Holding On [Nine Percent/ Idol Producer]

Chapter Twelve.

The hospital ward is a chaos when Justin reaches, Ziyi's mother is down on the floor, screaming and crying, handful of Ziyi's father's shirt gripped in her fists as he holds her close, his tears visible too. Ziyi's brother is talking to the doctor, over and over again, somehow hoping for the response to change, his face is all flushed.

The doctor eventually leaves behind a family who's completely devastated by the death of the youngest member, Ziyi's brother walking straight up to Jiayi before holding her by her arm, demanding answers from her, now that even the doctor left.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" his voice is raw from all the repeated questioning, "why didn't you tell us when this actually started?"

His voice angrier, the tears running down his face, "why, why didn't you tell us when he was hospitalised? Why didn't you go and inform the police when he was attacked? Just, why?! Ziyi is dead now! What are you going to do about that?!"

Justin walks away from the ward, his hands fisted, something pricking the back of his eyes, which he doesn't realise until he's forcefully holding his tears back.

Yanjun comes and stands next to Justin, not necessarily saying anything except, "we need to hold up strong. Jiayi needs us."

Justin thinks about how hard it might be for Yanjun right now. Ziyi and Yanjun have been friends for a long time now. Knowing that Cai Xukun is behind the attack on Ziyi and working on a case as risky as this, he tries to take a look at Yanjun, because he surely needs more consolation.

Yanjun is all pale, Justin has noted, which means he's definitely not at a right place.

"His death is not going to go in vain," Yanjun says after some time of silence, when Jiayi walks out of the ward, her eyes totally devoid of any emotion, a blank stare pasted, "we need to hold up strong."

She walks straight, without even looking at the two standing, before disappearing down the hospital corridor.

--

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Justin thinks about calling Jiayi, but decides against it. He then calls Nessa, who picks it up on its second ring, her voice low and groggy as she lets out a "hello?"

"Hey."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You got the news already, I guess."

"Yeah," she gets silent, "my boss is dead."

"I have something to talk to you about."

"Over phone?"

"No, not over phone. Let's meet tomorrow."

"Sure."

Sitting at the same position as the last time, Justin shows up too early in the morning at Nessa's place. She's in the kitchen making some tea. "What do you know about Wu Shen?" Nessa doesn't even flinch when he shows up out of nowhere. "Or the contract?" He adds.

"Wu Shen's sister is not Xukun's psychiatrist."

What?

"Wu Shen has a younger sister, who's a housewife. Jiayi misinformed Yanjun and you about it."

How are you so sure?

"I'm sure because she was involved in an arson case. Her husband and she tried to press charges on the electrician working there that day. Coincidentally, it was also a case handled by Yanjun."

She turns and pours the tea into two cups.

"What about the number printed behind the picture?" Justin asks as Nessa puts some sugar before stirring it.

"What about it?"

"I called the number." Justin follows Nessa to the living room with the two cups. "Cai Xukun picked it up."

Nessa sits down, placing Justin's cup on the table and then taking a sip from hers. "Um hm."

"Where did you get his number from?"

"He gave it to me."

"He did?"

She nods.

"Why?" He asks, "how? Why'd he?"

Nessa places her cup down while staring straight at Justin, there's a look of slight annoyance on her face as she speaks. "For someone who has done nothing to add to the investigation, you sure do ask a lot of questions."

Justin quiets down after that. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't particularly done anything to help with the investigation. The rest are all working to add something or the other, but what is he doing about it?

"No," Nessa says, "don't go out of your way to uncover something. If it's not thought out well, there's a high possibility of everything getting messed up. Don't forget we're against Cai Xukun. He's smart and cruel."

Seeing how Justin's posture stiffens, she adds, "I'm in no way undermining you, but the rest of us have information we've gathered over a period of time formulating strict plans. It didn't happen overnight. If you want to help, make a solid plan first, and then act on it."

"Yeah," Justin says in a small voice, "I get what you're saying."

She smiles before taking a sip from her cup of tea.

Justin's phone rings, the caller ID being of Yanjun. "Did Jiayi call you?" he asks frantically which gets Justin on full alert.

"No, what happened?"

"She's not picking up my phone," Yanjun says, "I've been trying her number since last night we came back."

Justin stands up, which makes Nessa look up at him. "I'm going to her place."

Yanjun says he'd be coming too before disconnecting the call. Justin tells Nessa the scenario before leaving, all the while tapping against the steering wheel furiously, hoping that Jiayi is fine.

He sees Yanjun's car, after parking next to which Justin rushes to Jiayi's apartment, only to find Yanjun frantically beating on the door and yelling her name.

Finding no response for some time, the two of them decide to break down the door, after which they rush inside, only to find her sprawled across the couch, white froth lining down her mouth.