The chicken wing that Lan JingYi was holding in his mouth plopped into his bowl, splattering the sauce onto the front of his clothes.
One single thought filled Wei WuXian’s mind—after Lan WangJi sobered up, he wouldn’t ever have the face to look at others again.
Jin Ling was bewildered, “… What’s he doing?”
Wei WuXian, “Showing you guys a special way to use the Lan Sect’s forehead ribbon.”
Lan SiZhui, “What special way…”
Wei WuXian, “When you find a really strange corpse and you feel that you should take it back to examine it properly, you can take off your forehead ribbon and bring it back like this.”
Lan JingYi blurted, “But you cannot do that! Our sect’s forehead ribbon is…”
Lan SiZhui stuffed the chicken wing back into his mouth, “Oh, I see! I did not know that it can be used in such a way!”
Ignoring the strange looks that other people gave them, Lan WangJi dragged Wei WuXian up the stairs.
He entered the room, turned around, closed the doors, latched them, and finally pushed the table over as though he wanted to block out an imaginary enemy. Watching Lan WangJi hurry around, Wei WuXian asked, “Are you gonna kill me here?”
Within the private room, there was a wooden screen, which separated the space inside the room into two halves. One half had a table and a few chairs for eating and chatting, while the other had a long bed and curtains for resting. After Lan WangJi dragged him to the other side of the screen, he forcefully pushed Wei WuXian onto the bed.
Wei WuXian’s head knocked lightly against the wooden backing that was joined to the bed. He gave an offhand “ow” in exclamation as he thought, Is he gonna make me sleep again? It’s not nine yet, is it?
Hearing the exclamation, Lan WangJi lifted the hems of his white robes and sat down elegantly on the bed, reaching out to feel Wei WuXian’s head. Although he was expressionless, his movements were extremely gentle, as though he was asking “did it hurt?”
As his hand felt around, Wei WuXian’s lips twitched, “It hurts! It hurts sooo much!”
From the cries of pain, a slight worrying expression finally formed over Lan WangJi’s face. His hands were even gentler as he patted Wei WuXian’s shoulder as though to comfort him. Wei WuXian raised his wrists for him to see, “Why don’t you let me go? HanGuang-Jun, it’s so tight that my hands are almost bleeding. It hurts so much! Take off the ribbon and let me go, okay? Okay?”
Lan WangJi covered his mouth at once.
Wei WuXian, “Mn mnn mnnffff mnn mn mnfffnnnnn mnn mnnnnn mnn mnnn nfff mn nn, mnn nn mnn mnnfff mnnn mnnfff nnnff mnnn mnnff mnn nnf mn mnn mnff?!”
So you pretend not to understand the things that you don’t want to do, and if you really can’t pretend you’re just gonna not let me say them?!
How rude!
Wei WuXian thought to himself, Now that things are like this, don’t blame anything on me.
Lan WangJi was tightly covering Wei WuXian’s mouth with one hand. Under it, Wei WuXian parted his lips and quickly brushed the tip of his tongue over Lan WangJi’s palm.
It was only the dip of a dragonfly, yet Lan WangJi looked as if his palm had been singed by a flame. He instantly took his hand away.
Wei WuXian took in a deep breath. Just as he felt that he one-upped Lan WangJi again, he saw him turn around. Sitting on the bed, Lan WangJi hugged his knees and clutched the hand that Wei WuXian had just licked to his chest, not moving at all.
Wei WuXian, “What’s this? What are you doing?”
He appeared as though he’d given up on life, having been tainted by a pervert and such. People who walked upon the scene might actually think that Wei WuXian did something to him.
Wei WuXian commented on his defeated look, “You didn’t like it? Well, it’s not my fault if you didn’t like it. You’re the one who was being so pushy and didn’t even let me speak. Why don’t you come here, and I’ll wipe it for you?”
He reached toward Lan WangJi’s shoulder with his bound hands, but Lan WangJi avoided him. Seeing how quietly he nestled at the corner of the bed, Wei WuXian felt the familiar urge of mischief again.
Kneeling on the bed, he moved toward Lan WangJi and smiled through the most devilish tone that he could manage, “You scared?”
Lan WangJi jumped off the bed at once. As though he really was scared, he continued to stand with his back to him and maintained the distance between them.
Wei WuXian was finally starting to enjoy himself.
He grinned as he calmly left the bed, “Hey, what are you hiding for? My hands are still tied, and I’m not even scared, so why would you be scared? Come, come. Come here.”
He approached Lan WangJi, harboring no good intentions at all. Lan WangJi passed the wooden screen only to run into the table that he himself blocked the doors with. Wei WuXian walked past the screen, chasing after him, while he went the other way around. The two circled the screen for quite a number of times, and Wei WuXian was just starting to feel the fun of it as he suddenly realized, What am I doing? Playing hide-and-seek? What is this? Am I out of my mind? Lan Zhan is drunk, but why am I also playing with him?
Noticing that the person chasing him had stopped, Lan WangJi stopped as well.
Hiding behind the screen, he showed only half of his fair-skinned face, peeking silently at the direction of Wei WuXian.
Wei WuXian watched him carefully. He still looked so prim and proper, as though the six-year-old who chased Wei WuXian around the screen was somebody else.
Wei WuXian, “Do you want to continue?”
Expressionless, Lan WangJi nodded.
Wei WuXian struggled to hold back his laughter.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha oh gosh Lan Zhan wanted to play hide-and-seek with him now that he was drunk hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
The laughter that he tried to suppress was even greater than tidal waves. Finally having managed to hold it back, Wei WuXian’s entire body was shivering, A sect like the GusuLan Sect prohibits noise, fooling around, and even walking quickly. Lan Zhan definitely never had so much fun when he was young. Tsk tsk tsk, poor him. He won’t remember a single thing after he sobers up anyways. I might as well keep on playing with him.
He ran a few more steps toward Lan WangJi, pretending that he was going to chase him. As he had expected, Lan WangJi started to go in the opposite direction. As though he was playing with a toddler, Wei WuXian cooperated as best as he could, chasing him around the screen a few more times, “Run, run. Go faster. I’m gonna catch you! If I catch you, I’m going to lick you again. Scared, much?”
He originally intended it to be a threat. However, Lan WangJi suddenly walked toward him from the other side of the screen, and the two bumped into each other.
Wei WuXian was planning to catch him, not at all expecting that he’d walk right into his arms. Speechlessly startled, he even forgot to reach out. Seeing that Wei WuXian didn’t do anything, Lan WangJi lifted his tied-up hands and brought them over his neck as if he voluntarily slipped into an unbreakable trap, “You caught me.”
Wei WuXian, “… Huh? Yes, I caught you.”
As though he was waiting for something to happen but it never did, Lan WangJi repeated the three words again. This time, he enunciated each word with heavy emphasis and sounded anxiously eager, “You caught me.”
Wei WuXian, “Yeah. I caught you.”
He caught him. What else?
What did he say? What was he going to do after catching him?
… No.
Wei WuXian, “This time doesn’t count. You walked over yourself.”
Before he even finished his words, Lan WangJi’s expression had darkened. He looked extremely unhappy.
Wei WuXian, This can’t be. After Lan Zhan is drunk, he not only likes to play hide-and-seek, but also likes to be licked?
He wanted to take his arms away from Lan WangJi’s neck, but Lan WangJi reached for them before he did. He held them securely at Wei WuXian’s neck, not letting him take them away. Seeing how one of Lan WangJi’s hands just happened to be pressing onto his arm, Wei WuXian thought for a moment, then shifted over, moving his face closer and closer. His lips swept across the back of Lan WangJi’s hand as though it was a halfway kiss. The tip of his tongue skimmed lightly over the jade-like skin.
Lightly. Very lightly.
Lan WangJi flinched and removed his hand as fast as he could. He took away Wei WuXian’s arms, turned his back to him again, and darted to the side. Again clutching the hand that had been licked, he faced the wall silently.
Wei WuXian pondered, Does he like it, or is he scared of it? Or is it both at the same time?
As he was pondering, Lan WangJi turned around, his face as calm as always, “Again.”
Wei WuXian, “Again? Again what?”
Lan WangJi hid behind the wooden screen once more and peeked at him with only half of his face showing.
His intentions were as clear as could be—again, you chase, I run.
Speechless for a moment, Wei WuXian obeyed and did it again. This time, having only been chased for a short while, Lan WangJi ran into him again.
Wei WuXian, “You really are doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
Again, Lan WangJi brought Wei WuXian’s arms around his neck as though he couldn’t understand what his words meant, waiting for him to fulfil his promise again.
Wei WuXian, Am I just going to let Lan Zhan have fun all by himself? Of course not. He wouldn’t remember anything that I do to him now, anyways. Let me play something better with him.
With his arms around Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian returned to the bed with him, then asked, “You like this, don’t you? Don’t turn around. Speak. Do you like it or not? If you like it, we don’t have to run around every single time. How about I let you have as much fun as you want?”
As he spoke, he held up one of Lan WangJi’s hands, bent down, and kissed between two of his slender fingers.
Lan WangJi wanted to take his hand away again, but Wei WuXian held it tightly, not allowing him to do so.
And then, Wei WuXian’s lips pressed onto his distinct knuckles. Softer than the touch of feather, his breaths wandered to the back of his hand, and he kissed again.
Lan WangJi couldn’t pull his hand back no matter how hard he tried. He could only clench his fingers together into a tight fist.
Wei WuXian lifted up his sleeves, revealing the pale-skinned wrist, then kissed it as well.
After he kissed, he didn’t raise his head. He only turned his eyes to Lan WangJi, “Is that enough?”
Lan WangJi pursed his lips, refusing to speak a single word. Wei WuXian finally sat up straight again and continued, his voice unhurried, “Tell me. Have you burnt any paper money for me?”
There was no answer. Wei WuXian laughed out loud and inched toward him. Over the clothing, he kissed where his heart was, “If you don’t talk, I’m not gonna give you any more. Tell me. How did you know it was me?”
Lan WangJi closed his eyes. His lips quivered, as though he was on the verge of confessing.
Suddenly, however, as Wei WuXian stared at those soft, pale-red lips, he didn’t know what had taken over him, but he suddenly went and kissed them.
After the kiss, he even licked them, as though a kiss wasn’t enough.
Both of them widened their eyes.
A moment later, Lan WangJi raised his hand. At once, Wei WuXian was startled into realization. He immediately broke into a cold sweat, fearing that Lan WangJi would smack him dead on the spot, and quickly scrambled off the bed. Turning around, he saw Lan WangJi smack his own forehead. He now lay unconscious, collapsed on the bed.
Inside of the private room, Lan WangJi lay on the bed as Wei WuXian sat on the ground. A cold gust of wind rushed inside through the opened windows, sending chills down Wei WuXian’s back. His head finally felt clearer.
He stood up from the ground, pushed the table to where it used to be, then sat down beside it.
After spacing out for a while, he used his teeth to bite at the knots on the forehead ribbon. With effort, he finally managed to open the stack of lumps.
Now that his hands had been loosened, to get over the shock, he went to pour himself a cup of liquor. He held the cup to his lips for a few moments, but not a single drop entered his mouth. Looking down, he finally saw that there wasn’t any liquor in the cup at all. He had already downed the entire pot. Even when he was pouring, he failed to notice that nothing was being poured out.
Wei WuXian put the empty cup back onto the table, No more alcohol for me. I’ve really had enough.
As he turned around, past the wooden screen, he could see Lan WangJi, who lay quietly on the bed. He thought to himself, … I really had too much to drink today. Lan Zhan is such a serious person. Even though he was drunk, even though he wouldn’t remember anything when he sobers up, I still shouldn’t have done something so outrageous… It’s too disrespectful to him.
Remembering what an “outrageous” thing did he just do to Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian couldn’t help but touched his lips.
He only managed to flatten the forehead ribbon again after a while of work. Walking to the bed, he put it beside the pillow, and succeeded in holding himself back from even looking at Lan WangJi. He squatted down and took off Lan WangJi’s boots, then placed him in the official sleeping position of the Lan Sect.
After everything had been done, leaning against the bed, Wei WuXian took a seat on the ground again. His mind was in a jumbled state of confusion, but one thought stood out from the rest—
In the future, it was best to not make Lan Zhan drink anymore. If he treated everyone like this when he became drunk, then the situation really wouldn’t be well.
Face: This, again, refers to the Chinese concept of face. It pretty much means that he’d have too bad of a reputation to ever dare show his face to other people again.
Long bed: The long bed, in this case, is similar to a slender daybed couch, but it’s made of wood and there’s no matting.
The dip of a dragonfly: This is a common proverb in China that describes light, dainty kisses.