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Mo Ran always liked spring.
Well… it’s Shizun’s favourite season so by extension he likes it too.
He has to admit though, Sisheng peak looks gorgeous with all the flowers in bloom.
Even though the sun has gone down already, the dim light from lanterns illuminates the haitang blossoms in various shades of pink. Most of the disciples have returned to their rooms, leaving the paths empty and serene.
“Mo Weiyu!”
He spins around, only to come face to face with the Sect Leader himself, Xue Ziming.
Mo Ran grins, a hint of cheekiness in the smile.
“Ah, Mengmeng, did you miss me that much?”
The Sect Leader scoffs. “You wish,” he snipes back, then looks around, frowning. “Where’s Shizun?”
Of course, Mo ran could just tell him that Chu Wanning had felt tired and returned to his room first, but for some reason, he just can’t give up the chance to tease little Xue Mengmeng.
“In his room, why?” He says casually, shrugging.
Xue Meng’s eyes narrow at him suspiciously.
“What did you do to him?”
Mo Ran is taken aback for a moment, then smirks mischievously and says, “what do you think I did?”
With that tone and smirk, anyone’s imagination would have run wild.
Xue Meng’s face flushes red, but it’s mainly from rage. With one fluid motion, he draws his sword and slashes at Mo Ran.
“Mo Weiyu!” He shouts, furious.
As the sword comes down again, Mo Ran ducks out of the way and draws his sword too.
Metal clangs against metal as the two of them fight, Mo Ran still smirking and at ease while Xue Meng is filled with outrage.
“Xue Mengmeng, why are you so mad? It’s not like we’re not together already…”
“Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth!”
Normally, Xue Meng would be somewhat evenly matched against Mo Ran, but in his rage, it’s not hard for Mo Ran to win against him.
But just as his sword is going straight towards Xue Meng, a golden retriever vine suddenly appears out of nowhere and knocks the sword out of Mo Ran’s hand.
“Shizun!” They both cry out at the same time, whirling around to see Chu Wanning stalking towards them, Tianwen in hand.
He glares at Mo Ran, who’s still standing in the same spot.
“Mo Weiyu! I leave you alone for one minute and you’re already beating up Xue Meng?”
“But Shizun, he started—“
Chu Wanning lifts Tianwen, and Mo Ran scampers backwards, fear in his eyes.
“But Shizun…” he whines, keeping his distance.
Chu Wanning outright ignores him and turns to Xue Meng.
“Are you alright?”
Xue Meng nods, brightening.
“Shizun! It’s so good to have you back, how are you?”
Heavens, he sounds like a little kid.
Before he can answer, Mo Ran has made his way back to Chu Wanning and tugs on his sleeve.
“Come on, Wanning. He hit me first. I swear!”
The next thing he knows, he’s being dragged back to the Red Lotus Pavilion by Chu Wanning.
“Shizun! What-“
He’s unceremoniously tossed into the room.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Mo Ran scowls. “It’s not my fault that he’s so easy to tease. Wanning, I swear, he threw the first blow!”
Chu Wanning scoffs and sits down on his bed. “Yeah, sure.”
Nobody says anything for a while, until Mo Ran slowly inches his way towards Chu Wanning. He pouts, trying to look as pitiful as possible.
“Shizun… why won’t you trust me? I feel so wronged… you even hit me without any reason… it hurts…”
He holds up the hand that got whipped by Tianwen, already so close to Chu Wanning he’s practically hugging his leg.
Chu Wanning rolls his eyes at Mo Ran’s antics. He quietly feels a little bad for hitting him, but it’s not like he didn’t deserve it at all.
“Maybe don’t go and irritate Xue Meng on purpose for no reason then. It’s your own issue.”
Mo Ran rests his chin on Chu Wanning’s knee and looks up at him with what he hopes are doe eyes. “Wanning~” he pouts.
To Chu Wanning, Mo Ran looks like a dog begging for food. Even still, he can deny it all he wants but his cold expression softens ever so slightly.
He sighs. “Get up here.”
Mo Ran wastes no time. He immediately climbs onto the bed next to Chu Wanning and leans into him. He grabs a stray lock of Wanning’s hair that had fallen to his shoulders and starts fiddling with it.
“What are you doing?” He tries to sound irritated but to no avail.
Mo Ran sighs contentedly, leaning his head on his beautiful Shizun’s chest.
“Wanning, I love you.”
He’s met with silence for what feels like forever, the only sound he can hear being the slow breathing from Chu Wanning and the steady beating of the heart next to his head.
“… Mn. Me too.”
A hand comes up to his ponytail, and fingers thread through the dark strands, slow and relaxed.
He basks in this for a while, enjoying the warmth.
“… Shizun?”
“Hmm?”
Mo Ran holds up the “injured” hand. It’s not very bad, only a thin, faintly red line runs across the back of his hand over his knuckles, the product of a certain willow branch.
“It hurts… Shizun, can you kiss it better?”
Sure, he sounds like a 5-year-old, but so what? Not like anyone is watching anyway.
“Stop acting like a little child,” Chu Wanning grumbles in response, but takes Mo Ran’s raised hand in his anyway.
He brushes his thumb over the raised flesh, then presses a soft kiss to his knuckles.
Mo Ran smiles happily.
“Shizun is so good to me.”
At those words, Chu Wanning chokes and tosses his hand back to him. He fixes Mo Ran with a glare.
“Don’t ever say weird cheesy stuff like that again.”
Mo Ran pauses for a moment, then breaks out laughing.
“Whatever you say, Wanning.”
He curls up next to (actually literally on top of) Chu Wanning, eyes fixed on the man looking down at him.
“Wanning, you’re so pretty.”
Chu Wanning’s ears steadily turn red and he looks away.
“Don’t spout nonsense.”
“What nonsense? Everything I say is true.” He sits up slightly, wraps his arms around Chu Wanning’s neck, pecks a kiss to his lips, and smiles brightly.
“You’re the most beautiful person in the entire world.”
“What did I say about cheesy stuff?”
“But it’s true!”
“Just go to sleep.”
“Will Shizun sleep with m— ow! Shizun! I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Go to sleep!”
“Ok, ok!”
Chu Wanning glowers at him. “Shameless,” he mutters under his breath.
Meanwhile, Mo Ran winces as he rubs the back of his neck. “Fine, I’ll go to sleep.”
He rests his head on Chu Wanning, and the both enjoy a rare moment of silence, just listening to each others’ breaths in the quiet night.
Suddenly, Mo Ran smirks that same mischievous smirk. “Shizun, it’s still early, why don’t we-“
A loud whip crack echoes in the previously quiet night.
“—AH! Shizun, I was just kidding! I WAS JUST KIDDING!”