"Then why?" he asked instead.
                          
Xie XiYue glanced at him quickly, then away. "I wanted to use ginger in your meal tonight, but I couldn't find it in Cloud Recesses so I went to Caiyi town..."
                          
"You walked all that way just to make me a meal for me?" Lan XiChen repeated. The town was 10 kilometers from Cloud Recesses. It would have taken Xie XiYue most of the day to walk there and back.
                          
"Yes," Xie XiYue whispered. "I know I was wrong, ZeWu-Jun. I just wanted to try something new today, so you won't get bored of my cooking."
                          
For a moment, Lan XiChen couldn't speak. Then he sat down and took out his flute, Liebing, from a pouch tucked in his robes, and placed it on his lips, then put it down. "You broke the rules, no matter the reason, and I cannot end your punishment early. But perhaps I can make the time go faster." He placed the flute back on his lips and began.
                          
As Xie XiYue stood, alternating standing on each hand, copying the Gusu Lan sect rules with the other, Lan XiChen played soothing melodies, his hands sure on the instrument, his eyes never straying away from Xie XiYue for too long. Xie XiYue's smile was radiant even upside down.
                          
When the punishment was over, the two strolled slowly toward the their living quarters, both wanting to stretch the moment. It had stopped raining and the air was cool and fragrant. The other disciples had mostly gone to their quarters, so they were alone.
                          
"Did you find what you were looking for? In town, I mean?"
                          
"Yes, the ginger is safely in my room," Xie XiYue said conspiratorially. A thought struck him and he turned to look at Lan XiChen. "Have you not eaten?" he gasped. "I told them to ask someone else to bring you your meal...!"
                          
"They did, but..." Lan XiChen coughed. He didn't want to admit that he had found the soup made by others disappointing. "I was concerned..."
                          
Xie XiYue tripped on a flat rock, and halted. "But it's so late! You must be hungry. I can bring your dinner to you in half an hour."
                          
"You haven't eaten either. Make enough for two."
                          
Xie XiYue's breath stuttered and he could only nod, his head bobbing comically, and he took off in a sprint toward his rooms. CeWu-Jun had been concerned for him! 
                          
Lan XiChen chuckled softly to himself, but his heart was touched. Half an hour later, there was a soft knock on Lan XiChen's door. "Enter."
                          
Xie XiYue came in with a big pot and two bowls, which he set on the table at a nod from Lan XiChen. He fidgeted.
                          
"You can't eat standing up," Lan XiChen finally murmured, and Xie XiYue flushed red and sat down. He ladled the soup carefully into the two bowls and placed one in front of Lan XiChen. He waited nervously, until Lan XiChen's sigh of approval, before tasting any of it himself. 
                          
A smile spread on his lips and he finished his bowl in record time, fidgeting until Lan XiChen gestured at the bowl for him to eat some more. 
                          
They ate in silence, as Cloud Recesses rules forbade speaking when eating. Yet, their eyes kept meeting and flicking away, each certain that he was the only one whose heart was beating faster than usual.

                          
Xie XiYue finished that bowl too before Lan XiChen had finished his first. "So good," he couldn't help but sigh after the second bowl. "Sorry, ZeWu-Jun."
                          
"Surely you're used to your own cooking by now?" Lan XiChen said, smiling softly.
                          
"I haven't eaten any, of course not! I only got permission to cook for you! I've eaten my meals with the others," Xie XiYue said, his eyes widening comically, making a small face at the end. 
                          
Lan XiChen stilled. The boy had gone through all this trouble just for him? A warmth bloomed in his chest. "You don't like the usual food here?"

                          
"I didn't mean...!" Xie XiYue began hastily, but the small smile from Lan XiChen reassured him. "It's not what I'm used to, no. My mother is a great cook..." his voice faded into a wistful smile.
                          
"Tell me about your family," Lan XiChen asked softly and pushed aside his now empty bowl, and Xie XiYue's face lit up like a lantern.
                          
He's a student! Lan XiChen told himself sternly as he listened to Xie XiYue talk about his niece, his eldest brother's small daughter. He's too young! he lamented, as he laughed with Xie XiYue, who was telling about how he had chased after frogs when he was small. He misses his family, he realized when Xie XiYue told about how his two older brothers had been teasing him mercilessly when he was young, until his baby brother had been born.
                          
Lan XiChen's heart fell. What would he do if Xie XiYue went back home?
                          
---
                          
A/N:
                          
Below a photo of Choi Minho in Hwarang, who @candyfriggs25 recommended as my original character, Xie XiYue. What a cutie patootie! Any other suggestions, dear readers?