Dimensions Apart (Wangxian)

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It wasn't hard for Lan Zhan to identify the baby's emotion expressed by that sour smell. 

Lan Zhan himself wasn't above feeling jealous watching his Wei Ying hug someone who isn't him. And so, Lan Zhan pulled his embarrassed Wei Ying away from Jin Ling, right into his arms dissipating the sour smell almost instantly.

"Umm...What was that?" Jin Ling asked, crinkling his nose while discreetly smelling his clothes and underarms just to assure himself that it wasn't him.

"Wei Ying burped. He eats pickles. Better stay away from him, for now." Lan Zhan answered with a straight face, patting his Wei Ying's back who choked on air and glared at him in disbelief

Ayuan was turning red as he restrained himself from bursting out in laughter. He missed Jingyi and was sure that if his friend had witnessed what was happening inside Jingshi, he'd have died laughing. The awkwardly lacking skills of Jin Ling to clarify misunderstandings, baby releasing a sour smell in jealousy and his baba, the Great Hanguang Jun, outrightly deterring Jin Ling from hugging his mama by stating truths at an odd timing was beyond his imagination. Ayuan knows that his mama eats pickles. He also remembered him burping after his lunch about three hours ago. Still, he couldn't or just didn't want to say anything in front of Jin Ling.

Something about those simple blissful moments of joy felt so personal, so precious to him that he wasn't ready to share. Ever since his childhood, Ayuan craved the domesticity of a loving family. Yes, Hanguang Jun was always there for him, took care of him, taught him and guided him as he grew up but...to Ayuan, it always felt more like a responsibility on behalf of someone rather than his own.

Officially he's Lan Wangji's son but neither Lan Wangji ever called him by his birth name, nor he dared to address Lan Wangji as baba. It had always been Sizhui and Hanguang Jun. Normality, a level of closeness that was so trivial among other families and yet it wasn't for him. 

Ayuan couldn't remember a time when they'd spent an entire day doing nothing but just playing around, visiting markets and fairs happily like other children. His only joyful moments had been their times together while feeding and taking care of those soft furry cute rabbits.

Most of the people in Cloud Recesses were jealous of him. Even Jingyi had once said how lucky he was to have Hanguang Jun as his father. And the fact that he actually felt lucky, even grateful to have one of the most respected and best cultivators in the whole cultivation world, as his father somehow made him feel more distanced than he should.

All his life he'd sorely felt the gravity of being the son of the most respected, talented, strictly disciplined and stoic Hanguang Jun. People always expected the best from him and while he really didn't have any issues with it, it also didn't make him feel any less uncomfortable.

His father's extreme sadness, pain and inability to express his emotions weren't unknown to him. There were questions, Ayuan always wanted to ask his father but never dared. For whose soul did his father play Inquiry every night? Whom did his father search for whenever he looked into his eyes? Why he looked a little disappointed whenever Ayuan learnt and recited the clan rules on his first attempt? Why did his father's eyes glisten with sadness whenever people praised him for being a stickler for rules just like Hanguang Jun? Why even after following all of his father's footsteps, his father looked more miserable day by day as if he'd lost something. 

But now, everything has changed.

Ayuan knew his father took care of him, loved and raised him on behalf of his mama. He knew his baba named and only ever called him Sizhui, meaning to yearn for, remembering his mama.