𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 !!
❤︎
y/n - your name
w/n - weapon's name
c/n - courtesy name
❤︎
LAN Y/N YAWNED, STILL A LITTLE SLEEPY AS HE WALKED TOWARDS THE ANCESTRAL HALL.
he woke up rather early and was unable to sleep after that, and without anything else to do, he decided to head to the ancestral hall, probably to piss off his seniors if he felt like it. he passed by the blooming magnolia trees and the winding river that led towards the hall. he paused in his steps to gaze at the clear blue water, seemingly entranced with the petals that fell from the long branches of the trees.
he tucked each of his hands inside his sleeves as he looked up at the magnolia tree that filtered the sunlight through the canopy of its leaves. a petal fell on top of his nose, but it soon drifted away into the wind. lan y/n sneezed, short and soft, like a baby kitten. he wiped his nose with his sleeve before he turned around, hearing a chuckle. "bless you." they laughed. lan y/n smiled as he knew who that voice belonged to.
"a-cheng, why do i feel like you're mocking me?" he says jokingly. jiang cheng doesn't say anything, he just smiles brightly. he walks towards lan y/n, standing in front of the shorter and casting his shadow over him. he gently runs his fingers along lan y/n's cheeks, tracing his cheekbone, where he had left a kiss many nights before as it rose with a soft smile. his fingers ghosted over lan y/n's lips, pink and perfectly plump. his thumb grazed over a barely noticeable purple bruise, something he usually left behind during nights they shared where they basked in each other's presence. lan y/n closed his eyes and sighed softly, leaning into jiang cheng's touch.
they never dared to tell anyone of the unique relationship they shared, jiang cheng was the heir to his clan after all, while lan y/n was believed to be a hazard to the people around him. if people found out about their relationship, lan y/n would be killed on the spot, and the yunmeng jiang clan would be forever humiliated. lan y/n knew that he would forever remain a secret in jiang cheng's life, and he had come to terms with that ever since the night they shared a kiss under the curious stars.
he didn't want to push his luck.
he was happy enough to be with jiang cheng, to entrust him with his innermost thoughts and demons, whether it was encouraged by the alcohol or not. and jiang cheng was more than happy to have someone who loved and accepted him wholly and unconditionally, flaws and everything, without forcing him to do better. they were both happy enough to know that they had someone to share their pain and suffering with.
now, it's been a year.
the flowers were blooming beautifully, marking the graduation of the guest disciples of the gusu lan clan.
"i guess this is it." lan y/n sighs softly and sadly as he holds jiang cheng by the wrist, keeping his hand there. he wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet. jiang cheng presses the palm of his hand in lan y/n's cheek, to which the younger nuzzles softly against it. he leans down slowly, wanting to share a kiss with his beloved before they part ways.
but they were swiftly disturbed.
"jiang-shixiong!" the two separated in a heartbeat as a certain young master approaches them with a smile. nie huaisang excitedly waves his fan over to the two as he runs towards them. he pauses in front of the two, panting slightly. "nie-gongzi, running and yelling is prohibited in the cloud recesses." lan y/n chuckles, acting completely normal much to jiang cheng's surprise. huaisang takes a deep breath. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry." he chuckles nervously.
jiang cheng scratches the nape of his neck, awkwardly looking away, while lan y/n pulls out a fan from inside his sleeve, fanning himself with it as he smiled at the young master. "eh? what's with you two?" nie huaisang asks, eyebrow raised. lan y/n's fanning motions halted. "we um-" the two quickly looks away as they accidentally spoke in sync. they stayed awkwardly quiet, avoiding the suspicious look nie huaisang was giving them.
huaisang sighs before he opens his fan. "in any case, now that the year is over, i suppose we'll all be heading back to our own clans." huaisang chatters, fanning himself as he begins to stress about his older brother waiting for him back at his home. jiang cheng and lan y/n shared a look, like a pair of first-time lovers who were still reserved about their far from perfect, unique, relationship.
in a way, they kind of were, but it was impossible to tell with the two refusing to put a label in their relationship.
lan y/n hid his lips behind the fan he carried. "speaking of which, lan y/n," lan y/n snapped his head towards huaisang. "yes?" he quickly says. huaisang glances between him and jiang cheng, the two looking a bit nervous for fear of being figured out. huaisang shakes his head. "nevermind." he says with another sigh. "what?"
"it's nothing!" nie huaisang yells before he trudges away, fanning himself while muttering in a silent panic. lan y/n gave the retreating figure of nie huaisang a curious look. "what's with him?" he laughed softly while gently fanning himself. jiang cheng laughed with him, before their eyes met and the pair's laughter died down.
"should i see you off?" lan y/n whispers, hiding shyly behind his fan while his fingers tug jiang cheng's sleeve. jiang cheng looks down at his hand. "no need." he sadly says, grabbing ahold of lan y/n's hand. he gently held his smaller hand with his slightly larger one. lan y/n's palms were faced upwards, exposing the smooth skin underneath. jiang cheng ran a hand through it, and lan y/n took that as a sign to raise his hand.
jiang cheng pressed their palms together, and he was just now noticing how much larger his hand really was against lan y/n's, but they fit together perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. jiang cheng smiled as lan y/n intertwined his fingers around his hand. "a-y/n, hold your hand out." he says with an excited look on his face.
he felt around his pocket, his smile widening when he felt a familiar object poke at his hand. lan y/n gave him a curious look as he watched jiang cheng fish an object out of his pocket.
lan y/n gasped as an object was placed on his open palm. it was a beautiful jade hairpin, with a lotus delicately carved on the end. it had a silver bell tied to it, making a beautiful noise that calmed his senses. to finish the look, it had a purple tassel on the end. "a-cheng, this is..." he didn't even notice that he had dropped his fan as he was much too occupied with the beautiful item that was presented to him.
"it's not much, i just thought it would suit you." lan y/n snickered. "suit me, how?" he said. "everyone thinks i'm some being of evil and impurity." he gently traced the carvings of the lotus with a finger as he gazed down at it with saddened eyes. "the lotus doesn't deserve to be with me."
"that's not true!" lan y/n stepped back upon hearing jiang cheng's outburst. he was surprised, but not scared. whether it was on instinct or not, he immediately recoiled back to jiang cheng. jiang cheng's eyes softened as he grabbed lan y/n's other hand and placed it on top of the hairpin. he then placed his own hand on top of lan y/n's.
"that's not true." he repeated, this time, softer and with a tender tone as his thumb rubbed against lan y/n's knuckles. "it was just a year, but i know more than anyone else, that you're just as beautiful as this lotus, if not, even more." jiang cheng paused. "i don't know about pure though." he chuckled and lan y/n playfully nudged him.
jiang cheng frowned. "but if you don't like it-" he began. "no!" lan y/n exclaimed. realizing his sudden outburst, he sighed deeply to recollect himself. he looked up at jiang cheng, his eyes soft, and his lips curled into a smile. "i love it." he pulled the accessory close to his heart. "i'll treasure it forever."
lan y/n watched the guest disciples fly away on their swords. he watched the disciples he'd befriended disappear into the mountains with sad eyes. they became like family to him after all.
jin zixuan was like the older brother he liked to tease, especially when it came to women. of course, jin zixuan would sometimes humor his teasing, but that was extremely rare. he rarely agreed to drink alcohol with him after all.
nie huaisang on the other hand was like his little brother, even though huaisang was technically older, he certainly didn't act like it. and as an added bonus, huaisang got along really well with the children, mostly because he acted like them, and they would frequent the caiyi town shrine to take care of the kids.
lan y/n sighed. they were gone and he would probably never see them again.
he turned around, wanting to go back to the desolate chrysanthemum house he called his home and wallow in the loneliness. maybe interacting with all those disciples was bad for him after all. the good news is that no one died during his year studying under his uncle, and he only managed to get under the skin of his seniors a few times, but never enough to get punished severely, other than the time he drank emperor's smile with wei wuxian. he frowned, thinking about the person he'd so easily befriended.
"a-y/n." lan y/n knew who that voice belonged to. his older brothers stood in front of him, the oldest held that same smile he always had. he was probably born with that immensely bright smile. the younger stood there with a neutral look on his face, but his eyes held a hidden warmth.
"do you wanna go to town?"
speaking of family, lan y/n's relationship with his brothers improved a little, but he was still wary of being with them. he chose to distance himself from them, but he did allow them to come into his life every now and then, he just wasn't that comfortable having them around all the time.
"yeah sure." lan y/n smiled. he needed something to distract him from his impending loneliness after all. "by the ways, where did you get that hairpin?" xichen asked, his hands gently grasping the tassel that danced with lan y/n's every movement. "oh, this?" he asked. "a-che- i mean... jiang-shixiong gave it to me." he says in a low voice. xichen ignores his near slip-up, as he simply smiles softly. he released the object from his hold. "you really got close to him, haven't you?"
lan y/n didn't say anything as he unsheathed his sword. xichen decided not to prod any further, afraid that he would lose the trust he worked so hard to earn from his brother. together, the three brothers traveled to caiyi town on their swords.
as always, the town was bustling with people. a multitude of colors flew around lan y/n in a blur as crowds of people flooded into town. now that the waterborne abyss had been purged by the seniors from biling lake, business was once again, booming, and the river town was thriving with merchants and buyers flooding in from different towns.
"there are so many people, how are we even gonna get through the town?" lan y/n gasped in awe. "that's all right, a-y/n. the rivers aren't as crowded as the streets." xichen smiled. "yeah, but we have to get past the streets to get to the river." xichen covered his mouth with his sleeves.
lan y/n deadpanned. "you didn't think this through, didn't you?" he asked in disbelief. lan xichen sighed, nodding shamefully. "it's all right, da-ge. i know a shortcut." grinning mischievously, lan y/n walked around the edge of town until he found an alleyway.
he pointed down it, where a few old men sat on the stone floor, smoking on rolled-up tobacco. some were even blackout drunks, sleeping on the streets.
wangji cringed internally as he watched one of the said drunk men throw up into the lake. "oh, the poor fish." lan y/n sighed and shook his head. the man passed out there, and if it weren't for lan y/n, who lifted the man and had him lean against a wall, the man would've drowned. "it's a little gross, but it's a shortcut nonetheless." he smiled, hopping over another passed-out drunkard. his brothers reluctantly followed after him.
"hey, tong-xiānshēng! drinking again? did your fifth girlfriend dump you for another rich merchant?" he laughed, skipping over the legs of a sobbing man. "shut up, a-y/n!" the drunk man cried, weakly tossing his arm towards him. lan y/n chuckled. "aren't we gonna check if he's all right?" xichen asked, his eyes showing worry for the man. "ah, ignore him! he's always like that. i usually see him crying in the streets every month or so." he says, leaving the alleyway and entering the streets.
"tomorrow, he'll have a new woman snuggling up to his arm." lan y/n assured his brothers with a laugh escaping his lips.
the three brothers soon left the solemn alleyway, making way towards the river where the boats were all lined up and tied to the shore. they got into one boat and began rowing around the town.
"loquats!"
"freshly picked lotus!"
"emperor's smile!"
at the sound of his favorite alcohol's name, lan y/n's head snapped towards the seller, his eyes sparkling. he turned his head around, searching for the seller. xichen looked to wangji, and the two shared a look. "ah! you again?! you stupid brat!" lan y/n laughed as he leaned towards the edge of the boat. "ah, mr. winemaker!" he smiled widely, waving at the old man. "how's your hairline going?" he purred, leaning his body close to the shore where the winemaker was waiting, probably to strangle him.
the old man gives him an irritated look. "give me two jars of emperor's smile!" lan y/n exclaimed, absolutely loving the wide range of expressions the old man was showing. the bald old man rolled his eyes. "come back to me when you're of age!!" he roared, pointing a finger towards the teen. lan y/n only gave the man a grin. "why don't i come back when you grow some hair?"
xichen shook his head as a quiet laugh escapes his lips. "brother," wangji worriedly says. "don't worry, he's just teasing." xichen softly laughs. "a-y/n, how many did you want again?" he said, looking over to his younger brother. "eh? oh, two!" he smiled brightly, holding up two fingers. xichen smiles.
their boat passed over the winemaker's stand in the shore, and while the winemaker was busy arguing with lan y/n, xichen grabbed two jars, but not before leaving a gold piece in its place. "a-y/n." he called his younger brother. lan y/n looked at him, eyebrow raised in curiosity. the older brother handed the jars over to his younger brother, who grinned as he received them. but his grin quickly faded into a suspicious look. "why are you being so nice to me?"
"can't i spoil my younger brother?" xichen says with a soft smile as he ruffles lan y/n's hair, making the younger whine. "no it's just," he looks over to wangji, who looks away, that same neutral look remaining on his face. "if you don't bring it to the cloud recesses, there will be no reason to punish either of you." wangji quietly says, but it doesn't go unheard to the two brothers.
lan y/n gasped, holding both jars of emperor's smile to his chest. "aww, er-ge, you do care!" he smiled, jumping to his brother and wrapping him in a hug. wangji awkwardly stood still, unsure of how to react to being hugged genuinely, and not out of teasing. although, knowing lan y/n's mischievous nature, he could still just be teasing. his face was red, all the way to his ears as his younger brother nuzzled him.
he looked over to xichen for help, but the oldest only shrugged with a smile. wangji furrowed his brows. he looked down to his younger brother, and with his ears reddening, even more, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around his younger brother.
lan y/n only smiled as he snuggled into his brother's robes. with his cheek still pressed against his brother's chest, he used one hand to grab his oldest brother and pull him in for the hug. "you do care!"
( 𝖾𝖽𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 | ✓ )
( words: 2000+ )