Duty or feelings?

The young man sighed and began in order. He hid the fact of his recluse, of course, but otherwise, though he didn't brag, he looked like a hero. When in danger, he was resourceful and brave.

Hearing his own story, he was embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. Jiang Wei became enraged when he heard about the restaurant. He jumped up and started pacing back and forth, then knelt in front of the young man and emotionally promised him to restore the restaurant. Ling nodded, and the boss hugged him again.

"I missed my assistant so much, I missed your day and night," he said quietly.

"I too... missed you very much," Ling could hardly contain himself and hugged the man back.

After standing like that for a while, Ling felt his eyes slipping.

The man laid him down on the bed, closed the curtain, and turned out the light. At night he returned and, hugging the young man from behind, fell asleep beside him. It was still noisy outside, the gang continued to drink and play until morning. But Jiang Wei was used to the noise and thought it was bad when it got quiet.

Upon waking up, Ling could not immediately tell the time because there was a tight screen around the bed. Then he looked at his watch but immediately remembered that it must be a different time here.

Staggering around, he looked for the bathroom. Opening and closing doors, he found the bathroom at the end of the hallway. After putting himself back in relative order, the young man went in search of Jiang Wei.

He found him on the first floor. The man was smoothly shaven and dressed in clean clothes. He was leaning over a table and looking at a map with "colored teeth". They were arguing about something and pointing their fingers at the map. In the end, Colored Teeth gave up and shook Jiang Wei's hand. At that moment, the boss looked around and saw Shi Ling.

"Hey, come here," he called out.

Ling looked at the map and realized that the men were discussing the route of travel to... States? Well, yeah, that makes sense, where else?

"That's what documents and money are for," thought Ling. Meanwhile, Jiang Wei said another phrase to his partner. He began to bargain. Ling understood it from his intonation.

In the end, he asked Ling if he had brought the money. Ling nodded, adding that he had brought everything on the card. And he explained the scheme for bringing in the money. Jiang Wei was pleased and, patting him on the shoulder, said his final word to the ringleader and he smiled. They seemed to agree on a price.

"Let's get something to eat, aren't you hungry?" led the young man Jiang Wei outside.

Four guards followed them at once. They were not particularly smiling to accompany the white men, but they liked the money nonetheless. Jiang Wei led Shi Lingg to a small cafe. Everyone there knew him and cheerfully welcomed him.

A girl of about thirteen came up to the table, she looked at Ling and blushed, it was quite nice. Jiang Wei intercepted that look and smiled too. Then quickly said his order and the utterly embarrassed girl ran off to the kitchen.

"Are you a celebrity here or something?" inquired Ling.

"Their husbands and fathers work for me, of course, I'm welcome in any establishment," grinned the boss.

"I see." Ling had thought a thousand times about what he would say to Wei when he met him when he missed him terribly, but now he acted like an idiot and said some platitudes.

Ling's frown didn't escape his boss. He looked closely at the young man and said nothing. With an appetite for food, Jiang Wei began to tell Ling the plan. It turned out that he had put a lot of effort into saving his father. If Pop hadn't gotten this far, there would have been less hassle.

"But the old man certainly wanted to live in Mexico!" Jiang Wei rolled his eyes.

When the boss flew here, he found out that Dad was going to be transported elsewhere. He immediately suspected something was wrong and arranged for another ambulance with a similar patient to follow the route. The enemies lost sight of them for a while, but his father needed medical attention and had to find a hospital nearby.

Almost immediately, Jiang Wei hired local bandits to guard the building and himself. Deciding to move with his father to the States, he turned to Ling for help. He thought his assistant was an outstanding man. Later at the hospital, Ling retrieved the passports from the spines of shabby books, isn't that resourceful!

"Can you tell me your plan?" asked Ling at the hospital.

"We have two weeks to reach our goal. First, we move Dad to the southern states. In his condition it's the best we can think of, bringing him home will only be ashes," Jiang Wei reasoned nonchalantly.

"Once the old man's life is safe, you and I will return home. This is the opportune moment to settle the account with Lu Fei. Tomorrow we'll withdraw the money," Jiang Wei summed up.

"The plan is to have our people on both sides of the border. There would be a local ambulance waiting on the state's side to take my father to a private hospital. It was about the price of the ambulance that I bargained with whoever you call "colored teeth."

Ling said nothing, only nodded silently.

He was worried about many things, but most of all about the safety of the people dear to him. Right now his family was safe, but would they be? What if the ventilation system fails or the enemies discover their hideout and Ling is so far away? He needs to help his boss complete his business here as soon as possible and get home.

In the evening, the building became very stuffy. The men outside built a fire and roasted on long sticks what God had sent. Ling and Wei joined the motley company to cheers of approval. They sat by the fire, swatting away gnats that were diving right in their faces.

At one point, Ling inadvertently bumped his hand on Jiang Wei's arm. That would have been all right, but at the same time his watch jingled and the young man's wrist ached. He hurried to remove his hand, but the boss intercepted it, making Ling grin.

"What is this?"

Jiang Wei looked at his watch on the young man's wrist in silence. He moved his gaze from his wrist to Ling's face, adding to the already explosive atmosphere. Just at that moment, someone across the street decided to stir the wood in the fire, and his manipulation sent a shower of sparks flying toward Ling.

"Be careful!"

The young man recoiled and would have fallen on his back if Jiang hadn't supported him.

The awkwardness of the moment was exacerbated by the frightened expression on the young man's face. Jiang silently picked him up and led him along the wall of the building.

It grew darker with each step and Ling's heart was pounding frantically. This time no one noticed their disappearance or pursued them.

Ling was pinned against the wall as his heart leaped out of his chest. More than anything, he wanted to stay in this position until he died, if nothing better lay ahead. Jiang held his hand and placed the other at the base of his neck.

It looked as if he wanted to strangle the young man. But he only gently stroked Ling's quivering neck. A storm was raging in his soul.

"Duty or feelings?" Jiang tried to read in Ling's eyes the truth of what moved him.

By taking Jiang Wei's money, he had fallen into debt. After all, he had only just gotten out of it. Is it possible that now he hates his humiliating position and is angry at his boss?

Yes, he had to take the money and hide his family in Wei's house, but wasn't it because of him that the Shi family suffered?

"You are trembling."

Jiang Wei didn't know what conclusions his assistant had come to, but he was painfully tickled inside. So he barely touched that thin neck for fear of causing him to be offended or angry.

Had it not been for his watch, he would not have dared, under the circumstances, to remind himself. But seeing the young man wear his thing brought hope to Wei's soul.

Ling could no longer bear it, his legs buckled, and the relentless hand on his skin burned like fire. He could not see Jiang Wei's face or know what he was thinking, but the uncertainty tormented him.

Suddenly the man let go of him, retreating into the darkness. Ling was frightened and rushed toward him, not expecting himself to be so quick.

He grabbed the man by the shoulders, then his hands slid up his neck to his face, and finally, he fumbled for his lips.

Ling stood on tiptoe and kissed his superior. Jiang Wei shuddered and then squeezed him tightly in his arms as if letting him go was tantamount to losing him forever.