Chapter 5

They noticed some commotion and Yunlan went to see what was going on.

Wei couldn't wait to get out, for years he had limited his social interactions to the absolute minimum and now he felt he was getting too close to this man already, he didn't want to get so involved.

His eyes darted to the door, wondering if he could escape... "Why shouldn't I, there's nothing more I can do... he'll think I've gone home, of course... why would he worry about... oh yeah, I was a bit weak... I don't suppose you could tell him huh?" His mirthless laughter conveyed no joy.

He really did want to escape, like one of those scenes you often see in movies when the other person comes back to find the empty chairs, sighs and understands, and cut to the next scene... those movies always annoyed him, how come nobody ever worried or looked around, they always just knew... but Yunlan was a cop and Wei almost fainted in his arms a minute ago. He wouldn't accept his absence so easily.

Wei sighed and went looking for him, finding him outside the girl's room.

Yunlan noticed some movement and turned his head.

"She woke up," Yunlan said, as marvelled as he could be, then he narrowed his eyes in that characteristic look Wei was beginning to know already. "What did you do?"

Wei stiffened. "I have to go. Just wanted to tell you." He hesitated.

"I'm glad she's awake," he added with a conclusive tone then he turned around and left. Yunlan didn't stop him this time, his eyes following the tall figure until he was out of sight.

Yunlan was really glad about the girl too. Now the hospital would call the cops working her case and they would come to talk to her. There was nothing more for him to do here, so after watching her a few seconds more he went back as well.

He entered the police station and sat at his desk, lost in thoughts. Two hours later he received a courtesy call, it was the officer he had talked to letting him know that she woke up and told them her story.

"What's her name?" Yunlan asked.

"Li Fan, 27 years old. She lives nearby the scene, she got out without a bag to buy herself a newspaper, but two guys tried to assault her and she fought back."

"Tried to?"

"Yeah, she's a big girl, you saw her yourself, but when she punched one of them hard he got angry and stabbed her. That's all we know for now, she was too tired to talk more and the doctors threw us out after that."

Yunlan sighed in relief glad that she didn't have to endure that, he had seen victims of sexual assault before and he knew very well that the scars of the body were easier to heal than those of the soul.

The cop went on, "We immediately arranged for her family to be informed; she's still weak after the operation so she'll have to stay in the hospital a few more days then they'll release her. The doctors seem optimistic that the worse is now over."

They talked about the case a bit more before Yunlan thanked him and closed the call.

He thought of what he had been told, the cop said her name was Fan... so who was Gelan?

~~~~~

Wei went home to rest for a while, he wouldn't be going to work until the afternoon so he took some time for himself, and spent it all having a good sleep.

He woke up in time for lunch. He wasn't really hungry, though. Maybe he could just make an exception to his healthy diet for today and just eat pancakes... Andrew loved to make pancakes and it was an easy thing to do so he could let him do it, with a bit of supervision, of course. Never trust someone who can't die alone with gas stoves.

Wei was still dwelling on that when the doorbell rang.

He stood still where he was, did he hear right? Could it be that maybe they were ringing at the neighbours?

It rang again. No, it was too loud, it had to be the bell to his own apartment.

It never rang once since he started living there, but it was definitely his own.

He walked to the door and heard, "Wei? Are you in?"

Yunlan...

What could Wei possibly do with him?

Wei opened the door. Yunlan's face showed a big grin while he raised his hand to show a takeaway bag. "I thought you might be hungry, so this time it's my turn to provide you with food."

Wei had no other choice but to open the door and invite him in.

He was rolling his eyes and had all the appearance of a victim of circumstances, which was his natural spontaneous reaction to whatever happened out of the ordinary.

Out of his order of things, that is. Most people would consider his whole life out of the ordinary, but to him it was just normal, so he behaved naturally-pissed by habit, but deep down he appreciated not having to cook. Andrew had just lost a chance, but he didn't know about it and Wei wouldn't be the one to tell him.

Yunlan didn't notice his annoyed expression or pretended not to. Either way, he barged in and into the kitchen where he put the bag on the counter.

Wei watched him take out of it a number of fried, oily dishes and sugar-filled desserts that instantly made his mouth water. Yes, this day might indeed be full of exceptions, he could go back to his old life tomorrow after all.

Yunlan looked at him and smirked. "Don't worry, this is for me, I got it that you're the healthy-food type of guy, so I brought these for you," and he emptied the bag displaying some indeed healthy though less mouth-watering foods.

Wei's heart sank.

"Thanks, that was... very considerate of you."

They set the table together and started eating.

"The girl is doing better, you know."

"I'm happy for her," Wei replied absent-mindedly, his eyes lingering on his food.

"I don't think it will be necessary, but the officers might need to talk to you."

"Huh?"

"Because you found them, I mean, nothing to worry about. They asked me about you, but I didn't even have a full name to give them."

Wei didn't react as hoped, so Yunlan tried again. "I'm Zhao Yunlan, maybe I didn't introduce myself properly the other day." There, now the polite thing to do would be to give him his full name in return, but Wei simply said, "You told me your name, that was enough, no need to be formal."

Yunlan opted for a different approach. "Well, as I said, the police might need to talk to you, so it would be better if you gave me your phone number, don't you think?"

"Why?"

"Why??" Yunlan stopped eating to stare at him. "Because if they ask me about you, either I give them your number and they call to ask you to go to the police station to talk to them, or I give them your address in which case they'll show up directly at your doorstep to take you there in a police car. Which choice seems more appealing to you?"

Wei groaned, Yunlan handed him his cellphone and he put his own number in, under the simple name 'Wei'.

Yunlan put his phone away as if that was a boring task he didn't have to worry about anymore.

"The doctors said she's recovering well after the operation, but a few minutes later might have been too late for her. You saved her life."

"Actually, you saved her life."

Yunlan didn't miss the way he kept diverting the attention from himself, nor the way his hand sneaked forward to steal pieces of his fried fish.

Yunlan smirked and started picking at the vegetables. "Only because you led me to her, I haven't been able to figure out how you found her."

"Luck, I guess."

"The luckiest case of luck indeed! Come on, there must be something you can give me here, luck doesn't just happen that way."

"I... had a hunch, I guess you can call it that."

Yunlan narrowed his eyes, "A hunch, huh?"

"Yeah, I... saw something on people's faces and thought something must have happened... you're a cop, aren't you supposed to believe in a good hunch?"

Yunlan chewed on his steamed carrots. "Just good old intuition, huh? My old chief respected intuition, he told every one of us, 'always trust your guts, never ignore a hunch', good thing you didn't!"

Wei nodded in agreement, now nibbling at the inviting slice of chocolate cake since the fried fish was long gone.

"Such a good intuition is not common though, I could really use someone like you."

No response, more cake-nibbling.

Yunlan raised an eyebrow. "Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Help me? Your intuition might be precious in my line of work."

"I already have a job."

Yunlan had finished eating, he sat back against the chair. "What is it that you do?"

"I'm an accountant."

"Really?" Somehow that didn't fit the image of the man in front of him.

"Really. A good one, too."

Yunlan laughed. "Yeah, I bet you are."

He looked intently into his eyes. "I bet you're good at a lot of things."

Wei didn't reply. The cake was gone as well, causing a charming frown on his beautiful features.

Turning serious, Yunlan tried again. "You could really make a difference. Will you help me if I called you?"

Wei raised his eyes. "I told you I have a job already... but if you call, I will answer."