"Yah," Xue Yang said it almost comically casually, as he pushed open the closet door and stepped out. Hide and seek was immature but undeniably fun. The way Cheon looked at him was hilarious, scared and outraged all at once.
"You?! You little shit, you are--" Cheon cursed, realising he'd left his gun in the car. Whatever, he could beat this one up. "I'm going to kill you for this, fucking assho--"
"Aw, right. Now you've seen my face." Xue Yang shrugged, grinning. "Guess I'll make sure you can't tell on me."
Meng Yao used this distraction to yank himself free from Cheon, scrambling back until he hit the wall and bracing himself for whatever was going to happen. Xue Yang was unpredictable but apparently strong and vicious.
But Cheon was, well, Cheon. Pure brute strength. He had watched Cheon beat men to death with his bare hands for fun. He just hoped Xue Yang wasn't still just some dumb brat bragging about skills he hadn't gotten yet.
The truth of the matter was that Cheon was probably high on something, he usually was. That he was strong, but not exactly fast. And that Xue Yang was very good at taking men out quickly.
Furthermore there was another truth though. He did love to show off and there was no one in the world he wanted to impress more than Meng Yao. So, when he charged Cheon, he did not go for an easy blow that would knock him out. Instead he started exchanging blows, only to avoid most of them. Cheon was frustrated, but only grunting and yelling in annoyance, not making much sense.
And Xue Yang managed to throw him over his shoulder onto the ground, grinning at Meng Yao right after. He even winked. Cool, right? That was what he was asking, in a moment when he seemed like A-Yang looking at Yao-ge.
Xue Yang could actually fight. And he was winning.
Meng Yao looked at Xue Yang and then his shock melted away into amusement. Jiangzai was strong. Maybe he would actually save him. He was shaking a little still from shock but he smiled at Xue Yang, bright and excited, feeling like he was on the verge of something good for the first time... well, ever. When did A-Yang get so badass?
He should have known that brat would prove him wrong. He always did. Almost out of spite.
Meng Yao smiling at him like that, it made his heart sing. It also temporarily took too much of his focus and he ended up getting a hand to the face. However, he didn't seem disoriented from the hit. Instead he started back into the fight with renewed determination. Only a few moments later and he struck Cheon hard against his temple. The man collapsed immediately, unmoving. Almost as if he was dead.
Xue Yang stepped over him, reaching for his lip, which was bleeding slightly. It happened quite frequently in a fight, the downside of his fangs, always pierced his skin. He didn't mind too much, he was rather counting on it adding to his badass charm.
Looking down at Meng Yao, he raised his eyebrows. "I thought you were meant to strip down." Was he teasing? Probably.
"You actually did it. You knocked him down." Meng Yao was clearly in awe as he moved from the wall and tentatively, he crawled closer. He looked at Cheon, on the floor, bruised and bleeding. He licked his lips, fascinated by the sight. Here was the powerful man that was always keep him down and he was just there, splayed out, unconscious.
He reached out and poked his leg. "Is he dead?" He was too afraid to get any closer, in case he leapt back to life. He did hear what Xue Yang had said but it was hard to see anything but Cheon right now.
"Doubt it. Not yet. Takes a bit more than that to fell a bull." Not that he hadn't killed some men with a good punch to the head before. He just doubted that would work on someone who was more bulk than brain. "He's gonna be out for a while though."
He didn't doubt that. Xue Yang watched Meng Yao, finally clicking his tongue. "Eh! Look at me. I'm important."
Rather directly, he said exactly what was on his mind. A lot of things about him had not changed. Likely never would. "Strip." He said it directly this time. "You're wasting time."
"What?" Meng Yao responded, looking back at Xue Yang with a confused frown. He looked at him and tried to work out if he was actually asking it or if he was just mocking him in a playful way. Either way, he wasn't doing it. He was missing a shirt, sure, but he'd like to keep his pants on - if possible.
"I'm not stripping, don't be stupid. We can't focus on ... whatever that is right now, we need to focus on him. We should tie him up." He looked away from Xue Yang again and looked at Cheon, feeling an urgency to act. "There's rope somewhere in the storage room, he likes to keep some at hand."
"You're being difficult," Xue Yang complained. Yet he also put a hand into the inner pocket of his jacket, producing two pairs of handcuffs. He indulged Meng Yao by squatting down next to Cheon and cuffing his wrists together behind his back, moving the bigger man onto his side to do so.
Then he tossed the other pair at Meng Yao, tilting his head to the side. "Put the on the same way."
Meng Yao caught the cuffs and looked at them, feeling a sense of dread in his stomach. No, not just dread. He felt anger too. Frustration. From one owner to another. He glared at Xue Yang, his jaw set. "I see. So that's how you want it."
He opened one of the cuffs and put it on his wrist, putting his hands behind his back and holding the other open one, reluctant to close it. "When men get power, they're all the fucking same, eh?"
Closing it around his wrist, he glared up at Xue Yang.
"Hm. I don't know. I look a hell of a lot better than most," Xue Yang suggested, smiling serenely. "Stay here, eh? I'll be right back, I just need to get that lug to the car first. Don't try to run, Yao, I'd find you. Especially with that drug kicking in, you'd not make it far."
That said he bent down and arranged Cheon so he could carry him over his shoulders. He had grown in strength, that much was for certain. What else had changed about him was a different question.
Meng Yao watched Xue Yang carry Cheon with such ease. He was strong. Too strong. And still an immature, possessive brat. Hm. Maybe Jiangzai was not the saviour he wanted after all. It could be too dangerous, too unpredictable. He wanted to be excited that someone had saved him but they didn't do it from love, they did it from possessiveness.
He knew he had limited time so he hurried over to his fallen hoodie, using his hands to awkwardly get his phone and unlock it. He turned around and set it in front of him. Awkwardly, he used his nose to scroll down to call... who. Who the fuck would help him?
He didn't know why but he hit the one number of the only person he thought was decent. Wei Wuxian. Maybe if he died, at least he might get some kind of justice for this.
"Yao-ge? Is that you?" Wei Wuxian sounded surprised, in a friendly way, clearly not having expected the call. "What's up?"
Xue Yang heard someone on the other end of the line after having waited in the doorway on his way back. He paused to hear what Meng Yao would say. After a few moments though, he did walk inside.
Immediately he grabbed Meng Yao, causing the phone to fall down. One arm around him, keeping him pinned against his chest. The other hand covering his mouth. And, very low, he whispered. "C'mon. Let him hear you struggle."
It was hot. Besides, it would be good for his plan.
"Jiangzai. It's Jiangzai that did it." Meng Yao ratted immediately because if he was going down, he was taking Xue Yang with him. For all he cared, they could both burn. "Jiangzai is--"
Before he could truly torch Xue Yang, the bastard came in, a hand over his mouth to stop him from way it. He cried out angrily and tried to fight against Xue Yang but he was strong. Too strong. He bit down on his hand as hard as he could but the weirdo didn't move his hand back.
Oh yeah. The weird lack of pain. He had forgotten that. Fuck.
Xue Yang stepped on his phone to break it, thinking that this ought to have been enough. Then he started dragging Meng Yao out the door. This area was shit, he didn't expect to run into any trouble on the way to the car. "What is Jiangzai, huh?"
He sounded amused, much more so than pained. Teasing, maybe even mocking, as he marched him along down the stairs, to where his car was waiting. "Handsome? Cute? I wonder what you'd have said..."
He opened the passenger door with one hand and then forced Meng Yao inside, immediately connecting his handcuffs to another cuff that was already attached to the handlebar above the door. Clearly there for this reason. "Cheon's in the trunk. See? I like you better."
That said, he slammed the door shut and walked around the car to get to the driver's side.
Meng Yao cried out but no one cared around here so he didn't do it for long. It was just futile. He had screamed from the apartment window in his early days - no one cared. Even so, he didn't entirely give up the fight.
He kicked, he struggled, he tried all that he could. He could feel the fuzzy edges of that stupid half melted pill taking effect. He shook his head, forcing himself to stay with it.
Cuffed in place, he raised his leg and kicked against Xue Yang's door. It wouldn't achieve anything but it would fuck up his door. "Jiangzai is a bastard!"
"I dunno," Xue Yang considered as he got into the seat, putting on the seatbelt after slamming the door shut. He turned the key in the ignition and started the car. "I don't know either of my parents, I think you don't even get to be a bastard like that. Just an orphan? Or something."
He wasn't sure. "Anyway, you proper bastard." Well, he was. By definition. Xue Yang smirked as he started them down the road. He turned the knob to turn up the volume on the song that was playing. "Do you recognise it? That's from the soundtrack of the drama we were watching when you crushed me."
Xue Yang was enjoying it. "Couldn't listen to it for years, made me too angry. I think I got allergic to it or something."
"Allergic? Are you still on that nonsense? You cry because you're sad, idiot." Meng Yao huffed in annoyance, attempting to worm himself out of the cuffs. It was hard and they were way too tight. He thought he'd set them looser than this. "It was a stupid drama. Three episodes were just flashbacks."
So there, everything and everyone was stupid today. He huffed angrily and his nostrils flared.
"Let me go." Meng Yao demanded, though he had no power to and when he demanded, he looked more pouty than intimidating.
"Uh-huh. Let you go and then what? They are gonna leave you alone? You think just cause I got your personal pimp, the problem is solved?" Xue Yang rolled his eyes, enjoying the music. Even more so with Meng Yao calling it and everything stupid. It felt so familiar. "Saving you, xiao Yao, it's not so easy. That's why I told you I had a plan. Thank you so much for cooperating so far. Especially calling that cop, that was handy."
He thought it'd work in your favour. "They won't look for you if they think you're dead. The ones you owe your debt to, I mean."
He glanced at Meng Yao from the side. "How stupid do you think I am?"
"I'm not a complete idiot, I had a plan." A very half heart plan of spilling everything to Wei Wuxian and seeing if he couldn't get some kind of witness protection. Maybe he could have relocated. It would be nice to go somewhere entirely different. Of course, this plan hinged on cops actually doing their jobs and the gangsters being slow enough for him to survive.
"But fine, so you want to fake my death. You could just tell me. We could do it together. You're the asshole that suddenly got all alpha on me." With the handcuffs and the demands to strip.
"I don't want to go from one fucking owner to another. I don't belong to you."
"Because you'd have gone along with my plan without talking back and getting involved. That guy was already itching to take you down, I wasn't gonna give you more attitude." Xue Yang felt it was justified, his entire approach. "Anyway, you hurt me. Why would I not hurt you in turn?"
He didn't see any injustice there. It felt more like finally setting things right. "So maybe you're the one being stupid."
They were at a red light and Xue Yang looked over at Meng Yao. Beautiful and adorable, with that pout of his. "You hurt me worse than anyone."
"What? Because I dumped you. I'm sorry that hurt but you have to understand, it wasn't done to hurt you. It was done so I could survive. You were overbearing." Xue Yang ruined all of his jobs, intimidated his customers and kept getting himself beaten up by much stronger gangsters and clients. "I did it for your sake as much as mine."
He wanted to protect them both from what was clearly a failing mess.
"I always have to be the bad one because I have to make the hard decisions." Xue Yang couldn't make those calls. Meng Yao could. "I don't owe you my love."
"Now I'm making the decisions. And I don't owe you shit either and here I am." Xue Yang was speeding up more than necessary when the lights turned, unable to remain calm while Meng Yao was being so very difficult. "I'm risking my life."
He licked his lower lip, still bleeding slightly. "My health. I'm doing this for free when usually I get paid per kill. All because you thought you'd be better off without me."
Clearly he'd been mistaken. "So fuck off with that. Love isn't like that. Love just is. I can't help mine! You probably just don't feel any."
"Yes, of course. I don't love you. I never loved you." Meng Yao shot back sarcastically, annoyed that he had to be the bad guy. He was grateful to be saved, yes, he wanted it and he had asked for it but he wanted to be a team. He didn't want to be a hostage or a captive. And yet, he was definitely one.
"I never thought I'd be better off without you. This is the problem, you can't understand why I did it. I wanted you. I wanted you with me. Always. It just wasn't an option." He had a job, he had debts, he had constant threats. And Xue Yang had been hurt. More than once. All because of him.
He exhaled in annoyance and looked away from Xue Yang. "Are you going to always use it against me? That I ended up with Cheon?"
Tears shot into Xue Yang's eyes when Meng Yao said that. Not loving him. It made it difficult to breathe because of how his chest hurt and he had to blink rapidly. At least it made him slow down the car again, perhaps a blessing. Traffic was getting heavier around here.
With a shake of his head, Xue Yang answered. "Just that we were both alone. That's on you. Fucker."
He frowned and tried to figure out what was happening. "I still want you with me. So you will be. I get what I want."
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"You?! You little shit, you are--" Cheon cursed, realising he'd left his gun in the car. Whatever, he could beat this one up. "I'm going to kill you for this, fucking assho--"
"Aw, right. Now you've seen my face." Xue Yang shrugged, grinning. "Guess I'll make sure you can't tell on me."
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But Cheon was, well, Cheon. Pure brute strength. He had watched Cheon beat men to death with his bare hands for fun. He just hoped Xue Yang wasn't still just some dumb brat bragging about skills he hadn't gotten yet.
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Furthermore there was another truth though. He did love to show off and there was no one in the world he wanted to impress more than Meng Yao. So, when he charged Cheon, he did not go for an easy blow that would knock him out. Instead he started exchanging blows, only to avoid most of them. Cheon was frustrated, but only grunting and yelling in annoyance, not making much sense.
And Xue Yang managed to throw him over his shoulder onto the ground, grinning at Meng Yao right after. He even winked. Cool, right? That was what he was asking, in a moment when he seemed like A-Yang looking at Yao-ge.
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Meng Yao looked at Xue Yang and then his shock melted away into amusement. Jiangzai was strong. Maybe he would actually save him. He was shaking a little still from shock but he smiled at Xue Yang, bright and excited, feeling like he was on the verge of something good for the first time... well, ever. When did A-Yang get so badass?
He should have known that brat would prove him wrong. He always did. Almost out of spite.
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Xue Yang stepped over him, reaching for his lip, which was bleeding slightly. It happened quite frequently in a fight, the downside of his fangs, always pierced his skin. He didn't mind too much, he was rather counting on it adding to his badass charm.
Looking down at Meng Yao, he raised his eyebrows. "I thought you were meant to strip down." Was he teasing? Probably.
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He reached out and poked his leg. "Is he dead?" He was too afraid to get any closer, in case he leapt back to life. He did hear what Xue Yang had said but it was hard to see anything but Cheon right now.
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He didn't doubt that. Xue Yang watched Meng Yao, finally clicking his tongue. "Eh! Look at me. I'm important."
Rather directly, he said exactly what was on his mind. A lot of things about him had not changed. Likely never would. "Strip." He said it directly this time. "You're wasting time."
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"I'm not stripping, don't be stupid. We can't focus on ... whatever that is right now, we need to focus on him. We should tie him up." He looked away from Xue Yang again and looked at Cheon, feeling an urgency to act. "There's rope somewhere in the storage room, he likes to keep some at hand."
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Then he tossed the other pair at Meng Yao, tilting his head to the side. "Put the on the same way."
He raised his eyebrows. "Now."
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He opened one of the cuffs and put it on his wrist, putting his hands behind his back and holding the other open one, reluctant to close it. "When men get power, they're all the fucking same, eh?"
Closing it around his wrist, he glared up at Xue Yang.
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That said he bent down and arranged Cheon so he could carry him over his shoulders. He had grown in strength, that much was for certain. What else had changed about him was a different question.
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He knew he had limited time so he hurried over to his fallen hoodie, using his hands to awkwardly get his phone and unlock it. He turned around and set it in front of him. Awkwardly, he used his nose to scroll down to call... who. Who the fuck would help him?
He didn't know why but he hit the one number of the only person he thought was decent. Wei Wuxian. Maybe if he died, at least he might get some kind of justice for this.
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Xue Yang heard someone on the other end of the line after having waited in the doorway on his way back. He paused to hear what Meng Yao would say. After a few moments though, he did walk inside.
Immediately he grabbed Meng Yao, causing the phone to fall down. One arm around him, keeping him pinned against his chest. The other hand covering his mouth. And, very low, he whispered. "C'mon. Let him hear you struggle."
It was hot. Besides, it would be good for his plan.
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Before he could truly torch Xue Yang, the bastard came in, a hand over his mouth to stop him from way it. He cried out angrily and tried to fight against Xue Yang but he was strong. Too strong. He bit down on his hand as hard as he could but the weirdo didn't move his hand back.
Oh yeah. The weird lack of pain. He had forgotten that. Fuck.
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He sounded amused, much more so than pained. Teasing, maybe even mocking, as he marched him along down the stairs, to where his car was waiting. "Handsome? Cute? I wonder what you'd have said..."
He opened the passenger door with one hand and then forced Meng Yao inside, immediately connecting his handcuffs to another cuff that was already attached to the handlebar above the door. Clearly there for this reason. "Cheon's in the trunk. See? I like you better."
That said, he slammed the door shut and walked around the car to get to the driver's side.
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He kicked, he struggled, he tried all that he could. He could feel the fuzzy edges of that stupid half melted pill taking effect. He shook his head, forcing himself to stay with it.
Cuffed in place, he raised his leg and kicked against Xue Yang's door. It wouldn't achieve anything but it would fuck up his door. "Jiangzai is a bastard!"
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He wasn't sure. "Anyway, you proper bastard." Well, he was. By definition. Xue Yang smirked as he started them down the road. He turned the knob to turn up the volume on the song that was playing. "Do you recognise it? That's from the soundtrack of the drama we were watching when you crushed me."
Xue Yang was enjoying it. "Couldn't listen to it for years, made me too angry. I think I got allergic to it or something."
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So there, everything and everyone was stupid today. He huffed angrily and his nostrils flared.
"Let me go." Meng Yao demanded, though he had no power to and when he demanded, he looked more pouty than intimidating.
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He thought it'd work in your favour. "They won't look for you if they think you're dead. The ones you owe your debt to, I mean."
He glanced at Meng Yao from the side. "How stupid do you think I am?"
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"But fine, so you want to fake my death. You could just tell me. We could do it together. You're the asshole that suddenly got all alpha on me." With the handcuffs and the demands to strip.
"I don't want to go from one fucking owner to another. I don't belong to you."
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He didn't see any injustice there. It felt more like finally setting things right. "So maybe you're the one being stupid."
They were at a red light and Xue Yang looked over at Meng Yao. Beautiful and adorable, with that pout of his. "You hurt me worse than anyone."
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He wanted to protect them both from what was clearly a failing mess.
"I always have to be the bad one because I have to make the hard decisions." Xue Yang couldn't make those calls. Meng Yao could. "I don't owe you my love."
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He licked his lower lip, still bleeding slightly. "My health. I'm doing this for free when usually I get paid per kill. All because you thought you'd be better off without me."
Clearly he'd been mistaken. "So fuck off with that. Love isn't like that. Love just is. I can't help mine! You probably just don't feel any."
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"I never thought I'd be better off without you. This is the problem, you can't understand why I did it. I wanted you. I wanted you with me. Always. It just wasn't an option." He had a job, he had debts, he had constant threats. And Xue Yang had been hurt. More than once. All because of him.
He exhaled in annoyance and looked away from Xue Yang. "Are you going to always use it against me? That I ended up with Cheon?"
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With a shake of his head, Xue Yang answered. "Just that we were both alone. That's on you. Fucker."
He frowned and tried to figure out what was happening. "I still want you with me. So you will be. I get what I want."
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