Ink Lines

Chapter 2. One Year Ago - Caiyi City

This chapter was too big really so I halved it in the edit and posted both.

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Where was the beginning?

Standing here at what he hoped was the ending of this constant fear and counter attack planning, Lan Zhan sipped his drink and wondered at how all this, had slotted into place, when he had given up hope.

Some stories have a clear moment when a new journey starts. A new thread to the tapestry of life, the fork in the road. 

Sometimes you can try to hold that tapestry up to the light and you see that there are too many threads to trace. Interwoven, the bright colors seem to race from one corner to the next, the patterns and little moments, a beautiful chaos.

For Lan Zhan, life is clearly divided, into two distinct categories. Before Wei Ying and Life Apart From Wei Ying.

Life changed the day of the gathering at Gusu, fourteen years ago. The cultivation course that pulled young, talented students from all over the jianghu, to the Academy for one year of study.

The day had been grueling, dealing with so many people, most of them incapable of deciphering  signs or adhering to the Gusu Lan Sect rules for longer than ten minutes. So he hadn't thought much of the Jiang Sect students, or the boy with the bright smile.

Was the rooftop three nights later the beginning? Or the five days they spent together after been trapped by an avalanche? Or the moment, the day before Wei Ying left, when he kissed him beneath the blossoms of the magnolia tree?

When had he realized that he loved this boy? When had he had first looked at him and thought, It's you. You I want for the rest of my life. Only you.

Did this happen to other people? He had often wondered. Were you not supposed to walk through life and choose a life partner when you were ready? At some point with a career, a home of your own and a looming marriage crisis? That was what the Elders spoke of. That message was replayed and relayed everywhere, from books to television.

And there he was, not even an adult and he had chosen his life partner. A boy no less. A boy who called him his friend, a boy who experimented and clearly had experience even then!

No. He had no specific enlightening moment. All he knew was that at some point during that year, the irritating fellow disciple had become not a friend, but so deeply buried in his heart, that caring for him, about him became second nature. When he looked past the annoying, too-bright, too-carefree person who had shouldered his way into his quiet well-structured world, he found someone who for the first time, not only understood him, but shared so much in common with him.

At some point, he had realized they were connecting in ways he had never before experienced. Ideas freely shared, that Wei Ying could have so many opinions on subjects he had never before considered was one thing. But that day, when they spoke of their parents, the grief and promises that Wei Ying kept...that was the day he knew he would carry this man in his heart forever. Knowing this as truth, but never fully understanding what it was, until almost too late.

Love. Strong enough to last a lifetime.

That too short but perfect kiss was the first time Lan Zhan had ever experienced attraction, ever wanted to feel closeness with another person. Touch... that powerful and often, for him too-invasive thing suddenly seemed not only possible...but wanted.