"...A late guest?" He Juan chewed the words slowly. He tried to comprehend why it sounded weird, but in his famished and feverish state, his brain just would not cooperate with him to perform such a deep analysis. As such, he could only give up and shrugged. "There’s no guest. Just the room service delivering my dinner."

"Dinner?" Mu Yuze sounded taken aback. "You haven’t—"

"Ah, I’m not sure if Chen Youzhi has told you yet," he chuckled. "I’m out of the country. It’s dinnertime right now, Xiao Ze." He Juan lied straight through his teeth. After all, a little white lie wouldn’t hurt, right?

As he brought the first spoonful of porridge into his mouth and relished in the warmth it brought forth, he asked Mu Yuze about his day. "How are you doing? Have you been eating on time? Have you done your homework? Did you get along with your classmates?"

"Mn," Mu Yuze replied to all of his questions.

"’Mn’?" He Juan burst out laughing, even though in the end he had to muffle a groan of pain when his ribs throbbed in protest. "How insincere of you, Mu Yuze! What kind of answer is that!"

Mu Yuze was forced to change his answer, "...Yes." Somehow, He Juan could imagine him gritting his teeth when he said that.

He Juan almost died due to laughter. He put down his spoon and clutched his chest, wheezing. Oh God, this boy sure was not good for his health...

Of course, He Juan realized that this was yet another attempt to deflect the questions. But at the moment, he had no intention to push Mu Yuze yet. He wanted to take things slow, until the boy would open up to him by himself. And He Juan could be really... extremely patient when it came to biding his time.

From the end of the call, he heard the sound of door closing followed by muffle footsteps. He Juan asked worriedly, "Are you inside now? You said it yourself, a storm is coming. Don’t catch a cold, Xiao Ze. Do you bring Kitty with you?"

"No." Perhaps it was because Mu Yuze finally put the phone beside his ear, his voice sounded much clearer now. The distant part of his mind noted how nice and beautiful it sounded. "Kitty refused to come in with me, so I can only offer it a blanket."

He Juan nodded seriously. "You have done a meritorious service, Comrade Xiao Ze."

A disdainful scoff sounded from the other side, prompting another peal of deep laughter from He Juan’s throat. Seriously, why was this boy so amusing?

In the end, because it was already late and also because He Juan was on the verge of collapsing, he did not spend too much time on the call. He nagged the boy to take care of himself, then hung up on the phone once he confirmed that Mu Yuze had locked the door, closed all windows, made sure the stove was off, turned off the lights and climbed on the bed. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

A wisp of a smile lingered on He Juan’s face even after the call was disconnected. He was not exaggerating when he said that Mu Yuze was really a wonder. There was just something unique and refreshing about the boy that amused him to no end and melted all of his stress away. The lingering gloom and heaviness in his heart had been dispersed after talking with Mu Yuze for half an hour. How miraculous.

That one phone call was even more potent than any medicine could be.

He finished his porridge in a few large gulps and stumbled to the bathroom to wipe his body haphazardly. He came out clad only in a bathrobe and reminded himself to order a few sets of clothes tomorrow. Then sitting on the bed, he took the cold medicine, drank two glasses of water and lay on the bed.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, a wave of exhaustion overcame him and he quickly fell into slumber with the image of a radiant white flower on the back of his eyelids.

***

In the end, it took a total of two days for He Juan’s fever to break. He finally heeded his doctor’s words and obediently stayed in the hotel room to recuperate.

His food, medicine, clothing and everything he might possibly need... they ended up being prepared by Marius once the man caught wind of his sickness. He was only short of breaking into He Juan’s hotel room and dragging He Juan into his house to watch over him personally. But eventually, he still respected He Juan’s wish to remain in the hotel.

He Juan was really helpless against his worrywart friend. Despite Marius insisting how he was only doing it as an act of hospitality for a friend who had come from afar, He Juan secretly kept this kindness and goodwill in mind.

In the future, there would definitely come a day when he would be able to repay this favor.

The third day, He Juan was back to full health but it was not until the fifth day that Marius hit him up, saying that he had received some news about the mysterious killer in the Queen of Spades.

Once again, they met at the gazebo behind the temple building.

The sky was overcast today, with dark clouds rolling over the horizon, carrying with it a thick humidity and dry heat. On rare occasions, He Juan was wearing a comfy sweater with his hair tied into a single braid that fell over one shoulder. He reckoned that he would be able to merge with the crowd easier this way.

"I can’t say that I’m not surprised," He Juan couldn’t help but crack a joke when he saw Marius’ somber face upon arriving. "For you to need five days to get it, this matter is not simple, huh?"

Even though he said it in a jest, He Juan actually meant it deep down. With the depth of Marius’ connection, he had kinda expected the man to get back to him within two or three days. And for him to take even longer than that, whatever He Juan wanted to know must have spelled trouble.

A tiny smile appeared on Marius’ face, shattering the tense front he was donning. He gestured at the space in front of him. "Take a seat."

He Juan stepped into the gazebo and finally saw the assortments of sweets and cookies spread on the table. Now, this was really unusual. He raised an intrigued brow, "Is there some kind of celebration, M?"

Marius laughed and shook his head. "Well, we can also celebrate your recovering health along the way."

He Juan prompted. "But...?"

"But no, I thought that we may need this to get through the day." Shadow crossed over his deep features, and his usually serene smile became a bit grim. "Are you sure you want to hear this, XIU? Honestly, I’m starting to think that this is a little more than what we can chew. Let me give you a warning first, it will be horrible."

He Juan was already prepared for that since the day he came to seek Marius. Was there anything in the underworld that was ever beautiful or pleasant? Surely it couldn’t be more repulsive than what he had known and seen. Making himself comfortable in his seat, he took a piece of peanut butter cookie into his mouth and chomped on it, "Try me."

Marius showed a helpless look as if he had seen this coming. And then, he started to talk.

— He Juan was wrong.

As it turned out, he was still too naïve. The corruption he had witnessed was only a tiny portion of the darkness the world was hiding, and now he was delving head-on into the darker, more sinister and vile territory.

.

.

A/N: Important announcement! See the comment section in this Chapter! ^^