The Demonic Clan of Yiling (MDZS Fanfic)

Wei To Go Again (Pt.12)

"Jingyi." He smiled, but it did not meet his eyes. Jingyi suddenly felt a rush of cold run through his veins, something he never got when talking to Lan Xichen and he quickly avoided eye contact.

Originally he had only planned on coming here just to ask for Zewu-jun's help, but he realised that he might actually need to have a longer conversation with the man. Jingyi glanced back at his friends who all seemed concerned and then back at Lan Xichen who only stared at him.

"C-Can we talk?" He asked hesitantly and Zewu-jun nodded slightly. He stepped aside and allowed Jingyi to enter. The boy did as he was directed and shot a smile at his friends to show that he was sorry but he would probably be a little longer than expected.

Zizhen gave him a thumbs up in understanding and that was all he needed before he stepped inside.

Zewu-jun's home was nice. There wasn't much inside, but it was always clean and smelt nice. Jingyi made his way over to the table in the middle of the room, like he had always done in the past, and sat down. Zewu-jun quickly joined him and began pouring tea. They sat in silence for several minutes...

"Um..." Jingyi tried to start but didn't know what he was going to say. Lan Xichen looked up at him expectantly, but when Jingyi didn't say anything else he sat his cup down and sighed.

"This is my fault." He said and Jingyi's eyes went wide. "I didn't think you remembered it, so I had the clan not mention it so you weren't reminded. I see that I was wrong to do that and I should've talked to you instead of assuming." He explained and Jingyi felt his heart clench. He didn't want him to blame himself. It wasn't his fault.

"No I-" He struggled and looked down at his lap to stop himself from crying. "I shouldn't have pretended I was fine... I mean... You're not my father, you don't have to take responsibility of me." Jingyi's lips quivered and he hoped his ponytail was covering his face enough so that Lan Xichen couldn't see. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you had to fill that role. It's a lot of pressure that you don't need. Especially when it's me-" 

He was cut off by the sound of something smashing and looked up to see Lan Xichen's white robes stained with tea and his cup in pieces. He stood up quickly and looked for something to clean up the mess, but before he could rush off Lan Xichen made him sit back down.

"Don't worry about it." He said softly and took his hand away. Jingyi blinked a few times and then nodded, but when he looked up at the man he realised his face was blank and his eyes were cold. "Jingyi..." He called still in a soft tone. "What did your parents say to you before they died?" He asked and Jingyi gulped.

He didn't know where to start. So he just started at his first clear memory of his parents abuse. He recounted the arguments. How they wanted to kill him but couldn't. How they treated him. How his father would hit him when he was particularly angry. How his father died. How his mother broke. How she almost killed him. How she died. He told him everything and managed to hold in all of his tears.

By the time he was finished Lan Xichen was like a statue. Jingyi couldn't tell what he was thinking and was worried he would hate him for speaking ill of his cousin. He felt so nervous that his hands were shaking and he couldn't even look at the man for long. Thankfully Lan Xichen seemed to regain consciousness again and quickly stood up. Jingyi sat rigid in his chair and didn't dare glance at the man.

He had no idea what was going through his brain. He had no idea what to think himself. He just focused on staring straight ahead, but that turned out to be a bad idea.

He didn't know why he did it or what came over him. He could probably blame it on what he just had to relive. Either way it didn't stop the look of pure terror on Lan Xichen's face from stabbing him in the heart. 

Jingyi had been so focused on not focusing on Lan Xichen that he had no idea what the man was doing. So, even though he trusted him very much, Jingyi still flinched and flung himself away from the man when he bent down next to him and when he realised what he had just done he started to sob.

He hadn't done it because he was scared of Lan Xichen. He really hadn't. He was just put on edge from talking about his parents and couldn't stop himself from reacting like that. It was somewhat automatic and he felt terrible about it.

"I'm sorry!" Jingyi cried desperately so that the look would disappear from Lan Xichen's face. "I didn't mean to!" 

Lan Xichen blinked a few times and stared at Jingyi with a worried look once the shock wore off.

"Jingyi clam down." He said softly and stepped forward a little. "I'm not upset." He added and gently held out a hand. Jingyi reached for it with one of his shaking ones and sucked in a breath. He hadn't realised his lungs were burring until then. He hadn't realised he had broken down again until Lan Xichen told him.

Carefully Lan Xichen pulled the boy towards him and wrapped his arms around him as he cried. Jingyi clung to the front of his robes and repeatedly apologised as Lan Xichen rubbed his back.

"Enough of that." The man soothed. "I know you didn't mean it. I should've been more careful." He patted Jingyi's head and the boy calmed down a little.

"I-I don't know what happened." He sniffed and Lan Xichen smiled.

"What you just told me was a lot. It's only natural to feel uneasy after going through something like that again." He explained and Jingyi nodded.

"I know you won't hurt me Zewu-jun... I just panicked."

"That's okay." 

Jingyi rubbed his eyes and looked down at the floor feeling ashamed. An hour ago he was happy and going on a picnic with his friends and now he was a crying mess. Oh well nothing much he could do about that. May as well get everything off his chest.

"Zewu-jun?" He sniffed and the man smiled at him. "About what I said earlier... It really is my fault you're stuck taking care of me. I-I wasn't going to tell you because I didn't want you to get stressed, but... I... You're like a father to me... and I get it if you don't see me as a son, but I just thought you should know because you're a way better dad than my actual one and I really appreciate you being there for me." He rambled and wiped his eyes again. Once he was finished he stole a glance at Lan Xichen who was smiling.

"It's not a lot of pressure Jingyi. You're a good kid and I'm honoured you think of me that way, but just so you know and it stops bothering you. You weren't the one who forced me into this role. I chose to be the one who spent the most time raising you because from the second I found you in that house I knew I wanted to protect you from going through something like that again. Since that day you have been my son, I just didn't know if that was what you wanted."

Jingyi began crying again and hugged Lan Xichen. God he really was emotional. Lan Xichen smiled softly and patted the boy's back until he was finished. Even after he stopped crying Jingyi didn't let go of Lan Xichen.

"Does this mean I can call you A-Die now?" He mumbled and Lan Xichen choked out an emotional laugh.

"Only if you want to." 

"Okay... Hey A-Die,"

"Yes?"

"Can you help me and the others prepare some food for our picnic?"

Lan Xichen laughed and ruffled his son's hair.

"Of course A-Yi."

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I swear the next part of Wei To Go Again will be less emotional! I just couldn't leave Jingyi's storyline hanging like that and I always wanted Lan Xichen to adopt him I just didn't know when.

I wonder who his other parent should be? I've got a few potential storylines in mind for that. I've just got to let the chemistry play out before I decide.