Lan Wangji: "Wei Ying. Where are you? Are you alive or dead? If you are alive, why can't I find you? If you are gone, why don't you reply to my Inquiry?"
Wei Wuxian raised his translucent hand to touch his Lan Zhan's cheek and stroke it though he k...
I stiffen and open my eyes swiftly at the response I do not expect. I crank my neck down to peer at the warm presence on my left shoulder, next to my heart, to see a silky black hair cascading down my white bedsheet. I inhale the sweet scent to confirm that it isn't my imagination. As the chamomile scent enters my respiratory system, my body automatically relaxes. It's real, I tell myself. He's right here, next to me. Visibly to touch and to hold.
I look down further to get a clear view of his face, careful not to use too much movement. He is sleeping. His chest is moving up and down, sending waves of air to the crook of my neck as he exhales. It tickles a little, but I am used to it. It looks like he unconsciously replies to my voice calling his name just now. I am glad my voice didn't wake him up, though.
Turning my head back up to the ceiling, I suddenly am reminded of that hurtful past. I wished it didn't happen, but it had. The past that keeps haunting me every night until now. Though Wei Ying is back to my side, those terrible memories won't go away easily.
It happened sixteen years ago...
"Wei Ying." I murmured to myself as I saw him standing up there on the roof, snickering at the chaos below his feet created by all clans as they were fighting for The Stygian Tiger Amulet. Others might think he was enjoying their misery, but I knew better. The look in Wei Ying's eyes was full of sorrow and loneliness. Though he plastered his face with that fake laugh, his eyes still depicted his true feelings. I was so hurt to see him like that. The cheerful, out-going Wei Wuxian I'd once knew was nowhere to be found. Right now, the one standing there was a brand new Wei Wuxian that was known and feared by all as Yiling Patriarch.
But to me, though his cheerfulness was gone, he was still my Wei Ying, the one I secretly harbored romantic feelings for.
A black movement in the sky brought my attention back to the scene before me. I looked to where Wei Ying had stood and realized that he was gone. The black movement just now must be him. I looked around and finally spotted him. I gasped at his new standing place.
He was standing at the edge of the cliff. Way too close to the rim. If only he took one more step, he would, without a doubt, fall.
"No, Wei Ying. What are you trying to do?" I talked to myself as I flew to where he was.
"Stop. Don't come any closer, Lan Zhan." He spoke to me with his voice trembling. I landed several steps away just as he had wanted.
"Wei Ying. Come back." I called out to him. That was when I realized that my voice was trembling too. Wei Ying only shook his head. Tears trickled down his cheeks at his head movement. I saw one of his feet moving, but it wasn't moving forwards. It was receding. One of Wei Ying's feet was already dangling off the cliff when I ignored his warning and flew to him.
It all happened so fast, and before I knew it, I was draped over the rock, holding Wei Ying's whole body with all my might despite the injured arm that was profusely pumping out hot blood from the open wound. It must have hurt, but I couldn't feel any pain at all. My whole attention was fixated on the dangling figure below me. I needed to save him, repeated the voice at the back of my head.
"Lan Zhan." Wei Ying said with a faint voice as he looked up to me, his eyes blinked as the droplets of my blood were falling on his face. "Let go."
I tried to speak, but my stomach was laid flat on the rock. The pressure made my voice challenging to come out. So, I shook my head as a response.
He smiled a weak smile and repeated it. "Let go of my hand, Lan Zhan."
I shook my head again.
A silver flash reflected from the corner of my eyes. A sword was thrashed down, from behind the side of my head, into the figure below me. Though it didn't strike Wei Ying directly, it was still the cause of his fall.
"Wei Ying!" For the first time in a long time, my voice was able to come out so loud that it could be called a 'scream' as I looked at the falling figure descended into an abyss.
That was how my days developed into months and eventually grew into years where I had to live my life without him.
<<<TO BE CONTINUED>>>
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Thank you, @kami-chan1999, for this beautiful drawing. For more of her work, check out her Instagram "puppeshirouotome"
