[[[忘羡 | WangXian 1]] : The Second Kiss That Came Too Soon

[2.] Partners.

Jiang Cheng was furious. He was only listening to the instructions given by Lan Xichen with half a ear. 

Last night, Wei Wuxian and their Shijie basically locked themselves in her room, and talked for hours, leaving him out. He had no idea what it was all about, but he was not allowed in. They were laughing, sipping on tea, and talking, talking, talking. What about? Her engagement to that fool Jin Zixuan, or maybe .... maybe about...him? Were they laughing at him? Why was he not allowed in?

- Hey, Jiang Cheng, has the heat gone to your head? – Wei Wuxian giggled.
- Shut up, you moron! - Jiang Cheng cast a blood-shot glance on him.

Lan Xichen cast a half-angry look at the boys. No one had ever seen him angry, but they all suspected that if he ever did get angry, truly angry – it would be explosive.

- As I was saying...   –  he stressed with some pathos – we all will need to ride on horse-back, as the terrain is really steep. Be careful with your belongings, the nights in the mountain are really chilly, even in July. And it is a 3-day hunt, as you know. And now – pick your partners. In pairs, we will cover more ground south, north, east, west, and I will be leading a team myself down the river in boats.

Wei Wuxian sniggered at the mention of the word "couples", as he would, but as he saw a very angry Jiang Cheng approaching him, adamant to get to the bottom of it all,  he grabbed the first person, standing nearby, dreading having to endure a 3-day rant from his brother – it would be too much even for him. "Oh, no, no, no!"  –  he thought.

- Ah, Jiang Cheng! I already chose a partner! It's...it is.... – Wei Wuxian looked up at the person he was so firmly grabbing by the arm, and saw, to his dismay, that it was Lan Zhan.

- I am teaming up with Lan Wangji, from the Gusu Lan Clan! Yay... - he tried to fake cheerfulness, and frowned when he saw that his brother was grinning.

- Serves you right! – Jiang Cheng growled. Looking around, he saw that, while all this monkey business was going on, the only person, left without a partner was Jin Zixuan, (as everybody avoided this dull and aloof boy), who looked so bored and hot that he even did not bother to say something spiteful about this pairing.

– Oh, come on, you moron! – Jiang Cheng puffed and glared in the direction of Jin Zixuan. It was not a great day for the heir of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan.

Wei Wuxian watched them go north. He was already starting to doubt that all this was a good idea. It was a well-known fact the Lan Wangji of the Gusu Lan Clan really, really disliked him. He turned on his heel and shone a bright grin in the direction of Lan Zhan.

- Well, well, Lan Zhan! It is just you and me now!  –  he winked playfully.  –  It seems we need to go south, towards the caves. Nasty region, that.

Lan Wangji did not even look in his direction, let alone answering him; he sped his horse and started south, down the pathway.