The world is still such a bright place

Chapter 17

Jin Zixuan was inexplicably happy that the day after he had given a piece of his mind to Wei Wuxian, he found the said disciple quietly sitting in his seat the very next morning. "Me talking to him must have made the trick, hopefully now he would start behaving normally. He should really be the leading example for the juniors of his sect, not a class skipping rascal who only plays his flute and disappears for days at a time, doing who knows what. And I will finally have something less boring to look at..."

He stopped between the door, startled by his own thoughts: "Why would I even think of something like this? As if I was going to stare at him the whole time! Why should he matter to me this much? I only wanted to remind him of his place, I do not want to be the only one who has to make sacrifices and behave himself because of his standing. Yes, this is the reason, nothing else."

Since the class was already nearly starting, he hurried to his place and sat down, doing his best to ignore both Wei Wuxian and the stern looking disciple who was sitting next to him; it could only be his rumoured brother, the First Jade, Lan Wangji. Jin Zixuan could still not believe that the Gusu Lan sect was this lax when it came to upholding their own stiff and self-righteous rules in their midst.

He could not understand why he, a guest disciple who would be going away in just a few months, had to abide by them when the Gusu Lan sect disciples did not have to. He had however enough copying, he only finished two days ago and his hand was still hurting from holding the brush for hours on no end. He did not want to risk angering Lan Qiren again for talking bad about his nephew. As unfair as the situation was, he would have to endure.

So now, Jin Zixuan was doing his very best, showing his disinterest in Wei Wuxian by looking everywhere but at him. He could feel an uncomfortable stare on him and he just knew who was the culprit. "But I would not give him the satisfaction of looking back and having Lan Qiren scold me again for not paying attention. I have had enough yesterday. I could not gather all the requested herbs because I got lost but he did not want to hear my explanation. He even gave me a warning..."

A week went by without Wei Wuxian missing a single class. The cold war between this particular Gusu Lan sect disciple and Jin Zixuan was still continuing. They were both trying their best to avoid meeting each other and not interacting, they did not even speak to the other once.

During this time, Jin Zixuan was growing more and more bothered. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were always the first ones in the lecture hall and were the last ones to leave. The only times he was seeing both disciples now were when they were sitting at their tables like two statues. They did not come to any social gatherings after classes nor did they join the other disciples during meals. They were still acting too self-important for Jin Zixuan's liking.

He however could not stop himself from ignoring Wei Wuxian after a while. He found himself secretly glancing at him here and there for a second or two. Sometimes, his eyes took a lot longer to leave the lean figure of the Gusu Lan sect disciple but he did not want to admit it, not even to himself.

He was growing more and more irritated and angry each time he noticed he was openly staring at the other, absent-mindedly admiring his handsome face one time or staring at his shining hair fluttering around him another one. He however could find a reason each time to justify his behaviour: Wei Wuxian was either slacking off, seemingly sleeping and not listening to the lecture at all, or scribbling something completely illegible on a piece of paper. If anyone looked closer, they would have to notice that he was not taking notes at all. But of course, no one did. Wei Wuxian was simply allowed to do as he saw fit and no one said a single word about his behaviour.

But then, there was an incident which changed everything for Jin Zixuan. It happened in the middle of the second week after Wei Wuxian joined the lectures again.

The Lanling Jin sect heir had forgotten his notes in the lecture hall and was returning to get them after the classes had finished and everyone had left. He was in a hurry because his only tentative friend here, Su Minshan, had asked him to meet him after the classes. Jin Zixuan did not really like the disciple, he was too slimy, trying too hard to please. But there was no one else he could talk about his irritation with Wei Wuxian with so his options were fairly limited.

He was angered yet again today because they were doing a surprise revision session where everyone was supposed to answer one or multiple of the teacher's questions. Since Jin Zixuan did not know it would take place and he had not been paying too much attention to what they were being taught, he did not know the answer and had to hear a lecture from Lan Qiren about listening better next time. It was bad already but the last drop was when it was supposed to be Wei Wuxian's turn to answer but the teacher never asked him anything. The preferential treatment was angering Jin Zixuan to no end.

So now, he was hurrying to retrieve his notes since he had been promised to be asked another series of questions the next day, to show that he had indeed studied this time. He was planning to look at them in the evening. After he would feel better of course, talking with Su Minshan and having the possibility to show his irritation with a particular Gusu Lan sect disciple always helped him to let go off some steam, and Su Minshan's opinion of Wei Wuxian was not that far off from his own.

Well, apparently not everyone had already left, because he all but run into Wei Wuxian just as he was stepping through the door. The impact made him take two steps back, although he was not supposed to have been running, in reality, he had been so the force was significant but not overly so as he managed to regain his balance immediately.

Not the same could have been said for the Gusu Lan sect disciple. Jin Zixuan watched with no small surprise how Wei Wuxian fell back on his behind. He had had his eyes closed the whole time. Jin Zixuan was immediately irritated again: "What is he doing, overreacting like this? He was the one who run into me with his eyes closed. Is he playing a poor victim now? It was not all that bad of a collision for him to fall down; he is a cultivator a well! Is he trying to frame me again? He is just sitting there, looking pitiful. He should be apologizing to me instead."

Convinced that Wei Wuxian was only overplaying his part for whoever could have seen the scene, Jin Zixuan did not even think about excusing himself, all but forgetting it was him who was running and who bumped into the other at full speed. He did not like how Wei Wuxian turned their every interaction into his fault and successfully managed to get him into trouble on every single occasion. Why else would the Gusu Lan sect disciple be sitting on the ground, covering his face with both his hands?

He wanted to just go around him, grab his notes and be on his way. He could however not do that because Wei Wuxian's ever present shadow, Lan Wangji, was of course there. He glared at him and then got down on his knees beside his brother. Now there was someone who would surely berate him for doing nothing at all, just because Wei Wuxian decided to frame him. Jin Zixuan frowned, readying himself for the inevitable confrontation.

The Lanling Jin sect heir was now more bothered than ever. Both brothers would surely tell on him to their uncle if he did not pretend to be apologetic. He would however not say it was his fault, not aloud, he had his pride and his status to uphold. Instead, he opted for a compromise. He held out his hand and tried to help Wei Wuxian stand up.