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After a long day of battling with several demons once more, the pilgrims finally decided to make camp and settle down once it was getting dark.
The stars glittered above them like tiny diamonds as they sat in a circle around a campfire roaring with flames and dug into their respective bowl of noodles that Wujing and Bajie made. It was shaping up to be another peaceful night for them, merely exchanging stories of their pasts or talking about what tomorrow could hold for them.
That is until Bajie decides to stir the pot. He rubs his hands together ruefully, “alright you guys, and master, how about we make this a little more interesting?”
His eyes narrow as he smirks, he makes eye contact with each curious pilgrim and then he says “how about we exchange who was our first kiss? And how did it feel?”
Wujing chuckles “for a moment it sounded way more serious Bajie! Let’s see my first kiss…”
Ao Lie raises a sleeved arm up “ooh! Ooh me first!! My first kiss was when I was a bit younger! I was having a playdate with the daughter of a neighboring kingdom close to ours! We were simply curious about kissing as we had seen our parents do it a couple of times and what not, so we tried it! It was nothing more than a chaste peck so I didn’t think much of it ya know?”
Bajie laughs “cute story but nothing too serious brother!”
He shrugs, “my second kiss was a little more memorable! He was more…experienced than I was!” He says as he bashfully scratches the back of his head with a faint blush.
Wujing hums in thought, “I’d like to think mine was pretty memorable. Before I became, ya know, a sea ogre I used to be a mere mortal! Quite handsome if I do say so myself, and I remember having an interest in this really beautiful woman called Linjin!”
Bajie was certainly more interested now, “don’t be shy, describe what she looked like brother!”
Wujing huffs “well she had long, black hair as dark as the night sky! Her eyes were like sapphire and she had full red lips!” He blushes, “once I got to kiss her, I was instantly hooked! Her lips were just as plush and soft as I thought they would be and I felt an instant thrill go up my spine! It was just like those romance stories!” He says passionately as he pumps his fist. A small tear ran down his cheek as Bajie shouts “she sounds like a wonderful lady!”
“Oh she was! Unfortunately it couldn’t work between us! I’m still happy however that I got a special moment to cherish!” He says with a happy twinkle in his eye.
Wukong smirks “bet ya can’t top that Bajie! What a moving story!” He says as he puts his arms behind his head.
Bajie rolls his eyes “hey mine’s just as good! It was with the daughter of the Gao family! At our wedding of course, we kissed with passion! It felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest! Everything was perfect- the food, the music, my bride and the food!”
“Of course you mention food twice brother!” Wukong chortles.
Tripitaka sadly smiles at Bajie, who angrily yells at Wukong to be silent.
The monk knew his fellow pilgrims were involved with other people or demons way before they set on this journey, but that still doesn’t mean that ugly feeling of being left in the dark doesn’t just go away. Because he is a Monk he can’t engage in earthly connections in a romantic manner. Sure he started having connections with the pilgrims, seeing them as new friends and surprisingly enough growing close to the first disciple that he came across, Sun Wukong.
The monkey, at first, was chaotic to put it lightly. Always choosing the most violent option first if he felt threatened or cheated, no matter the cost. Not caring about the Monk and only saving him so he could be done with the journey and not return to the mountain. Tripitaka knew this as Wukong was not shy about letting him know, but then somehow against all odds…they grew closer to one another.
Perhaps too close in fact. Late night talks in their shared tent, scratching Wukong behind the ears where the circlet would get in the way, jokes and banter that made Tripitaka laugh so hard he snorts and all those times the monkey rescues him felt less about merely needing to protect him and more about wanting to protect him. It all culminated in a very confusing situation for Tripitaka!
All he ever cared about was becoming a great monk, one of the best even! However he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel something more stronger with Wukong. Felt more than a strong friendship…
He blushes and shakes his head as Wukong laughs “I’ve had my fair share of kisses as well Bajie!”
“It’s about who was your first Wukong!”
“Eh, the first kiss wasn’t anything really special! It was one of my monkey subjects. Heck, I actually had a whole group of monkey’s, both guys and girls, that I actually liked kissing! It was so hard to just choose one to date so I just ended up sort of kissing them and trying to rank them.” He puts his arms behind his head in thought, “I eventually moved on however. Since I was training with master Subodhi, me and the other students got pretty close!”
Bajie oinks, “you even kissed them as well?”
“Sure did! I ended up mixing up the rankings since some of the students kissed better than my monkeys but others were worse.”
Tripitaka coughs in surprise as he stares at the monkey at his side, “y-you did?” He tried hard to hide the pang of jealousy, hoping it wasn’t evident on his face that he was jealous.
He knew Sun Wukong was handsome but to that extent?
Unfortunately, Wukong notices. The furrowed brow, the way his voice seemed to pitch up and the way he looked away from him were all very telling. Wukong smirks, enjoying his master's jealousy and he huffs, “yup! Didn’t just stop at the subjects in my kingdom, I even decided to kiss an old friend of mine in the brotherhood. Remember Macaque?”
Ao Lie hums, “you two were involved?”
“Eh we only kissed one time though. We trusted each other and he never had his first kiss and he told me he wanted to try it. We were both dumb and curious so we took a shot. Nothing came from it and we decided to just stay friends and we never brought it up again. Kind of the same thing with Azure Lion, we just stayed as friends although we did experiment more with kissing a few more times.”
Wukong glances over at Tripitaka once more. He felt giddy upon seeing the others' expressions of annoyance! Who knew his master had it in him to be jealous?
Tripitaka clears his throat, slightly narrowing his eyes at his monkey, “alright that’s enough Wukong we understand.”
Wujing laughs “we were only supposed to talk about our first kiss brother! You went on a whole tangent!”
Wukong stuck his tongue out teasingly “hey I can’t just stop at my first kiss! Had to show you guys just how irresistible many folks find me! Well at least more irresistible than Bajie!” He says, his sentence ending with a full on cackle as he holds his stomach. The other pilgrims, minus Bajie and Tripitaka, laugh as well.
The monk looks down at his lap, feeling guilt at the swell of jealousy and anger settling in his stomach. He never liked feeling this way, it is unbecoming of a monk! He can’t help it however, Sun Wukong has plenty of experience and more with kissing and romance it felt like a slap in the face. How can he compete with any of his previous lovers? It was a losing battle…
Sun Wukong’s laughter dies down as he looks at his master, realizing that he took his gloating too far and made him upset!
Wukong curls his tail around Tripitaka’s arm gently. The other flinches at the furry feeling but relaxes when he realizes that it was just the tail of Wukong.
The two make eye contact, the monkey slowly closing the small distance in the meanwhile between himself and his master. Once he got close enough, he gently placed his hand above the monk’s hands on his lap.
The monk looks at Wukong with his lips slightly parted in surprise. The monkey gulps before slightly tilting his head down, “excuse me master…please forgive me I didn’t mean to cause discomfort for you.” He says in a rush, the words leaving his mouth in one single breath as he’s still not quite used to apologizing even after years together.
Still, the fact he did so warmed Tripitaka’s heart. The monk softly smiles, pulls one hand out from underneath Wukong’s, and delicately caresses his fuzzy cheek. He was rewarded with his tail tightening around his arm and more purrs.
Ao Lie and Wujing smile at each other knowingly while Bajie rolls his eyes, “ugh you two are so mushy it’s actually sickening.” The pig demon groaned.
The monkey either didn’t hear or didn’t care to respond to that, as his head thumps onto Tripitaka’s shoulder. He sniffs his earthly scent and wraps his arm around his waist “does this mean you forgive me?”
“Well…I-“
“Tang Sanzang? Is that you?” The four demons stiffen up for a moment, as if preparing for any sudden attack. However they relax as their master’s eyes widen with recognition, “Zhenyuan?”
Sure enough in the pitch black of the night a familiar figure joins them at the light of the fire.
It was Zhenyuan, an old enemy turned friend. He wore robes similar to their master except his robes were a tad baggier, draping over his form in waves. His dark hair was up in a short bun and his face, while tired, still perks up in a smile as he sees the monk and his pilgrims after so long.
“Fancy seeing you here, Sanzang. I’m guessing you’re settling for the night?”
Tripitaka warmly smiles “yes. We’ve had quite the long day and a good night's sleep is something we’re all in need of.”
The monk tilts his head at the other two trailing behind Zhenyuan quietly “ah are these your disciples?”
He nods “yes we’re currently on an errand and it’s been a bit tiring as my temple is miles away.” He says with a chuckle.
“Ah well we shouldn’t stall you much longer then should we?”
“Ah it’s okay! I don’t mind old friend! In fact, would we be able to rest our feet here for a moment?”
The monk is more than happy to oblige and so the three new arrivals sit wherever available.
One such spot, much to Wukong’s chagrin, was on the other side of Tripitaka. Zhenyuan sighs in relief and looks at the monk with a friendly smile “thank you dear friend. You have a nice fire tonight.”
“Thank you! It’s thanks to my pilgrims of course.” He says as he gestures to the four demons. They all smile with pure happiness at the compliment.
The group fall into mindless chatter amongst themselves. A rather nice white noise for their master. Wukong doesn’t really talk much either, opting to merely rest his head once more on Tripitaka’s shoulder, slightly purring.
This does not go unnoticed by Zhenyuan who watched the admittedly cute display with raised brows. However, his attention is diverted by his friend “ah- Zhenyuan! Now that you’re here I have a question to ask you?”
“Ah- okay! What do you want to ask?”
Tripitaka gulps and with his delicate fingers, he starts to mess with the cloth pieces hanging by the side of face, “erm- I am curious about something regarding my past life! You mentioned that we were close friends, correct?”
After a nod he continues “I- oh this is embarrassing but I must know, have I ever…kissed anyone in my previous life?”
The other coughs in surprise at the forward question, his face going red and his posture which was relaxed now went rigid! He appeared to be almost like a statue!
Tripitaka was worried he offended him but then the other spoke up, albeit a little shaky “ahem! W-what uh- what brought this on?” He says.
Before he could respond, Bajie oinks and says “that reaction! Oh you know something!” He says gleefully “master did you kiss someone in a previous life? I didn’t know you had it in you!”
Wukong snarls at him “hey zip it piglet!”
“Don’t be mean brother!”
“Now, now let’s not be hasty.” Tripitaka says but turns back to his old friend “did I?” He asks in a confused manner.
Zhenyuan is flustered, rubbing the nape of his neck sheepishly as he gulps dryly “well I- yes you did-!” He said it so fast and so hushed that the others couldn’t hear what he said but Tripitaka does.
He gasps and covers his mouth with a hand in shock “I-I did?!” He shouts.
Ao Lie, Wujing and Bajie were also in a state of shock. Disbelief written all over their faces at the news. They had always assumed their master was pure!
“Master, we had no clue!” Wujing says.
“Wow! Tell us! Tell us! Who was the lucky guy or girl?” Ao Lie says with curious enthusiasm. Even the other disciples sitting beside him were piqued with curiosity.
As Tripitaka was still reeling with the new knowledge, Wukong was overwhelmed with emotion. Feelings of anger, shock and jealousy coursed through his veins at the information about his master. A small part of him knew he was being extremely hypocritical with his own past behavior but that didn’t quell the jealousy he felt.
Still he breathed in and out slowly, not wanting to cause a scene ‘calm down…it’s fine! Sure he kissed someone but that was in a previous life he doesn’t even remember! Whoever they are, they are probably dead by now! ’ That was enough to get him to cool down from his jealousy and he smirks.
Unfortunately for him, he was about to get a huge wake up call.
Zhenyuan seemed hesitant on spilling who it was but after more prompting from the others he says “it- it was me my… friend.”
…
“Woahhh!!” Bajie was the first to break the stunned silence “where did it happen?!?” He shouts.
Wukong is absolutely livid that he was the one who stole his master's first kiss. Okay so it wasn’t exactly his master but it was close enough! He grits his teeth and his tail starts to thrash angrily as the urge to hit something increases.
The monk and Zhenyuan notice the monkey’s sudden irritation. Tripitaka placed his hand on his shoulder, managing to snap him out of his violent haze “Wukong what is the matter?” He says in that hushed tone that always makes his head spin and heart beat faster.
He coughs, blushing a bit in embarrassment as he looks away from those honest brown eyes “ah- uh! It’s nothing, master!”
However the patriarch of earth's immortals can tell exactly what is happening with the immortal monkey. A small devious grin slowly spread onto his face as an equally devious plan formed inside his head.
Now he had no problems with Wukong or any of the other pilgrims, honestly! He knew their sworn brother bond started off a little rocky what with Wukong and the other demons stealing the ginseng fruits and eating them to gain even more immortality and destroying the ginseng tree after he wrongfully accuses Tang of stealing them himself, it all eventually worked out when Wukong sought the help of the goddess GuanYin to fix his tree.
So yes while he held no malice towards the monkey king, the chance to mess with him for messing with his tree way back when was much too good of an opportunity to pass! Besides… he did sort of have a soft spot for his friend but he accepted long ago that unfortunately the feelings are one sided and will never be returned. It was a bitter pill to swallow but he’s learned to accept.
And so with the plan formed in his head, Zhenyuan smiles at Tripitaka “well back to your question Zhu Bajie, it happened after a party in Ullambana. I still don’t know how it happened to be honest, one moment we were talking and the next… our lips made contact.” He says while his eyes closed shut as if reliving that memory.
Wukong was brimming with rage and crossed his arms against his chest so as to not mindlessly attack him “okay we get it we don’t need you painting a picture.” He says tersely.
Tripitaka would have scolded him for his tone if not for the fact his face has gone completely red! He knew it necessarily doesn’t count since it was the golden cicada who kissed Zhenyuan but technically it also did…?
This was too much for his brain to handle! He always thought he never had his first kiss taken and yet-
“Did you both enjoy it?” Bajie cuts in, enjoying the situation too much for Wukong’s liking.
“Hey can it!” Wukong says as he looked to be on the verge of straight up tackling him. However before he could do so a flirtatious chuckle from Zhenyuan makes him stop in his tracks “I’d say I did. You know for a first time he was beyond exceptional.~” he says
Tripitaka gasps as his old friend takes his hand and plants a kiss on top. His face practically seemed as red as a rose! Wukong growls and puts himself between them “hey! Leave my master alone!”
“Wukong wait-!”
“You know that wasn’t the only kiss we shared.”
Gasps from everyone erupted and Wujing asked “w-whaaaa?! Were you two-?” He can’t even finish his sentence as he looks at them flabbergasted.
If looks could kill, Zhenyuan would have been buried six feet underground “y-you’re lying!” He shouts angrily “my master is pure!”
Zhenyuan shakes his head “we were involved with one another, we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves! Why every chance we had, we ended up sharing so many kisses, I lost count! Every kiss was as magical as the next… we ended up breaking rules every time we saw one another! You were downright insatiable!” He says as faintly blushes. He was feeling a little more daring now, flashing Tripitaka a sly wink that made him look away with embarrassment.
“I’ve waited for you for five hundred years, you know? Just to see your beautiful face once more.”
Wukong glares at him again, baring his teeth at the man “pah! That’s a load of manure coming from you! Didn’t you try to kill our master twice before? You don’t actually love him!” The monkey shouts as he balls his fists up tight.
Ao Lie tilts his head at the aggressive side Wukong was displaying. Sure he has witnessed him being angry before, but this anger seemed more…jealous?
The dragon horse says, “by the gods, brother are you perhaps feeling jealous?”
The monkey king stiffens up ramrod straight “n-no way! What kind of a joke is that Ao Lie!?”
Ao Lie places his sleeved hands on his hips “that’s what it seems like to me! If you are, just be honest!” He says as he crosses his arms.
“I-I’m really not! I just think it’s, well, not okay for our master to be privy to something he did in his past life!” He cringes at how weak of an excuse that was.
Bajie rolls his eyes “brother you have no right to talk when not minutes ago you were bragging about how many kisses you have received!”
“You little-!” Bajie shouts as Wukong finally pounces on him, holding him in a headlock that makes him squeal in discomfort “Wukong stop that!” The monk shouts as he puts a hand to his forehead.
“You know, this actually does remind me of a promise you made to me in your past life my friend.” That sentence makes Wukong stop all movement and he lets go of Bajie to come to a stand. The way he spoke that sentence made all his fur stand on end, unliking how…happy he sounded.
“What promise?” Tripitaka dares ask, his eyes soft and wide. Wukong usually adored such an expression but at this moment he was enraged at how it was directed at Zhenyuan who smirks.
The robed man stands up, ready to deliver the final blow to Wukong.
He gently grasps Tripitaka’s hand once more and tugs him close, causing the others to fall silent at such a romantic gesture. He then wraps both of his arms around Tripitaka’s waist, gently placing his face against his shoulder and neck to snuggle against, akin to how Wukong would do.
The monk gasps as he feels the warm puffs of air against his fair skin and shivers as the man delivers a soft kiss to his neck “Z-Zhenyuan!?”
“Hey! Will you stop that!?” The monkey shouts at his wits end by now. If his so-called brother didn’t leave his master alone right at this moment he would do something drastic, damn him!
“Forgive me my friend…it’s just I recall you promising me that you would belong to me and only me in every life. Your previous reincarnation said so…and I’ve missed your kisses ever so much.” He whispered.
He leans in to kiss him on the cheek, making Tripitaka almost faint from the overwhelming emotion!
“I-I-I-!! T-this is-!” His brain feels as though it’s been melted; he can't think for the life of him! It got even worse as Zhenyuan leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
Wukong had enough of this. He can’t stand idly by as he blatantly tries to seduce his own master right in front of him! He very deliberately yet gently grabs Tripitaka by the shoulders and pulls him away from Zhenyuan’s grasp. Once doing so and ignoring his master’s flushed face he goes for a strike, uncaring of any consequences he’s bound to face.
Of course the other was prepared for this and swiftly dodges his attack with a smile and his eyes closed. This only serves to further anger Wukong who doubles down and goes for another hit, much to everyone else’s chagrin.
This time when Wukong tries to hit him, Zhenyuan decides to pull out a trick from his sleeve.
Quite literally using his sleeve, he manages to absorb Wukong in them similar to a vacuum cleaner sucking up dirt and dust. Tripitaka gasps as after a moment Zhenyuan throws him out of his sleeve effortlessly. The monkey wasn’t thrown roughly or far at all but he still staggered and was having trouble finding his balance.
Unfortunately Tripitaka was in his way and he stumbled hard on top of the unprepared monk. The first thing he could feel after the fall was the sensation of his lips connecting with something soft and plush. A muffled moan of shock travels through, prompting him to open his eyes to see his master's own orbs wide open.
It was then after a split second, he realized the thing his lips were connecting with was Tripitaka’s own pair of rosy lips. The monkey’s heart practically leapt out as he couldn’t help but want to slightly deepen the kiss. However as he is about to, the monk turns his head away, leaving Wukong feeling lightheaded and dazed as if he were drunk.
“Ah! Wukong!” He shouts, covering his mouth with both hands “your fang! It cut me!” He shouted. Wukong blinks twice and focuses on the small red drop of blood seeping from Tripitaka’s wound. It was just as pretty as the rest of him…
“Mmph-! M-monkey control yourself!” The monk shouts as his disciple launches himself once more at him, licking his wound with gusto.
“Forgive me master…” is all Wukong could say “I-I didn’t mean to hurt you.” It was like he was floating above the clouds. Kissing his master was like a battery to him, he felt as though he could take the celestial armies once more with nothing but his bare hands and a fleeting kiss from his master. The sensation is more pleasant than eating any amount of immortal peaches.
Suddenly he stands up, turning to Zhenyuan who watched the entire fiasco unfold with an amused smile “I took his first kiss in this life.” Is all he says.
Zhenyuan chuckles “so you did. I’m quite shocked you haven’t done it sooner, monkey.”
He then watches as the monk stands up, still holding his somewhat bleeding lip and begins to scold Wukong. However the monkey king was far too giddy and ecstatic from the accidental smooch to even care about what his master was going on about. In fact, all he could focus on as his master raved on and on, was just how pretty his lips are and the urge to kiss him again arose.
Zhenyuan rolls his eyes as they bickered, quite amused still by how easy it actually was to get under Wukong’s skin. He never pegged the king to be so gullible either! The golden cicada, after all, never planned to reincarnate. Hence, that promise of being his in every reincarnation was a small fib.
However, he knew Wukong would be upset by that so a small price to pay to see those two finally share a peck (even if it was accidental.)
Mentally Wukong places Tripitaka’s accidental smooch at first place on his list of kisses. Now all he wonders is how would a real one be?