Among the Peach Blossoms ❀ Yin x Wanwan

❀ Chapter 1 ❀

"How is the exorcism going, Melissa?"

"Oh, please, Yin, that's the hundredth time you've asked me that. Give a girl a break! It's my day off today and I don't want you asking questions work-related!" Melissa brought the bowl up to her mouth and took a sip of soup. "We wouldn't be able to perform the exorcism tomorrow, alright? I stayed up all night, using my cursed needles on your voodoo doll and chanting all of the spells I knew, and nothing worked! It's not my fault that Lieh god is a handful..."

Yin sighed heavily. Looks like he wouldn't be returning home tomorrow evening. "But... You said-"

"Change of plans," she waved her hand dismissively, slurping her noodles with gusto. "We'll make another schedule when it's time for business. But right now is a time for lazing around and caring about nothing. So, do me a favor and shoo! Off you go!"

A pair of sapphire eyes fell on Yin's face, thick brows knitted together and teeth clenched, and before his mouth parted to release a retort (which always led to rounds of noisy bickering), he was abruptly pulled to the side and handed a bowl of fragrant ramen.

"Give her a break, she hasn't gotten a wink of sleep," Xavier stated flatly. "Help yourself to a bowl. You must be hungry from all that walking."

With eyebrows raised in surprise, Yin slowly nodded and carefully took the bowl from his hands. "I- ah, okay... Thank you, Xavier,"

Xavier gave him a nod in reply and sauntered back towards the boiling pot to stir the ramen, where Julian was waiting for his third fill.

Yin blinked and casted his gaze downward at the wheat noodles, boiled eggs, parsley bits, and large slices of pork swimming in a sloshing, golden soup with a grin. He raised the bowl to his nose and inhaled the savory aroma until his stomach rumbled and mouth watered, and went on to fetch some chopsticks.

He plopped down on the grass not too far from Melissa and Julian, with the former rambling on about the nuisances at work and trying to make small talk with their most reclusive member, and dug in. As soon as the soup met his tongue, a delectable burst of salty and light flavors greeted his taste buds, and he teared up from euphoria.

It was exactly the dinner he needed after putting up with long hours of walking under the afternoon sun.

As he chewed on a buttery boiled egg, Yin let his brown eyes sweep through the forest. Tiny yellow flowers swayed and leaves danced in the air, fluttering past viridescent mountain ranges and cascades. The bowl's ceramic surface smoldered against his palms. The divine scent of ramen lingered in the air and accompanied the earthy damp moss. Melissa's babbling drowned out the hooting of owls and the burbling of rivers.

"I'm a Gemini. Maybe that explains why I'm so talkative sometimes! How about you? What's yours? Scorpio? Aries?"

Pfft, sometimes?

"I... Don't know."

"Well, when's your birthday?"

"... September."

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5?"

"28th."

After devouring his noodles and gulping down the soup, Yin got on his feet and made his way beside Xavier. The latter turned to face the blonde, who was wearing a bright, sated smile. The parsley bits sticking to his side braid and the yellow-orange stains bordering his lips says it all.

With a chuckle, Xavier handed him a napkin. "Do you want another bowl?"

"No, thank you," Yin sighed contently, dabbing his mouth clean with the napkin. After, he crouched down and laid the empty bowl next to the pot. "That was really good, Xavier! Can you teach me how to make wonton soup next time?"

Melissa perked up at the mention of "wonton soup" and put away her half-finished noodles. Had he not mentioned that before?

She scoured her brain through the many conversations she had with Yin, halting on one four days ago, and smiled smugly.

"Why, because it's Wanwan's favorite comfort food?"

At those two syllables Yin went speechless. His eyes grew as wide as saucers and heat rushed to his face, painting his cheeks a red that outshaded the most vibrant cherries. Xavier crossed his arms over his chest, a smirk playing on his lips, as he glanced at Melissa, whose powder blue orbs glinted with mischief.

This girl.

"No, it's not that!" Yin turned around to face Melissa, who was leaning against a tree trunk, sneering; and replied in a raised voice and indignant tone, "I just want to learn how to cook!"

"For her. Hahaha!"

When Xavier joined Melissa's bout of laughter, Yin took it as a cue to walk away before he falls victim to another cycle of teasing, and sat cross-legged on the riverbank, grumbling under his breath. He shifted around until he was comfortable and gazed down at his reflection in the limpid waters, at the embarrassed frown plastered on his face.

"Why are you so affected, Yin?!"

He let out a frustrated groan and tuned out Melissa's taunts and giggles. Agh, when will it end? He has better things to do.

With a shake of his head, he fished for a bamboo pen and a piece of mulberry paper in his rucksack, and folded it into a small boat. In the paper boat's crevice he laid a peach blossom petal and on the bottom edge he wrote "綰綰的船", before setting it upon the waters, which responded with the smallest ripples.

The mirthful, high-pitched voice of a young Wanwan rang in his head.

"This is your boat, and this is my boat!"

For a few minutes, he sat there, watching the gentle current carry the paper boat southward and away from him, dwelling on memories of folding origamis and playing tag that would last until sunset.

I cannot protect you now, but I promise I'll be back once this is all over.

When the paper boat floated out of sight and the laughter died down, he ambled back, where the others were resting and doing their business by a makeshift campfire. Julian polishing his scythe, Xavier skimming a recipe book, and Melissa sewing a doll. The turning of pages and the gloomy tunes Melissa hummed killed the silence every now and then.

Yin walked towards Melissa and sat on the grass beside her.

"I thought it was your day off today," he asked, a thick brow arched, as she stitched clumps of yellow thread on the doll's head. "Why are you doing work?"

"You know that cloaked customer who always visits? Turns out he is quite well off. He's willing to pay me a sweet amount of these," she pulled out and scattered a pile of shimmering, gold coins with square holes in the middle around her feet. "Just to bring his dead wife back to life. The poor man was so desperate he signed a deal to give me a sack of these if the procedure was successful. Oh, well, business is business."

He reached for a coin and brought it up to his narrowed eyes. Brows furrowed, he inspected the coin, the edges and the square hole rimmed with gold, and the surface sculpted with Chinese characters.

"Feng Shui coins...?"

In the shadows a fiend hid, his eyes as crimson as the blood of the innocent lives he had taken. The corners of his lips tugged upward into a malicious grin, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth. The lines and curves streaking his body gleamed a brilliant orange as the desire to get his hands on him consumed his entire being.

It will only be a matter of time...

[Whew, this was a ride! This literally took me five hours straight to edit. ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ Hope you liked it.]