Something Beautiful and Wicked

0Yuan Shun couldn't sleep. He rose out of bed to use the washroom, and when he finished, he slipped out of the bedroom. He glanced at his phone, flashing 2:00 AM as he put on his coat, taking his keys with him.     3

He drove for ten minutes until he reached Master Wong's studio.     

He climbed the fire escape, and he knocked on the back door. Master Wong opened the door, tired, wearing his blue nightwear. Without any greetings, he left him in.     

Yuan Shun took a seat on one Master Wong's armchairs. He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.     

"Would you like some tea?" Master Wong asked.     

Yuan Shun shook his head. "No, thank you."     

Master Wong poured a cup and sipped from it. "Can I help you with anything, Mr. Yuan?"     

"I told Yen how I took Shi Group," he said.     

Master Wong looked at him intently. "What did you tell her exactly?"     

"I told her everything, but I left out the reason why I still have Shi Group in my hands."     

"And you want to tell her the rest?" Master Wong questioned.     

Yuan Shun nodded.     

Master Wong sat down on the armchair across him. "If you tell her, then she will find out what you promised her father. And you promised Shi Yan not to tell Yenni that you took Shi Group from them to protect her. And I was there when he put aside his pride and desperately pleaded for your help. You can't say anything, not until we understand who is trying to bring her down."     

"But that was before—"     

"Before you got to know her?" he asked.     

Yuan Shun nodded.     

Master Wong released a breath, giving him a contemplative look. "The Shi family have far too many enemies, more than I can count. You may have been the one that started the collapse, but have you figured out who is the one that framed Shi Yan?"     

"No," Yuan Shun replied.     

"Then Yenni is still not safe," was all Master Wong said.     

Yuan Shun leaned back in his seat, tilting his head back to face the ceiling distantly. "So someone wants to eliminate the power of the Shi family? Is that what it is? Is that why I haven't faced any real problems in the last six years other than Shi Yen hating me?"     

"I don't know who or what their motives are, but yes. That's why Shi Yan had given up and surrendered the company. You understand that he entrusted you to control Shi Group until Yenni is safe from all her enemies."     

Yuan Shun grunted. "Is there something else I don't know? You talk about her enemies like you know them," Yuan Shun countered.     

Master Wong lowered his eyelids. "It's complicated and not my place to say anything. Shi Yan had secrets, so does his daughter, you know that."     

Yuan Shun pinched the space between his brows, not understanding what's going on, and he was desperate for answers. "All I want to do is protect her, but how could I do that if I don't know the dangers she faces?"     

"You can still protect her, but don't tell her the full truth now," Master Wong said. "If you do, Shi Yen will try to take everything into her own hands and then what will happen?"     

Yuan Shun wrinkled his face. "She'd be an open target."     

"She'd be walking with a red mark on her head," Master Wong said. "With you in power, no harm can come to her yet."     

"Yet?"     

"That's all I can say," Master Wong replied. "I'm sorry if I couldn't give you the real answers you were looking for. Every day I try everything to find out what Shi Yan kept from me. During Shi Yan's last days, you should have seen how paranoid he was. How many times he told Shi Yen and Shi Ailin how much he loved them. I believe that there is not one, but many that are conspiring against her."     

Yuan Shun's eyes widened. His heart dropped. "This is all because she's a Shi?"     

"There's so much more, Mr. Yuan. All I can say is keep her close," he said. "You're my only hope to keeping her safe, as you were Shi Yan's last hope."     

Yuan Shun clenched his hands into fists.     

Master Wong stood up and knelt. He bowed with hands and head on the floor. Yuan Shun was taken aback. "As my best friend came to you once, I come to you now as well. Protect Shi Yen. She's more precious than anything."     

Yuan Shun helped Master Wong rise to his feet. "I will do anything for Shi Yen," he said. "I promise."     

Master Wong smiled. "Thank you."     

Yuan Shun nodded. He then said good-bye, exiting through the fire escape. He went home with a heavy heart.     

Yuan Shun then stormed into his study room. He tossed his jacket aside, unlocking the drawers of his desk, rummaging through. He pulled out the enamel pin of a wolf, sitting on his chair as he ran his thumb over it. It was the gift he kept all this time, and Yuan Shun always toyed with it whenever he was in deep thought.     

He reached for his cigarette pack but remembering he had stopped smoking. He threw the empty package frustratingly. He ran his hand through his hair, shuddering.     

In the dark, he palmed his face, not realizing that Shi Yen had come in the room, startled to see his state. She took his palms away from his face, looking at him worryingly. "What's wrong?"     

Tears had fallen from his eyes.     

"Did you remember something terrible?" she asked, thinking it was about his brother.     

Yuan Shun nodded.     

Shi Yen smiled sadly. She then sat on his lap, collecting him in her arms. "Don't cry. I'm here," she said. "I am with you."     

Yuan Shun held onto her tightly, breathing in her scent, which calmed him down. He was still frightened. He should have stayed far away from her when they met. He should not have grown to care for her. But he didn't have any regrets. He'd protect her, and he'd start by reconnecting with a part of his past that he spent a long time rejecting.