"Come on, my friends are already in there! They can vouch for me!"
Mo Guan Shan clicked his tongue, his frown deepening further...if that was even possible. "There's no one remotely around your age in there and if you actually are 'friends' with them, then you're hanging with the wrong crowd kid." He said while shooing the boy. Mo Guan Shan, a 25 year-old bouncer— well a bouncer that happened to be way too good at his job first off. The club he was working at had once been notorious for scandals dealing with "rebels," like the little brat that he was dealing with at this moment. But, ever since Guan Shan started working at this job, there has been a significant decrease in the amount of kids that have been able to sneak their way into the club.
See, the redhead was born with an 'unfortunate gift,' of being able to view other people's ages above their heads, it was as if he were some character written straight from a web comic, and he honestly hated it. It's not like he was getting any special treatment or a boost in pay because of the power, which was specifically because no one knew about it, other than his mother of course. However, it seemed like some people that frequently attended the establishment, started to notice that there was something special about Mo Guan Shan. They would, seemingly, come specifically for him to guess their and their friends ages, which was admittedly fun at first since he was finally getting some recognition, but like everything else in his life...it started to get annoying after a while. He nearly lost his job after getting into a confrontation with one patron.
But enough about his "life story," it was about to be lunch break and going back and forth with this brat was no where in his plans. However, things never really go the way he wants them to and only get worse.
"I have um... twenty-five dollars on me! I'll give it to you if you let me in."
Mo rubbed his temple, "Do I have to use force to get you out of here?" he threatened because not only was he getting annoyed, everyone else in the line was too. There was no way that he was going to lose his job because of some thrill-seeking, snot-nosed, teenager. "Now you're threatening me, I—"
A man with eyes as dark as his hair bumped into the boy, effortlessly knocking him to the ground, "My bad." He swiftly replied, though he made no effort to help the "poor kid" up. Mo Guan Shan felt relief wash over him, crossing his arms once again, 'Hopefully the brat takes that as a sign to scram, this guy looks like a V.I.P.' he thought to himself as his attention finally turned to the man. He had a slight tan, broad shoulders, a crisp black suit to match with his over all dark appearance, and a smug smirk to top it all off. "Hm, I don't think I've seen you before, you must be new." The stranger started up conversation, sizing Guan Shan up.
"Yeah, Yeah. I don't have time for more useless chit-chat." Mo was imagining the savory taste of a ham-sandwich which only increased his urge to get his shift over with. He briefly glanced above the male's head, '1,000 years old, good enough.' The redhead thought before his eyes suddenly grew wide, 'Wait...' he did a double-take and sure enough the number '1,000' were above the man's head. This simple action didn't seem to go unnoticed, causing the rise of a thin eyebrow, "Is there something wrong, red?"
"Nothing, go in and stop bothering me." Mo Guan Shan urged him inside as he backed up slightly, clearing his throat a little. He was pretty sure that he was sober coming to work, but it seems that he was maybe having some kind of belated hangover from a few days ago. It was either that or maybe that kid wore him out more than he thought. Whatever the case may be, he was going on break now and would have plenty of time to rest and sober up, if need be.
"Feisty, I assume you're going on break then? Why not join me, so we can get to know each other better~?"
Was this man really still standing here after he told him to get lost? Yes he was, unfortunately. Mo Guan Shan gave him a look before speaking, "I don't care how much you frequent this place or the amount of money attached to your name, you can piss off. I'm not interested." He flipped him off, just to assure that he got his point across.
The smirk on the man's face seemed to falter at the redhead's abrasive behavior, but a playful grin quickly replaced it. He put his hands up as if surrendering, "So feisty, but I'll leave you be...for now. Have a nice lunch break, Red~" Guan Shan rolled his eyes, putting his hand down as he watched the odd man disappear into the booming club, but not before he got one more glance at the numbers above the man's head.
-------
1,000...
Ｏｎｅ ｔｈｏｕｓａｎｄ...
Who knew that something as simple as a number, would be haunting Mo for the rest of the day and would probably continue onto tomorrow.
Annoyingly, that stranger was still on the redhead's mind. It was a weird encounter, but he's dealt with plenty of weird encounters, though none of which were deemed worthy enough to dwell on.
Maybe what separated this one from the rest, is the fact that it involved this damned 'power' of his. It was already proof that the impossible could be possible, the endless possibilities of what else could be out there honestly scared him.
"Hey...Earth to Mo Guan Shan."
Guan Shan blinked, startled at the gloved hand moving across his vision, his attention quickly turning to its owner.
There stood his, surprisingly, close friend Zhan Zheng Xi, a mall cop at one of the popular shopping centers in their area. He was the same age as Mo, a brunette with a little more muscle than Guan Shan (something he wouldn't admit to aloud), slightly tanned skin, and cloudy blue eyes. At the moment, Zheng Xi had a look of concern and curiosity across his features, his dark eyebrow raising an inch from their regular position.
"Sorry, I'm fine. Just...exhausted, as always." Mo shook his head, waving the male off, "Now get your hand out of my face." He leaned back in his seat.
Right, they were in the corner of Mo Guan Shan's favorite sandwich shop— a quite frequented place for the two. They typically opted to sit in a booth at the corner of the place, just so they wouldn't be bothered by anyone...well it was really Guan Shan that didn't want to be 'bothered.' The redhead has made it clear plenty of times that people were the bane of his existence.
"Are you sure?" Zheng Xi placed a nicely wrapped sandwich in front of the male before sitting across from him, placing down his own lunch in the process. Mo simply shook his head, muttering a 'thank you' as he unwrapped his sandwich, "It was just another weird encounter with someone in the line— a V.I.P this time, to be specific." He never told Zhan Zheng Xi about his 'power' since there was really no casual way of bringing it up, no matter how understanding he knew his friend to be.
"Same here, somewhat."
Mo stopped in the middle of unwrapping his sandwich, his heart skipping a beat for a second. "In the mall there's this blonde just reeking havoc. I may be wrong...but I think he wants me to catch him or something."
What?
Guan Shan felt foolish, to think that Zheng Xi realized something extra that he didn't tell him. The brunette was smart, but not that smart— Hopefully. "What do you mean? What kind of idiot would want to be caught." The redhead asked, interested because the male never really talked much about his job. "I'm trying to figure that out myself. He doesn't seem like that bad of a guy, really." Zheng Xi gave a small shrug, beginning to eat his salad.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? He doesn't seem like that bad of a guy but is reeking havoc on the mall?" Now it was Mo Guan Shan's turn to raise his eyebrow. Leave it to Mr. Zhan Zheng Xi to try and see the good in people. The other male simply shrugged, "He doesn't have that much of a threatening presence, I suppose. Any one who has reported him, didn't seem afraid or-"
The chime of the bell that dangled from the shop's door, briefly caught the attention of few individuals sitting in the shop. For Mo Guan Shan on the other hand, it wasn't so brief. The redhead didn't even blink as he stared at the entering customer.
'You can't be serious.'
Zheng Xi was about to continue his sentence until he noticed his friend's fixated gaze. His eyes tracked Guan Shan's and realized that it still remained on the newcomer at the door.
"Is that the V.I.P?"
The sudden questioned seemed to throw Guan Shan off guard as he quickly whipped his head back towards the brunette, "Your reaction just confirmed it." He had said, not giving Mo any opportunity to stutter out an excuse. Deciding that there was no use or need in trying to hide it, "It is, so don't look at em', he's a weirdo." The redhead turned back to his sandwich.
"I think he already saw you, he's coming over."
'Just my luck isn't it. I knew I should have stayed home today.'
"Well if it isn't little Red~ Nice to see you again, seems like we have similar tastes."
Mo Guan Shan didn't look at the man, deciding to ignore him and hope that Zhan Zheng Xi would follow suit instead of trying to be 'Mr. Nice guy.'
There was an awkward silence that started to clog the space, but before it got too suffocating, the stranger spoke again.
"Am I interrupting something? Are you two on a date?"
"W-What the hell gave you that idea!?" Guan Shan suddenly exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at the man. Why would he ask such an idiotic question?! However he paused after his outburst, seeing the smug smirk that now laced- whatever his name was face.
He had got him.
Now Guan Shan was furious, mainly at himself since he allowed himself to walk right into the trap. He stood up and grabbed the man's jacket, but realized that there was quite the height difference. This didn't detour him though.
"Listen here you creep, I don't remember or care what your name is, but I won't hesitate to call the cops." Mo Guan Shan threatened.
'Call the cops? Really?'
"Shouldn't you give him a warning before actually calling the police?" Zheng Xi decided to input, much to his friend's disappointment.
"Yeah, I'd hate for things to escalate that far. I'm also a little hurt that you would forget me so quick, but I don't mind re-introducing myself to you~"
Mo Guan Shan pulled away, "No thanks." he grabbed his sandwich, which triggered Zhan Zheng Xi to stand up since it was clear that they were done here.
"He Tian?"
The trio turned their heads towards the door as the bell chimed once again. A slender blonde walked in, his skin pale but notably smooth, and his legs were long and straight. Honestly this guy looked like some kind of model in Guan Shan's opinion. His bright eyes erratically glanced around before looking towards the trio, Mo noticed that Zheng Xi had turned his head when he looked over.
"He's the one causing problems in the mall."
Now Guan Shan understood and if the need to leave this shop wasn't clear before, it definitely was now. He Tian seemed to sense their urgency to leave and surprisingly moved out of the way, "Leaving so soon red? I won't stop you, but here have this." He slipped something into the redhead's hand while he was walking passed him.
I was trying to make this all into one part, but I think I'm going to make a part 2.
Also let me know if you want to see a version with Zhan Xixi and Jian Yi.