Chapter Text
Wei Ying glanced around the room as he finished wiping down the bar. Tonight had been unusually slow with his last regular leaving over 30 minutes prior. He had already let the rest of the staff leave. Why should they stand around when they had already finished their tasks? He only needed to finish some small cleaning, count the drawer, and then he too could leave for the night. With merely 20 minutes left before actual close, he could lock the doors now if he really wanted to. No one was going to come in this close to closing. Last call was an hour ago. Who enters a bar after last call? It's not like the owner would get upset with him if he locked the door early. He was the owner. Besides, if he locked it now he could start drawer count. He turned to toss the rag into the wash bucket when he heard the door chime.
“Last call was an hour ago. No more service for the night,” he called as he turned toward the door. “I was just about to lock up.”
Wei Ying stopped in his tracks as he saw two men in suits, not his usual clientele, enter the bar. One man wore a dark blue suit, while the other wore a white suit. The one in the dark suit clearly helping the other walk.
“Look even if last call hadn’t been called already, your buddy looks like he has had enough to drink already,” Wei Ying said.
The man in the white suit had his hand pressed against his stomach as he glanced up at Wei Ying with a glare of golden brown eyes. He was almost as pale as his suit, making his eyes seem almost to glow.. Something about him felt off. He didn’t look drunk, but then why was the other man helping him. He said something in a low voice to the man helping him that Wei Ying could not make out, but the man in the dark suit shook his head and continued moving toward a table.
“Look if your friend is going to be sick, I would rather he do it outside. Really, I am closed,” Wei Ying tried again, starting to become annoyed. He did not want to add cleaning up vomit to his list of closing chores.
“We just need to sit a bit, until our ride comes. You’re the only one still open around here” responded the dark suited man as he seated the other man at the table and pulled out his cell phone.”Go ahead and lock the door, if you like. Might be better if no one else comes in.”
Wei Ying watched as instead of making a call, the man in blue squatted down near the man in the chair and grabbed some napkins off the table. Only then did the man in white move his hand and Wei Ying see the blood stain spreading across the white jacket.
“Uh, look, I don’t know what you guys are involved in, but I don’t want any trouble here,” Wei Ying warned, reaching beneath the counter for the gun he kept there.”You need to leave, now.”
The man in white slowly took in a breath, closing his eyes, before he opened them slowly turning to look at Wei Ying again with a slight nod. He put his hand back over the blood, saying something to the man in the dark suit, shaking his head, and trying to get back to his feet. The movement forced out a gasp as he tightened his hand to his side and his head fell back, eyes closed in pain.
Wei Ying immediately glanced toward the growing stain, his memory being pulled to a similar wound, a wound that would change his life.
So much blood.
Why was there so much blood?
Help her.
She is bleeding out.
Someone do something.
Anything.
Someone please.
“Don’t just stand there. Lock the door and come help,” the man in blue bellowed at Wei Ying, breaking him out of his memories.
Wei Ying started, shaking his head as he remembered where he was. Someone needed help. This time he was the one being called to help. He quickly removed his fingers from the gun under the bar and hurried to the door, locking it. He then rushed to the table taking in the pain on the man’s face and the growing red stain on the jacket. The man in blue was reaching for the hand covering the wound.
“I…I’m fine,” the man in white breathed out, eyelids fluttering as he tried opening them. ”Just. Need. To.” His words were cut off as he again tightened up in pain.
Wei Ying instinctively reached to place a hand on the man’s shoulder, while reaching toward the wound with his other hand.
“Do not touch me,” the man in white gasped out as he forced his eyes open and glared at Wei Ying, causing him to halt in his movements.
“Look, your friend here told me to help. That’s all I am doing. If you don’t want my help, I am happy to let you guys out of here and,” Wei Ying started.
“No. We have to stay here and wait for our ride. If we try leaving on our own, we’re both dead or worse,” the man in blue snapped at Wei Ying before turning to the man in white. “Lan-er-ge let him help,” he implored, almost begging. The man in white closed his eyes and nodded once, taking in a shallow breath.
Wei Ying’s breath caught. Did he say Lan-er-ge? A Lan? Here? No, it can’t be. Not here. That’s a common name, right? It had to be. Right? Of course it wasn’t. It was just his luck.
Wei Ying sighed as he shook his head. As he reached for the hand covering the wound again, the man in blue moved aside and immediately dialed his phone to make a call. Wei Ying focused on the wound in front of him, trying not to listen to words he knew he did not want to hear.
“Focus,” he thought and carefully grasped the wounded man’s hand to move it, the motion eliciting another gasp from the man. The gasp drew Wei Ying’s eyes upward, his eyes taking in details as they quickly travelled from the wound to the man’s face.
Being this close he realized the suit was not white, but rather a grey so pale it appeared white and it was obviously expensive. The lapels had pale blue clouds embroidered on them, so light they were barely noticeable. He could hear the man on the phone rapidly speaking, the words verifying just how bad his luck truly was. He pointedly tried to concentrate on the details in front of him , even as his mind was taking in what was being said whether he wanted to or not.
“Was a trap. Dead.”
Blue shirt. White tie. Silver cloud tie pin.
“Too many of them. Shot.”
The man’s hair was a deep black, pulled back from his face, worn half up.
“I don’t know. A bar. Burial Mounds?”
Wei Ying nodded absently to the question, continuing to take in the details of the injured man.
A white, cloud-embroidered ribbon, that matched the lapels, was tied across the man’s forehead. “Man, no one wore head ribbons anymore,” thought Wei Ying as he half-laughed, “well almost no one,” but he shook his head again, not wanting to think about this further, choosing instead to focus on the man’s face. Even in as much pain as he had to be in, the man’s face betrayed no expression.
“Hurry. They won’t give up.”
The man’s eyes were closed, dark brows slightly furrowed, otherwise his face showed no emotion, as if carved from jade, the paleness only adding to the effect. His eyes had been a golden brown, Wei Ying thought, remembering the glare. This man was ethereal, even in pain.
“We need to get the bleeding stopped and find somewhere secure to hide. Our ride will get here as soon as possible but there may be trouble before. If we found your place, so will the ones following us, and they will not be as polite about it” the man in blue stated matter-of-factly as he put down his phone, pulling Wei Ying’s attention away from the man in white’s face.
“They? Who are they?” Wei Ying rushed to ask then quickly corrected his thinking “Wait, no nevermind. I don’t want to know. This doesn’t concern me. I have nothing to do with any of this. The less I know the better.”
“As for who “they” are, the Wens. Even a bartender such as yourself has to have heard of them,” the man in blue said, ignoring Wei Ying’s request to not know any details. “As for not concerning you, they won’t care if you are involved or not. You saw us, helped us. You are a witness, so you are now involved, like it or not. Now please help Lan-er-ge.”
Wei Ying took in a sharp breath. There it was again, Lan-er-ge. With the way the man was being addressed, the clothing, and the looks there was only one person the man in white could be, or rather one of two people it could be. He did not like either option. He was royally screwed either way, especially if the Wens were involved. Why was his luck this bad?
Wei Ying glanced at the man in white again before turning to the man in blue as he asked out loud, already knowing the answer, still hoping beyond hope he was wrong. “So I am guessing from the Wen involvement, the way he is dressed, and how you’ve been addressing him,” Wei Ying gestured his head toward to the man in white, “that this is one of the Twin Jades of Gusu?”