The alarm clock woke him up. Shen Wei yawned feeling good and sated. Eyes still closed, he questioned the unusual feeling until awareness hit him. He smiled and stretched lazily. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed that he was alone.

He blinked and stared at the other side of the bed, completely Yunlan-free.

He wrapped his own arms around himself, remembering the night they had together. He didn't regret his decision. Whatever happened, wherever Yunlan will let this relationship go, he would never regret it.

He stayed in bed a while longer, enjoying the memories. He closed his eyes again and recalled the sensation of being one with Yunlan. It had been so good, who could ever regret that, if anything he hoped he could have it again.

He stretched his arms over his head and got up, put on some clothes and went to make himself some breakfast. Only Andrew was in the kitchen and nothing had been touched. Yunlan had left without drinking or eating anything.

Wei thought about it for a moment, only vaguely acknowledging Andrew's plea. Yunlan must have woken up early and decided that he wanted to avoid any morning-after awkwardness.

Wei sighed in disappointment. To be honest, he would have welcomed a rerun to start the day in the best way he could imagine.

There was no use dwelling on that now though. He had to get ready for work. He shot a glance at the kitchen and the enthusiastic ghost within it and told himself Why not?

"Tea and pancakes. Thank you, Andrew."

He sat down while the ghost cook was busy making his breakfast. He checked his phone and saw that there were no messages. He didn't expect any and simply registered the fact while pondering if it would be out of place for him to send one.

He shrugged his shoulders and decided to go with what he wanted to do. Maybe Yunlan wouldn't reply, but he would certainly read it.

"I can take care of this myself, thank you." LiLing was floating all over him, but for this particular task he needed no ghost assistance.

He wrote:
"Good morning. Let me know if there's any news."

A simple text, but it would do.

He checked that Andrew didn't set the kitchen on fire then leisurely ate his first meal of the day.

He took a quick shower then glanced over his very few clean clothes. He had neglected many things lately, maybe tonight he could let DongMei take care of the laundry.

He made his choice, picking a white shirt and a dark blue suit, and yawned again while DongMei helped him get dressed. Not that he needed help, but he still remembered the dejected look on her ghostly face when he had refused her help the first few times. Since then, they had reached a compromise: she could help him get dressed, but only after he had dried his body and put on his underwear.

When he was ready to go out he bid everyone goodbye and walked to work with Gelan at his side.

For the first time since he had started his accountant job, he found he had no will to do anything. Jay was restlessly telling him to do this and that but Wei's fingers moved incredibly slowly on the computer keyboard.

Just this once, he thought, gladly exchanging part of his energy for the chance to keep daydreaming instead of doing actual work.

He sat at his desk as usual, with his hands close to the computer so that at a superficial glance it would look like he was working, while what he was actually doing was letting Jay enjoy what he loved so much.

Wei could never really understand why someone would leave behind such a love for numbers; he liked it because to him it was simple and comforting, with numbers there were no grey areas, it was either right or wrong, no maybe was allowed. But enjoying it as Jay did, no, that was beyond his understanding.

He focused his attention on keeping a straight face so not to let it show that in his mind he was still in bed, sliding his hands over a tone masculine body, tracing his fingers over such mouth-watering muscles, kissing that tempting mouth until he couldn't breathe anymore.

There was no doubt in his mind that he truly liked him a lot, and he hoped Yunlan could like him too. That they became a couple or not though, Wei would have to bear with the knowledge of what Yunlan did for a living. A dangerous job.

As a policeman, Yunlan would have to face many dangers, and now because of Wei there was one more to worry about.

Wei felt a new ache in his heart. Yunlan was trained to deal with common criminals but he could do nothing against those he couldn't see or hear or, maybe, even believe in.

Wei had to do something, he had to stop the Shadows before they became even bolder and hurt his Yunlan. Could it be possible to reason with them? Surely they were different but if he could communicate with his ghosts, maybe they might listen to him as well.

Up until now his only way to deal with the Shadows had always been to avoid them, but now it wasn't an option anymore. Whatever the cost, he needed to keep Yunlan safe. He reached a decision and felt a bit lighter.

Wei checked the screen to confirm that Jay was doing a good job and when it came the time of his lunch break, he took his phone and his bag and went out, he had some shopping to do.

He walked slowly, feeling a bit tired, and reached his first destination. He entered and kept the door open for a second longer than necessary.

It was silly in a way, he knew ghosts could not be hurt by material objects, but he never liked the idea of shutting a door on Gelan's face, so he kept it open until she entered right behind him.

He walked to the counter and explained what he needed. "With anticoagulant, please," he replied to the pharmacist's question. He paid the man and put the packet inside his bag before going towards his next stop. Once again he appeared to hesitate at the door. He didn't care if people watched him curiously, maybe wondering if he had forgotten something. He would always keep the door open for her.

It was barely noticeable though. Gelan was always so close to him that not much time was needed.

He entered another shop and bought some nice blue cloth and some strings.
He absent-mindedly put them inside his bag then walked for a bit thinking of Yunlan. He felt a sudden need to buy something for him. There was really no reason and maybe it was uncalled for, but he wanted to.

A shop's window caught his eye. He looked at the assortment of perfumes on display and wondered: Yunlan was a man, and their relationship wasn't yet clear, would that be an appropriate gift?

He wouldn't  be able to explain, but he wanted so much to buy him something, so once again he set aside his doubts; after all, it wasn't like Yunlan had to use it if he didn't like it, but he might appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

He went in and asked for assistance until he found the right fragrance, paid for it and hurried out, lunch break was almost over.

He hadn't eaten anything yet, so he bought some takeaway - quite a lot, he had to admit - so that he might eat it while Jay helped with the work.

Jay was having the time of his afterlife today, and was very happy to do all the work. The other employees were all busy with their respective jobs and didn't pay him any attention, so nobody noticed Wei eating and drinking at his desk.

Wei had always found his work relaxing, ideal to fill the long hours of the day before he could get home and be himself again, but today somehow he felt different. His mind kept drifting away and his priorities for once did not include numbers at all.