Lan Wang Ji had never felt that his life lacked for anything. The Lans had money, prestige, nobility, good manners, and a rigid moral code. But in the quiet hours, as Wang Ji studied his books under the careful eye of his older brother, Lan Xi Chen, in their family estate, he did not feel complete.
A wanderlust picked at his heart, although he would never say it aloud. But Xi Chen knew. He always did. And for once, Wang Ji was glad his brother could see into his heart more clearly than he was able to himself.
“Perhaps it is time you left for a while. Continued your studies elsewhere,” Xi Chen said as he looked out over the estate their uncle, Lan Qi Ren, called The Cloud Recesses. High in the mountains, it might as well have been built among the clouds. “Perhaps different scenery will help you focus for the state examination.
“I am focused.”
“Indeed. Perhaps you are too focused. You are lost in the words without meaning.”
“Uncle.”
“Will be fine. I have already talked with him about it. We have purchased you an apartment in the city in the best building in Yunmeng, Lotus Pier.”
“Unnecessary.”
“Take it as an early present from your older brother, I wish you success, Wang Ji.”
——
Moving in had been easy, if much more noisy than Wang Ji appreciated. The people of Yunmeng were nothing like the Gusu area Wang Ji had grown up in. Everything was too bright and too loud, too much of a contrast compared to Gusu with it’s plain clothes and quiet peace.
Wang Ji found himself fighting back a headache for the first three days, covering windows with heavy curtains to dampen light and sound.
But on the fourth day, when leaving to buy food, Wang Ji had a headache for a different reason.
A glimpse out of the corner of his eye, a mischievous smile, the curve of a pair of eyes…
Wang Ji nearly fell off his motorcycle. Thankfully he hadn’t started it yet.
Once he had righted himself, the moment had passed. But the sound of laughter echoing in Wang Ji’s ears caused a throb in the center of his forehead.
——
The stranger kept popping up in the strangest places.
In the middle of the lotus pond on the building property, picking pods and smelling the lotus blooms.
In town gulping down bottles of liquor to cheers and exasperated sighs.
And the sound of a flute, a tune Wang Ji knew in his heart, but his tongue could not describe.
If it was only in the world of the awake and aware, it would have been enough. But the more Wang Ji saw him, this mysterious stranger, the stronger the feeling of incompleteness in his chest, and the stranger the dreams he had.
Dreams of monsters and spirits, of swords that flew through the air, strings of a guquin under his fingertips as familiar as ever. And the stranger that haunted him haunted Wang Ji’s dreams as well. Infuriating, annoying, and yet… So endearing.
And every night, just as Wang Ji was about to say his name, he woke up.
——
Wang Ji shut himself away in his apartment, but it did no good. No matter how much soundproofing he ordered, no matter where he hid himself away, the sounds of the flute followed him.
Until at last, Wang Ji removed the guqin he’d stowed away in the back of his closet, closed his eyes, and played along to the flute. The flute stuttered to a stop, but Wang Ji pressed on and continued to play. After a few more moments of silence, the flute continued on. It felt as if time stood still during their duet, as if the world held it’s breath.
When at last the guqin strings had stilled and the last notes of the flute had faded away, there was a knock on Wang Ji’s door.
Wang Ji refused to acknowledge the rapid beating of his heart and focused instead of steadying his hands to open the door.
A surprised expression greeted him, but it was still those same eyes, filled with mischief.
Wang Ji knew those eyes. He knew them more than a thousand years ago, across life and death, across time, across miles and heartbeats.
“Wei Ying,” he breathed. And at last, the strange feelings in Wang Ji’s chest had eased. As if one name had unlocked it all.
“Lan Zhan.”
First fingertips, then palms, and then lips met and parted. But Lan Wang Ji and Wei Wu Xian did not.