Wei WuXian, “You taught him very well.”
Lan WangJi, “There will come many instances for you to meet again.”
Wei WuXian, “I know.”
Lan WangJi, “After Wen Ning sends SiZhui back to the Cloud Recesses, he can settle down nearby. You will be able to see him often.”
Wei WuXian looked at him, “Lan Zhan, you’re really scared of me telling you ‘thank you’, aren’t you? I suddenly remembered. Many of the times we parted ways in my past life, I said ‘thank you’ to you right before. And every time we separated, I worsened the next time we met.”
The time they killed Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu at the courier station, the time they met each other through the flowers at the tower in Yunmeng, the time they parted at Yiling’s Burial Mound. Every time, he used the word to mark a clear line between him and Lan WangJi, stretching out the distance between them.
With a long while of silence, Lan WangJi replied, “Between you and me, there is no need for ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’.”
Wei WuXian grinned, “Sure, then let’s talk more about some other things, like…”
His voice lowered as he gestured with his hand for Lan WangJi to approach him, as if he was going to whisper something to him. Lan WangJi approached as expected. Yet, Wei WuXian reached out his right hand, lifted Lan WangJi’s chin, and bent down to press his lips onto Lan WangJi’s.
Only after a long time did Wei WuXian part the tiniest bit. Eyelashes brushing against each other’s, he whispered, “How is it?”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Wei WuXian, “HanGuang-Jun, give me some reaction, won’t you?”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Wei WuXian, “You’re so cold. Right now, shouldn’t you be pinning me onto the ground…”
Before he could finish, Lan WangJi wrapped his hand around his neck. With rough motions, he pressed Wei WuXian’s head down, and the two started kissing again.
Lil’ Apple was flabbergasted. Even his apple-chewing mouth was left hanging. He was as frozen as donkey statue. Soon, Lil’ Apple was no longer able to hold up Wei WuXian. Lan WangJi held his back with his left hand and knees with his right. At once, he carried Wei WuXian off of the donkey.
As he wished, Wei WuXian was pinned onto the ground and smooched for a long while. Suddenly, he exclaimed, “Wait, wait!”
Lan WangJi, “What?”
Wei WuXian squinted, “I suddenly have a feeling…”
Woods, bushes, grass, forceful motions, intertwined tongues. It felt like deja vu. He thought for a while. It felt more familiar the more he thought about it. He concluded that he had to ask the question, and tried, “The hunt at Phoenix Mountain, the time I covered my eyes, Lan Zhan, you…?”
He didn’t finish asking. Lan WangJi didn’t answer either, but his fingers twitched slightly. The moment Wei WuXian felt something was off about his expression, he propped his upper body up with his elbow and pressed his ear onto his chest. As expected, he heard thundering throbs.
“…” Wei WuXian was shocked, “Oh, it was really you?!”
Lan WangJi’s Adam’s Apple bobbed, “I…”
Wei WuXian was astonished, “Lan Zhan, who could’ve known? You’d do such a thing?”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Wei WuXian, “You know, I’ve always thought some shy girl did it because she had a crush on me and didn’t dare say it.”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Wei WuXian, “You’ve had dirty thoughts about me ever since then?”
“…” Lan WangJi’s voice sounded muffled, “I, back then, knew I was wrong. Very wrong.”
Wei WuXian recalled how Lan WangJi broke a tree in half alone in the woods when he later found him, “That was why you were so mad?”
Wei WuXian thought he was mad about someone else. He had no idea that Lan WangJi was mad at himself—mad that he acted upon his urges, that he couldn’t control himself, that he took advantage of another in a way that was neither righteous nor abiding by his sect rules.
Seeing how low Lan WangJi’s head was buried, almost as if he was reflecting upon his mistakes again, Wei WuXian scratched his chin, “Alright, stop struggling so much. Well, I’m beyond happy that you kissed me so early. It was my first kiss, after all. Congratulations, HanGuang-Jun.”
Lan WangJi suddenly looked at him, “First kiss?”
Wei WuXian, “Yeah, or else what did you think?”
Lan WangJi stared straight at him. Something strange glowed in his eyes. He started, “Then…”
Wei WuXian, “Then what? Stopping in the middle of the sentence isn’t your style, Lan Zhan.”
Lan WangJi, “Then, back then, why did you… did you…”
Wei WuXian was confused, “Why what?”
Lan WangJi’s lips moved, “… Why did you not resist?”
Wei WuXian paused.
Lan WangJi’s voice sounded muffled again, “You… clearly did not know whom the person was, so why did you not resist? And afterward, why did you tell me…”
Tell him what?
Wei WuXian finally remembered.
Back when he ‘ran into’ Lan WangJi, he proudly showed off to him, saying things like he had lots of experience, like nobody would’ve dared kiss Lan WangJi and Lan WangJi definitely wouldn’t kiss someone else, even something like how he thought Lan WangJi would never give anyone his first kiss for the rest of his life…
All of a sudden, he bent over and broke into roaring laughter.
Wei WuXian pounded the ground, “Hahahahahahahahaha…”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Laughing, Wei WuXian hugged him and gave him a kiss, “With all that, back then you were really that angry because you thought I’d really kissed someone else, weren’t you? Are you an idiot, Lan Zhan?! You fucking believed all that nonsense! Only a lil’ fuddy-duddy like you would believe me hahahahahaha…”
His laughter was too loud, too unbridled. Finally out of patience, Lan WangJi pressed him onto the ground. Abandoning Lil’ Apple on the spot, the two rolled behind a shrub.
So soon after the storm, a few droplets of water still hung amid the grass, dampening Lan WangJi’s white robes. Regardless, the robes were stripped off by Wei WuXian right away. He breathed, “Don’t move.”
The fresh scent of grass enveloped Wei WuXian’s neck and perfused within his lips, while on Lan WangJi, it was the cold fragrance of sandalwood. Wei WuXian kneeled between Lan WangJi’s legs and proceeded to kiss downward, starting from his forehead. In between his brows, the tip of his nose, both of his cheeks, his lips, his chin. His Adam’s apple, his collarbones, the center of his chest.
He kissed down the rises and falls, seeming ever so devout.
As he kissed the firm abdomen and ventured down, a few thin strands of hair slid off his shoulders and teased at the dangerous area along with his soft, thin breaths. Lan WangJi seemed like he couldn’t take it any longer. He reached to grab Wei WuXian’s shoulder, but Wei WuXian caught his wrist instead, “Don’t move, I told you already. I’ll do it.”
He pulled off his hair tie to refasten his somewhat disheveled hair before bending down again. Lan WangJi realized what he wanted to do. With a slightly unsettled expression, he lowered his voice, “No.”