ARCHIVE OF DIXING | English 镇魂 Guardian Fanworks Directory

Halloween is not an event that members of the SID participate in. In fairness, it’s not an especially big celebration in Haixing, so no one even notices the date on the calendar.

At least until Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng walk into the office.

Zhao Yunlan swallows dryly, trying to get some moisture into his mouth. The cracks in his dry lips sting at the movement, and he feels something wet against his lip that's probably blood. He sucks at his lip and tastes copper for a moment. He's tired and cold and so, so thirsty and there isn't much room to feel much of anything else anymore. The fear and embarrassment are still trying to cling on, tugging at his gut occasionally, but he's too tired to really care about any of that anymore.

Zhao Yunlan stares up at the stupidly cloudless sky. He should move into the shade. They're running out of fresh water and lying in the sun is hardly helping him not get dehydrated. Or unnecessarily sunburned. Or possibly just blinded by the bright midday sun. But the sand under him feels kind of comfortable right now, and he doesn't really feel much like moving.

"Will someone tell me where my model is?" he sang out in a tone of utmost reason and understanding while Chu Shuzhi speedwalked out the door growling into a phone. "I thought Runway magazine was supposed to be a professional operation. Are we planning to shoot a rack of clothes with no model?"

Zhao Yunlan, chief editor of Runway, should not be spending any full day of fashion week locked in a studio, preventing the March cover shoot with Chu Shuzhi's new line from turning into a disaster, but there's no rest for the wicked. Lucky for him, the solution for all his problems may have just walked in the door. And if that solution has a face like Shen Wei's, Zhao Yunlan isn't leaving again until he gets to talk to this man for real.

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"Don't you think that's enough, didi? Zhao Yunlan's jaw will be sore by now," Shen Wei says. Zhao Yunlan thinks he can hear a hint of worried reproach in the tone of his voice, but mostly he sounds fondly amused.

Zhao Yunlan is infected by a Dixingren to have all of his inhibitions taken away. His first stop is Shen Wei who is currently lecturing his students. Zhao Yunlan decides it is a good idea to kiss Shen Wei in front of everyone. While his colleagues pull Zhao Yunlan away, Shen Wei is left behind and very upset, maybe not for the reason Zhao Yunlan thinks, when he comes to apologize.

The little one is sobbing. Kunlun watches him for a while, naked and spread out, arms and legs tied down with thorny vines, small drops of blood welling up where the thorns bite in a little too deep. The blood looks black against pale skin, proof that this little one isn't human at all.

When Dr. Shen Wei is roped into a case by the SID, he decides to do his best to help them solve it. If only Chief Zhao wasn't so distracting.

It's better this way, Shen Wei tells himself.