A Lifetime Confidant (Completed)

Ch 3 : Don't Catch A Cold

"I think you missed the tempo quite a lot, YiZhan." SiZhui, the most reliable one on their team, pointed things that must be perfected one by one. The student that got his name called nodded, raised his flute and practiced again, reading the notations carefully. "Guqin players please listen to others carefully, don't be too focused on your own part."

The Yiling Music Competition was held for high school students all over the continent. They have to compose and arrange their performance alone. That's why Lan WangJi only sat and observed them from afar. He fully trusted SiZhui's ability to lead the group. After all, SiZhui was the best student of their year and all the other kids followed his commands willfully.

But then there was Jingyi, he interrupted between SiZhui's orders. "SiZhui! We've been practicing for 4 hours! I'm hungry!" He pulled his fingers from the harp's strings, making a dramatic gesture of curling his hand, "my fingers are all numb, I think they might fell off one by one."

They rented a studio near the hotel. Since the competition was only the day after, they had been catching up on their practices and hadn't been stopping since they started at 8 this morning. All the students looked parched and exhausted. SiZhui nodded and walked towards Lan WangJi, who sat across the room, reading a book and occasionally watching them or answering SiZhui's questions.

"Teacher, may we take a break? We've been practicing non stop since this morning."

Lan WangJi closed his book, setting it aside. "Mn," he uncrossed his legs, took a vinyl bag from his side and gave it to SiZhui, "eat this first and distribute properly to the others."

SiZhui's eyes opened wide. He couldn't believe his own eyes. The bag was full of sweets and snacks that weren't allowed at all in Cloud Recess. He took the bag carefully and looked at Lan WangJi nervously.

"Teacher, these are-"

Lan WangJi stood up. "I'll go get the lunch."

As Lan WangJi walked further, he could hear cheers emerged behind him, mixed with shouts of 'I want this' and 'That one is mine'. Opening the studio door, a small curve formed on the corner of his lips. Just a step outside the door, his phone rang. He stopped on the spot and took his phone anxiously.

[ Wei Ying ]
Incoming call...

He stared at the screen, more precisely, the name that appeared on his screen. Lan WangJi's mind fuzzed. Wei WuXian didn't contact him at all since they parted yesterday evening. He was too scared to text or call him first, afraid that his call or messages were unwanted. He didn't even know since when he became this kind of coward. His hand trembled a little as he slide the green button on his phone.

"Lan Zhan?"

Lan WangJi stood even straighter than he was before. If Wei WuXian could see how he looked at that moment, he surely would laugh at how serious Lan WangJi looked. But despite those furrowed brows, Lan WangJi was trying his best to keep his heart still.

"Mn."

"What took you so long to answer? I thought you were going to hang up on me! Hahaha, oh, are you busy?"

Lan WangJi shook his head, only then realized that Wei WuXian was not there to see it.

"I'm not."