1 1. First Day of School

[Wei Ying, go back to Gusu with me.]

Kring! Krang! Kring!

"Argh, who the hell set the alarm?!"

An arm stretched out from under the covers, grabbing the phone by the bedside table, and pressing the 'stop' forcefully. The mobile phone then got tossed somewhere on the bed.

The annoyed man whose sleep got disturbed snuggled the blanket more and continued to sleep. He stayed late last night playing video games, so he needs as much sleep as he can possibly get before school starts again.

Bam!

The door was kicked open, banging it to the wall, creating a loud noise that startled the man under the covers. The tip of his brows twitched in annoyance, and the veins on his neck popped in anger.

He was ready to shout at whoever disturbed his sleep again, but that 'someone' beat him to it.

"Wei Wuxian! Get up already! Do you want to be late?!" 

"Huh?" Wei Wuxian met the furious eyes of his foster brother who pulled the blanket and threw it on the floor. His eyes were still hazy, but he scrunched his face in confusion. "Late for what?

Jiang Wanyin's brow twitched. "For school, you dickhead! Today is the first day! Get up!"

'School?' Wei Wuxian thought, furrowing his brows.

"The hell? What are you looking so puzzled for?! Are you still asleep or you're just dumb?!" Jiang Wanyin whirled around and headed to Wei Wuxian's closet. He took his properly ironed school uniform and tossed it on the bed. 

"You better hurry up! Jiejie and I will be waiting for you downstairs."

The room got dark again after the door was closed.

Wei Wuxian yawned. He stretched his arms and slid himself out of the bed. 

"Right. School. I forgot about school." He sluggishly undressed himself and went to the bathroom. 

'Why do I feel I forgot something more important than school?' He thought to himself as the cold water from the shower washed away any bit of sleepiness left within him. He shrugged his shoulders after thinking hard about what it was. 

He convinced himself that it was probably nothing important. After all, how can he forget about it?

Surely, if it was something that held significance then he shouldn't have forgotten it, right?

"Tsk. I told you to hurry up." Jiang Wanyin berated him as soon as he descended the stairs. 

Wei Wuxian laughed lightly and tapped Jiang Wanyin's shoulders, "Sorry, sorry. I completely forgot about today. I even stayed up late last night."

He yawned again.

"That's okay, A-xian. We still have plenty of time." 

The soft and sweet voice of a girl caught the two boys' attention. They turned their head by the entrance to the kitchen and saw Jiang Wanyin's older sister, Jiang Yanli, walking towards them. 

She stretched her slender and dainty arms, fixing Wei Wuxian's collar with her long and white fingers. 

Wei Wuxian's smile grew wider after being pampered, while Jiang Wanyin only shook his head at the childishness of his foster brother. Wei Wuxian hated wearing clothes the proper way, but if it was their sister who fixed them for him, he wouldn't have the guts to mess them up again.

"It's folded."

"Thanks, Jiejie." Wei Wuxian smiled brightly, though he felt like his neck was being suffocated, he fought the urge to loosen the tie and endured. 

Jiang Yanli patted the two boys' shoulders gently and spoke to them with excitement, "This is your first day in your new school. The classes at the academy already started a week ago, so I hope that both of you will be able to catch up quickly."

"You don't have to worry, Jiejie. A week isn't that long." Jang Wanyin answered cooly. Truth be told, he doesn't need to concern himself with catching up, since he was ranked second in his previous school.

And if anyone asked who was the first… it was the guy yawning for the nth time beside him. 

Wei Wuxian's clothes were properly ironed and styled, but his disheveled hair and droopy eyes were ruining his good image. His slouch posture was almost groveling in the ground, and the way he walked was like a snail, dragging his heavy body with difficulty.

If Jiang Wanyin hadn't known that Wei Wuxian was actually pretty smart, he would have mistaken him for a lethargic delinquent student who always sleeps in class.

They ate breakfast in silence.

Wei Wuxian offered to wash the plates before going to school, but he got scolded by Jiang Wanyin instead, while Jiang Yanli smiled at him, explaining that he didn't need to do those things anymore, as her parents had hired a helper.

Wei Wuxian was a child adopted by the Jiang family. Though the adoption was official, Wei Wuxian had asked his uncle Jiang to keep his family name. 

This was the reason why only a few knew that he was actually a legally adopted child of the Jiangs. His peers in his previous school only thought that he and Jiang Wanyin were just cousins, and the two of them never bothered to correct their speculations.

"Hey! Wei Wuxian! Straighten your posture, will you?! You're like an old hunchback with years of burden carrying behind his back!" Jiang Wanyin shouted, striking Wei Wuxian's back a bit hard. 

The poor sleepy man groaned and then grinned at the grumpy one, "Ah, why are you so grumpy on the first day of our school? Do you want to scare our new classmates, Jiang Cheng? Or perhaps you're nervous?"

His voice was teasing, as payback for the hit he received from him. He even called him affectionately which the latter hated the most.

Jiang Wanyin frowned and spat, "Don't talk nonsense! We're entering the school now. Do you want to be seen as a lazy student on your first day? I'm telling you now, Wei Wuxian, don't try doing funny things and stay away from problems!"

"Alright, alright. I'll be a good boy. Stop nagging, A-Cheng." Wei Wuxian answered nonchalantly and walked to the school's main gate. 

"Yanli!" 

A girl shouted Jiang Yanli's name. 

Jiang Yanli waved back and turned to them. "That's my classmate and friend. You know your classroom boys, right?"

Jiang Wanyin, "Yeah, don't worry about us."

Wei Wuxian, "Go ahead, sister Yanli."

"Alright. See you inside!" Jiang Yanli beamed and ran to her classmate.

As the two walked to the gate, Jiang Wanyin fumbled his bag, looking for something. Before Wei Wuxian could ask him, the student guard at the gates spoke already.

"Wear your IDs around your neck, please."