Forever

Chapter 9 - the first forever

Shen Wei carefully felt for his pulse and sighed in relief when he felt one, weak and thready, but it was there, and as the venom traveled through Zhao Yunlan's body, he felt its rhythm change. When it seemed as though Zhao Yunlan had settled and that the transformation would painlessly happen for him, he carefully picked up the quiet body and ran with it to his private hut deep in the woods. After gently placing Zhao Yunlan on the bed, he stood next to it, watching, waiting, an unmoving beautiful statue with bright red eyes.

But Zhao Yunlan was far from being in peace. The burning that Shen Wei had spoke of was beyond comprehension to his pain-wracked brain. The white hot fury raced throughout his entire body, burning, searing, charring every single cell, his organs, his bones, his skin, even his thoughts and soul! He desperately searched his memories for something to focus on...childhood memories, his first girlfriend (which was a disaster!), his proud moment when he became a detective - the hellfire burned each one away as they came to mind. Shen Wei - yes! That was a memory that withstood the burning. He would try to recapture the rest of his memories, if he survived this.

He remembered waking up the day after he had heard those horrible words from the Priest. "You are sleeping with an immortal. Immortals and humans are not meant to be together. You will die if you continue." And Shen Wei had disappeared during the night, no doubt having heard what was being said – he must have been watching Zhao Yunlan as he left the hospital, making sure he safely got home. He was so overprotective of the "fragile human." Zhao Yunlan grinned as he recalled the words Shen Wei often mumbled. Shen Wei's note said he would be back. He would believe that and wait.

One of the buttons on his shirt was loose, so he got out the sewing kit and immediately poked himself with the needle. Shen Wei always sewed the loose buttons on for him. He needed to practice more, he told himself as he put his finger in his mouth. As he tasted the iron and salt in his blood, he realized why Shen Wei never let him handle such dangerous things as needles – as if guns and knives were any less dangerous. Zhao Yunlan's smirk turned into a look of realization, and then a ray of hope shone through.

That afternoon, he kept running to the door and looking through the peephole, waiting for Shen Wei's return. The sun had just set when he finally saw his beloved standing outside the door, his brows knitted as they always did when he was thinking hard. My Xiao Wei, I will make things better. Trust me, Zhao Yunlan told himself as he flung open the door.

"So, are you coming in or not?" he asked as he pulled the stunned vampire inside and closed the door.

"Yunlan, I -," Shen Wei began as Zhao Yunlan silenced him with a kiss.

"Shh. You've been running all night, I can tell. Let's take a shower, and you can tell me all about your 'urgent business.'"

He knew Shen Wei liked hot showers, and through the hot water, he felt cold hands gently linger over scars and moles, as though they were committing each mark on his body to the vampire's endless memory. He, in turn, told Shen Wei about what had happened yesterday, made up things about today, anything to keep the one-sided conversation going. Anything to keep Shen Wei from saying he was leaving for a little longer.

Fortunately, his constant rant seemed to work until they got into bed. He forced a few laughs as they watched a silly talk show. The guests were the stars of some webdrama called "Guardian." The hairy one talked nonstop and kept teasing the quiet one about a monkey. Normally he would have found it funny, but he was preoccupied by what he was about to do.

He climbed onto Shen Wei's lap and kissed him hard, but Shen Wei had turned into an unmoving marble statue, so he began to move, using all the tricks he knew that would excite Shen Wei. It worked, and Shen Wei flipped Zhao Yunlan over and tore off both their clothes. Zhao Yunlan's breathing became rough, with both anticipation and trepidation. His timing had to be perfect, or it would not work.