Chapter Text
Liu Xiao knew the odds were terrible.
However, he couldn’t care less. People happened to reveal more than they intend through the booze, the stakes, and the carefully crafted illusion of wealth that kept them coming back. And with the coin slots rolling in and the numerous beautiful, curvy women surrounding the makeshift palace, the casino happened to be where the young master found himself during this particularly rainy night. Information rippled around the room through whispered invoices, boastful laughs and quiet confessions —all leading to Liu Xiao one by one. Then, with an untroubled smile, the dark-haired boy sat back, reeling them into his mind with efficiency. If his target was going to play this game, it only makes his work easier. After all, alcohol had always been one of the great allies for a quiet observer like the young master.
Liu Xiao had spent nearly two weeks preparing for this operation, his identity carefully crafted and his cards hidden from view. Wether it was the hopeless lamb or the admirable wolf; the youth could play it all. Tonight’s target, his eyes locked on, sat across the room at a private baccarat table. Exactly as Liu Xiao inferred. All he needed was one move, one pawn, one conversation, to secure the checkmate. One opportunity to get close enough to extract the information he wanted.
Simple.
Or at-least, it had been.
“Another drink for this young man.” He could hear a rugged voice sound out from across the table.
Chairman Wu.
A wealthy businessman who offered to play cards with Liu Xiao. A man in his seventies with enough wealth and influence to stretch far beyond this ragged, run-down place. He occupied the private table right behind Liu Xiao yet chose to offer a game of poker with the young man. This was the 3rd drink that the man sent Liu Xiao’s way. A supposed “offer for camaraderie”. Liu Xiao knew his intentions were far from it.
His grip tightened around his empty glass as the chairman flipped over his cards.
Pocket kings.
Combined with the pair already on the board, it completed a full house.
The older man chuckled as several nearby patrons let out disappointed groans. Supposedly, more than a few had been hoping to see him lose.
Liu Xiao merely exhaled and leaned back in his chair. He had not expected to win this hand anyway, nor did he intend to. However, the released tension only seemed to come back once more when the 3rd cup of expensive whiskey was set down on the table with a light clack, a sharp contrast to the raucous noise enveloping the two men. The rich scent of alcohol immediately reached him, much stronger than the previous 2 cups. Liu Xiao studied the glass for a moment. If Chairman Wu wished to lower his guard, he thought, “then alcohol would be the best method. A sedative added to the mix? Much more effective. Neither possibility surprised him. Just as the young man was considering if the old man was subtle enough to poison a guest this obviously, a voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Well played, boy.” The man grinned wide, the breath of booze oozing from his share of the table.
“A well-earned victory. My congratulations, Chairman Wu. “
“Ah... you flatter me.” The chairman wrapped his stubby fingers around his own glass of whiskey and rose it up into the space between them.
“To our special encounter here, young master Liu.”
Liu Xiao could see the stains of grease on the cup, likely from the small plate of nuts they had been sharing. He sensed bile crawl up his throat as a feeling of disgust suddenly overwhelmed him. Did this place get even noisier? The busty women beside him seemed to giggle even louder, the men seemed to shout further across the building and the smell of various intoxicates from the table nearby impaled his nose.
Its too loud… Another scream could be heard at the corner of the bar, under the obnoxiously orange lights, Liu Xiao could make of a young woman getting splashed with a cup of hot water with a trail of apologies following behind her. Too loud….
“Are you listening little birdie?”
Liu Xiao could puke.
“Yes, sir?” he immediately set out his perfect smile, screwed back into place as he offered a semblance of sanity to the geezer in-front of him.
“Getting distracted already? This old man can’t be that boring, can he?” the old man let out another roar of laughter at his private humour, shaking the table under the weight. Liu Xiao’s eye began to twitch. “Cmon, take a sip.” He gestured towards the full cup of bronze liquid in-front of the young master. “It would be a shame for good whiskey to go to waste.”
Liu Xiao bowed his head politely, “That’s very generous of you.” He began tracing the rim of the glass.
“Generous?” His gaze swept over Liu Xiao leisurely, eyes tracing his youthful body as the young man could begin feeling goosebumps down his spine.
“I simply enjoy investing in things that catch my attention.”
Ah.
There it was.
Now Liu Xiao understood.
He can’t stay here for long.
And just like clockwork, Liu Xiao saw a familiar shadow cross behind Chairman Wu. His target. Admist the bustling movement of waiters and men, he could see the rhythm of precise movement clearly. He drank a sip of the whisky, (the old man eyed his cupid-bowed lips touch the room like wolf staring down a fresh cut of rabbit meat), before standing up and beginning to plan down a route to the man he was hunting down.
“Chairman Wu. It was a pleasant time. I believe I should— “A sudden white-hot sensation overtook Liu Xiao’s head, as though someone had an anvil and swung it straight into the back of his skull.
A migraine...?
He could hear a muffled voice across him alongside the ringing sensation beginning to sound in his ears.
“Ah… you don’t look too good, darling.”
Chairman Wu smiled.
“Perhaps one more game would suffice?”
Liu Xiao immediately felt nauseous from the voice, the walls seeming to begin sinking in on him, getting closer as his world shrinked to the waves of pain beginning to surface in his stomach. Sweat began prickling at the back of his neck, his thoughts starting to feel slower, compared to the blitz speed he was used to, as if he was wading through water. I need to get out, his mind shouted.
However, as he tried to ground his feet, a sense of paralysis overtook him, causing him double over and clutch his head.
“My… it seemed to have worked wonderfully…”
He could hear a faint screeching of a chair in the distance. It felt as if his head was underwater, noises and sounds beginning to become warbled as he pulled at the last strings of consciousness.
“You’ll need some help… won’t you…”
He could hear footsteps coming closer… and closer...
The noises of protests in his mind drowning out as his ears zeroed in on the incoming danger. His instincts screamed to get help, yet his body only felt stuck as beads of cold sweat was running down his forehead. His long eyelashes fanned against his cheeks, colour draining from his lips, yet it only seemed to sharpen the appeal of his elegant features. Even on the verge of unconsciousness, he looked unfairly composed.
“C’mon.” He could feel a hot breath wave across his face. The smell of whiskey assaulting his nose. “Little bird— “
Slap
Liu Xiao impatiently swatted the hand attempting to get closer to his chin. His hand almost felt sticky from the touch as he could smell the scent of tobacco around the man.
“There is no need, sir.” He inhaled a shaky breath as he mustered up a smile. “I’m sure other women would fare much better under your arms tonight.”
His knuckles became white as he gripped the table to stand upright.
“One closer to your generation, perhaps. Heard of shared interests making better conversation?” The corner of Liu Xiao’s mouth curved upward.
For a moment, the room fell silent. And for the first time of the night, Chairman Wu becomes unbelievably furious.
The punch connected with Liu Xiao’s jaw hard enough to send his head whipping sideways.
Normally, as an experienced fighter and an experienced confrontationist, he would have recovered his balance, until his legs gave in and the floor tipped beneath him. His back roughly hit the back of a chair, sending it crashing to the ground with a bang before landing heavily against the polished floor.
Gasps erupted throughout the casino.
“Sir!”
Several people rushed forward to help the man up. Among them was a woman in a luxurious red dress and a beautiful face. He could see the hem of her dress ride up as she crouched beside him with concern etched across her face.
“Are you alright?” her voice was delicate, as if coaxing a white cotton lamb, afraid of scaring him off.
Liu Xiao was far from what she assumed him to be.
He slowly pushed himself upright as he could feel his cheek throb and swell against his gums while blood filled his mouth where he’d bitten inside of. Across the room, Chairman Wu was still shouting furious insults at him, the sound muffling against the ringing noise in his right ear.
“You ungrateful little— “
Before the old man could charge at him once more, two men seized him by the arms as a few other women tried to comfort and lull his anger. The old man’s face had gone red with fury, as if a vessel had popped in his forehead.
Liu Xiao stared. A laugh bubbling in his throat.
The sound only infuriating the man more.
“You think this is funny?” the dark-haired boy swore he could hear the man’s voice becoming hoarse from the barrage of insults he had landed towards him. A smear of blood stained Liu Xiao’s lower lip, dripping crimson from his forehead down to his chin. His pink tongue darted to lick it off before a smirk quirked up upon his face.
“A little.”
Chairman Wu lunged forward once more, the men restraining him almost losing their grip. A flurry of protests immediately echoed across the room as someone seemed to run off and call the manager of the establishment.
“Get back here!” Liu Xiao heard the voice roar once more as he rose to his feet. Abandoning the plan of finding his target completely, he booked it for the exit, his legs dashing across the crowd of gamblers blocking him.
The moment he pushed the casino doors open, the rain hit him in a flurry.
Cold water crashed over him immediately as his legs pumped against the wet road, soaking through his clothes and plastering dark strands of hair across his forehead. Water streamed down his jaw, tracing the sharp line of his profile, blurring his vision with every step. The shock should have helped clear his head, should have washed away some of the dizziness at the edges of his consciousness. Yet when he looked back up to the blurry, heavy landscape infront of him, the world tilted beneath his feet.
I can’t stop now.
His pulse thundered in his ears as he ran even faster, the lights of the city seeming to guide him across the empty dark street, smears of gold and red seeming to bleed into the darkness. For a brief moment, he paused, hands on his legs, crouched over as he braced against a wall while the nausea twisted violently in his stomach.
The whiskey.
It had to be.
Oh how foolish he was.
He cursed under his breath as his body slid down the wall, his legs slowly pulling him towards an alleyway with a shaggy roof, half-crawling half-walking. His fingers curled into the wet, rough pavement as he rested his head on the wall.
The poison had been subtle enough to be out of his sight at first. A little warmth paired with some dizziness, common alcohol. Yet now, he felt as though his veins were being seared with molten heat. His breath became heavier as the poison sank deeper into his limbs, effectively paralysing his foot. His throat felt metallic as white-hot, blinding pain began to explode across his body. With his vision flashing, the rain began to pour down even further beside him.
Amid the agony, exhaustion had begun settling over him like a heavy blanket. His body gradually surrendered to the fatigue he could no longer ignore. His head tipped forward, the muscles in his neck protesting the effort to keep it upright. Another shaky breath escaped him. Then, to his own surprise, he quietly laughed to himself.
He needed to get up.
He needed to move.
He-
A swell of nausea crashed into him. His eyes squeezed shut once more.
No. Focus. He can’t lose his focus now.
Not after that miscalculation.
Slowly, his trembling fingers reached into his pocket as he searched for his phone. It felt impossible heavy in his palms, but he knew this was the only way out. As he struggled to pull it into eye’s view, it slipped twice from his grasp before he managed to unlock it.
The screen blurred as names swam before his eyes. For a minute, he simply stared at the flaringly bright screen that ached his eyes further.
Not his mother.
Not his father.
And definitely not his deadbeat brother.
His thumb hovered across the screen before he stumbled upon a name, his eyes slightly widening.
Vein.
He hesitantly pressed the call button as another laugh escaped his lips.
Of course.
The one person he was avoiding was suddenly the only person he trusted.
By the time the call connected, he could barely register it.
“Vein…” the name left his lips as nearly a whisper. Rain continued to hammer against the pavement beside him as the fatigue weighed down on him.
“…need a favour.”
The world tilted, his head hitting the pavement, a loud thud muffled against the rain as his skull hit the ground, blood mixing with water.
“Xavier?”
The phone slipped from his hand, his pale blue lips trembled as he mustered up the strength to respond to the call. Eventually, his eyelids weighed closed to welcome the darkness that followed.
And in that brief period of unconsciousness, he could almost feel a warm cushiony press to his forehead and a few words coming from a deep soothing voice.
He could only remember a few things.
But in contrast to the chilling cold that pierced through his limbs and the fiery hot poison burning up his insides,
It felt warm.
· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·
By the time Vein arrived to the scene, the alley was empty except for the one dark figure he could make out slumped against a wall. The rain thrummed down onto the black umbrella he held as his boots stepped down onto the pavement, stepping towards the young master. Now that he’s standing in the alleyway, Vein wasn’t actually entirely sure what he was expecting to find.
But it was definitely not this.
Vein’s gaze dropped as he assessed his surroundings. The cold rain had washed off most of the blood oozing from Liu Xiao’s head but it continued to run down his face. A bruise had begun to visibly bloom along his jaw, a wash of purple and yellow creating a sharp contrast to the pale skin the boy harboured. There was a small split in his lower lip, the dried blood beginning to be washed away pink by the rain soaking his dark, ruffled hair.
Yet that was all.
Vein’s eyes squinted as confusion invaded his mind.
No broken bones… He kneeled down on one leg, lightly brushing over the strands of hair sticking onto the man’s forehead. No extremely obvious wounds either….
Yet he’s unconscious.
Vein frowned, his gaze drifting lower. He brought his index and middle finger to Liu Xiao’s pale neck. For a second he felt nothing.
His stomach dropped.
Then, a pulse.
It was fast and uneven, but undeniably alive. Relief hit him as he chuckled under his breath, the sides of his eyes softened as his gaze returned upward.
Without that calculating look in your eyes, Vein thought You look much better.
With his eyes closed, rainwater clung to his long lashes. Dark strands of hair framed his face that somehow managed to be unfairly elegant despite the bruising. The once sharp edges of his smile now became a thin line between exhaustion and façade.
Vein softly brushed another damp strand of hair that stuck to Liu Xiao’s cheek. Fingers tracing the bones of his cheeks and corner of his mouth. For a moment, the terrifying boss of chinatown could only stare, his thoughts racing faster than he could catch up.
Before he could think better, with an amused smile, he leaned forward.
His lips touched the young master’s forehead for only a second, a featherlight kiss.
The warmth of the younger man’s forehead lasted only for a second, yet it calmed something in Vein’s chest that he hadn’t realised was uneasy.
Carefully, Vein slipped a sturdy arm around Liu Xiao’s shoulders, another wrapping around the back of his thighs before standing back up, holding him in a bridal carry. The weight that settled on his arm felt alarmingly light, the realisation sending another uncomfortable twist in his stomach.
“You’ll have to explain all this later, birdie.” Vein took a step before looking over his shoulder, one of his employees he dragged along with him stood with a dumb-struck look, frozen in place. Rain awkwardly dripped from his ragged hair, yet he remained rooted to the spot, staring at Vein with the same expression one might reserve for witnessing a miracle.
Or perhaps a public execution.
Thankfully, with some self-preservation intact, the employee immediately straightened up the moment his boss caught sight of him. Still in need of more training… Vein clicked his tongue before he emerged from the alleyway alongside the boy, who was now carrying his abandoned mud-stained umbrella. Water dripped from the ends of his fiery red hair and soaked through the shoulder of his jet-black coat. Liu Xiao’s head rested against his chest, his breathing faint but steady beneath the storm.
“Boss is he injured?” the boy chirped up, taking a hesitant, stiff step forward.
Vein didn’t answer right away, simply adjusting his grip, ensuring Liu Xiao’s head remained supported and didn’t loll out to the side. The movement seeming so natural, almost looking practiced. Then, he glanced up.
“He’ll live.”
The employee rigorously nodded like a bobble-doll, clearly relieved by the answer of not needing to clean up another bloody, vomit-inducing mess. “Then I’ll take it from here, boss.” He opened his arms in gesture of carrying the man instead.
Vein’s gaze hardened.
“There is no need.”
The boy gave in a hard swallow before attempting to protest once more, clearly testing his boss’s temper. “Boss, you don’t have to— “
“I said no.”
A long beat of silence followed as they continued their approach to the car, his eyes occasionally stealing glances at the unconscious stranger. The man looked awfully familiar, yet he couldn’t place where he might have seen this mysterious boy before.
Vein came to a halt near the passenger door and for a brief moment, no one moved.
The employee shifted awkwardly before nervously reaching for the handle. However, before he could pull it open, from the corner of his eyes, he noticed Vein looking down.
The sharpness was gone and instead replaced by something softer. Vein’s hands (usually butchering another human) brushed a damp strand of hair from Liu Xiao’s forehead. His fingers lingering only for a second on the young man’s cheek before he saw his boss leaned down closer… and closer… and—
The employee quickly looked away, a blush furiously creeping up his neck, his gaze snapping towards the ground.
Ah.
Suddenly the pavement became fascinating.
This might be the best pavement in all of Bridon.
Thankfully, his boss didn’t seem to notice the clearly flustered boy against the rain covering his face. When Vein looked up, he found him oddly rigid, as if a bucket of ice had dumped down underneath his suit.
“Are you planning on opening the door?” Vein asked, an unamused glare hitting the boy.
The employee nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Right! Sorry, boss…”
He quickly began fumbling with the handle before managing to pull the door open. Vein slid into the back seat, carefully settling Liu Xiao beside him with one hand holding the back of his head to avoid hitting the window. The employee quickly slipped into the driver’s seat, yanked his seatbelt in and prayed to the lords above that he would make it out of this place safely.
As the engine revved up, he couldn’t help but steal a glance behind, hopefully wishing he had imagined whatever scenarios he was conjuring up earlier. Yet seeing his boss hold the mysterious man’s head so gently (in contrast to the violence he’s witnessed from him), he was certain he had to begin considering jumping out the car window or soaking himself in the rain as punishment.
He definitely didn’t imagine it.
Yet that possibility seemed far more terrifying than anything he had seen in his career.
Rain continued to drum against the windows as the city slipped by, carrying them farther from the alley and towards Vein’s destination.
Several districts away, entirely unaware of the chaos making its way towards his apartment, Xia Fei was having problems of a very different nature.
· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·
The answer was supposed to be 3.27.
Well, at-least according to the textbook Xia Fei was carding through.
Unfortunately, through rigorous late-night calculations and multiple philosophical sessions on his life choices as an applied physics student, he managed to produce 5.81, -2.14 and at one concerning point, 0. None of which were motivating him to continue studying for the test he had tomorrow. He continued to stare at the page for another moment, his eyes beginning to sting, his pencil hovering uselessly in the air as though the answer would magically rearrange themselves to the right equation if he looked frustrated enough.
They didn’t.
With a groan, he dropped the pencil and dropped his head onto the desk, the side of his cheek meeting the cold exterior of bark. Sheets of paper could be seen covering nearly every surface of his desk, some on the floor, some stuck to the wall. A textbook sat beside his notebook as the laptop in-front him whirred from over-usage, the heat coming from the back becoming obvious. Another thin textbook could be seen next to his feet, a few pages ripped out. Xia Fei wasn’t entirely sure if his memory could recall when he had done that, especially when it became a common occurrence of throwing his books against the wall when his roommate was getting too rowdy.
Another error message appeared on the digitalised screen of his laptop.
He stared at it.
The laptop stared back.
Slowly he stretched his weary arms out and closed the program before he said something unforgivable. Guess I’ll have to save this for tomorrow…. God did not seem to be on his side today.
He leaned back and extended his arms to the sky, a few bones popping as he did so.
Rain hit the window beside him, dark clouds covering the stars of the night as Xia Fei realised the late hours, he had been studying until.
Shit… I have a shoot tomorrow too…
He quickly rubbed a hand over his face and glanced towards his phone, 11:43 PM.
Wonderful.
He had spent nearly 40 minutes on the same problem, only to be once again, at a dead end.
The rain eventually became softer, tapping lightly on the glass of his window. Sounds of traffic could be heard in the distance and lights of the city could be seen far, far away. Inside the room, the only light that was the yellow cheap lamp Xia Fei had bought on a whim and his phone screen glowing white in the dark. The rest of the place was filled with the scent of coffee, accompanied by the unmistakable evidence of the energy drinks on the floor that were sacrificed in the name of his grades and late-night sessions.
Yet after hours of studying, even the caffeine had begun to lose its effect.
His stomach growled.
Xia Fei desperately ignored it, clawing at whatever sanity he had left to keep in check with his diet.
5 minutes later, it growled again. Louder this time.
He let out a loud sigh, Guess a small snack wouldn’t hurt.. Reluctantly, the blonde boy pushed himself upright and shuffled towards the kitchen, toppling over a few empty cans and nearly slipping on practice papers along the way. When he looked back at the hoard of trash he could see in his room, he winced.
Maybe he should do a quick deep clean of his room…
But then again, perhaps he should worry more about surviving this semester.
He opened the refrigerator, the cool air hitting him like a fresh breeze. Against the hopeless thoughts consuming him, the machine offered some sense of comfort. Though, the contents were the complete opposite.
Half a carton of milk
A few vegetables he vaguely remembered Vein dropping off
And…
An egg tart?
Xia Fei stared bewildered at the sight of actual food in his fridge, rather than leftovers and pre-made meals. As much as he wanted to take a bite of the sweet tart, he knew he would definitely regret it the next morning. Besides, his stomach would not even be half-full of the meager dessert.
As he rummaged through his cupboards and brushed a few cobwebs aside, he remembered Liu Xiao briefly mentioning to him a new dessert bakery that opened down-town. At first, he had sternly refused to go, afraid of needing to owe something towards the raven-haired boy, but when he saw those delicious egg tart promotions, the golden soft filling, the perfectly flaky edges…. He couldn’t help but mindlessly wish for one.
But he didn’t expect Liu Xiao to actually consider it and drop off something as expensive as this…
He was definitely hungry now.
One bite wouldn’t hurt, He thought.
He hesitantly reached for the tart, a thousand questions weighing down his mind
What would Laoban think?
What if he gains too much weight?
What about the shoot tomorrow?
What—
His fingers had barely brushed the exquisitely tied ribbon of the dessert box before his phone began vibrating against the kitchen counter.
He froze.
Laoban???
In bright letters Vein’s contact glowed from his screen as the device insistently rang, the sound echoing in the silent room. Perhaps a “Are you awake?” Or a “Message me when morning comes” would be a far better way to greet him, but once again, it was his boss. More importantly, it just had to be the time he was on the verge of breaking his diet. Great timing, laoban…
Xia Fei surrendered and closed the refrigerator to hold the phone to his ear and pick up.
“Laoban?”
For a brief moment, the only sound that Xia Fei could hear was rain hitting a window, a car swerving and… grunts...?
“I’m coming over.”
Xia Fei blinked. His hand remained on the refrigerator handle.
“What?”
“Don’t sleep yet.”
The call disconnected.
Xia Fei stared at the screen, a thousand scenarios playing in his mind. Slowly, he pulled his hands away from the door and threw himself on the couch, throwing his head back and letting out a heavy sigh.
Vein’s words replayed in his head, “I’m coming over”,
No explanation, no context, and definitely no warning. Vein never called him like this. Whenever he called Xia Fei, it would always be efficient, deliberate, and often times be paired with terrifyingly annoying timing, like the time he suddenly called him as soon as he was about to step out of his lecture room, only for it to be a request to meet up for hot pot dinner.
Actually, most times it was Xia Fei calling. Often times, when he was in trouble, avoiding a beating or well… getting into another fight.
Another fight.. Xia Feis squinted as his thoughts drifted further.
Wait… a fight?
Xia Fei suddenly shot up from his seat. Vein telling him that he was coming over without a single reason why. Could he be in trouble? A thousand pictures wavered in his head. Vein getting beat up, Vein getting harassed, or Vein—
Xia Fei quickly shook his thoughts away. He shouldn’t be thinking about these sorts of things.. After-all, if it really was the case..
He still should check just to make sure.
Looking down at his phone, he quickly scrolled through and clicked Vein’s contact, calling him once more, thumb hovering his screen faster than his racing heart. The ringing started, once, twice, before it stopped. His heart sank, the automated voice blaring in his ear.
“Unavailable.”
The word sat uncomfortably in his chest as he tried again, and again, and once more. Each attempt to reach out producing the same outcome. For a moment, he just stood there, phone pressed into his ear as his mind filled the gaps of his wild imagination. His grip tightened, anxiety seizing his heart. Waiting for Vein to appear at his door with whatever explanation he would have definitely wouldn’t stop the racing thoughts in his mind. He exhaled slowly, forcing his shoulder to relax and tried bringing his thoughts to an end yet no matter what he did, his anxiety never receded. So, he did the only thing that would control his nerves.
He took the egg tart.
He stared at the sweet delicacy for a moment longer than necessary.
Then, finally, he bit.
Xia Fei hadn’t expected less from a dessert Liu Xiao picked out, but the moment the pastry gave way beneath his teeth, all of his stress melted away. The crust was delicate, soft buttery rim cracking before dissolving into something flaky. It didn’t crumble as much as the usual egg tarts he had ate before, during his days he became a model, when money was tight and he desperately trying to make ends meet.
The filling was smooth, custardy and dense enough to feel indulgent yet light. He could taste the richness in his mouth and the lingering taste of vanilla touching his tongue.
For a few moments, Xia Fei completely finally forgot what he was worrying about, wether it was the test coming up, or Vein’s cyrptic call.
He chewed slowly, as if swallowing too fast would ruin the brief moment of bliss entirely. Slowly, he took bite after bite, silently thanking Liu Xiao for the tart. He caught himself thinking that even Liu Xiao might even like it. Liu Xiao with that unreadable expression and aloof aura of his, quietly eating something like this in the middle of the night.
Xia Fei laughed quietly at that thought. “How stupid.” He took another bite.
He was halfway through the egg tart when the lock clicked.
It was a small sound, barely noticeable in the rain, but tonight., the sound cut through the apartment.
He frowned slightly.
Was it his roommate?
Xia Fei turned his head just in time to see Vein step inside.
Then stop.
The silence that followed was heavy
Vein was holding someone.
Liu Xiao???
At first, Xia Fei’s brain circuited as it tried to interpret the image as something normal. Yet, the longer he looked, the more his explanations fell apart. Liu Xiao was not even conscious. His head hung slightly forward in Vein’s hold, his dark hair damp and disheveled, nothing like the young master Xia Fei was used to. There was even a bruise along his jaw that he definitely hadn’t seen before.
Xia Fei slowly lowered the egg tart in his hand.
Vein’s gaze shifted, eyes going straight to the movement.
Then on Xia Fei
And on the tart again.
A long pause filled the room.
Vein’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Eating sweets this late, Felix?”
Xia Fei stared at him.
“…Laoban.” He took a breath in “You brought a corpse into my apartment.”
“He’s not dead.” Vein gave in a malicious grin. “Yet.”
“However, in your case…” He returned his eyes to the half-eaten tart, a sly smile on his face.
Xia Fei felt chills crawl up his back, swallowing slowly.
“…I can explain.”
Vein remained silent
Then, he stepped further inside, clicking the door shut behind him with a deliberate click.