Grrk…
The door to the shed rumbled open and the hefty steps of leather heels echoed inside. Qin Dong, Jing Wan, and Zhang Liu turned around to see who the intruder was only to freeze in place. They quickly lowered their heads.
"Y-Young Master Mu, how can we help you?" Qin Dong sweated cold, his wounds and bruises throbbed under their bandages.
Mu Chen stopped and glanced down at the beaten boy on the ground. His chin maintained its angle, high and arrogant, not finding worth in lowering his head just to see the pathetic figure.
He took another step forward and trampled Zhou Yi's head. Seeing his lack of reaction, he narrowed his eyes and enunciated his every word. "Shen. Yuan."
Zhou Yi's finger twitched.
"You think you can hide him from me?" Mu Chen lowly chuckled and ground Zhou Yi further into the ground. "He roughened up my pets pretty badly and humiliated me. I'm going to rip him apart piece by piece and send him to the farm. Don't worry. Since he did it for you, I'll reserve you the show's frontmost seat. Maybe I'll even let you record it for memorial."
"…"
With a sneer, Mu Chen retrieved his foot and left. But before he could reach the door, a body flew past him and slammed to the wall with a bang.
Jing Wan limply collapsed to the ground.
"I don't know who you're talking about." Zhou Yi swung his hand and chopped Zhang Liu right on his neck, too fast for Zhang Liu to put his guard up. He choked on air and fell to his knees, coughing and wheezing in pain. "I'm afraid your lackeys don't respect you enough to choose truth over fear, Young Master."
Mu Chen slowly turned and looked back, his expression still and unreadable. He narrowed his eyes and stretched a hand to Qin Dong. Without waiting for an explanation, Qin Dong fumbled to take out his knife and scurried over to him, offering it with both hands.
"And who do you think you are? Someone above them?"
"I may not be above them. But at least I'm not them." Zhou Yi raised his head straight.
"Big words. I hate that." Mu Chen snapped the knife open in one fluid flick. "Are you confessing that you humiliated me?"
"I am."
"Then, punishment is due."
***
In the chemistry lab, Shen Yuan watched the second hand make its full circle, and the minute hand ticked to twelve. He switched his overlapping legs and rested his chin on his palm to enjoy the view outside.
It was now 5 PM. Zhou Yi was nowhere to be found.
Of course not. Mu Chen had no reason to let them meet. He had heard all he needed to know. The question was, which one should he dance with next?
Knock. Knock.
The door to the lab opened and Shen Yuan tilted his head to see his visitor. "Finishing late again?"
"Didn't you say you have something to do after school?" Mu Chen closed the door and went to the table. "Why are you daydreaming here instead?"
"It's canceled. I think."
"You think?"
"It's nothing." Shen Yuan sighed and straightened on his seat. "Can I ask you something?"
"Depends." Mu Chen sat next to Shen Yuan and swiveled to face him.
"Do you know someone named Zhou Yi?"
Mu Chen didn't immediately answer. He leaned his elbow on the table and studied Shen Yuan for a while. "Why?"
"Can't you just tell me?"
"It's a pretty suspicious question. Wouldn't you be curious if somebody asked you that kind of thing?"
"…Fine. Don't answer it then." Shen Yuan didn't push it and got to his feet. "I'm leaving."
"How about this?" Mu Chen caught Shen Yuan by his waist and reeled him into his arm. "If you answer my question, I'll answer yours. I'm not going to ask about this Zhou Yi or why you asked about him."
Shen Yuan stared at Mu Chen in consideration and took the deal. "Alright. One question."
"One." Mu Chen nodded in agreement. "Why didn't you tell others that you stayed in my house yesterday? I thought you wanted to brag."
"The least I can do is to save you the trouble. We both know what it'd possibly lead to." Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Or do you actually like them?"
Mu Chen's eyes deepened and he chuckled. "I was worried you were dissatisfied about something. I guess it's my turn now."
Shen Yuan nodded, ready to listen.
"It's a bit complicated to explain, but simply put, he's my nephew. After he lost his family 2 years ago, my father and I have been taking care of him ever since. Perhaps because of trauma or something else, the person doesn't realize it himself, but he has some…well, unsavory tendencies. I advise you to keep your distance from him."
"Unsavory tendencies?"
"For you to ask me this only means he already told you about our relationship first. He said something about me being a liar and a deceitful person, didn't he?"
"…" Shen Yuan answered with silence.
"He has abandonment issues. The more he gets attached to people the more destructive he will be. Both to himself and to that person. When I noticed this, I deliberately chose this school to leave home and get away from him, but he managed to convince my father to let him study here too. He has good grades, so it's not an issue in the first place,
"I don't want him to keep being dependent on me, so I told him that I won't acknowledge him at school and that he shouldn't approach me either." Mu Chen lowered his face. "Understandably, he bears some grudge from this and keeps saying those things about me. I don't blame him."
Shen Yuan inwardly smiled in amusement. Indeed, the best lie was with a dash of truth. If he didn't know any better, he would've believed Mu Chen's words.
Then, the only correct response was what Mu Chen wished for, right?
He held Mu Chen's shoulder. "It's not your fault. I would've done the same thing. It's good that you noticed."
"Thank you." Mu Chen gave a small smile. "Can you keep this a secret? If others approach him just because he's a relative of mine, it'll definitely affect his condition. I'm not saying they're bad people, but…you know how they are."
"I know. Don't worry." Shen Yuan reassured. "Thank you for telling me. Though I guess, I should apologize for forcing you to."
"Not at all. I'm glad I get to tell you before it's too late." Mu Chen took Shen Yuan's hand from his shoulder and interlaced their fingers. "Now that we resolved that, do you need me to whisk you away again or are you going to be a good son today?"
Shen Yuan returned his hold with a chuckle. "If you invite me like that, I can only choose to be a bad son, can't I?"
"You have the ever-trustworthy student council president backing you. The most you'll be is a prudent son."
"How reliable~"
They left the lab to get their bags and went to their respective class. Shen Yuan opened the door to his class and found Zhou Yi, face ashen and lips bloodless, sitting at his desk. When he turned to look at him, his eyes were almost out of focus.
"Senior…" Zhou Yi braced himself up with much effort, his arms trembled under his strain. He staggered in his steps and collapsed the moment his hand left the desk.
"Zhou Yi!" Shen Yuan rushed to Zhou Yi's side.
"Senior…are you alright…?"
"What are you talking about? I should be the one asking you that!" Shen Yuan propped Zhou Yi up into his arms and moved him to lean on the wall. "What happened? Is it those bullies again? Let me see the injuries."
Before he could unbutton his shirt, Zhou Yi drew his blazer tight and shook his head. Each breath he took seemed to weigh his lungs as he spoke between pants. "I'm…fine. Where were you?"
"We agreed to meet in the chemistry lab, didn't we?"
"Oh…right…"
"What do you mean 'oh, right'? Show me your injuries!"
"It's not…that bad. I already…took care of it." Zhou Yi grabbed Shen Yuan's arm. "Senior, you have to be careful. Mu Chen…he found you. He knows you're involved with me. Don't let him—"
The door opened behind them and the demon himself appeared. "Shen Yuan, you're not ready yet?"
"Mu Chen…" Shen Yuan turned around and looked between Mu Chen and Zhou Yi, seemingly at a loss for what to do.
Zhou Yi's face darkened.