𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━━━J. Cheng

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲

003—Library Pavilion

[First Name] froze in her spot, unexpectedly bumping into three familiar faces, but at the same time, they were strangers to her. She instinctively took a step back from them. The three boys looked confused as well. 

She simply wanted to drop by the Library Pavillion, where her cousin frequently stays at. She previously decided to borrow the book of Righteousness from him so that she could start copying. What she didn't expect was that she would meet the three boys from yesterday again. Especially the boy who wore purple robes, who's obviously from YunmengJiang Sect. 

"U-Uh..."

Her foot turned, evidently wanting to leave in this instant. But before she could turn around, a deep familiar voice stopped [First Name] from doing so. "[First Name]." 

The three, whose backs were turned against the Library Pavillion, immediately turned around to see the renowned strict disciple of GusuLan Sect. Finally calming down, [First Name] lowered her head a bit. "Wangji-xiong, good afternoon." and he returned the same greeting. The atmosphere returned awkward once again because of the silence. 

Finally having enough of this awkwardness, [First Name] wanted to leave as soon as possible. And so, she cleared her throat and forced a smile. "I apologize for troubling you, but, Wangji-xiong, may I borrow a copy of Righteousness? I promise to give it back as soon as I'm done... copying." there was a bit of hesitation before mentioning the punishment given to her.

Lan Wangji gave an immediate reply. "Don't cause too much trouble to the elders. You can take a copy inside." and then he turned his attention to the boy, who tied his hair in a ponytail, a playful smile stayed on his lips since earlier. "Wei Wuxian." Lan Wangji uttered the boy's name. [First Name] was curious as to why these three are here, knowing that Lan Wangji rarely allows the others to enter the library but she shook off her curiosity and simply went inside, thanking Lan Wangji while passing him. 

Once inside, [First Name] immediately went and searched for the book. Placing her hand on the wall, and the other on her chest, she finally released her breath. "..." Flushed red, uneven breathing, and speedy heartbeat. She managed to hide it all in front of her cousin and the other three. "What... What is wrong with me...?" she quickly moved her hand up from her chest to her forehead, checking her temperature. 'It's not like I have a fever or something... So why?!'

The four had probably settled things outside as she heard footsteps inside the Library Pavillion, one was coming towards her. [First Name] separated her hand from the wall and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She expected that it was Lan Wangji who was behind her but when she glanced over her shoulders, it was a different person. 'Wei Wuxian.' that's what Lan Wangji called him. She took a step back from him. "[First Name], [First Name], that's your name, right?" He repeated it twice and even asked that. 

[First Name] nods, "My name is Lan [First Name]." Behind Wei Wuxian was Lan Wangji, who showed indifference like usual. The boy kept looking at her with an excited gaze, and so, she felt awkward in front of this stranger. He looked behind him for a second and then scooted closer to her and whispered. "My friend said that he saw you yesterday." With his voice so low, only [First Name] could hear him and not Lan Wangji. Was he perhaps being considerate?

The friend he is talking about... was he talking about that boy from YunmengJiang Sect? Of course. After all, it was only him who saw her that time.

Recalling the boy, blood flowed in her face again. Reflexively took another step backward from the boy and raised her hand to cover her lower face. "U-Uh..."

Wei Wuxian seems surprised by the unusual reaction. For a moment he looked like he wanted to say something but Lan Wangji finally decided to step in. "Wei Wuxian. Start copying." Wei Wuxian turned around, "Come on, how long do you think I'm staying here? We have plenty of time to do that, don't we?" While the boy's attention was not on her right now, she glanced around and spotted a copy of the book immediately. She reached out her hand and grabbed it, "Since I got what I came for, Young Master Wei, Wangji-xiong, I'll take my leave now."

[First Name] felt a momentary relief, knowing that she could leave as soon as possible now. Yeah, momentary. 

Wei Wuxian who got an idea as to why she reacted like that, said his final words to her, "Those two are still outside!" with a playful grin.

And so, [First Name] who was about to step outside tripped on the threshold and fell face-first on the ground.

Lan Wangji's face showed a bit of concern but mostly expressed his usual indifference. Wei Wuxian wanted to laugh but Lan Wangji glared at him. That had no effect on him, however. But feeling sorry and guilty a bit, he forced himself not to laugh even a bit, for the sake of the girl's dignity. 

[First Name] raised her head, both her nose and forehead aching from the fall. Actually, her whole face hurts like hell but not as bad as the previously mentioned parts. Her eyes blurred a bit before recognizing that a hand reached out to her. Without thinking much about it, she accepted the help and pulled herself up. That is until the person who helped her suddenly spoke up, "Wei Wuxian! Stop causing trouble already!"

She flinched.

Wei Wuxian stood on the threshold, not leaving the Library Pavillion completely. "I didn't mean it, all right? I only told her something and then she fell."

[First Name] froze on her spot. She didn't either dare to look up at the person or pull away immediately. Whatever the reason is, she merely stayed still.

After giving a one-sided scolding, Jiang Cheng looked down. He was confused, it felt like he was holding an inanimate object rather than a person. "On behalf of our sect's disciple, I apologize for whatever he said." He apologized anyway, not caring whether [First Name] heard it or not.

"I really didn't say anything offensive though!"

"You can shut your mouth!"

She heard it actually. Quite clearly on top of that. His voice kept ringing inside her head and she felt light-headed. [First Name] weakly pushed herself, "Uh, ah..." She managed to separate herself from the young master of the YunmengJiang Sect. Though, she continued to hold onto his hand tightly. That was simply on reflex, she felt that if she had nothing to grab on, she would immediately limp and fall down again.

'What...'

On the way here earlier, she did feel a bit weak. She merely ignored that, thinking that it was going to disappear with time. Never did she think that it would only worsen.

Jiang Cheng stood still, holding her hand with no complaint. But the fact that there was no response bothered him, as well as the other three who watched the scene. He lowered his head and stared at her hand. It was red and warm. Warmer than the usual temperature of humans. And then, he looked at Lan Wangji who stepped up first.

"[First Name]," he called out.

And there was no response. As he was about to say her name once more, [First Name] fell forward, towards Jiang Cheng. The boy involved was startled himself and caught her in reflex. With [First Name]'s forehead pressed on his chest, he could feel the high temperature despite his skin being covered with multiple layers of clothes.

He felt an unknown emotion as he held her in his arms.

ngl, I just realized i used third-person pov lmao. this ain't so bad so I'll continue writing like this.

Published: December 25, 2021