@anaphoricae: For WWX's 17th birthday, his b...

For WWX's 17th birthday, his bff LWJ gives him a jar full of origami stars to decorate his room. LWJ buys the colorful paper himself, cuts them in little stripes, and folds each tiny star carefully.

What WWX doesn't know, is that LWJ wrote a confession inside each of the stars.

He doesn't think he's in danger of being found out. He's also giving WWX a bunny plushie and he knows that gift will get more attention. The star jar will pass as something just for decoration, and that is fine.
There's only a tiny chance WWX will see them. LWJ leaves it to fate.

As he predicted, WWX never reads his confessions. He puts the jar up on a shelf in his room and sometimes looks at it fondly, but never even thinks to open the stars. He and LWJ stay friends, and LWJ stays quiet about how the jar holds each one of his deepest secrets.

They go to different colleges. They try staying in touch, but it's hard, and eventually they grow apart. For a few years they each live their lives, with separate friends, but always remembering each other.

And then, years later, there's a new teacher in the school LWJ works at.

There's a lot of noise in the teacher's office next to LWJs. He tries focusing on his work, but curiosity gets the better out of him, and he goes looking.

The new teacher isn't in the room. All LWJ sees is a mess of books and papers.

And a star jar, right on the teacher's desk.

The jar is old, and there's one tiny hairline crack along the side of it, like it fell down and almost broke. It's tightly closed, and there are no specs of dust on it. The stars inside are all brand new.

Unopened.

LWJ would recognize them anywhere.

He goes back to his office and tries to breathe. Wei Ying is here. Wei Ying is here. He manages to calm down a little, and the next time he hears the teacher coming up on the hallway, LWJ goes out of his office again.

WWX lets all of his books fall to the ground when he sees him. LWJ helps him pick them back up, but it's hard when he can't look away from WWX's face. There is an awkward conversation, there is stuttering, and there are hidden, secret smiles.

WWX goes back inside his office and, keeping his body in front of the jar so LWJ won't notice, quickly hides it in a drawer. What would LWJ even think if he knew WWX still had it? That he kept it as his lucky charm all these years? How embarrassing!

LWJ still sees him hiding it.

He doesn't mention it that day. Instead, he helps WWX get set up, gives him a tour of the school, bumps into his arms a little too much. When the day ends, they say goodbye at the gates, and for the first time in years, WWX feels butterflies in his stomach.

LWJ doesn't mention it the next day. Or the next. Or the next. He checks again, but after that first day, WWX never puts the jar on display. For a while, he thinks WWX took it back home. But then he sees a flicker of colorful paper when WWX opens his drawer.

It's still there.

Getting reacquainted with LWJ feels like a roller coaster ride. They each did so much on their years apart. It feels like getting to know a new person every bit as much as it feels like they spent no time without each other at all.

WWX falls in love again in a matter of days.

LWJ, on the other hand, thinks he never fell out of love. If he ever thought he did, he was clearly lying to himself.

He relearns WWX's laugh and thought patterns over coffee cups and graded exams.

The months go by like that. They spend every free moment they can together, and even go back to their playful banter. WWX makes fun of LWJ's teaching subject, and LWJ makes fun of his.

And then, one day, LWJ goes by the closed doors of WWX's office and hears his muffled crying.

LWJ opens the door. WWX is crouching on the floor behind his desk. As soon as LWJ comes in, he wipes his tears.

"Wei Ying? What happened?"
"Nothing! I'm- I'm just stressed out."

He doesn't look like he's just stressed out. LWJ takes a step in his direction.

"Don't come here!"

LWJ stops. But WWX looks like he's in distress, and LWJ knows that look too well.

"Are you hurt?" LWJ asks. WWX has the habit of hiding it.
"No, I'm-"

LWJ goes behind the desk with him, and sees a sea of broken glass and colorful stars on the floor.

It's a complete mess. The drawer is halfway open on WWX's desk, its wooden bottom broken and rotten inside. The jar wan't the only thing that fell. Scattered across the floors there are also three text books and a few pens.

"Oh," LWJ says.

"It's ruined," WWX sniffs. He bends down and lifts a book from the floor. Under it, a dozen tiny stars, crumpled. "You probably don't even remember giving these to me, but..."

"I remember," LWJ says. "Of course I remember."

That only makes WWX cry harder. He starts sifting through the mess, trying to take every single star back. He moves the shards of glass aside, not caring for his safety. LWJ takes his wrists and pulls him upright.

"Wei Ying."

"I have to get them," he says. "I can't lose them."

LWJ looks down. A few of the crumpled stars are showing a bit of the writing inside. A few of them are torn apart. It makes him panic, even if they were written years ago. He still feels like those feelings are raw inside him.
Can Wei Ying see them? Did he notice it?

The mess is greater than he originally thought. Some stars fell inside WWX's trashbin, inside used coffee cups, over banana peels. They're ruined.

WWX yanks his arms away and bends down again. Before he can, LWJ takes him by the arms. "Wei Ying. You're going to get hurt."

"I don't care," WWX says. "I need the stars, Lan Zhan. You gave them to me. I need-"

"I'll take them. Just sit down, let me-"

"Will you take even the dirty ones?" WWX looks at him. "I need all of them. Every single one."

"I..." LWJ swallows. "I don't think we can save-"

WWX's eyes fill with tears again. "I need all of them. They're all different. There are exactly 456, for each day we-"

"Each day we knew each other when I made the gift," LWJ says. How does he know that? He doesn't remember telling him that, when he gave him the stars.

"Exactly," WWX says. "You understand. I need them all."

LWJ looks down again. Some of them are entirely destroyed.

"I'll make you new ones."

"That won't be the same!" WWX says.

"It will. I'll make four hundred and-"

"Will you still write that you love me on the inside?"

LWJ freezes in place. WWX gets out of his grasp, and bends down to take a blue star, entirely crumpled.

"This one said you wanted to live in a cottage, just you and me," WWX says. He takes another from inside one of the coffee cups. "This one said you wanted us to have 10 kids."

"I..." LWJ tries speaking, but he's speechless. "You..."

"This one," WWX takes a yellow one from the ground, peaking inside it. "This is the one that says there are 456 stars here." WWX looks at him again. "Will you write all of that again? Write it, and mean it?"

"You knew," LWJ stares at him. "You read them."

WWX's shoulders fall.

"I did. Years later, in college."

"How did you find out?" LWJ asks. This isn't what he should be focusing on. He should be asking WWX why he still wants them, why didn't he get rid of the jar. But he can't.

"It was the last year of college. I took the jar eveywhere with me, because it reminded me of you. Even after we stopped talking, I still... felt close to you, so I kept it."

WWX takes another star in his fingers, looking at it. A red one.

All of the red ones say 'I love you.'

"On the day I moved out, the jar fell on the floor," WWX says. "It cracked, but didn't break. But all the stars spilled out. One of them wasn't closed so well. It opened."

LWJ swallows, unable to even move. WWX doesn't meet his eyes.

"It was this one," WWX puts the red star back on the desk. LWJ looks at it more closely, and realizes it's more washed out than the others. He never had a good look at the jar when he saw it in WWX's office, and never noticed.

"After that, I had to look at every star in there."

WWX lets out a low laugh.

"I was so careful about it. I opened each one without ripping them, took pictures of what was inside. I was so angry at you for not telling me. And then I was angry at myself for not realizing you would never say something like that out loud."

"Wei Ying," LWJ breathes. "I... I would-"

"You wanted me to find out, and I didn't," WWX finally looks at him again. "I'm sorry, Lan Zhan. I was too late. By the time I found out, too much time had passed. We had our own relationships. You didn't love me anymore."

"That's not true," LWJ says. "Wei Ying-"

"You don't have to do that, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying laughs. There is no feeling behind it. "I know it's pathetic to hold on to something like this. Especially for so many years. To hold on to... to a Lan Zhan that loved me back."

"But I-"

"You don't actually have to rewrite in the stars for me," WWX says. Another tear slips down his eyes. "I know it's silly. I'll just... Keep the ones I have. They're enough. I mean, the cottage one was nice, so if you're ever feeling generous..."

"I won't," LWJ says.

WWX's shoulders fall. He looks down, nodding slightly.

"Right. Of course. No, yeah, you don't have to. This is my problem, and-"

"Wei Ying," LWJ walks up to him, taking his face in his hands. "I won't write my confessions in the stars again. I'll say them to you face to face."

WWX's eyes go wide. "What...?"

"I'll do the things I said I would in the stars you lost," LWJ says. "And in the stars you still have, too. The cottage. Everything. Tell me what they are, and I'll do it."

"Lan Zhan-"

"I'm not a teenager anymore," LWJ says. "I'm not scared of telling you how I feel. For every red star in there, I'll say that I love you a thousand times. I love you. I-"

Wei Ying grabs him by the waist and pulls him closer, locking their lips together.

Lan Zhan sinks into the kiss, his hands inside Wei Ying's hair, giving him everything he can. WWX wraps his arms around him, holding on so tightly it almost hurts, almost, but LWJ wouldn't let go for anything.

"Wait, you-" WWX pulls apart, breathless, but keeps their bodies close. "Are you serious? You're not just saying that?"

LWJ nods. "Yes. I've loved you for years." He swallows. "Do... do you-"

"I love you," WWX smiles. "I'm not sure if I love you again, or if I never stopped."

LWJ kisses him again. "Wei Ying. Wei Ying, Wei Ying..."

WWX tightens his grip on him, smiling on his lips.

"I want everything you said," WWX says. LWJ stops kissing him, resting their foreheads together. "I want everything in the stars."

LWJ nods. "Everything."

WWX laughs a little, and their bodies shake together. LWJ is so happy he laughs a little, too.

"Lan Zhan, be careful what you promise," WWX says. "Did you forget you said you wanted us to have 10 kids?"

LWJ's eyes go wide.

"You can't take it back now!" WWX teases. "We need to adopt 10 kids, no less. Maybe more."

"Okay," LWJ says.

WWX freezes. "What?"

"Okay. Let's get married. Live in a cottage, just us, for a while. And then have 10 kids."

WWX blinks at him.

"Lan Zhan, I- That was a joke. We can't afford 10 kids."

"It doesn't have to be 10 kids at the same time," LWJ says.

"Wait, you're serious," WWX says. "Are you serious? You'd have 10 kids? With me?"

"If you want to, I want to."

"Oh, I definitely want to," WWX gets a little giddy. "I want a bunch of children. A small army of children. A football field of children. It doesn't matter if we can't afford food. I'll farm and you'll cook."

LWJ smiles. He can already imagine it.

Of course, when they get to it, things will be different. But just the fact that WWX is thinking about it...

"I love you," LWJ says again.

WWX kisses him, digging his nails on his waist. "Me too. But we should get back to work. Or we'll never be able to provide for our family."

"Mn," LWJ says. "We can't let them starve."

"Such negligent parents..."

"They need us at our best."

"Come home with me," WWX says. "We can do this thing you wrote on one of the pink stars..."

LWJ hides his face in his neck, blushing madly.

"It's a date."

_ END _

(Yes, LWJ wrote one or two dirty things in the stars. He was 17, very in love and very horny!! You can't blame him!!)

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This Origami Stars threadfic is now posted on AO3! Thank you everyone for the support!

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