But the sweetness that lingered had everything to do with Jian Ci.
Jian Ci took the glass back with a playful smirk and drank a few sips, the liquor warming his throat and deepening the flush in his cheeks. He leaned in toward Yu Xi, so close his nose nearly brushed Yu Xi’s cheek. "Did you like it?" he asked, voice low and teasing.
Yu Xi blinked, caught between amusent and flustered silence.
Jian Rui, watching nearby, finally had enough. He reached over and yanked Jian Ci away by the collar. Jian Ci yelped, startled. "Brother! It’s my birthday! Why are you bullying ?"
"Who’s bullying you?" Jian Rui snapped. "You qre squeezing Yu Xi into the corner like a pillow."
Jian Ci blinked, then turned to Yu Xi. "Oh, sorry, Little Xi." But even as he apologized, he began inching closer again.
Jian Rui slapped his forehead. "He is hopeless."
"I want to sing!" Jian Ci declared suddenly, eyes sparkling.
Jian Wei, who knew the horrors of Jian Ci’s singing, waved his hands frantically. "No, no! Spare our ears!"
Jian Rui chuckled. "It’s his birthday. Let him sing."
"My ears hurt for three days last ti," Jian Wei muttered. Then, thinking fast, he said, "Ah-Ci, co, let’s play a ga."
Jian Ci paused, distracted. "What ga?"
"Cards," Jian Wei said quickly.
Jian Ci nodded. "Okay!"
Jian Wei sighed in relief. He’d saved their ears, but now he had to let Jian Ci win. Letting Jian Ci win wasn’t the problem, everyone knew the birthday boy had to be indulged. The real issue was that Jian Ci was a sore winner. When he won, he didn’t just celebrate, he gloated loudly, dramatically and relentlessly. The entire room had to endure his victory speeches, his exaggerated cheers, and his smug grins.
Thankfully, after enough drinks, Jian Ci finally passed out on the couch, his head lolling to the side, one arm dangling off the cushion.
"I will help him upstairs," Jian Rui said, already moving toward him.
But as soon as Jian Rui lifted him, Jian Ci stirred, eyes barely open. "No," he mumbled.
Jian Rui frowned. "No what? Don’t make trouble."
"I want my wife," Jian Ci slurred.
Yu Xi: "..."
Jian Wei burst out laughing. "What wife? You have never been married!"
Yu Xi’s face turned crimson. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. The version of Jian Ci that insisted he had a wife had been unlocked and it was dangerous.
"I do have a wife," Jian Ci insisted. "Where is my wife?"
Yu Xi panicked and slipped into the kitchen, hiding behind the pantry door. He quickly gathered water and a sobering drink, hoping to escape the spotlight.
From the hallway, he heard Jian Rui sigh. "Ah-Ci, you don’t have a wife. Just keep walking."
But Jian Ci was already mumbling, "My wife is hiding from ..."
Then he wailed dramatically, voice echoing down the hallway, "My wife left !"
There were no tears, just theatrical despair. Jian Wei was laughing so hard he had to lean against the wall for support, clutching his stomach. "I can’t, I fucking can’t, he’s too much!"
Jian Rui gritted his teeth, clearly at the end of his patience. "Fine. You have a wife. She just left to get you a gift. Now go upstairs and wait for her."
Miraculously, Jian Ci quieted down. "A gift?" he mumbled, eyes glassy. He nodded solemnly and began trudging upstairs, swaying slightly with each step.
Thirty minutes later, Yu Xi climbed the stairs with a bottle of water and a sobering tonic. He pressed the panel beside the door. "Jian Rui, I brought sothing to help him sober up."
The door slid open. Jian Wei stood there, half drenched, his shirt clinging to his chest. Yu Xi blinked. "..."
Jian Wei took the items. "Did he do this last ti?"
Yu Xi tilted his head. "Do what?"
"Ask for his wife."
Yu Xi hesitated. There was no way he was admitting that. "No... he was just talkative, that’s all."
Jian Rui, toweling off his soaked hair, muttered, "No more drinking for him even at ho. He kept insisting that last ti his wife was here and that she liked his thing.
When I called him delusional he splashed us both with water." The words splashed was an understatent. He hosed them down like he was trying to put out a fire.
Yu Xi, "..."
He finally escaped, retreating to his room. After a hot shower and brushing his teeth, he collapsed into bed, utterly exhausted.
***
The soft, digital chi of the communicator on his nightstand pierced the silence, marking midnight. Yu Xi’s eyes snapped open, the sound from the door yanking him from a deep sleep.
A sliver of light from the other room bled into the room as the adjourned door slid open with a quiet hiss. It was had to be Jian Ci, but that was impossible. He should have passed out from all that drinking and sleep through the night yet here he was.
His dark silhouette filled the doorway, swaying slightly before shuffling into the room. The door shut, plunging them back into near-total darkness, save for the faint light coming from outside.
"What’s wrong?" Yu Xi’s voice was thick with sleep. "Are you here to sleepover?"
There was no response. The figure just stood there, a still, nacing shadow in the familiar space.
A knot of concern tightened in Yu Xi’s stomach. "Jian Ci? What’s wrong?" He pushed the covers back and swung his legs out of bed. He crossed the room, his eyes slowly adjusting.
He could see the sharp line of Jian Ci’s jaw, the tousled ss of his hair. He reached out, aning to feel his forehead for a fever. "Let call Jian Wei, okay?"
His wrist was seized in an instant, the grip like a steel vise. If he were a normal person, his bones would be cracked right now.
’Sothing is not right.’ The thought flashed, as Jian Ci used his hold to spin him around violently. Yu Xi’s back slamd into the wall, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. He froze.
Sothing was terribly wrong. The aura radiating from the man pinning him was pure, unadulterated threat. But a frantic glance at the communicator still strapped to Jian Ci’s wrist showed his psychic levels were stable, normal. This was sothing else.
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