Chapter 96: Longing (Part Seven)
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Wei WuXian finally realized. All those promises of ‘I’ll only ask him a few questions; I won’t do anything else’ he made to himself before he made Lan WangJi drink were only self-deception.
That the most disciplined person would throw tantrums, hit people, mess about after he was drunk, meant that Lan WangJi’s drunken actions weren’t self-controlled. And, even though Wei WuXian knew this, he still took advantage of the easy manipulation, purposely provoking him and leading him to do what he wanted.
No matter how ascetic he was, Lan WangJi was an ordinary man, after all. Having been teased so rudely by him, how could he have kept his calm? Just the day before, Lan WangJi was humiliated by Jiang Cheng with such a matter, and right now he was still worried about his brother, yet Wei WuXian had to mess things up like this…
Lan WangJi didn’t say anything else after the ‘mn’, but Wei WuXian had already thought of a bunch of things on his own.
In the two lives he lived, he’d never learned how to write the word ‘shame’, but right now, he understood more than anyone. His lips were still stinging and swollen, while the stickiness at his abdomen and between his legs embarrassed him even more. He could slam his head against the wall right now.
This situation clearly verified the worst possibility. Lan WangJi was indeed very nice towards him, but… it probably wasn’t the kind of nice he hoped for.
Not wanting to make Lan WangJi feel awkward, Wei WuXian scrambled to put on his outer clothes and pants. As he dressed, he slapped one side of his forehead, speaking in a tone not much different from his usual one, “You’re awake. Well, I’m pretty much awake too.”
Lan WangJi turned around and looked at him. Wei WuXian didn’t dare take a guess at the emotions that were inside of his eyes. Arms trembling slightly, he grabbed his clothes and hurried to put them over his head. He watched as Lan WangJi reached out towards him, after a moment of silence, as though wanting to help him wipe away the fluid on his body.
Wei WuXian blurted, “No thanks!!!”
Lan WangJi’s hand paused in mid-air before being retracted.
Wei WuXian let out a sigh of relief, murmuring, “You don’t have to. I’ll do it on my own. You don’t have to touch me.”
Someone like Lan WangJi would likely feel that he ruined the other’s appearance after he did it with them. Wei WuXian definitely didn’t have the face to let Lan WangJi clean him. He fumbled for a piece of undergarment, wiped himself with it, and tossed it away, “Um, Lan Zhan, both of us probably drank too much tonight. My apologies.”
Lan WangJi didn’t say anything.
Wei WuXian only put on one boot before continuing, “But you don’t have to feel too apologetic either. Uh, it’s normal for men to be like this sometimes. Please…don’t take it too seriously.”
Lan WangJi looked at him quietly, “Normal?”
His voice sounded more than calm.
Wei WuXian didn’t dare respond. Lan WangJi asked again, “Do not take it too seriously?”
Originally, Wei WuXian thought that compared to having his feelings be found out and them become so awkward they couldn’t even be friends, he’d much rather have Lan WangJi feel that he was a cheap, flippant person instead. But right now, he began to regret saying those idiotic things without thinking about them first. He whispered, “… I’m sorry.”
Lan WangJi suddenly stood up. Wei WuXian began to panic. At this point, the owner of the inn suddenly ran upstairs, knocking on the room door, “Young Masters, Young Masters! Are you in bed?”
Lan WangJi averted his gaze. Wei WuXian hurried to put on his other boot, “No! I mean, yes, yes we are. Hold on, I’ll get up after I put on some clothes.”
Only after Wei WuXian dressed himself did Lan WangJi walk over and open the door. Wei WuXian, “What’s wrong?”
Standing in the hallway, the owner smiled apologetically, “I’m really sorry to disturb your sleep so late at night. Please don’t mind. But I have no choice, either. The guest sleeping below you said that water dripped into their room. I thought it might be from your room, so I came to check…” She looked inside the room and was immediately shocked, “W-W-W-What happened here?!”
Wei WuXian touched his chin, “I’m the one who should be sorry. My apologies, Ma’am. I drank too much tonight and wanted to take a bath. Things were going great so I slapped the tub a few times, and then it broke. I’m really sorry; I’ll pay for it.” Right after he said it, he remembered that he couldn’t possibly pay. On their trip, Lan WangJi was the one responsible all of their expenses. In the end, Lan WangJi was still the one who’d pay for all this.
Although the owner kept on saying ‘it’s fine’ and ‘don’t worry’, her face was extremely distressed. She walked inside, “Just how did the water leak down… There isn’t even a place to put my feet in this room…” She bent down, picked up a few sitting mats, and exclaimed again, “Why is there a hole here?!”
It was the one that Lan WangJi made using Bichen. Wei WuXian combed his hand through his somewhat messy hair. He could only repeat his apologies, “Yeah, that’s my fault as well. I played around with my sword, and…”
Before he could even finish, Lan WangJi had already picked up the money pouch on the ground and placed a piece of silver on the table. The owner’s expression softened quite a lot, but she still had to say a few words, hand at her chest, “Young Master, no offense, but how could you throw around something as dangerous as a sword? It’s not that big of a deal if you poke a hole through the mat and the floor, but what if you hurt someone?”
Wei WuXian, “Yes, yes. You’re right, Ma’am.”
The owner took the money, “Then this’ll be it for now. It’s so late already too. You can rest first. I’ll switch you two to a new room and deal with this one tomorrow morning.”
Wei WuXian, “Yes, please, thank you… Wait! Then, could we have two rooms please?”
The owner mused, “Why two rooms?”
Wei WuXian didn’t dare look at Lan WangJi. He lowered his voice, “… I go berserk whenever I drink. You saw, didn’t you? I throw things around and play with my sword. Wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, either.”
The owner, “Indeed!”
After she answered, she indeed switched them to two rooms before she walked downstairs, holding the hem of her dress. Wei WuXian expressed his gratitude and opened the door to his room. Turning around, he saw Lan WangJi standing in the hallway, holding Bichen in one hand and fiddling with his forehead ribbon in the other. He looked down and said nothing.
Wei WuXian wanted to hide inside his room as soon as possible, but after he looked, he couldn’t walk another step. With much thought, he finally spoke, careful yet sincere, “Lan Zhan, about tonight, I’m sorry.”
With a while of silence, Lan WangJi breathed, “You do not have to say this to me.”
After he put on his forehead ribbon properly, he became the disciplined HanGuang-Jun once more. He nodded, “Rest well. We will talk about the Guanyin Temple and going to Lanling tomorrow.”
With this, Wei WuXian felt a bit better. At least they had something to talk about tomorrow. He grinned, “Yeah, you too. Rest well. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”