When We Meet Again (The Untamed Sequel)

Chapter 34 - Exposure

"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."
— James Baldwin

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Wei Wuxian

I open my eyes to the peaceful face of Lan Zhan who was still asleep, although the sun was already up. He had all the right to sleep till late, after spending most of the night awake with me, just cuddling together and listening to my blubbering.

Letting him enjoy his slumber, I carefully crawl out of the bed making sure that I don't wake him up. The room was a mess. Our robes and quilts were carelessly scattered on the ground. Leaving them to clean up later, I draw a bath to wash.

I look at my reflection on the water. Then did I notice my neck and my torso. Lan Zhan sure has given me remembrances of our story.

I wash, clean the tub, and fill it with warm water for Lan Zhan. Then, I prepare tea with a bit of cinnamon in the way he likes. After lightening up the incense burner, making the sweet aroma fill my nostrils, I sit on the bed to wake him up.

"Lan Zhan," I say after placing a kiss on his cheek. In a moment, his eyes open and he lifts himself to sit on the bed. I greet him with a kiss that he happily receives.

I hand him the tea. "I drew a bath for you," I say, making him glance at me in amusement. I smirk, replying to him in simple words. "Taking care of you."

He keeps the tea on the nightstand and pulls me close, kissing me. "Drink your tea before it gets cold. I say when he pulls away.

"Hm." He replies with a smile on his face, which was proof of how much he enjoyed this.

***

I comb his hair when he was in the bath. "Lan Zhan, shall we train the juniors today?" I ask.

I haven't crossed the borders of Jingshi since the day we returned from burial mounds. I felt the need of recollecting myself before stepping out in this appearance. I like being in this body, but it comes with the consequences of my past. There were certain things I needed to mend, in myself.

"Are you sure?" Lan Zhan asks.

I nod. "I can't hide forever, can I? This is who I am. I don't regret that even for a second." He smiles with a nod.

When he was done, I let him dress up in his privacy, and leave to the garden. I find his rabbits in their usual corner, and bend down to caress one's ears.

Suddenly I hear the sound of a sword unsheathing. "Who are you?" Jingyi's voice demands from the entrance. "How did you come here?" he asks with his sword pointed at me.

I laugh inwardly. Time to play...

"I live here kid," I say nonchalantly.

Just as he opens his mouth to reply, we hear Sizhui's voice calling him from the bottom of the stairs.

"Jingyi! Hanguang Jun and Senior Wei are here." His voice grows louder as he climbs up the stairs. "We don't have to—" seeing me stops him dead on his tracks. "Senior Wei! How did you-"

"Ah, you can remember me," I say with a smile.

"Senior Wei? What are you talking about?" Jingyi questions utterly confused by the situation.

"Long story shortened, I got my old body back," I say. "This is how I truly look like."

Sizhui grabs Jingyi's sword and sheaths it. "Sorry..." says Jingyi who looked as if something hit his head.

I hear the door open and Lan Zhan steps out of the house.

"Hanguang Jun." the two juniors bow in unison.

"We thought that you were not here. We came to feed the rabbits." Sizhui explains.

"Even the two of you? You, Lans, have got something over rabbits." I say with a smirk.

"Don't act as if you don't like them, Senior Wei," Jingyi says.

"How can you prove?" I ask challenging him.

"That's easy. Hanguang Jun, does he like rabbits?"

"He does." Lan Zhan replies with his usual expressionless face.

Caught red-handed...

"See, proved," Jingyi says proudly.

"All right, all right. You win."

***

Lan Wangji

When Wei Ying revealed himself in his old appearance, some people weren't comfortable with it. New rumors were formed. Complimentary and insulting. Some accepted him, some didn't. But none of it bothered neither him nor me.

After a long talk with my brother and a brotherly hug from Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng drank with Wei Ying and, to my surprise, my brother on the roof of the Orchid room in the middle of the night till Uncle saw us. But, instead of disapproving the act, he smiled to himself and walked away leaving us speechless.

Certain things were changing...

"Lan Zhan, I want to visit Yunping city." Wei Ying says as we return to Jingshi after a meeting with the elders.

"Why?"

"I want to make sure that there aren't any traces of the Stygian Amulet in the temple. And if we find any, we have to destroy them."

I smile at the way he said 'we' confidently.

"We can go next week. After the banquet."

Uncle decided to hold a banquet to formally announce our affiancing to the sect, even though it was not a secret that was kept. It seemed that he was coming in terms with us, even growing fond of Wei Ying.

"Yes, after the banquet." Wei Ying replies with a hint of redness in his face.

Not everyone agreed to our union. But that was not a judgment to be given by anyone. This was our bond, our life together.

We were two stories we knew by heart, each climax, and each peak and valley. We were two souls bound by love, which never could part without coming back for its other half. We were two human beings, who found comfort in the other's warmth, hoping for an eternity together.

That was all that mattered.