𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━━━J. Cheng

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲

005—Strange Sickness

[First Name] finally woke up in the evening after sleeping for a few hours. She no longer felt dizzy or lightheaded. However, seeing that she was all alone inside the room, she strangely felt uneasy. She stood up and grabbed her outer white robe that was placed on the bed and wore it. Looking outside through the window, she knows that nine in the evening hasn't struck yet. The position of the moon gave time away. And so, she could only sigh in relief. Since Lan Wangji was not here yet, she started cleaning up his room. 

She didn't want to trouble her cousin any further. Thinking of how he will react to seeing his bed all messed up when comes back, [First Name] feared the worst. She has some bad sleeping habits, and now that she was sick and in a bad condition, she naturally trashed around the bed worse than usual. And she paused for a moment in a sudden realization. She doesn't know how long Lan Xichen stayed to look after her while unconscious. So what if he saw her like that? Her face paled in fear. 

She doesn't know how to face Lan Wangji later too. She passed out and had him carry her all the way here. He even let her use his room. And it seemed like he had some stuff to do earlier, there was no doubt that she interrupted him.

She can look bad in front of others and she won't mind it. However, in front of both of her cousins, she is always unusually tame. She grew up with them and so, she had some attachments to them. 

Feeling uneasy again, she sped up her work. And it didn't even take her five minutes to finish things up. She sighs in relief, wiping her hand with a handkerchief she pulled out from her sleeves. And then, she looked around. She immediately picked up a piece of paper, soaked the brush in ink, and then wrote off a few words of thanks and apologies. [First Name] cleaned the brush and placed it back to where it naturally was.

Once again, she glanced around. Glad that there was no more mess, she left the room before Lan Wangji came back. 

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Lan Wangji's room was far from her quarters. And since she didn't want to exhaust herself again, taking what Lan Xichen said earlier seriously, [First Name] decided to simply walk back. It's already nighttime and since curfew does exist, there's no way she would meet other disciples on the way. Though, after a few seconds she told herself that, she was proven wrong.

And just how unfortunate is she?

The very first person she met since waking up that evening, and the person she just bumped into was none other than the young master of Yunmeng Jiang Sect. Her hands that were inside her sleeves to warm up, trembled slightly as she reflexively took a step back. Despite the nervousness she felt, she didn't forget her manners. She held her hands up to the level of her chest and lowered her head slightly. "Young Master Jiang." she started. She wanted to bow lower again but was stopped by his voice.

"Don't lower your head, Lady Lan. You were sick earlier so there's no need to do that."

Her eyes twitched and followed what he said. [First Name] pulled her hands out, she didn't dare to stare directly at him. 'Lady Lan...' she repeated the two words and mentally shook her head. 'That really sounds weird.' She really didn't interact with people outside the sect so she was used to being addressed casually by others. But since they were both practically strangers, it would be even weirder to call each other informally when they only met twice.

'... Twice...' It can't be actually called 'met' during the first time since it was only eye contact between the two and she ran away immediately. The second time was in the Library Pavillion, they didn't even speak to each other, though, he did help her up. 'But, both times, I ran away quite... embarrassed, right?' she took a quick glance at him, and she finally snapped out of her reverie. She realized she hadn't replied yet.

[First Name] nods, "Earlier... I'm sorry for bothering you, and the other young masters." 

"No... I'm sorry too for whatever that idiot said. If you were offended then I'll tell him to personally go to you and apologize."

"Ah, no. He didn't really say anything. It was my fault that I... Tripped."

Wei Wuxian only said that the other two were still outside. [First Name] was simply caught off guard that she tripped. But in the first place, why did she feel embarrassed in front of this boy? [First Name] raised her head and looked at the young master who followed her silence, staring blankly at her. Meeting gaze with each other again, [First Name]'s eyes widened and looked away immediately. Her face warmed up a bit.

"... Well... Sect Young Master Jiang, since it's almost time for the curfew, I'll excuse myself now." [First Name] was about to lower her head again for the formalities but she recalled this young master's words and stopped herself. "I know, I'm sorry for taking your time." he clasped his hands together and then raised his arms chest-high then lowered his head for a few seconds before raising again. 

[First Name] nods and curtly, "... Mn." her gaze wandered nervously before stepping forward and eventually walking past him. As soon as she turned to a corner, she heard his footsteps further away. 

And so, she immediately leaned her back on the wall, staring at the moon in the night sky. She raised her hand and covered her lower face with the wide, long sleeves. 'I thought it was only because I was feeling sick that my heart was beating faster than usual but...' she lowered her hand again to her chest, feeling the quick beats of her heart. 'Why am I feeling something like this even after I'm all better?'

[First Name] dense, dense

Published: January 5, 2022