Chapter Text
Wei Ying saw the bathtub only out of the corners of his eyes.
It was full, and without even touching it, he knew, the water in it was cold as ice.
“Yes exactly, if you book package L, you also get unlimited data for a second card in your family account.” His voice was chipper even though he had a hard time focusing on the elderly Mrs. Gladstone, and her brand new phone contract.
The bathtub was just so prevalent in the back of his mind. He still managed to mindlessly chat into the headset while his steps were tracing the same old circles in his apartment.
“I know that your husband is already deceased, but how about the grandkids? Then little Jeremy could Facetime you any day of the week.”
Oh disgusting. His footsteps were taking him to the little kitchen Isle; his coffee was already cold (like the bathwater) and did not manage to wash away the taste of selling a grandmother an extra contract for her four-year-old-grandson.
“Yes, yes. I assure you, ALL kids that age have phone plans by this age now. Yes. I also think that is a little early, but think about the dangers, you want little Jeremy to be able to call when something happens.”
He almost couldn’t stop himself from yakking up some bile. He felt dirty-
Something broke through his trail of thought-
OH hell.
What an asshole!
The Bathtub was overfilling, again,
Quickly he stepped into the bathroom, still on the call, pulled the plug, and closed the faucets.
He gave the *nothing* above the bathtub a disappointing stare.
His own personal haunting was misbehaving.
Wei Ying was not only haunted by a boring call center job, but also his own Pet-Ghosty.
Mo Xuanyu.
Wei Ying knew he was not to investigate the lives of the deceased anymore.
It was his part of the contract and an integral part of his new life.
But also, there was a haunting *in* his apartment.
Ghosts were quite elusive, the longer they were gone, the more… abstract they became. The more they were forgotten, the more they disappeared.
Until there was nothing left of them.
It was the way the world worked.
Of course this meant, if you left a haunting alone for long enough, and nobody fed into the rumors of a haunting, it would slowly disappear.
The interesting part was, if you put a little bit more effort into it, you could bring them back.
At least a little.
Wei Ying had not expected his haunting to react so *emotional* about returning to the world of the living.
But since he had learned of the boy that had killed himself shortly after signing up for the military, in this very building, the bathroom shenanigans had started.
But it gets worse before it gets better, that was the saying right?
The real problem was that he had no proper means of research.
Wei Ying was very convinced you could life and co-exist with most of the ghosts that could haunt your life.
But he could not just go into the library, look for newspaper articles, search the web, visit the kiddo’s old school, and talk with the remaining relatives, like he would usually do.
No, because he had promised, because he was just Wei Ying now.
And Wei Ying did not deal with ghosts. He could not even see them. Wei Ying sold phone contracts to old ladies. Wei Ying ironed his shirts. Wei Ying brought organic vegetables. And Wei Ying drank no alcohol.
He looked at the now empty bathtub again, ignored the small little wailing of his haunting that tried to make noise with the faucets, but was seemingly frustrated how smoothly they moved.
In that regard, Wei Ying was probably lucky to have found out anything about his ghost.
It was a slow day at work, an old lady had called to set up an appointment for a new landline connection. She had told him half her life story —how she had been forcibly moved from her old apartment, the one she had lived in for 64 years of her life. She told him about how they had wanted to renovate the apartments, and her small little retirement account could not pay for the new rent.
And one of the things he actually liked about Wei Ying’s life, was that he was able to sometimes just pause and to listen to life stories.
And then, his haunting had picked up. As the old lady had mentioned poor ‘Mo Xuanyu’, the bathtub had been filling up for the first time. Getting some more hints out of her was easy, but she was old, and she could not give him nearly enough information to fill his little ghost with shape.
So, they were at a stalemate.
Mo Xuanyu was here, and he was here to stay.
Wei Ying could not investigate him. He really wanted to investigate him.
The bathwater was always cold.
He really needed to fix things.
_____
It was difficult for him to retain social contacts. Which was absurd, because friends and family had always come to him, quite easy in life.
The man he had been, before becoming Wei Ying, had been charming, and funny, and a little reckless.
A mess, but a kinda hot one.
The only thing that had been a bit difficult was his love life, but it was not his fault that he respected women too much.
The person he was meeting today, was the closest thing he had to a friend, even though, he was not really a friend.
He was there to make sure that Wei Ying kept to the rules, and that nothing came to hurt Wei Ying.
“A dog.”, he suggested.
“Dear. Friend. No.”, he shook his head. “I might be lonely, but not *that* lonely. “
“I just think you are a dog person.”, Wen Ning shrugged, looked out of the window. And Wei Ying knew, the kid did not even mean that in bad spirit. He actually wanted to help him.
“I don’t think that is something we could make a compromise on.
I would take a cat though, I don’t have a cat allergy, have I?”
“No, your allergies are shellfish and peanuts.”
Oh damn. Yes. He missed peanuts.
“A cat won’t make you meet new people though.”
“A cat might make me less lonely.”, he shrugged a little. It was his thing if he got a cat right?
“Mhm. It is your decision. I don’t see an issue.
I just… worry.”
“Man. I know worrying is kinda your job, but I am well. Work is going *great*, I get like 100 bucks extra a month for lying to old people. Dream job. Could not be happier.”
“… don’t you think you are a little unfair to me?” Wen Ning’s voice was still so incredibly soft. “I don’t deserve your passive aggressiveness.”
“Sorry. I have not been sleeping well.”, that part was true. Mo Xuanyu had found a liking for banging up the pipes at night, and even worse, he was *still* an unsolved riddle that haunted Wei Ying’s every waking hour. And additionally, as a little bonus, all the hours he should not be waking, too.
“I can get you some sleeping medication if that would help?”, again, terribly helpful.
“I really think a cat could help. It would also be a great advantage for me to keep structure.”
“…oh.”, now Wen Ning had understood.
“You are bringing up the cat because you want us to pay for it?”
Why did Wei Ying wanted to have a cat, and insisted so badly on it?
It was fishy as hell.
The thing was: Wen Ning really liked Wei Ying.
Yes, he was supposed to have an eye on him, and not only in the protective way, and report any suspicious activity to his superiors.
But the important thing to have in mind was that Wei Ying was not on parole. Wei Ying was allowed, no encouraged to have a life.
And a cat?
How would he use a cat… there was no way he could use a cat for suspicious activity.
And maybe the only suspicious thing was the attempt at trying to get a pet out of their funds. Which would be very on brand for the person Wei Ying really was.
Was he already getting bored? Under stimulated, maybe?
Wen Ning sighed.
“I can bring it up. But I don’t think that is part of the deal.
But I am happy to drive you to the nearest shelter for our next ‘date’?”
“Ah, you are an angel! That would be lovely! But shelter? Should I not have a pedigree cat? Like one with ancestors traceable to the old Egypt? Or like one of those designer hybrid breeds?”
This was ‘clearly’ shenanigans AND under stimulation. Wen Ning was sure.