Two...
It's the number of a pair...
It's the number of a couple...
And that's exactly what Lan Zhan wanted to be - a couple.
He only did not know how to tell Wei Ying how he felt, nor did he wish to burden the boy with such a trifling, fleeting fancy. At least, that is what he thought of it as. But that was before Wei Ying died. That was before this dream happened. Now, he has a second chance. Now, he can fix his mistakes. What he doesn't know, however, is how this Wei Ying would feel about it. This Wei Ying does not know what will happen in the future between them. This Wei Ying does not know this is all a dream. This Wei Ying does not know many things - not even about how Lan Zhan loves him. Wei Ying doesn't know anything.
Lan Zhan began to feel guilty about the Cold Pool incident. He should have known better, but - this is Wei Ying! Wei Wuxian! Why should he feel guilty for wanting to help him warm up? Lan Zhan sat at the desk in the library by the window. A cool breeze blew and ruffled the curtains. Suddenly, a figure popped up and landed on the balcony. He sat down, placing one of his legs on the railing.
"Lan Zhan!" he said excitedly. "Are you busy at all?"
Lan Zhan only continued to read the manuscript before him. He eyed the boy occasionally. He saw how the breeze gently played with the boys long, curly locks. Somewhere inside him, he became jealous of the wind. HE wanted to play with those locks. HE wanted to run his fingers through that beautiful, dark, thick hair. HE wanted to touch him. The boy stared at him for a while. When Lan Zhan did not respond, Wei Ying pouted, hopped off the balcony rail and shot in front of him in almost one fell swoop. A smile played on the boys face.
"Lan Zhan! I have a present for you!" He pulled out two rabbits - one white and the other black. He handed them to him, setting them on the table. "Do you like them? If you do, then they're all yours!"
Lan Zhan looked away from the manuscript he was reading and stared at the two rabbits. They hopped around on the desk making a mess. The white one had hopped into the ink making its feet turn black. Everywhere it hopped, it left black footprints. He sighed. He picked up the black rabbit. It kicked and made a fuss wanting to be let down, so it could run around and play. The red eyes reminded him of the red eyes Wei Ying had as he used his dark cultivation. He gently set it down on the floor. The rabbit hopped away quickly to its friend. The two began to wrestle. "Will keep them," was all he said.
Wei Ying was busy watching the rabbits play. It came as a shock to him when he heard the reply. Wei Ying was confused. It was said, Lan Zhan was the strictest about the rules, and how he followed them to the letter. It was also said, he didn't like to be touched by anyone. Even Lan Xichen did not touch him, and Xichen was his brother! Yet, that night at the Cold Pond, Lan Zhan willingly hugged him to warm him up. Wei Ying felt his cheeks grow a bit warm from the memory. He shook his head a bit. This action did not get past Lan Zhan's ever watchful gaze.
Lan Zhan: "Wei Ying."
Wei Ying: "Huh?"
Lan Zhan stared at the boy with a questioning look. It took a moment for Wei Ying to finally catch what Lan Zhan was asking. "Oh! I'm fine! Just a weird memory." His cheeks grew hotter as he turned away. "Anyway, you enjoy the rabbits!" He hopped off the balcony to the ground below. Lan Zhan went back to reading his manuscript. A slight smile crept over his lips - the corners moving just ever so slightly upward. HE was satisfied.
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Wei Ying was embarrassed. He had gone to the library in hopes of agitating Lan Zhan, but it had backfired. Now HE was the one who was agitated - more at himself than the Lan boy. He really did not see that coming. Who knew Lan Zhan could be devious and tricky. Wei Ying's cheeks continued to burn. He was sitting underneath a peach tree. The blossoms were out and pink petals fell as the breeze blew them off the branches. Who knew Hanguan-Jun was so fierce! He curled up, hiding his face in his knees. He was so embarrassed! He heard someone walking his way. He quickly hid the feeling and looked up to see it was Lan Xichen.
"Young man, are you Wei Wuxian?" The closer the male came to him, the more beautiful he seemed. This was Lan Zhan's elder brother. Both men were beautiful like carved jade - especially Lan Zhan. Thinking about him made Wei Ying blush again.
He quickly turned away. "Yes, yes, I am." He heard the slight chuckle from the elder Jade Lan.
Xichen: "It would seem your siblings and friends are looking for you." Wei Ying could only continue to hide. This amused Xichen very much. He sat down beside the boy in a graceful manor, much like Lan Zhan. Wei Ying watched this action, blushing a deeper red on his cheeks, even his ears turned red. This only continued to amuse the elder brother. "I heard about what happened at the library." Wei Ying startled a bit.
Wei Ying: "Y-you did?"
Xichen: "Wangji told me."
Wei Ying: "Oh..." He chuckled a bit nervously.
Now, Wei Ying was more afraid of being punished than he was embarrassed. Xichen continued, "I've allowed him to keep the rabbits. However, I told him you have to help him care for them." Wei Ying went wide-eyed at the last sentence.
Wei Ying: "D-doesn't that mean I have to stay here?" His cheeks grew red again, the blush not letting up anytime soon.
Xichen: "It's for while you stay here for your classes. I do not wish for our uncle to know they are here, or else he will surely make Lan Zhan put them out of Cloud Recesses along with him." Wei Ying surely did not want that to happen, so he agreed. It was as Xichen planned. Xichen was always smiling which makes it hard to tell if he is scheming or not. "Good. I will tell Wangji right now." He gracefully stood and started to walk away. "Don't forget you have people looking for you!" he called out.
Wei Ying watched the elder Jade Lan walk gracefully away. How could he face them now with his head full of Lan Zhan? He hid his face in his knees again. There was no way he could face them now!
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It was late afternoon when he returned to his room at the dormitory. The sky was pitch black and cried rain. It indeed started raining once he reached that place. As he walked into the room, he was met with an angry glare from Jiang Cheng and a concerned expression from Jiang Yanli. Jiang Cheng crossed his arms.
Jiang Cheng: "Where were you?" he growled.
Wei Ying scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. The blush had died as soon as he saw Jiang Cheng's expression, for which he was thankful. "I was napping under a tree in the garden. The weather was very nice today - hehehe." He lied. Wei Ying lied to them, and he felt as though he were about to be clobbered. Jiang Cheng was silent for a while. He was thinking. He knew Wei Ying was the sort of person to just doze off anywhere.
He sighed. "Fine, then. Just don't let it happen again." He trailed off, mumbling something to himself about how it was so hard to keep track of Wei Ying when the boy did whatever he wanted and never listened to anyone. Wei Ying couldn't help but to laugh at the poor guy. "By the way, where's those two fur balls you had earlier?"
Wei Ying: "You mean the rabbits?"
Jiang Cheng: "Yeah, those - where did they go?"
Wei Ying's heart raced. "Uhm...I, uh...let them go!" he stated. He felt like his whole body was shaking. He was very anxious now.
Jiang Cheng: "That's a shame," he said disappointed. "I was looking forward to rabbit stew."
Wei Ying began to wonder at this point as to how Jiang Cheng even knew he had the rabbits in the first place. He felt himself calm down. "Jiang Cheng, how did you know I even had the rabbits? I was alone when I found them."
Jiang Cheng: "Your memory really is bad. Don't you remember telling me you were going out to find some?"
Wei Ying frowned and tried to recall just what it was he'd said to him. He turned out nothing of the sort. Either his memory is that bad, or Jiang Cheng is lying and hiding something important. It was most likely the latter. He crossed his arms. "Yeah, sure," he nodded. "I'm going now."
Jiang Cheng looked back from what he was doing. "Where are you going?"
Wei Ying: "Oh, I don't know. I might go find Lan Zhan and bug him for a bit."
Jiang Cheng glowered. "You do know he doesn't like you, right?"
Yanli gripped his sleeve gently and shook her head. "Behave," she stated simply. He sighed.
Jiang Cheng: "Fine!" he sighed. "Just make sure you don't get into more trouble."
Wei Ying: "At least being with Lan Zhan is better than being here with you." He walked out and proceeded to search for the Lan boy.