Happy Birthday Sizhui !! - Zhuiling short story (Taking Book Requests)

Happy Birthday Lan Sizhui !!

It was a peaceful night in the Cloud Recesses. The clouds blanketed the soft glow of the moon, shielding the glittering stars.

It had been a long day for Lan Sizhui, due to Wei Wuxian having coddled and cooked for him, gods know how that went.

He was eighteen now, more opportunities awaiting him. He sits outside, on the steps leading up to his chambers.

He was accompanied by Lan Jingyi, everyone else who came to congratulate him had gone home and the two were now alone.

"Ahhh, Sizhui. Just because you're eighteen now doesn't mean I won't be less annoying to you, you know." Jingyi says with a smirk.

"Ha, can't wait for that." Sizhui says with a slight laugh. He looks up at the sky, his eyes skimming over the gray clouds. He was thinking about something.

"..." Jingyi watches Sizhui's expression, analyzing the boy's face. "You're thinking about someone, aren't you?"

Sizhui's eyes flicker to Jingyi and he flushes a light red hue. "Me? No... absolutely not, no way. Psh, what gave you that idea?"

Jingyi snorts, amused by his reaction. "Calm down, Sizhui. I'm just kidding, but now you've made me curious. C'mon, who's the special person~?"

Sizhui's blush darkens. "Well... I-I was thinking about Hanguang-Jun's bunnies, yes that's it." He says, never having been good at lying.

Jingyi raises an eyebrow and props his cheek up on his fist. "Really? You're not very good at lying, Sizhui."

Sizhui shifts nervously, not particularly wanting to reveal his thoughts. He decides to bend the truth a bit. I mean, it's not lying if he only says part of his thoughts.

"I was just thinking about how Jin Ling didn't show up. I mean, even Clan Leader Jiang came for a bit. Don't you think it's strange?" Sizhui adds the last part quietly, his thoughts starting to wander.

"You were thinking of young mistress Jin? Interesting. I mean, yeah it's a bit odd. A little understandable though, since he's the Jin Clan leader. Maybe he had a meeting?" Jingyi suggests, noticing the other spacing out.

"Perhaps... yeah, maybe." He looks up at the sky again. "We should head to sleep, it's getting late."

"Yeah, we should." Jingyi nods, standing up. He stretches, giving a long sigh. "Night, Sizhui. Don't get too old overnight."

Sizhui laughs at that. "Yeah yeah, will do. Goodnight, Jingyi." He waves as he watches Jingyi walk away, standing up himself.

He turns to leave, suddenly noticing a flicker of yellow clothing behind a large tree. He smiles, his eyes happy and quite surprised. He starts heading over to the tree, his footsteps calm.

"Hey, Jin Ling. How long have you been there?" He asks, looking around the thick tree trunk. He sees a bright red Jin Ling holding a small box of some sort.

"W-what? Me? I-I-! Hmph, shut up..." Jin Ling hurriedly shoves the box into his sleeve. He crosses his arms and stares up sharply at Sizhui.

Sizhui notices this action and looks at him curiously. "What are you doing here? Did you need something from me?"

"Tch, no! I don't need anything from you." Jin Ling says, a bit rudely. He was still a bright red, embarrassed at being caught.

"Ah. Okay. It's nice to see you then. We should really head to sleep, it's getting late-" Sizhui starts, a bit stung by Jin Ling's tone. He was used to it though, and he knew he didn't mean it.

"You-! Ugh, just- just... happy birthday, Sizhui." Jin Ling avoids Sizhui's eyes, his face burning.

Sizhui's expression immediately brightened. "Thank you, Jin Ling. I appreciate it."

Jin Ling's eyes take a quick glance at Sizhui and he shifts. "Yeah yeah, calm down. It's not like I knelt down and prostrated."

Sizhui chuckles. "Well, I really do appreciate it anyways. How'd you get here? Isn't the Jin Sect quite far?"

"Yeah. Jiu-jiu brought me. He's staying with Zewu-Jun right now." Jin Ling says, his face finally going back to its normal shade.

"Oh? How come I didn't see you before?" Sizhui asks, quite surprised. He'd definitely not seen Jin Ling earlier in the day, and for all he knew, Jin Ling hadn't come along.

"Tch. I was getting something important that you needn't know of." Jin Ling could feel the heat creep up his neck again.

"Oh. Alright. Are you staying at Cloud Recesses?" Sizhui looks at Jin Ling, feeling a bit hopeful.

"Yeah. Jiu-jiu is staying at Zewu-Jun's chambers and I'm staying at an inn with the Jiang members who came along." Jin Ling looked quite annoyed as he mentioned his Jiu-jiu and Zewu-Jun.

"Oh, cool. Yeah, okay. Well, we really should get to sleep. Goodnight, Jin Ling." Sizhui says, feeling happy about Jin Ling staying the night. He might be able to see him again in the morning!

"W-wait..." Jin Ling mumbles. He glances up at Sizhui as he turns to leave, his mind quickly racing. He panics after a second and grabs the edge of Sizhui's sleeve on impulse.

Sizhui's feet immediately stop as he feels a tug on his robes. He turns his head, looking over at the flustered Jin Ling.

"Is something wrong, Jin Ling?" Sizhui asks, watching as the boy avoids eye contact once again.

"I-I... I brought you something..."Jin Ling mutters. He didn't know why he was so embarrassed, I mean, it's not like he'd written a damn love letter. To be fair, he would have... if he'd lost all sense of pride in his body.

Sizhui raises an eyebrow, recalling the small, black box he had in his hand earlier. He watches as Jin Ling lets go of his sleeve and reaches into his own.

Jin Ling fishes around for a moment before pulling the small box out again. He grabs Sizhui's hand and places the box into his palm, closing Sizhui's fist in the process.

"Oh? Thank you, Jin Ling." Sizhui gives him a bright smile, his cheeks warm with a light pink hue.

Jin Ling raises his eyes and stares up at Sizhui for a minute. His face was steaming hot as he looked into Sizhui's kind eyes.

The yellow-robed junior leans up, pressing a soft kiss to the jade-like cheek in front of him. He quickly pulls away, turning around swiftly and hurrying away to the inn.

Sizhui stands there, speechless. He could feel his face reddening for the hundredth time that night. He was definitely not expecting that... though he couldn't quite say he didn't like it either.

He was about to go chase after him, but decided to let him cool down. I mean, he'd still be here tomorrow, wouldn't he?

Sizhui looks down at the box in his hand, recognizing the container as one for jewelry. His other hand reaches up and his fingers glide across the smooth, elegant carvings engraved on the wooden box.

Sizhui slowly opens the box, his eyes falling on a smooth jade pendant. It was simple, sure, but since it came from Jin Ling himself... Sizhui would definitely cherish it.

Sizhui, with glowing cheeks, looks up at the moon. The clouds had dispersed, revealing the glowing object. He raises a hand and traces the circular shape, awed and simply overjoyed by the recent events.

He had a chance with Jin Ling. It was something he'd never imagined happening... yet here it was.

* * * *

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed! I might make another part if this gets enough attention. I just did this on a whim, so any suggestions are always welcome!

I am taking book requests by the way, so feel free to leave on my message board or in the story itself!

Story word count: 1243
Full Word count: 1300