"Hm," he says, still looking away from Wei Ying. He hadn't known what to do with his emotions then, and Wei Ying was... strange. Talented, yes, frustrating mostly, but certainly not the type that Lan Wangji had ever thought he'd go for, that he'd fall in love with. And so, when he had found that he respected Wei Ying more than he'd been annoyed by him, he was just unable to cope.

But he shakes his head. "Wei Ying... flirted with everyone." Which is why he never said anything, because he thought, how could Wei Ying really like him in return? He had so many others to choose from, and after all, Lan Wangji was just a stick-in-the-mud old fuddy-duddy or whatever he'd said.

Surely Wei Ying was more likely to seek out the company of a beautiful maiden, and then eventually after years and years of breaking girls' hearts, he'd settle down with one of them, and have several children. Lan Wangji hadn't thought he'd fit into this plan, especially when Wei Ying kept saying he wasn't flirting with him. Maybe the idea of him - Even as a young boy Lan Wangji was always preceded by his title - but certainly he'd had no real interest in the boring, studious Wangji.