Chapter 44 Attraction—Part Two

The chicken wing Lan JingYi was holding fell into his bowl, splashing sauce onto the front of his clothes.

One thought filled Wei WuXian’s mind—once Lan WangJi regained consciousness, he would never have  the face  to see anyone else again.

Jin Ling was confused, “… What is he doing?”

Wei WuXian, “Showing you the special way to use the Lan Sect’s forehead ribbon.”

Lan SiZhui, “A special way…”

Wei WuXian, “When you find a really strange corpse and you feel the need to bring it back for a proper examination, you can take off your forehead ribbon and bring it back like this.”

Lan JingYi exclaimed, “But you can’t do that! Our sect’s forehead ribbon is…”

Lan SiZhui put the chicken wing back into his mouth, “Oh, I see! I didn’t know it could be used like that!”

Ignoring the strange looks everyone else was giving him, Lan WangJi dragged Wei WuXian up the stairs.

He entered the room, turned around, closed the door, locked it, and finally pushed the table away as if to block an imaginary enemy. Seeing Lan WangJi rushing over, Wei WuXian asked, “Are you going to kill me here?”

Inside the private room, a wooden partition divided the room into two sections. One section contained a table and several chairs for eating and chatting, while the other contained  a long bed  and curtains for resting. After Lan WangJi dragged him to the other side of the partition, he forcefully pushed Wei WuXian onto the bed.

Wei WuXian’s head gently hit the wooden headboard attached to the bed. He exclaimed, “Ouch,” thinking,  Is he going to make me sleep again? It’s not even nine o’clock yet, is it?

Hearing the call, Lan WangJi lifted the hem of his white robe and sat gracefully on the bed, reaching out to feel Wei WuXian’s head. Although expressionless, his movements were very gentle, as if asking, “Does it hurt?”

As his hands groped, Wei WuXian’s lips twitched, “It hurts! It hurts so much!”

From the screams of pain, Lan WangJi’s expression finally showed a hint of worry. His hands grew softer as he patted Wei WuXian’s shoulders as if comforting him. Wei WuXian lifted his wrist for him to see, “Why won’t you let go of me? HanGuang-Jun, it’s so tight my hand is almost bleeding. It hurts so much! Untie the ribbon and let me go, okay? Okay?”

Lan WangJi immediately covered his mouth.

Wei WuXian, “How can we get out of here and get out of here, how can we get out of here?” he shouted.

So you pretend not to understand things you don’t want to, and if you really can’t pretend, you won’t let me say it?!

So rude!

Wei WuXian thought to himself,  Now that things have come to this, don’t blame me anymore.

Lan Wangji covered Wei Wuxian’s mouth tightly with one hand. Beneath him, Wei Wuxian parted his lips and quickly swiped the tip of his tongue across Lan Wangjian’s palm.

It was just  a dragonfly swooping down  , but Lan WangJi felt as if his palm had been burned. He immediately withdrew his hand.

Wei WuXian took a deep breath. Just as he thought he had surpassed Lan WangJi again, he saw him turn around. Sitting on the bed, Lan WangJi hugged his knees and held Wei WuXian’s hand that had just been licking his chest, without moving an inch.

Wei WuXian, “What is this? What are you doing?”

She looked as if she had given up on life, having been defiled by a pervert and such. Anyone who saw the scene might actually think that Wei WuXian had done something to her.

Wei WuXian commented on her defeated expression, “You don’t like it? Well, it’s not my fault you don’t like it. You’re the one who’s too pushy and won’t even let me talk. Why don’t you just come over here, and I’ll clean it up for you?”

He reached for Lan WangJi’s shoulders with his bound hands, but Lan WangJi shied away. Seeing how peacefully he curled up in the corner of the bed, Wei WuXian felt that familiar, mischievous desire again.

Kneeling on the bed, he moved towards Lan WangJi and smiled in the most evil tone he could muster, “Are you afraid?”

Lan Wangji immediately jumped out of bed. As if truly frightened, he continued to stand with his back to her and kept a distance between them.

Wei WuXian finally started to enjoy himself.

He grinned as he quietly left the bed, “Hey, what are you hiding? My hands are still tied, and I’m not even scared, so why are you scared? Come on, come on. Come here.”

He approached Lan WangJi, with no good intentions whatsoever. Lan WangJi passed through the wooden partition, then crashed into the table he was using to block the door. Wei WuXian walked through the partition, chasing after him, while Wei WuXian walked in the opposite direction. The two of them circled around the partition a few times, and Wei WuXian was just starting to enjoy himself when he suddenly realized,  What am I doing? Playing hide-and-seek? What the hell? Am I crazy? Lan Zhan is drunk, but why am I playing with him too?

Realizing that the person chasing him had stopped, Lan WangJi stopped as well.

Hiding behind the screen, she only revealed half of her fair-skinned face, peeking furtively at Wei WuXian.

Wei WuXian watched him carefully. He still looked so neat and proper, as if the six-year-old chasing Wei WuXian on the screen was someone else.

Wei WuXian, “Do you want to continue?”

Expressionless, Lan WangJi nodded.

Wei WuXian tried to hold back his laughter.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah oh my gosh Lan Zhan wants to play hide and seek with him now that he’s drunk hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

The laughter he was trying to hold back was even louder than the waves. Finally managing to hold it in, Wei WuXian’s entire body shivered.  A sect like the GusuLan Sect forbade noise, playfulness, and even fast walking. Lan Zhan had clearly never been this happy when he was younger. Tsk tsk tsk, poor him. He won’t remember anything after waking up anyway. I might as well keep playing with him.

He ran a few more steps toward Lan WangJi, pretending to chase after him. As expected, Lan WangJi ran the other way. As if playing with a toddler, Wei WuXian tried his best to cooperate, chasing him around the screen a few more times, “Run, run. Faster. I’ll catch you! If I catch you, I’ll lick you again. Afraid, huh?”

He had intended to threaten her at first, but Lan Wangji suddenly walked towards him from behind the screen, and the two collided.

Wei WuXian had planned to catch him, but he hadn’t expected to fall straight into his arms. Shocked speechless, he even forgot to reach out. Seeing Wei WuXian doing nothing, Lan WangJi raised his bound hands and hooked them around Wei WuXian’s neck as if he had intentionally fallen into an unbreakable trap. “You caught me.”

Wei WuXian, “…Huh? Yeah, I caught you.”

As if waiting for something to happen, but it never did, Lan WangJi repeated those three words again. This time, he enunciated each word with strong emphasis and sounded anxious, “You caught me.”

Wei WuXian, “Yes. I caught you.”

He caught it. What else?

What did he say? What will he do after catching her?

… NO.

Wei WuXian, “This time doesn’t count. You were the one who got hit.”

Even before he finished speaking, Lan WangJi’s expression darkened. He looked extremely displeased.

Wei WuXian,  this can’t be. After Lan Zhan got drunk, he not only liked playing hide-and-seek, but also liked being licked?

He wanted to remove his arms from Lan WangJi’s neck, but Lan WangJi grabbed them before he could. He held them tightly around Wei WuXian’s neck, preventing him from letting go. Seeing that one of Lan WangJi’s hands happened to be pressed against his arm, Wei WuXian thought for a moment, then shifted, bringing his face closer. His lips brushed the back of Lan WangJi’s hand as if in a half-hearted kiss. The tip of his tongue gently stroked Lan WangJi’s jade-white skin.

Light. Very light.

Lan WangJi flinched and pulled his hand away as quickly as possible. He let go of Wei WuXian’s embrace, turned his back on Wei WuXian again, and darted to the side. Holding Wei WuXian’s hand that had been licked, he silently faced the wall.

Wei WuXian pondered,  Does she like him, or is she afraid? Or both?

As he was pondering, Lan WangJi turned around, his face as calm as ever, “Again.”

Wei WuXian, “More? What more?”

Lan WangJi hid behind the wooden screen once again and peeked at him with only half of his face visible.

His intentions were crystal clear—once again, you chase, I run.

After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian obeyed and did it again. This time, after a brief chase, Lan WangJi bumped into him again.

Wei WuXian, “You really did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

Once again, Lan WangJi wrapped Wei WuXian’s arms around his neck as if he didn’t understand the meaning of his words, waiting for him to fulfill his promise again.

Wei WuXian,  am I going to let Lan Zhan have all the fun alone? Of course not. Besides, he won’t remember anything I did to him now. Let me play something better with him.

Holding Lan WangJi in his arms, Wei WuXian returned to bed with him, then asked, “You like this, right? Don’t turn around. Speak up. Do you like it or not? If you do, we won’t have to run around all the time. How about I let you have as much fun as you like?”

As he spoke, he lifted one of Lan WangJi’s hands, bent down, and kissed between two of his slender fingers.

Lan WangJi wanted to pull his hand away again, but Wei WuXian held it tightly, not letting him do so.

Then, Wei WuXian’s lips pressed against her distinctive knuckles. Softer than a feather’s touch, his breath fanned across the back of her hand, and he kissed her again.

Lan Wangji couldn’t pull his hand away with all his strength. He could only clench his fingers tightly.

Wei WuXian lifted his sleeve, revealing his pale wrist, then kissed it as well.

After the kiss, he didn’t raise his head. He simply turned his gaze to Lan WangJi, “Is that enough?”

Lan WangJi pursed his lips, reluctant to say a word. Wei WuXian finally sat up straight again and continued, his voice calm, “Tell me. Have you burned the paper money for me?”

There was no answer. Wei WuXian burst out laughing and inched closer to her. Under her clothes, he kissed her heart. “If you don’t talk, I won’t give you anything else. Tell me. How did you know it was me?”

Lan WangJi closed his eyes. His lips trembled, as if he were about to confess.

However, suddenly, as Wei WuXian stared at those soft, pale red lips, he didn’t know what had come over him, but he suddenly leaned in and kissed them.

After kissing, he even licked it, as if kissing wasn’t enough.

Both of them widened their eyes.

A moment later, Lan WangJi raised his hand. Wei WuXian immediately came to his senses. He broke out in a cold sweat, afraid that Lan WangJi would beat him to death on the spot, and quickly got out of bed. Turning around, he saw Lan WangJi hitting his own forehead. He now lay unconscious, collapsed on the bed.

Inside the private room, Lan WangJi lay on the bed while Wei WuXian sat on the floor. A gust of cold wind blew in through the open window, sending shivers down Wei WuXian’s spine. His mind finally felt clearer.

He stood up from the ground, pushed the table back to its original place, then sat down beside it.

After a moment of thought, she bit the knots of her forehead ribbon with her teeth. With great difficulty, she finally managed to unravel the pile of lumps.

Once his hands were free, to overcome his shock, he went to pour himself a cup of liquor. He held the cup to his lips for a moment, but not a drop reached his mouth. Looking down, he finally realized there was no liquor in the cup at all. He had already finished the entire pitcher. Even as he poured, he hadn’t realized that nothing had spilled.

Wei WuXian placed the empty cup back on the table. “  I don’t drink alcohol anymore. I’m really sick of it.”

As he turned around, passing through the wooden partition, he could see Lan WangJi, lying quietly on the bed. He thought,  …I really drank too much today. Lan Zhan is such a serious person. Even if he’s drunk, even if he doesn’t remember anything after sobering up, I still shouldn’t have done such an outrageous thing… It was too disrespectful to him.

Remembering what “outrageous” thing he had just done to Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian couldn’t help but touch his lips.

He only managed to straighten his forehead ribbon again after a while of work. Walking to the bed, he placed it beside the pillow, and managed to restrain himself from looking at Lan WangJi. He crouched down and took off Lan WangJi’s boots, then placed him in the official sleeping position of the Lan Sect.

After everything was done, Wei WuXian leaned back against the bed and sat back down on the floor. His thoughts were a mess, but one thought stood out above the rest—

In the future, Lan Zhan should stop drinking. If he treated everyone like this when he was drunk, things would definitely get ugly.

Translator’s Notes

Face  : This, again, refers to the Chinese concept of face. It means that his reputation would be too bad to dare show his face to others again. 

Long bed  : A long bed, in this case, is similar to a long, slender sofa, but is made of wood and no wicker.

Dragonfly dip  : This is a common saying in China that describes a light and gentle kiss.