Some are desperate for love, some are desperate in love, Ye Zun was both.
Ye Zun had started cooking, he started keeping the apartment clean, he did Lee's laundry, he cooked Lee's favourite, he did everything that he thought would keep Lee happy and by his side because he could feel the void between him and Lee deepening and he was not at all ready for it. He was desperate to keep Lee and in the process, he was losing himself.
Although they moved in together, Lee had started spending less and less time at the apartment. There were nights when Ye Zun found himself alone on the bed that felt bigger and colder without Lee. But Lee always made it up to him with a steamy makeout session the very next morning on his arrival, exactly the way Ye Zun preferred.
At first, Ye Zun accepted Lee's unspoken apologies and hot peace offerings but even that lost its charm when Lee was missing for days without any explanation.
Lee vanishing was not the only woe of Shen Ye Zun. Every other day Ye Zun found lipstick marks on Lee's clothes, scratches on his back, hickies on his neck, but he never confronted him, never demanded an explanation.
Not because he was afraid of Lee but because he was not ready for the reality. Ye Zun found living a life in denial comfortable, a life based on a bunch of lies. He did not want the truth to break them apart.
But how long do delusions last.
Ye Zun was doing Lee's dirty laundry when he again found a lipstick mark on his hoodie, and it was the hoodie that Lee had stolen from him. A dreadful sensation rose in his gut, his hands paused, his eyes got stuck on the smudged lip mark on the hoodie in his hands that shivered for a brief moment.
A small drop of tear left his eye but after that more drops followed. His lips trembled and then parted slightly, he gasped for air. Little by little, he broke, more tears flowed down his cheek.
Shen Ye Zun let himself break. He pressed the hoodie to his face and cried into it. He was aching, he was hurting inside out. He muffled his sobs, his entire frame shivered as he collapsed on the floor and let it all out, all the pain, all his sorrows.
And as they say, Karma never loses an address. It has been knocking at Ye Zun's door ever since he made Shen Wei switch places with him. Shen Ye Zun, the epitome of perfection, the fierce brat of the Shen clan was reduced down to tears and unfathomable sorrows that he brought upon himself... but there was more to come.
* * * * * * * *
It was a lot awkward.
The awkwardest.
All three sat across each other around the coffee table with Guo and Chu continuously glaring at Yunlan while the latter just awkwardly smiled back. He knew whatever he did to Shen Wei, earned him the rightful hatred from both and he had accepted it. On the contrary, he was happy that Shen Wei had someone who cared for him genuinely.
"Why are you here, Zhao Yunlan?" Guo snapped. His tone and facial expression showed how much he despised Yunlan. Shen Wei's condition on that rainy day was etched on Guo's memory and he couldn't digest the perpetrator sitting in front of them.
Yunlan nodded, not at all offended by the rudeness.
"I want Shen Wei to get drunk again," Yunlan decided to come straight to the point.
Chu choked on his tea, Guo's jaws dropped. Both looked at each other in horror.
Their panic confused Yunlan, "You two know something that I don't," Yunlan could sense something.
Flashback
"I will beat this Yunlan. I will beat the hell out of him!" Chu paced around, looking like an angry baboon with his bulky shoulders rising and falling in exasperation.
Guo, on the other hand, had Shen Wei in his embrace, softly caressing Shen Wei's hair. Where Shen Wei's condition made Chu lose his temper, it saddened Guo.
"Beat... beat him?" Shen Wei, who till now was slumped in Guo's arms suddenly straightened and squinted at Chu, "You will beat him?"
He wasn't stuttering and both Guo and Chu noticed it.
"Yes. Only beating will fix that asshole," Chu cracked his knuckles, "One beating from a police officer and this Zhao Yunlan will lose all his crisp!"
Shen Wei pursed his lips, thought for a while, and then slurred, "then I will... I will beat him!"
End of Flashback
"It was you two!" Yunlan snapped with his index finger pointed at both, "I... He slapped me...kicked me... beat me..." Yunlan almost wept like a wife who had gotten cheated on by her husband, "He pulled my hair... because you two BRAINWASHED HIM!" he yelled by the end of the sentence with hurt resonating in his voice.
"You started it, Zhao Yunlan, you!" Guo got up and snapped back. Chu's eyes swelled.
"I still have bruises from that beating!" Yunlan again yelled with his index finger still pointing at Guo.
"You deserved more!" Guo yelled louder.
Both Chu and Zhao Yunlan jumped.
Yunlan pulled his finger back in nervousness. If Shen Wei could be so dangerous, he wasn't going to take a punt at his friends. He looked down and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. Deep within his conscience, Yunlan agreed with Guo's words.
"Umm... I think we can talk things out?" Chu stood up and hesitantly spoke, equally scared of Guo's sudden outburst.
A Few Moments Later
"Are you sure about this?" Chu was not at all convinced. And even Guo wasn't really sure about it.
"A drunk Shen Wei is capable of things that a sober Shen Wei is not. I have seen. Trust me, the guy can do anything with a little alcohol in his system"
"But..."
"I will take care of him if that's what you are worried about," Yunlan sincerely assured.
Guo and Chu looked at each other, a little apprehensive of Yunlan's plan but they were ready to risk it if it helped Shen Wei.
"But..."
Both Yunlan and Chu looked at Guo.
"If Shen Wei is hurt, I swear, Zhao Yunlan, I will make sure you repent," Guo warned.
Yunlan's face straightened. A person half his frame was threatening him but then again, he got beaten up black and blue by a drunkard. There wasn't much he could say. He just nodded.
* * * * * * * *
Yunlan, Chu, and Guo watched as Shen Wei grimaced at the taste of the tea Guo offered which was just a mixture of different alcohols. Guo and Chu were not at all hopeful about the idea and even Yunlan had started having doubts.
"You like the tea, Shen Wei?"
Shen Wei gave him a hesitant smile, trying to control his facial expressions, "... mh-h-h-it's slightly bitter... but mh-h-h-it's good."
Shen Wei was too humble to say that it tasted like poison.
"It's Ginseng..." All three spoke at the same time but quickly took a sip of their tea in nervousness when Shen Wei looked at them with surprise.
All three exchanged glances while sipping on their tea discreetly.
"mh-h-h-Ginseng does not taste this mh-h-h-bitter. You added something mh-h-h-else," Shen Wei's face contorted, not able to bear the taste of the drink anymore.
Guo nervously looked at Yunlan and Chu.
"It is... it is Guo's granny's recipe," Chu quickly spoke, not sure if Shen Wei would buy it.
Shen Wei nodded but suddenly he giggled, only to quickly compose himself in embarrassment.
All three quickly looked at him and then at each other.
"Umm... mh-h-h-I'm... I'm sorry," Shen Wei nervously fixed his glasses but again giggled.
"It has started..." Yunlan spoke as slowly his limbs started going rigid in scare.
A Few Moments Later
Chu and Guo sat frozen at the sight.
Shen Wei leaned against the sofa; his head lolled back with his bespectacled eyes stuck on the ceiling while Yunlan sat right beside him, stiff and mortified.
Yunlan glanced over at Chu and Guo but jumped when Shen Wei straightened.
All three looked at Shen Wei who sat with his head slightly tilted down, his hands rested on his knees. The innocent Shen Wei looked like a mob boss in the very moment, his shoulders stiff and pulled back in drunken arrogance.
"You... you fine, Shen Wei?" Guo hesitantly asked.
Shen Wei giggled, then abruptly halted, "Better than your tea, Guo."
Guo's jaws dropped, he quickly looked at Chu and Yunlan who looked equally taken aback.
No one spoke another word. They did not know what to say anymore. It was not the Shen Wei they knew.
"That... that was rude, Shen-Shen Wei..." Yunlan stuttered but quickly looked down when Shen Wei glared at him.
"You still have some... some..." Shen Wei slurred as he squinted in thought, "... crisp, you still have crisp!" his gaze darkened as he glared at Yunlan.
Yunlan side-glanced at Chu but jumped when felt Shen Wei's hand on his shoulder, and it was not a pat.
He was pulled up in standing position, his heart started racing when Shen Wei held him by the back of his collar like he was a misbehaving kid or a puppy.
"Shen Wei... what are you doing, Shen Wei?" Yunlan panicked when Shen Wei started dragging him towards the door.
Chu and Guo's eyes swelled, they ran after both.
"Beat-Beat you," Shen Wei's slur was accompanied with a snarl as he dragged Yunlan by his collar, "You still have crisp."
"Shen Wei, No. Please, Shen Wei!" Yunlan could feel his palms sweating as he was being dragged out in the corridor, "No. Shen Wei. Please, let me go!"
Guo and Chu just stood at the doorway as both watched Shen Wei dragging Yunlan by the back of his collar without stopping while the latter could only plead but even the pleads were falling on deaf... drunkenly deaf ears. They mentally prayed for Yunlan.
Zhao Yunlan's plan was backfiring and he could foresee a beating way worse than before.
Hello People!
I was planning to update twice in the weekend but I couldn't ☹
Hope you liked the chapter. If it confused you, the next chapter may clear the confusions, if there are any.