They stared at each other.

Wei Ying didn't know what to do, and it looked like Mo XuanYu didn't know, either.

Lan Zhan tugged on his hand, ever conscious of being late.

And he knew something was wrong because Wei Ying's blood had changed, with an emotion he had trouble identifying. It was like excitement but different, a mix of wary curiosity and elation, though Lan Zhan couldn't understand why.

Except, it had something to do with Mo XuanYu.

Without meaning to, he's already glaring at the young man.

"How hungry are you?" Wei Ying asks him, out of the blue.

"I can manage. Why?" Mo XuanYu narrows his eyes at them, both Wei Ying and the scary one.

"Alright." Wei Ying knocks on Baoshan Sanren's door and pops his head around it. "Grandma? We're taking A-Yu out for lunch. We'll bring him back later?" He beams when she gives him two thumbs up in approval before her head turns back towards her computer.

"Um...how successfully do you think I can talk myself out of this one?" Mo XuanYu asks them, as Wei Ying takes his left arm and not to be outdone, Lan Zhan grabs his right one.

"Really?" Wei Ying replies, indignantly.

"Okay, okay!" Mo XuanYu says, giving up.

*************

Since they have to pick up the children first, the drive to the school is fraught with tension and silence.

Wei Ying has so many questions and he's quiet only because, a) he doesn't know which one he wants the answer to, the most, and b) he doesn't want to start something and have it be interrupted, because whatever they are going to speak about, should be kept away from the kids. Of that, Wei Ying is absolutely certain.

The tension comes from Mo XuanYu, who is kind of terrified at what awaits and how he's going to answer, plus the scary one keeps glaring frostily at him through the rear view mirror, and even though it's not a direct look, he is shaking in his boots.

Lan Zhan is stressed because Wei Ying is, and since the cause of that is sitting in the back seat between two booster seats, Mo XuanYu gets the brunt of his irritation.

No one gets to make Wei Ying feel like this.

"I'll go get the kids," Wei Ying tells Lan Zhan, kissing his cheek and his eyes glancing at Mo XuanYu, who's staring back at them, a puddle of nerves now.

Lan Zhan understands immediately: Wei Ying wants him to stay in the car to keep an eye on their 'friend' in case he decides that running away would be better, and Lan Zhan agrees that he will stay.

But that doesn't mean he has to like it.

He's upset with Mo XuanYu for three reasons now: 1. For upsetting Wei Ying, 2. For making Wei Ying go alone to fetch their children, and 3. For making Wei Ying leave without a proper kiss because he's right THERE.

In fact, Lan Zhan is pretty sure he can come up with five more reasons to hate Mo XuanYu, but he settles on glaring at him even harder now, not even pausing to blink.

Mo XuanYu burrows into his seat miserably, keeping his eyes on the window to his left. The earlier Wei Ying gets back, the faster they can get going, and put an end to whatever this is.

Minutes later, Wei Ying is back, and they can hear him chattering excitedly to the children, who are asking him questions back until the moment the back seat doors open. Lan Zhan releases the locks and is out of the car in half a second, but if Mo XuanYu was relieved about that, it's not for long.

And from the moment the children see that there's someone in the back with them, they grow extremely quiet, staring at him owlishly with their big, innocent eyes.

In many ways, they're worse than the scary one.

****************

Mo XuanYu ignores the whispering kids in front of him as Wei Ying takes them both to a washroom to clean up before they eat. Lan Zhan escorts him to another bathroom on the opposite side, waiting for him outside.

He's still glowering.

Wei Ying and the children come out first, and Wei Ying takes one look at his face and dissolves into giggles.

"Be careful, my love. We don't want him to piss himself." He laughs even more when Lan Zhan stares pointedly at the bathroom door, because that's the whole reason why he's waiting outside one.

It opens and Mo XuanYu comes out, still a little starstruck.

"I've never had my toilet sing to me before," he says in a daze, and the children laugh.

"You could always sing back," JingYi tells him, while A-Yuan smiles politely.

"We don't talk while we eat," Wei Ying warns Mo XuanYu, and his eyes flicker towards the children.

Mo XuanYu nods, understanding him immediately.

He wouldn't have said anything, anyway. His story isn't a pretty one.

*************

There's a lot of food, is his first thought. He's actually hungry after that terrifying car ride, which is his second. He couldn't have spoken anyway, because he's only got one mouth.

The children finish eating and come around the table to hug their parents, both the kids, and both of the parents.

It's this which makes tears spring to his eyes, and Mo XuanYu keeps his eyes down after that.

How bad could the scary one be, if both kids hugged him, and lingered? It wasn't even as if they were doing it because they HAD to, he had no doubts. They hugged because they wanted to, and in doing so, reminded Mo XuanYu of what he never had.

"Have you finished?" Wei Ying asks him, pushing a glass of water towards his plate.

He sounds much kinder suddenly.

Mo XuanYu obediently takes the glass and drains it, pushing away from the table with a new resolve in his eyes.

They want answers? Well, he's going to give them some.

Mo XuanYu follows the scary one to another room, and he's aware of Wei Ying following behind them. It's a study with books all around and a high-backed chair opposite a love seat and a couch. Mo XuanYu drifts towards the couch and sits on one side, feeling too exposed to sit in the middle of it. He watches Wei Ying sit right next to the scary one, and lets the scary one hold hands with him, while his free hand wraps around his waist. Wei Ying is leaning back towards the scary one, and the position looks entirely intimate.

It must be nice to have someone you can trust, he thinks.

"It is." Wei Ying tells him, and Mo XuanYu realises then, that he must have spoken out loud.

He blushes. "That's good." Why? He wonders, why can't he shut up? This is beyond embarrassing.

He looks around the room. It's a bright place, and welcoming in its own way. He wonders what it might have been like to grow up here, as a child.

"How old are you?" Wei Ying asks him.

There have been flashes of his innocence hidden in the depths of his deep eyes that made Wei Ying wonder about this, that Mo XuanYu might be younger than he looks.

Before, Wei Ying might have thought he was around nineteen years old, but now he's having doubts.

"Gonna be eighteen in December." At this point, Mo XuanYu isn't going to lie to them.

Wei Ying shares a look with Lan Zhan, at that. This boy wasn't even a legal adult, and yet he was intertwined with such a different world, at his age.

"What?" He bristles at their exchange. "I'm old enough!"

Wei Ying chooses to ignore that. There was no point in refuting or agreeing with that statement, because the boy already believed it, and would have objected to whatever Wei Ying said.

"So tell us, how and why did you start the whole thing with F4keSt0ries? Or better yet, why aren't you in school? I'm having a hard time understanding your position," Wei Ying says, finally.

"Start at the beginning," Lan Zhan tells him, too.

"My mom worked for Jin GuanShan as a housemaid. He got her pregnant with me, and then she couldn't work. She said friends and family helped us out, but she didn't want to go back there, because she was scared the same thing would happen again.

"I was twelve when I started asking questions. I was bullied at school. You know how it is, once the other kids find out there's something different about you, that's it. They picked on me for not having a dad. One fight too many, and they expelled me from school, so I kept bugging her about my dad. She got sick and tired of me pestering her, and told me his name, how he promised to look after her, even when she kept refusing him. But that cheapskate couldn't keep it in his pants from one breath to the next, and I only found that out later.

"I should have waited, I should have watched him, but I went right up to him and introduced myself. I don't know what I expected to happen." Mo XuanYu shakes his head bitterly, remembering the humiliation, the slap in front of all his guests.

"A-Yu, what happened?" Wei Ying moves to sit next to him, his arm thrown over his shoulder in support.

"He hit me so hard, one of my teeth fell out. It was his son's birthday that day, and he was hosting a party. To be fair, maybe I should have waited..."

Angry tears are falling from his hot eyes, and Mo XuanYu thinks about how this day could possibly get any worse. But when he looks over to Wei Ying, he's crying too, and it doesn't make sense.

Why is HE crying? And the scary one is now glaring at his feet instead of at Mo XuanYu, and that's not exactly an improvement.

"No, A-Yu, no! You had every right to be there, and Jin GuanShan, he's the bad guy. He should have welcomed you into his home, and his life, with open arms. You are a credit to your mother though, because she instilled in you a working moral compass." Wei Ying wipes his face with his sleeves and then does his own. "We are not going to cry after those that don't deserve our tears, you got that?"

Mo XuanYu nods, startled by his outburst.

"We both lost our parents, too." Wei Ying is telling him, and Mo XuanYu struggles to pay attention.

He's glad someone else is talking, filling up the empty space with words, because he doesn't think he could talk right now.

As if by magic, two glasses of water appear in front of his eyes, and then Wei Ying is holding one out to him. He takes it gratefully, happy to try and remove the huge lump in his throat. The cool water soothes him, and he listens carefully to the kind voice that seems to know exactly what to say.

"Lan Zhan was only six when he lost his mother, and soon after, his father. I was five, I think. I spent a lot of time drifting in and out of foster homes before I was adopted, but even that was difficult. My point is, it gets better. Sure, life can really suck, not gonna lie. But I wish someone had told me this when I was really going through it. It DOES get better, A-Yu." Wei Ying hugs him again, and this time, Mo XuanYu turns to hug him back.

"For me, A-Yuan saved my life. I was going through a rough patch and... anyway, I guess we saved each other. Help comes in the most unexpected ways, A-Yu." Wei Ying gives him a good squeeze, before leaning back and wiping under his eyes. "We don't have to talk about Jin GuanShan if you don't want to."

Mo XuanYu was surprised at himself, because suddenly, he wanted to tell Wei Ying everything.

"I want to," he says, ever so quietly.

Wei Ying pats his hand, and thankfully doesn't let go of him.

Mo XuanYu can't believe this is really happening to him. When he woke up that morning, there was no way he could have predicted this was how his day was going to go. But now, he feels hopeful in the strangest of ways. He can believe Wei Ying when he says it gets better, that he does not have to live with this parental resentment forever. His father is ... no, was such a disappointment to him. Mo XuanYu is glad he is dead, and he can't bring himself to feel bad about that.

"After I left his house, I spent the time wandering around town. I had a little bit of money but I spent it on food, sleeping rough was okay but not the best, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. One night, I woke up because of a fight happening just outside of the alley I was sleeping in. Like that video I sent you, it was very similar. I tried to hide but one of the vampires saw me, and attacked. I was terrified..." he still is, he realises.

The twelve year old him was way too young to have to deal with a fully developed vampire, fangs out and blood dripping from his chin, advancing towards him like Mo XuanYu was his next meal.

"And then?"

The question comes unexpectedly from the scary one.

Who isn't looking so scary anymore. In fact, he looks regretful.

Is he upset ... for him?

Mo XuanYu feels like this is some kind of a dream, one that he should be waking up from any minute now.

Nobody has taken such an interest in him, not like this, before. It feels good. It feels like he is finally important, and actually wanted.

It's a nice feeling.

After years of feeling, and being made to feel like a hindrance, he feels welcomed here, that his story is valid and that they really want to know what happened to him.

He clears his throat uncomfortably, and continues. "The gang saved me. It was a bloodbath, and I'm not ashamed to say that I closed my eyes for the most part." Unfortunately, he had no way to close his ears. The sounds of that night still manage to wake him up in the middle of the night, sweating after a particularly visual nightmare.

"We can protect ourselves from things like that," Wei Ying tells him matter-of-factly, as if it's okay.

That's also refreshing, being accepted for who he is, and the actions of his past self.

"They brought me back to their hideout and let me stay. They had a laptop. And the rest is history." He sags against Wei Ying's side, suddenly exhausted.

"When did you start the F4keSt0ries account?" Lan Zhan asks him.

He cannot believe what this child has been through. His own situation doesn't seem so bad in comparison to either of the people's lives sitting on that couch. Lan Zhan had his uncle, he had his Xiongzhang. Both of them had no one like that.

Lan Zhan feels funny, because the protective feelings are back in a big way, like when he first met Wei Ying, and then the children. Actually, it would be more accurate to say it's like when he met JingYi and discovered how bad his home life was. He's surprised at how much he can see Mo XuanYu like his younger brother, a position that has never occurred to him, because HE was always the youngest person on their family.

And he discovers that he does not mind the change.

"A few years later, when I was sure I could successfully hide my online presence. I was frustrated because the humans were wilfully ignorant. There was this whole other world with its deadly members moving in their society, feeding off them at regular intervals, and the humans were doing NOTHING about it! I mean, like, how? And the more I studied that, I began changing my questions to why? Why was nothing reported? Why was it so hush-hush?

"And then one day, I decided to tell people the truth. But I had to protect myself, and my brothers, because that's what the gang had become to me. They are my family in all the ways it counts. We ate together, slept together, laughed together, and for a while, life was good. The F4keSt0ries account was a brilliant idea because I could toss just the right amount of lies mixed in with the truth, and those that wanted to know more, could finally do that." Mo XuanYu allows himself a small smile.

He could be proud of what F4keSt0ries had achieved in such a small amount of time.

"And if anyone got too close, you could deny everything and blame an active imagination," Wei Ying guessed, and he's smiling, too.

"Exactly!" This is the first time Mo XuanYu feels like someone understands him, someone not part of his gang.

"Then how did you meet my grandmother?"

"About two years ago, I was following a lead that led me back to the Wen Laboratories. We literally walked into each other. I knew she was a vampire, a really old one, and she knew I knew. We talked. Then she brought me to her home and showed me around. That was the day I learned that not all vampires were bad, that there were a few good ones around. Me and your grandma, we traded notes." Mo XuanYu laughs, thinking about that day.

"Sounds like something she would do." Wei Ying catches Lan Zhan's eyes and they smile at each other.

Baoshan Sanren was such a big personality, someone who never did things by half measures, and to hear how she brought Mo XuanYu onto her side supports this.

"Then she hired me, after seeing what I can do with computers and that kind of technology. She said I'm a prodigy," Mo XuanYu chuckles at himself.

It was the first time an adult not only believed in him, but actively encouraged him. Baoshan Sanren gave him somewhere to live, fed and clothed him, and then proposed the most bizarre and outrageous plan to him: infiltration of the Wens.

His only mission was to join their pre-college internship, no experience necessary, and report back to Baoshan Sanren. He tells them all this.

"The only thing we didn't count on was the security. It was tighter than a virgin."

Wei Ying barks out an unexpected laugh. And then tries to look disapproving, and fails.

"But did you know who we were? When we started asking you questions? On the F4keSt0ries account," Wei Ying clarifies. He's feeling so proud of this little, spunky kid who left home so young, and then managed to not only survive, but he had thrived.

Flourishing like forgotten blooms in a hidden garden with the first rain of spring.

"No, not at first. But then I traced your VPN and it was a bust because it led to an apartment block. I had a choice of three people before whoever I was talking to decided to change it, so it started pinging to a different place around the world, every time they logged on." Mo XuanYu explains. "I only really knew after your grandmother brought me down to the library to meet you. We talked about my gang's jackets," he reminds them.

"Why did you draw our attention to them, then? You obviously didn't want them to get into trouble, so what then?" Wei Ying pours him some more water.

Mo XuanYu feels taken care of, in the best way.

Wasn't it funny that it was the smallest of things, the kindest actions which may be inconsequential to others, but to Mo XuanYu, it felt as warm as coming home.

"It was mostly frustration. Our gang members were dwindling day by day, and I could see it, even if they couldn't, that we were no match for them. And then, the way it was all covered up without a peep in the papers? On television? I had to get it out there. And to be honest, you guys were better than anyone else. And then you started finding out things, like the medication the Wens were using. The moon glyphs, and hey, why were we talking about sick vampires? I knew it had to be something personal, because there was no way something so specific, wasn't." Mo XuanYu looks at both of them.

He's surprised when Wei Ying blushes, a deep rosy colour on his cheeks.

"I was diagnosed with cancer." He points to his head.

They end up telling him the most significant parts of their story, and Mo XuanYu adds the rest of it in his head. Good for them, he thinks.

"Are you going to join us tomorrow night?" Wei Ying asks him, just as he stifles another yawn.

"In a way," he replies, enigmatically. "Maybe not in person, though."

He doesn't have to spell it out for Wei Ying and Lan Zhan to understand. They should have clocked that when Baoshan Sanren mentioned teams and a covert mission inside the Wen Laboratories, that Mo XuanYu would be involved somehow.

Mo XuanYu yawns again, this time unable to hide it.

"Tired?" Wei Ying asks him, sympathetically, rubbing his back.

"Yeah, I was up early going through footage from the Wen Laboratories mainframe. Did you know, everything gets uploaded to the cloud and stays there for thirty days before it's automatically deleted? I've been staring at three screens simultaneously nonstop since Monday, to catch up." He rubs his tired eyes.

"It must be riveting stuff," Wei Ying giggles.

There's a knock on the door and Da Tuzi comes in. He waves his phone at them.

"I was going to see my Benefactor. Do you want a lift?" He directs that at Mo XuanYu.

"Yeah...yeah, I think so," Mo XuanYu yawns again, and looks at both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.

They're both nodding.

Mo XuanYu is relieved. He's so tired, not just from the kind of work he's been doing these past four days, but this afternoon and talking about himself has drained him completely. He thinks he may even fall asleep in the car.

When he stands up to stretch, he's shocked when Wei Ying hugs him properly. It's a long hug, too, and then Wei Ying says, "if you don't mind, I... well, we would like to adopt you as our younger brother. If that's okay?"

Mo XuanYu finds himself nodding, and then the scary one is patting his back awkwardly, and not looking so scary after all.

It's a surreal experience and maybe it'll make more sense after a good night's sleep, Mo XuanYu thinks, waving goodbye at them.