An Almost Lan

Chapter 13

A/N: AU and OOC, just a reminder.

Thank you for your votes and comments, they really encourage me!

Thanks to @CALActorsTypist on Twitter for editing this.

Warnings: Bonding time! I have neither an excuse nor an explanation for this chapter.

Saying that he and Xue Yang became fast friends was a complete lie according to Wei Ying. At the beginning, they agreed to disagree peacefully and side by side under the weeping willow.

At first, they would arrive at lunch time, spending the time sitting under the willow's canopy and eating together but alone if that made any kind of sense. Wei Ying made some feeble attempts to start a conversation with Xue Yang, only to encounter a wall of haughty silence.

Almost since their first fortuitous meeting, Wei Ying formed an opinion on Xue Yang: he was kind of an asshole. He tried to do some research with his classmates and most of them shut their mouths as soon as Xue Yang's name was mentioned. From that, Wei Ying also concluded that Xue Yang was not especially social or popular with his classmates.

After that, he tried the social media approach only to discover that Xue Yang only posted funny cat videos in the social accounts that Wei Ying suspected belonged to him, but he wasn't certain about it because Xue Yang didn't strike him as a cat lover. At all.

Their first actual attempt at conversation was about food and some very unexpected revelations. He got his instant ramen cup ready and was prepared to start eating, chopsticks in hand when Xue Yang glanced at his food with a distaste expression on his face.

"Why are you eating this crap?" Xue Yang questioned him. It was pretty obvious that he wasn't a natural born diplomat.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Why are you eating instant crap instead of bringing a home cooked meal from home?" he asked in a derisive tone.

"I happen to like them and it is just convenient. I buy them at the cafeteria and they are ready by the time I arrive here," he really didn't know what compelled him to explain himself to Xue Yang. He had stopped asking the cook at home for lunch a while ago, he didn't want to be a burden.

"But the cook you have at home can pack delicious meals for you to eat at lunch, why the fuck don't you ask them?" Xue Yang countered in a querulous tone.

"What is it to you?" Wei Ying started, truly annoyed. Just before starting a tirade that meant to convey the message 'mind your own business, jerk' when his mind caught on a small detail. "And how do you know our cook is any good?"

"Because I've eaten lunches prepared by them," he answered, nonchalantly as if he was talking about the weather.

"You what?!" Wei Ying asked again, afraid of having misunderstood his reluctant companion's answer.

"Are you deaf? I. have. eaten. lunch. cooked. by. your. household's. kitchen. staff." he punctuated his words.

"How?" Wei Ying needed to know. He was genuinely surprised by Xue Yang's words.

"A year ago," he started his story with a hint of melancholy in his expression, "I transferred to the Cloud Recesses Academy," he went on. "I hate instant food so I avoided the school cafeteria at all costs." He explained. "One day an angel came to me, she found me here and asked me why I was alone and why I wasn't eating anything." He glanced at Wei Ying to see if he was paying him any attention.

"I heard her before I saw her and I was about to tell her to fuck off and mind her own business when I looked at her. Her expression held neither pity nor judgment, just true concern for my well-being," he went on, truly engrossed in his memories. "She insisted on sharing part of her lunch with me that day. From the next day on, she had my lunch delivered by one of her household's kitchen staff."