✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧Jin Ling- Missing Them ✧

AS YOU WALKED through the hallways of Lotus Pier, you heard the loud noises of someone crying. As much as other people found it normal, it always worried you to hear that crying. Especially when you learned that the person crying was Young Master Jin Rulan. That worried you more.

You had trained with and been a classmate of Jin Rulan for many years. He always seemed cold to others, but you became fast friends with him. You discovered that under his rough exterior, he had a kind heart that had been unfortunately and brutally scarred by the passing of his mother and his father at a very young age.

After you learned about the loss of his parents, you assumed he had some sort of pain in his heart after losing them. Not trauma, because he was too young at the time of his parents' passing to experience that, but perhaps he had been bullied when he was younger or made fun of due to his being an orphan.

His uncle Jiang Cheng, the master of the Jiang clan, had also lost his mother and father at an age old enough to be traumatized by and depressed by it. However, due to his harsh nature and bad ways of approaching others, his sympathy for his nephew was never really shown. His brother Wuxian was the same. He also loved Rulan, but he could rarely show it since he was rarely at Lotus Pier.

So that left you as Rulan's-or as he urged you to call him, Jin Ling's- only support. When the two of you were younger, it was easier to support him, you could just hang out with him after classes. But now that you were getting older, you couldn't really hang out with him anymore because you were too busy with classes. Because of your busy schedule, you barely had any time for any activities outside of studying. And because of that, Jin Ling was suffering.

Finally, after many days of hearing his painful sobs in the hallways and trying your best to ignore and forget them, you decided to go make sure he was okay. After classes finished- classes Ling hadn't been in for weeks- you went to his room and, as expected, heard him sniffling and being said. Thankfully he wasn't crying today. It would break your heart to see your friend crying and in so much pain.

When you knocked on the door to his room and said, "It's me, Y/N. I came to see you," you could hear his shocked gasp. The door opened quickly after your announcement, and you entered the room, closing and locking the door behind you so that nobody would see the next master of the Jiang clan breaking down.

"What's wrong, Ling? Why have you been crying so much?" you asked, getting straight to the point.

He didn't respond right away, just kept his head down and fiddled with his fancy white-gold sleeves. Even with the recent downfall in the credibility and morals of the Jin clan, he continued to wear the robes of his father's clan,  not following the rules of a responsible Jiang disciple. If he was asked why he refused to wear Jiang clan robes, he responded by saying that he was honoring his father's memory. That usually shut up any protesters.

"Lingling... A-Ling..." you said playfully, trying to get him to acknowledge your question and answer it.

"I don't feel comfortable answering that question," he responded in the same cold manner as his uncle Jiang. He really did inherit his uncle's genes. The gossip wasn't wrong.

"Ling, it hurts me to hear my friend crying. Why were you crying? Is someone hurting you?"

"I- Ah- no! Certainly not!"

The momentary hesitation there told you that Ling was lying. People were hurting him, and it was clear by the way he cried so loudly that it hurt him very much. And as his friend, it was your duty to make sure those people stopped hurting him.

"What do they say to you, Ling? Why are they treating you this way?"

You could see that Jin Ling was slowly breaking down. Tears were beginning to slowly flow out of his eyes. When you asked him that second question, he burst into sobs again. You put your arms around him and held him as he cried.

"It's alright. You're perfect. You're the greatest friend anyone could have. Whatever the people that hurt you say to you, they're lying."

"M-m-mama! I miss my mama!" Jin Ling wailed, just like a child. In many ways, he still was a child. A child with a broken heart.

"Oh, Ling. Your mama is up in the skies waiting for you. She's so proud of you. Your father is by her side, watching your every step. Watching you become a man. And he's so proud..."

"Mama," Jin Ling whimpered, holding onto your body with shaking hands. "I-I miss my mama."

"I know. I know, Lingling, A-Ling. I know it hurts."

"T-they h-hate me... because I have no mama," Jin Ling sobbed.

"Who hates you? In what class?"

"S-sword fighting! M-mean boys! D-don't know name!"

You held Ling in your arms, hugging him close until his meltdown ended. When he stopped sobbing and shaking, he turned red with shame and looked away from your face, too ashamed to look at you.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, a stark contrast to his loud sobbing from moments prior. "I'm so ashamed of how I've acted..."

"Don't be ashamed, Ling. It's natural to be sad. Whenever you feel that way, come to me and we'll talk, okay? I don't want you to suffer any more than you have to."

Jin Ling smiled a rare but beautiful smile at you and then said, "Now that you're here, let's hang out!"

You had fun playing games and talking together with him for the rest of the day.