TIAN DI【天地】

ch.8: is it you?

,,Just peacefully sleep next to him, no worries."

,,I suddenly remember some things between him and me where-"

,,Wenyan. Leave. I'm fucking tired."

,,Yeah, calm down...'' I hurried back to my room, slowly opened the door and quietly closed it again. Moving very slowly I laid down on my bed. Before closing my eyes I looked at Hanyu, whose bed was just about two to three steps away from mine.

Now that I think about it, he does quite look like Xianliang. The way he looks so peaceful while sleeping, his calm breathing and his slightly pouty lips. I want to hold him close and treat him just like back then, but there's this big distance that keeps me from getting closer to him. What if I'm just making up things in my head? Is there even a chance he survived this massacre from over hundred years ago?

While I was so deep in thought, I didn't notice his eyes opening. ,,Xuxu...?", his quite deep voice whispered.

I got startled and slightly laughed in embarrassment.

,,Hanyu, aren't you...sleeping...?"

,,I just heard you come inside, where have you been for so long?"

,,I told you I wanted to take a bath."

,,Your hair isn't even wet.."

,,You can't even see anything, it's night..."

,,Well, you wouldn't just go to sleep with wet hair, wouldn't you?"

,,You're too curious about everything...", I sulked.

,,Then don't lie to me."

,,How can you tell I'm lying? You don't know anything about me."

,,Go to sleep...'', he just mumbled in response and turned to the other side that faced the wall.

Seems like he really doesn't like me anymore...

The next morning

,,Xuhuan-jun? Xuxu?'', I heard my roommate's voice say while pulling at my arm.

The sun was shining right at my face, so I had a hard time trying to open my eyes. I looked up and faced a freshly washed Hanyu, who had a fond smirk drawn on his lips.

,,What's so funny...?'', I asked confused and sat up. ,,I just remembered you staring at me last night...'', he chuckled, ,,for almost two full minutes.'' ,,Stop imagining things, why would I look at someone like you?''

Annoyed I pushed his arm away and grabbed my clothes. As I was putting the jade colored gown on, Hanyu's eyes met with mine when I noticed him staring at me. ,,You're quite small, aren't you?'', the taller one of the two of us suddenly said out of the blue.

,,Have some respect. It's Xuhuan-jun you're talking to right now..'', I jokingly scolded him. ,,What are you? Like..1.70 meters? Pfft..'' ,,You better go outside now and grab your stuff or we won't ever get home..'' ,,Did the others already leave?''

,,Why?'' ,,I think I just heard Elder Qin's horse start running..'' ,,And you're telling me this now? Wow, thank you, Hanyu!''

He burst out laughing and helped me pack my belongings. What's his deal?

We went on our way back to Jiangsu, all alone on our own. Only the Clan Leader and his family are allowed to use horses to get home faster, everyone else has to walk. I thought I had some sort of special rank as the literal savior of multiple clans, but hey, you can't have everything. And I'm not complaining, since this whole trip back home gives me enough time to spend with Xian- I mean, Hanyu. I shouldn't get too used to calling him Xianliang to avoid words to just slip out sometime.

,,Hanyu?'', I asked after we kept silent for a while. ,,Hm..?'' He was kicking a stone out of his way and looked after it curiously. ,,About the situation at the mountain yesterday...'' ,,I told you I don't want to talk about my past.'', Xuxu answered with a cold gaze.

,,But I want to-'' ,,You know how you can help me? Just stop mentioning this topic. This would help me a lot.'' I really didn't want to upset him.. ,,I'm seriously trying to become your friend, but it doesn't seem like you actually still want me to.''

I started walking faster and was about go past him, but he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me back. ,,Just slow it down a little. I don't just tell strangers my complete life story. Or is this something you usually do?''

,,No one even knows my name...'' Except Yusheng of course.

,,See? Just because I need some time to open up in front of you, doesn't mean I don't want to be your friend. We both have our struggles and experiences we have to overcome, so I guess we're a good match, aren't we?'' Hanyu chuckled and slowly let my wrist slip out of his hand.

,,A...match..?'' What the hell is he saying...?

,,Ah, don't take everything literal..A good friends match is what I meant to say.''

,,Quick! They've probably passed the river already!", a man suddenly shouted, I could also hear horses running in the distance.

,,Xuxu, we should hide somewhere!" Without giving me enough time to answer, he grabbed my hand and pulled me inside a bush.