Thank you to Tigippi, who was kind enough to review every chapter of this story, as well as pointing out a few mistakes I'd made.
Chapter Five
After Gui and Lan exited the infirmary (Tian Lang's muffled chuckles echoing behind them while he closed the door), they ended up standing awkwardly in the hallway – neither of them quite sure what to say or how to act now that the secret between them had been revealed.
"Um-" Lan started, right as Gui began to say: "So-"
They both stopped speaking instantly, faces reddening in embarrassment.
"You first," mumbled Lan, glaring at a poster on the wall as though it were the source of her discomfort.
"No, you fir-" began Gui, but then he stopped and awkwardly cleared his throat at the fierce glare she directed towards him. "Well, I was wondering...I only had one class today, so um...how many classes do you have left?"
Lan stared at him incredulously for a moment. Why on earth was he so nervous to ask that?
"Just one more in the afternoon," she answered slowly. "Why?"
Her professor's cheeks flushed slightly. He glanced at her, flushed a deeper crimson color, and then hastily looked away once again. "I was sort of hoping I could...take you out tonight."
She blinked at him, uncomprehending. "Okay. Take me where?"
Gui's eyes darted back to hers, a smirk threatening to lift the corner of his mouth. Lan gazed at him for a few more moments and then felt her face heat up as it clicked in her brain. "Oh! Um, that. Well. Um. S-Sure, I guess...?"
He beamed at her response, then gave a shaky chuckle, reaching up to cover his grin. "It's so strange to think that I refused you that first time, not realizing who you were."
Lan's smile faltered for a moment, but before either of them could say anything, a familiar voice rang out from the other side of the hallway.
"Xiao Lan!"
They both turned towards the voice, and Lan smiled warmly at the newcomer, unaware of Gui's darkening expression behind her. "Zhuo-gege!"
The blonde jogged over to them and hastily grabbed hold of her arm. "I heard you were hurt! Are you okay?"
"Ah!" Lan remembered, then waved her bandaged hand at him frantically. "It's alright, Wolf-dage fixed me up. It doesn't even hurt, see?"
Relief spread across his features, but then he furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Gui before lowering his voice. "And...is everything else alright? With...you know, last night?"
She smiled sadly at him. "Well, I can't say that I'm necessarily happy that Prince is gone, but...I'll be alright."
Ling Bin's eyes unwillingly darted in Gui's direction at her words, nervously gauging the professor's reaction. "Oh...well, that's good."
"It's ok, Zhuo-gege. He knows," Lan replied. "...I told him."
The blonde's eyebrows shot up on his face and disappeared behind his bangs. "He- you- WHAT!"
"What's the matter, Wicked?" Gui spoke softly, his voice leaving a chill in the air even while retaining a polite (albeit slightly chilling) smile on his face. "Angry that you lost?"
Ling Bin's expression darkened into one of fury, one of his hands drawing back into a fist. "You son of a-"
"HEY!" Lan shouted, shoving herself in between the two of them with arms outstretched. "Knock it off, both of you! We're in school, not Second Life!"
Silence followed her outburst, broken only by the soft sound of a door opening.
"What's going on out here?" Tian Lang demanded imperiously, his eyes slowly glancing between each furious man on either side of Lan. No one moved to answer his question, but after a moment Ling Bin's expression faltered.
"Is it true...Xiao Lan?" he whispered, gazing at her sorrowfully. She stared at him as he reached up to grasp the hand she'd placed on his chest in order to force him away from Gui. "You...you really chose him after all?"
"Zhuo-gege...I-"
"Did you forget our promise?" he continued, his fingers tightening around her own.
"I..." she began. Her gaze faltered and dropped to their hands as she took a deep breath, before she slowly raised her eyes back to his. "I'm sorry, Zhuo-gege. You're like a brother to me, I can't...I can't feel that way about you."
Her heart clenched in pain as his expression crumpled into one of intense agony. His fingers clenched around her hand tightly, shaking, and then slowly fell away. "...I see."
She'd never seen that crestfallen look on a man's face before. It shot a lance of pain straight through her soul to hurt one of her closest friends.
Ling Bin turned away before she could see the tears gathering in his eyes, and began to walk back down the corridor in silence.
"Zhuo-gege, wait-"
He stopped in his tracks at her words, and then turned to gaze at her over his shoulder. "I love you, Xiao Lan."
Lan inhaled sharply in surprise at his words - despite his confession several months prior, he'd never actually said those particular words to her face. She opened her mouth, heart aching for his pain...but then she couldn't figure out what to say, so she sadly closed her mouth.
He gave a painful smile that looked more like a grimace. "Do you love him?"
She glanced at her professor, whose forcibly blank face did nothing to hide the turmoil in his eyes as he awaited her answer, and then she glanced in the other direction to see Tian Lang's reaction - but, he had apparently decided it was best to leave their conversation between the three of them, and was nowhere in sight.
Her eyes fell to the floor as she pondered his question. Did she love Gui? She'd always adamantly refused to consider the possibility of reciprocating the bard's feelings – she had been so convinced that he was gay and would be disgusted to discover her true self, she focused all her attention on making sure he never found out.
But...
She couldn't deny the way her heartbeat sped up every time he fixated his serious gaze on her, or the way her heart had swelled with joy and wonder at his amorous confession. She would be lying if she tried to say that it hadn't hurt her deeply to think that he wouldn't care about her anymore if he discovered who she was. She would be lying if she tried to say she didn't look forward to seeing his face every day and night, despite the annoyance of him throwing himself at her male counterpart.
Maybe she'd really just been lying to herself the whole time.
Finally, her eyes moved slowly back to Ling Bin's despairing expression.
"...yes," she whispered softly in the stillness. "Yes, I love him."
Ling Bin's features trembled, and he pressed his lips together in a frown to keep himself from crying in front of her. He opened his mouth to say something, but apparently could not force the words out of his throat – finally, he simply turned and walked away.
Lan watched his retreating back until he turned down another hallway, and tried to convince herself that she hadn't just lost one of her dearest friends.
A gentle hand landed on her shoulder moments later, squeezing slightly. "For what it's worth...I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."
She gazed sadly down the empty hallway. "...Gui?"
"Yes?"
"Take me home."
"...alright."
Later...
The two of them walked side-by-side down the city streets, heading in the direction of the bus stop where Lan normally boarded to head home. She gazed blankly down at her feet as they made their way down the sidewalk, Gui casting several worried glances in her direction periodically. As they paused to wait for a light to change, the young professor unexpectedly leaned towards her.
"Such a gloomy expression does not suit your Highness," he said slyly, raising up a hand to caress her face. "Come now, let Gui cheer-"
Her face flamed and she instinctively smacked him in the face. "What the hell, you crazy bard!"
She stomped off down the crosswalk as the light changed, Gui following after her while chuckling and rubbing his jaw. Lan stopped at the other edge of the street, studiously avoiding looking at his face as he approached her.
"Well," he began cheerfully. "If there was ever any doubt who you were, I think that would've cleared it right up."
Lan glanced at his face, and then hastily looked away, glowering at the wall. "...sorry."
"Hmm?" he inquired mischievously. "Sorry for what?"
Her face reddened just like he'd hoped. "For...y-you know...hitting you. It's such a habit when you say stuff like that, I forgot we weren't in the game."
Gui bent down slightly so his face would be on the same level as hers, smirking boldly. "I don't mind, my princess."
"P-P-Princess?" she sputtered in outrage, instinctively raising her arm. "You-!"
Her fist trembled slightly mid-air as she pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to hit him again. She glared at him irritably. "You are such a masochist."
The professor grinned. "Then wouldn't that make you a sadist?"
She made an indignant expression at his words and then stalked off in annoyance, muttering obscenities under her breath. He followed after her calmly, smiling to himself. As they walked, her brown eyes slid over to stare at him every few moments, quickly darting back to the front as soon as he noticed. Eventually, she quietly murmured: "Why do you always do that, anyway?"
"Do what?"
Her expression darkened. "Harass me."
"Hmmmm," he hummed slyly. "I would prefer to think of it as 'teasing,' my dear princess."
"Teasing? YOU-!" she protested, whirling around to glare at his face. Before she could utter another word, he swiftly leaned forward to steal a short kiss. The effect he'd intended was instantaneous, as her face immediately lit up like a flame and she spluttered incoherently for several seconds.
"But the real reason," he continued, before she could become coherent enough to hit him again, "Is because I was trying to get rid of that sad look in your eyes."
She paused, blinking up at him in surprise. He smiled warmly down at her innocent features while she gazed up at him with a thoughtful look, as though she were contemplating an unexpected phenomenon in an otherwise ordinary situation. After a few moments, Lan smiled up at her professor. "Thanks, Gui."
"Anytime, your highness."
"So what did- hey, don't call me that!"
"Ah, but you only said I couldn't call you Prince before. Are you changing your mind now?"
"You! YOU!" Lan seemed beside herself with embarrassed fury, and swiftly whirled around to stomp off down the sidewalk again. "Just you wait until the servers come back! IDIOT!"
Gui followed after his princess, laughing silently to himself the whole way.