Drunken Mistake

DM 30

Mo Xuanyu was an inconsolable mess after settling into the guest room. He sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders trembling, his hands clenched tightly around the sheets. His breath hitched between sobs, eyes swollen and red. "Why... why did I choose him?" he whispered, voice breaking. "Why didn’t I even give you a chance...? If you had told me, instead of me learning from Meng Yao, we could have been..."

Lan Wangji stood by the door, his posture stiff, eyes distant. "You don’t need to dwell on what could have been. Just focus on the now," he said quietly, his tone flat but firm. "I’m here to support you, Xuanyu. That’s all."

Mo Xuanyu looked up, his gaze desperate, almost pleading. He scrambled off the bed and reached for Lan Wangji, hands grasping his sleeve. "Wangji xiong, please," he whimpered, leaning in closer. "Don’t leave me alone. I-I can’t bear this..."

A flicker of discomfort crossed Lan Wangji’s face as he pulled back slightly, his movements restrained. "No," he said, his voice sharper now. "That’s not why I’m here. We aren't the adolescents that we were."

Mo Xuanyu’s hands dropped to his sides, defeated. He sank back onto the bed, burying his face in his hands as his sobs echoed through the room. Lan Wangji remained unmoving, his eyes on the wall, his jaw set tight, as if the mere contact had left a bad taste in his mouth.

After what felt like hours, Mo Xuanyu’s crying began to subside. When he finally lifted his head, his face was streaked with tears but calm—almost eerily so. "Wei Wuxian… he misunderstood me, us," he mumbled, his voice hoarse.

Lan Wangji didn’t answer. He turned on his heel and headed to the master bedroom, his steps quick and purposeful. The room was empty, and the bed was cold. On the pillow lay a manilla envelope, slightly crumpled at the edges. Lan Wangji picked it up, staring at the familiar handwriting on the front. With a sudden, sharp movement, he tore it open and pulled out the divorce papers—signed.

A flash of anger crossed his usually serene face, and without a second thought, he crushed the papers in his fist, crumpling them beyond recognition. He threw the wad into the wastebasket and pulled out his phone, fingers trembling as he dialed.

The line rang once, twice, then clicked, only to greet him with a robotic voice: "The number you have dialed is not available."
Blocked. He stared at the screen, his heart tightening in his chest. "Wei Wuxian..." he whispered, the name barely leaving his lips.

Lan Wangji tried again, this time dialing Jiang Cheng. The call connected, and Jiang Cheng’s voice was sharp and impatient. "What do you want?"

"Where is Wei Wuxian?"

"I don’t know," Jiang Cheng snapped. "I haven’t seen him since last week. Why? Did you lose him?"

Lan Wangji’s grip on the phone tightened. "Thank you," he said, ending the call before Jiang Cheng could say anything more.

He dialed Wen Ning next, but the gentle, stammering response was the same. "I’m sorry, Hanguangjun. I haven’t seen him."

Desperation creeping into his voice, he made one last call. Xue Yang’s voice was loud, almost smug, over the background noise of a roaring video game. "Oh, Wangji? Didn’t expect a call from you. What’s up?"

"Come over," Lan Wangji said, his tone cold, leaving no room for negotiation.

Xue Yang laughed, a cruel, mocking sound. "Sorry, can’t. I’m going off on a little vacation with my latest catch. Maybe another time." There was a click, and the call ended.

Lan Wangji stood there, alone, the empty room pressing down on him. He lowered the phone, staring at the crumpled papers in the bin. The silence felt suffocating, as if the world around him had collapsed, leaving him stranded.

***

Jiang Cheng looked at Wen Qing. "He sounds desperate," he commented.

"When A'Xian came to collect A'Yuan at the hospital, he was barely putting it together. The only reason I forwarded the handover was because Xue Yang was with him," Wen Qing explained.

"How are you supporting this- my brother and your ex?" Jiang Cheng questioned.

"Xue Yang broke up with me because he met someone who made him want to consider something serious. If that's A'Xian, then he'll be good to him," Wen Qing analyzed.

"I don't like it," Jiang Cheng replied.

"You don't have to," Wen Qing declared. "Think of it this way. At least he isn't running away alone this time," she reminded him.

***

Early next morning Xue Yang pocketed his phone and looked at the sleeping figure of Wei Wuxian beside him. He submitted his resignation to Y-Tech discretely. He had enough investment to not work for a while and enough skills to find work when he liked. He felt guilty for his own part in the innocent man’s fate. When he had egged him on to consummate his relationship with Lan Wangji it was meant to be a joke. But beside him was a man in love, used and thrown out. Lan Wangji didn‘t deserve that love, just as he didn’t deserve his white tiger.

As the airport announcements declared the next flight to Suzhou, Xue Yang tapped Wei Wuxian‘s shoulders, waking him up. “It’s time, ” he whispered.

Wei Wuxian gave a wry smile and got up. His body felt like it was made of lead. But he dragged himself forth. Beside him, huddled on his seat, sat the small boy whom he had decided to adopt a month back. The paperwork were completed and Wei Wuxian decided to bring him along for the ride.

“What’s there is Cloud Recess, Suzhou?” Xue Yang asked. He was sure that Lan Wangji never mentioned his Suzhou connection to Wei Wuxian. Did they start off from the same neighborhood? That would be poetic.

“It‘s a private estate, owned by the family that worked closely with my grandmother. When my parents died, one of my grandmother’s family friends decided to adopt me. The agency said that I needed to stay with them for a year before the paperwork could come through. Uncle loved me like his own son. He wasn‘t married. He wanted me to call him Baba, but I hesitated. I had every comfort imaginable. They had old money and were not lacking anything and since Uncle saw me as his son, showered me with love and comfort. His nephews lived next door. One was in college and the other was in boarding school. Huan Ge was more like a brother to me in the months I was with them than Jiang Cheng could become in years. Everything was fine till Huan Ge’s brother came home from boarding school. I developed  a crush on him but even before I could realize what I felt he started scolding me for even existing. His rejection of me, of everything I did, hurt me so much that I ran away. That is when the Jiang‘s found me,” Wei Wuxian explained.

“So aren’t you afraid that your bully will be there?” Xue Yang asked.

“Well, that‘s one of the reasons I asked you to come. I don’t imagine anyone bullying you. And more importantly I am not going back to take anything from him. I just want to reconnect with uncle and may be visit Huan ge, have a sense of belonging for once in my life,” Wei Wuxian explained.

Xue Yang nodded in understanding. “A‘Xian has nothing to worry about as long as I am there. Does your bully have a name?” he asked.

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “I had a fever before I found the Jiangs and I lost my memory. I have been dreaming of him  recently and I told you what I remembered. In one dream I call him Lan Er Gege. I'm remembering another name as well but I can't reconcile the two and I need confirmation,“ he whispered, blush creeping in.

Xue Yang looked at him strangely, not believing what he was hearing. If Cloud Recess housed a single family he suddenly realized whose family owned that estate. He looked at A‘Yuan and then at Wei Wuxian rethinking if he should tell them that they should run the other way but his penchant for disaster stopped him and he offered to carry the child instead.