Wenjie was still staring out of the window, when Ding Wei came back in. The reunion with Captain Luo had suppressed the tension in his body, only temporarily. There were tingles everywhere under his skin. Unpleasant thoughts forced themselves upon him again. It was difficult for the student to ignore them. 

Xu Zhengqing had thought of everything. Now, he was supposed to be dead. Perhaps, this was also part of his perfidious plan to torture him and his father, until the pressure brought them down. Captain Luo might be right, that trusting Xiao Dao was a mistake. Still, he mentally clung to the older as if it was only possible for him to keep Monsieur away. 

"Hey, what's with the face?" the latter interrupted his spiral of thoughts.

Wenjie hadn't even heard him coming in. "Wasn't he going to question you in the office?"

Ding Wei grinned and squatted at the end of the bed as if they were best friends or even family. This irritated the younger man, crossing a line he had tried to maintain until now. It didn't increase the tension, though. "I was able to convince him that I meant you no harm."

Wenjie even believed him. The older would have had plenty of opportunities to do so in the past. It just didn't mean that Xiao Dao didn't have any ulterior motives. Gaining his friendship, created a bond between them. And other people could take advantage of that, or even Ding Wei himself. 

"Thank you for defending me earlier."

A faint smile tugged at Wenjie's lips. "It's not a nice feeling to be accused wrongly."

"Mmmm" Ding Wei nodded. His gaze fell on the phone that was in the younger man's hand. "Did you let your girlfriend know, she can come yet?"

Instinctively, Wenjie's hand closed tighter around the phone. "I want to be alone." He had already told Captain Luo that. 

"Your friends worried about you."

Ding Wei didn't need to tell him that. The numerous messages on his phone were proof enough. "I know, you all mean well for me," Wenjie countered. "But I don't want to talk about what happened." His friends would surely ask him about it. Involuntarily, he thought of Lin Zhiyue's offer. He couldn't bring himself to accept it. Especially not, after what Xu Zhengqing had done. 

"I didn't tell Captain Luo about the knockout drops."

Suddenly, Wenjie's face lost its color again. This was the subject he wanted to avoid at all costs. At the same time, it was also the one that haunted his thoughts, gave him a headache. He didn't know which was better, uncertainty or a terrible truth? Because his belief, in what had happened, was only based on assumptions and statements made by Xu Zhengqing. The air suddenly seemed very thin. He took a deep breath, hoping thereby to regain control over his emotions as quickly as possible. 

"Is there any way to find out what happened that night?" 

Ding Wei looked at him helplessly and shrugged. "With hypnosis, perhaps."

In his mind, Wenjie weighed the benefits and risks of such treatment. It would require contacting a therapist. Did he want to walk around with the label mentally unstable? He could handle the situation without professional help. All he needed was some time to recover. 

At that moment, his phone vibrated. It was Lin Zhiyue. Unable to answer it, he looked at the display until Ding Wei took it from him. This time he didn't struggle to keep it. Inwardly paralyzed, he stared at his empty hand. Xiao Dao's voice suddenly sounded very distant.

"Wenjie's in the bathroom right now," he lied boldly. 

"Sure you can come over. He'll be happy, even if he can't show it." Ding Wei grinned mischievously. 

Wenjie slowly lifted his gaze. He wanted to reach for the phone, yell at Xiao Dao not to interfere, tell Lin Zhiyue he needed time to himself, but not a sound passed his lips. Dazed, he sat there as if someone had given him a sedative that incapacitated him. 

"No, you don't need to bring anything. Captain Luo brought him a whole gift basket. Your visit is sufficient. Until when will you come?" Ding Wei stood up and began pacing the room. 

Wenjie sank deeper into his pillow. His gaze wandered to the ceiling. Xiao Dao's voice faded away. He didn't even catch the last few sentences because his mind temporarily disengaged and he was no longer listening to him. A wave of indifference washed over him. 

Finally, Ding Wei returned to the bed. He put the phone on the nightstand and sat down on a chair. Then, he reached for the gift basket and took out an apple. He cradled it between his hands before holding out the fruit to him.

Wenjie looked at the apple skeptically. 

"The vitamins will do you good." When the younger man still refused to eat, he reached for a second apple and simply tossed it to him. 

Instinctively, Wenjie caught the fruit, releasing the temporary paralysis in his limbs. 

Ding Wei smiled and bit into his apple. 

Wenjie watched him for a while until he tentatively began to eat himself. The apple tasted sweet, tart, and at that moment, also much better than anything Xu Zhengqing had put in front of him. The tension eased a little, regardless of the fact, that he still didn't feel very well. The chewing sound that could be heard more clearly in the silence between them prevented him from relaxing. He would have loved to ask Ding Wei to talk. It didn't have to be anything meaningful, just anything to distract him from the eating noises. But he didn't want to embarrass himself. 

Xiao Dao seemed to get tired of the silence himself at some point. Because not even two seconds after he had devoured his apple, he began to tell what he had spoken with Captain Luo. The reference to the community service even elicited a grin from Wenjie. But when the older then began to say that he could match them by offering to be his personal chauffeur, the smile disappeared again. 

"I'm not an invalid," he muttered. 

Ding Wei laughed. "A little luxury won't hurt you."

He was only doing that so he could spend time with him. "Will you stop imposing like that, if I accept your offer of friendship?"

"Huh." Visibly surprised, Xiao Dao's throat stopped further comments.

Shortly after, they both laughed. Wenjie didn't really know why. He had been serious in his statement. But Ding Wei's reaction had loosened the tension.

With a broad grin, Xiao Dao squatted back down at his bed. "Agreed." He extended his raised pinky finger to him, apparently intending a pinky promise. 

For a moment Wenjie hesitated to act on it. Finally, he gave himself a push and returned the gesture. "Thank you for keeping your promise".

Xiao Dao grinned as he often did. "You're welcome." He loosened his fingers and stood up again. "Do you want to be alone with Lin Zhiyue and Sun Zhijian when they come later?"

Wenjie thought for a moment. In itself, he didn't care. He would have liked to delay the visit, but had to admit to himself that the distraction was really doing him good. Or was it because of Ding Wei? He couldn't say for sure. "You can stay."

"Really?" Xiao Dao scratched the back of his head.

Wenjie nodded. 

to be continued...