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Chapter Text

Zhengting stares at himself in the mirror, dissatisfied. Turning around sharply, he calls out a name towards the open door. “Zeren!”

The other man materializes behind him, looking unruffled as usual. “What do you want?”

His tone is bored enough to warrant a huff of fake offense from Zhengting, who swings back around to face the mirror, peering at it. “Is my lipstick too red? Do you think I should change shades?”

Zeren rolls his eyes, leaning on Zhengting’s shoulder to inspect his reflection. “You look fine. I don’t know why you care so much anyways, it’s not like the humans can see us.”

“I like feeling pretty,” Zhengting starts, getting up from his seat as Zeren takes his weight off his shoulder. “Plus, you guys can see me.”

He flounces away, ignoring the reply that Zeren sends his way and entering the living room. Quanzhe glances up at him from the couch, the large neon Yuehua Angels sign above his head casting strange highlights across his skin.

“About time you finished,” he mutters snarkily, flipping a page in the magazine he’s reading. “Takes you so long to get ready I’m surprised you haven’t been fired.”

Zhengting dances over, pulling on his cheeks. Quanzhe recoils, frowning. “Who would raise this family if I were fired?”

“I’m sure you’d find a way to,” Quanzhe murmurs. “Now get out of here before you have to find out.”

Zhengting gives him a dramatic pout as he spins out the doorway, waving to Xinchun who’s weeding the agency’s flowerbeds. Xinchun gives him a gentle smile in return, raising one hand to wave.

Zhengting hums, pleased. At least one of his children loves him.

He hurries the rest of the short distance to the nearest portal, slowing down as he approaches. The surface shimmers and he sighs, plugging his nose as he prepares to take the plunge. Junyi told him that this assignment should be fairly simple if all goes well. He merely needs to investigate rumors about supernatural activity in a rural village.

Placing one leg over the rim of the portal, he launches himself into it, the sensation extremely unpleasant. It’s about a twenty second ride, depositing him next to a field of some sort of crop. He slides into the dirt road, hurriedly getting up and brushing off his clothes to try and salvage his dignity.

An old woman strolls by carrying a basket of fruits, staring right through him. He huffs, settling for his current state of cleanliness and turning to look around. He can see various small buildings in the area, all nestled into the farms in a way that makes him feel sort of nostalgic. The air is quiet save for the soft whistling of the wind and the chirping of birds.

He starts to walk, remembering that Junyi told him to look around the center of town, where the sightings had supposedly occurred. As he goes, he notices that most of the residents seem to be older, at least in their sixties.

One elderly woman appears to struggle particularly hard with a barrel of goods. Zhengting stops, considering the best way to use his magic to assist her without it being too suspicious. Before he can act, a tall young man comes out of the door of the nearby hut, hurrying over.

“Let me, please. You could hurt your back.” He lifts the barrel from her hands, and Zhengting watches for a moment more, though he isn’t sure why. The woman giggles. “Ziyi, you’re too kind. Thank you for always helping me.”

The man smiles at her gently. “Of course, Ms. Zhang.” He turns, barrel in his arms, and his eyes flicker over Zhengting. A shiver runs down Zhengting’s spine, and he hurriedly spins, walking away. For a moment, it had felt like the man had seen him.

He shakes his head. That would be impossible, he’s surely just imagining things.

Nevertheless, he moves a bit faster, telling himself it’s only because he wants to get this over with. It takes him another minute or so to reach what he’s pretty sure is the center of town. Eyes darting from side to side, he takes in his surroundings.

There appears to be a little park of sorts, quite overgrown for one owned by a city. Zhengting glances at the thick foliage with distaste, hoping that there aren’t too many insects inside. With a sigh, he pushes through the first layer of bushes, wading into the treeline.

The canopy of the trees’ leaves is thick enough to limit the amount of light and Zhengting shivers. He fumbles around for a little while, feeling like he’s going in circles. The park seems a lot bigger now that he’s inside it.

After a while, he stumbles upon a clearing, a suspicious mound in the center. Zhengting frowns, hoping this isn’t a case of necromancy. Moving closer, he kneels down, pressing a finger to the center of the mound, closing his eyes and concentrating on the energy he can feel within it.

Just as he feels like he’s getting something, there’s a hand on his shoulder, roughly pulling him back. His eyes snap open and he stares, shocked, at the man from earlier. If he squeals a little bit in surprise, the man doesn’t react.

“What are you doing?” The man’s tone is harsh, fiercely contrasting with his gentleness mere minutes earlier. “Are you the one threatening the village? I can tell you’re not human.”

Irritated, Zhengting tries to shake off his hand, finding his efforts to be unsuccessful as his grip only tightens. “I’m here to help you! If something is threatening your village it’s my job to find it.”

The man’s demeanor changes instantly and he lets go, looking like an ashamed puppy. “Sorry. I’ve been really on edge lately because of what’s been happening, and you’re the first spirit I’ve seen since this started.”

Zhengting rubs his shoulder poutily, realizing it’d be unreasonable to hold a grudge against the guy. “I- It’s fine, I get it. Wait, can you tell me what exactly has been happening?”

“Around a week ago, the first livestock disappeared. We thought it might have been some sort of predator taking them out, but there were no traces of them anywhere. Five cows disappeared in the first three days and then this park started growing out of control. No one else in the town can see it from what I can tell. I tried asking my grandmother if she noticed anything strange and she denied it. It’s only been getting worse.”

Zhengting peers at him, pursing his lips. The growth of the forest is definitely a sign of magic use, meaning something supernatural is actually happening here. “Wait,” he murmurs to the man. “How can you see the forest anyway? How can you see me?”

The man shrugs his broad shoulders, mouth twisting into a strangely endearing embarrassed smile. “I’m not entirely sure. I figured it out when I was in middle school and quickly learned to hide it. I believe my mother also had the abilities, but my grandmother doesn’t. My mom died just after I was born and I never knew my father so I have no way to find out more.”

Zhengting attempts to digest the expositional dump he just dropped, making eye contact as he stands up, puffing his chest to make himself look a little larger next to the man. “Well how about this? After we get rid of whatever’s messing with your village, I can try to help you figure out why you can see me.”

He’s really not sure why he offers, but the man perks up and Zhengting feels gratified immediately. “That’d be cool, thanks.”

“Wait,” the man says, grinning. “What’s your name? I’m Wang Ziyi, nice to meet you.”

“Zhu Zhengting, likewise.”

There is a brief awkward silence and then Zhengting turns back to face the mound. “Before you grabbed my shoulder, I was trying to feel the energy coming from this weird pile of dirt. Whatever is going on here, this has got to be a clue.”

Zhengting hears Ziyi shuffle behind him but ignores it, leaning forward to press his ear down against the dirt once more. For a second he feels it again, the sensation burning in his skull. It’s young magic surely, raw and unrestrained, uncontrollable. It must be a newly awakened mage.

He lifts his head up again, looking back at Ziyi. “I’m thinking it sh-”

He is interrupted by a large blast behind him, the dirt spraying upwards as something crawls from the ground, sending him sprawling. Ziyi attempts to catch him and Zhengting feels something burn into his ankle. He rolls out of Ziyi’s grip in pain, taking a moment to gasp before springing upwards to stand in front of the other man.

The thing facing them is some sort of resurrected corpse, a few of its limbs clearly replaced with those of the missing cattle. Zhengting grimaces. He hates fighting. Fighting is supposed to be Zeren’s job.

Ziyi makes a noise, stepping up to stand beside Zhengting as if to help him. It’s almost cute. Zhengting wants to smile but is distracted by the thing swinging one of its hoof arms at him. A few droplets of acidic liquid come flying towards them and Zhengting throws his arm out, focusing on the energy he can feel in the center of the thing’s body.

The bond holding it together is very weak. All it takes is a snap of Zhengting’s wrist to send the thing flying into pieces, bones scattering around the clearing. It was likely the creator’s first attempt at reanimation.

Limping forwards due to the pain in his ankle, he picks up the small green stone which the caster used to create the bond.

“What’s that?” Ziyi asks, coming up behind him, not seeming to be concerned with the ruins of the creature around them. Zhengting examines his face for any signs of trauma and finds none.

“Reanimation magic requires a physical object fused with energy to properly function. In order for an object to be used, it must be very important to someone. This rock is covered in traces of the person who used it. I’ll pocket it for now.”

Ziyi watches with fascination as he stuffs it into his jacket. “So do you think you can find them?”

“I think I have a good idea of where they might be. Tell me, are there any schools in this town?”

Chapter Text

Zhengting learns more information about the village from Ziyi as they walk, most of it fairly trivial. Ziyi tells him that there are only about twenty students enrolled at the school, so it’s pretty tiny.

As they approach, Zhengting has to agree with him. The building is small, maybe holding three or four rooms at the most. There’s a playground outside with a slide, two swings, a short climbing wall, and a sandbox. According to Ziyi, it’s the only playground in the village.

The air smells particularly fresh, a small creek running next to the area, full of various stones. Zhengting goes to the sandbox, looking inside. Ziyi clears his throat behind him. “Why exactly did we come here?”

“Remember what I told you about objects required to perform reanimation magic?” Zhengting asks, rifling his fingers through the sand.

Ziyi grunts in affirmation. “The best place to find them in this town would probably be here. Children become attached to objects easily but tend not to be as careful with them as adults.”

“So if a kid left behind a toy that they liked in the sandbox, it’d be perfect for reanimation magic?”

Zhengting nods in response to the question, standing. “Exactly. I can feel traces of whoever created the thing in the park here.”

“Do you think they’re still around?”

Before Zhengting can answer, there’s a shrill shout from nearby, a small figure running towards them. Ziyi crouches down, letting the child run into his embrace. “What’s wrong, Zhenghao?”

The kid looks like they’ve been crying. “I was showing my favorite rock to Yanchen yesterday and he asked me if he could borrow it to show his mom. I let him take it, but when I asked for it back this morning he told me he lost it somewhere around here.”

Ziyi glances at Zhengting out of the side of his eyes, and Zhengting’s mouth folds. He pulls the green stone from his pocket and discreetly rolls it over to Ziyi, who shows it to the boy. “Is this rock you were looking for? I picked it up because it was so pretty.”

Zhenghao’s eyes light up. He takes it from Ziyi, small hands covering the stone. “Yes! Thank you for finding it! I didn’t want to be mad at Yanchen but he always loses the stuff I lend him.”

Ziyi pats his shoulder. “I'm sure he doesn't mean to, but make sure you keep the things that are really important to you close, OK?"

“OK,” the boy sniffs, looking a lot more cheerful. “I’m going to tell my sister that I found it! Bye Ziyi!”

Ziyi waves at the child, friendly. Despite knowing that the boy can’t see or hear him, Zhengting waits until his silhouette disappears to speak. Zhengting looks at Ziyi pointedly. “I’m hoping that you know this ‘Yanchen’?”

The other man nods grimly. “Yeah. His house is only about a minute away from here.”

“Show me the way,” Zhengting says softly, getting up from his crouch to follow Ziyi. “How old is he?”

“Yanchen?”

“Yeah.”

“Around my age,” Ziyi says, shrugging. “Not sure of an exact number. I haven’t talked to him in a while, and even back in school we weren’t close friends.”

“Did he have a lot of friends?”

Zhengting asks the question carefully, not wanting to offend but knowing from past experience what can be causes of turning to dark magic.

“I don’t think so,” Ziyi says thoughtfully. “I never saw him with anyone outside of school but he’s always been super nice. Usually has a big smile on his face too. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen him away from his house at all the past two months.”

“Mm,” Zhengting murmurs, glancing about. He thinks that might explain it. Ziyi taps him, pointing to the left where a small cottage sits atop a hill. It’s ordinary. Zhengting remembers passing it on the way to the school. “It’s that house.”

“Alright,” Zhengting says. “Let’s go.”

The two of them walk up to the front door, Ziyi knocking politely. An aging woman opens it, smiling at Ziyi. “Hello Ms. Lee,” he begins softly. “I came by to see your son. Is he home?”

“He should be out back. You can come through if you’d like. I’m glad to see you, Ziyi. It’s been a while.”

“Likewise,” Ziyi says smiling, and Zhengting follows him into the house, wincing when the woman nearly closes the door on him. To his credit, Ziyi is very good at ignoring his existence in front of other people. The woman gestures to a screen door at the back of the house, the paint on the walls around it torn up as if scratched by long claws. “That door leads to the yard. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Alright, Ms. Lee. Thanks.” She nods, smiling, and the two of them slip through the door. The young man is crouched over some flowers at the other side of the yard, and Zhengting smells the faint scent of spice that confirms his earlier suspicions. “Excuse me,” he starts, watching the man spin around.

Ziyi looks at him, confused. “I thought humans couldn’t see or hear you.”

“He’s not human. He’s a faerie,” Zhengting says calmly, watching the way the man’s pupils tremble as they take him in. He’s suddenly self-conscious of his outfit, all white feathers and dark lines. He probably should have worn something less obnoxious but Zhengting lives for flashy clothing.

“Who’s this?” Yanchen asks Ziyi, still staring at Zhengting.

“I’m Zhu Zhengting.”

“What are you?”

“Think of me as a guardian angel. The two of us are here to talk to you about the kind of magic you’ve been using.”

Yanchen stiffens, fingers clearly tensing against his legs. Zhengting steps forwards and he steps backward, almost tripping over the flower bed. “Listen,” he begins shakily. “I-I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

Ziyi walks forwards next to Zhengting. “Why kill the cows then? Why make that thing in the park? What were you trying to do? I know you’re better than this, Yanchen.”

His tone is aggressive, and Zhengting places a hand on his arm placatingly. Yanchen’s face scrunches up into a mix of anger and betrayal. “I don’t expect you to understand, Wang Ziyi!”

“What’s that suppo-” Zhengting silences him with a quick gesture.

“Hush, Ziyi. Yanchen, I’m not here to hurt you. I want to help you, but I can’t do that if you don’t cooperate with me. Can you explain to us your reasoning?”

The young man seems to grow smaller, a long breath escaping his lips. “My mother died ten days ago in her sleep.”

Ziyi stiffens at his side, and Zhengting can feel the question forming on his lips. He taps his wrist to stop him from voicing it.

“I’ve been lonely for so long now. Everyone in this town is either really old or still a kid except for Ziyi, and he stopped talking to me. My mom was the only one who even cared that I was alive. I-I was really desperate, OK? When she died, I sort of had a meltdown and went completely berserk. At the end of it, I remember feeling like I was asleep but there was a voice talking to me, telling me I could bring her back.”

He takes a shaky breath. “He told me how to resurrect a corpse, so I followed his instructions. He told me I had to take the cows. The thing in the park was my very first attempt. It went quite poorly, as I’m sure you saw. I tried to bury it again.”

“I almost lost hope after that, but he told me I could do it every time I closed my eyes. I brought my mom back around four days ago, but she loses strength so quickly I have to keep performing rituals to keep her alive.”

Zhengting looks upon him caringly. “She’s not the same now, is she?”

He nods, starting to cry a little bit into his sleeve. “Each time I perform a ritual she stays normal for less time. It’s been thirty minutes since I last did one, her memory will probably go before an hour is up.”

“You don’t like seeing her like this,” Zhengting states, an observation. Yanchen nods, sniffling.

“As much as it will hurt to do so, it’s better to let her go,” Zhengting begins. “As it is, her spirit is trapped here, unable to move on. Her body will quickly deteriorate to a state where you can no longer maintain it. I would suggest you say your goodbyes while you are still able and let her go.”

Yanchen stares at him, tears dripping down his face. “I know you’re right, it’s just-”

Zhengting steps forwards, going to hug him. “It’s going to be very difficult, I know that. For her sake, your own sake, and the sake of this village, you have to do it.”

He buries his face in Zhengting’s feathered jacket, the moisture of his tears soaking through to Zhengting’s skin. Ziyi shuffles behind them, forgotten.

Shaking, Yanchen lifts his head up, letting go of Zhengting who also releases his grip. He starts to take purposeful steps past Zhengting, calling out.

The aging woman from before appears in the doorway and Zhengting doesn’t know how he didn’t notice her state when they first entered. “What’s wrong, Yanchen?”

He stumbles forwards, stopping about a foot in front of her.

“Mom,” he begins haltingly. “I love you.”

She smiles. “I know sweetie. I love you too.”

He appears to consider going to hug her for a moment but doesn’t. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath and flicking his pinky finger, a silver ring slipping off of it and falling into the grass.

Zhengting sees the woman start to fall and quickly uses his magic to lower her more gently to the ground. Her eyes are closed, a peaceful smile on her face. Yanchen sobs, the sound ugly.

Zhengting approaches him from behind, gently patting his back. “Would you like me to bury her for you?”

Yanchen nods, wiping at his crescent-shaped eyes, not looking in the direction of the body. Zhengting concentrates his magical energy, carving a space out in the ground near the beds of flowers. Fingers trembling, he levitates the body through the air towards the grave, lowering it in as carefully as possible.

“Do you want me to cover it yet?” Zhengting asks slowly, and Yanchen nods. “Please.”

Zhengting follows his instruction, filling in the rest of the hole with dirt and making sure to bloom a few flowers on top. As soon as he finishes conjuring the stone to rest upon it, he falls, exhausted from the amount of magic he’s performed today. Ziyi hustles over, gripping his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” His voice is a lot more concerned than Zhengting would expect from someone who’s only known him for a few hours at most. Zhengting grunts. “‘M fine. Just worn out. Too much magic.”

He looks up, seeing Yanchen’s gaze resting on him mournfully. “Sorry,” the man begins. Zhengting can’t help but feel that sadness is not an emotion that suits his face. “Sorry for what?”

“Everything. Making you come here, making you do this. I’m sorry.”

Zhengting gets up shakily with Ziyi’s offered assistance. “Don’t be sorry. What you did wasn’t right but I understand your motivations. Plus, you didn’t make me do anything. I did it all of my own accord.”

Yanchen doesn’t look any less sad, which Zhengting admits is to be expected. “Hey, Yanchen? How would you feel about coming back to my homeworld with me for a little while? There are a lot of people like you there, you won’t be lonely.”

Zhengting offers partly out of anxiety that Yanchen will revert to dark magic once again if left unguarded and partly out of fatherly compassion. Yanchen reminds him of how Wenjun was when he rescued him from his farm.

Yanchen looks at him for a moment, frozen. “I-I think I’d like that. Can I have a few minutes alone first?”

Ziyi is the one to answer, almost immediately. “Of course. We’ll be in front, take as long as you need.”

He grips Zhengting’s hand, pulling him back through the screen and front doors until they’re in front of the house. As soon as the door closes, Ziyi lets go of Zhengting and slumps down onto the porch.

Zhengting sits beside him, glancing at him under feathery eyelashes. “What’s wrong?”

“I feel guilty,” he begins. Zhengting watches him, listening carefully. “I feel like if I had been a better friend to him he wouldn’t have done this. Maybe if I checked up on him, he wouldn’t have felt so lonely, you know?”

Zhengting takes a moment before speaking. “The thing he said about the voice telling him what to do would have happened regardless of whether you were his closest friend in the world. You shouldn’t feel guilty. Anyways, in just the short time I’ve been here, I’ve noticed how much the people around here like you. You’re clearly very kind.”

Ziyi looks upon him warmly, sighing a little. “Thanks for saying that,” he says, eyebrows suddenly drawing together. “Wait, are you taking me with you to your homeworld?”

Zhengting smiles. “If you’d like to come. I did promise to help you find out about your abilities.”

A smile breaks out across Ziyi’s face. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Zhengting waves him off, picking at the flattened feathers on his jacket. Ziyi continues to stare at him. “Hey, what you did back there was pretty impressive too. I mean it. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” Zhengting mumbles, saved from having to accept the compliment by Yanchen’s appearance behind them. He has a knapsack slung over his shoulder, face swollen from crying.

“Let’s go,” he murmurs.

Chapter Text

Zhengting finds it hard not to laugh at Ziyi’s face when they appear on the other side of the portal. Yanchen seems to have taken it better, his only visible reaction being the way his hands are clenched around the straps of his backpack, fingers white.

“Sorry,” Zhengting apologizes, successfully hiding his amusement. “I should have given you more of a warning. I know it’s a little rough.” Ziyi smiles at him in response, ever forgiving (although the expression ends up looking more like a grimace). “It’s fine.”

Zhengting gives him a second more to catch his breath, seeing Yanchen gaze about with wide eyes. “Well, anyways, we’re here. The place where I live and work is over in that direction.”

He points towards the spot a few blocks away from them where he can see the golden top of the Yuehua headquarters. After checking that Ziyi no longer looks as if he might collapse, Zhengting starts to walk towards it, hearing them follow.

“Everything’s very neat,” Ziyi observes, sounding impressed. Zhengting preens a little at the compliment towards his home city. “Yeah,” he responds. “We take a lot of pride in this place.”

Ziyi and Yanchen both ask questions about various buildings on the way to the Yuehua headquarters, all of which Zhengting answers to the best of his ability. A tall woman with a wide wingspan walks past them at one point, and both of them look absolutely fascinated by her feathered appendages.

Upon reaching the building, Zhengting enters first, striding inside and immediately being bowled over by Justin. He slides across the floor for a few feet, disgruntledly pushing at the younger male. Justin looks at him with wide eyes, appearing all too innocent.

“Sorry, Tingting. Chengcheng was chasing me with a Hercules beetle. I had to jump on you to save my own life.”

Zhengting looks over Justin’s shoulder to the offender, who indeed holds one of the golden creatures in his hands, looking unapologetic. Zhengting shudders, not being particularly fond of insects. He’s reminded of the time that Chengcheng and Justin placed several of them in his bedroom, one of the most unpleasant mornings of his life. “Put that thing outside please.”

Chengcheng rolls his eyes huffily. “Fine. You’re no fun.”

He brushes past Ziyi and Yanchen, who stand awkwardly in the doorway. Zhengting playfully shoves Justin off of him, getting back to his feet, pride now in shambles. Ziyi appears to have found the spectacle funny, at the very least.

“Sorry guys. This is Justin, and the one who just walked past you is Chengcheng. Justin, Chengcheng, this is Ziyi and Yanchen.”

Justin beams at them, and Ziyi sends a large grin back. Yanchen shuffles, likely not ready to be happy just yet. “There are a few others around here. I’m sure they’ll all be willing to help you with anything if you ask.” He looks pointedly at Justin when he says it, the younger man just blinking at him.

Chengcheng slinks back inside, waving at the two guests. Before Zhengting has to resort to making awkward small talk, Zeren pokes his head around the corner. “Zeren!”

The other man’s mouth thins into a line. “What?”

“This is Yanchen,” Zhengting says, gesturing at him. “He’ll be staying with us for a while. Can you show him to one of the empty rooms so he can put his stuff down and settle in?”

Zeren nods, looking a lot more friendly than he had moments previously. He waves Yanchen over, the other man following a little timidly. As soon as they round the corner, Zhengting turns to look up at Ziyi. “I’ll take you with me to see my boss. He might be able to help you.”

“Cool, thanks,” Ziyi says easily, relaxed. Zhengting inclines his head to ask him to follow, heading towards the staircase. About halfway up, Ziyi clears his throat. “Um, Zhengting?”

“Yeah?” Zhengting is a little confused. It sounds like Ziyi’s trying to hold back laughter. “You might want to look at the back of your jacket.”

Zhengting practically rips it from his body while still continuing upwards, examining the back. A groan escapes his lips as he sees the rainbow-colored handprints covering the white feathers. He should have known they were pranking him. Justin was never that scared of bugs.

“Don’t be too embarrassed,” Ziyi says consolingly. “You still looked fine.”

Zhengting isn’t sure if the sudden heat in his cheeks is from embarrassment at being fooled or from Ziyi’s compliment. “Thanks,” he manages to reply. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

Ziyi chuckles and Zhengting feels like calling down a lightning bolt to strike himself, cheeks getting redder. He’s glad that Ziyi can’t see his face in their current walking formation. As they reach the top of the stairs, he folds the jacket, clutching it to his chest. Ziyi comes around to his side, looking at him concernedly.

“Are you upset about the jacket? It might be washable.”

Zhengting shakes his head. “No, I’m not mad about the jacket. None of their pranks are really that malicious. I’m sure I can clean it.”

“That’s good,” Ziyi says, shoulders relaxing. The two of them fall into a stride, an awkward silence hanging in the air for a few moments. They reach the door of Junyi’s office and Ziyi opens the door for him. Zhengting mock bows in his direction as a show of thanks, entering first.

Junyi looks up, seeming pleased to see him. “Welcome back, Zhengting! And who’s this?”

“My name’s Wang Ziyi,” Ziyi replies politely, standing near the back of the room. Zhengting walks closer to Junyi’s desk. “Ziyi’s a human from what I can tell, but he can see the supernatural. I was hoping you might have some answers about who/what he might be.”

Junyi looks at Ziyi through the tops of his glasses, thoughtful. “Do you know of anyone else in your family with similar abilities to you?”

“Yes,” Ziyi says. “My mother also had some connections to the supernatural from what my grandmother tells me, but she died soon after I was born. I never got to ask her about it.”

Junyi sits up a little further in his chair. “Was your mother’s name Liling by any chance?” Ziyi nods at the question, looking startled. “Did you know her?”

“I know her. She’s still alive. I’m positive that it must be her. She once told me that she left her son with his grandmother in the mortal world soon after giving birth to him. I’m not sure where she is right now, but I can try to contact her for you.”

“Wow,” Ziyi says, looking a fair bit shocked. “Just wow. If you could contact her that’d be great. Thanks.”

Junyi nods, smiling kindly. “She might have the answers you’re looking for.”

“Thanks, Junyi,” Zhengting says. “Of course. I’ll let you know when I hear back from her.”

Both of them bow their heads before exiting. Once the door closes, Zhengting looks over, tentatively voicing a question. “Are you okay? I know that was kinda big news.”

Ziyi stares at the opposite wall. “She must have had her reasons for leaving. I just wish she’d visited or sent something to let us know she was alive. I wonder if my grandmother knows.”

“Yeah,” Zhengting says. “Yeah. I’m sorry. Maybe she’ll talk about it when you guys meet.”

“I sure hope so,” Ziyi replies, giving him a small smile.

Chapter Text

When Junyi locates Ziyi’s mother, he goes to visit her alone. Zhengting doesn’t feel comfortable going along considering how long he’s known Ziyi. Then again, he’s not sure it would be appropriate for him to go along even if they’d known each other for years.

Instead, he sits in the Yuehua agency common room pouting, having just gone bankrupt in their third game of monopoly of the afternoon. He has a suspicion that Chengcheng is cheating, though he technically has no proof. Surely there’s no way someone can be this good at monopoly, especially when he’s this bad.

The way Justin pouts at the taller male across the table as he is forced to mortgage one of his properties makes Zhengting think he’s not alone in his hypothesis. He hides a laugh by dramatically falling back onto the floor, letting his eyes meet Zeren’s, who sits on the floor a few feet away. Yanchen is next to him, having clung to his side for the past few days. Zhengting approves of whatever is starting there. It’ll be good for both of them.

“Why are you always the first to go bankrupt?” Zeren asks, making a face at him childishly. Zhengting feels somewhat betrayed, having thought Zeren was the most mature of his kids. “Not my fault Wenjun refuses to make deals with me even though it’d help us both.”

“Don’t slander my name,” Wenjun mutters from over the table. “There’s no point in pretending you’re not just bad at this point, we’ve all seen it.”
Zhengting sighs in defeat, pushing himself up and walking away to avoid further embarrassment. Part of him feels restless, wondering how Ziyi is faring with his mother.

He finds himself wandering into the kitchen, sitting across the counter from a grumpy-looking Quanzhe whose attention is captured by a celebrity magazine.

After a few moments of staring, the other looks back at him, perturbed. “Do you need something?”

“No,” Zhengting replies calmly, resting his head against the granite and gazing at his hand which lays on the countertop. It takes several more seconds and a nonchalant page flip for Quanzhe to give up on reading. He purposefully puts the magazine down in Zhengting’s field of view, lowering his head to meet the other’s gaze.

“Are you sure about that?”

Zhengting sighs. “I’m bored and I keep losing at monopoly.”

“That’s probably 'cause Chengcheng’s cheating,” Quanzhe replies smartly. “Why don’t you try playing again and not making him the banker?”

“I’d honestly rather not touch a monopoly board ever again in my life,” Zhengting groans, staring at Quanzhe. The other’s face is therapeutic, looking at him is like looking at his pet hamster from middle school. “Suit yourself,” Quanzhe mutters.

Before Zhengting can ask him about the magazine he was reading, the landline phone in the corner rings. Quanzhe darts to snatch it up, the cord swinging wildly. “You’ve reached Yuehua Angels. How may I help you?”

The voice on the other end says something Zhengting can’t pick up, and then Quanzhe is shoving it towards him. “It’s your boyfriend,” Quanzhe whispers, grabbing his magazine as Zhengting tries to get a grip on the receiver and stalking out of the room.

Ziyi doesn’t sound at all flustered when he greets him, so Zhengting assumes he didn’t hear what Quanzhe said. “Hey, Ziyi.”

“Hey, bro. I don’t know if you have a cell phone or anything, so I thought this would be the best place to reach you.”

“I don’t have a cellphone, you’re fine. Anyways, how’d things go with your mom?” Zhengting can’t detect anything bad in Ziyi’s voice, so he’s hoping that’s a good sign.

“It was alright,” Ziyi starts. “We talked for awhile and I understand why she did what she did. Kinda awkward at first, but I could tell she was happy to see me.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Zhengting encourages.

“Thanks, dude,” Ziyi comments. Zhengting is unsure of when exactly Ziyi started talking to him on a bro and dude basis but he doesn’t necessarily dislike it. “Oh, also she told me that I might have some cool magical powers like you guys. Apparently I have to find them out myself though.”

Zhengting frowns thoughtfully. “What do you mean by magical powers?”

“I’m not entirely sure myself to be honest. Maybe we can talk about it more when I get back tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Zhengting murmurs. “I’ll see you then. Bye Ziyi.”

“Bye.”

The receiver feels cold in his hand as the line clicks and yet Zhengting feels inexplicably warm.