~What If~

Chapter 21

“I’m sorry Brother Nie!” Brother Wei yells out, as he runs, “I was just teasing you, it’s a joke!”

“If you were sorry, you would have kept your mouth shut!” I yell back, trying to catch hold of him as both of us run through the hallway.

“Okay! I give up,” He finally huffs out, as he places his hands on his knees and bends over in exhaustion. “I accept your punishment.” 

I slowly walk over to him out of breath, trapping his head using my arm in a chokehold. Before I mess his hair up with my other hand. 

“Hey!” He whines looking up at me, “That took me so long to style!”

I roll my eyes at him, “Should have thought of that before messing with me,” I ruffle it again before I release his head from my grip.

He stands up, pouting at me as he touches his hair. His red ribbon which held his hair up, had almost fallen off and, his hair was sticking out in many directions.

I stick my tongue out at him, laughing at his messy hair. “That’s much better,” I grin up at him in delight. 

He shakes his head, before smiling at me. “Okay, yeah. That was well deserved." 

He turns his attention to fixing his hair, as I look around at our surroundings. We had made our way out of the halls and were standing near the entrance of the main compound. 

The sky had finally started to gain a bit of its blue hue, and you could see the sun's rays make their way over the horizon. The sound of birds chirping could be heard in the distance, the day was just beginning.

I take a deep breath, the fresh air feels nice and cool. I see the others exit the hall, from the corner of my eyes.

“That’s the fastest I have ever seen him run.” I hear Da-ge mutter under his breath.

 I look over to see him watching me and Brother Wei in amusement. Wangji and the head disciple were walking a step behind him but came to a halt when he stopped walking. 

“I agree, Sect Leader,” The head disciple responds, bending over so Da-ge could hear him better. 

I let out a sigh as I roll my eyes. “I heard that!” 

Da-ge doesn’t respond as he corrects his expression, acting like he never said anything, 

“Heard what?” He asks me, shrugging his shoulders. “We aren’t in the main compound yet, keep walking.” He changes the subject as he walks past me and Brother Wei, not even glancing at us as he gestures for us to follow him.

I huff rolling my eyes. Da-ge could be so childish sometimes…

I freeze at the thought.

That….

It's been such a long time since I had felt that way about him. 

He had stopped being more carefree and open, especially after his Sect Leader duties started to get the best of him. Replacing my kind and supporting brother into a violent and always angry man.

I never thought I would see this side of him again, but here I was.

I look up in surprise at his walking back, before I feel a smile bloom on my face.  It was like having my old Brother back before he had the duties of being a sect leader burden him. When both of us could fool around and, laugh all day without a care in the world.

I start to walk with that thought in my mind, leaving a warm feeling in my chest.

I notice Brother Wei a few steps ahead of me, his hair was back into a ponytail his ribbon swaying as he walked.