XiCheng Week 2019

Day 06 - Early Morning

The sun hadn't gone back to its throne when Lan Xichen's eyes began to flutter. For some reasons, he felt extremely hot while he couldn't feel his hands at all; also his head hurt really bad. Such discomfort forced Lan Xichen to open his eyes. However, the moment he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the back of someone's head. He quickly widened his eyes as sweat began to drench his face even more. It took him only a second to recognise the person who was lying in front of him. The bun and also the braids were something he always saw these past few months; not to mention the purple hair accessory on the top of the bun simply screamed the owner's name loud and clear to Lan Xichen.

Noticing that his arms were around Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen grew even more panic. How could he even end up in this position? Weren't they in that restaurant in Caiyi Town just a moment ago? He glanced around the room and quickly recognised his own hanshi . He tried to wreck his memory and remembered he drank something to ease the hotness of the spicy dish they ordered. Did he seriously get drunk? He remembered Lan Qiren punished him and Wangji years and years ago when he accidentally got drunk; considering how angry Lan Qiren was at that time, Lan Xichen thought that maybe his drunken self was a headache.

He then looked back at the back of Jiang Cheng's head. ' I need to properly thank him later when he woke up ,' Lan Xichen thought. Jiang Cheng being there was already an obvious sign that it was Jiang Cheng who took care of him when he passed out earlier. He was actually glad that Jiang Cheng didn't decide to just kill him and leave his corpse somewhere no one knew. He glanced down at himself and Jiang Cheng again and saw that the two of them were fully clothed. He let out a sigh of relief. ' At least it seems I didn't try anything weird on him .' But then he realised he was still hugging Jiang Cheng and quickly yet gently pulled back one of his hands. 'I need to get away fi—' His thought was cut short when he suddenly heard Jiang Cheng's low grunt. In fear of waking him up, Lan Xichen stopped his movement in an instant. Still watching Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen slowly picked up some words formed from those low, almost-inaudible grunting.

"A-Die, A-Niang..."

Lan Xichen widened his eyes, not daring to move one inch the moment those words escaped Jiang Cheng's mouth.

"...A-Jie..."

Lan Xichen knew for sure what happened to the three people Jiang Cheng called in his sleep just now. For a moment, Lan Xichen really didn't know what to do. Jiang Cheng had always been a strong figure in his eyes. Even during the last one year, Lan Xichen had depended on Jiang Cheng a lot even though Jiang Cheng always refused to take the credit. He admired the Sect Leader Jiang who shouldered everything by himself and fought to survive despite them all. He even tried his best to help and protect his nephew in his own way. However, this kind of moment where Jiang Cheng accidentally showcased his wounded heart, always managed to rob every word from Lan Xichen's mouth. He remembered the first time he saw Jiang Cheng cried was back in the Guanyin Temple. That time, however, he had no place nor right to get to Jiang Cheng's side and comforted him. The present, however, was not the past.

Lan Xichen gently placed one of his hands on Jiang Cheng's head and stroked him gently, as if he was trying to soothe away whatever nightmare was torturing Jiang Cheng. "Depend on me too, Wanyin," he said in his softest whisper, "you're not alone anymore." He continued stroking Jiang Cheng's head for a while before his movement was abruptly stopped by another murmur that Jiang Cheng said. The volume was really small, even smaller than the three other names preceding it. And if it wasn't for how quiet Lan Xichen's hanshi was, he would have definitely missed it. However, that fourth name Jiang Cheng murmured managed to fill Lan Xichen's mind and heart all at once. It was a name that everyone knew and said, yet it sounded so special coming out of Jiang Cheng's mouth.