9 The Meaning Of The Gold Page

-Shen Wei-

The moment he closed the door of Zhao's room behind him, Shen Wei leaned his back on it. He felt his heart pounding out of control, his breathing heavier. Certainly, Yunlan was one of the kind by all means. To even dare to try kiss him while he sleep when he barely knew him was outrageous in the eyes of outsiders, but in his case it was nothing more than dangerous.

Since he had loved the man for centuries and it was probably the same for Zhao, even if he could not understand his yearning in full, his approaches were not exactly unwelcome. However, putting aside the pain of simply being near him, Shen Wei had another fear, when being close to him. He had repressed his feelings in order to keep up living, always watching from a safe distance, never daring to involve himself in his life, but now that he had been force to do so, his worst nightmare wasn't exactly that Zhao could find out about his curse or not even about his past life.

It was his own feelings going out of control when being teased so openly. True, Zhao Yunlan was the one he had hope for so long. He was free to love whoever he wanted and do whatever he pleased without remorse, for which he seems to love him even more, but just now, for a second, he had almost let himself become like him. Zhao liked to tease, he was probably just going to give him a slight kiss, just a taste, but his proximity, his body warmth, make him unconsciously aware of his presence, thus triggering the pain once more.

However, the pain was not his biggest concern, it was what Zhao almost awoke inside of him. He desired the man, he had done so for thousands of years, so he feared that if he was too temped, he will lose control of himself completely, probably hurting Zhao in the process and that would be unforgivable.

The moment he saw Zhao coming closer, he acted on instinct, thus, turning the tide to his favor. Looking at him for a second while over him, with only a tiny fraction of his true desire had make him swallow, provably in surprise. If he had not seen his hesitation in that tiny fraction of a second, he would had end up passionately kissing Zhao right there without any kind of restrains.

"Come on Shen Wei... get a hold of yourself..." He told himself, getting away for that door. "You certainly have bigger problems right now." He remained himself. Then to be distracted, he gave Zhao's place a better look. It was bigger than he imagine and a bit cleaner than he thought, although Zhao had provably make an effort at the last minute while he sleep. He could still see some unclean dishes in the sink, he probably forgot were there.

Out of impulse, he moved toward the kitchen, but stopped when he hear the door open. He looked back, to see Zhao staring at him. His eyeglasses were in one of his hands, while his tie on the other. Honestly, he had fail to notice both things missing. Zhao moved the tie in his hand from side to side while looking at him seriously.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He asked him, coming closer. Shen thought for a second that Zhao was going to try kiss him again, for which he unconsciously move one step back. This make Zhao sight, yet didn't stop him from keep approaching his target.

"Shen Wei... just this once, let me tell you something you may not believe. I'm not playing with you, nor do I plan to do so in a future. I may have been called a pervert many times in the past, but never a playboy. I may tease you, yes, but never against your will, nor with the intention of harm you in any way..." He said, gently putting Shen's eyeglasses where they belonged. "So please, don't be scare of me. I will behave now, I promise..." Shen thought it was ironical that Zhao thought he was scare of his sudden approaches, when in reality he was scared of letting lose the dormant beast inside of him.

"You just have not idea..." Shen whisper in such a low tone that Zhao couldn't hear him.

"Hum, what? I didn't catch that..." Shen smiled charmingly, softly taking the tie from his hand and shortening the little distance between them.

"Its fine, I believe you. Just don't go too far." Shen warn him, whispering it in his ear to make the point that he also could play that game. Zhao involuntary hold his breath, when feeling Shen's warmth one over his ear. "Let's talk now, if you don't mind..." He said, slowly turning his face, almost kissing Zhao in the process, then making his way to the nearest couch. Zhao simply stood in awed for a second before following him.

"Not at all..." He whisper to himself, wishing that Shen had go ahead and kissed him.

-Yunlan-

"So, what was the meaning of the golden text? What it did to you? What happen to you?" Zhao asked, first. He had an endless number of things to ask him, especially those who could give him some clues of what had happen in the first war and why the Ghost Slayer had periodically disappear for long periods of times.

"Were you trying to write my name in the book?" Shen asked back, making Zhao cough in surprise.

"Ah... that... well, you see, I was looking for Guo Changcheng's name and then I got curious about yours..." He began.

"So you did? Even when I told you I wasn't interested in joining the Order?" He wasn't mad about that, he just wanted to know how Zhao trigged Kunlun's sealed memory, but because of his piercing gaze on Zhao, it make Yunlan believe he was indeed angry.

"Oh, come on Xiao Wei, don't be mad at me. I really didn't wrote your name..." He innocently said.

"Wait, how did you call me just now?" Shen asked a bit panicked. Kunlun used to call him that way all the time, so he feared that Zhao was beginning to awake, even though the godly part inside of Zhao had told him he was completely dormant.

"Xiao Wei... don't you like it? It's more intimate and personal. Of course, I will only use it in private if you mind... Shen?" Zhao stopped halfway, when the other guy begin to laugh out of the blue. This took him by surprise, he wasn't expecting a laughing Professor, yet he love it, because it make him even more beautiful.

"Did you like it that much? I can go even further, perhaps calling you babe?" Shen stopped laughing instantly.

"Don't you dare." Was his warning. He laughed because he was relieved that Zhao was simply being himself, it has nothing to do with Kunlun awakening.

"So, Xiao Wei is fine?" He asked with amusement.

"If you must, then I don't mind. It's not that whatever I like it or not, would make a real difference to you. At the end, you will do as you wish anyways." This time it was Zhao's turn to laugh.

"It looks like you know me already..." I do. Shen thought, and so do you know me as well.

"Never mind that, did you write my name or not?" Shen asked again.

"I thought of doing it, but before I could, a drop of ink fell over the page turning gold and just with that single drop, the text show up. Of course, thinking of how knowable you are, I rush to show it to you, but after a single glance, you pass out. Now tell me, what happen." His tone was death serious now.

"The founder of the Order and I knew each other well. I actually serve him a long time ago. Perhaps the thought alone was enough to active the seal hidden within the pages. It was a warning. To me because of my connection with the underworld, to you because it involves the human realm. There is a deep struggle between Hell and the rest of the underworld and if it keep escalating, I'm afraid, another war will be coming." Shen said, watching Zhao's face darkening.

"How so? What can be done to prevent it?" Yunlan asked.

"There are four Holy artifacts that were used to seal the underworld, after the gods find out about what Kanghui or GongGong, had secretly created behind their backs. They exile him along with his creation, stripping him of his godly powers, but the damage had already being done. To strengthen the seal, that's beginning to weaken, we must gather all of them again and perform another seal."

"What about their location?" Zhao asked, memorizing all the information Shen had given him.

"I'm not sure. I only know the brush of merit should be the one used on the Guardian book, the one you tried to write my name with. The others... I honestly don't know. I will go and gather as much information I can get in the underworld, you can do the same in your library. As soon as I got something, I will contact you again, but in the meanwhile, order the strengthening of all the wards in the city, secretly. You can use the case at my dorm as an excuse to make it happen." Shen added, standing up again.

"You are going now, I mean to the underworld?" Zhao asked also standing.

"Yes, the faster I can gather the information the better, I also need to pass on the message to others." Shen said.

"Right... then, before you leave..." Shen didn't have time to stop him, as Zhao took him by surprise pulling him closer and planting an outrageous kiss over his lips.

"For good luck..." Zhao manage to said, just before his dark prince ran away, disappearing into a claud of dark smoke.

AN: LOL Thanks for reading.