Strings of Fate || Mafia AU (hiatus)

Ch. 15

Wuxian's eyes are wide as he stares at the phone. Horrified and scared for his life. His voice was utterly stuck in his throat and his heart jumped in fright as he reads every word.

[My dear brother

Boss, the rival gang is already at the port. Dispose of them before they cause more extensive damage than they already did.]

His head was trying to comprehend whatever the message meant, but the word 'dispose' meant something for sure.

Is it what he thinks it is?

And if that is, what should he do?

He suddenly felt his safety crumbling down, that being beside the older made his life in danger every second. His heart sank, he had loved Xichen already but knowing that he was in danger every second of his life makes his whole self tremble with fear.

For a flash of a second, his mind immediately decided. He needs to leave this place, he doesn't feel safe anymore!

And so he set the phone down, ignoring the message sender, and stoops down the bed and started to rummage all around, cluttering his things to get ready. There's no time to waste.

Why didn't he notice sooner? Flashing back every memory of him suddenly made him realize. The well-made clothes, the men-in-black who was with him at the shop, the slip of the people's tongue in calling him 'boss', and expensive dinners at fine dining restaurants. He was too blinded by the fun he was feeding him that he didn't question any part of it. 

Upon putting the important things into his traveling bag, he sighs in relief. Now, the only problem he needs to face is to safely get out of his apartment. Who knows, maybe the older paid someone to watch him from outside the apartment? Or worse, he installed cameras inside his apartment to monitor him. 

The idea brought chills into his body, he gulps down the lump in his throat as he wanders his eyes around trying to find any hidden camera but he was relieved when he didn't see anything. Then his attention came back to his current dilemma.

How will he be able to escape the room without being detected by the guards looking after him? (if there is one)

Maybe he can just throw his bag into a trash bag and pretends that he's just taking out the trash. Will that even fool anyone? But either way, he can't prove it useless if he doesn't try right? 

After putting them in trash bags, he heaves a deep sigh, gathering all the courage he can get and the final decision he managed to decide on. 

He will leave this place, hide from the horror of the older's lies, and never show his face. His heart aches at the thought of leaving his boyfriend, but the feeling of safety he thought he had was all but bubbles, popping and disappearing into thin air. 

He needs to run away right now or it would be more difficult once he prolongs his stay. 

He just needs to withdraw all the money he was able to save from his work, drop out of school in the meantime until he manages to keep away from Xichen, and maybe leave the country for good. That way, even though it's temporary and he will eventually be caught, at least it will be harder for them to catch him. 

With a final decision on his sleeves and his heart ready for his unprepared leave, he marched out of the apartment, hands dragging big sacks of trash bags on his way out. Before he can leave entirely, he turns his head to look back at the apartment which became his haven after becoming independent. He will surely miss the memories he made in that place and the love he made and feel alongside the apartment. 

He smiles bitterly as he looks down at his shoe, tears welling up at the corner of his eyes but he swallowed the prickly bitterness that comes along with it. 

Then he started walking out of the place, not looking back any further to lessen the pain of leaving memories. He reminded himself that it was for his own sake that's why he was leaving, it was probably the best decision he can decide for himself. 

.

Xichen was at the port with his guards and other members, the rival gang's underlings splayed out on the cold floor under the illumination of the flickering street light, the boss nowhere to be found when they arrived. 

It was fortunate that the port was empty at midnight and far from houses. Guns were fired all throughout that lasted for about thirty minutes, causing bodies to turn cold dead on the floor, some of Xichen's underlings died in the encounter but the rival's gang were all killed. 

Xichen pulls out his cigarette case wallet from his inner pocket and lighted himself a cigarette, puffing out smoke as his eyes trained down to the poor bodies just before his feet. Remorse was not written on his face but rather amused at their pathetic faces. 

"Fuckers!" he cursed at them, pulling the tip of the cigarette out of his mouth before spitting at the pooling blood. "I want this cleaned before morning," he ordered his underlings who were still catching their breath and bandaging their injuries from the encounter, glaring down at the bodies before scoffing and turning his back from the corpses. 

Just as he was walking out of the scene, someone from his guards' phone rang. Annoyance was immediately written on his face upon hearing the sound, brows knitted and teeth gritting. "What the fuck?!" he growls.

"Boss..." the guard who answered the phone spoke. 

"What?!" he lashes out. 

The guard gulps before opening his mouth once again, "Mr. Wei has not come back yet and it was already thirty minutes passed," he continues, voice nearly trembling but manages to speak properly.

Xichen's brow raised at him in confusion, "What do you mean? I left him asleep a while ago!"

"He came out fifteen minutes after you left, boss. They said they saw him carrying two garbage bags outside, while they thought he was just going to throw them, it was already thirty minutes after going out, and Mr. Wei hasn't gone home yet," he answers, praying to whoever will hear his prayer that his boss won't lash his anger out on him from hearing the news.

"Haaaah?! How can that happen?! I'm paying them to watch him and yet he was able to escape from them?! incompetent fuckers!" he cursed, throwing the cigarette. His teeth gritted in anger as he marches to his car, followed by the two. 

"They better have an explanation before I blow their heads into pieces!" he growls as he impatiently taps his foot on the floor of the car. 

--------

A/N: Sorry for making you waiiiit. I was busy with school (as always). Anyways, I'll be having a long weekend so maybe I'll be able to make an update for the rest of my long weekend and make it up to you. Yeah? Thank you everyone for waiting! <3