the 8th of February, 2026
~~~
- Sir... Excuse me, but I must... ask...
Brent wanted to shoot himself in the head, and this was indeed a rare emotion for him, and for the likes of him. Recent events had rattled his nerves too badly.
They had been sitting here, doing nothing, wasting daylight, for over an hour now. The inactivity in the face of crisis was driving him insane, and his self-control and exceptional discipline only lasted him from 7:11 in the morning, till 8:23 in the same morning, and he knew that because he had been checking his (semi-professional, waterproof) watch, stealthily, about one hundred and twenty times already
At first, he told himself he had to be patient. There was no doubt that his boss was deep in thought, probably worrying for his partner too much. But being steeped into the stench of this godforsaken place, and forcing yourself to sip, no matter how slowly, on the most disgusting cup of coffee in the universe – it took its toll. And Brent broke.
His voice seemed to tear Lan Xichen away from his complicated cobweb of sticky thoughts, plus associative pathways into the future of more than a dozen people at the same time, and he hummed, lifting his gaze from the empty cup in his fingers.
- Ummm? What is it? Ask away, my boy. – he smiled a tired smile, too distracted to be donning on one of his numerous masks.
Brent gulped. The eyes that stared into him now were strangely vacant, too tired.
- Sir... - he manned up. – Shouldn't we be heading... back? Your brother...
- My Di is currently still sleeping, probably. Let him sleep. – the taller man grinned, waking up more himself. – He will be taken care of. Trust me. He doesn't need me right now. He has his lover, and my star will feed him well too, come 10 o'clock. I am not worried, not at all.
It took a hot moment for the poor blonde to realize that "my star" meant Miss Estella.
He blinked.
- I got him his ring... Their rings... My work there is... done. – Lan Xichen added slowly, and somehow coldly.
Brent gulped again, feeling acutely now that distinct taste of exceptionally cheap coffee, mixed with... who knew what. Bile? Sheer stress?
He craved to brush his teeth, ASAP. He had no idea what that meant.
- Do you need some breakfast? Are you hungry? – Lan Xichen now waved his hand, making a broad gesture to encompass the place, generously so, too ready to summon a waitress.
Brent energetically shook his head "no". He had survived Afghanistan, but he was not going to survive this place's food!
- Then why do you want to go back? – Lan Huan tilted his head now, curious, expecting the answer with interest. – Isn't all the equipment we need, here, with you? In your briefcase?
Brent only managed to blink again.
- ... for when Wanyin... calls?
He had no idea why those last words scared him a little. He could not read this strange man, and it bothered him. A millionaire, a playboy, notorious around town, a successful lawyer, a psychopath, or rather – a blatant sociopath, but also...
Also... quite smitten with someone not as extraordinary as him. A possessor of absolutely illogical physique that allowed him to stuff kilograms of food into his body, with no consequences. Devoted to his loved ones, but hating mankind as a whole. Impossible to predict, in terms of mood, or decision-making, or questionable morals solutions to extraordinary problems, rather befitting the wealthy elites of the world, and not the common people.
Lan Xichen was an enigma, mostly because he lived his life on a whim. He could afford it, certainly, and his life was chaotic, for most of its part. There were only 3 pinned points, firm cores, fixed coordinated, immovable stars in his sky: his highly successful career, his love for his brother, and his obsession with his lover.
This was why Brent spoke out of turn. Today was a day in his life when he was obviously acting out of character, and he was fighting with his whole being not to beg for some kind of punishment for his transgressions, deviating from his usual professionalism. He had truly believed that this was quite impossible. Well, until he came to work for the Lan family.
- Yes, sir. – he confirmed dryly now, even nodding, and blushing, ashamed of himself. – We will know the very moment his tooth gets smashed. If he ever manages it.
- Hmmm. – Lan Xichen nodded too, completely unaware of the internal war being fought inside this pretty boy's mind. – And if he's drugged? If he has been drugged all this time? Who's gonna break that tooth for him?
Brent looked up, worried.
He truly hoped his face didn't express that. True, he was losing it today, but the fact was that he had been thinking the same thing. Too much time has passed already. Something was wrong. The only possible conclusion he could reach was that Mister Jiang was incapable of moving, partially or fully, for some reason.
And then... there was the cold thought, the worst of them all: Was he perhaps already dead?
Was he going to get paid, if this was the case? Had he totally failed at performing his task? What about his dream? His escape from the world?
He had only had one job: to keep the bosses safe. It had seemed like a simple task, a nice bargain.
Now he knew better. He knew why two million dollars.
- Sir, do you trust them? – he now asked quietly. – To do the job... as discussed?
Lan Xichen hummed, and his long fingers started fumbling with the ugly coffee cup. He had thought about it too. He had feared about it too.
Now, he bluffed without hesitation. He had to calm this stupid boy down. The more panicking and nervous Brent was, the higher the chances for a stupid mistake.
Yet, the thought that he was not the only one who worried so much about his sweet A-Cheng amused him, mostly because he remembered his lover's jealousy and hatred towards the new employee in the beginning. Yet, he had trusted him enough, to let him handle the dental job, to let him keep his secret from him.
- Naturally, the Jin Gang are unreliable. Just like all the rest. – he sniggered now, watching the blonde grow pale. – But I have a secret weapon, see?
He said it as a joke, but Brent subconsciously leaned in a bit, listening in, as if one of the government's very top secrets was going to get revealed to him, any second now.
- Sir?
Lan Xichen smiled. This here was just a youth, after all. Just a young boy who had seen too much, but a boy nonetheless.
He leaned in too, quite on purpose and mumbled under his nose:
- Well, darling, if they fail to perform, trust it that young Miss Jiang will slaughter every single one of them for failing her precious brother. I believe in this. I believe in Jin Zixuan too. I think he loves their baby more than the world, despite everything.
Brent, for sure, had not expected the word "baby" to appear anywhere in today's discussions and strategizing, and now he afforded another blink. What was more, Lan Xichen laughed loudly, and just snapped his fingers above his head, asking for the check merrily.
In a confused and dream-like state, Brent found himself outside, slapped across the face by the cutting winter chill. He had to wake up, it was high time.
- Take me home to my love, boy! - Lan Huan exclaimed, after stretching a bit, with a sigh of satisfaction, to his full height, like a cat – a huge, massive, strong-as-hell, ready-to-kill cat.
The ex-military still had no idea what this confusing sentence meant.
