Counting Money (Weilan)

Clean Sheets

Shen Wei stood in the doorway of Zhao Yunlan's apartment, slightly afraid to step inside. Not only did he have heavy thoughts about crossing a line he knew he'd have a hard time turning his back on, the apartment was a catastrophe. A true sight to behold.

A groan of pain from the man leaning heavily into his side brought him from his thoughts and steeled his resolve. He took a cautionary step into the room, trying to avoid various articles of clothes and empty containers on the floor as he led Zhao Yunlan to what he assumed was a bed. After clearing off enough space for a human to fit, Shen Wei confirmed it was a bed and helped the unnervingly quiet man down onto it.

"Zhao Yunlan, where is your medicine?"

The man made a grunt and then opened the top drawer to his bedside table. He took the cap off of the medicine bottle and went to pour two pills into his hand. Before any could actually fall, Shen Weo had taken the bootleg from him. He glanced up at him with both confusion and offense.

"You couldn't have really planned on just swallowing these and falling asleep?" Shen Wei was unfazed by the look and only returned his own of hard scrutiny.

Zhao Yunlan didn't have a response to being read so well. He knew that it wasn't good to take stomach medicine in a way that could further upset his condition, but he'd been fine before so he'd never questioned it. Shen Wei stood up abruptly.

"Wait here."

Shen Wei moved to Zhao Yunlan's adjoining kitchen and hesitated for a moment before moving toward the counter. He started up a kettle that Zhao Yunlan had probably only touched once or twice in his time of owning it. He waited the few minutes it took to warm some water, then poured it in a glass, holding both sides to make sure it was only warm and wouldn't burn anyone who drank it. He walked back to Zhao Yunlan on the bed and handed him back the two pills and the cup of warm water.

"Now you can take them," Shen Wei brought over a stool and sat in from of Zhao Yunlan.

His thoughts were still muddled so Zhao Yunlan couldn't do much more than nod in appreciation and down the pills with the water. He had to admit that the medicine went down much smoother this way. His body felt heavy and sleep pulled at him, so he let himself fall back onto his pillows.

"Zhao Yunlan you should take off your..." Shen Wei's voice faded into the background of Zhao Yunlan's mind as he fell asleep.

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"...shoes at least," Shen Wei shook his head as he realized that he had fallen asleep anyway.

He moved to take off the man's shoes, debating on just what else he should change. Zhao Yunlan was still wearing scuffed-up clothes from their earlier incident. Shen Wei felt his hand unconsciously hover over the pendant handing above his heart.

He made up his mind to also strip the man of his jacket and change his jeans into something more comfortable. He found a pair of loose bottoms that seemed mostly clean on the back of the couch. They would have to do.

After changing and tucking Zhao Yunlan into a now cleared-off bed, Shen Wei turned his attention to the rest of the apartment. He had his work cut out for him.

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Soft sunlight and the crisp scent of cleaner washed over Zhao Yunlan's senses as his mind came back to the edges of consciousness. It stirred his mind in confusion, why were those sense the ones greeting him? Was he not in his apartment anymore? He could have sworn Shen Wei had helped him back home last night, but these sensations hadn't belonged to his apartment since he had first bought it. He finally allowed his eyes to open fully. The window at the end of his bed was open just enough to let the morning air in. He was wrapped comfortably in his blankets and there was nothing else on the bed. He kept looking around until his eyes landed on Shen Wei, who was reading on the couch a few feet from him. As his eyes lingered Shen Wei noticed his gaze.

"Ah, you're awake," Shen Wei set his book down and stood, making his way to the kitchen, which was also noticeably spotless. The whole apartment was.

"Here, can you sit up and eat this?" Shen Wei had returned to his bedside with a steaming bowl of porridge.

Zhao Yunlan sat up and took the bowl from him. He started to eat slowly.

"I hope you don't mind, I cleaned the apartment up a bit. I just wiped surfaces down and put away what seemed to be left out. I also put what clothes seemed dirty into the washer. I left out what didn't absolutely need to be cleaned so that you would still have something to wear."

"No, umm... I don't mind at all, thank you," Zhao Yunlan wasn't entirely sure how to react. The professor had been keeping a respectable distance from him, but as soon as he didn't feel well, he nursed him back to health and put his hovel of an apartment back into order.

"Shen Wei... you didn't have to do all of this," Zhao Yunlan found that the words he tried to say casually, hurt.

"It was the least I could do for someone who saved me from being robbed," Zhao Yunlan turned Shen Wei and felt the tension leave him from his words and the small smile that lay on his lips.

He smiled back at the man. Neither moved to break their eye contact, even as Zhao Yunlan moved closer to Shen Wei. He could see a reservation behind Shen Wei's eyes, but for once the man didn't seem to let it overcome him. There was an air of familiarity and comfort that neither of them wanted to leave. Zhao Yunlan came to rest a hand on the side of Shen Wei's face and he could feel the man melt into his hand. He moved even closer, pulling Shen Wei toward him slightly, until a loud pounding on the front door startled them both and Shen Wei quickly pulled back into himself. He jumped up from his stool and went to open the door. Zhao Yunlan curled that hand that had just been so gently resting on Shen Wei into a fist and hit it into his bed. He was going to kill whoever was on the other side of that door.

Shen Wei opened the door and revealed an out-of-breath Da Qing, who immediately rushed over to Zhao Yunlan.

"What do you think you're doing you—!"

"Cheif Zhao! You have to come down to the department quickly! It's—Your father is back!"