Chapter Text
“He’s back, Chief,” Gang Zi said in a slightly solemn tone, contrary to his usual chirpy self. He had sensed the tense atmosphere of the room before he had even stepped foot in the room.
The smell of cigarettes hit him in the face a few feet away from the room. The door was ajar and the lights were off. A heavy silence hung around the space as he spotted him in a corner, drink in hand, cigarette between his lips, exhaling smoke every few seconds.
Chi Cheng had been waiting for Gang Zi to verify the news he had been hearing for the past few days. For the first time in his life he prayed that he was wrong. That it was all just some nonsensical rumour stirred up by some lowlife.
But hearing those words slip from Gang Zi’s mouth made him lose his. Gang Zi had been his trusted associate for too long now to be wrong. So it was true. Wang Shuo was back. He was back from wherever the fuck he had been hiding for the past six years.
Now, six years may seem like a long time. Things change, places change, people change. Wounds heal, relationships mend. But what if what happened those six years ago was still as fresh in your mind as if it happened yesterday? What if it was so unforgivable that it became unforgettable?
Chi Cheng swallowed hard, drowning the last of his drink. Still not being able to believe his ears, he asked in a low voice, ”Are you sure?”
The glass shattered upon the wall when Gang Zi once again confirmed the answer.
Chi Cheng felt helpless. He gestured Gang Zi to leave the room and grabbed the bottle of whiskey lying on the table in front of him. Taking a long swing, he smashed the bottle on the floor. The golden liquid seeped into the carpet and the room filled with the strong smell of smoky malt.
As if trying to turn the chaos inside his mind to reality, Chi Cheng started moving wildly, destroying anything and everything that he could get his hands on. Charged by the intense desire to ruin, he punched the table until it shattered into a million pieces, just like his thoughts, and spread throughout the room. His naked feet stepped on the glass, piercing the skin as he rummaged for another bottle from the box kept under the bed.
The pain didn’t even register as his whole body felt numb while his head exploded with thoughts. Now sluggish after the whole fiasco, he wobbled clumsily across the room with a fresh bottle in hand. The room tilted in his vision and a splitting headache warped his sight.
Chi Cheng, a manifestation of his own anger and frustration, let out a guttural scream, choking on his misery. In his troubled state, he accidentally knocked over a few candles that were kept on the small circular table beside the couch.
The spilled alcohol on the carpet warmly welcomed the fire that blew up across the room in seconds. Flames erupted around Chi Cheng engulfing him almost immediately.
From the corridor outside the room, Gang Zi spotted the white smoke billowing out from the room and rushed to inspect. The fire alarms blared and water sprayed from the ceiling, drenching the room and putting out the fire. Gang Zi found Chi Cheng lying in the middle of the room and hurriedly dragged him out of the room.
Chi Cheng was unconscious.
~~~~
“You should be grateful that you were wearing that thick ass coat or you could’ve suffered serious burns,” Gang Zi said with a frown on his face. That was it. He had had enough of this idiot.
“Nothing happened, right? So what are you still fussing over,” Chi Cheng mumbled dismissively while distantly staring out of the window.
“What do you mean ‘nothing happened’? Just how are you planning to explain the burn marks on your hands to your parents, huh?”
“I-”
“And what, are you trying to kill yourself now? I swear i don’t have the time to be on suicide watch,” Gang Zi exhaled exasperatedly. He picked up the tray of food the nurse left and started feeding Chi Cheng.
“Wha the fuh aa you even sayin,”Chi Cheng said with his mouth full of food. “As for ma paren-”
“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” Gang Zi chided as he shoved yet another spoonful in his mouth.
Chi Cheng just glared at him for a few seconds before going back to chewing his food. He was obviously not suicidal. The fire was just an accident. As for his parents, he would just not visit them for a while. He was sure he could come with a few white lies.
“So what are you planning to do?”
“Huh? About what?” Chi Cheng inquired, pretending to be oblivious. But Gang Zi wasn’t having any of it from the look on his face.
Sighing, Chi Cheng took a few sips of water from the little metal glass kept on the tray. “I don’t know, to be honest,” he admitted with clenched teeth.
Chi Cheng hated this feeling of uncertainty, especially when it came to his personal life. He liked having a command on things, knowing what to do, how to do. But now he was questioning his every move. What he was doing, what he had been doing, what he had done in the past. All of this pondering and he still couldn’t decide what the future would hold.
But he knew one place he would get the answers. Or rather one person. He knew it was time to dig out the skeletons he had been trying to bury for the past six years. Because you can’t move on from the past until you have completely dealt with it. Until now he had been simply avoiding the whole thing, trying to ignore it, conceal it till he forgot about it. Or simply till it became less painful to acknowledge. But he didn’t have the luxury of prolonging this matter any further. He would have to face it right then.
“Let’s go to the bar tonight. Tell Liu(bar owner, assumed name) that I will be coming.”
“Are you sure about this? Because you know who will be there,” Gang Zi said uncertainly trying to gauge Chi Cheng’s motive.
“Yeah, I am sure. Let’s meet the little bastard, Wang Shou.”
~~~~
The screeching voices of people came to a halt as Chi Cheng entered the place. The bar was an hour long ride from the hospital and he went there straight away. The song played in the background as people subtly started clearing the way.
It had been a long time since Chi Cheng visited. There was a time when he was a regular, though. He was still somewhat of a prominent figure among the people of the bar as they awed and whispered as he walked into the space. He was famous for his snake fights and known for his antics among a lot of people. Everyone knew just how relentless and unforgiving he was when it came to one of his fights. Some respected him, but most feared him.
The bandage on his hands garnered the attention of the bar-goers. The worst scenarios filled the idle minds of the bystanders, but no one dared to interrogate. Taking a seat on the couch placed in the middle of the room, Chi Cheng rested his arms on the back rest, flexing his muscles. The people eventually went back to their businesses as they realised nothing much was happening. For now.
It had been almost an hour that Chi Cheng had been sitting there, staring at nothing, when the door to the infamous room in the corner of the bar opened. Two awfully familiar faces became visible. And so did Chi Cheng’s forehead vein.
Bubbling with silent rage, Chi Cheng waited for them to spot him. And they did.
Stopping in their tracks, Wang Shuo and Guo Cheng Yu, found Chi Cheng sitting in the centre of the room. While Guo Cheng Yu’s face betrayed him in hiding his shock, Wang Shuo was witnessing the scene with the subtle smirk of a magician who is about to present his best trick.
Guo Cheng Yu started walking towards Chi Cheng, but before he could have a chance to even take a couple steps, Chi Cheng, with unnatural speed appeared in front of him. And before Guo Cheng Yu could even get a chance to explain or even open his mouth, Chi Cheng socked him right in the face.
Multiple gasps were heard throughout the room and the music stopped, with a sense of dread spreading across the room. No one dared to breathe.
Even Wang Shou looked scared. Guo Cheng Yu had an unreadable look on his face as he held his nose in his hands, which had now started to bleed.
Then in the blink of an eye, he had Chi Cheng’s collar fisted his hands as he pushed him with alarming strength towards the wall. People rapidly dispersed in an attempt to not get caught in between their tussle.
With boiling anger imminent in their faces, they struggled to throw each other down with little success. Another punch was attempted by Chi Cheng towards Guo Cheng Yu’s face but he intercepted it.
Catching his arm in his hand, Guo Cheng Yu unknowingly applied some pressure. This caused Chi Cheng to loosen his grip on Guo Cheng Yu’s collar, as he quietly hissed in pain. The injury was still very fresh. But Chi Cheng did not care. He recovered instantly and was already attempting more jabs.
But that moment did not go unnoticed by Guo Cheng Yu, as he tried to pause the fight by dodging Chi Cheng’s strikes and talking to him. But Chi Cheng was having none of it, and as if being fuelled by fury, he was now blindly throwing his hands at Guo Cheng Yu in every direction.
Guo Cheng Yu, seeing no end to his antics, finally put his hands on Chi Cheng’s neck and pulled his face within inches of his. The tension in the room was palpable. No one knew what was happening or what was going to happen.
Chi Cheng’s eyes went dark with silent emotion as he visibly calmed down. His hand was still on Guo Cheng Yu’s collar but that wasn’t concerning anyone at the moment. Guo Cheng Yu applied some more pressure on his neck and Chi Cheng’s jaw ticked. He was one second away from drop-kicking the bastard.
But something in that moment changed. It was as if a switch flipped inside of him and he forgot all about why he was there, why he was so angry in the first place.
As he stared into Guo Cheng Yu’s eyes which did not waver from his for even a second, he felt his soft cologne interfere with the bar’s trashy liquor scent and for a moment it was almost comforting. He hated that he couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes and hated that he could no longer predict what was going on in that head of his.
They stood within millimeters of each, so close they felt each other’s breath on their faces. Yet, the distance between them had never been greater.
Guo Cheng Yu’s presence wrapped him in and his head became cloudy with thoughts. Memories of them from the past started flashing in front of his eyes and he helplessly indulged them.
He thought that he had successfully pushed back everything related to them and it didn’t affect him anymore. But that little moment made him inevitably relapse and realise that it was just a matter of time before he came face to face with everything he had been running from for so long.
It had been a long time since he had been this close to Guo Cheng Yu. After their college years and what happened with Wang Shuo, they were not close anymore. Not like this. He hated to admit it in that instant, but he had missed him. Missed his presence. Missed being his closest confidant. Most trusted companion. He had missed his best friend.
It hit him all at once.
And maybe it was the alcohol he had been drinking or maybe it was the medication he had taken at the hospital or maybe it was an overdose of emotions, but Chi Cheng felt dizzy for the second time that day and effectively passed out in Guo Cheng Yu’s arms.
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