Chapter Text
Wei Ying wakes up alone and hungry.
This is a normal occurrence as of late, to wake up with the pain of an empty stomach and a stiff back from sleeping in an odd position in some alleyway hidden from the public.
He’s almost six now, plenty old to understand that his parents are not coming back.
The thought leaves his chest hurting. It makes him want to put his head between his knees and let out the tears he’s been holding back for days.
He tries not to think about it if he can help it.
He spends his days wandering the streets of Yiling asking for a bite to eat from the old women and men that run the food stands. He spends an equal amount of time avoiding the ridiculously large amount of feral dogs who would be willing to take a bite out of him if it meant getting food into their stomachs. On his luckier days, he will manage to collect a piece of fruit or a scrap of cloth to use as a blanket for when it gets cold at night. He collects his spoils as the sun arches over the sky, and whatever he manages to scavenge by sunset is taken back to a new secluded alleyway.
He’s learned the hard way that people, and animals for that matter, will remember you if you return to the same place again.
On this day in particular, the constant pangs of his stomach only serve as a reminder that he has not eaten in over a day. He finds half a dumpling lying next to one of the vendors’ cart, and would have eaten it himself had it not been for the smaller child he encounters behind one of the buildings.
Wei Ying was older than the child, or at least he thought as much given their difference in height and stature, so logically Wei Ying could go longer without something in his stomach. A decision he was sorely regretting now. It’s a busy day in the marketplace, which does not bode well for him at all.
The slow days are the best, when the heat of Yiling keeps the streets deserted and the merchants for amiable. They’re more willing to give their things to a homeless child when it would go rotten because of the heat anyway.
The clouds have blessedly— or not in Wei Ying’s case— covered up the scorching rays of the sun. It makes the people milling about the main square to increase by tenfold, to the point where Wei Ying is unable to even see down the street.
He sighs when he comes across the scene. Did people really need their whole families to go shopping for vegetables? Truthfully, Wei Ying liked to tag along with whichever parent was heading into the marketplace, especially when it was with his father, if only to be able to sit on his shoulders and kick around as he walked from stall to stall.
Staring at the family distracts him more than he thought it would have, and that is his first mistake. His second mistake is to venture too close to one of the carts, to the point where his head bumps into the wooden side and makes him lose his balance.
He grabs onto the cart to find purchase, grabbing at the edges to steady himself, and that is his third mistake.
“Hey! There’s a brat stealing our goods!” The old man behind the stand gets up.
Wei Ying’s eyes widen. He shakes his head frantically. “No, I wasn’t—“
The man comes closer, and the expression on his face looks far from the pitying gazes of the sweet women who smuggle him melon bites, so he does the only logical thing he can think of: Wei Ying runs for his life. He doesn’t stop to look back, pushing past the few people that have been lingering away from the crowd and attempts to find a path for him to go on.
And- There!
From his viewpoint, it seemed to be a clear path between two buildings. Seemed to be.
Instead, he bumps straight into someone. Strange, since he could have sworn he had seen no one.
Wei Ying rubs his head as he looks up. “Ouch,” he mumbles quietly. It doesn’t really hurt, but the words pour out of his lips on instinct.
The man who he bumped into stares at him with his eyes wide, and his mouth is slightly parted.
The man is very pretty, Wei Ying thinks immediately. But much older than him. Maybe ten times older than him. Maybe twenty.
Starting from his clothes, he wears all white for the most part, some parts of his robes highlighted with a nice pale blue color. His long hair flows magnificently past his shoulder and down his back, not a single strand out of place. Not even the wind is able to ruffle it enough to deem it messy. Across his forehead is a thin white ribbon. It’s that, along with the cloud patterns all over the man’s robes that give him any indication to who this is. He only somewhat remembers his mother and father sitting down with him to teach him about the major cultivation sects, but despite what his mother always said, his memory wasn’t as bad as hers.
He wasn’t the one that went all the way down to the marketplace to buy loquats and had come home with two baskets of chili peppers!
The man, after another beat of silence, squats down in front of him so that the two are more or less at the same height. It has the plus point of letting Wei Ying get an even better look at the cloud motifs on the man’s robes and ribbon.
Gusu clothes are the mourning clothes, Wei Ying thinks to himself as he looks at the man, and subsequently imagines patting himself on the shoulder. Good job, Wei Ying! You did it! You remembered!
“Wei Ying?” the man asks weakly.
Wei Ying blinks. He wasn’t expecting the man to say his name before he had even introduced himself. “Do I know you?” he asks. It is only after he says it that he realizes it had come off much blunter than he had originally intended. “Ah, I’m sorry if that was rude of me!”
The man shakes his head. “No need.”
Wei Ying waits to see if he will say anything else. When he doesn’t, “You didn’t answer. How do you know my name?”
The man is still staring straight at him, which is weird, and his mother told him not to talk to strange men, but this is a strange cultivator man, so. Well. They’re not around to tell him off anyway. “...We have met before.”
“How long ago? I don’t have a good memory, you see. But I’m sure I would remember someone from a big cultivation sect coming to visit me and mama and baba... Did you come while I was sleeping, then?”
The taller man makes a complicated expression. It looks silly on the man’s face, and Wei Wuxian has to stifle a giggle at the sight of it. “I am... Lan Wangji.”
Wei Ying nods. “Then... Wangji-gege? Is that okay?”
“Mn.”
Wei Ying eyes the man, Lan Wangji, carefully. They had still not broken eye contact yet. In his head, he has started to make a game out of it.
Lan Wangji continues his questioning. “Why are you here?”
“I was going to get food,” Wei Ying says.
Lan Wangji simply stares back at him without saying a word, as if just staring will give him all the answers he needs. Only then does Wei Ying take note of the strange coloring of Lan Wangji’s face. That is to say, there being almost no coloring at all.
“Say, Wangji-gege, do you feel sick? You look really pale. My mama said that that’s the first sign of a cold.”
“I am well,” Lan Wangji replies after a moment. “Not sick. Surprised.”
“At?”
“Where are your parents?” Lan Wangji asks instead of answering the question. Even though the question technically did answer Wei Ying’s own. “To get food with you,” he adds on.
Wei Ying makes a noise of understanding. “Ooooh, you’re surprised because my parents aren’t here?”
“...En. You are here alone?”
Wei Ying frowns. He chooses his next words carefully. Partially, so he can word them right, because if Lan Wangji did know his parents he wanted to be able to break the news nicely, but partially so he would not end up in tears himself. “I’m always alone now. Mama and baba didn’t come back from a night hunt,” he says finally. He smiles to reassure the man. “But I’m fine here alone!”
Wei Ying is able to spot the moment it clicks for the man. “How long ago?” Lan Wangji asks then.
Wei Ying shrugs. He’d done his best to keep track of the rising and setting of the sun, but he hardly remembers how many of those have gone by since. “I don’t remember,” he answers truthfully.
Lan Wangji’s expression doesn’t change. “Are you hungry?” he asks.
Wei Ying perks up. At the mention of hunger, his stomach does an odd flip flop, a reminder of how long it’s been since anything has gone down his throat. “Yes! Do you have anything to eat?”
Lan Wangji shakes his head, and Wei Ying wilts. Honestly, how rude! To bring up the topic with nothing to offer! Wei Ying is about to tell Lan Wangji to just wait here while he goes to beg, and then they can split whatever he manages to wheedle out when Lan Wangji offers him a hand. “Let’s go?”
Wei Ying blinks, surprised. “Eh?”
“Eat,” Lan Wangji clarifies.
Wei Ying considers, “I hope you don’t expect me to pay you. I have nothing to pay with.”
“I don’t.”
“Are you going to buy me something, then?”
Lan Wangji nods once. He pushes his hands out to Wei Ying once more. “Come,” he says.
Wei Ying nods in response, and takes his hand.
-
The restaurant they go into is one Wei Ying recognizes as people that wouldn’t bother giving him a second glance if he went near them.
Lan Wangji either doesn’t note the vaguely disgusted look the workers give Wei Ying as they enter, or he elects to ignore it, because once they’re both seated and ready, he begins to order, saying the names of a wide variety of foods. Wei Ying takes note that much of them are made primarily of vegetables.
“Can I get something with meat?” Wei Ying interjects. “Please,” he adds on, because he has manners.
Lan Wangji hums, and lists off a few more dishes.
Suddenly, Wei Ying remembers something. “Can I also have--”
Lan Wangji interrupts. “Chili oil, please.”
The woman looks between Wei Ying and Lan Wangji and nods, exiting the area to prepare their meal.
“I was just going to ask for that! Do you like spicy food too, Wangji-gege?” Wei Ying asks excitedly. Turns out he and Lan Wangji had more in common than he had originally thought!
“You do,” Lan Wangji supplies.
Or maybe not.
It doesn’t take long for the barren table to be filled with both big and small dishes, some filled with meats and the others filled with greens. Lan Wangji begins to push plates towards Wei Ying’s half of the table.
Wei Ying claps his hands together when food is finally placed in front of him. “Thank you, miss,” he says to the woman giving it to them.
Wei Ying sees Lan Wangji’s eyes twitch and he bites back a smile. He knows that his preference for spicy foods bordered on extreme, but that was just how he liked it! Plus, it was amusing to see stoic people like Lan Wangji reacting to him pour half a bottle of chili oil onto his meal.
He uses his chopsticks to mix in the chili oil, and begins to scarf down his food as fast as he can. The spice burns pleasantly as the food goes down his throat.
Lan Wangji grabs a hold of the hands holding the chopsticks, sending him a concerned glance. “Wei Ying, slow down.”
“Mmmnngg,” Wei Ying responds around a bite of rice. He does, however, slow down his eating a little bit when Lan Wangji releases him, if only to appease the man paying for his meal.
The two eat in relative silence. Wei Wuxian would like to talk, but after so long without a proper meal in his stomach, he’d much rather try and get through the plates in front of him. Lan Wangji, on the other hand, despite eating much slower and in a calmer fashion than he is, makes no move to hold, or even start a conversation.
“What should we do now?” Wei Ying asks once they’re finished.
Lan Wangji tilts his head towards the boy. “What would you like to do?”
Wei Ying taps his chin thoughtfully. “Have you ever been to Yiling before?”
“Mn.”
Wei Ying deflates. “Oh, you have? I thought I could show you my favorite places?”
“You can,” Lan Wangji says. “I would... like to see them.”
Wei Ying smiles. “Really?”
“Mn.”
-
They find themselves in the marketplace once more, this time near one of the vendors known for making toys for children. Wei Ying had shown him all around Yiling, pointing out this and that, until he had finally ended up here. In front of the toy stand, children in pristine clothes play together with wooden swords. It makes Wei Ying a little sad. Even when his parents were around, he’s never had children his age to play with.
“Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying doesn’t look up from the children playing in front of the stand. The wooden swords smack against each other loudly as they play fight.
“Wei Ying,” he says again, hesitantly, “Would you like some toys?”
Wei Ying gasps, head snapping to face Lan Wangji. “Are you serious? Yes, I want! I want!”
Lan Wangji leads him to the stand the two children are playing in front of.
The vendor smiles when he sees the two of them approach. “Ah, my good sir! Here to buy something for the little one?”
“Mn.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place! I’m sure someone of your status would be able to afford more than a few toys, can’t you?”
Lan Wangji doesn’t bother responding.
“Wei Ying, what would you like?”
Wei Ying looks at the offered toys carefully. Above him, the vendor is pointing out a variety of items for him to look at, but Wei Ying ignores his words.
“Can I have this?” Wei Ying asks, and points to a small item in the corner. The one, he presumes, will be the least expensive for Lan Wangji to buy.
Lan Wangji makes a strange face at that, one that Wei Ying isn’t sure what to make of. It looks... sad, he thinks, but a little bit amused. He hopes, at the very least, that the expression doesn’t mean that he is reconsidering splurging on Wei Ying. He feels a little bad, using the man’s money like this, but in his defense, Lan Wangji offered to him! Wei Ying was perfectly content to just walk by the vendor selling the toys and pretending like he didn’t want one for himself.
Lan Wangji turns to the vendor. “Two butterflies and one of the wooden swords,” he says, and hands the vendor a piece of jade from his pouch.
The vendor quickly put the piece away and gives Lan Wangji the items. “Thank you, sir! Feel free to come back for some more toys again!”
Lan Wangji only nods, and gives Wei Ying the two butterflies, holding on to the sword for him.
Wei Ying looks at the grass butterflies. “Why two of them?”
Lan Wangji doesn’t answer. “Do you like them?” He asks instead.
Wei Ying nods. “I’ll keep them safe!” he promises.
“No need.”
“Huh? What do you mean? This is your gift to me! I can’t go around losing it,” Wei Ying insists.
Lan Wangji shakes his head. “You can have more.”
“Wangji-gege, are all people from Gusu loaded with money?” Wei Ying asks seriously with a raised eyebrow, “Or just you?”
Once again, Lan Wangji stays silent.
-
It’s when they’re walking around Yiling afterward, Wei Ying talking his new friend’s ear off about anything and everything, that Wei Ying finally feels the events of the day begin to catch up to him. He’s in the middle of telling Lan Wangji about the one time he followed a line of ants from one part of the city to another when he’s forced to cut himself off with a yawn.
Lan Wangji stops walking at the sound, so abruptly that Wei Ying runs into him with a small ‘oof’. He looks up at the man and makes eye contact. “Wangji-gege?”
Without another word, Lan Wangji hoists him up with such ease it makes Wei Ying gasp.
Lan Wangji continues to walk as if Wei Ying weighs nothing. “Wangji-gege, what are you doing?” He squirms in Lan Wangji’s hold, only to make the man wrap his arms tighter around Wei Ying.
“You are tired.”
Wei Ying bites back another yawn as he tries once more to get down to no avail. Being in Lan Wangji’s arms does feel much nicer than having to keep walking. His feet were starting to hurt. “No, I’m not.”
Lan Wangji only raises an eyebrow at him, steps not slowing down in the slightest.
“Are we going somewhere?”
“Mn.”
“Where?” Wei Ying manages to mumble out, significantly sleepier than he was just a few moments ago.
The last thing Wei Ying remembers his settling his head onto Lan Wangji’s shoulder, tightening the hands he has around him, and closing his eyes.
-
When Wei Ying wakes, he feels inexplicably warm. He, for some reason, is lying down on a bed instead of hard dirt. On top of him, a billowing white robe covering his entire body up to his chin and then some.
An inn, he realizes. At least, if the bed and enclosed four walls are anything to go by. He pushes the robes off of him. And this is... Lan Wangji’s robes. The owner of said robes, however, is nowhere in sight.
There’s a small basin tucked into the corner of the room, presumably for Wei Ying to wash his face.
After, he goes downstairs to see if maybe Lan Wangji is sitting downstairs.
He goes up to the woman behind the counter. “Excuse me, is there a man here? Dressed all in white? He looks kind of like,” Wei Ying presses his cheeks together and makes the most serious face he can muster, “like this,” he says through his squished together lips.
The woman eyes him. “The man you were with left shortly after dropping you off.”
Wei Ying pauses. “Did he say if he was coming back?”
The woman shakes her head. “He paid for your night here, and a breakfast. And then he left shortly after,” she explains. She raises an eyebrow. “I expect you to be out of here after that, though. This isn’t an orphanage.”
Wei Ying’s chest feels funny at the thought of Lan Wangji leaving him alone by himself. As much as he appreciates being given shelter for the night and food and gifts, he had been looking forward to another day playing with his new friend. He represses the slight tinge of pain in his chest as far down as he can muster. It was silly of him to expect a grown man, especially one from a big cultivation sect, to want to spend time with an orphaned boy on the streets all day.
He turns to the innkeeper. “What’s for breakfast?”
-
The next time Lan Wangji appears, Wei Ying had almost forgotten about him entirely. There are not many moments to reminisce about happy events when survival is his number one priority. After he had left the inn on that fateful day that felt like months ago, he fell back in the routine he’s been on. The robes that Lan Wangji had left him with had been torn apart by stray mutts ages ago, leaving him nothing to remember the man with. The seasons had finally started to shift, and the men and women out in Yiling had started to wear slightly heavier robes. Yiling got nowhere near as cold as other places he’s heard about from his parent’s stories, but on bad nights the chill keeps Wei Ying from even being able to go to sleep.
Occasionally, he’ll see someone wearing white robes, and on even rarer occasions someone with cloud insignia, and he’ll get flashing memories of a man who spent the day playing with him-- but nothing more than that.
Until.
There’s a man waiting in the alleyway where Wei Ying thinks he’ll stay for the day. Wei Ying frowns. He had specifically scouted out this area because it had seemed deserted, no animals nearby to steal from him, and no other homeless children that he’d feel inclined to give his food too. Wei Ying knows he will give up his food if he does come across someone, but he was hungry, too.
The man, though, doesn’t look like a homeless person at all. Instead, he looks almost regal. As Wei Ying steps closer, his footsteps must’ve become audible, because the man turns to look at him.
When they make eye contact, Wei Ying is met with eyes that shine golden under the sun. Eyes he’s only seen on one other person.
“...Wangji-gege?”
In response, the man only stares at him blankly, and the look is enough to jog Wei Ying’s memories.
He runs up to him, overjoyed. He hugs him tightly for a moment, before releasing the man to look up at him properly. “Wangji-gege! I missed you! Where did you go? Why are you back? Do you want to play with me today?”
Lan Wangji only nods once, making Wei Ying laugh. “I can not stay for long, though.”
“That’s okay! Let’s play until you have to go!”
“Let us eat first.”
Wei Ying nods vigorously. “Okay!”
Lan Wangji takes them to another restaurant, and this time makes a point to order food that is as red as the setting sun, as well as a few much too pale for Wei Ying’s liking.
“Do you not like spicy food, Wangji-gege?” Wei Ying asks around his chopsticks once the food arrives.
“Do not speak while eating,” Lan Wangji reprimands in return.
After finishing their meal, Wei Ying wastes no time in leading Lan Wangji off in a new direction for their aforementioned fun.
He leads him to a spot under a tree, where several rocks are lined up in a pattern. He can feel the confusion radiate off of Lan Wangji, but he ignores it, opting to squat down in front of the base of the tree. He starts to clear away some of the dirt and rocks away and dig up the soil underneath.
“I buried the toys you got me so no other kid could steal them and I couldn’t lose them,” Wei Ying explains. “And I put these rocks in front so I’d remember that this is where I hid them.” The soil finally gives way to the outlines of something underneath. Wei Ying digs more. He notes at Lan Wangji’s clean skin and clothing. “You don’t have to touch them if you don’t want to. Just play with me, okay?”
He clears away the last of the dirt and shakes as much as he can off of the toys. Lan Wangji takes one of them out his hands. “What do I do?”
Wei Ying’s mouth opens slightly in surprise, before breaking out into a wide grin.
They spent the day playing right there under a tree, occasionally making the short trip to the nearest vendor to buy Wei Ying fruit. Where Lan Wangji is graceful in everything else he does, Wei Ying finds delight in the almost awkward mannerisms he displays playing with the toys. Wei Ying had only one wooden sword, and Lan Wangji was wary using the sword at his waist to fight with him, so they had to settle with many of the smaller toys to Wei Ying’s displeasure. As the sun begins to set, painting the sky in pinks and purples, Lan Wangji gets up.
Wei Ying’s heart sinks. “Already?”
“Mn. I must go,” Lan Wangji explains. He brushes off the lower part of his robes. “Are you still hungry?”
Wei Ying shakes his head and pulls at Lan Wangji’s sleeves. “Wangji-gege?”
Lan Wangji pauses.
“Can you come again?” Wei Ying pleads. It’s a childish request, he knows, but despite how grown he wants to be, he knows in his heart that a child is all he is. “Quicker this time? I don’t want to forget about you again,” he explains.
Lan Wangji frowns. “I do not know.”
Wei Ying matches the frown. “Why did you come this time then?”
Lan Wangji shifts his eyes away as if debating his next words. “...”
Wei Ying feels a spark of annoyance. He’s not sure where it comes from, but Lan Wangji has been his only friend since his parents disappeared, and he doesn’t appreciate the single person he can talk to disappearing on him in the span of hours. He closes his eyes and crosses his arms, turning away from Lan Wangji. “You’re not going to tell me? Fine, don’t! I didn’t want to hang out with you today, anyways! I’m busy too, you know. Not everyone has time to hang out with adults all day!” He peeks an eye open to gauge Lan Wangji’s reaction.
Lan Wangji only sighs, as if he knows Wei Ying is only spouting nonsense. He reaches into his sleeves and pulls out a thick parcel. He presents it to the Wei Ying carefully. “Happy birthday.”
Wei Ying freezes. Calculations run through his head and... huh. It really was his birthday today. But how did Lan Wangji know that?
Before he can ask the man himself, the parcel ends up in his hands. It’s light enough for Wei Ying to hold it with ease, but heavy enough for Wei Ying to note that there is, in fact, something of weight inside.
“Is this a birthday present?”
Lan Wangji nods. “Yes.”
Wei Ying feels warm all over. “Thank you,” Wei Ying says, and bows the best with the parcel in his hand.
“Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying straightens. “Hm?”
Lan Wangji stares at him for a long moment. “...Stay safe,” he says, and walks away. Wei Ying stays where he is, and wonders why he felt like Lan Wangji was going to say something different.
-
Wei Ying is somewhat surprised, but overall elated, when Lan Wangji shows up again only two days later.
He is wearing the new clothes Lan Wangji had gifted him for his birthday. They are pretty, he thinks, but very much different than Lan Wangji’s own robes. Black with red accents, he’s surprised Lan Wangji would even pick up something like this for him. There was still the question of how he had even known it was his birthday in the first place when even Wei Ying had forgotten such a fact, but he assumes he had let it slip at some point during their first meeting together.
Lan Wangji appears suddenly, just as he has done last time, and the time before that, while Wei Ying is scouring the streets for his lunch. This time, however, he looks somewhat harried.
“Wei Ying,” he greets.
“Hello again, Wangji-gege! You’re back!”
“En,” Lan Wangji agrees. “I’m back.”
“Look! I’m wearing what you gave me! It fit really well!” He does a twirl to show it off in its fullest. “Is it nice?”
Lan Wangji leans down to adjust it, patting down the lapels of the robes and straightening it out. “Very nice,” he compliments, making Wei Ying beam.
“Thank you!”
“Mn.” A pause, “Has someone come to talk to you today?”
Wei Ying raises an eyebrow. “...Was someone supposed to?”
Lan Wangji frowns. “Later, then.”
“...If you say so, Wangji-gege. You’re kind of weird, did you know that?”
“Do not speak ill of others.”
Wei Ying giggles at the serious tone. “Haha, if you say so!”
All of a sudden, he hears lots of footsteps. People seem to be running, from the sounds of it. In the distance, Wei Ying can hear the sounds of voices talking over one another.
And is that-- Wei Ying freezes. No.
The distinct sound of a dog bark. Very close by, if Wei Ying could guess, much closer than the footsteps or the voices. He feels a chill run down his spine when he finally catches sight of it.
Wei Ying screeches. “Wangji-gege, Wangji-gege, please, please, please!” He blindly grabs at the Lan Wangji’s robes and presses himself as close as possible to his legs. His hands reach up, blindly trying to get higher off the ground and away from the dog. “Please, please! Make it go away, make it go AWAY!”
Lan Wangji immediately wraps his hands around Wei Ying and scoops him up. Wei Ying burrows his face into Lan Wangji’s shoulders.
“Save me, save me, save me,” He continues to babble, quieter now but no less hysterical.
“Saving you,” Lan Wangji says indulgently. He pushes up Wei Ying slightly higher into his arms.
The barking has, miraculously quieted down, but not enough that Wei Ying feels any more inclined to lift his head from the comfort that Lan Wangji’s shoulder is currently providing him.
“Is it coming closer?” Wei Ying asks quietly.
Lan Wangji takes a step back. A pause. “It is not.”
“You’re sure?”
“En.” Lan Wangji shifts Wei Ying in his arms.
Wei Ying slowly lifts his head up and peeks over Lan Wangji’s shoulder. Sure enough, the dog is sitting several feet away on its hind legs. The sight makes Wei Ying shiver.
When the dog sees him, it lets out a happy bark. Immediately, his face is back in the juncture between Lan Wangji’s shoulder and collarbone. “Let’s go from here! I don’t want to see it anymore!”
Wei Ying feels Lan Wangji nod rather than sees it. “Let’s go,” he says.
Lan Wangji sets him down some distance away. “Alright?” he asks.
Wei Ying takes a shaky breath, and nods. “Are you going already?” He asks fretfully. “You just got here!”
The sounds of footsteps are back. The whole lot of them. This time, blessedly, without the added sound of dogs barking.
They still seem a distance away, but much, much closer than before, and the echoes reach Lan Wangji and Wei Ying clearly.
Lan Wangji, “Stay here.”
Wei Ying, partially because he doesn’t like being ordered around, and partially because he does not like this order in particular, chooses not to listen. He closes the distance to the man with a few fumbling steps and tugs at the parts of Lan Wangji’s robes that he can reach.
“And you? Where are you going? You didn’t even answer me! Wangji-gege?!”
“I must go,” Lan Wangji insists.
Wei Ying tugs harder. “Why now? Where? Can I come?”
“You may not. Stay,” Lan Wangji says firmly.
Wei Ying frowns.
“Stay,” Lan Wangji repeats. Then gives him a rather awkward pat on the head for good measure.
Wei Ying furrows his brows. He doesn’t appreciate being treated like a... like a dog! “Hey! You can’t tell me that and not say anything! Wangji-gege, you’re always disappearing! You didn’t even stay five minutes this time! Can’t I go with you just once?”
From somewhere nearby, a voice can barely be audible, “Did you hear that? Did that sound like a child’s voice to you?”
And another, “Do you think it could be who Sect Leader Jiang is looking for?”
Lan Wangji takes another two steps back. “Wei Ying. Don’t move from here. I will be back.”
Wei Ying persists. Something seems to have clicked for Lan Wangji with those words, something far beyond Wei Ying’s understanding, and that in turn stresses him out even more. “When? Today? Tomorrow?”
The foreign voice again, this time louder, “It’s coming from here!”
“Wangji-gege, are you going to be coming back?”
Lan Wangji crouches down to meet Wei Ying’s eyes, much like he did when they first met, and nods once. “I will be back.”
Wei Ying bites his lip. He stays still this time. “Promise me,” he says instead. “If you can promise me that you’ll be back, then I’ll stay here.”
“I promise.”
Wei Ying looks at Lan Wangji’s face carefully. Once he gives his nod of approval, Lan Wangji stands back up, back straight as if tied to a wooden board, and walks smoothly back out of the alcove. The moment he turns the corner, several more bodies block the entrance. Unlike Lan Wangji’s pristine whites and blues, they are in purple. The man in front takes one look at where Wei Ying is still standing. He lets out an audible breath, one that makes his shoulders slump. A kind smile graces his face. He bends down in front of Wei Ying.
Wei Ying inwardly feels as though he’s been in a situation like this before.
The man, Wei Ying thinks, is similar to Lan Wangji, but also completely different. The heights and build are similar, and the hairstyle to some extent, but where Lan Wangji has a forehead ribbon and strands of hair coming out of his bun to frame his face, this man has braids that run along the sides of his hair.
The man introduces himself as JiangFengmian, sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang sect, and holds out his hand.
In it, is a piece of melon.
“Would you like to have a bite?”