MDZS//The Untamed Oneshots

BTHB 2

hello

****

I messed up. I messed up. I messed up.

Lan Xichen had never come this close to swearing.

A-Cheng. Wanyin, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry.

He paced around, trapped in a cage of his very own making, his thoughts crammed inside his head, scrambled up and stepping all over each other. Although his mind was a mess, there was one thing that was clear: all of his thoughts were screaming get to Wanyin at once. Hold him close, and never let him go.

Even if it breaks you.

He heard footsteps, frantic footsteps heading towards him, and for one delirious moment he thought that it was Wanyin, that his A-Cheng had come back to find him.

Instead of the purple robes he was hoping for, a flash of black and red was all he saw before his vision was filled with a face twisted with anger. Wei Wuxian was practically shaking as he glared at Lan Xichen. Gone was the kind and mischievous glint usually found in his eyes; instead, Lan Xichen was faced with a stone cold gaze, the pair of eyes staring at him with barely restrained anger.

He deserved it, he supposed.

With gritted teeth, Wei Ying spat out the words as if he didn't want to waste a single ounce of breath speaking to him, "What did you do to A-Cheng?"

Lan Xichen smiled. A sad smile. Filled with scorn for himself on how he had managed to mess up the most precious thing in his life. I couldn't protect the one thing I loved most. In fact, I orchestrated it's downfall. Words are as deadly a weapon as any...

Of course, he didn't say it on purpose. He just... wasn't thinking.

Lan Xichen scoffed at his pathetic attempt to convince himself that he was partially right. He watched Wei Wuxian run out of the room, knowing where he was going, wanting to follow, yet also knowing that by appearing, he would make everything worse.

****

"You can go."

Lan Xichen smiled, this smile full of encouragement and brightness. He was sitting across a man dressed in ragged clothing, the colour of the cloth long faded from continuous scrubbing. The man sat opposite him almost burst into tears at these words, eyes shining. Leaping up, he reached for Lan Xichen's hand, looked at his crisp, clean white robes, then back at the hands he couldn't remember last washing, and thought better of it. Instead, he bowed, over and over again, until Lan Xichen was sure that his back would break from bowing so many times.

"Th- thank you Sect Leader Lan! Your kindness and generosity will not be forgotten! Our family is indebted to you forever!" Bowing once more, the man hastily retreated out of the room.

Only then does Xichen turn around and glance towards the corner of the room, where a man clad in purple robes was sitting, face blank, yet rolls of disapproval radiating off him. Xichen could feel him shifting in the corner of the room when he was talking with the man, and sighed, anticipating what Jiang Cheng was going to say.

"You shouldn't have let him go."

Lan Xichen patted the seat next to him, inviting Jiang Cheng to sit down. Jiang Cheng slunk out of the shadows and settled beside Xichen, leaning on him slightly. When Xichen made to put his arms around Jiang Cheng, he shrugged his hand off, but still kept leaning on Xichen. And he was content with this for now.

Lan Xichen was curious as to why Jiang Cheng disagreed. In his eyes, he had done nothing wrong.

"Why?"