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Chapter Text

“Excuse me? Would you mind? I need to get something from the cooler.” A deep, sultry voice pulled Xie Lian from his thoughts, staring absentmindedly at the advertisements along the back of the half-full shopping cart he was watching. 

“Oh.. Sorry,” he quickly took a few steps back, pulling the carriage back with him. As he moved away his back pressed into the side of a larger man who sucked his teeth in response and shoved him away, tossing a package of pudding into the basket and storming off. 

Xie Lian lowered his head softly at the angered expression on the man’s face and quickly turned and chased after him with the carriage as he stormed off, briefly looking over his shoulder at the taller youth who had approached him before. He gave a brief apologetic look but was met with a face that looked almost pained as he watched the two men leave.

Xie Lian couldn’t think too much about what that expression could mean before he felt the shopping cart in his hands get yanked forward, causing him to lose his grip and his balance and fall forward, luckily catching himself on his arms and avoiding a potential head injury.

The man who had yanked the cart gave him a look of disappointment and annoyance. “Get off the floor. You’re embarrassing me.”

“Sorry..” Xie Lian whispered in return, adjusting himself to push himself onto his knees to stand up. 

Before he could push against his toes and stand up a hand gently grasped his arm and helped him as he pushed himself up. The taller man from before, a look of concern on his face as he sends a look towards the back of the muscular back accompanying Xie Lian.  

Xie Lian smiles softly and shakes his hands in front of himself. “It's okay,” he says softly. “I’m okay!” Then he turns to walk away, waving at the tall man. “Thank you.” And he’s off, returning quickly to the muscular man’s side just as he was turning to look for him.

Xie Lian gingerly takes the carriage back from the man and they turn into an aisle, disappearing from the view of the taller man, watching the pair go with a complicated expression in his singular dark eye. 

Hua Cheng had only come for two things at the store. But seeing such a cute face with such a brute who treated him so poorly made him extend his shopping list just to conveniently and coincidentally lead him down the same path as the pair. 

After the incident by the coolers the two continued their shopping with no further incidents. None that would rouse suspicion to the average person anyway. The muscular man would frequently give the shorter one dirty looks. He would grab and pull his hands away as he tried to help retrieve items, as if his touch would tarnish the items, curse at him when he thought they were alone and made every effort to insure that he insulted him for even falling a step behind. 

And the entire time the shorter male quietly accepted this obvious abuse. Even apologizing quietly and bowing his head in regret as if he deserved to be mistreated. Hua Cheng was furious. 

Just as the muscular man had started growing suspicious of Hua Cheng following the pair, Hua Cheng just so happened to be turning in the opposite direction, two items having turned into a small hand basket full. He was heading towards the registers to pay and leave, against his better judgments. 

Hua Cheng hated leaving the beauty alone with that beast for any longer than a few seconds, to appear as though he was not following them so obviously. He pulled the door of his bright red sports car up, dropping the 3 plastic bags of random crap he had bought into the lap of the man dressed in a black suit who was sitting in the passenger side.

“Get out of the car and watch the other entrance for me.” Hua Cheng stated without further explanation, pulling his phone from his pocket and sending an image to the man. 

“Watch for this pair. I want all the information you get on them.”

“Chengzhu?” Yin Yu looked from the image to Hua Cheng with a confused quirk of his brows.

“Just do it.” That was all Hua Cheng needed to say for Yin Yu to shut up and move the bags from his lap to the car floor and climb out of the car, walking across the parking lot to find a place to stake out the entrance for the pair.

Hua Cheng pulled a small pod from his pocket and opened it, removing a singular headphone and slotting it carefully into his ear before calling Yin Yu’s cell phone for easier communication.
“Look a little less conspicuous. You’re waiting for a ride not stalking some gay guys in an unhealthy relationship.” Hua Cheng chided, watching Yin Yu from the side of the bright red car.
“Of Course. Because vibrant colored sports cars are very inconspicuous.”

“You trying to die?”

Yin Yu didn’t speak on the matter further. Simply turning away from the direct view of the door and sliding a pair of sunglasses from his breast pocket up his nose to hide his gaze as he pretended to scroll through something on his phone. 

Hua Cheng sat himself in the driver’s seat of his car, opening the armrest console to remove a package of cigarettes and a silver lighter with a butterfly carved into both sides. He placed a cigarette to his mouth, tossed the package back in and got out of the car again to light the cigarette dangling from his lips.

He took a long drag, slowly inhaling a significant amount of the smoke before exhaling in something that looked more like a sigh. His eyes quickly flashing around the building and parking lot, as if afraid to miss his target.

Xie Lian carefully slid dozens of shopping bags onto his arms, chasing after Jun Wu, who didn't even bother to wait for him to have everything before he carelessly strode away to the exit of the building.

Xie Lian was breathless as he had to almost run to keep up with the man who was so much taller than him, and who also wasn't carrying anything. Luckily their car was parked close to the entrance. A simple white car, nothing fancy, if not a little beat up from years of use. Xie Lian had been gifted the car a good while ago by his parents. But it has recently been in the, rather aggressive, care of Jun Wu. Jun Wu didn’t have a car of his own and insisted that, since Xie Lian didn’t work, he should be able to use the car whenever he wanted, since he was paying for it anyway.

And Xie Lian was more than happy to allow Jun Wu to use the car as much as he wanted. “What’s mine is yours!” he so naively stated back then.. If only he had known.

Hua Cheng was the first to spot the pair leaving the store. He watched them carefully from 2 rows away in the lot as the short man carried all the grocery bags, and even put them all away on his own without any help, from opening the trunk, to moving whatever was in the way aside, to putting the groceries down, to closing the trunk again. All alone. And the muscular man sat in the car, smoking a cigarette while waiting with an aggravated and impatient look on his face.

Finally, after about 10 minutes the shorter man quickly scrambled around to sit in the passenger seat of the car, buckling his seat belt quickly, as if he was scared to take his time. Just as soon as he was secured in the car Jun Wu had looked at him, moving towards him and whatever had happened next, Hua Cheng couldn't quite see clearly from the angle. He was looking at the larger man’s back for an absurd amount of time before finally, he sat back down properly, rolled down his window, tossed the butt of the cigarette he had been smoking out. After taking a moment to turn the car on and light himself a new cigarette the man had pulled out and drove away. 

Hua Cheng watched the car intently. The back license plate was not secured where it normally should have been and was instead propped up against the back window instead, the bumper of the car clearly too damaged to hold it anymore.

Hua Cheng memorized the plate number, texting it to Yin Yu, who was now on his way back to the car. 

“Look into it. I want to know everything.”

“Right away, Chengzhu.” Yin Yu replied, producing a laptop from the back seat and opening it, quickly working his experienced fingers across the keys. 

“Why do you care about this random couple?” He asked while waiting for a web page to load, cautiously stealing a glance at the man driving the car at his side. A dark expression taking over his face and something close to murderous intent flickering in his single obsidian eye.

“I’ve found a pretty face, and I want it for myself.” Hua Cheng replied brazenly with a confident grin before pressing further on the gas pedal, pulling the sports car’s speed into a dangerous high as they turned and sped away on the highway home.

Xie Lian brought the groceries inside quickly, Jun Wu never liked waiting. He worked quickly, ignoring the searing pain in his arm as he strained to carry the bags indoors. He worked quickly to put the groceries away and even quicker did he duck away into the bathroom, locking the door before finally releasing tears that had been threatening his eyes since he entered the car.

Xie Lian turned the water of the sink on, shaky hands opening the mirror and removing a small white box full of varying medical supplies. He removed a sanitizing wipe and gently cleaned the perfectly round burn just above the bend of his elbow, wincing softly between soft sobs.

He slowly and carefully applied burn cream that was getting to the point that it was almost inconvenient, and applied a bandage over the spot. Once he was done he slowly sank to his knees, wiping at his face as his shoulders shook aggressively. He choked back the loudest of his cries, covering his mouth to muffle the sound.

Jun Wu never liked it when he cried. It just made him hit harder. “I’ll give you a reason to cry!” he’d always yell. His existence was reason enough. But what could Xie Lian do? He had cut off his friends after they tried to warn him of Jun Wu’s red flags. They warned him but he refused to listen.

Now it was too late.

Xie Lian sat on the bathroom floor taking deep breaths and fighting for control over his emotions again for an unknown amount of time. It must have been too long because Jun Wu had started banging on the door. 

“What have I told you about locking the doors?!” He yelled from the other side.

Xie Lian quickly scrambled off the floor, putting the med kit away neatly and cleaning his mess, using a washcloth to clean the tear stains and snot from his face and hope that Jun Wu wouldn’t notice the aggressive redness around his puffy eyes.

He unlocked the door and opened it, being sure to step back with the door. He had been punched in the face too many times by Jun Wu while he was banging on doors that Xie Lian had been in the process of opening.

“Sorry..” He said softly, voice cracking as he fought the tears that stung his eyes. This time it was fear.

“Whatever..” Jun Wu spat and grabbed his arm, a disgusting grin spreading across an unfortunately handsome face. “I’m hungry.” It was a demand more than a passing comment. Jun Wu had dragged Xie Lian out of the bathroom. 

He could be hungry for one of two things. Xie Lian, or actual food. Today, it seemed, it was both. Xie Lian was carefully trying to chop vegetables and make soup, his jeans and underwear dropped around his ankles, and Jun Wu behind him, hardly even giving him a chance to breathe. 

Eventually, Jun Wu had given up on Xie Lian cooking at the same time, pulling him away from the pot that was boiling over and half cut vegetables strewn about on the counter from the aggressive motions. He bent him over a clear counter in a more open spot, pinning him down, ruthlessly using him as if he was no longer human. Biting, licking, and sucking at his neck Jun Wu spared nothing, even going so far as to draw blood from the smaller man beneath him just to lick it up like an animal. 

When Jun Wu was finally done Xie Lian could hardly stand anymore. Let alone fight the sobs threatening his throat. He collapsed to the ground, sweating, bleeding, leaking various fluids, and crying. 

Jun Wu sucked his teeth at the pathetic sight as he fixed his pants, buckling his belt again and finally crouching down in front of Xie Lian and grabbing his face in a large strong hand, forcing the crying man to look into his eyes. His brows furrowed watching tears fall down from the other’s golden brown eyes.
“Are you crying?” Jun Wu asked, a dangerous venom in his words that made Xie Lian freeze.

Xie Lian swallowed painfully, his mouth felt so dry all of a sudden. Fear in his eyes he pursed his lips, fighting the tears as he gently shook his head within the others grip.

“Speak.”

“I-I..” A soft sob interrupts his words and before he can recover or continue the hand on his chin is removed and a crisp slap causes Xie Lian’s head to jerk to the side and he collapses further, from his knees to just barely keeping himself stable on his hands, his long hair coming loose from its bun and blocking his face slightly.

The burning sensation from the slap forces more sobs from Xie Lian; sobs that he quickly raises a hand to try and stop, to no avail. It seemed today Jun Wu was in a rather good mood however, as instead of continuing the beating as usual, Jun Wu decided instead to force him to his feet and kick him out of the kitchen. 

Xie Lian stumbles away to the bathroom to clean himself up before Jun Wu decides he is done being generous.

Chapter Text

Xie Lian had felt a seedling of hope that made life a little more tolerable.

On the first day, Xie Lian held his breath and listened as the sound of sirens in the distance came and went. He knew the area they lived in wasn’t particularly safe, but he hoped that maybe just one of those sirens would stop on their street. Would knock on their door. 

Xie Lian gave up on the hope of Jun Wu being reported by the end of the second day. 

The morning of the third day the little seedling of hope had started to wilt.  Jun Wu had woken up in a particularly foul mood and took it out on him as usual. Xie Lian had to bite back the pain and follow the daily routine as usual regardless of how much he struggled to move.

Despite his best efforts the pain in his right arm was so bad that lifting the gallon of milk from the fridge had caused him to cry out in pain. He had also dropped the brand new carton and, of course, Jun Wu was not happy. He had practically forced Xie Lian to lick the milk off the floor, Xie Lian choking back sobs as the pains in his body grew ever worse with every movement he made. After only a few minutes Jun Wu had gotten seemingly bored of his efforts and left Xie Lian curled on the floor in the mess. 

An unknown amount of time had passed when Jun Wu came back. He stood and watched Xie Lian from a distance for a while, he didn’t say anything and he didn’t do anything further for a long while. When Jun Wu finally approached it had been to pick Xie Lian off the floor, seating him on the counter before taking a glass and filling it with water. He placed the cup beside Xie Lian with two pills and left. 

Xie Lian had only stared at the pills for a long while, not moving, even holding his breath until it hurt. He hated moments like this. Moments that made him doubt his own feelings. Jun Wu was scary. But when he was kind Xie Lian couldn’t help but rationalize his treatment. It hurt. But he probably did deserve it.. He was practically a freeloader. He couldn’t even cook properly. Xie Lian bit back a fresh wave of tears as he finally released the breath he had been holding, shakily grabbing the two blue capsules on the counter and dropping them into his mouth, drinking the cup of water in one go. After a while he carefully came down from the counter, wincing from the sharp pain putting pressure on his leg had caused.

He spent a good few hours meticulously cleaning the mess from the morning, it was well past noon when he finished. His whole body ached but by now the sharp pain was nothing more than a dull throb. He showered after he was done, taking two more of the little painkillers and finally sat himself down on the couch in the living room, quietly waiting, picking at his fingernails.

“Chengzhu.” Yin Yu spoke from the door of the open office, bowed low in respect, awaiting permission.

“If you don’t have anything good to tell me, leave.” Hua Cheng  wasted no time on pleasantries, reading over a high stack of paperwork he had managed to land himself with over the last few days.

“I found your prince.”
Hua Cheng paused. He lifted himself into an upright position in his chair, expression dangerous.

“I have the address. It’s 35 minutes away.”

“Whose playground?”
“The Heavens.”

Hua Cheng cursed under his breath and rubbed his palm against his neck, massaging out an ache from the way he had been sitting. “Get two cars ready. Tell He Xuan to be ready in 10 minutes.” 

Yin Yu wasted no time, finally standing upright from his bow and walking off, lifting his phone to make a call as he went. Hua Cheng opened a drawer, removing a pistol secured into a holster as well as a spare mag. He hoped it wouldn’t get violent, and doubted the pair had any association anyway. But there’s no such thing as being too cautious with the enemy.

"I dug up some information on your damsel and his captor." Yin Yu's voice boomed over the car speakers, just a little too loud. Hua Cheng turned the volume down as he pulled out of his underground garage.
"Go on." Hua Cheng's mood was on a short fuse now, concerned more about getting to said damsel sooner rather than later.

"Their names are Xie Lian and Jun Wu, respectively." Yin Yu continued, "Jun Wu works in an office building the next city over, but our informants don't know what his position is. The building in question, we've confirmed in one of the many faux businesses The Heaven's runs through." There was a brief pause in his explanation, another voice just a little too quiet to make out seemed to distract Yin Yu for a moment.
"Xie Lian doesn't seem to have any connections to the group besides through Jun Wu, assuming he's involved. He's been seen in the building but has never been anywhere beyond the lobby. The member's we've interrogated have also claimed they know nothing about your damsel. He Xuan says his boyfriend used to be friends with Xie Lian, he's met him in passing once when they were in college but he apparently started avoiding all of his friends some time after getting involved with Jun Wu."

"He Xuan has a boyfriend?" That wasn't really what Hua Cheng should have taken away from that information, but he couldn't help but breath a soft laugh at the idea of He Xuan, of all people, being with someone romantically.

45 minutes later Hua Cheng was removing himself from the black car he had raced here in, Yin Yu and He Xuan were parked at the end of the street at the ready in case there was trouble.

By now it was early in the evening. The sun was dipped low in the sky, just barely peeking out behind the buildings of the city. Parked outside a rather small pale blue house was the white beat up car. 

Hua Cheng parked behind the car, getting out, leaving the car running. He approached the front door, knocking just a little harder than he expected. His ‘Prince’, Xie Lian, as Yin Yu had informed him was the one who answered the door. It was barely cracked open, the chain lock still in place.

The Prince's eyes widened slightly looking at Hua Cheng on the other side of the door, as he adjusted the blazer of the suit he was wearing. The shorter man’s face was quickly replaced by another as he was pulled away from the door. Rage stirred in Hua Cheng’s chest as the face of the larger man came into view, unhooking the chain and opening the door just enough that Hua Cheng had a near perfect view of the house. 

The place was trashed. Though Hua Cheng’s gaze fell to the figure who was now on the floor, presumably having been pushed back before when he was pulled away from the door, he was trying to stand but pain twisted his delicate features. 

“My eyes are up here, pretty boy.” The one known now as Jun Wu finally spoke up. “We’re not interested in whatever you’re selling.”
Hua Cheng’s obsidian eye moved from the figure in the back to shoot a glare at the man in the doorway. “I was told an old friend lived here.” The obvious rage was quickly replaced by a coy smile, the only indication of his true feelings being the slight knot in the center of his brows.

“Clearly, whoever said that lied.” Jun Wu responded, clearly displeased as he went to shut the door. The door was stopped by Hua Cheng's pale hand with painted black fingernails.

“No. I don’t believe I am wrong.” Hua Cheng hissed, fury leaking into his tone, his free hand reaching into his blazer; “Why don’t you and I have a little chat.”

“Xie Lian.” Jun Wu turned, looking down at the damsel in distress on the floor behind him. “Do you know this man?” His words were calm. Almost pleasant if not for the situation.

Xie Lian looked to the one outside and stared for a long moment before looking away, red rimming his golden brown eyes as tears pooled in his eyes. “No..” his voice was so soft. It sounded so broken. Since he wasn't able to close the door, thanks to Hua Cheng, Jun Wu simply walked over to Xie Lian and pulled him up by his arm.

“Speak up.” He demanded, holding Xie Lian up by the arm with a tight grip, despite the pained noise that escapes his throat and the noticeable knit in his brows, with no visible intention of releasing him or even loosening his grip. “I don’t..!” Xie Lian stammered, though it's hardly any louder than before. 

Hua Cheng decided then that he had enough of being patient. He pulled his pistol from its holster under his blazer and aimed at the arm holding Xie Lian, shooting into the shoulder with no hesitation so that Jun Wu would let go. And let go he did. Followed by a curse as he stumbled back, practically throwing Xie Lian forward as he gripped his shoulder, gritting his teeth from the pain. “You little..” He growled, but being unarmed he currently couldn’t retaliate as Hua Cheng ran forward into the house to catch Xie Lian before he fell to the ground again. 

Hua Cheng kept his gun aimed at Jun Wu, carefully guiding Xie Lian back. Just as he was about to step out the door the larger man’s face changed from rage to a smirk, head lowering in a way that made him look truly evil, casting an ominous shadow over his eyes. At that moment, Hua Cheng felt something sharp and cold press into his shoulder blade.

Hua Cheng bit his lip to prevent the pained groan threatening his throat, turning quickly to smash his elbow into the attacker’s face, sending him stumbling back. At that same moment, felt a strong hand around his wrist, quickly disarming him in his moment of distraction. Hue Cheng grimaced as he held Xie Lian close, glaring at the larger man. He produced a small switchblade from his sleeve and pressed it against Xie Lian’s throat.
“Drop the gun.” Hua Cheng’s voice was dripping with venom. The rage radiating from him was palpable as Xie Lian trembled under his hold. He hadn’t wanted his damsel to get caught up in something this violent, but he had little choice now.
Jun Wu seemed completely unbothered by the threat, he quirked a brow and smirked amused. “Go ahead. He’s useless anyway.” the man lowered the gun from its position pointed at Hua Cheng and turned it over in his hand. “You must be from Ghost City.” He commented as he thumbed over the butterfly engraved into the handle. “What would someone like you want with someone else’s property? Not enough quality beauties in your sex cult?” He scoffed.
“I simply can’t stand pigs like you throwing your weight around to bully the innocent.” Hua Cheng answered nonchalantly as he took another step back while Jun Wu was looking over the gun over. This ended up being a bad idea as the larger man didn’t hesitate to point and shoot. The bullet didn’t hit Hua Cheng however.

Xie Lian cried out in pain, his knee buckling under his weight, pushing his throat against the cold blade the stranger held close to his neck. He was quick to react, however, pulling it away before it had the chance to pierce his skin.
“You-” Another shot, this one buried itself into the ground beneath the stranger. He cursed under his breath as he struggled to get a better hold to support Xie Lian.

“Leave.” Jun Wu spoke simply as he walked closer, pressing the barrel of the gun against the stranger’s forehead. “Let him go and Leave. Maybe then, I’ll consider not killing you.” Xie Lian could feel the stranger's grip tighten around him for a moment before finally letting him go, raising both hands, and slowly backing away, fury burning in his singular eye.

Xie Lian had collapsed now that he had nothing supporting him. The stranger turned his gaze towards two others who were running down the street, he held his arm out to them and they stopped in their tracks. He looked at Xie Lian on the floor once more before turning with a scowl and walking further away. 

Jun Wu finally lowered the gun and grabbed Xie Lian by the arm, pulling him off the ground before bending down and picking him up over his shoulder. He left the house, approaching the beat up white car and pulling a ring of keys from his pocket he unlocked the car and threw Xie Lian into the back before sitting in the front and starting the car. He looked into the mirror at the stranger, who was still watching them, a murderous look on his face. “Let’s see how far this playboy of yours is willing to go.” Jun Wu pulled out and took off down the street, Xie Lian trembling from fear and pain, laid in the back, his hands had wrapped around his knee as he choked on soft sobs.

Hua Cheng hadn’t felt this useless in years. He grit his teeth pushing the thought of the pain in his shoulder to the back of his mind. He quickly threw himself into his own car the moment the white one had pulled off. He sped after them, Yin Yu and He Xuan had quickly retreated back to their own car and chased after as well. 

Hua Cheng raced down the streets after the white car, who turned corners and went in circles in clear attempts to shake them off. It didn’t take long for the two cars to end up on the highway, racing and weaving through evening traffic, the sun beginning to set fully past the horizon by now. 

Hua Cheng’s car was new and fast, well kept and built for things just like this. The beat up white car was god knows how old and barely able to stay ahead. Eventually, other cars joined in on the chase. A mixture of Hua Cheng’s own people and people clearly working for whoever was driving the white car. It didn’t take long for open fire to ensue. 

Several cars had ended up losing control, whether because their tires were shot out or their drivers were shot, the group caused pandemonium across the highway. Soon, even police cars were engaging in the chase.

A stray shot had suddenly lodged itself into the tire of the beat up white car barely holding as is. It quickly swerved and getting caught against uneven ground at high speed it was quickly launched into the air. It rolled several times across the shoulder of the highway and down further, only stopping as it crashed into the trees lining the ditch. Hua Cheng had stopped quickly, almost too quickly for the speed he was going, crossing the lanes and turning to drift his own car into the treeline, practically throwing himself out of his car as it continued traveling without him into a tree.

He ran up to the toppled car, grabbing at the door handle to the back door and pulling it hard until the door came free and he had access to the now severely injured Xie Lian laying motionless against the roof of the upside down car. Another car nearly identical to his own came screeching to a stop in the breakdown lane, Yin Yu exiting and running down to pull Hua Cheng away as he knelt down to reach out to the unconscious man.

“The police are going to be here any minute! He’ll be fine! Let it go already!” Yin Yu fought against Hua Cheng who was still trying to reach out. 

“Just leave him! If you touch him now you’ll probably make his injuries worse! He’ll get the help he needs! We need to leave!” Hua Cheng was still ignoring Yin Yu’s insistence, his eyes turning towards the driver's seat which was empty, he quickly whipped his head around, looking for the man who should have been there but not finding him.

“Where did he go?!” He barked, grabbing Yin Yu’s arms, squeezing them hard enough to leave hand sized bruises.
“I didn’t see. You don’t have time to be worrying about that!” Yin Yu replied and pulled Hua Cheng’s hands off and grabbed his arm pulling him away. Hua Cheng finally relented as the light of police cars began showing over the small dip of the raised highway.

He had run out of time.

Chapter Text

The first thing Xie Lian had heard when he returned to consciousness was a loud siren. The wail of an ambulance. His eyes were stung by the piercing bright within the ambulance’s cabin, several figures circled around his vision like black shadows, staring down at him. 

Then the pain had settled in. Everything hurts. It hurt so bad. Every nerve throughout his entire body felt like it was on fire. He couldn’t move. Between the wail of the sirens, the blur of muffled voices and the painful ringing in his ears Xie Lian couldn’t hear his own cries of pain. He writhed, trying to curl into himself against the straps that secured him down, which made the pain even worse as pressure had been applied against countless wounds, tears pooling in his eyes streamed down his face and pooled around his ears. It was all so overwhelming that it took seconds for Xie Lian to lose consciousness again.

The next time he woke up, he was being rushed down a brightly lit hall. The blurry flash of the harsh white lights over head stung his eyes. His body was numb, the pain nothing but a distant dull throb, hardly a memory even. How had he ended up here again? He couldn’t remember. The blur of a mask being secured over his face was the last thing he saw this time.

Xie Lian woke up with the dull throb of a headache, most of his body secured in some type of cast. The hum and beep of machines made the ringing in his ears hurt all the more as he blinked the bleary haze of sleep from his eyes. It took a while for the pain to return. It was unbearable. Tears stinging his eyes as he gasped softly and bit his lip to try and dull the pain. It didn’t. What had happened? Why did it hurt so bad.. Was this Jun Wu’s doing?

He couldn’t even remember Jun Wu coming home after he left for work. How long ago was that now?

In the end, Xie Lian had ended up with a broken arm, both of his legs broken, the most severe damage being to his left knee after having been shot, which he had no recollection of how it happened, it had required an emergency surgery to be sure it healed properly. He had several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and while he, luckily, had no major injuries to his spine, he would still likely lose some finer control over his limbs, particularly his hands and fingers. There was a high chance for other issues, such as developing certain chronic pains, possible severe nerve damage, but all of that was yet to be seen. 

Doctors and various police officers and detectives had tried to ask him about the events of that day, what had happened and who he was with. But he really couldn’t remember, and trying to piece together blurry fragments of what might have happened after he finished cleaning that day made his head throb with pain, and whatever he could give was of little to no help. In the end they determined he was an unfortunate victim caught up in violence. Not that they told Xie Lian anything.. He was still left in the dark.

Xie Lian spent 2 months rotting away in a hospital bed. He was, however, thoroughly shocked to see several familiar faces from his past visit while he was bedridden. Though he had no idea how exactly they had found out he was even there, and none of them would spill on the matter either. He had a lot of questions that people seemed insistent on brushing off.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing often came together, Mu Qing always scolded him that he tried to warn Xie Lian that Jun Wu was bad news but Xie Lian never listens to anyone, and Feng Xin would always have to drag Mu Qing away kicking and screaming as he demanded Xie Lian admit that he was right. Xie Lian did admit it, however. Mu Qing was right. He had warned Xie Lian and Xie Lian had replied in kind by insisting he knew what he was doing, and that he knew what kind of person Jun Wu was. He felt very stupid now.

Shi Qingxuan also visited very often. Almost every day, actually. Sometimes alone, sometimes hooked around the arm of a taller man that was usually sulking in the corner while they talked. They always brought Xie Lian gifts as well. And even offered Xie Lian a room in their condo when he got out until he got back on his feet again.

Shi Qingxuan was also the one who had brought Xie Lian’s personal items, his ID, wallet, etc. Though they never stated how they had acquired them. Xie Lian was quite happy to have his friends back. Though he couldn’t help but feel he may be inconveniencing them now that he was back.

Another unlikely visitor of his was the stranger from the grocery store. He had introduced himself as ‘San Lang’. He had claimed that he didn’t know anything about the day Xie Lian had gotten hurt so badly, Xie Lian didn’t fully believe that though, but he never pressed San Lang for answers. His visits were irregular, usually fairly late in the evening, just before visiting hours ended, and he never stayed for very long.

After the first 3 months, the worst of his injuries had healed. He had actually made a phenomenal recovery, with little to no complications. The last month of the time he spent in the hospital had been in physical therapy learning how to properly walk with his weakened knee, as well learning what to do to ensure he doesn’t over strain or re-injure himself.

Xie Lian had ended up developing mild nerve damage in his hands that caused them to tremble at times, and he wasn't able to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds with his right hand, he was unable to fully exert that much tension into his grip to support that much weight. He also couldn’t stand for long periods of time or perform physical activities without a knee brace. 

4 months later Xie Lian was about as healthy as he could be, and on this rainy wednesday afternoon he would be standing outside the hospital in a pair of fresh new clothes that Shi Qingxuan had bought him a few days prior so he had something to wear when he left. He was checking the phone in his hand, another gift of Shi Qingxuan’s, wondering if they were running late to pick him up, or if they had simply forgotten.

His finger hovered over the call button, he tried steadying the trembling digit by sheer force of will as he hovered the call button. In the end he didn’t want to bother Shi Qingxuan, Xie Lian figured they must have been busy.

It’ll be fine.. I’ll just take the bus.

At this point, Xie Lian had been standing under this bus stop booth for a little over 45 minutes and his knee was starting to throb with a dull pain. The bench, however, was occupied by people who seemed like they needed to sit way more than he did. So he simply did what he did best. He selflessly ignored his own pain, chewing on his bottom lip to distract himself.

“Hua Cheng..”

“Hua. Cheng.”

“Hua-”

“Enough! I heard you.” Hua Cheng barked back at the depressing man standing in his office. He had been pacing back and forth, biting his thumb and lost in thought.
“Shi Qingxuan can’t get gege from the hospital. They asked you to do it, and now you’re offering the opportunity to me. I heard you. But I.. shouldn't. The less I’m around him the better. You do it. You’re their boyfriend. They don’t even know me.” Hua Cheng settled into his desk chair and leaned his head into his palm.

“They are not, and I don’t want to- No need for the look man! He’s your obsession not mine!” He Xuan quickly backed away from the desk of the red clad man’s office, he was giving him a look laced with daggers. He looked like he would genuinely kill He Xuan if he stayed too close.

Eventually Hua Cheng relented. He was glad Xie Lian hadn’t remembered what happened, but was worried that staying around for too long would dig those repressed memories up. Hua Cheng didn’t want Xie Lian to remember that day. Even so, he found it difficult to stay away. He was already involved this much with Xie Lian.. He couldn’t keep himself away before and it was definitely too late now. 

Hua Cheng had arrived at the hospital to find Xie Lian standing out in the cold early spring rain, without a jacket, without an umbrella, seeking refuge under a bus stop booth, uncomfortably shifting his weight between his legs, visible discomfort knitted between his brows.

Hua Cheng pulled the bright red sports car up in front of the bus stop, flicking the hazard lights on he rushed out to support Xie Lian, who was thoroughly surprised to see him, staring at Hua Cheng with wide eyes that almost sparkled with joy.

“San Lang!” He beamed, the pained expression on his face melting away instantly. 

“Gege,” Hua Cheng returned the greeting, a gentle smile tugging the corners of lips up as he carefully supported Xie Lian and led him to the vibrant colored car.

Hua Cheng didn’t even let Xie Lian buckle his own seat belt, he did it for him, carefully hooking the strap around the smaller man’s torso, clicking it into place and checking several times to ensure he was safe and secure before closing the door carefully and sitting himself in the driver’s seat and taking off.

Hua Cheng didn’t actually know where Shi Qingxuan lived. He had also forgotten to ask before he left and refused to admit defeat and call He Xuan.

“Gege?” He asked, a small smirk blessing his handsome face. Xie Lian hummed in response, hugging the canvas bag Shi Qingxuan had given him to hold his personal items close to his chest as he tilted his head to look at Hua Cheng besides him.

“Your friend, Qingxuan, right? I don’t know their address.” He admitted as they pulled to a stop at a red light, acting coy. He loved watching Xie Lian’s shifts in his expression when he teased him. “Does gege know?”

Xie Lian nodded softly, removing his phone from his bag. He fought with it for a moment before pulling up the maps app and typing the address into the GPS for Hua Cheng to follow. 

It took half an hour to get to Shi Qingxuan’s house from the hospital. Shi Qingxuan lived in a fairly large condo. Hua Cheng pulled into a parking spot, rushing out of the car to help Xie Lian, who was already halfway out the car. By now the weather had cleared up, and while it was still pretty cloudy and damp, Xie Lian no longer needed to worry about the rain.

“I’m fine, really, San Lang!” Xie Lian bowed his head sheepishly after being helped out of the car. He quickly hid his slightly trembling fingers in his pocket, his ears burning from being spoiled with such care by someone. 

Xie Lian’s attention was quickly pulled away from his embarrassment as he turned to the sound of someone calling his name. A tall androgynous figure running across damp grass towards the complex’s parking lot.
“A-Lian!” Shi Qingxuan called, practically throwing themselves onto the slightly shorter man and hugging him tight. Xie Lian returned the hug with a gentle and awkward pat on the back and was finally released from the death grip. Shi Qingxuan looked over Xie Lian with a big smile on their face, turning them around to take a good look at how the outfit they had picked fit and looked on the slender frame. 

“Fabulous!” Qingxuan exclaimed excitedly, tugging gently at one of the belt loops to see if the pants were too big. An action that caused Xie Lian a moment of mild panic as he quickly backed away from his over enthusiastic friend’s adventurous fingers.

He had backed up straight into Hua Cheng, who had snaked an arm around Xie Lian’s waist to hold him close. Xie Lian tensed under the hold, staring down at the arm. His thoughts were a muddy mess as he stared at the arm. He couldn’t tell if his vision was playing tricks on him, or if his memory was. For a moment he swore he had seen someone else’s arm snaked around him in a protective hold, but when he blinked the scene was replaced by a far more slender arm, with pale skin and the beginnings of a sleeve of tattoos peeking from under the fold of his sleeves. This hold felt different than he was used to. This one had more care. The pressure used to press Xie Lian’s back against Hua Cheng’s stomach was perfectly calculated. Enough to feel secure, but not enough to feel trapped. It was enough to feel comfortable, with no pain blooming under the force in a spot that would leave a bruise later.

Xie Lian all but melted into Hua Cheng in that moment, leaning against him for support as he calmed his racing heart.
“Who are you?” Shi Qingxuan looked at Hua Cheng with a confused expression.

“None of your business.” Hua Cheng rebuked with a rough, brusk voice. 

“Uhm.. Yes it is? This is my house.” Shi Qingxuan quirked a brow at the unfamiliar face holding their friend just a little too close for comfort. 

Xie Lian was confused by this interaction, turning his head to look up at the figure behind him, opening his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Shi Qingxuan.

“Oh! Actually I think I do recognize you..” They hummed, rubbing their chin with a look of contemplation. “Yeah! I’ve seen you in the background of A-Xuan’s video sometimes when we call! You must be his boss right? Did he get caught up at work?” 

“Yes.” Hua Cheng replied in a relaxed tone, lowering his arm around Xie Lian. Xie Lian had taken that as a sign that he was no longer welcome so close, however, and quickly took two steps away to stand on the side between the two.
“I picked gege up from the hospital because I still needed He Xuan to do more work.” Hua Cheng slid his hands into his pockets, relaxed as ever. 

“I see! That makes sense! Well, you’re welcome inside too, then, since you’re A-Lian’s friend!” 

The inside of the condo was just as nice looking as the outside. With the exception of the Qingxuan-tornado that definitely swept through the place. Rolls of colorful fabric were toppled over in corners, several manikins took up most of the space in the living room, and scraps of fabric were tossed haphazardly over just about any surface that wasn’t already covered in nicknacks or dishes. 

Other than the fashion-fueled mess, the place was rather homey and looked lived in. The interior was mostly open concept, the front door led into the living room which shared a space with the kitchen and dining room. Shi Qingxuan had led Xie Lian down a wide hallway coming off the livingroom and to the room at the end of the hall.

“The rooms have their own bathrooms and I took the liberty of getting you some essentials, hope you don’t mind,” They spoke while opening the door to what would be Xie Lian’s room now. The room had a full size bed with sheets already neatly folded over it, a desk was tucked into the corner. Between the desk and what Xie Lian could assume was the bathroom door was a dresser, and a standing mirror was tucked neatly away in an otherwise empty corner.

“I was going to get your stuff from you-know-who, but A-Xuan told me to leave it be, I feel kind of bad though since you don’t really have much..” They admitted then took Xie Lian’s hand with a wide smile. “Tomorrow I have a bunch of errands to run, you're welcome to join! And since we'll already be out you can pick out some stuff to personalize your space with! And we can get you some more clothes!"

Xie Lian waved his free hand, awkwardly smiling. “That sounds like fun and all.. But I'm already invading in your home.. I can't ask you to do anymore for me.. Plus, I don't have any money so I can't exactly buy anything anyway.."

“I don’t mind paying for gege.”

Chapter Text

Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan had almost completely forgotten the red clad man was still following them.

 Xie Lian turned quickly, arms raised in protest as he shook his head. “That isn’t necessary! I can make do with what I already have, really! It’s more than enough!” He stammed slightly, cheeks hot with embarrassment. “You don’t have to..” He lowered his head a little, rubbing his thumbs together awkwardly.

“But I want to,” Hua Cheng replied softly, “Gege deserves the best.” 

Shi Qingxuan, on the other hand, stared at the two in silence for a while before grinning stupidly and sneaking out of the room, texting away on their phone with a soft giggle.

“San Lang, that’s far too much, you’ve already helped me plenty.. I can’t ask you to do that for me..” Xie Lian insisted, his head shaking softly.

“You aren’t asking me for anything,” Hua Cheng walked closer, reaching his hand out and gently brushing his finger tips against Xie Lian’s intertwined hands. Xie Lian stiffened, his eyes widening ever so slightly as he stared down at the third hand in the pile as it moved slowly against his skin, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake as it worked its way up to his wrist. When the light pressure and comforting warmth was raised from his hand his heart ached, he hadn’t wanted it to stop, but he didn’t understand why.

“This San Lang is offering.” Hua Cheng spoke softly above him, whispering as if this was their special secret. 

His words caused Xie Lian’s breath to hitch. He watched as the hand lifted away, slowly turning over and gently pressing against his chin, applying pressure as if to coax him to look up. This was a gesture Xie Lian had a lot of experience with, his grip on his own fingers had tightened as he mentally prepared for something that never came. Slowly Xie Lian raised his eyes, meeting the gentle stare of a single obsidian eye. He could feel his heart skip and start beating fast in his chest. The gesture, the racing of his heart, the subtle tremble of his fingers as he tightened them around each other, they were all familiar but the face in front of him was so different from the ones in his memories. There was none of the anger, no trace of the disappointment, only a gentle warmth and the light curl of lips in a comforting smile. It made Xie Lian’s cheeks burn. It was all so familiar and different at the same time.

Xie Lian stared silently into the single obsidian eye above him for a long while, lost in his thoughts before he finally breathed a response. “Alright..”

That night, Xie Lian had hardly gotten any sleep. His mind was occupied with anything other than the desire to sleep. His thoughts were a mess, his emotions all over the place. Everything still felt incredibly unreal. Now, first thing in the morning, before even the sun had fully awoken, Xie Lian found himself diligently staring at himself in the mirror within the large bathroom of his room. He almost didn’t recognize himself.

He was carefully brushing back his hair, unsure of quite what to do with it. He tucked his bangs back behind his ears and stared for a long while before deciding to brush them forward again to frame his face, he pulled the rest back into a bun, before changing his mind and undoing it. A ponytail? No, that doesn't work either..   Xie Lian had let his hair down and sighed, carefully styling half of it up into a small bun. He didn’t really know why he cared so much. Typically he did whatever kept it out of the way no matter how it looked, but he was oddly excited this morning. 

He looked away from his face and started fiddling with his jeans. His eyes fixated on black fabric peeking out from underneath the tears in the loose denim. A knot formed in his stomach looking at the brace. He knew he would be out and about likely all day and had decided it was better to wear it than not. It felt oddly humiliating now that he was seeing it. He swallowed and looked away from the mirror. He felt pathetic. He wanted to change but this was the only pair of pants he had that would be loose enough to hide the brace, even if it didn’t do much to hide it in the end anyway..

He ended up leaving it as it was. Deciding to focus his attention elsewhere. He opened the door to his room carefully, peeking out in the still rather dark hall of the condo to see if anyone else was awake yet. He didn’t see anyone else immediately and carefully made his way to the living space, his eyes fell to one of the couches where a long slim figure lay with their head pillowed on their hands.

Hua Cheng had managed to convince Shi Qingxuan and who Xie Lian now knew as He Xuan to crash there that night. He was still asleep on the couch. Xie Lian watched the even rising and falling of his chest, his cheeks burning slightly at the sight. He quickly pried his gaze away and he made his way ahead to the kitchen space.

He opened the fridge to look over its contents, humming softly as he removed some things and then searched around the kitchen a little for other ingredients. Shi Qingxuan had told him he was welcome to help himself to whatever he wanted the day before, should he get hungry. He decided that since he was up, he would try to make them all breakfast.

Xie Lian had never been that great a cook. He always tried but always ended up messing up something, even the simplest of recipes. Xie Lian had decided that there was no way he could mess up congee with the rice cooker Shi Qingxuan owned that had a dedicated setting just for it, so that was what he decided to make. All Xie Lian had to do was make some kind of topping. There was quite a bit of fish in the fridge and freezer, so Xie Lian had decided it likely wouldn’t hurt if he used some of it.

Xie Lian spent almost an hour and a half cooking before someone else woke up. By then he was just about finished. The kitchen was a bit of a mess. He used quite the mixture of things to season the fish, he knew roughly what tasted good, and figured the more the merrier! But he had still managed to overcook it, despite his careful watch, and the congee was more watery than he had hoped, he tried to cook it longer but it had ended up becoming thicker than he wanted as a result..

Xie Lian portioned his sad congee and burnt fish into bowls for the others, brandishing it with a bit of green onion that he had cut up. It looked more palatable this way, in Xie Lian’s opinion. He smiled at himself and turned to the new appearance that was coming into the kitchen. 

Shi Qingxuan was the first to awaken, yawning and still rubbing at their eyes. They gave a sleepy smile to Xie Lian, their hair was still messy from sleeping and they were still dressed in their sleep wear, a loose t-shirt that probably didn’t belong to them and shorts that also probably didn’t belong to them. 

“Morning, A-Lian!” They looked to the messy kitchen and the four carefully portioned bowls. “You look like you’ve been busy,” They carefully examined the bowls.

“Ah! Yes..” Xie Lian rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “I woke up early and wanted to make breakfast for everyone.. I hope you don’t mind.” 

“Not at all!” Shi Qingxuan beamed.

The pair shifted their gaze towards the sound of movement in the living room, Hua Cheng had been woken up by their chatter. He rubbed at his face, adjusted the eyepatch, which he had worn to sleep, and sat up slowly, turning to look at the pair staring in his direction. His eye fell on Xie Lian, and he smiled.

“Good morning, gege.” He got up slowly, walking over. As he took a look at the kitchen behind them he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening rather aggressively.

“What the fuck is that smell?!” He Xuan grumbled angrily, stalking into the kitchen with deeply furrowed brows.

Xie Lian lowered his head awkwardly, chewing his bottom lip lightly. “I made breakfast..” He spoke, his voice small, he was suddenly feeling a lot more nervous.
He Xuan looked at him confused for a moment, Xie Lian quickly turned and took up two bowls, setting them on the table and turning for the other two and setting those down as well. “Here you are..!” He stammered, lowering his head even more somehow, making himself as small as possible. “I hope.. You enjoy.. Its a little burnt though.. Sorry..”
Shi Qingxuan happily sat down along with Hua Cheng. The notorious glutton was the last to sit at the table, less enthusiastic as the other two. He eyed the food cautiously, poking at it with his spoon. “Is this supposed to be congee?” He picked up a spoonful and smelt it, wrinkling his nose a little.
Hua Cheng was the first to taste it. He smiled as he looked to Xie Lian. “Its good.” He spoke with such confidence that Xie Lian’s heart swelled with joy. He smiled back at Hua Cheng. “Really?” he asked in return, granting a nod as Hua Cheng happily ate on. “Try a little more salt next time,” He advised with a gentle smile. 

Shi Qingxuan was more than happy to oblige his friend but food that even He Xuan didn’t immediately devour made them a little hesitant, so they waited until He Xuan ate first, not at all hiding their stare and intrigue. He Xuan watched Hua Cheng eat it with no complaints and figured that it really must have been fine. Oh how wrong he was. He Xuan’s face fell to the table with a single bite, he was out cold.
“A-Xuan?!” Shi Qingxuan rushed over, shaking him a bit. “A-Xuan!” they called again.
“He’ll be fine.” Hua Cheng rolled his eyes at the pair and looked to Xie Lian who sat down to sheepishly eat their own helping, eyeing the unconscious man and the person trying to wake him up. Xie Lian quickly averted his gaze to his bowl away with a small frown. It is kind of bad isn’t it.. He thought, shaking his head with a sigh.
“Don’t mind him, gege.” Hua Cheng stood after finishing his bowl. “He’s dramatic.” He insisted.
Xie Lian smiled woefully at Hua Cheng before quickly finishing up his own food and getting up to clean his mess. Hua Cheng had helped him clean up while He Xuan and Shi Qingxuan were still being dramatic behind them.

Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan ended up stopping somewhere to get their breakfast. He Xuan really hadn’t wanted to leave the house, arguing that he definitely was poisoned by the food. But Shi Qingxuan was all too persuasive with their batted eyelashes and pleas, but in reality He Xuan came because he was promised free food from wherever he chose.

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian rode in a different Vehicle from the other two. Hua Cheng refused to let He Xuan or Shi Qingxuan drive him around, and Xie Lian went with him because he felt bad leaving Hua Cheng alone, but also because he didn’t want to third wheel He Xuan and Shi Qingxuan anymore than he already did.

It was noon by the time they made it to the large shopping mall two cities over. It was nearly a 45 minute drive there, but with the other errands Shi Qingxuan had to make in the morning their time had ended up extending the time to almost 4 hours to get there. The shopping center was several stories tall, with a parking garage attached to one side of the U-shaped building.

Shi Qingxuan had dragged Xie Lian through almost every clothing store available in the mall. Shi Qingxuan excitedly helped Xie Lian build their wardrobe. They sent him away with mountains of clothes to try on then gave thoughtful opinions on how each garment made Xie Lian look and out of dozens of articles Xie Lian would often end up walking away with only two or three items from the pile. The trip was exhausting. Xie Lian hadn’t liked being around lots of people, he preferred quiet and solitary places. There was less chance of things going wrong, less factors..

He quickly shook his head, pulling himself away from his wandering thoughts. He looked up at the passing crowds, finding a familiar tall red silhouette approaching where he sat on a bench, two big bags set on the bench beside him. Hua Cheng passed over a small brown bag and a paper cup with a comforting warmth radiating from its contents.

Hua Cheng sat on the other side of Xie Lian, the two were alone now, He Xuan had disappeared at some point and Shi Qingxuan had gone to try and find him. Xie Lian happily ate the steamed bun and drank the tea Hua Cheng had bought him, he didn’t speak while he did, focusing on the meal. He didn’t notice Hua Cheng watching him.

“Is there anything else gege would like while we wait for your friend?” Hua Cheng asked, tossing the trash left over from Xie Lian’s lunch. Xie Lian hummed a moment before shaking it head. “No, there isn't anything else I need, thank you.” He spoke quietly, rubbing his thumbs together in his lap.

“Does your leg still hurt?” He asked, kneeling in front of Xie Lian, reaching his hand behind his knee and lifting his gaze for his response. Xie Lian shook his head, his ears reddened with embarrassment. “No..! Not anymore..” He said softly

“Good,” He smiled and moved his hand, smiling as he stood up. He looked around for a moment. Xie Lian watched as his gaze stopped somewhere for a moment before a small smile grew on his face and he looked at Xie Lian again. “Can I bring gege somewhere?” He asked and offered his hand. 

Xie Lian smiled sheepishly and rubbed his hands on his jeans a moment, his palms clammy. He took Hua Cheng’s hand and stood with his help. “Sure..” He said softly as he watched Hua Cheng pick up the two bags on the bench and followed Hua Cheng’s lead.

Hua Cheng had stopped at a kiosk not too far away, looking over the jewelry for a moment before turning his gaze towards Xie Lian. “Gege, pick something you like.” He smiled down to Xie Lian. Xie Lian immediately straightened, shaking his head and his hands in front of him. “San Lang..! I couldn’t..” He mumbled as he looked at the items and the price tags. There was no way he could. “That’s far too much..” he insisted, looking away.
Hua Cheng hummed while looking at the case for a while before nodding, the hand not holding the bags tucked into his pocket. “Gege is right. He can’t choose from here. He needs something much better.” He teased, grinning playfully at the shorter male as his face became bright red. Xie Lian was at a genuine loss for words.

Hua Cheng laughed softly and started walking again. “Come, I was just playing. This wasn’t where I wanted to bring you.” 

Hua Cheng had led him to a store Shi Qingxuan had avoided in their escapades. “Your friend has good intentions,” Hua Cheng spoke before looking at Xie Lian with a smile. “But I believe a place like this may have more that gege would like.” 

Hua Cheng wasn’t necessarily wrong. The clothes in this store were much more simple and straightforward, no ripped jeans or patterned t-shirts. Xie Lian’s eyes caught on a hat however, on a stand in the front of the store. He went over and smiled, picking up the old-fashioned bamboo hat and placing it on their head and looking at Hua Cheng with a sheepish, but playful smile.
“Does gege like it?” Hua Cheng asked, walking over and adjusting the hat slightly. “Gege can get it if he likes.”
Xie Lian quickly waved his hands in front of him. “I-It’s nice, but what would I even wear something like this for?” He laughed awkwardly as he took it off and placed it back. “I was just playing around..” He cleared his throat and fixed his hair a bit, lowering his head to hide his flushed face as he turned and walked deeper into the store. 

The pair had bought more from this store than the other ones. The clothes were significantly more casual, which made Xie Lian feel more comfortable with wearing them. Hua Cheng had also successfully convinced Xie Lian to buy the hat from the front. Eventually they had met up with Shi Qingxuand and He Xuan again, He Xuan with a rather large pretzel in his hand and Shi Qingxuan with many more bags in their arms than when they parted ways. 

The day Xie Lian spent out with this little group had probably been one of the happiest days he had in a long time..

Chapter Text

Days had passed since their trip to the mall. Days passed into weeks. Weeks into months. Life at Shi Qingxuan’s condo was more peaceful than Xie Lian had anticipated, especially after his initial impressions of how things were between them and He Xuan.

He Xuan was the complete opposite of Shi Qingxuan in almost every way. He had no clue how the pair lived peacefully in the same house, but who was he to comment on a dynamic that clearly worked? It wasn’t like he had any right given his one and only past relationship.

The two often got into arguments over seemingly silly things. He Xuan was a bit of a clean freak and Shi Qingxuan was a walking disaster. He was always tired and always seemed to be in short temper because of it, so the mess was a frequent topic of his angry venting. Xie Lian originally thought He Xuan lacked empathy, he could even go so far as to say he didn't care for him much at all at first. He often didn’t seem to care after their arguments, even if they left Shi Qingxuan in tears. But Xie Lian noticed immediately that he would always be the first to apologize. He was also always the one who slept on the couch without even being told to, the first to leave the house for days at a time to give Shi Qingxuan space. He brought them gifts after their fights, cooked for them, did all the things that you could imagine to make it up to them. And, he clearly made Shi Qingxuan very happy in more intimate ways as well.. Xie Lian had overheard their late night adventures one too many times.. That was to say, he only heard it once, then he stopped leaving his room late at night to avoid an accident like that again. Xie Lian had no experience with how healthy relationships were supposed to function, but Shi Qingxuan was happy more often than not, so Xie Lian assumed this was probably a fair candidate for 'healthy'.

Xie Lian also noticed that He Xuan would often vanish for days even when he wasn’t in a tiff with Shi Qingxuan. Shi Qingxuan had said that he worked a lot and that his job required traveling at times. But Shi Qingxuan didn’t know the details of what he did. Xie Lian had vaguely recalled that He Xuan worked for Hua Cheng, and Hua Cheng claimed to do security work. What kind of security makes you travel..

The Xuan pair, especially after Xie Lian’s impressionable breakfast, had always insisted on covering meals. Xie Lian was often in charge of cleaning up, since he was usually restless not doing something even if it was small. Which was how he had ended up with an interesting hobby. Upcycling. At first his projects were small and clumsy. Sometimes, he would find random small objects that were still in usable condition thrown about in the shared dumpster space of the condo unit when he was taking out trash. Shi Qingxuan didn’t quite approve of trash being taken into their house.. But faced with the options of shutting down their friend or letting their friend hoard someone else’s garbage for a hobby, Shi Qingxuan was left with no choice.

Shi Qingxuan was basically always home. Their ’job‘ allowed them to work from the comfort of their living room, which was often covered in fabric and sewing supplies because of said ‘job’. They were also supported financially by their older brother, so Shi Qingxuan never worried about money. It was because of this free time and copious amounts of spending money that Shi Qingxuan would drive Xie Lian to thrift stores around the city every weekend so he could indulge in his upcycling hobby without digging through dumpsters. Shi Qingxuan had also happily helped him set up an online market to resell his repurposed items when he expressed interest in that as well.

Xie Lian had been outside, carefully removing a respirator from his face, old cardboard was laid out under his feet to protect the concrete of the personal patio space at the back entrance to Shi Qingxuan’s condo. Pieces of an old nightstand were laid out on the cardboard, freshly painted white with primer. It was early afternoon, and a nice early summer breeze that swept through the courtyard-like space in the center of the complex provided Xie Lian with a breath of fresh air.

Shi Qingxuan slid open the glass door, holding a plate with watermelon cubes neatly stacked up on it. “A-Lian, want some?” They asked, walking over and placing the plate on a glass table that had been pushed to the side so Xie Lian had more space. Xie Lian bent to place the can of white spray paint down on the cardboard, removing a pair of plastic gloves that were stained with paint from his hands as he walked over to join Shi Qingxuan in enjoying the juicy fruit.

“Hey so I was thinking,” Shi Qingxuan started, sitting down and leaning to one side to be close to Xie Lian still, grinning. Xie Lian was always wary of that grin when it was joined by the words ‘I was thinking’ . “There’s this club, the next city over, it's called Paradise Manor, it’s been closed for remodeling but it’s finally opening again tonight~”

I knew it.. Xie Lian sighed inwardly. Shi Qingxuan was always trying to drag Xie Lian out of the house. He appreciated that his friend wanted to spend time with him, and appreciated that they cared about his ‘social’ life. But Xie Lian had never liked being in crowds.. Shi Qingxuan had brought him to a bar once.. His heart was racing so fast from the loud music and the sheer amount of people. Xie Lian had ended up spending most of their night vomiting in the bathroom after nearly having a panic attack. That had been a little over 2 months ago now, and Xie Lian had been to a few crowded shopping centers with Shi Qingxuan since and had relative success in keeping calm, but they were quiet places and they were usually open enough to get away from the crowds. Clubs were not like that.

“I don’t know..” Xie Lian popped a watermelon cube in his mouth and sucked on it for a moment before chewing and swallowing. “Last time we went somewhere so.. Energetic…” He trailed off, a faint pink warming his ears from the embarrassment in that memory. Sometimes, he could still almost taste it.. He shook his head and quickly chased the foul taste from his mouth with another cube.

“That was ages ago, A-Lian! Besides, you’ve gotten so much better now!” Shi Qingxuan cupped their hands together with a pout and a pleading puppy dog eyes.”Pretty please!”

“Why don’t you ask He Xuan?” Xie Lian replied, avoiding looking into his friend’s big round eyes.

“A-Xuan is busy. That’s why I’m asking you! The opening is tonight, it’s a Thursday so there’s no way the crowd will be huge, and the security at that place has always been top tier! Nothing will go wrong!”

That's usually what people say before things go wrong.. Xie Lian thought, frowning a little. He turned a bit to look at Shi Qingxuan, who still had that awfully hard to say no to look on their face, and he quickly looked away to the freshly painted night stand pieces just behind him. “I’m not a drinker.. You know that..” He tried to come up with a more creative way to deny his friend.. “Plus, I’m too old to be going to clubs..” That one stung a little. He had barely passed his 30s and it was hardly old but he still did feel a tinge too weird to go to a club at that age.

“Oh please!” Shi Qingxuan rolled their eyes. “You don’t have to drink. You can still drive right? You can be the driver. And I’ve seen people much older than you at clubs. You’re still plenty young and attractive!” they insisted and got up, throwing themselves over his shoulders. “Pleaaase!”

Shi Qingxuan was far too persistent.. Xie Lian’s biggest weakness was just that. Denying Shi Qingxuan even once had been far too difficult. Diverting the invitation to someone else and coming up with excuses were the last eggs in his basket. He sighed and lifted a hand to pat Shi Qingxuan’s arm that had snaked around his shoulders in a half hugged way.

“Fine. But I don’t think I should drive. It's been far too long, and I doubt I would be able to drive very long with the way my knee is..” Xie Lian had been hesitant to try getting behind a wheel again, but he also just didn’t really want to drive anyway. It had been nearly 10 years since he was in the driver’s seat.. He had stopped driving after getting with.. Xie Lian had let his thoughts wander too far, even thinking about something as obscure as when and why he stopped driving caused his chest to ache. A sudden wave of nausea warped the corners of his vision.

“That's fine,” Shi Qingxuan released Xie Lian from the hold and popped a watermelon cube into their mouth, then lifted the plate to offer Xie Lian the last one. Their voice had pulled him out of his thoughts. He smiled sheepishly and shook his head at the offer, thinking about him having killed his appetite. They took the last one and ate it with a smile before continuing to talk. “I’ll call a rideshare then.” Shi Qingxuan started to head indoors. “Y’know~ I heard that the place used to be pretty popular for us queers~” They teased. “Maybe it's time that your healing process branches away from repainting furniture and maybe starts toward looking for a non-toxic hottie to dote on you~ Maybe you can invite that guy.. Ah what was his name again.. San Lang? He’s been super busy, right? Maybe you can invite him and catch up~” Shi Qingxuan giggled and they went indoors, not even waiting to see how Xie Lian’s face lit up in a bright blush at the idea.

That night, Shi Qingxuan was extra excited. They had put extra effort into making themself and Xie Lian shine. Qingxuan had insisted on choosing Xie Lian’s clothing. They had chosen a loose cropped t-shirt and a pair of pale blue jeans that rested higher on his waist, so not much of his midriff was actually exposed, the outfit was completed was a pair of chunky white sneakers that made Xie Lian at least two inches taller, he wasn’t sure how he felt about it though

 Shi Qingxuan was wearing clothes a lot more promiscuous . In a similar way to Xie Lian they wore a white cropped shirt, but it was significantly shorter, tighter, and it didn't have sleeves. They wore baggy jeans with large decorative tears taking away most of the fabric in the front of the leg, and large black platform boots. Their face was also painted in bold make-up.

“A-Lian, are you sure you don’t want to see if your friend wants to come? I thought you two got along so well..” Shi Qingxuan frowned and tugged at the thick oversized cream colored coat they had thrown over their shoulders when they realized it was still fairly cold outside at night, despite it being early summer.

“I don’t want to bother him.. You said it yourself, he’s busy, I’ll wait until he reaches out first.. I wouldn’t want to bother him..” Xie lian toed the ground awkwardly. They were outside waiting for their rideshare. Xie Lian was watching the time on his phone, he chewed idly on his bottom lip. Shi Qingxuan had promised him that they would be home by midnight, it was nearly 8 now.

“Whatever you say,” Shi Qingxuan was all too excited to worry about that any further, bouncing with energy as they too stared at their phone, but their expression was that of anticipation. “Our driver is turning onto the street right now!” They bounced happily and grabbed Xie Lian’s arm, pulling him from his wandering concerns. “Cheer up!” They teased with a laugh. “Everything will be fine! I’ll be with you the whole time! Right here!” They pulled him closer. “Nothing will happen, so stop being such a worry wart!”

Xie Lian was barely assured by their words and general enthusiasm, smiling softly he nodded. “You’re right. I shouldn’t let fear control my life forever..” He admitted and turned his gaze to the floor for a moment before looking up at the car slowing down to a stop in front of them. “Let's have lots of fun.” Xie Lian said with a smile up at Shi Qingxuan, who nodded enthusiastically in response and pulled him towards the car cheering and laughing the whole way.

The club was packed. It had barely been open for half an hour and the line was long enough that the street barely had enough space. Crowds of people laughing and talking loudly were ahead and behind Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan. It had taken them nearly 40 minutes to even see where someone would enter the club to begin with. When it finally came their turns to show their IDs Shi Qingxuan could hardly contain their excitement. Xie Lian’s gaze lifted to the outside of the building as his ID was looked over.

A large bright sign was hung above the door, it was mainly red and black, with silver butterflies decorating portions of it. On it was probably the name of the club, but the handwriting was hardly legible. Below the sign and on either side of the thick black metal double doors were large windows plastered with signs and posters dating events and listing all the things you could do indoors.

Inside the club was even larger than Xie Lian had expected. It seemed endless. Under dim red lights Xie Lian could easily make out that the main area was crowded with people dancing with drinks in hand, uncomfortably close to one another, to loud music that played from the only clear spot in the building, large speakers and a table laid with exceeding expensive equipment were placed on a small raised stage in the space, a tall slender man stood behind the table, pumping his fist into the air and hyping on the cheering crowd of drunk attendees.

On the other end was a bar. A long bartop was stretched across the space, mainly black and lit by red paper lanterns decorated with gold tassels that hung above from the high ceiling. A pair of scarcely dressed women tended to the crowd of people ordering drinks. This was where Shi Qingxuan had dragged Xie Lian first. They had somehow managed to get there just in time for two barstools to open up, and Shi Qingxuan was quick to coax Xie Lian into one while they claimed the second.

“A-Lian!” They yelled over the loud music and chattering of others around them. “Have a drink with me!? It doesn’t have to be strong! Just one?!” Shi Qingxuan put their hands up in that same pleading way. Xie Lian was fairly certain this was typically called peer pressure.. But Shi Qingxuan was their best friend..

“Sure! Whatever is fine!” Xie Lian smiled nervously. His heart was already racing, and his palms were a little clammy. The place felt so hot, but he wasn’t sure if that was because of the volume of people or because he was nervous enough to start sweating.. His throat suddenly felt so dry..

Shi Qingxuan ordered Xie Lian the same thing they were going to drink. Shi Qingxuan was the type of person to document their entire life online, so it came to no surprise that when they received their drinks Shi Qingxuan had pulled Xie Lian close and took a selfie with him, holding their drink up in view of the camera. They posted the image before even thinking about drinking. Xie Lian had actually been quite a common guest star on Shi Qingxuan’s social media pages by now, they always took pictures of their food, snacks, even the cup of the coffee they ordered every morning, it was honestly obsessive.. Xie Lian was often pulled along in their selfies, and there were also quite a few pictures of him looking through items at second hand stores that he hadn’t known Shi Qingxuan had even taken at the time. “Everything you do is so photogenic!” Shi Qingxuan claimed when Xie Lian first caught them sneaking photos of him.

Shi Qingxuan had taken about a dozen more photos to post before finally putting their phone away and taking a sip of their drink. “Ooh! It’s so fruity!” They hummed happily and drank more. Xie Lian had hardly taken a sip by the time Shi Qingxuan was ordering another one..

Xie Lian only had a handful of experiences with alcohol. The last time he drank was at a party Shi Qingxuan had dragged him to during their university years. Shi Qingxuan was his junior by a year, but they had taken the same introductory language class, which was how they first met. Or rather, how Shi Qingxuan first saw the loner with questionable fashion tastes sitting in a corner and decided that he wanted to be his friend. Shi Qingxuan often insisted on giving Xie Lian advice, but he never took it. Despite that, they still spent quite a bit of time together. Xie Lian would help Shi Qingxuan with their studies whenever he could and Shi Qingxuan would parade Xie Lian around their extended friend group so he could socialize more.

At the one and only party Shi Qingxuan had successfully dragged Xie Lian to, he had gotten pretty drunk. He had just started officially dating you-know-who and his only other friends at the party, those being Feng Xin and Mu Qing, had gotten into a drink fueled argument with Xie Lian over him. The argument was mostly Mu Qing’s doing, Xie Lian was smitten however and refused to believe that his friends had his best interests in mind when they warned him about his shady behavior. Shi Qingxuan had tried mediating for the argument, they tried to calm things down but ended up in the path of Xie Lian’s drunk fueled rage and ended up being the first person Xie Lian had cut off. Thinking about it now made Xie Lian’s heart squeeze with guilt. They really were just trying to help.

He quickly started to look around almost frantically for Shi Qingxuan, wondering where on earth they could have run off to while Xie Lian was in his own little world. His heart had started racing again, he had lost control of his breathing and his chest so tight that it hurt. Just as he was beginning to stand to go look further in the club a voice cut his worries.

“You’re looking for the one who was just with you right?” Xie Lian didn’t recognize the voice. He looked up to see a tall, slim figure dressed in baggy streetwear that reminded Xie Lian of some kind of idol.. He had a smooth voice and was, objectively speaking, quite handsome. Xie Lian gave a shy nod to the stranger and quickly looked away to try and look again for Shi Qingxuan, as if he might have missed them.

The person, now taking the seat beside him, laughed “I think they said that they were going to the bathroom. I can wait with you, if you don’t want to be alone?” Xie Lian quickly took another look at this stranger, he pursed his lips as he fixed himself in his chair, his gaze fixed on the bartop and empty glass in front of him.. Since Xie Lian didn’t answer, he really didn’t know how to. The stranger took his silence as an invitation.

“Can I order you a drink?” The stranger asked, waving down one of the bartenders. No.. Xie Lian thought, but he didn’t speak, he couldn’t speak. Soon a fresh drink was pushed by slender, tanned fingers into his field of view. “Here,” the stranger voiced again

Xie Lian swallowed a painful lump in his throat. His hands began trembling in his lap. He quickly tried to hide the trembling by twisting his fingers together, pressing his sweaty palms together and focusing on that feeling rather than his quickened pulse. This person wasn’t making him feel better. If anything, he felt worse. Please go away.. Xie Lian wanted to say but couldn’t bring himself to do it. His voice died in this throat before he could even open his mouth.

“Are you ok? You look pale..” The stranger’s hand had gently pat Xie Lian’s shoulder. He quickly pulled his gaze away from the ever worsening tremble of his hands that was starting to become ever so slightly evident in his whole body. Xie Lian was scared. He was genuinely scared, it was a fear and overwhelming dread that he hadn't felt in so long. Xie Lian could hardly think properly

“I-I’m fine!” Xie Lian quickly replied, and without even thinking about it, he grabbed the drink he was offered by the person, and gulped it down all at once. Xie Lian’s throat stung, this was much stronger than whatever Shi Qingxuan had given him earlier.. He fought the urge to cough as he quickly began getting up, unsteady with the beginnings of a headache throbbing angrily in his temples. The world started spinning as he took a step forward, he brought his hand up to press his palm against his temple. He was seeing doubles, the loud music seemed somehow even louder and as if it was a mile away at the same time.

Xie Lian felt so heavy. The world was slowly fading away from him.

Everything was suddenly so dark and.. So quiet.

Chapter Text

Shi Qingxuan stood in the single gender neutral bathroom, fixing their hair, their tongue stuck out in concentration, carefully pulling and adjusting bobby-pins until satisfied. 

When they were finally satisfied they checked their clothes over, adjusting their waistband and smoothing a wrinkle from their shirt before taking a selfie to post, because of course, you can’t forget to take a glamor shot! finally unlocking the door and heading out. They sent the picture to He Xuan, a big grin on their face as they texted away. 

Miss you A-Xuan! Stay safe! I’m out with Xie Lian, I’ll text you when I’m home! Much Love :Heart:

He Xuan rarely texted back while he was out for work. Shi Qingxuan was skeptical of this at first but had long since come to trust that He Xuan wouldn’t do anything sketchy. They also could conclude by now that He Xuan did genuinely hate most people, so the odds were low anyway. Shi Qingxuan could probably count on one hand how many people He Xuan ‘could stand’ and they were convinced that they were the only person He Xuan could say he ‘liked’ even in a platonic way. 

Shi Qingxuan hummed along to the song blaring over the club, Shi Qingxuan was a common attendee of these types of events and recognized a lot of the music playing, and even liked a number of them! They were in high spirits, and ready to drag Xie Lian away to dance and were turning over in their head on how to try and get Xie Lian a date! They were nodding to themselves with a satisfied grin as they returned to where Xie Lian should have been waiting, only to find that he wasn’t there. 

Shi Qingxuan raised a brow and tapped the shoulder of the pair that now occupied the seats. 

“Hey! Do you know where the guy sitting here went?!” They yelled over the music. “He has long brown hair, about this tall?!” The used their hand to gesture the height at the confused pair they were talking to. 

The pair exchanged looks for a moment and in English they replied “Sorry! Our Mandarin isn’t good! Do you know English?” They spoke slowly enough for Shi Qingxuan to get most of what they were saying. They smiled awkwardly and thought for a moment before pulling the image they had taken with Xie Lian just 15 minutes ago and showing it to them, trying again to ask in broken English, but i n the end, the pair didn’t know anything and Shi Qingxuan resorted to trying to text and call Xie Lian instead. No replies to their texts. Calls went straight to voicemail. Worry started to creep into Shi Qingxuan’s face as their skin paled a shade or two while they stared at their phone, unsure of what to do for a long while.

“Hey!” A voice called from ahead of Shi Qingxuan. “You OK!?” They looked up to see a group of women approaching them, the women’s faces all written with visible concern. Shi Qingxuan swallowed and looked up at the group in front of them, smiling nervously.

“No, actually! I’m looking for someone!” They quickly pulled the image up again, showing it to the group. One of the girls’ facial expressions changed after observing the image. “I think so! I think I saw someone like that leaving a little bit ago! Looked real fucked up! Like he was super drunk! He was being carried by another guy, kinda tall, he wore a mask so I couldn’t see his face that well!”

Shi Qingxuan paled white as a sheet in response. Shit. Shi Qingxuan bit their thumb and responded through the gesture. “Thanks..” they quickly left the group of girls who helped them, forgetting their footing and stumbling for a moment. They didn’t really know what to do.. I should call the police right? They thought staring at their phone while making their way to the exit. For some reason they decided instead to text He Xuan. 

I know I shouldn’t bother you while you’re busy and it’s late, you’re probably asleep by now.

Xie Lian went missing and I’m not sure what to do ..

Out of the 13 text messages and the dozen or so photos of obscure things related to random nonsense that’s happened over the 5 days that He Xuan has been gone for, this was the moment when the ‘sent’ next to every message became ‘seen’.

Yin Yu was typically in charge of He Xuan’s alibi while he was out on missions. He was in charge of He Xuan’s phone, making sure there was a record of its locations so that if anything happened they could use its records to solidify their story.  He didn’t like being nosy and thought that, while He Xuan gave him permission to reply to Shi Qingxuan specifically if they got too annoying, he should stay out of He Xuan’s personal business. He would on occasion skim the messages through the notification popups for anything important but wouldn’t open them, leaving everything untouched for He Xuan to handle later. 

‘Xie Lian went missing ’ was certainly something important. He had to open the chat now. Shi Qingxuan had sent an image.. He was always wary of photos sent by Shi Qingxuan. Not for any particular reason, but just simply because images sent between lovers were typically not for the eyes of others. This was a rather desperate moment, however, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Upon opening the chat and looking at the image Yin Yu was rather surprised to recognize exactly what he was looking at, Paradise Manor had a very specific style after all. Even the bathrooms were donned in black and blood red tiling, and the lights shone red, usually giving the room an ominous look that was rather inappropriate for a bathroom. As he was scrutinizing the picture, looking at any and every detail other than the person in the photo, another message came through. 

Sorry! I know I should just call the police right?

That was dumb of me!

Have a good night

Yin Yu immediately texted back, cursing all the while and rushing back through the back hall of the club's VIP area.

Don’t call anyone

I’ll handle it.

Yin Yu sighed, rubbing at his temple while he, against his literal direct orders from Hua Cheng to leave him alone while he entertained VIPs, knocked twice on the door. 

“Chengzhu!” He said loud enough to be heard over the conversation lightly spilling through the door. The room got silent. 10 painful seconds of silence later Hua Cheng opened the door. 

“Didn’t I—“

“Xie Lian may be in danger.” Yin Yu interrupted, which should have, and likely would have if he was anyone else, ended in the immediate termination of his life subscription.

“What?” Hua Cheng’s Tone was dangerous.

“He Xuan received a text from his boyfriend stating that Xie Lian has gone missing. He was last seen here.” Yin Yu raised the text conversation. Shi Qingxuan had sent about 20 more exasperated messages for clarification on what ‘ I’ll handle it' was supposed to mean . Each message with a declining level of clarity, some not even being real words and just strange mixtures of characters that made no sense in the context.

“Get them. Keep them in one of the VIP rooms until we confirm what’s going on. Make sure they do not leave this building. When you’re done I want an entourage called to the ready and I have the Fish Face back immediately.” Hua Cheng was struggling to keep his temper under control, his knuckles white as they gripped the door frame. 

Yin Yu wasted no more time on this interaction. Nothing good came from Hua Cheng in this mood. He immediately got to work.

Shi Qingxuan had insisted on helping, going on about how it was their best friend and without He Xuan there to calm them down there wasn’t a lot to be done without getting violent. Despite how he acted towards He Xuan outwardly, Hua Cheng actually had at least a little respect for the guy. It was bold to date the younger sibling of the guy you hated most in the world after all.  Hua Cheng really didn’t want to have to get violent with He Xuan’s partner. So he begrudgingly let them help.

Begrudgingly, that was, until Shi Qingxuan proved to be incredibly efficient, and they stopped asking questions.. They actually hadn’t been asking many questions at all after Yin Yu diffused the situation with them. It made Hua Cheng wonder just what it was that was said between them, but he kept quiet after they proved their worth, focusing on his own business and deciding to worry about that later.

Yin Yu and Shi Qingxuan were scrubbing security camera footage from the last hour. Shi Qingxuan knew almost precisely when they had split up from Xie Lian which helped exponentially in their attempt at getting a face and if they were lucky, a car and a direction to follow.

Hua Cheng was sifting through the record of guests with the bouncer who had been working at the time of entry and exit. There was only one place people could come in and out, and it was past him. Hua Cheng hired him for the position due to his impressive memory. He could memorize the face and any important information he glimpsed from a person’s ID from just their brief interaction at the front. 

Hua Cheng had looked up the address his bouncer had provided, frowning when it brought up an abandoned building 3 cities over and almost an hour away. He shot a glare at his bouncer for a moment but kept digging around. Looking into the name, looking for any social media pages or public records of the person. When he exhausted the extent of his computer skills he added the investigation into Yin Yu’s pile of To Dos and moved on to other things. Leaving the security booth with the bouncer in tow.

“I need all eyes on safety. Have the rest of the security team check the building for sabotage. You go back to the door, don’t let anyone you don’t recognize in. We’re closing for the night. Relay the message, I want the building cleared out and I want every person who leaves checked for drugs. I want anyone caught with Rohypnol, or anything similar, held back for questioning.” Hua Cheng fixed his blazer as he turned to split from the bouncer, but he stopped suddenly. “One more thing,” He fixed a deadly glare at the man. “No one leaves this building with someone they didn’t walk in here with. You’ve got a good memory. Don’t fuck it up again.”

With his final piece out, he parted with the bouncer, making his way back to the VIP rooms to conclude the meeting he had put on pause for this. He needed to get it over with eventually, even if this was arguably more important than some ridiculous formality. 

Three painful hours passed in a drag. Hua Cheng finished his meeting in the first hour, and the building was cleared of everyone except people caught with drugs. He Xuan finally arrived by hour Two and Shi Qingxuan and Yin Yu finally finished mapping out the route the car that took Xie Lian went.

It was well into the early morning hours by now. Hua Cheng was tired and extra cranky. Studying the map Yin Yu had drawn over, his single eye narrowed in annoyance. The route was nonsense, an unassuming black car that didn’t have license plates was responsible for kidnapping Xie Lian and Yin Yu had provided very helpful images of half a man’s face. Useless idiot.

Hua Cheng’s mood soured the more he stared at the blurry image of a man wearing a face mask and the erratic driving route. It started fine. But somewhere around the 3rd turn it got completely erratic. It would turn around, go back, go to one end of the city then to the next. It was pandemonium. It took 5 minutes for Hua Cheng to figure out where it stopped in all the chaos. A warehouse. Not abandoned, active and in use. Just outside the city on the very edge of Ghost City’s territory. Just outside of the range of the public access cameras Yin Yu could access on short notice. 

Hua Cheng chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before tossing the map down. “I’m going to the location. He Xuan, take care of the outsider.” Hua Cheng pointed to Shi Qingxuan, who was still in the security booth and still staring intently at the footage. They snapped out of their focus to look in Hua Cheng’s direction with confusion. 

“Yin Yu, work on getting CCTV footage from the private companies in the area. Call me immediately if anything changes.” Hua Cheng immediately stormed out of the room. 

Xie Lian was taken 3 hours ago. The location on the outskirts of Hua Cheng’s territory was at least an hour away. Yin Yu and Shi Qingxuan were tracking security footage with a delay of at least 30 minutes. Whoever was behind this purposely drove through an unpredictable route to slow them down. Xie Lian most likely arrived at the final drop off point an hour ago. If Hua Cheng was speeding, he figured he could make it in 30 minutes. But that would attract too much attention. He’d have to cut it to 45 to not look too suspicious.

Hua Cheng dropped himself into a black sports car this time, the leather seats inside the car were his signature and favorite shade of blood red still, however. He pulled a pack of cigarettes and ammunition from his glove box, checking over his pistol for a moment before lighting a cigarette, rolling down the window and speeding off. 

“Sir!” The shrill voice of a pudgy male called out, running up to the pure jade throne, the arm rests of which were carved as if to look like the scaled neck belonging to the twin pair of dragons at the end of the rest. He wheezed as he dropped to his knees and slammed his forehead to the ground, kowtowing before the slender figure seated on the plum colored cushion upon the throne.

“What is it?!” The man narrowed his green eyes in annoyance, revealing the shimmer of bright green glittery eye shadow and eyeliner painting his eyelids, and frowning his purple painted lips.

“Crimson Rain!” The pudgy man yelled, panting hard as he continued kowtowing. “He’s… Coming here..!” 

Qi Rong clicked his tongue before immediately curving his lips into a disgusting, toothy smile, two surgically enlarged in a way meant to look like fangs slick with saliva and glinting in the low lighting of the building. “Whatever! Let him come! What’s he going to do?!” Qi Rong immediately broke into a mad laughter. 

“By the time that dog shows his ugly mug the little princess will be gone! He’ll have wasted his time! But since he’s so willing to come to us, we might as well kill him as a courtesy For wasting his time!” One of his legs, which was crossed over the other, spread out dramatically, the leg of his plum colored slacks pulled to reveal bizarre patterned socks that ran up his leg. He quickly dropped his leg back down and stood up, shrugging his cream colored fur coat over his shoulders more. 

He stalked across the room and crouched to come eye level with the figure sat slumped and tired to a chair in the corner. 

“I can’t believe that freak Bai Wuxiang wants my dear cousin! Can you?! Hah! He must be blind to think that this thing is attractive.” Qi Rong scoffed and spat to the side, grabbing Xie Lian’s unconscious face in his hand and looking him over. 

“Xie Lian, oh! Xie Lian! Look how you’ve fallen!” He broke out into another fit of laughter. “What happened to that snobby little attitude of yours?!” Qi Rong barked and squeezed the face of the man a bit until his face twisted in discomfort. Qi Rong immediately dropped the face and took 10 steps back. “You’re lucky that freak wants you in one piece!” He barked and flicked the loose fabric of his long coat, huffing and making his way back to the throne to sit himself down again. 

“I’m hungry!” He growled at another pudgy man standing nearby, the original person still kowtowing before his throne. “You. Come here, I need my footrest!” He grinned and lifted his legs to drop them onto the kowtowing man’s back as he crawled over. “Good! Very good!” He laughed and began spinning one of the many golden rings that decorated his slender fingers. 

Exactly 45 minutes later Hua Cheng got out of his car, flicking away the remains of his 6th cigarette and clicking the safety of his gun. 

He stalked right up to the gate of the warehouse and after a once over of the place determined that the place was unguarded. Something didn’t sit right about that. He narrowed his eyes and wasted no time jumping the fence to the other side, landing with a hard thud on his feet.

He rolled his shoulder, leaning his neck to one side and cracking it as he made his way closer to the building, keeping his eyes on the surrounding area.

The outside site of the warehouse was mostly dirt and gravel. Hua Cheng could tell there was recent activity by the tracks left along in the loose dirt. Just how recent that was, he couldn’t be sure. He made out many boot prints and even what looked like marks left behind by someone who was being dragged… Xie Lian.

Hua Cheng slowly opened a side door that had been unlocked for whatever reason, waiting a moment outside before pressing forward, keeping low and making as little noise as possible. 

“I CAN‘T BELIEVE THAT CREEPY MOTHER FUCKER HAD THE AUDACITY TO LOWER MY PAYMENT!!!” Qi Rong. Hua Cheng groaned inwardly. What a nuisance.

“ONLY HALF OF WHAT I’M OWED?! DOESN’T HE KNOW HOW HARD I WORKED FOR THIS?!” Qi Rong’s squealing was going to give Hua Cheng a headache. 

“AND YOU! DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT DOG HUA CHENG WAS COMING?! WHERE IS HE?!”

They’re expecting me? That makes this interesting. Hua Cheng smirked and slowly made his way up towards the voices when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. shit! 

Hua Cheng swore inwardly while pulling his phone out and silencing it, holding his breath to listen at the now deafening silence. He nearly crushed his phone in his hand before he slid it away and readied himself, holding his breath to make out the rustling of clothes and footsteps. Finally a voice broke the silence.

“DON'T JUST STAND AROUND YOU IDIOTS! GO FIND HIM!!!” Qi Rong barked and the subtle shuffling became frantic searching as boots made loud sounds against the warehouse’s old flooring. 

Hua Cheng was able to kill 3 of them instantly. They had given away their positions too soon and he was able to ambush them perfectly. He quickly sent another two shots ringing through the hallway at a pair of men who were in the process of pulling their guns to fire. Hua Cheng picked up one of the guns as he ran by, racing up the stairs. A shot rushed past him from behind on the stairwell, grazing past his arm. He cursed and swung his arm back to point and shoot at the pursuer before he continued ahead, narrowly avoiding two more shots before he made it to the top, both guns pressed to the stomachs of both shooters when he pulled the trigger and let them fall down the stairs behind him. 

He wiped at a trail of red across his cheek, grinning. It had been a long while since he killed someone. It's been a long time since he got into a fight. He was forced to lay low after his stunt rescuing Xie Lian originally. Who would have thought someone so simple would bring such exhilaration! 

Hua Cheng eventually made it to the open space where Qi Rong’s jade throne sat in the center, he saw lounging away on it as he dropped grapes into his mouth. 

“YOU ACTUALLY SHOWED UP?!” Qi Rong grinned and fixed himself to lean forward, hands on his knees. He started laughing uncontrollably, slapping his knee. 

“THIS IS TOO GOOD!” 

“Where is he?” Hua Cheng’s voice was level and calm but just barely. His anger reached its boiling point as he started walking forward. 

“AHAHAHA! YOU'RE AFTER MY DEAR COUSIN TOO?! WHAT IS HE SOME UNDERWORLD SLUT—“ Qi Rong was cut off by the sound of gunfire. Hua Cheng had shot just between his legs, leaving quite the chip in his precious jade throne. 

“Answer the question.”

“HOW WOULD I KNOW?!” Qi Rong barked back, face twisted in anger but he still wore a disgusting smile across purple lips. 

“HE'S PROBABLY OFF GETTING DICKED DOWN BY THAT FREAK BAI WUXIANG AS WE SPEAK!” Qi Rong really didn’t know where to stop. Hua Cheng had turned his gun in his hand now that it was out of ammo and he slammed it hard into the side of his head. Qi Rong spat crimson blood onto his pure green throne and growled, frowning for a moment but the frown was quickly replaced by a large smirk. 

“I GET IT! YOU WANT TO BE THE ONLY ONE FU—“ Hua Cheng wasted no time in using the pistol's handle as a weapon once more to smack Qi Rong in the face. 

“Where.” He smacked again “is.” And again “he?!” One last time, this one throwing Qi Rong to the ground.

“I JUST SAID I DON'T KNOW! OR DO YOU NOT LISTEN?!” Qi Rong barked back angrily, face now swollen and covered in blood.  Hua Cheng raised his pistol once more to hit again but was stopped by Qi Rong’s raised hand.

“WAIT!! WAIT! I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY TOOK HIM! I REALLY DON'T!” 

“Who’s they?” Hua Cheng growled, his grip making his knuckles white. 

“The heavens! They hired me to kidnap him months ago but the bastard is hard to catch! Who would have thought he would be stupid enough to drink something that was spiked?! What an idiot!!” Qi Rong started laughing again until the butt of a pistol hit him square in the face, his nose crunching under the force. It was definitely broken. 

Hua Cheng finally stepped away from Qi Rong and pulled his phone from his pocket. 32 missed calls and over 100 texts. It really must have been important.. Oh well.  

Hua Cheng finally called back. 

“It’s about time!” Yin Yu’s voice yelled from over the phone, causing Hua Cheng to click his tongue in annoyance and turn the volume down. 

“Did you do what I asked?”

“I was able to get access to the building across the street from the warehouse. A white van came to pick up Xie Lian while you were in transit. I was able to track the car for 20 minutes before they stopped with another van, completely identical, and started avoiding traffic cameras. I wasn’t able to follow them both all the way but they’re heading further out of the city, most likely north into Heaven’s main territory.”

“Makes sense..” Hua Cheng frowned and turned around to find that the loud shit head had escaped while he was distracted. “The shit stain has eyes in Ghost City.” Hua Cheng started making his way out of the warehouse and back to his car. 

“I want them eliminated. Send Black Water to do it.” Hua Cheng dropped into his car and immediately lit another cigarette. “I’m going north. Keep me updated. You know the territory pretty well don’t you? I want to know where they would hide someone away.” 

“The heavens has hundreds of important locations that way. It could take days to pinpoint where they plan on keeping him.“

“You have an hour to get me a location.”

“That’s not poss—“ Hua Cheng cut the call off there. 

The adrenaline from his fight was quickly wearing off. His eyes felt heavy and his arm stung painfully from his injury. He had run out of cigarettes and desperately needed a coffee. Walking into an establishment in his state would be stupid though.. 

Hua Cheng could literally have cared no less about whether or not he looked half dead buying cigarettes and an armful of energy drinks and bottled coffee. He was that desperate. His disheveled and blood splattered appearance definitely terrified the clerk at the gas station he stopped at, but who could blame them? He was scary looking, definitely armed, and it was the dead of the night.

He got his cigarettes, his caffeine, and gas because he would be driving for a while.. he climbed back into his car and chugged the first bottled coffee down in one breath before lighting a cigarette and continuing north. He tried calling Xie Lian’s phone a handful of times and came to the conclusion it must have been dead or shut off. He had also attempted several times to track it and failed, but there was no way his captors were careless enough to keep it on him anyway.  It had been 7 painfully long hours by now. 

Please stay strong for me.. Hua Cheng was forced to stop, parking somewhere out of the way and hidden to stop and take a much needed nap until he got news from Yin Yu. He couldn’t be running on caffeine fumes when he came to rescue Xie Lian, it probably wouldn’t end well. Hua Cheng dozed off with his forehead resting against his steering wheel. His breath was calm and even, though his mind was clouded with thoughts of Xie Lian.

At first, Hua Cheng had simply thought the timid man he saw at the grocery store that day was simply just attractive. He would be lying if his reasons for tracking him down and stealing him away were purely selfless. He wanted the damsel for himself. He wanted to play hero to earn Xie Lian’s trust and sweep him off his feet just to hide him away once more. From one golden cage to another.
He had selfishly stuck close to Xie Lian. Hua Cheng was quite vexed when someone else had beaten him to the opportunity of housing and providing for him. He was most definitely jealous of how close Shi Qingxuan was to him. Hua Cheng fantasized more than once about doing something not too dissimilar to what Xie Lian had been currently experiencing. Kidnapping him right under Shi Qingxuan’s nose, hiding him away all for himself. Xie Lian’s bashful face had penetrated deep into Hua Cheng’s most carnal desires and he was certainly not the type against committing crimes for something he wanted.
As he spoke more to Xie Lian, however, he realized that he really couldn’t bring himself to impose such aggressive affections onto the poor man. Xie Lian was really quite pitiful. Hua Cheng had remembered how Xie Lian teared up while asking Shi Qingxuan for help with something as small as reaching a cup because he was too short, or when he needed help taking the trash out when the bag was a little too heavy. Hua Cheng had caught many glimpses of Xie Lian’s fragile emotional stability over the months.
He felt genuinely guilty for his selfish thoughts. He had never felt guilty for something like that before. Guilt was hardly a word in his dictionary. He started distancing himself after deciding he didn’t want to be another monster in Xie Lian’s life. He didn’t want to lock him away in a gilded cage anymore. He wanted Xie Lian to flourish. For him to be happy . He knew Xie Lian couldn’t do that with him around. Hua Cheng would crush Xie Lian. Like a poor little flower sprouting between the pavement crushed under the boot of his desires. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself eventually. Avoiding contact was better for this little flower.

Though he secretly hoped every day, deep deep down in his icy cold heart, that the light buzz and ding of a new notification would be from that little flower. What Hua Cheng  had thought had been a purely physical and sexual attraction had penetrated deep into his heart and thawed itself a home among the ice. He wanted to snuff out that flame more than anything. Love makes you weak. He couldn’t afford to be weak.. But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t stay away.

Hua Cheng was awoken from a rather restless slumber by the annoying ringing of his phone. He blinked hard to push the drowsiness from his eye as he swiped to answer the call without checking the ID, rubbing at his face until he was adjusted to the blinding brightness outside his car. He had stopped to rest in the dead of the night, now it was god knows what time.. So much for an hour.
“What?” Hua Cheng lowered his head back down, closing his eye again. He somehow felt more tired than he had before. His hand rubbed at the sore muscles of his neck with a disgruntled groan, frowning to himself.

“Hello, Hua Cheng.”

Hua Cheng immediately sat up, suddenly more alert now that an unknown voice, and an unknown caller ID was contacting him on his personal phone number. He narrowed his eye, hands gripping his steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. 

“Who is this?” He spoke through gritted teeth, trying to sound amiable, trying to mask his suspicion. 

“Who I am is not currently important. What is important is that I know what you’re after. And I know where Xie Lian is.”

“Well, someone with that kind of information is pretty important.” He responded with a politeness in his tone that was all too obviously mocking. 

“If you must, you may call me Guoshi.”

“I’m assuming you want something in return for the information.” Hua Cheng was highly suspicious of the legitimacy of this knowledge. It wasn’t like Yin Yu was making any progress though.

“There is something I want. Protection.”

Hua Cheng raised a brow and licked his teeth for a moment before reaching for an energy drink from the passenger seat.

“Protection from what exactly?” He cracked open the can and started chugging drinking

“The Heavens.”

Hua Cheng probably should have expected that answer. But it still shocked him enough to suck the drink the wrong way and he started coughing violently.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Hua Cheng rasped, squeezing the steering wheel harder somehow. Immediately after speaking Hua Cheng’s phone rang with the sound of a text message being received. 

“Xie Lian is being held on the top floor. I will meet you at Paradise Manor when you succeed.”

The call ended.

Hua Cheng didn’t waste another moment idle in the car, turning it and racing to the address given while texting it to Yin Yu. He received a call not too long later
“Be there within the hour. Also, you’re fired.” Hua Cheng didn’t wait for Yin Yu to speak first, he already knew what the man on the other line was going to say. He didn’t wait for an answer either as he hung up immediately after explaining.

Chapter Text

When Xie Lian opened his eyes, the world was a blinding white, so bright it stung. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the world around him, he wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking at. The world was warped and blurred, he could barely make out shapes among a blur of colors. Like an unfinished painting, abstract in nature.

He was staring into something. He could make out a thick white line, tracing its shape in a large rectangular pattern ahead of him, surrounded by an ashy blue, and inside the rectangle was what Xie Lian assumed was a person, completely gray in its vague shape. When the shape moved it left behind an after image that made Xie Lian's temples throb with the beginnings of a headache. He squeezed his eyes shut a moment against the painful brightness of the light making his eyes burn as if he hadn’t blinked for minutes and burning bright spots into his vision that were visible even as he closed his eyes. 

When Xie Lian opened his eyes again he was met with a more crisp image, still fuzzy and vague in its exact details, but  Xie Lian could now recognize fully where he was. He was standing on the porch of the little beat up house he shared with Jun Wu. The figure ahead of him was more clear, but the facial features of the tall and well built man were blurred and obscured, as if his mind was subconsciously avoiding thinking about what exactly Jun Wu looked like in any crucial detail. Xie Lian could make out a second silhouette in his hand that also had no exact details, similarly to his face.

In addition to recognizing where he was and who was ahead of him, he could recognize a presence behind him. The presence was a person, tall and slender. He tried to turn to take a look at the person but he was unable to move, suddenly aware of the feeling of a cold sharp object pressed to his neck. His heart dropped and his stomach churned uncomfortably. A knife.

What’s going on?

Xie Lian wasn’t able to finish observing the scenery around him, a sudden bang cut through his observation, making his ears ring and pain shot through his knee, the smell of gunpowder and blood assaulted his nose not too soon later. Xie Lian opened his mouth to cry out in pain but no sound escaped. His weight caused his knee to crumple, sending Xie Lian towards the ground. His ears rang with the explosive sound echoing in his brain, causing his headache to worsen. He squeezed teary eyes shut and bit his lip in a desperate attempt to divert his attention from the pain. His heart was racing, cold sweat dripping from his nose. His whole body shivered from the pain, the smells causing his stomach to convulse in protest. He didn’t even notice the presence of the arm holding him up. He didn’t notice when that arm was gone either.

When he was finally able to pry his eyes open again he immediately recognized the interior of his old beat up car, the view outside the window was a blur he couldn’t tell where he was or what was outside the car, but he wasn’t sure if that was because of the pain that caused tears to stream from his eyes or because they were moving far too fast. He wasn’t unsure for long as another loud bang split through the foggy haze of his mind once more, this one sounded further away, but it was soon accompanied by the harsh jolt of the car, the sound of metal scraping against concrete, the sound of breaks screaming in protest as the driver fought for control, the smell of rubber burning mixing with a lingering scent of gunpowder and blood.  Xie Lian felt as though he was airborne for but a split second before everything faded to black. His eyes were still open but the world around him was gone. Like none of it ever existed.

Xie Lian shot up, drenched in cold sweat. He was shivering intensely, the smell of burning rubber, gunpowder and blood still present in his nose with terrifying clarity. Xie Lian rushed to climb from the plush mattress under him, making a b-line for the bathroom before the contents of his stomach ended up all over himself and the room.

He barely made it in time, falling to his knees and emptying his stomach into the toilet. The contents of his stomach was almost exclusively stomach acid and bile, he had hardly eaten much of anything the day before. His eyes burned with tears that fell and mixed with the biohazard within the toilet as he continued to wretch uncomfortably, gagging constantly as his body desperately tried to purge something that didn’t exist. When he eventually stopped gagging and was reduced to sobbing, knelt in front of the toilet, hands folded over his stomach as it cramped and growled in protest of its current state.

Xie Lian spent 15 minutes shivering and sobbing on the floor of the bathroom before he finally felt anything close to calm , even if he wasn’t actually all that calm. He flushed the toilet and stood unsteadily. His steps were careful and slow as the ghost of his nightmare caused pain to continually throb in his knee. He looked at himself in the mirror above the sink, and realization made his blood run cold. At first, he thought that the unfamiliarity of his environment was his imagination, his mind playing tricks on him in his confused and disoriented state as he recovered from those terrible images. He realized now, looking at his tear, spit and vomit stained face, that not only did he not recognize the bathroom he was standing in, he didn’t recognize his clothes either. He had been changed from jeans and a T-shirt, to a tank top and oversized shorts.

His whole body began shaking again as nausea threatened his throat with another painful fit of vomiting. He was able to swallow the feeling and he quickly washed his face and mouth, trembling all the while. He tried to push the unfamiliarity away, to not think about it. He tried to keep his breathing under control. This is fine. I am fine. He repeated in his head over and over. Xie Lian’s fingers trembled a lot due to his past injuries and it was typically easy to ignore, it rarely affected his life negatively. And even when he was nervous the trembling in his hands was usually still manageable. Now, the way they trembled was something else entirely. He had panic attacks before, at one point a few months ago they were almost daily occurrences, the smallest things setting him off. Xie Lian usually had Shi Qingxuan there to pull him back to his senses though, so they never got too bad.

 The sheer scale of terror he felt now was unlike anything he felt in those moments, however.

His attempts at staying calm were futile. He was still trying to keep his shaky and uneven breath under control, leaning over the unfamiliar sink, gripping its sides until his knuckles were white in an attempt to calm his trembling fingers. His heart was racing faster and faster the longer he spent looking at the unfamiliar sights before him. The sink was the wrong shape, the mirror in the wrong spot. The tub wasn’t big enough, the carpet wasn't the right texture or color. The tiled walls were wrong, the floor was missing its familiar rough grouting. The brightness of the lights was wrong, the light switch didn’t look right, it wasn’t in the right spot and there was a wide, short window that ran a few feet above the tub that didn’t belong. 

His stomach churned painfully, tears stinging at his eyes again. He blinked hard to force them but slowly he was starting to crumble. His efforts to tame his wandering mind were useless. The pain in his knee made it buckle in protest against his weight and he found himself on the floor once more. His whole body was trembling now. His breathing bordered on hyperventilating and the mixture of his ragged exhales and his racing heart beat were the only sound echoing in his ears. Dread crawled over his skin making it prick angrily in protest. Black spots filled his vision as he struggled to breath properly, his chest painfully tight. His hand pressed against his chest, nails digging into his shirt as if attempting to pierce the fabric and burrow into his skin, hoping that the pain would ground him, give him anything to think about other than this. 

His heart leapt to his throat as the sound of the door creaking open silenced the sound in his ears, replacing it with eerie white noise and the soft sound of even footsteps. His trembling somehow got worse. He was fully hyperventilating by now, eyes wide and staring at the white tiles beneath him. His blood ran cold at the voice above him. 

“Xie Lian..” 

Jun Wu .. It was painful. His chest was so tight he felt his lungs would be crushed under the weight. He pressed his hand to his mouth, fighting  the acid raising in his throat again. His lungs squeezed with Intense pain as he had suddenly stopped breathing, his hand preventing him from getting the air they desperately needed. Nothing felt real anymore. Xie Lian’s whole body was shaking but the presence of a large hand pressing into his shoulder, and a thumb rubbing circles into it caused him to freeze all at once.  

“Poor thing.. Another nightmare?” Jun Wu spoke, his tone carried a hint of concern one would expect from a doting husband. The rustling of Jun Wu’s clothes as he fixed himself to a kneel was painfully loud in Xie Lian’s ears. His hand lifted from Xie Lian’s shoulder and moved beneath his head, his index finger traced Xie Lian’s jaw before curling under his chin and coaxing him to look up into a pair of pale grey eyes. Pity written in Jun Wu’s facial features. His second hand raised to Xie Lian’s face, its thumb gliding across his cheek, wiping away a tear as it streamed down his face.

Dread and fear still pricked at his skin where Jun Wu touched. What does he mean by ‘another’? Xie Lian wondered, swallowing the saliva pooling on his tongue. Xie Lian did get frequent night terrors, even before he got involved with Jun Wu. Jun Wu knew about his nightmares, and at first he had acted just like this after he had one in the past, but with time he started to become increasingly annoyed by their frequency.

Jun Wu looked him over briefly before moving to pick him up. Xie Lian didn’t resist, still frozen in fear. This isn’t real. Xie Lian’s mind was scrambled. None of this is real. Any moment I’ll wake up in my own bed.. He continued to stare wordlessly.
“Breath, hun. It’ll be alright.”

It isn’t real.. Being reminded that he needed to breathe did help though.. The pain in his chest subsided ever so slightly. He was practically on autopilot though. His head no longer felt so light as much needed oxygen started circulating through his veins again. Xie Lian’s heart still raced between his ribs, his breathing was still heavy, and his frozen body had begun trembling again. He wanted to get away. He wanted to fight. But his limbs felt so heavy.

“You must be hungry after all that.” Jun Wu spoke up again finally as they crossed the threshold of the room Xie Lian had been kept in. “I’ll have something made for you.” Jun Wu carried the currently docile Xie Lian through a pristine white marble hall. A long white carpet laid out in the center of the white wooden floors. Their shadows casted by the natural light pouring through large arched windows caused the golden details of the carpet to wink as they walked. A man dressed in a light grey and purple tailcoat suit opened a pair of heavy dark wooden doors ahead of them to reveal a large dining room. It was the very picture of luxury.  

Jun Wu set Xie Lian down on a dark wooden chair, the silk of the table cloth brushed against Xie Lian’s exposed skin along his knee and part of his shin. Large windows on one side of the dining room let warm natural light in, from the look of it, Xie Lian could guess it was around noon. If this wasn’t a dream, how long had he been unconscious for?

Jun Wu spoke to the man in the tailcoat suit for a moment before coming to sit beside Xie Lian, his hand pressing into Xie Lian’s leg as the third man left the room. “Xie Lian,” He started, tilting his head and lowering himself so he was in Xie Lian’s field of view. He reached into his blazer with his free hand taking out a small orange bottle with a white cap. He lifted his hand from Xie Lian’s leg to open the bottle, shaking out a single small white pill and lifting his hand in front of Xie Lian’s eyes. “Here. You’ll feel better if you take this.” His tone alone made Xie Lian sick again. It was patronizing. Everything about this was. 

Xie Lian knew better than to trust Jun Wu that much. Consuming an unknown pill was stupid. He had already done something similar once, and it landed him here. What would he wake up to if it happened again? He refused to let that happen again.. He turned his head away in protest, pressing his lips together tightly. Jun Wu didn’t relent in trying to make Xie Lian take the pill, however. He moved with Xie Lian as he tried to retreat and only when he opened his mouth to speak did Jun Wu stop.

“I don’t want it.” Xie Lian had looked at Jun Wu for a moment after denying the pill. He could see for a fraction of a second what he was so scared of the moment the words left his mouth. He saw Anger. Jun Wu’s facade had cracked for a split second, but Xie Lian saw it. Xie Lian had once gotten so good at reading Jun Wu’s expressions. This skill had become his survival mechanism for the nearly 7 years that followed Jun Wu’s sudden unpredictable streak. This little slip was elementary, it never would have gotten past Xie Lian. But it made it clear that Xie Lian definitely needed to tread carefully. Jun Wu could be just as unpredictable as he was predictable. His moods could swing faster than someone could blink. He would have to play along if he wanted to live.

“So stubborn..” Jun Wu sighed and placed the pill on the table along with the bottle. Xie Lian lifted his gaze slightly to catch a glimpse at the bottle and read the label. He didn’t recognize what it was, though he didn’t exactly expect to.

“Xie Lian..” that disgustingly sweet tone of his made Xie Lian’s stomach turn in anger, another fit of nausea threatening his throat. “You had a nightmare about me, didn’t you? Is that why you’re treating me so poorly?” He sounded almost hurt. For some reason, Xie Lian’s heart squeezed. He felt a pang of guilt. He technically did have a nightmare about Jun Wu. How could Xie Lian not have a nightmare about him? Why was he guilty for being afraid? Jun Wu had tormented him for years..
“I really don’t know what I’ve done for you to resent me so much.” Jun Wu continued while Xie Lian was lost in his emotional turmoil. Xie Lian frowned and furrowed his brows, his hands balling into fists in his lap. The mere thought of Jun Wu caused Xie Lian fear. Of course he resented him.. Of course. “Have I not provided for you?” Jun Wu stroked Xie Lian’s cheek slowly. “I have seen you at your worst, and yet here I am, still coming for you.  Is that not enough for you? Are you upset because I didn’t save you from the crash? I did everything I could.” Jun Wu’s tone made Xie Lian’s stomach hurt. It made his chest hurt. Jun Wu.. had a point .. He had supported Xie Lian, He was there when Xie Lian was at his worst. But Xie Lian didn’t know what he meant by crash .. Was he talking about the dream he had? Was that.. Not a dream?

“Xie Lian.. Do You forgive me?” Jun Wu cupped his cheeks and pulled Xie Lian from his thoughts by lifting his head so their eyes met. For some reason, Xie Lian had turned this question over a lot in his head. Xie Lian’s head felt fuzzy all of a sudden. His balled hands had pulled the shorts up over his knee, revealing the gnarly scar that was left behind from the surgery he had over half a year ago now.

“What… Do you mean by crash..?” Xie Lian forced out, changing the subject to avoid the question.
“You forgot?” Jun Wu seemed surprised, it was far too sincere. Xie Lian had actually wondered if it was genuine. It was certainly convincing enough to be. Jun Wu’s thumbs had rubbed against Xie Lian’s cheeks, Xie Lian fought the urge to pull away against the uncomfortably hot hands. Goosebumps raised along his body from the discomfort. He didn’t want to be so close..

“Some bad people were trying to take you from me.” Jun Wu explained slowly. “Some thugs. They wanted to steal you away. I protected you best I could but they injured me. I am thankful that the police chased them away before they got you. But I was too injured to help you. We got separated for so long..” Jun Wu’s pained tone sent a shiver down Xie Lian’s spine. He hated how his heart skipped a beat listening to it.

Xie Lian turned his words over and over trying to make sense of them and what he saw in his dream.. To compare them. In all honesty the only detail that didn’t match was his knee, did Jun Wu do that? And Why? No one else ever answered these questions, and now that it was fresh in his mind he almost hoped that Jun Wu would do him the courtesy of filling in the blanks…

 “Where did the scar on my knee come from?” Xie Lian hoped the tremble of mild fear in his voice wasn’t too obvious.

“I am responsible for that one.” Jun Wu’s hands lowered from his face and traced down his neck and shoulders. Xie Lian wanted to pull away so bad but he needed this answer. Curiosity killed the cat, but Xie Lian assumed he was dead either way.. Jun Wu continued unprompted.

“I was aiming for them, but I hit you. I am sorry. Does it hurt?” That sincere doting tone was back. Jun Wu’s hand squeezed his leg, just above his knee. Xie Lian couldn’t help but wince, the truth was, it did hurt. Every damn day. And the pain was even worse with the pressure of Jun Wu’s hand. Jun Wu didn’t pull his hand away when Xie Lian winced. He squeezed harder for a moment, the shadow of a devilish grin in his eyes for but a second. He pulled his hand away and took the pill from the table. “Will you take it now? I promise it will feel better.” 

Xie Lian frowned a little, lowering his gaze. Promises made by Jun Wu were empty. But his words weren’t. Not always. Only sometimes.. Maybe Xie Lian had misinterpreted what happened.. 8 months.. Had he really gotten it wrong? Xie Lian felt something open his mouth, when he pulled himself to the present Jun Wu was holding his chin, his finger in his mouth, the tip pressing the bitter pill into his throat, deep enough to force Xie Lian to swallow it.

Xie Lian coughed violently as he pulled away from Jun Wu. He pulled away with such a force that, had it not been for Jun Wu catching him, he had nearly knocked his chair over.

“I’ll have someone bring you a meal.” Jun Wu stood and approached the heavy wooden doors. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Xie Lian’s world felt like it was crumbling away. He didn’t want to put weight behind anything Jun Wu said or did. But Xie Lian felt like he didn’t know him anymore. Like the person he knew was gone. Was that just some villain he imagined? Was everything he knew about Jun Wu wrong? How could it have been? There was no way Xie Lian had simply made up the villain tormenting him for years… Was he wrong? Did he have the wrong person? Was Jun Wu innocent? Had his mind filled in the blanks of his real villain with Jun Wu’s face?

 He thought about it. He genuinely thought about it.  Xie Lian’s temples throbbed as he struggled to make sense of what was happening. Why was it suddenly so hard to read Jun Wu? There was no way that 8 months undid years of learning to read this one specific person. Xie Lian knew all his tells. He learned what every small action meant. 

When Jun Wu seemed calm he was the most angry. When he showed his anger it was typically in the moment and didn’t last. If Jun Wu seemed apologetic or especially physical he wanted things . The way he clenched his jaw when he was annoyed but didn’t want to cause a scene, the way his eyes stared down in silent disappointment when Xie Lian made a mistake. None of this was present here. Everything coming out of Jun Wu’s mouth seemed so genuine.

There’s no way.. Right?

Xie Lian pressed his palm against his temple and groaned. He shook his head trying to clear the fog that this conversation had left behind. There was no way he was wrong. Jun Wu had to be lying about something. Anything. This wasn’t real.

His thoughts suddenly felt so… clear.. After 10 minutes of fighting himself everything seemed to slow. His heart stopped racing gradually and he stopped trembling. His fear wasn’t this all consuming force anymore.. Xie Lian felt much calmer now that he was alone. He stood up slowly and started to wander. He needed to think about something else..
The room was large, Jun Wu told him not to go anywhere, but surely exploring this one room was fine? Xie Lian approached a large potted plant placed next to one of the large windows within the dining room. He stared outside while his hand brushed the broad leaves of the plant, a vast city laid out before him. He didn’t recognize where they were, but to be fair, he probably wouldn’t be able to recognize any city from this view. After some time of staring out to the expansive concrete jungle he leaned against the window to try and get a better look down at the building he was in. Wherever he was, he was incredibly high up, that was for certain, higher than he had expected. Xie Lian immediately backed away from the window and shuddered. He was never a fan of heights.
He walked slowly around to the opposite side of the room, a portrait of a man, dressed in a stark white suit and wearing a strange white mask was displayed on the wall. Xie Lian felt a tinge of familiarity in the portrait. Like he had seen the man before. He fixated for a long while on the half-crying half-smiling mask on his face. Weird… Xie Lian pulled his eyes away quickly when he heard the door begin to croak. That was faster than he was expecting.
A woman entered the room, a silver tray covered by a silver dome in hand. She wore a suite in dark grey and black, her long hair tied back in a ponytail. Her pale complexion made the bags under her eyes stand out. She walked to the table and set the tray down, bowing without saying a word, and leaving without saying a word. Xie Lian was at a loss. He felt like he recognized her too.. From Jun Wu’s office..
The secretary.. Xie Lian thought, rubbing at his bruised cheek. “Ling Wen?” He mused out loud to himself, tilting his head. It couldn't be her.. What would Ling Wen be doing here?
To be fair, Xie Lian didn’t know why exactly he or Jun Wu were here either.. Surely Jun Wu didn’t live here… Right?
Xie Lian sat down to put the much needed food into his body. He hadn’t realized how hungry he had been until the moment he lifted the dome to reveal a small spread of steaming rice, a bowl of soup and a grilled fish. Xie Lian’s mouth watered a bit and he swallowed hard. He quickly ate the food, losing himself in his hunger and even nearly choking several times.

Roughly half an hour later Jun Wu had come back, smiling at the cleared spread of food before looking to Xie Lian. “Do you feel better?” He asked sincerely, hands clasped behind his back.

Xie Lian had looked up towards Jun Wu for the first time on his own accord in.. a really long time. A small reluctant smile tugged his lips. “Yes. I’m sorry..” he lowered his head again sheepishly. He did genuinely feel better. The tightness in his chest had finally dissipated, his breathing was steady, his mind felt so clear. That constant dread prodding in the back of his mind was finally silenced. 

“Good.” Jun Wu raised his hand to gently caress Xie Lian’s cheek. In the past, this gesture made him feel sick again but he tried to push it away.

He was willing to give his doubts weight..

 In the past he would shy away from his touch, he would tremble in fear for whatever was coming after it. But none of those things happened this time. He was calm. He had control over his body. He still didn’t want to be touched by Jun Wu, there was still a small inkling of fear that crawled over him. In the past he couldn’t hide this fear, he would tremble, tears would flow by instinct, but now he was able to maintain his calm. He hesitated a moment before pressing his cheek into Jun Wu’s hand, playing into this fantasy. Of his in hopes that Jun Wu would remain friendly. 

But what if he got too friendly.. Xie Lian’s heart skipped a beat at that thought. Earning a curious hum from Jun Wu as his face had obviously paled a hue suddenly. Xie Lian was willing to give food to the thought of Jun Wu not being who he thought.. But that was not to say that Xie Lian had felt any desire to do anything intimate with him. The thought made him feel uncomfortable.. Like something was gnawing at his insides.

“Is something the matter?” Jun Wu rubbed his index finger along the soft spot below his chin, his thumb brushing over Xie Lian’s lips. 

Xie Lian stiffened and forced a smile. “No! I just realized.. I really have been unfair to you!” Xie Lian felt like the food he had just eaten was about to come back up. His mind wandered into the dangerous pit of sudden fear again. 

“And I’m sorry.” He pulled his head away from Jun Wu’s increasingly intimate touches and he bowed his head low in his seat, swallowing hard as a bead of cold sweat formed on his forehead. That dread was coming back. No amount of repeating that he was wrong about Jun Wu was enough to convince him that Jun Wu wasn’t the threat he knew he was deep inside.

“Don’t worry about it.” 

Xie Lian froze and looked up slowly at Jun Wu. He stared into the pale grey eyes for a long time, searching for something in his gaze that wasn’t right. Anything. Literally anything .

There.. Right there!

Xie Lian’s blood ran cold as his expression changed. “I know how you can make it up to me though.” A smirk tugged at his lips, his hand reached out to brush a strand of Xie Lian’s hair back behind his ear. His hand then cupped around Xie Lian’s cheek and brushed against his skin. Xie Lian feared he would turn green by the nausea that flipped his stomach..

“Y-Yeah…?” Xie Lian tried to sound impassive, normal, but his voice cracked and came out shaken and timid. His fear came true. Jun Wu wanted something more than just Xie Lian’s presence.. 

Jun Wu leaned down, their noses brushing past each other as he brought their lips close. “Yeah.” Xie Lian could smell tobacco on his breath. It made the discomfort in his stomach even worse. He wasn’t going to be able to fight this nausea any longer..

“I-I need to use the bathroom!” Xie Lian blurted out, quickly pulling himself back away from Jun Wu. “I’m sorry..!” 

Jun Wu looked a little displeased by that. Frowning and waving him off impassively, clearly annoyed, as if forgetting he was trying to convince Xie Lian that he was the real victim here. Xie Lian quickly got up and rushed out the heavy  doors that were left open by a crack.

Xie Lian rushed down the hall and into the room they had come from before. He rushed to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart and to catch his breath from sprinting down the hall. Xie Lian probably had about 5 minutes to gather himself.  He paced around the bathroom lost in thought. 

Shi Qingxuan would definitely report it if I went missing. Xie Lian concluded, then turned to leave the bathroom quietly, looking around quickly for Jun Wu before rushing over to look through the dressers and bedside tables. He dug around looking for the clothes he wore that night or for his phone but found no sign of either of them. He didn’t think he would, honestly. If Jun Wu intended on taking him back then there was no way he would leave Xie Lian with any attachments to the people he knew outside. He bit his lip then rushed back to the bathroom, flushing the toilet and washing his hands. He also washed the lingering taste of bile in his mouth and swallowed some water to temporarily tame the raging tides threatening to rid him of a perfectly good lunch.. Even if his lunch had come from him .

Xie Lian left the room quickly and rubbed his hands dry on his shirt, taking a deep breath to gather himself and look natural when he reached the dining room again. He was going to have to stall as long as possible. There was no way that they hadn’t noticed he was gone yet. He just had to wait.. 

Jun Wu wasn’t there when he got there though. Xie Lian sighed instantly relieved . This was good. He had more time to figure something out. Xie Lian quickly looked up and down the hall before deciding to go further down to the open space all the way at the end.

The open space was almost the equivalent of a fancy hotel lounge he once visited as a kid. If anything, it felt almost nicer than those lounge spaces. There were only a handful of samey looking tall men in tailcoat suits walking around. They would occasionally glance at him but wouldn’t stop or acknowledge him beyond a passing look. It was oddly still and empty. It was discomforting.

He wandered closer to the couches laid out over the polished marble floor. A blood red carpet laid out in the center of the couches hosted a large coffee table, pale yellow wood frame that looked almost golden and glass for the actual table top. It looked expensive. Everything looked expensive. As if someone was showing off.

“There you are,” Jun Wu’s relaxed voice spoke from just behind Xie Lian, his hand pressing into the small of his back. 

“Come. Let’s go somewhere more private.” Jun Wu pushed Xie Lian forward, leading him away from the gaudy lounge and into the hallway once more. The water Xie Lian had swallowed to tame his nausea was useless. It immediately returned, making him dizzy and unsteady. Jun Wu had led him right back to the room at the end where Xie Lian had woken up before. Xie Lian stepped back unsteadily,Jun Wu’s hand pressed further into his back preventing him from running away. 

“My dear Xie Lian..” he snaked his hand to Xie Lian’s side and pulled him close, using his other hand to raise Xie Lian’s white and green face to look him in the eyes. 

“You want to make it up to me, don’t you?” 

No! Xie Lian wanted to scream in protest but it died in his throat. He swallowed hard and lowered his gaze. 

“There is lots you’ve done to wrong me, you know.”

He rubbed his finger along Xie Lian’s lips before parting them slightly with his thumb and forcing it into his mouth. He ran his finger along Xie Lian’s teeth for a moment before it found the corner of his lips and hooked into the space behind his cheek. 

“First, you cost me a lot of money.” Jun Wu spoke as he brought his second hand down from his waist to grope at his ass.

“Second, it hurts when you look at me with such terror in your eyes.” 

“Third..” There was a pause and a change in his demeanor that made Xie Lian’s blood run cold. “You betrayed me. Running off with some good for nothings! Am I not enough for you?! Have I not done enough?!” Jun Wu’s voice was suddenly enraged. He removed his hand from Xie Lian’s mouth and a moment later Xie Lian was on the floor, blood pouring from his nose, his mouth filling with a metallic taste. 

Xie Lian was completely sure now, but it was far too late.. Xie Lian had been faced with many forms of violence by the loving hands of Jun Wu. He had been cut, burned, hit, and starved to name a few. Jun Wu was bigger and stronger than he was, even if he held back Xie Lian often ended up with serious bruises under Jun Wu’s unique shows of affection. This was something else. It wasn't some one off thing Jun Wu did to vent his anger. This was pure cruelty. 

That dread was back. He’s going to kill me.. Xie Lian panicked, trying to scramble away across the waxed wooden flooring beneath him. He didn’t get far before a strong arm wrapped around his arm and pressed him fully to the floor. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jun Wu grinned with a hint of something truly evil in his eyes. Both his hands wrapped around Xie Lian’s wrists, and his hands were large enough that he easily held both wrists down in one hand. Xie Lian struggled against him, heart racing and breathing frantic. 

“No! Please no!” He cried out as Jun Wu’s hand squeezed his wrists tighter, his other hand lifted his tank top. Jun Wu licked his lips, looking every bit like a predator ready to consume their prey. He started writhing and trying to kick Jun Wu away, trying anything possible to get away.

He pulled away Xie Lian’s shorts and underwear with relative difficulty with how much he was fighting back. Sometimes, Jun Wu could be surprisingly patient. Other times, he could be the exact opposite. It seems he had been done playing nice, finally at the end of his rope he gripped Xie Lian’s throat hard enough to leave a bruise.

“If you don’t stop fighting It will only get worse for you.” He was eerily calm. Xie Lian swallowed hard as tears streamed down his face and dripped past his ears. His whole body was tense, but still, and eventually he looked into Jun Wu’s eyes, terrified. Then, after a moment, he shut his eyes and bit his lip, relaxing and giving in to Jun Wu’s advances with no further struggle, even after his arms and neck were released. There was no getting away any more. He just had to play along now..

Someone will be here soon.. Help is coming….

It had been months since Xie Lian’s naked body had been on display before someone else. He hardly even looked at himself when he could help it. He hated looking at his body, his mind always fixated on the handful of scars Jun Wu left behind. He shivered, sobbing softly as he bit back shameful and pained sounds, swallowing them back down his throat along with the sour taste of nausea that threatened him with every thrust of the large man above him.
It Hurts..

Xie Lian squeezed his eyes shut hard and tried to be somewhere else. He wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else. He wished he never agreed to go out with Shi Qingxuan. 

Shi Qingxuan…

How long has it been since he went missing? Did Shi Qingxuan report his absence? Did they even care? Xie Lian must have been a nuisance to them. They had a relationship. A truly happy and healthy relationship that Xie Lian intruded on suddenly. Who wouldn’t grow to resent a third presence getting in the way in your own home? Xie Lian couldn’t blame them if they decided to leave Xie Lian to his own fate after he messed up this badly.. It's not like they actually cared. No one did. Not for Xie Lian.

Then there was San Lang . Xie Lian had always felt like San Lang had been leading him along like a dog on a leash, just simply toying with him. He wasn’t even entirely sure that San Lang was his name. There was a time that San Lang had texted him every day to make sure he was taking care of himself. He reminded him to eat, reminded him to drink water, and sent him images of his cat. There were times where he would show up out of the blue just to talk to Xie Lian in person, to bring him little gifts, to offer him food carefully portioned into glass tupperware containers that he claimed were ‘left overs’. Xie Lian almost wished it stayed that way.. It was selfish to expect that of someone though. Xie Lian missed those daily reminders, but their absence only stood to fortify his doubts. San Lang didn’t actually care. Xie Lian wasn’t anything more than a game to him. Purely entertainment. And now, he was bored of Xie Lian. Why else would he suddenly stop? Busy was just a polite excuse. Xie Lian didn’t blame him either though.. He was foolish to expect that there was anything between them. If anything, Shi Qingxuan was the one who had planted that idea in his head to begin with. He was broken and used. Who wanted that? 

“San Lang…” Xie Lian had accidentally thought out loud. Xie Lian wasn’t sure how long he was lost in his thoughts but it had worked in keeping his mind off his assailant until now. The world had suddenly gone still. He was suddenly incredibly aware of the state he was in. He was aware of how his skin felt tight where old tears had dried. He was aware of how his hair pooled around him, of every strand of it that tickled his bare skin. He was aware of the shadow looming over him. He was aware of how his bruised cheek still stung in pain, aware of his neck and how sore it felt where he was grabbed earlier. He was aware of the stinging left behind by every little bite and hickey left behind by Jun Wu. He was aware of the hands pressed to his sides. The thumbs that dug into his skin to the point where it caused him pain. He was suddenly aware of how exposed he was. He felt cold. He was aware of the pain in his lower region. He was aware of what was happening to him. The pain, the warm object that threatened to tear him apart. The last time he was aware it had been ruthlessly plunging into him over and over. Now it was perfectly still. Everything was still, with the only exception being the heavy rising and falling of both men’s chests as they breathed heavily.

Xie Lian messed up. This was it.. Jun Wu stared down at him with something unreadable in his expression. He blinked before turning away and frowning, his brows knit together in annoyance and anger.
“You’ve been unfaithful.” He admonished. Somehow, the hands gripping his sides squeezed harder and harder still, until Xie Lian whimpered in pain, but even that didn’t stop. His thumb nails dug into Xie Lian’s skin and threatened to draw blood. Xie Lian felt as Jun Wu pulled out of him and finally let go of his sides. He watched as Jun Wu fixed himself, his whole body trembling. 

“No..!” Xie Lian quickly shook his head, barely able to squeeze sound through the pain he felt in his entire body, through his cries. “I’m sorry!” He begged, struggling to right himself into a sitting position. The only way to fix this was to beg. “I..” He choked on his words. He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want to admit in any way that he belonged to the man before him. He lowered his head, hands balling into fists as tears fell onto them. “I wasn’t..” He forced out, barely above a whisper. He prayed Jun Wu would believe him. And if not believe then forgive. 

The pair of feet standing before him turned and stepped away. Jun Wu had walked across the room and to the door before he finally spoke up. “Wash yourself. You’re filthy.” His words were soaked with venom. Xie Lian considered himself lucky to have not been murdered then. Though perhaps cleaning up a dead body would be more effort for Jun Wu than just simply tossing Xie Lian aside.. He was oddly grateful either way.
Xie Lian struggled to stand, the feeling of liquid flowing down his leg giving him pause. He looked down to find white and red mixed together in a thick mess, slowly crawling down his leg or dripping to the floor from his abused entrance. Xie Lian felt his heart drop. He swallowed and quickly looked away, stumbling to the bathroom and hiding away. He rubbed his skin raw under hot water trying to rid himself of the evidence. He didn’t know how long he was in the shower for but when he finally stepped out the room was filled with steam and his body was fiery red and stung a little. He stood staring into the fogged mirror at his distorted, blurred and barely visible silhouette for a long while, pulling his long wet hair over his shoulder and slowly combing his hand through it. Brushing his hair had always been strangely calming. He had distant cloudy memories from his childhood that it reminded him of. Memories of him sitting in the lap of a woman with beautiful and gentle features. Golden eyes looking down at him with care and love, her lips pressed together as she hummed a special song for his ears only. Thinking of them again now made his eyes sting with a fresh wave of tears. He missed his mother in moments like these most.

Xie Lian finally left the bathroom and put fresh clothes on. He put on whatever he found that covered as much skin as possible. Long sleeves, sweatpants, he even debated throwing a pullover on to cover his head and pull the hood closed to hide in it. He sat with a small wince on the bed and slowly laid down, once again pulling his hair over his shoulder and combing through it with his fingers while curled up in a ball and hummed that special little song to himself. He started dozing off in that little bubble of peace he had created for himself before it was violently burst by the sound of the door opening. Xie Lian’s blood ran cold and he quickly sat up despite the pain and soreness, turning to look to the door quickly as a headache slowly found its way to his temples.

The figure in the doorway was Jun Wu. He was dressed in a white and gold suit, standing with his hands behind his back, his hair slicked back. He stood still for a long while under Xie Lian’s wary gaze before he walked forward, approaching the bed and turning to sit himself down at the edge.
“Xie Lian,” He started and turned to look over at Xie Lian’s trembling figure behind him. “I am very disappointed.” He stated, lowering his gaze from Xie Lian’s face to his clothes then back but not saying anymore.
“I’m sorry..” Xie Lian mumbled, lowering his head, hands lightly curling around the thick bed sheet under him.

“Come here,” Xie Lian felt the bed shift as Jun Wu moved. He looked up to see that Jun Wu intended on making Xie Lian sit in his lap.

Xie Lian slowly crawled over, swallowing hard and keeping his gaze downcast as he carefully sat himself in Jun Wu’s lap. Jun Wu wrapped his arm around Xie Lian’s waist, pulling him closer. His other hand pressed Xie Lian’s chin upwards until he could place the faintest of kisses on his lips.

“Do you love me?”
Jun Wu’s words echoed in Xie Lian’s head. He couldn’t respond. He didn’t . He had realized a while ago that he hadn't loved Jun Wu for a very long time now. He couldn’t tell him the truth though.. But he couldn’t lie either.. The weight of Jun Wu’s stare was suffocating. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it, unsure of how to proceed. He felt Jun Wu’s chest rise and fall in a heavy sigh.

He felt Jun Wu’s hand slowly trail up his back, leaving goosebumps in its wake..

He felt Jun Wu’s hand wind into his hair, slowly brushing through its length.

He felt as Jun Wu twirled his hair around his hand and pulled, causing Xie Lian to wince quietly.

The sound of hair being cut against a blade was the last thing Xie Lian remembered at that moment.