Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Music And Memories Part 3

TRIGGER WARNING: the briefest mention of suicide and it's Jin Guangshan (spoiler alert).

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Is he ready?

Lan Zhan stiffens when Wen Qing grabs his hand, staring straight ahead. Then he notices that they're all sitting in a line, Uncle Four at the far end, Wen Ning next to him, SiZhui in between him and Qing-Jie, and then himself. They're all holding hands and no one is ready. But they haven't had a chance to talk in private ever since Luo QingYang turned up, and Lan Zhan sincerely hopes they will. Brainstorming has always been their thing, often finding a way out of whatever difficulties presented themselves like that. The band isn't just a band. They're family and they stick together, even if they all miss the man who brought them together.

"By now, you've probably guessed that I'm not really a steward. That's my cover, working for the security company, but I'm with an elite force that cannot be named for obvious reasons. There's so much to tell you, so maybe let's start at the beginning." Luo QingYang taps her watch and a projector somewhere begins whirring, lighting up the wall behind her.

There's a timeline and names listed, some familiar to Lan Zhan and others unknown.

"Thirteen years ago, Nightless City Corporation began trading in earnest. Before that, Wen Ruohan had his dirty fingers in several illegal pies but we couldn't prove anything. His security was tighter than a high risk prison and no one in his inner circle could be enticed to snitch on him. Any witnesses died before the cases left the police department, before they went anywhere near a court.

"Things came to a head when Wen Ruohan's sons got involved with heavy-handed media management. They knew up-and-coming bands and solo artists were desperate to become the next big thing, so they started hunting the most promising acts. Their contracts were full of shit, making the artists sign up for next to nothing just to get a leg up in the industry, for unreasonable amounts of time. They developed a bad reputation but Wen Ruohan threw money at the problem and any complaints, by using his teams of lawyers so nothing changed.

"I was working for the Jin Conglomerate at the time, not with my present employer. Thirteen years ago, a meeting was held in the Nightless City Corporation tower, a secret one where Wen Chao promised to present a fantastic contract that Wei WuXian would be allowed to look over before signing. The only requirement was that he come alone, and that he could speak for the entire Burial Mounds group."

Wen Qing glances at Lan Zhan, her lips tightly pressed together to form a thin line. She's trying so hard not to say anything about this.

"No one knows exactly what happened that night. But we know that the Jin Conglomerate was involved somehow. The meeting went awry, something happened and it's only recently we found this USB that has footage of what we suspect might have occurred." Luo QingYang taps her phone again. The room grows dark and a video begins playing.

The images are grainy but it's easy to spot Wei Ying. Lan Zhan leans closer as if he will understand the content of the missing years by whatever he's going to see now. Perhaps this video can explain Wei Ying's disappearance and what happened to him, all that time ago. He holds his breath, unable to even blink in case he might miss something vital.

Wei Ying enters the room with a confident swagger, facing off against the others in the room by projecting a nonchalant, cheeky vibe as if he's not bothered at all.

It's a darkly decorated conference room, but unlike the one they're in right now.

All the furniture, the carpet and the walls are black with red highlights, and the massive table that sits in the centre along with the twenty odd chairs are also black but with red LED lights in a thin stripe at the edge. The sound cuts out as soon as Wei Ying walks in.