Together with you

Overthinking

Shen Wei was walking through the park on his way to Zhao's workplace on a gloomy Monday afternoon. Dark clouds hovering low over the city threatened to burst any second. He had been hoping nature would help with how awfully he felt, and now he was forced to hurry his pace or get soaked. In the morning, Zhao Yunlan had told him it would be foggy but warm, so he didn't bother to take an umbrella. So much for trusting the detective and his weather app.

Shen Wei sighed, once again looking up. Two of his fellow lecturers were going through a nasty divorce, and he had overheard some students quarrelling and breaking up. Another girl was telling her friend how her parents suddenly decided to divorce after thirty years of being happily together. Clearly, late autumn was not the season of love. The atmosphere at the uni seemed to be hitting a new low, even during his lectures. And it seemed to him that everybody was losing interest in their second half. The professor sighed again. To makes matters worse, Zhao had decided to come back home drunk on Saturday night and spent the whole Sunday sick in bed, making the professor extremely angry and worried.

Shen Wei was about to enter the SID headquarters when he heard Zhao's tired voice. He frowned and suddenly stopped as the most unexpected words hit him like a freight train.

"... with Shen Wei. It just hasn't been working for us. I think we'll just end it." Zhao sighed.

"Are you sure, Old Zhao?" Zhu Hong asked, shaking her head. "Perhaps give it another month or so."

"It's already been over three months. Why waste more time? And money. I know better ways of spending it."

"It's your choice, Old Zhao."

"Long overdue if you ask me," the detective patted his pockets. "Damn it, I'm out of lollipops again." He jumped from Zhu Hong's desk and went to his office.

Shen Wei's heart was pumping madly in his chest. He leaned against the wall as his breathing quickened. His hand instinctively went to the pendant hidden under the collar of his white shirt. Yunlan wanted to end things between them. But why? Did he, Shen Wei, do something wrong? If so, he would apologise, beg forgiveness... Yunlan was his life force, the only person that mattered. Without him, Shen Wei's life was meaningless. He had been just an empty shell, roaming the planet in desperate search of his soulmate. He managed to find him, and now it would all come to an end...

Shen Wei breathed in slowly, trying to calm down and think. Yunlan would never do that to him. Not without reason. And if the relationship was really not working for Zhao, Shen Wei would do anything to make it right. Even if it meant leaving his beloved and moving to the other side of the globe. By the end of the day, it was Zhao Yunlan's happiness that mattered. The professor smiled sadly to himself, smoothed his vest and entered the great hall of the SID headquarters.

"Hi, Professor Shen," Changcheng was the first to greet him. A moment later, a fat black cat brushed against his legs and dashed forward. Shen Wei cast a nervous glance towards Zhu Hong, who was typing madly on her computer, focused. She seemed to be ignoring him on purpose, which made Shen Wei even more anxious. The rest of the people seemed just as busy, so he decided it would be best if he just sat quietly somewhere he wouldn't be a nuisance and wait for Zhao. He reached to draw a chair when suddenly Yunlan's head popped into the main hall.

"What are you doing? Come to my office," he said, then vanished. The professor nodded stiffly before following his lover. He entered the small office and silently closed the door.

"You're here early," Zhao's cold voice felt like a bucket of cold water. Shen Wei turned to face him and saw that Yunlan's eyes were glued to the monitor. "Sit. I need to finish this. How was your day?" The question was asked in such a flat tone it was obvious Zhao wasn't interested in hearing the answer.