Work Text:
All in all, it was a regular evening.
Except he was back. In Guidu. So not exactly home, given that he felt most at ease in the small house in Bridon, with Xia Fei almost burning down the kitchen and Vein plotting murder in a way that made it clear that yes, he was genuinely planning to do that no matter how outlandish the newest suggestion was.
The news of Liu Min dying had reached him via Qian Jin. Forty-seven minutes before his mother called him. He'd feigned shock in both cases, laid it on thicker for his mother. Faked tears. Xia Fei had looked doubtful, pausing in his attempt of setting off the fire alarm. Vein had grinned, all teeth, amused and knowing.
Somehow, he always knew.
They'd all gone, getting tickets for a flight three days later. Somehow, they managed to smuggle one Assumed-Dead-Vein and one Declared-Missing-Felix onto the plane. Being rich had it's perks. Being close with the boss of Bridon's underground elevated those perks.
Liu Xiao had gone to visit his parents alone. Vein, while technically the type his parents would be interested in due to his money, was too eccentric to risk. No matter how good he was at acting normal, there was the risk of him slipping up. Or taking his hand.
Xia Fei was the type they'd turn their noses up- they'd be like sharks smelling fresh blood. Him? Bringing a friend? It would be out of place. Especially if that 'friend' was clearly broke as hell. Liu Xiao had no interest in his parents assuming things. And they would assume. In the wrong and right ways alike.
Pity, that he had to keep up appearances, truly.
Later, though, he was finally free to show Xia Fei the city. The blond came from a different part of the country, hadn't been in Guidu before. It made it all the more fun to show him the place he'd grown up in.
Occasionally, he checked his phone though. Vein was supposed to join them soon, but so far, there was no new message from him. The redhead had gone radio silent. He hoped that meant he was enjoying himself.
Liu Xiao guessed he was still roaming about with Li Tianchen to get a feel for the area. Sort out who he deemed interesting and who he deemed boring, get a tour of the more dangerous areas of the city they intended to keep Xia Fei away from until Vein knew the back alleys like he knew the ones in Bridon.
Xia Fei, while not incapable of posing a threat, was the type to bite off far more than he could chew. Meaning, he tended to get into arguments with actually dangerous people he couldn't deal with on his own.
The amount of times Liu Xiao came home to find Xia Fei hungover and with an icepack was far, far higher than he'd like.
Even Vein's influence didn't quite prevent situations like those, despite many incidents where Liu Xiao had to call off his boyfriend before a murder would take place.
Sending Vein into the areas Liu Xiao remembered being deemed dangerous from when he was still living here was a good way to ensure the redhead could scout out how dangerous they actually were, and to let him have some fun if anyone tried to mug him.
Once, roughly two years ago, someone had tried to mug him back in Bridon. He'd returned with the front of his white shirt covered in red splotches, a happy grin etched across his face.
If anyone tried here? Oh, Vein would be elated.
As they walked, they eventually found themselves tailed by a trio of older men. At first, that was fine. Xia Fei huddled closer to him, his heartbeat quickening, grabbed his hand. Liu Xiao offered him a smile. Reassuring. Changed one of the settings in his phone before slipping it into his pocket.
They kept walking. The trio following. They almost made it to a crossing to an area that was lively even at night. Then, a fourth man appeared in front of them, gun in hand, and the duo found themselves herded into an alley.
With the gun trained on them, there wasn't much they could do.
Beside him, Xia Fei's pulse was sky-rocketing. It would've been funny, if these men weren't entirely serious about this.
They were backed all the way into the wall. A dead end. One of the weaponless men, bald with a few gold teeth, grabbed Liu Xiao by the hair and knocked his hat off in the process, looked at him more closely. He didn't flinch, despite the pain of having his hair pulled like that.
Then, he laughed. "Hey, Na Gou. Isn't this the Quede Games heir?" the bald one asked, "Looks like we lucked out, this time. Bet mommy and daddy would pay a pretty penny for your safe return, no?"
Probably. They'd be luckier if Vein didn't catch wind of this, though.
"Ha, you're right" the gun-wielder, Na Gou, grinned. Liu Xiao absentmindedly noted that he seemed to be both the oldest, and most confident. The boss of this little group, no doubt. It seemed like this part of the city wasn't as safe as he'd assumed.
"What about the foreigner, though?"
"Eh, knock him out. If we're lucky he won't be able to snitch"
Xia Fei scowled, offended. Liu Xiao sent him a look that clearly said 'Stay quiet'. Yet, predictably, Xia Fei opened his mouth to utter a sharp "Who are you calling a foreigner?" and oh, that certainly made it worse.
Because now they were paying attention to him.
"Aww, blondie can talk!" the one with the slicked back hair chirped, grinning widely. Leaned forward and grabbed Xia Fei by the chin. Turning his head this way and that way to examine his face. "Look at that, he's pretty too!"
Liu Xiao scowled. "Don't touch him. Take me, but leave him here if you know what's good for you" he warned, eyes narrowing. He was shoved back roughly, fought a wince. Stumbled when the hand let go of his hair and landed on his behind. Xia Fei was still standing, at least wise enough not to retaliate.
"You're not the one making demands, brat"
Liu Xiao scowled. Brat? He was twenty-three, not sixteen. Yet as his eyes drifted over the group, a serene smile slowly danced across his lips. There was another pulse. Quick, thundering. Angry. His change in expression caused unease in Na Gou.
The next moment, time was moving fast. A gunshot went off. The man holding Xia Fei howled in pain, shoved him back to clutch at his bleeding leg. The blond crashed to the ground next to Liu Xiao.
The leader swung around, and his gun was sent flying by a high kick. Absentmindedly, part of Liu Xiao felt awe at the fluid motion. That kick was higher than his grades.
The sharp, metallic edge of Vein's fan sliced through the air and then through the face of one of the men trying to stop him. The other was kicked in the gut.
Both were dispatched fast, and the man with the slicked back hair was still hobbling on one foot. Liu Xiao, without as much as a glance, tripped him. Xia Fei kicked him in the face, likely payback for getting his chin grabbed.
Only Vein and Na Gou were still standing. It was a wild flurry of movement. The fan dropped to the ground, kicks were dodged, punches were thrown.
At some point, Vein hissed in pain at getting grabbed by his braid. Twisted around. Liu Xiao winced. That must've hurt.
Na Gou suddenly screamed in pain, the noise cutting off as sudden as it started. Liu Xiao watched in a twisted, sick sense of fascination as he stumbled back and clutched at his bleeding throat.
It was, as far as he could tell, by no means as deep as he knew Vein could bite. It was enough to make him let go and back off.
And the redhead grinned like a maniac. Blood dripping from his mouth, teeth stained red. The white shirt was tainted by splotches of blood like a macabre painting of a snowy landscape being turned into the aftermath of a fox hunting a rabbit in winter.
Liu Xiao was unsurprised, to hear him speak in English.
"What a dirty rat the night has brought" he hummed, moving forward in a flash. Hands wrapping around the bleeding throat and squeezing. Na Gou made a noise between a choked yelp and a pained whimper.
Vein seemed almost intent on crushing his windpipe, slamming the leader of the small group against the wall. The angle gave Liu Xiao and Xia Fei a perfect view of both their faces.
Where Na Gou looked terrified, Vein seemed eerily calm. "You dared to harm a single hair on my boyfriend's and your little friend there dared to touch my dearest friend. The punishment for that may as well be death~"
"Mercy- mercy!" Na Gou shrieked when Vein loosened his grip briefly, voice barely more than a wheeze. His friends were all backing away, seemed keenly aware that they could do nothing but watch without risking their boss' death.
As if remembering Liu Xiao and Xia Fei, the man turned his frenzied eyes on them. "Please- please call your guard dog off, plea- gah!" he pleaded, only to be cut off when Vein squeezed his airway shut. Expression one of pure delight.
Vein glanced over, grin wide and bloodstained, his eyes seeking Liu Xiao's. Not for approval. For orders. The dark haired young man sneered, his own trained on the man who'd grabbed his hair earlier.
In all honesty, Na Gou and his friends may as well die, for all he cared. Not for grabbing him, but for making his boyfriend uncomfortable. Then again, he'd proved entertainment for his other byofriend...
With a sigh, and taking into consideration that the police might get involved if multiple people vanish just like that, he shook his head. Vein seemed neither surprised nor disappointed. Just accepting, as if he'd already anticipated this.
"Take your little friends and go~" his boyfriend didn't spit the blood in his mouth on the ground. Instead, he ran his tongue along his teeth. Purposeful, more show than indulgence. Na Gou shuddered, much to Liu Xiao's amusement. Then, so the thugs would definitely understand:
"Touch either of them again, and I will break each of your pathetic little fingers, slice you open like the disgusting and worthless little pigs you are and string you up upside down by your intestines. Now... run before I eat you alive"
Even though the order was in English, the gesture made it clear. The thugs picked themselves up in record time, fled the alley. One tripped over an outstretched foot that appeared without warning, and Liu Xiao cracked a grin when he heard Li Tianchen's laughter.
Vein wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth, and Liu Xiao couldn't help but think that even with his chin and cheek stained with blood, his braid a mess and his clothes rumpled, he looked absolutely stunning. It was a pity, really, that he turned to watch the men run.
Yet as if sensing his stare, he glanced back. Lips quirking up into a much gentler grin that was reserved for only those he deemed worthy of it.
Oh, if Liu Xiao wasn't smitten before...
(Behind him, his other boyfriend sounded like he was retching into a dumpster. Apparently, seeing the art that was Vein almost literally tearing someone's throat out had been too much for his poor stomach to handle.)