Honestly, Wei Qing had just wanted a muffin.
A muffin without the cleanup involved in Yue Fei making them once they got home. Those little tins– he always ends up hitting them wrong with the sprayer and getting wet. Not to mention, he’s found his own deeply buried obsessive cleaning habit, at least when it comes to phantom smudges that get baked on and never come off the damn pans.
And now, for that fucking muffin, his kneecap is dislocated and worse still– Yang Wushe is in front of him. Yang Wushe, who he really isn’t yet qualified to deal with.
He swears, he recognized his cologne on the breeze before he even saw that perfect, awful face of his. Just like him, the scent is expensive and overpowering in a way that’s not easy to recognize– just like its owner, the cologne wraps you up and makes you feel safe, even as it bleeds all other inputs away. Isolation, wrapped up so prettily that you don’t even realize what’s happening… Maybe that’s a lot to read into a fucking fragrance, but Wei Qing can’t stop overthinking these small stimuli. Because if he does, he’ll have to focus on the actual man.
It makes his whole body shiver and shake, this impossibility that he hasn’t prepared for, not even a little bit. His call of Yang-ge is almost automatic, something he has to click his teeth closed to keep in, and he loathes himself for it.
Loathes himself for the complicated emotions, beyond just hatred and regret, that crawl their way through his chest cavity as, against his will, he looks up and takes in the full measure of Yang Wushe striding towards him, that stupidly perfect frown on his stupidly fake fucking face. His heart feels strangled, the pain from it a thousand times sharper than that from his battered leg. He wants to cry and scream and run away. He-
He might have loved him.
It’s something Wei Qing’s thought about for all he’s tried not to, in the years he spent in undeath and the months since he got this second chance. He’d spent longer than he should have, in the indifferent gloom of Diyu, trying to understand why he was so stupid. Trying to understand how you could die to get away from someone, only for them to still monopolize your thoughts and tear into your skin. Coming back, it had been easier to push the question away. To pretend that the answer didn’t matter, to this life-ending question of: Did I love him?
Wei Qing had hoped he hadn’t, had told himself that it was just another bad arrangement, only special for the way it ended. He’d hypnotized himself into not attributing any feelings at all to the snake that had swallowed him whole. And maybe he could keep feeling that, if only they hadn’t met again. But the distress he feels as Yang Wushe bends down? It exposes all the feelings that he’d been disavowing.
You don’t jump off a building because of someone you hate; you do it because of someone you hate to love.
His mind goes back, to the last night they spent together, to the way Yang Wushe’s eyes weren’t right, even at the start of it. To the way he danced in circles, trying to make him happy, too dumb to realize that he was just a toy that had lost its shine. To those cruel words, that bored laugh, the way that Yang Wushe didn’t even care enough to lift himself out of the hot tub that he’d just humiliated him in. To the way it had felt, to feel the ground give out beneath him when he could still feel the aftershocks from where they’d just been so intimately connected. Even as he fell, that face– there was no emotion, no difference, no interest–
Wei Qing shudders and feels a wash of calmness beating against those churning emotions as Yue Fei lifts him onto the sidewalk and exhales something that sounds like a growl at Yang Wushe. Yue Fei? Right. Yue Fei, who was here and good and wouldn’t let him be hurt, wouldn’t let him be touched– look, he even forced Yang Wushe’s hand away. Yang Wushe is dangerous, and bad for him, but that’s okay, because he’s not alone anymore. He has Yue Fei. Even if Yue Fei can’t know what happened, he knows how to protect him. He cares enough to lay in his bed and hold him and never let him go back to that ledge. He- even if his past life has left him with emotions he doesn’t want, they also left all the warning he needs.
He’s not a doll, he has free will and bodily autonomy. And Yue Fei to protect him.
He doesn’t love Yang Wushe anymore. How could he? What he feels is just the bitterness left after a parasite has chewed his bones, the weakness that lingers when you’re still getting over the ravages of an illness. The instinctual horror of vomiting out something that wiggles and writhes mixed with the relief of it finally being out of your body. But it’s okay to be weak, it’s okay to feel his lungs burn and his nerves tremble, because he has Yue Fei here. Yue Fei who fills up his damage, Yue Fei who shows him what real care actually is.
Even without them being lovers, Yue Fei is a thousand times more loving than Yang Wushe’s ever been.
—
Wei Qing winces and tries to extend his leg, only for Yue Fei to tighten around him. He vows to never go out for muffins again, to scrub a million pots as soon as they can get away from this man. He drops his gaze to where Yue Fei’s arms are still wrapped around him, and as an excuse to avoid conversation or an introduction, rolls up his trouser leg and checks on his reddened shin and swelling kneecap. The annoyance helps break through the melancholy.
Really, what kind of luck does he have to run into this calamitous shithead?
He’s very much trying not to pay attention; Yang Wushe is nonetheless trying to charm him with a one-man show.
“Ah, I think I recognize Young Master Wei. Now I am even more apologetic, I’ll have my driver fired as soon as he finishes taking us to the hospital. Yang Wushe, by the way. I am glad to make your acquaintance, even if I am sorry for the failures of my staff.”
Perfect intonation, perfect smile– perfectly unbearable. Yang Wushe tries for another handshake and is once more treated like a leper. It’s probably a first for the man. After all, he doesn’t introduce himself to Wei Qiwan’s of the world that aren’t wise enough to give face to him. Little does he know, Wei Qiwan has a pair of apprentices when it comes to snubs~
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Unfortunately, Yang Wushe’s never been great with consent.
“Young Master Wei, please let me-” Yang Wushe is the type to treat the words of hired help like air, and continues with a single click of his tongue as if he and Wei Qing are the only two people on the street and Yue Fei is just furniture left at the curb. Magnanimous indifference is a polite word for it. Snobbishness is another good one. But when Yang Wushe is flinched away from, again? Sure enough, the mask starts to melt away, and something harsher and more genuine bleeds into his farcical act.
After all, in his mind, it’s already the height of charity, to allow someone so unremarkable to stand between him in his quarry.
He finally acknowledges Yue Fei’s existence with the annoyance of someone scaring off a street cur.
“I am speaking to your master.” Not you, nameless trash. He rolls his shoulders and smiles like the sun, like an immortal coming down to save the little beauty in front of him. He speaks like he and Wei Qing are different than Yue Fei; weaves wordless conspiracy like they are connected by virtue of status alone.
Wei Qing wonders how he missed such sliminess the first time round. Maybe drugs really were bad for you?
Yang Wushe still hasn’t shut up.
“Again, I apologize, but delaying medical treatment is childish and ignorant. I’m sure Second Master Wei has trained his help better than that. Now Second Master-”
“He speaks for me.” Wei Qing finally looks up, lip bleeding from where he’s bitten into it, his smile a touch feral with the need to escape this. Escape this, and claim his person. “Yue Fei is not my help. He is the person who knows me best in the world, and he’s refusing your offer because I would refuse it.” He channels his brother, who might just be useful for once, parroting the snub that he’d heard at so many business luncheons and galas as a teenaged tail. “My Wei family can’t afford the good intentions of anyone from your Yang family. We will leave first.”
It takes pretty much everything out of him, but it’s best to cut out a tumor as soon as it appears. Even if the show of force leaves you adrenaline sick and shaky, some things can’t be left to fester. But he has Yue Fei to cover for him, to make this show of force seem stronger than it is. To make him seem less easy to bully. His fingertips spasm, as his hand on Yue Fei’s neck twitches and slides under the collar, seeking protection. Yang Wushe? Eh, who cares how the fuck he took it, the important thing is he’s not talking!
Time to leave, no time like the present–
Wei Qing knocks his head against Yue Fei’s chest and stands, relying on Yue Fei’s steadiness to compensate for his own abysmal pain tolerance. In his dramas, this would be the point where the stoic male lead princess carries the love interest, but this is reality, and they are in public. Yue Fei knows enough to know that Wei Qing is not interested in that script at the moment. Instead, Yue Fei becomes a responsive crutch, Wei Qing’s arm slung across his shoulder and the injured leg held up, no weight on it.
It’s an awkward but effective way to escape Yang Wushe, who is finally scowling in earnest.
Wei Qing wishes he felt relief, but all he feels is ill. Ill and very, very small.
—
“Wait, isn’t the car in the other direction?” It’s a full minute of planter boxes and pigeons before Wei Qing calms down enough to notice, just in time for Yue Fei to navigate them to a wooden bench by a blandly inoffensive corporate fountain.
“You wanted muffins.” Yue Fei motions for a waitress to bring out a menu, wordlessly explaining via their positions that his companion has taken a fall that requires assistance. It’s a very good shop and the waitress is very diligent in running out a menu and listing the specials on a napkin. Even if the two of them weren’t handsome, she’d scurry, but she’s certainly more elegant in her rush given their face values. Her open awe is much more welcome than Yang Wushe’s machinations. But the fact that they’re here at all…
You wanted muffins. Honestly!
Wei Qing weakly laughs as Yue Fei kneels to check his leg more thoroughly, now that they’re out of Yang Wushe’s range of seduction. To still think about feeding him at a time like this, Yue Fei is truly a special breed of assistant. Wei Qing tells him as much, in between calming breaths.
“Yue Fei, my priorities have shifted.” As has my kneecap.
“Be good and choose a muffin,” The cost was meeting a soulless demon, so make sure you choose one you enjoy, alright? “I’ll have the building valet bring the car over.” Wei Qing pauses and realizes that Yue Fei’s not solely spoiling him. There really is a bit of logic. With his knee on an unscheduled voyage, walking here and waiting is more efficient than heading the seven minutes back to the office. The muffins are just a bonus and a good distraction. Wei Qing orders a baker’s dozen.
Wei Qing bites into one as Yue Fei flips his kneecap back into the proper position.
Fuck!
His legs jump and clamp around Yue Fei’s right hand. Fuck, fuck, more than pain there’s the weirdness of the sensation. Even floating bits of bone shouldn’t flip, it makes him feel like a meatsack! Wei Qing keeps his legs together, holding Yue Fei’s hand hostage as he looks down at him, wounded.
“Sorry, but that should be the worst of it.” Yue Fei lightly rubs and blows on the reddened skin, fingers tracing up and down Wei Qing’s shin in something between comfort and distraction. “Try to push down a little, tell me how the weight feels.” Yue Fei cups his hands into a stirrup, cradling Wei Qing’s right foot–
“Wait, hey, you’ll get dirty-” He tries to pull his foot away, only to end up captured in a soft yet firm grip. Wei Qing feels goosebumps shiver into existence at the contact and the image. Fastidious Yue Fei, kneeling on pavement and willing to touch the bottom of his shoes– His brain crashes, and he just blinks dazedly down at Yue Fei. If there was still muffin in his mouth, it would definitely tumble out right about now. Yue Fei sighs and rubs Wei Qing’s ankle joint, encouraging him to hurry up and press.
“Wei Qing. It’s just sidewalk dirt. I am sure there is a sink inside.”
“Still!”
The corner of Yue Fei’s lip twitches as he compromises and slips off Wei Qing’s shoe. It helps with the sense of violating Yue Fei’s cleanliness but worsens the inopportune thoughts that are now chasing through Wei Qing’s admittedly dazed head. He has to work on instinct, pressing down, his Merino-covered toes wiggling as he shifts and feels the pressure and weakness (but lack of pain) that accompanies the movement. He nods his head.
“Feels okay. Bet it will hurt in the morning, but I can definitely walk to the car, thanks.”
“Good. I’ll have Doctor Li meet us back home.” A field check is a field check, a house call is still the minimum standard of care Yue Fei will accept. Wei Qing is re-shoed, Yue Fei washes his hands, and they eat their muffins in companionable silence, both thinking dark thoughts about the man who had interrupted their day. Its an easy hole to fall into for both men.
Wei Qing hadn’t thought about seeing him at all, never again. He’d just assumed that as long as he stayed away from those messy places, the monsters contained within could never chase him. Maybe that was a childish belief, but he still held it. The result was a total lack of psychological defense, and he still feels like he’s been caught with his pants down, baffled by the entire chain of events. It makes him roll the blueberries on his tongue, debating if he can get away with not untangling it.
If he can play dead rather than waste a single extra thought on that person that had once so easily won him.
—
Finally, the car arrives. The boy behind the wheel is sweating bullets and appears to have gone ten under the speed limit the whole way, terrified of hurting the car which was easily double his yearly salary. Again, the little bit of comparison helps distract Wei Qing from his malaise. Life really isn’t easy for the recently graduated. Wei Qing gives him a muffin, Yue Fei gives him three red banknotes and a pat on the back. Between bows, the gangly boy appears to be crying. Eh, he’s had a big day, probably never even gets out of the garage, poor thing.
Yue Fei adjusts the seat back and drives them home.
“Yue Fei?”
“Mm?”
“For the doctor… Don’t send the bill to Yang Wushe.” The name sounds like blood on his tongue. It’s not just drama– Wei Qing’s bitten his cheeks raw over even having to spit out those three characters. Luckily, Yue Fei is equally iron-mouthed, and looks back with something like pride buried underneath his fury.
“Good. He’s a bad person. Master Wei is right to avoid him.” Yue Fei takes the opportunity to poison the well further. If he can, he also hopes to salt the earth. Yang Wushe is a nightmare that has grown worse and worse, as his feelings for his master have slowly changed into something more tender. Yang Wushe is a reminder of all the fears and regrets and hatred that he wants to have no part in this new life. In Wei Qing’s future.
Yue Fei’s heart had jumped, when Wei Qing was harsh with that snake in his defense, but nothing said a bad first impression was permanent.
And if Wei Qing entangled with Yang Wushe again… It would drive Yue Fei crazy. Make him do crazy things, make him choose between staying and protecting Wei Qing and risking jail time for doing whatever he had to to make sure Yang Wushe could never appear in front of him again.
And that-
That would make Wei Qing feel abandoned.
So it is far better for Wei Qing to stay far away from him instead. Maybe they can send him a helicopter voucher, and let him die a bit earlier, yeah?
—
As they drove back to the penthouse deep in their own thoughts, a certain young man clutching a muffin was jogging all the way back to Wei Securities, eager to update his granny at home on the big man he met, and how granny was right, and the rich really weren’t so scary, as long as you were honest and upright in your dealings with them. Not to mention, getting to drive such a nice car, even if it was only for seven blocks, even if he was panicked the whole time– what young man wouldn’t be thrilled by it?
He wants to update his microblog and brag to his friends and then eat his muffin!
Rich people muffins must taste exquisite!
He’s waylaid by his supervisor, who very neatly sends him out of the garage and up to the very top floor, where another big man is waiting. For him. For some reason. The boy nervously fidgets and adjusts his shiny brass name tag over and over, worried about making the best possible impression. If he’d been having a less confusing day, the little junior valet might be having messy thoughts about being sold out or sold off.
As it is, he is still nervous enough to have to hide in the bathroom and try to comb his hair down and shine his shoes and dry his damp hands and practice his self-introduction, all with only the aid of the presidential suite’s particularly high-fiber towels. Which is its own dilemma… Do you throw these away after use? They seem too nice for that, but there’s no linen hamper. What a conundrum…
…
Wei Qiwan ends up impatient enough that he throws off his presidential aura and actually deigns to stand at the door of the rarely-used visitor’s bathroom, interrogating the boy about the call and the drive and the exact state of the people that he’d run into.
When the small valet finally feels put-together enough to meet someone as famous as his boss’s boss’s boss’s boss Wei Qiwan– he finds out that the President had stepped out.
And someone had stolen his muffin! They left a couple hundred yuan for it, but still–
His muffin!
Author’s Note:
If only this was the last we’d see of Yang Wushe, but at least Wei Qing’s made it out without having to be touched by him. Feelings are complicated and I think part of loving someone you shouldn’t is the total lack of control you feel, and the embarrassment and shame that linger, even after those feelings fade. Multiply that by them being the last person you saw before you died, and– Yue Fei, please be extra sticky and kind to Wei Qing tonight.
…Also… President Wei, where’s the muffin? (Wei Qiwan: “It’s one muffin, what could it cost? 200 yuan?“)
[Growing up, I had a friend whose kneecap flipped/dislocated all the time. It really stuck with me, esp. when it got popped back into place, what can I say?]
Such tender care from yf..hes so in love with his master
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Wei Qing’s complex feelings towards Yang Wushe are definitely realistic and heartbreaking 😭😭😭 it’s not easy to ignore emotions and avoid thinking about someone who you were so destructively devoted to for so long (even if that hasn’t happened in this life). At least he has Yue Fei who also knows how scummy YW is and WILL murder in a heartbeat should the need arise. And I love him for that
Yue Fei is so dedicated to not letting it happen again! If you haven’t been through it, it’s not easy to see how it’s easier to prevent than it is to get them out intact. Love the Nervous Driver vs Muffin Thief interaction 😄.
This lil valet is cute lmao
Yes yue fei please be extra sticky and loving and caring !!!
Ahah just imagining how that #@€& must be completely shattered by Weiwei refusal made my day. And the President stealing muffins (could be a good title !)
Thank you very much for your writing !
As much as I hate Wei Qiwan, it was actually somewhat funny, how he corneres the valet in the bathroom to interrogate and stole his muffin