New Beginning and Future

Chapter 58: The Weight of Peace, the Sound of Laughter

Summary: In the wake of silence and storms, healing begins not with words, but with touch, with teasing, and with the kind of laughter that only family, by blood or by bond, can bring. As tension gives way to mischief and closeness, ZGDX learns again how to breathe, fight, and love... all while preparing for the war that still waits ahead.

Overprotective: ZGDX
Overprotective/Possessive/territorial: Chessman
Chessman is literally his own warning when it concerns his girl

Notes:

⚠️ Author's Note: Shenanigans will always happen!

Disclaimer: The Muse would like to remind everyone we do not own FIYS nor the beloved characters nor any dialogue from either the show nor the book...the Muse is very sad and not pleased with this continued reminder that they do not own them and never will!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifty-Eight

The morning light was thin and colorless, the kind that belongs to the day after a storm.
Phones buzzed nonstop across the ZGDX base, headlines flashing on every screen, feeds crawling with the same words: Public Outcry Intensifies – Jian Yang Found Dead From Suicide – Speculation Mounts.

Pang sat on the couch, scrolling without speaking. Yue leaned against the counter, coffee forgotten in his hand. Ming and Rui were in the corner with the news on mute, the ticker rolling across the bottom of the screen in a loop. Every image was the same: news vans outside CK's headquarters, a line of statements, crowds leaving flowers, the echo of disbelief.

Yao stood behind them, arms folded, eyes tracing the stream of comments sliding past too fast to read. Some posts were furious, others mournful, but most carried the same refrain—justice, truth, consequence. None of it felt real. She exhaled slowly, set her phone face-down, and turned. "Where's Cheng?"

Yue looked up. "Haven't seen him since sunrise. He might be upstairs."

Her heart gave a small, unsteady beat. Without answering, she started down the hall, bare feet silent on the tile. The noise of the lounge faded behind her until there was nothing but the hum of the air-conditioning and her own breathing.

Their bedroom door was half open. She pushed it gently and found him there, stretched across the bed in the soft spill of morning light. He was still in yesterday's black shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, one arm draped over his eyes. The lines of tension that usually marked his face were gone; he looked exhausted, but peaceful.

For a moment she just stood there, watching him, the weight of everything, the headlines, the chaos, the memories,settling somewhere deep behind her ribs. Then she crossed the room and eased down beside him, curling into his side until her forehead brushed the warm skin of his throat. His arm shifted automatically, pulling her closer. She didn't ask. She didn't need to. Her voice was a whisper against his neck. "I don't need to know anything." He stirred, eyes still closed, but his hand tightened around her waist. She breathed him in, the faint scent of soap and the quiet steadiness that had always been her anchor, and murmured, "I love you. You always protect me. That's enough."

For a long time neither of them moved. The rest of the world raged beyond the windows, newsfeeds spinning faster, but in that small, sun-washed room there was only stillness: her heartbeat pressed against his chest, his breath slow and even, the unspoken truth between them settling into silence. Outside, the city kept talking. Inside, Yao closed her eyes and let the noise fall away, holding on to the only thing that had never changed.