When We Were Young || A WangXian Fanfiction

Age 9 (cont.)

Wei Ying stared at me. And stared at me. And stared at me even longer. I was starting to get uncomfortable. Am I really that good looking? I thought to myself.

Finally, wanting to break the awkward silence, I mumbled out, "Sorry. I understand if you do not want to talk." Wei Ying kept looking at me, before finally bursting out into a fit of laughter.

He laughed so hard that he started having a coughing fit. I was really confused by him. Why are people so hard to decode? Finally, he stood himself upright, inhaled deeply, and looked at me, the playful aura in his eyes beginning to fade away.

"Sorry about that. But you're really funny," he said, the corners of his mouth starting to fold upwards again. "Like...Really funny." I cocked my head to the right.

"I believe I am the opposite of funny," I said. Wei Ying flashed his beautiful, warm smile at me.

'I'm not mad at you. I don't get mad at people easily," he said, pausing momentarily before continuing. "Well, I was frustrated that day. And a little bit mad," he huffed. "But that was legit 2 years ago. Oh my god Lan Zhan, did you really think I was mad at you for 2 years?!" he cried. I swallowed.

After some thoughtful thinking on how I should answer that, I finally said, "There was no reason for me to believe otherwise." This was the last straw for Wei Ying, because he leaned his entire body back and doubled over in laughter.

"Oh my god. You're so dense," Wei Ying cackled. "Imagine being able to be mad at someone for two years over something like that. HAH! Oh gosh, you're so funny. Besides, it's not like we lost that day," he snorted. Then, he peered at me, curiosity dancing in his eyes.

"Wait, why did you think I was mad?" he asked. "I'm genuinely curious." I paused.

"After that event, you never talked to me-" "I NEVER EVEN MET YOU AFTER THAT EVENT!" Wei Ying interrupted. "OH MY GOSH. We didn't even have an opportunity to meet! Of course I didn't talk to you!" I shuffled around uncomfortably, and tried again. 

"But...when you first arrived at Cloud Recesses...I could tell you were displeased when you saw me." Wei Ying nodded.

"That's true. I was grumpy when I first arrived. We were on boat, on foot, for hours straight. And without sunflower seeds! Of course I was grumpy!" His somewhat serious expression faded into a smirk. "Oh Lan Zhan, did you think I was only grumpy at you? I was grump towards everyone that day." 

I shuffled my feet around. "How would I know?" I mumbled, feeling stupid. Stupidity was something that I rarely felt, but at that moment, I wanted to crawl away. Was it really my fault for believing what I saw? Does he expect me to know every little detail about him?

Almost as if he had read my mind, Wei Ying chuckled and patted my shoulder.

"It's fine, Lan Zhan. Don't stress about it. I know you're pretty slow at understanding people," he reassured. I really didn't want to keep talking about past events, so I regained my composure and cleared my throat.

"We're here for educational purposes, not for small talk," I said. "Sit down." I sat down on a small bench and indicated at the one next to me.

Wei Ying's face immediately changed, as if he had eaten a piece of sour candy.

"Seriously? I expected more from you," he said disapprovingly. "I had hoped you learned how to be more...outgoing. Or at least learned how to break some rules." He clicked his teeth together, shaking his head.

"I know what happened to you, Lan Zhan. You've been brainwashed."

I was focusing on finding the material from what we went over in class, but when he said the word "brainwashed," I jerked my head up in confusion.

"Brainwashed?" I asked, in an exasperated tone. Wei Ying nodded, his face solemn and sympathetic.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry, Lan Zhan. You've been brainwashed by the people of the Gusu Lan Sect." he said, almost as if he...felt bad for me.

"I am a member of the Gusu Lan Sect." I pointed out. "How can I be brainwashed?"

Wei Ying clapped his hands together and cleared his throat, almost as if he was a verified professor on this topic.

"You've been brainwashed to follow their beliefs," he said snootily.

"Of course I have learned to follow the beliefs of the Gusu Lan Sect...I am a member of the Gusu Lan Sect. It would be improper to do otherwise." I said, not understanding where this was going. Wei Ying nodded in agreement.

"Of course. But you need to have some PERSONALITY you know? Not just study study study, compete compete compete, meditate meditate meditate. You need to experience the outer world. You need to eat spicy food. You need to cartwheel outside. You need to run and scream and-"

"We need to study," I interrupted, opening up my copy of the book. "Sit down. Page 114." Wei Ying's sunshine face immediately turned into a storm cloud. He let out a "humph" and sat down beside me.

As I reviewed with him, he fiddled around with my brushes. Suddenly, he leaned forward and moved his face closer to mine.

I was shocked.

He stared at me for a while, his nose almost touching mine, before he moved back and started fiddling with my brushes again.

"I just wanted to see how long your eyelashes were," he said. "They looked really long. And pretty. Just like mine," he winked. My heart was thumping furiously. 

"Wei Ying!" I hissed at him. Wei Ying gave me a playful smirk. "Yes?" I sighed. It was so difficult to get mad at him. 

"Just do your work," I sighed.

~

Somehow, we managed to get everything done. 

The Yunmeng trio was preparing for their leave. Before they left, I walked up to Wei Ying.

"Will you be back?" I asked. Wei Ying shook his head. "I hope not," he commented. "Too many rules. No spicy food. It's horrible." I lowered my head. I didn't see why he disliked it here so much. 

He seemed to notice something, and tilted his head. "You're not horrible. It's just, I don't like all the rules. That's it." Just then, Jiang Cheng's voice pierced through the air.

"WEI YING! Hurry up!" he yelled. Wei Ying immediately whirled around. 

"Whoops! Gotta go Lan Zhan! See you around sometime!" he shouted, waving back at me while he ran. 

I don't know why, but a part of me felt empty. As if I had let go of something valuable. Again.