Inside the individual cell, Qian Deming wasn't able to stay calm anymore. He kept on walking back and forth as he waited for anyone to show up.
The door opened and two police officers entered.
As long as he saw them, he caught the bars furiously as he wished to break them. He uttered, "Where is Ye Xiao Xie? I need to talk to him right away!"
One of them stayed at his desk, and the other one took out his phone and leaned against the wall. Even if both of them were doing different things to spend time, they both ignored the man who was about to go crazy behind those iron pillars.
Qian Deming knew that he wouldn't get a single answer from them, so he only kicked the bars angrily and went to sit down on the old dirty chair behind him mindlessly.
There was no way he could save his father…
That was the end of it.
Qian Deming kept looking down silently as he tried to find any way just to get out of that fucking place. His phone was no longer with him, so he could not connect with anyone. Those two fuckers facing him refused to lift a single finger for him. So what could he do?
He wanted to help Ye Xiao Xie, but who would help him now?
Is this what they call karma? Was it because he killed someone so his father will die today?
No… It cannot be.
After all, that person deserved his death.
Qian Deming maintained his silence for countless minutes as he disconnected from everything around him. He cannot forgive himself if anything happened to his father…
The mistake he made today should never be forgiven. He won't live a single minute in a world where his father no longer existed.
His eyes became lifeless as he kept looking down without lifting a single hair.
Two hours had passed, yet no one came to get him out of that dark place.
Isn't that just too stupid?
The silence, the fear, and the silent rage were the most dominating elements in those instances.
Qian Deming felt that he lost it all. So he stood up again and started hitting the bars with all his power as he cried.
"Get me out of here! Get me out of here! I won't forgive any of you! I won't forgive myself if anything happens to him!!!"
Yes, beg them.
Keep begging them until a miracle happens.
That's the only solution he had.
Click.
The door opened anew. And a tall figure walked in slowly.
When the police officers saw that person, the one leaning against the wall looked him up and down as he said, "It's Mei Han, right?"
Mei Han smiled at him while holding a sandwich between his hands.
"Yes… I'm here just to deliver A message from Sergeant Yao. He asked the two of you to his office."
"The two of us?" Both police officers asked simultaneously, "Are you sure about it?"
One of them pointed his finger at Qian Deming who started watching Mei Han calmly. He asked, "Then what about him?"
Mei Han smiled at them and said, "No worries. I'll take care of him until you come back."
Both policemen kept looking at each other before they moved their shoulders up and down and left the room calmly.
Qian Deming tried to pull himself apart as he said, "No one called for them. It was just a lie, right?"
Mei Han's expression darkened a little as he said, "Stop talking a lot and hear me out."
Qian Deming fell silent.
"The key is inside this sandwich. I'll give it to you, so leave without anyone's notice."
"I turned off the cameras after splitting coffee on the control room's computer. So no one would doubt me."
Qian Deming took the key from him and opened the door silently. Even though he was about to pass out. He couldn't help but ask after looking at the young man's eyes.
"You were able to tell that I'm the killer, that's why you saved me, right?"
Mei Han gave him his back as he tried not to shed his tears in front of him. He said fast, "Stop this bulshit and go save the one you care about. It doesn't matter!"
In his depths, Qian Deming felt so sorry for all the things that that boy passed through. However, he couldn't help but stand behind him and said, "Thank you so much, Mei Han."
He raised his hand and hit the back of his head until he knocked him out and added, "Forgive me for this, but I won't be selfish and cause you any problems as well."
With that, he got out of the room fast after throwing the key next to Mei Han. He ran with all his might, but when he reached the third turn, he bumped into Ye Xiao Xie. This last one wasn't in high guard at that instant, therefore he didn't realize that Qian Deming was fleeing until he was about to reach the entrance.
"Catch him!" Ye Xiao Xie ordered as he ran after him.
A police officer was about to trap him, but Qian Deming pushed him aside as hard as he could and managed to get out of there safely.
He headed to his car, but he suddenly remembered that he left the keys at the station.
"Fuck this!" He kicked the wheel and headed to the road.
Ye Xiao Xie was about to reach him, but luckily a taxi was passing by so he stopped it and left.
The tall man didn't give up at all. He rather walked to his car and said mockingly, "So you wanna play it the hard way? Alright, Professor Qian." He got in it and drove after the taxi.
Qian Deming put his hand on his chest as he breathed heavily.
The driver noticed his state. Therefore, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this why you want to get fast to Wei Wan Hospital?"
Qian Deming frowned as he said while watching Ye Xiao Xie following them through the mirror, "I'll make… I'll make it clear. Don't let the police car behind us catch up. I'll…" He tried to take a deep breath and then continued, "I'll give you as much as you want of money… so don't let them reach us."
"P…Police? Have you said police?" The taxi driver's eyes widened when he noticed the car behind him. He started trembling as he parked the car by the roadside. He said fearfully, "No, no, no! I'm…I'm sorry but I can't deal with any problems like those, get out of here, young man!"
Qian Deming pushed the man's seat as he cursed in great rage, "Fuck you!"
He opened the door as he tried to escape. However, Ye Xiao Xie's robust hand caught him and pulled him towards himself just in time. At that moment, the taxi ran away without even closing its door.
Ye Xiao Xie didn't care about it as he said to the man trapped between his arms, "Do you think that everyone can be fooled by those Yuans of yours?"
He was about to take out his handcuffs. However, Qian Deming pushed him away as he tried to run away again.
Ye Xiao Xie frowned and caught him by his hand and said, "Stop being stone-headed and come with me, I don't have the whole night! Aren't you…"
"LET ME GO! MY FATHER IS DYING!" Qian Deming cut him off with this painful cry without looking at him. He tried to take his hand away as he repeated madly, "LET ME GO, YE XIAO XIE!"
Ye Xiao Xie felt how his body was trembling uncontrollably through the hand that was between his fingers. He was about to talk when Qian Deming finally showed him his face and gave him a helpless look.
"Please…" His eyes were tearful as he mumbled that word.
For some reason and even though he hated him to the bone, Ye Xiao Xie felt as if he didn't like seeing him in such a state. Especially if it was because of him. Therefore he dragged him by his hand towards the car as he asked angrily, "Tell me in which hospital he is now?"
Qian Deming didn't even bother to wipe his tears. He answered while looking down, "Wei Wu Hospital…"
Ye Xiao Xie opened the door for him and said, "Alright. Just try to calm down now. We'll get there in no time."
He got in and rolled away fast.
When he rode, he kept stealing peeks at the lifeless man next to him from time to time. He had never expected to see him in such a state before. He took out a handkerchief from his shirt and handed it to him as he sighed, "Wipe your eyes. Crying like that will only make things worse."
Qian Deming took it from him while breathing heavily.
Ye Xiao Xie was already aware of his state. Therefore he said without looking at him, "Take out from the car box an inhaler. One of my sick friends left it here last night. If you can use it, then use it."
Qian Deming reached into the box slowly and did as he was told to do. He didn't even examine it before he took it brainlessly.
After half an hour, they finally reached the hospital. Shen Yuan was standing worriedly at the entrance, so as long as he saw his master coming, he hurried to him.
"Master! Master Qian Wu is in the…"
Qian Deming walked past him without even looking at him. He walked inside the hospital and as soon as he saw one of the doctors walking by, he hurried to him and caught him by his collar. He uttered, "Listen up, Doctor Wang! I swear that if something happened to my father, I won't hesitate to peel off your old skin with my own hands!"
Wang Liu put his hands on Qian Deming's as he said, " Mr. Qian… Please understand that this operation is too expensive and dangerous, so I couldn't afford to do anything without your…"
"Cut off the shit and get to your work! Have you said, expensive? What a fucking joke! Listen up, Wang Liu Jin. I'm the owner of this fucking hospital, so if anything happened to my father, you can kiss goodbye to your fucking career!"
Upon hearing those words, Wang Liu's eyes expanded. so without any further words or questions, he ordered the nurses around him.
"Go and prepare the operating room immediately! We have an emergency!"
Qian Deming let go of the man and leaned against the wall brokenly.
Both Ye Xiao Xie and Shui Yuan kept watching him from a distance.
Shui Yuan's state was no less than Qian Deming's. Therefore Ye Xiao Xie took the bottle of water from him and said, "It's fine. I'll go talk to him instead. Sit down and take some rest, young man."
Shui Yuan Wanted to say something, but Ye Xiao Xie didn't give him the chance to do so.
Qian Deming started looking at the ground absent-mindedly as he stood next to the operating hall's door. Ye Xiao Xie noticed that he was still shaking, so he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He handed the bottle of water to him as he said, "Drink this. It'll help you a little…"
Without saying a single word, Qian Deming raised his head at him as he wore a furious glare. He pushed him away and slapped him.
Pah!
Shen Yuan fell speechless along with Ye Xiao Xie who didn't even understand what happened.
Qian Deming didn't wait for him to react as he spoke angrily, "Just shut up already! I don't want to hear your voice anymore!"
Ye Xiao Xie put his hand calmly on his red cheek as he kept quiet.
After a short while of silence, Qian Deming surprised the man in front of him by dropping himself on him and wrapping his hands around his neck. He stood on his tip toes as he put his chin against Ye Xiao Xie's shoulder. He said in an unstable tone, "I… I fucking hate you, but…" he sobbed slightly next to his neck and added, "But please let me stay like this for a little while."
Ye Xiao Xie ignored his astonishment and placed one hand on the broken man's back without even asking him why.
Shen Yuan kept watching them for a while, but when Ye Xiao Xie looked at him. He moved his eyes away.
Qian Deming started crying soundlessly on that steady shoulder like a child.
For some reason, Ye Xiao Xie felt that he understood what Qian Deming was feeling at that moment.
He embraced him just to hide his face behind his shoulder and to prevent Shen Yuan from seeing him crying. Even though that man seemed to be strong, when he was around Qian Deming he always acted like a child.
Since they first met, Shen Yuan saw everything in Qian Deming. He was his teacher, savior, big brother, and just like a father. So this last one seeing him cry would only increase Qian Deming's pain.
Another reason could be…
Maybe he did it just because he felt empty.
The man wrapping his hands around Ye Xiao Xie was a person who had lost almost all his family members. So in a moment like that, he found nowhere to hide just in Ye Xiao Xie's warmth. Facing such a thing as the death of someone he was very attached to made him feel weak. So maybe he found his source of power in that act. After all, Ye Xiao Xie put in mind that Qian Deming, no matter how annoying he was to him, in the end, was just a normal human with his own complicated feelings and life.
Ye Xiao Xie closed his eyes as he stopped thinking about everything and only focused on that moment in his life when he also did the same behavior as this.
He was just a seven-year-old child when his parents parted ways. He thought that those were going to be the worst days in his life, but little did he know what was coming next.
After his mother, Xian Lian Zhu left the house, Ye Xiao Xie's life became too dark. He had to see his father coming drunk from the casino with his pierced pockets every day. Messing with women inside his home like a monster every night. His little sister was only 5 years old at that time, so she didn't know anything except her little silly dreams. At least her father wasn't too cruel towards her and didn't let her know how bad he was.
As for Ye Xiao Xie…
Mr. Ye considered him the reason for all the diseases that happened in his life.
One day, Mr. Ye fell into the hands of a mafia boss. He took a big loan just to continue gambling. However, when the time came to give back the money, he found out that his pockets were pierced just as they have always been. And that was the source of the biggest point of change in Ye Xiao Xie's life.
He turned from a little boy who was studying with all his might to get himself and his sister out of all of that shit, into a slave between the hands of that mafia. In other words, the one called "his father" sold him out to those people just to run away with his life.
That was the time when he met the biggest issue that followed him all his life. Mr. Abraham…
Mr. Abraham wasn't a bad guy with "weird desires" like the other men who tried countless times to rape the little child. However, he wasn't that good either.
Mr. Abraham's biggest enemy was living in America. So for such a thing, Ye Xiao Xie was parted from his little sister and went unwillingly to that country.
The country that they used to call, "The land of the free" was nothing for him but a place full of danger, discrimination, and all the bad things he grew up seeing his father do.
He hated it to the bone.
Although the fact that that man registered him in one of the biggest schools in Los Angeles. Ye Xiao Xie was too sick of it. He hated all those people around him, they were nothing but rich pampered children whom he had never trusted, and greedy teachers who only smiled and laughed in front of money. Mr. Abraham was playing the role of the kind angel in front of the cameras and the people he knew, but as long as those machines turned off he was showing his true colors immediately. From a kind man of pride who was saving homeless children from the streets, into a man who was using them in his shameless crimes.
One day, after finishing his most hated training "knife skills", Mr. Abraham came to congratulate him on it as always. However, at that time he seemed to be more gentle than usual. The thing that made Ye Xiao Xie sure that his turn to be used had finally come.
His first and last task was kidnapping one of the boys that was studying at his school.
He was not allowed to know his name or anything about him. All he was asked to do was lure the little boy outside the school and hand him to the men who'll be waiting for him on one of the silent corners of the street.
For such a monster like Abraham, that was a piece of cake. But for a newbie boy like Ye Xiao Xie, that was a real torture for him. Let alone the fact that he had to do as he was ordered to do. He was also threatened with his own body and soul if he failed the mission.
Upon hearing such cruel words, Ye Xiao Xie, as a normal child, wished nothing but to live in peace in a warm home, between good people. He wasn't able to focus on his lessons that day. He even ran away from his class during the session and locked himself inside the bathroom as he cried his eyes out for everything he passed through his life.
From the moment he was born to the moment, he became a criminal.
Fuck that life! Fuck his father! And fuck all those cold-blooded criminals he lived with!
That was the first time he cursed in his life. His feelings were so complicated that he didn't even know what to do.
Suddenly, a warm voice came from behind the door he was leaning on. A boy asked worriedly, "My friend…? Why are you crying there? Did the bad boys lock you inside the toilet?"
The voice was so warm that it made Ye Xiao Xie's body tense up a little. It's been a very long time since he didn't hear someone asking about his well-being.
"Little friend, should I call the teacher? I…I'll help you on my own if you don't want to…"
At that instant, Ye Xiao Xie didn't know how or why but he opened the door and threw himself on that boy without even seeing his face. He took him by surprise that they were about to fall.
The boy hugged him back warmly as he got speechless for a long while.
Honestly, Ye Xiao Xie hated that silence to the bone. He wished the boy would start screaming so that he would cry without being noticed. Anyway, he wasn't able to take it anymore, so he cried brokenly on that child's shoulder.
The young boy didn't object either. He kept hugging him silently as he listened to his crying calmly.
"Are you hurt as well?" He asked.
Ye Xiao Xie nodded while sobbing. He mumbled sadly, "Yes, I am…"
The boy's beautiful lips drew a soft smile as he said, "So I'm not the only one…"
After a while of silence, they finally parted. Only when Ye Xiao Xie calmed down did he realize that the young boy wasn't someone whom he was studying with. It was someone he had never seen before in that school. He also noticed that the boy was a little taller than he was, therefore he got the impression that he was bigger than him, which would also explain why he had never seen him around.
The boy's body seemed to be too fragile, and his eyes were so dark and beautiful. He also had long black hair that made Ye Xiao Xie watch it for a long while.
"I don't know if seeing someone as hurt as you or worse than you would decrease your pain…" The boy said after drawing a cold smile on his lips. He started unbuttoning his shirt slowly. When he finished, he added, "Anyway, this trick has always worked with me…"
Upon seeing his body, Ye Xiao Xie's eyes expanded immediately as he stepped behind in great shock. The boy was full of bruises everywhere. He had traces of hits with a belt and many old injuries that were probably caused by a knife. His whole body was deformed like a mural of violence.
"Who...? Who…?" The words stuck in Ye Xiao Xie's throat as he tried his best to speak.
The boy looked at his injured arms and said while keeping his cold smile, "Who did this? Even if I told you, what can we do about it?"
Ye Xiao Xie kept watching him fearfully. He wasn't afraid of those injuries, nor the idea that he would end up the same if he didn't finish his task. But at that time he feared that boy's frozen eyes. When he embraced him earlier, he felt that he was so warm. However, by looking at his eyes now, he felt as if there was something inside them. Behind that controlled coldness there was a volcano of rage and revenge that would explode any moment. Anyway, his hands moved despite himself as he started caressing the child's arms softly, "Do… Does it hurt?!"
The black-haired boy shook his head at him as he started laughing, "Don't be silly! Of course, it does, but…"
Ye Xiao Xie watched him with his wide eyes in great surprise as he asked, "But what?"
The boy laughed for a little while before he said, "But I've got used to it…"
Those words…
He got used to it. He got used to the pain and suffering.
At that time, Ye Xiao Xie finally understood that in this world, many people would suffer just the way he did or even more. At that time, his pain didn't decrease just the way that boy told him. No, it only augmented just to make him open his eyes to that bitter truth. The truth was that he should start fighting back even if that meant getting tortured or even killed.
He would never dare to hurt an innocent soul even if he got destroyed or beaten to death!
Ye Xiao Xie kept closing his eyes as he held on to Qian Deming tightly. In his deepest deep, he wished he did the same to the boy he met nineteen years ago.
Little did he know that the boy he threw himself between his arms was the same one who threw himself on him today.
The young boy he met nineteen years ago was no one other than Qian Deming.
Ye Xiao Xie didn't know how, but he suddenly found himself adding his other hand around Qian Deming's back as he murmured.
"I'm sorry…"
Unfortunately, Qian Deming had already fallen asleep on his shoulder, so he didn't hear that sentence.
Author's note:
LMAO
Mini interview:
Xiao Xiao: Hello again, I hope everyone is doing well. Today our guest is Shen Yuan. Mr. Shen, could you tell us how you felt when you saw your master hugging that man?
Shen Yuan: *Shakes his head silently*
Xiao Xiao: Oh…
Xiao Xiao: Okay, see you guys after the next chapter.