{Note:- This chapter is not divided into past and present arcs. 

The things in this chapter happen almost nineteen years before the Present arc starts. It's the year 2000.}

*Almost twenty years ago*

 *Just before Dawn*

 *Lan mansion*

Lan Wangji opens the window to his bedroom. 

He smiles and walks towards Xiao Xian, who is as unmoving as the day he had taken his own life almost four hundred years ago.

"Happy birthday, Xian." Wangji wishes the man in his bed. He picks up the love of his life in his arms and places him in the wheelchair. 

He supports Xian's body with a hand on his shoulder and wheels him to the open window.

"It's a beautiful day, Xian. Can you feel how beautiful the sky looks?" Wangji asks and crouches down next to Xian's wheelchair; He strokes Xian's face gently, "I love you. I will always love you." He leans in and presses his lips to Xian's. "Xian, let's get you ready. I have bought the most beautiful suit for you. It's red. You know, you look beautiful in red, don't you."

The immortal looks at the rising sun and squints his eyes. Looking at the sun hurts his eyes, but he looks at it anyway. After all, Xian loves dawn. He stands looking out the window for a few minutes. And when the sun has fully risen, he wheels Xian to the bathroom.

He cups Xian's face, "I know you are the one who likes taking care of me, but just let me take care of you till you wake up, alright. I promise, once you wake up, I will be completely in your hands. You can do what you want to me."

Wangji places a soft kiss on Xian's cheek, "Please do me the honor of giving you a bath." He requests, taking off his upper garments; he undoes Xian's upper garment next. His brows crease when he looks at the lotus mark on Xian's chest. He touches it and looks at Xian, 'Is it my imagination or has the mark faded?'

Wangji closes his eyes, 'It's my imagination. It has to be- Xian is perfect like always. He will come back to me. He has to. Maybe the mark is fading because- No, it's my imagination.' He doesn't understand why the lotus mark that had always been on Xian had faded. So he ignores it; denies it; and proceeds like nothing had changed. 

"Sorry, I got distracted, my love." Wangji once again kisses Xian's cheek and continues to disrobe him. 

Once both of them have disrobed, he carries Xian into the bathtub filled with vanilla-scented warm water and sits him in it. 

He had ordered the custom-built the bathtub keeping Xian in mind. He takes the sponge and lightly cleans Xian's body. Then he cleans himself and holds Xian in his arms for a few minutes. 

"Xian, how many times more will I have to fail before you finally come back to me?" Wangji asks. Tears start falling freely on Xian's neck and roll down his upper back before mixing with the bathwater. Slowly the water starts turning pink.

"I don't think I can go on anymore. But I can't even end my wretched life because you have tied us together. Xian, my love, I don't think there will ever be another one of you. I think only you can accept me. I think uncle Cong was wrong in thinking that you will return in a different body. I think you will return to me like this." Wangji murmurs, burying his face in Xian's neck. 

"I don't think I can keep getting my hopes up. I can't keep getting my heart broken over and over again."

He let's go of Xian and looks at the pink-colored water around them. He checks Xian's back that is stained red from Wangji's tears. 

"I am sorry. I made you dirty again," Wangji says, picking up a washcloth and wiping Xian's back.

When he is satisfied that Xian is clean, he dresses him up in the new red suit, and once again sits him in the wheelchair. 

"Xian, let's spend the whole day outside together. I have dismissed all the servants for today. It's only the two of us, and Uncle." Wangji informs and chuckles, "Xian, we should find someone for uncle. He feels lonely. I know it. At least I have you. Uncle has no one."

He takes Xian to the garden and sits on a patch of grass under a tree. He looks at Xian, gentle smile graces his face. A second later, his brows knit, "Xian is mean." He mutters under his breath, but almost immediately regrets it. "I am sorry, Xian. I didn't mean it. You are not mean. It's my fault. Everything is my fault. It's my fault that I am not strong enough to wait for you." He apologizes and picks Xian up in his arms. He sits on the grass, with Xian's back to his front. 

He gulps and hesitantly holds Xian's hand, "The company I am setting up, I am doing it so that I will be with you forever. I can't keep hoping to find you, Xian."

Wangji hugs Xian from behind and puts his head on Xian's shoulder, "I have hidden something from you, Xian. After Xiaohui* I thought I couldn't go on anymore, that is when a thought came to me." Wangji pauses, "What if there was a drug I could take that could stop my heart, but keep me alive till you wake up. The Lan pharmaceutical company is a cover for developing that drug. If I can find such a drug, I wouldn't have to keep getting my heartbroken."

Wangji kisses Xian's cheek, "I am going to employ the best researchers to find a cure for my life. Once it is ready, I will sleep next to you for as long as it takes for you to wake up. I won't have to get my heart broken again. Uncle told me that when you wake up, your magic will be powerful. Once you wake up, you can wake me up too. Alright?"

Wanji brings his ear next to Xian's mouth and smiles, "Thank you, my love. I knew you would understand and agree." He sits holding Xian's unmoving form till dusk. When the sun finally begins to set, Wangji looks at Xian's face. The play of sun rays on his face makes the immortal smile, "So beautiful, so perfect, My Xian."

Wangji brings their lips together in a soft, innocent kiss once again, just like he had done at dawn, "I love you, Xian. I will always love you. I miss you. Come back to Your Jun."

He declares and requests, before putting Xian back in the wheelchair. 

He takes him to their bedroom. He cleans Xian with a soft, moist cloth and changes him before tucking him in bed. Then he dresses himself in black clothes.

He kisses Xian's forehead, "I will see you before dawn, Xian." the immortal whispers before leaving Lan mansion and going in search of his next prey. 

 *

 *

 *

 *Almost 20 years later*

 *Year 2020*

Dressed in black, with only his eyes visible, Wangji lurks in the shadows. He follows his prey, and when the opportunity presents itself, he persuades them and takes them home. He targets killers, molesters, and rapists. He drinks from them and makes them admit their crimes; Shen helps him by rescuing the victims. Once Wangji takes his prey away, Shen rescues the victims and delivers them to a safe place, like hospitals or police stations.

It is one such night when Wangji is following a middle-aged man who is an accused child molester, that Wangji hears someone wince in pain, "Ahhh!"  The voice is familiar and close by; it is eerily similar to His Xian's voice. 

Seconds later, Wangji smells blood. His eyes turn red. The blood calls to him. "Xian... " Wangji mutters and runs towards the source of the scent. He sees two men, one of whom is holding a knife and pointing it at a boy who is on his knees. 

Wangji walks closer. He can't make out what the boy looks like. The boy seems to be wearing an oversized jacket and a face mask, 'Probably because it's cold' Wangji reasons.

The smell of blood gets stronger as he gets closer.

He watches as one of the men gets ready to kick the boy, but before he can hurt the boy, Wangji holds the men by their throat. The men start struggling. 

"Shuuuuuu," Wangji says, and the men fall silent. 

"Who sent you?" the immortal asks, and the men reply, "We didn't see his face. He asked us to bring him the boy and paid good money for him." the kidnappers answer.

"Where are you taking him?"

"The park next to the Lan Pharmaceuticals head office." The culprits answer.

"Forget me. Forget the boy. You got drunk and forgot about your Job. Now Leave." Wangji commands, using his power of persuasion, and the kidnappers scurry away.

Wangji turns to look at the boy, who is looking at him. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Wangji asks, eyeing the bleeding cut on the boy's neck.

"No, thank you." The boy says calmly, and Wangji's heart starts pounding. He gets an urge to taste the boy. The scent of the boy's blood is intoxicating. 

"You are safe now," Wangji reassures the boy while walking towards him. So close, the smell of blood tugs at his very soul.

'Xian.....' Wangji's heart screams, and before he realizes what he is doing, he pulls the boy in by his waist and catches the other's gaze, "Look into my eyes... " He says, trying to persuade the boy; as expected, the boy doesn't stop him or resist him. 

'Why is his blood calling to me?... Why do I want to taste him?' Wangji asks himself, looking into the boy's almond-shaped eyes, that are like Xian's.  

"You will forget them. You will forget me. And you will forget what I am going to do as soon as I leave." With that, Wangji closes the remaining distance, he lifts the mask to expose his lips and puts his mouth on the boy's bleeding cut and sucks.

"Ahhhhh!" The boy moans and pulls Wangji closer. Wangji starts walking them backward, till the boy's back is pressed firmly against the wall, and then steps between the boy's legs.

"More....harder... Fuck! Closer- Closer." The boy demands, and Wangji moves closer still. It is the first time Wangji drinks directly from a human in four hundred years.

'Xian, Xian, Xian.. ' The immortal's heart screams. For the first time in four hundred years, Wangji feels powerless to stop himself from touching a human. He wants to strip this boy and mark him. He wants to claim the boy. And for the first time in years, Wangji forgets about the drug he has been trying to create for the past twenty years.

Wangji stops once the wound is healed and looks up into the boy's eyes. He can smell the boy's arousal and realizes that he is hard too. 

Wangji knows what he wants is wrong. He knows that he should move away from the boy, but before he can do anything, the boy orders, "Close your eyes."

Wangji finds it impossible to refuse the boy. He closes his eyes, and a moment later, the boy's lips land on his. The boy's lips are persistent and demanding. Wangji parts his lips, and the boy's tongue enters the immortal's mouth, confident and unafraid. The boy takes what he wants, making the immortal moan.

The boy bites Wangji's lower lip, dragging a whine from the immortal, who feels unhinged and unnerved. Yet somehow full. 

Wangji wants to push the boy into the hard ground and enter him. And he probably would have done it, had Shen's accusing voice asking,  "What are you doing!?" not brought him back to his senses. 

*****

Today 

After visiting Xian and returning to Lan Mansion, Wangji's heart feels heavy. 

'He turned nineteen today, and yet he doesn't recognize me. He doesn't have magic. I love him, but he is not my Xian. But despite my efforts, I find it incapable of staying away from him. I want to kiss him. I crave his blood and his touch.'

Wangji decides to get some work done, but just then, he gets a call from Yu Bao, who is an assistant to the head of the Lan Pharmaceuticals research team. He is also a silent partner in Lan Pharmaceuticals. 

Yu Bao asks for Wangji's immediate presence at the research department; when Wangji reaches the Lan research lab, he finds Yu Bao waiting for him with a big smile on his face. 

"What is it?" Wangji asks, walking towards the man clothed in white. 

"Mr. Lan, the drug that Ziyi JieJie was working on, is finally ready."

Wangji's eyes widen, "What!?"

Yu Bao smiles brightly, "She wants to see you in the restricted section now." He informs.

Wangji turns away from Yu Bao. He feels a stabbing pain in his chest, 'Is this a sign, Xian? Are you telling me to stop looking and join you?.... But what about Wei Xian. I love him....'

"Mr. Lan, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy. After all, you have been trying to perfect it for the last twenty years." The researcher asks hesitantly. 

Wangji schools his features and turns to face Yu Bao once again, "Of course I am happy. Take me to Ziyi, please."

{Note:- Word count 2224

*Xiaohui is a character who will be entering the story in the next update.

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