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The sound of a horse’s galloping echoed down the paved road street, some people looking up from what they were doing to watch the yellow-haired youth race quickly and disappear around a bend.
A short while later, Huang Shaotian jumped off in front of a small estate, leading the horse by its reins. Two guards were stationed at the entrance, both of them looking at Huang Shaotian with a level gaze. “Who are you?” The shorter one asked.
“I’m here to visit your Young Master Yu,” Huang Shaotian tilted his head.
They exchanged a look, nodding before the other turned and entered the estate. The first guard stood in front of Huang Shaotian, blocking his way. “We will ask if he is currently taking visitors. Most people who have come by have been turned away.”
“Mm, well, he’ll probably let me in,” Huang Shaotian tapped his chin. “I’m not most people, you know.”
“Really?” The guard looked doubtful. “Who are you, anyway?”
“Are you new here?” Huang Shaotian didn’t directly answer him.
The other nodded.
“Oh, so that’s why. That doesn’t really matter though, the other guard probably does. I’ve seen him around before, you can ask later if he knows who I am. Here, take the reins and bring my horse to one of the empty stables. Give it some water and some food, I’ll probably stay in this town for a little bit.”
The guard instinctively agreed because of his commanding tone before realizing that he wasn’t to let the other in without permission. But by the time he came back to his senses, the man in front of him had disappeared.
In the estate, the guard who had entered beforehand knocked on the door to the building where Yu Wenzhou usually stayed in to study.
“Who is it?” Yu Wenzhou’s muffled voice sounded from within.
“Song Xiao,” the guard responded quickly.
“Oh, what is it?”
“Someone is here to visit you.”
Inside the room, Yu Wenzhou frowned. “Tell them I’m busy.”
“... But that person is Huang Shaotian.”
Yu Wenzhou’s hand paused, putting down the ink brush in his hand. “You can let him in.”
“Alright.”
Song Xiao turned away from the door, about to walk back to the entrance when he saw the other guard had come in at some point, holding the reins to a horse. When he spotted Song Xiao, he waved furiously, running toward him and pulling the horse along. “That- that person disappeared! He just gave me his horse and vanished! We have to inform everyone immediately-”
“It’s fine,” Song Xiao shook his head. “Young Master gave him his permission to enter.”
“What, really?”
“Mhm. You might not know since you’re new, but that’s Huang Shaotian. He and Young Master have been friends for a long time. The latter rarely turns him away.”
“Oh… wait, that Huang Shaotian? The famous young swordsman?” The two of them chatted as they led the horse to the stables.
“Is there another Huang Shaotian that you know of?”
“I guess not…”
Yu Wenzhou was finishing up copying a scripture when he heard the rustling of leaves outside. He strangely didn’t react at all, continuing to dab the brush in ink and write out the characters in neat calligraphy.
“What are you doing?” A familiar voice called out.
Without turning around, Yu Wenzhou responded with a “copying scriptures.” Since his back was turned, Huang Shaotian couldn’t see that the edges of his lips had curled upward.
“Oh?” Huang Shaotian stayed outside, putting his left arm against the large circular window and his right elbow on the back of his left hand, propping his cheek up with the palm of his right hand.
Yu Wenzhou was wearing his white inner robes today, his outer robes folded neatly next to the table. Huang Shaotian watched him write, waiting for him to finish before disturbing him. The two of them had been separated for some time, but the way they acted as if Huang Shaotian had only spent a few hours outside before coming back, their actions and words practiced and familiar.
His thoughts started to drift off when Yu Wenzhou set the brush down and turned his head around. “Shaotian, you can come in now.”
Huang Shaotian grinned as he vaulted over the window, tumbling into the room with a bare semblance of grace. “Heh, bet you weren’t expecting me today, were you?” Huang Shaotian looked over at Yu Wenzhou’s calligraphy before sitting down.
“I wasn’t,” Yu Wenzhou gave him a gentle smile, reaching out to brush the leaves out of his hair and to straighten his robes. “When did you come back?”
“Just today. I came straight here after we were released.”
“Really? You didn’t rest first? How do you have so much energy?”
“I wasn’t sleepy,” Huang Shaotian declared. “Besides, I’d always choose visiting you over sleeping any day.”
Yu Wenzhou shook his head, his hand rising to cup the side of Huang Shaotian’s cheek. “You have to take care of yourself,” Yu Wenzhou whispered.
“I will, I will,” Huang Shaotian grumbled as he pressed into Yu Wenzhou’s touch.
A few seconds later, Huang Shaotian shuffled over to Yu Wenzhou’s side, leaning over onto Yu Wenzhou’s lap and stretching his hand out to play with Yu Wenzhou’s hair. “Ugh, going out on missions with incompetent people is so annoying,” he complained. “They kept trying to correct me when their own techniques were wrong! They were trying to correct! Me! Do they not know who I am or something?”
Yu Wenzhou stroked his hair soothingly. “It’s okay, as long as you did your best. You don’t have to listen to people if you know they’re wrong.”
Huang Shaotian huffed. “Ok, you’re right. Let’s not talk about them anymore, just talking about them makes me angry. On the last day, Wei Chen let us go to the market.”
As he spoke, Huang Shaotian rummaged through his robes, pulling out a simple fan from one of them. The wood was smooth and lacquered, while the words formed some idiom in calligraphy that Huang Shaotian was too lazy to try to understand. He gave it to Yu Wenzhou, who snapped it open with curiosity. He then noticed the tassel that was attached to it, which had a blue gem bead strung above it.
“It’s very pretty, Shaotian,” Yu Wenzhou gently closed the fan, placing it onto his writing table. “Thank you.”
“Of course!” Huang Shaotian smiled. “I only bought it because that gemstone reminded me of you.”
Huang Shaotian’s bluntness was something that caught Yu Wenzhou off guard every time. Nevertheless, he easily accepted Huang Shaotian’s praise. The two of them chatted as the sun started to sink in the sky.
The swordsman had gone out on a mission with his master a few weeks ago, the two of them departing and leaving Yu Wenzhou in the town. Since Yu Wenzhou never had an inclination for arduous missions or sword fighting, he usually stayed in his estate and studied. It didn’t mean that he didn’t know how to use the sword at all; he had basic training and could spar against the beginners, but everyone knew that he wasn’t someone who liked to fight like Huang Shaotian.
They had become friends at a young age, when Huang Shaotian accidentally stumbled into him at a market. He had dragged Yu Wenzhou along to look at various stalls until someone called Yu Wenzhou back, the former promising to look for him again. After finding out where he lived, he would appear at the doors at least once a week. At first, he wanted to spar against Yu Wenzhou, but after finding out that the latter didn’t particularly like doing so, he opted to just have normal conversations with him.
“Are you staying for dinner?” Yu Wenzhou’s fingers were idly playing with strands of Huang Shaotian’s hair.
“Can I?”
“Of course, you’re always welcome to.”
“Mm,” Huang Shaotian closed his eyes. “I’ll stay then. Your food’s always good.”
“The cooks would be happy to hear that.”
Huang Shaotian laughed. “Food is also better when I’m with you. Well, anything is.”
Yu Wenzhou smiled, looking out of the window and seeing the sun reaching the tops of the trees in the distance. “Let’s go on a walk. Dinner should be ready soon.”
“Okay,” Huang Shaotian sat up, stretching.
“You can leave your sword here,” Yu Wenzhou nodded toward the ground. “It looks tiring to carry around all day.”
“It’s actually not too bad,” Huang Shaotian said as he lay the sword on the ground.
Yu Wenzhou’s gaze swept over the handle before standing up. “Let’s go.”
“Okay!” Huang Shaotian lifted his arms above his head as he walked toward the door.
“Oh,” Yu Wenzhou looked toward one of the bookshelves that was placed against a wall. “I forgot something. You can wait for me outside; I’ll be out in a second.”
“Mmkay,” Huang Shaotian evidently didn’t realize anything was wrong.
Yu Wenzhou quickly walked over to the shelf and took a small box off of it, before returning to the table where his scriptures were spread out. He knelt down beside Huang Shaotian’s sword, snapping the box open and pulling out a small piece of knotted string that had an amber drop attached to it. He quickly slid one end of the string through the end of the hilt before pulling the gemstone through the loop, securing it in place. Then, he placed the box at the edge of the desk, and left the room, walking to where Huang Shaotian was waiting for him outside. Huang Shaotian called to him as he left, their voices fading into the distance as they left.
The fan was placed on the desk, one-third of it hanging over the edge. The sword was almost directly under it, laying on the ground. The evening light shone through the window, causing the gems tied onto both items to sparkle. They were little gifts, but also a little something to remind the other that they’d always be by their side.