The door slammed shut and the lock clicked and the basement swallowed them whole.
Shen Wei fell against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the cold concrete floor. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his arms were wrapped around them and his whole body was shaking like a leaf in a storm.
His glasses were fogged and crooked and tears were streaming down his face and he couldn't stop them. He couldn't stop anything. His breath came in short sharp gasps that sounded like someone was stabbing him over and over.
"Weiwei." Wenhao's voice came out of the darkness. "Weiwei breathe. Come on. Breathe with me."
Shen Wei shook his head and more tears fell and he couldn't see and he couldn't think and all he could hear was the man's voice saying cut his fingers bring them in a bowl.
Wenhao found him in the dark. His hands touched Shen Wei's shoulders and then his face and then his hands. Wenhao's hands were cold but Shen Wei grabbed them anyway and held on like they were the only thing keeping him from falling apart completely.
"I'm here," Wenhao said and his voice was low and steady even though he was terrified too. "I'm right here. They're not going to hurt you. I won't let them."
Wenhao pulled Shen Wei against his chest and wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. Shen Wei's body was shaking so hard that Wenhao could feel his own teeth rattling.
They sat like that for a long time. The basement was cold and damp and the only sound was Shen Wei's breathing slowly evening out and the distant drip of water somewhere in the dark.
Wenhao looked around but there was nothing to see. No windows. No second door. Just concrete walls and a concrete floor and a single mattress that looked like it had been there for years.
He thought about trying to break the door. He thought about screaming for help. He thought about a thousand useless things and none of them would work.
So he just held Shen Wei and counted his breaths and waited.
The night stretched on and the cold seeped into their bones. Wenhao took off his jacket and wrapped it around Shen Wei's shoulders. Shen Wei tried to give it back and Wenhao told him to shut up and keep it.
They ended up lying on the cold floor because the mattress smelled like mold and neither of them wanted to touch it. Shen Wei's head rested on Wenhao's arm and Wenhao stared at the ceiling and listened to Shen Wei's breathing until it became slow and even.
Shen Wei fell asleep first. His body finally gave out after hours of crying and shaking and being afraid. Wenhao stayed awake for a long time after that, staring at the dark, thinking about his father and Zhenlong and the shipping routes and the northern ports and all the things he never knew about the family business.
The sound of the lock scraping open woke them both at the same time.
Wenhao sat up fast and his head spun because he had slept in a bad position and his neck was stiff and his whole body was cold. Shen Wei was still on the floor next to him, curled into a small ball, and he didn't sit up. He just opened his eyes and blinked slowly like he was having trouble understanding where he was.
The door swung open and light flooded into the room and Wenhao squinted against it.
Hua Cheng stood in the doorway with a tray in his hands. Two bowls of congee. Two cups of water. A pair of chopsticks.
He looked as cold and handsome as he did yesterday and he set the tray down on the floor without coming all the way into the room.
"Eat," Hua Cheng said. "You'll need your strength."
Wenhao didn't move toward the food. He turned to look at Shen Wei and his heart stopped.
Shen Wei's face was flushed. Not pink like embarrassment. Red like fire. His lips were dry and cracked and his eyes were glassy and unfocused. His whole body was trembling even though he wasn't crying anymore.
"Weiwei," Wenhao said and his voice was sharp with fear. He reached out and put his hand on Shen Wei's forehead and the heat that met his fingers made him pull back like he had been burned.
"He's burning up," Wenhao said and he turned to look at Hua Cheng with wild eyes. "He has a fever. A bad one. He needs a doctor. Now."
Hua Cheng's expression didn't change. "There's no doctor here."
Wenhao stood up and his legs were shaky but he stood in front of Hua Cheng anyway and his voice was low and dangerous. "Then get one. He's sick. He was on this cold floor all night and he's sick and if he dies then I'm useless to your boss because I won't do a single thing you ask. Do you understand me."
Hua Cheng looked at Wenhao and then looked at Shen Wei on the floor. Shen Wei's eyes were closed again and his breath was coming in shallow pants and his face was so red it looked painful.
Something flickered across Hua Cheng's face. Something that wasn't cold or cruel. Something that looked almost like... pity.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and turned away. "Fine. Stay here. Don't try anything stupid."
He walked out and the door stayed open and Wenhao could hear his footsteps going up the stone stairs and then a door opening and then silence.
Wenhao dropped back to the floor and pulled Shen Wei into his lap. Shen Wei's body was so hot that Wenhao could feel the heat through his clothes.
"Weiwei. Stay awake. Come on. Don't close your eyes."
"M'tired," Shen Wei mumbled. His voice was thick and strange.
"I know you're tired. But you need to stay awake for me okay. Just a little longer. There's a doctor coming. They're going to help you."
Shen Wei's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Wenhao's face and a small smile touched his cracked lips. "You're bossy. Even here."
Wenhao laughed and it came out wet because his eyes were stinging. "Someone has to be bossy. You're too busy getting sick and being heroic."
"S'not heroic. S'scared."
"I know," Wenhao said and he smoothed Shen Wei's messy hair away from his forehead. "Me too."
Footsteps came back down the stairs and Wenhao looked up and saw Hua Cheng returning with a woman behind him.
She was short and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun and she wore glasses that were too big for her face and a white coat over a sweater that had a hole in the sleeve. She looked nothing like the men in black suits.
She walked past Hua Cheng like he wasn't there and knelt down next to Shen Wei and put her hand on his forehead. Her face went from neutral to furious in less than a second.
She turned and glared at Hua Cheng. "Are you serious? He's trembling on a cold floor with a fever this high and you left him here overnight?"
Hua Cheng's jaw tightened. "I don't make the rules. Zhenlong said basement."
"I don't care what Zhenlong said," the woman snapped and her voice was sharp as a blade. "He's sick. Really sick. This isn't a cold. This is pneumonia waiting to happen. Get them to a proper room. Now."
Hua Cheng crossed his arms and his expression was cold. "You're not my boss. Why should I listen to you?"
The woman stood up and walked right up to Hua Cheng and she was a full head shorter than him but she looked like she could eat him for breakfast. She clenched her jaw and then reached up and grabbed his ear between her fingers and twisted.
Hua Cheng's eyes went wide and he made a sound that was almost a yelp.
"Do you want me to ask Zhenlong?" the woman said sweetly. "Because I can ask Zhenlong. I can tell him that his so called perfect man is being difficult and that the sick boy might die because someone was too proud to move him to a warmer room."
Hua Cheng's face went red. His jaw clenched so tight Wenhao could see the muscle jumping in his cheek.
"Fine," Hua Cheng bit out. He pulled his ear from her fingers and rubbed it. "Fine. Get them upstairs."
He turned to his men who were standing in the doorway. "Bring them to the guest room."
The men moved forward and Wenhao pushed them away. "Don't touch him. I'll carry him."
He slid his arms under Shen Wei's back and knees and lifted. Shen Wei was lighter than he expected and he was so hot and so still and Wenhao carried him up the stone stairs and through the hallway and into a room that was nothing like the basement.
There was a heater in the corner and Wenhao nodded toward it.
"Turn that on," he said to no one in particular.
Hua Cheng walked to the heater and turned it on without argument.
Wenhao laid Shen Wei on the bed and pulled the blanket up to his chin and tucked it around his shoulders. Shen Wei's teeth were chattering now even though his skin was burning.
The woman with the messy bun pushed past Hua Cheng and knelt next to the bed. She opened her bag and pulled out a fever patch and peeled off the backing and placed it gently on Shen Wei's forehead.
"His name?" she asked Wenhao.
"Shen Wei."
"Shen Wei," she said softly. "I'm Dr. Chen. You're going to be fine but you need to rest and you need to drink water. Can you do that for me?"
Shen Wei nodded weakly and his eyes were still glassy but he looked at her face and something in him seemed to calm down.
Dr. Chen turned to Wenhao. "Make sure he stays hydrated and warm. If the fever doesn't go down in a few hours you come get me. I'll be in the building."
Wenhao nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Shen Wei. He didn't look at Hua Cheng. He didn't look at anyone. He just looked at Shen Wei's face and watched his chest rise and fall.
Dr. Chen stood up and brushed off her coat and turned to leave. But as she passed Hua Cheng she paused and looked him up and down with a mocking smile.
"You know," she said loud enough for everyone to hear. "For someone who works for a man named Zhenlong you're surprisingly easy to drag around by the ear."
Hua Cheng's face went dark. "Shut up."
They glared at each other for a long moment and then Hua Cheng looked away first and crossed his arms and muttered something under his breath.
Dr. Chen smiled and walked out of the room and her footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Wenhao watched the whole exchange with tired confused eyes but he didn't have the energy to think about what any of it meant. He just pulled the blanket higher around Shen Wei's shoulders and sat there in the warm room and waited.