peeked outside. The view was marred by the curtains of rain bathing the place like it was trying to cleanse a child who had soiled themself. 

Returning to my straw bed, I scanned my surroundings. 'Is this where he lives? Does he have a family?' That thought led to an even more scandalous one, "Is he perhaps married? Am I the other man!?" I shook my head, trying to banish the ugly thought, and wondered how and where exactly I had ended up. 

The last thing I could recall was walking to the club for my night shift. Jiang Cheng, my manager, had hinted at a surprise. 

'Wei WuXian, if you are lucky, you will finally get the recognition you deserve.' Jiang Cheng was a real bro. He was the one who had stood up in my defense when Glen had tried to take credit for my work. In the eighteen years since my unfortunate birth, Cheng was the only true friend I had made. Don't get me wrong, he had a temper that often got the best of him, but I had long since learned to look past the facade. The man was like a marshmallow sandwiched between burnt cookies. In every sense except for literal, my boss was my brother from another mother. I wish his parents had adopted me instead of the monsters who had. Just my luck that those assholes got to me first. 

My chest constricted as flashes of my painful past blanketed me in a familiar helplessness. I struggled to pull air into my lungs and failed. As numbness spread from the tips of my fingers crawling upwards, I closed my eyes, hoping for someone to yank me out of the dark, empty abyss. Alas, I was alone. 

Moments before all was lost, I was pulled against a cold, wet wall. Not wanting to drown, I threw my arms around the solid form and plastered myself to it. I didn't dare open my eyes lest my anchor vanished.

When my heart calmed down a smidgen and breath followed suit, I heard it; a song of storm and silence.

The beautiful tone reminded me of calm seas with tempests brewing within their core. It was beautiful and scary all at once, and I couldn't help but want more. 

I didn't know walls could sing; glad that I had found one that did, I vowed that the next time I saw it, I would invite it to stay with me forever. Maybe then, I would finally be free of the nightmares of my past. 

An angular face from somewhere behind a haze swam in front of my mind's eyes then. The dark monolids that rarely smiled smirked at me. 'Xian, sleep with me.'

I wanted to give in to the demand, but I didn't know who he was…where he was. The feeling of hopelessness returned with a vengeance. 

No. I can't let go. I won't! Snuggling closer to the cold comfort, I kissed the thing that had arrived just in time to stop my fall; it was just my cursed luck that it had failed to stop the inevitable. 

The wall sang again, more erratic than the last; it brought me solace even as I sank deeper and deeper. 'I need to thank you. But I can't see you. Who are you?' I asked, but before I could catch its answer, a wave of exhaustion washed over me and stole my conscience. 

I woke up to the sound of strings. Music filled and revibrated inside the modest space. Calling it fucking beautiful would be an understatement. It was pure and heavenly. A tranquil ocean I wouldn't mind drowning in. 

Pushing myself up on my elbows, I found the source of the melody. He was lovelier than the melody he was playing. 

I watched, mesmerized, as the man from earlier strummed the instrument with the precision of a pro; without looking away from how his fingers plucked the strings with his eyes closed in concentration, I contemplated why such a gifted man had kidnapped a nobody like me.

Maybe he hasn't kidnapped you, dumbass! A voice from within, one I rarely listened to, suggested crudely. And for once, I agreed with it. 

Rewinding back to the moment our eyes had met, I tried recalling everything about how he had looked. 

Naked and hot! 

No! I mean, yes. Those too, but his eyes had looked as surprised and clueless as I had felt then. Was it possible, I wondered, if he had ended up in this place just like I had? Maybe both of us were in the same boat. 

I stole another glance at the man who was as close to perfection as they came; sadly, he was dressed now, his shapely ass hidden under at least three or four layers of plain white clothes. A pity, but at least that way, I won't have the perpetual urge to climb him like a tree. 

Yep, I was definitely gay. 

I watched and watched and watched some more; his music; his posture; his poise...everything about him radiated calm, understated confidence, like a hero who was used to fleeing the scene before anyone could acknowledge him or appreciate his kindness. 

He felt familiar, like a classic that hasn't been read in decades; when you pick them up again, you already know what you are up for and what they will make you feel, even though you have forgotten most character names and almost all the subplots.

'Xian, sleep with me.'

There it was again, the deep baritone voice. It reminded me of the man, one who was squatting in front of me, weaving dreams with nothing but strings.

How was he doing that? 

Somehow I could sense that the melody was almost complete a second before he played the last note. It gave me enough time to pull myself together and school my features into something that didn't scream perverted-starer. However, all my plans of acting somewhat normal flew out of the cave's entrance a moment later when with a wave of his hand, he the zither disappear into thin air. 

My mouth fell open as doubt crept through the cracks left by the magical act, sinking the boat we were supposed to be on. "How did you do that?" I asked, sounding as dumb as humanly possible.

His head snapped up; his intense monolids met mine. I could hear the wheels in his mind turning, but his face was like a blank slate. A well-oiled machine came to mind for no reason, and my filter-less mouth threw another question at him. A stupider one than the last. "Did you kidnap me?"

I regretted it as soon as the words left me, but the deed was done. The man narrowed his eyes at me, "Mn?"

What did he not understand? Was he stupid or something? Probably the Gods decided it would be too much if a man who looked like that was intelligent too. 

I cleared my throat, "I am asking you, did you bring me here against my will?"

A slight widening of his eyes indicated that he had taken offense to that question, and then he spoke, "No."

That was it. A simple fucking NO; I couldn't, for the life of me, understand what was with him. Was he not going to defend himself? What kind of answer was 'No'?

A little agitated, I pushed, "I am glad to hear that. Can you tell me how I got here?"

"I don't know."

Yes! Progress. I smiled, hoping to bridge the communication gap and help us board the boat again. 

Imagine my surprise when my smile earned a ghost of a frown instead! 

Keeping a lid on my anger and refusing to drop my smile, for the guy looked like he could end me with a flick of his wrist, I tried again, "I am Wei WuXian. I am from Guangzhou, China. How about you?"

The frown deepened. It felt like a slap in the face. A rejection. Deciding that the kindness the stranger had shown me earlier was probably an act, I lowered my eyes. 

"Which sect?" He demanded out of the blue. As I caught his eyes again, I realized that we were probably from different worlds, impossible as it seemed. 

He looked well groomed, almost royal. 

He played zither with finesse.

His attire-including the way his long hair was twisted on top of his head with the rest falling to his waist- was not something you could see walking down the streets of Guangzhou. 

He clearly hadn't heard of China, leave alone my hometown!

Only someone living under a rock or an alien wouldn't know about China!

From what I had seen, and I had seen quite a lot, he was definitely human. Maybe a human from our future… 

"Do you remember which sect you belong to? Which region?" He demanded. 

I noticed that he had inched closer while I was having a me-moment. He was even more perfect this close; my loins agreed, growing interested by the second. 

I felt heat rise to my cheeks and looked away from the questioning dark orbs. "I think I am not from here. This is not my world." I came clean even at the cost of sounding mental. 

"Me too." He replied, uncertainty lining his words ever so lightly. "I think someone has stolen my memories as well." He added, sounding so much like a lost puppy that a sudden urge to wrap my arms around him came over me. 

Pushing it out, for that was dangerous territory, I bobbed my head, "I think mine has been messed with too."

"Messed with?" He cocked his head a smidgen, "What does it mean?"

Ya, definitely from my time. 

"I think my memories have been stolen too." I clarified. 

"Mn."

I had had enough of referring to him as 'hot man' in my mind and decided to do something about it. "What's your name?" I demanded as politely as possible. 

"Lan Zhan." He replied and paused, probably wondering if he should add more. Then, "I am the second son of the Lan Clan of Gusu." Looking around, he informed. "Water surrounds us. It's salty. Probably a sea. I found sweetwater east of here."

The man, Lan Zhan, sounded like a veteran soldier, but he couldn't have been more than twenty. 

"I checked your pulse and your body for fever. You are in perfect health." He announced. 

Did you drug me, Dr. Wang?

I grabbed a fistful of the barely-there fabric covering my chest as a sharp pain shot through it. "Fuck!" I muttered, but not softly enough to go unnoticed. 

"Are you in pain?" My physician asked, uncertain. Scared. 

"Yes." I lied. The second he wrapped his arms around my middle, the ache threatening to take my life ceased. Feeling better than I had in ages, I leaned into him and pleaded, "Help me."

*****
Chapter Word count: 1892
Word Count so far: 18715