Time Through Time We Remain Untamed.

Chapter 14 - APOLOGY

      The following days that ensued were full of chaos and an silent war cry was heard among the students. Stress levels were through the roof for the particularly not studious teenagers and very engaging for the studious ones. Any small issue could easily set them ablaze especially in the final exam period. The teachers had rushed to finish the syllabus and the students were in a mix trying to remember what they had learnt at the beginning of the year until then. It goes without say that this was not the best time to be having high-school drama or problems around you or else it would be a disastrous time for you but that was what Wei Wuxian was going through. He was crashing against l waves of papers and personal issues to a point he felt like drowning.

         True to his uncle's words, Wuxian was whipped 50 strokes on his bum and thighs as punishment and he was denied access to any electronic device in the house until the year ended. He was also not allowed to leave the house on the weekends and he couldn't arrive home later than 5 pm. As if that wasn't enough, he still had the lingering pressure to pass his exams and also his after school club revocation. It definitely wasn't the easiest of times. But that wasn't the worst of it. Honestly, Wei Wuxian could take all of this, it didn't bother him that much since he was at fault anyways. It was his burden to bare. The thing that did bother him though was the fact that he and Lan Zhan couldn't be more distant than the sky and earth. He had totally messed up their early friendship.

       Wuxian had decided to leave Lan Zhan alone, give him some space for a while to get over everything and then try to slowly come back in but that was not the case. Lan Zhan had completely shut him off, if he had thought that he was stone before, he had definitely become more than that. Lan Zhan was the epitome of distant. He was now a jarring, knife cutting mountain that was locked off in heavy chains in an unknown island all by himself. Wuxian didn't know what Lan Zhan had been told or forbidden by his monstrous father but whatever he had been instructed, Lan Zhan was keeping to it. He totally ignored Wei Wuxian at all costs. No interaction, no hint that they had ever interacted in the first place, no signs of wanting to get back at him. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. It was as if Wei Wuxian didn't even exist to Lan Zhan at all and that....... that irked Wuxian. It irked him soooo much that he kept thinking about it even in the dead of night.

Wuxian couldn't believe that Lan Zhan could behave like that. It goes to show that he didn't know Lan Zhan at all and there were many doors he would have to go through before he truly understood him. But that was besides the point. Wei Wuxian had wanted to earnestly apologise to Lan Zhan for the trouble he had caused him. The scene of Lan Zhan with his father kept replaying in his head over and over and with each time, Wuxian felt an immense pang of guilt and sadness for Lan Zhan. He absolutely regretted picking a fight with him and wanted to show him that he wasn't such a guy and hadn't intended to go that far. It was all he could think about during the exam period and his feeling grew immeasurably especially when he had noticed Lan Zhan's bandaged fingers a few days later.

              It was clear to see that Lan Zhan had been given a beating as well on each of his fingers most probably by his father and the guy must have been drunk or plain ruthless as he had struck each hand as hard as possible to the point that they needed to be bandaged so that Lan Zhan could use them during the exams. It was a painful sight to see and Wuxian felt his heart bleed for him. He was truly sorry but he couldn't convey it. Lan Zhan wanted nothing to do with him and Wei Wuxian for once wasn't particularly interested in trying to push those boundaries this soon.

      Finals week finally came to an end and there was jubilee in the air as students could finally relax and enjoy the Christmas holidays. The school resumed its usual noisiness it had as they held individual class closing parties, cleared up their classes and lockerooms for the next year and just had a good time for the last day of school that year. The outside was littered with snow which had arrived a bit later than usual but it gladdened the students and was taken as a sign that the holidays had truly started. Wuxian finished up cleaning the class and packed up his stuff and made way to go home. He met up with Jin Guangyao and the rest outside in the parking lot, discussing about whether to go to some convinience stores or game cafes nearby.