Chapter Text
“Nan-nan, you really did lose most of your hair. And it was already so little!” Zhennan’s eye twitches, evidently torn between greeting a long-lost friend or slamming the door on him for waking him up. Jun hopes he goes for the latter. He wonders if Zhennan would light the fireplace while he’s coming down the chimney.
Unfortunately, Zhennan never does as he expects. “Wen Junhui, you haven’t changed at all.” he shifts, pulling the door wider. “And don’t you dare bring that book into my house.”
Grinning, Jun trails after him, fingers running over the worn spine of A Brief Treatise: The Collapse of China’s Coastal Institutes. “But I was looking forward to getting an autograph, Nan-nan! It’s not every day you get to meet your favourite author!” Zhennan stops. He raises his right hand, middle finger obligingly extended. By the time Jun can stop laughing, Zhennan’s already stomped off to the kitchen, cane banging against the floor. Some things never change.
“So what brings you here?” Zhennan finally asks, fingers tapping against his now-empty tea cup. The question breaks the comfortable silence they had been steeped in since entering the kitchen. Jun hums, eyes tracing his friend’s face. Age has been kind to Zhennan, hair problems not withstanding. His eyes remain as sharp as ever, even with crow’s feet lining the edge, and his skin is still enough to make a forever-young Junhui envious. He considers poking fun at the plaid pyjamas, but decides to save it for another time.
“This book,” He taps the forest green cover, placed on the table despite Zhennan’s attempts, “is it all true?” Zhennan fixes him with a stare.
“I say what I say, Jun-ge. Every statement I made in the book is supported by evidence.” If Zhennan finds anything weird about calling someone who looks his great-grandson’s age ‘ge’, he certainly doesn’t show it.
“And the Councils accepted it? Surely they must have tried to suppress it, or something –“ A smug smile breaks across Zhennan’s face as he leans back in his chair.
"Well, they didn’t take it lying down. But for the most part…the Clave has already been suspicious for a long time. We just needed to bring everything to light.” Jun sighs, slumping back in his chair.
“Thank you, Zhennan. For clearing my name, and…Minghao’s.” The last word is barely an exhale from Junhui’s lips. Zhennan’s eyes shift to the side, fingers fidgeting with the handle of the teapot. A hundred years and he’s just as bad at dealing with emotion. Well, it’s not like Jun himself is any better. A century and the very thought of his best friend still makes his chest clench.
Jun leaves the house with a spring in his step, calling a last goodbye over his shoulder. His ears catch a muffled ‘goodbye’ in response, though it could have just as easily been a ‘fuck off’. Paper crinkles in his hand, Zhennan’s handwriting sprawling across the page. He stops beneath a lit streetlamp to read it.
‘Junhui-ge,’ it begins, ‘there’s a vampire clan in Seoul that might be of interest to you. The leader is known for being more unorthodox than most. He takes in vampires outcast from other clans and has worked with the Clave on occasion. If anyone deserves a new life, it’s you. Best regards, Zhou Zhennan.’ The line below it contains a name printed in Korean, and then Chinese. Folding up the paper again, Jun sets off, head humming with the new information. Another life, huh?
He’ll have to do some more research, brush up on his Korean a little. Visit Yanan before he goes, see if he can get a Portal there instead of flying. With a start, he realizes he’s already making plans like he’s set on going.
Perhaps Zhennan was right. He needed to get out of China, to leave behind all the heartache and pain that’s been dragging him down since he was Turned.
Glancing over his shoulder, he sighs in relief at the empty street before breaking out in a light jog. Time to get moving while he’s still ahead.