B's POV

Location: Undisclosed for safety reasons.

"Bitch, pleeeeeease!" 

I almost spilled my heavenly bites all over my Beast, watching the men peacock around each other- to be honest, at the moment, only Wei WuXian could stake a claim to that title- before bringing what I expected to be an extremely hot rendezvous, to a staggering, highly unexpected halt. 

I couldn't believe it. The emotionally constipated cultivator was at it again. Instead of utilizing the chance at happiness that I had served him on a silver platter, he had, for some Brams awful reason, hit himself with the hilt of his sword and passed out. 

I am kind and generous when I want to be, but Lan Zhan, my boy, you are beginning to piss me off! 

Was wanting two hot men, who were obviously and inevitably going to fall in love, have some freaking hot sex, asking for too much, that too when I had rid them of most of their emotional baggage?

I left a frustrated sigh and paused the screen. It was late, but I could hear murmurs from the floors below. The THQM never slept, for obvious reasons, but today it was noisier than usual; putting my precious tub away, I left my office and peeked at the approximate source of the commotion. 

It was Kam and Yao. Again!

"Hey!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and not only that floor but every floor except for Brams' fell silent. "You two, report to me immediately!" I barked and returned to my office. With a snap of my finger, I tidied up the place to look like one where people came to be tortured. 

I ran my eyes over the red walls with decapitated human and non-human remains thrown carelessly about, giving the impression that I had just finished a hearty meal. 

Much better! 

Taking my throne in the center of the office and soundproofing it, I acknowledged the knock on the door. 

A few moments later, the two idiots were standing in my office, wearing grim expressions. "What the bloody hell seems to be the problem?"

When none spoke, I brought my palm down on my desk. The two jerked back in response, "I, very specifically, asked you to leave the office premises, did I not?"

Yao spoke first. Bowing to me like he was still a mortal human on 69, he begged, "Please forgive me, Madam. I did follow your orders, but when I saw that Kamloon had made it so that I couldn't even guide my pawn after he had gone back on the deal, I lost my mind for a moment and sought him out." He bowed lower, his body a perfect right angle, and spoke with contempt, "Madam, even now, he refuses to shoulder the blame. My future in this fine establishment depends on who wins this contest. If Kamloon gets promoted, he will throw me back into the cycle of life and death."

Finishing what he had to say, Yao stole a look at Kam, obviously proud at having given a valid reason for his being here.

I gave Kam a moment to keep his side of the story, but it chose silence. 

What is your deal, ancient one? 

"Okay," I pretended to give the matter a serious thought and turned to Yao, "Can you tell me the rules of your game and the consequences of winning and losing?"

Yao glanced at me, confused, "Madam, we didn't change anything after you approved it."

I couldn't blame the guy. Among the three of us, he was the only clueless one. But in my defense, I had started hating the guy on principle since I had seen what it had cost Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. 

Anyway, his suitability to take my mantle when I eventually passed it on aside, the guy was a bitch! Did I mention that it was partly because of Yao that Wei Ying suffered so much and didn't get his happy ending with Lan Zhan the first time when he fell off that cursed cliff? 

After seeing what he was capable of, neither his whirlpool-like dimples nor innocent, doe-like eyes could fool me. 

As I was saying, he was right; I had approved the contest, but I was not shipping them then, was I!?

Damn it, where was I!? 

Oh right. The bogus contest.

Imagine what would have happened if I hadn't interfered. Lan Zhan, my current bae, would have killed Wei WuXian, his bae from another dimension, only to realize that Kam had lied to him. Think about how miserable that would have made him! On the flip side, if my cultivator couldn't seduce Wei WuXian, the latter would have been evicted from 69. Which would have again made him miserable, thinking he had let Wei Ying down. 

My boy, as emotionally stunted as he may be, didn't deserve that. 

So, I changed the totally unfair rules, and instead of letting Wei WuXian into 69, I hijacked their trips and made them end up on 108, aka, my private dimension.

"I am aware." I replied to Yao; leaning back on my reline throne, I crossed my arms over my chest, "Darling, you know how busy I am, don't you?"

The conniving man nodded. 

"See, I was in a hurry when I received your proposal. It is my fault for approving it without doing my due."

Yao's lying mouth fell open, no doubt, wanting to sprout more lies. 

Not wanting any of it, I pressed on, "Then again, it's against the rules to lie to mortal entities, but that's what I agreed to do when I unwisely approved it. Tell me, young man, do you want me to get into trouble with Brams?"

The lying serpent, Yao, not Kam, shook his head and fell to his knees.

I left my throne and approached him. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Yao side-eyed Kam, "Madam, I deserve to die! Please be merciful." He begged, then pointing at Kam, he accused the ancient one, "He did it too. He lied too! And he is still standing proud in your presence!"

I chuckled; crouching, I caught his inky pools, "Did he?"

Yao bobbed his head with confidence. Misplaced, of course, but meh! 

"Manager Yao, Kamloon did not take Lan Zhan out of 69. So technically, Lan Zhan was not lied to as badly as Wei WuXian was. I am not saying what he did will be pardoned, but you-" I clicked my tongue and shook my head disapprovingly, "-you pretty much harvested Wei WuXian's soul without giving him the truth."

Termours rocked Yao's crouched form. When he finally dared a peek at me, he was in tears. 

Crocodile tears!? Are you kidding me, young man!?

If I didn't have other plans for him, I would have turned him to dust then, but the truth was that he was my perfect replacement, and I was too lazy to search the dimensions for a better one. 

I gestured to him to rise; walking back to my throne, I spoke my mind. "Yao and Kamloon, I have revoked your links to Wei WuXian and Lan Zhan. They don't concern you anymore."

A sound like tires screeching against the grave made me turn to Kam, who, it seemed, finally had something to contribute. "Madam, what of the recommendation then? Do we organize a different contest, or do you, for the choice of souls we made, think us unworthy now?"

Remembering that I had forgotten to press pause-which rendered them unconscious- and might miss out on live action on 108 as we spoke, I waved my hand dismissively, "Something like that."

"En?" Kam made a choking sound; it struck me as odd. After an awkward back and forth of eye contact, it occurred to me that my answer was vaguer than usual. It was bound to happen. I was not paying attention to them, for I was addicted to them, my ship, my damaged ship. 

In the brief time I had dedicated to them, I realized that unless I did something, they would keep dancing around each other till one of them either died or the other killed themselves. 

It made sense now: their destinies in every dimension and timeline. 

"No need to organize another one." I clarified as an idea began to take shape in my shipper mind. Signaling Kam to scram, I focused my attention on Yao. The man was visibly shaken. No surprise there. Beads of sweat slid down his temples, and he looked like the embodiment of deer in headlights. 

Smiling goodnaturedly- at least, that's what I was going for, but his reaction told me that I had probably not succeeded- I recalled what I had seen happen on 108. "Meng Yao, you are fired. You are no longer the manager of 96. Hand over your access card and all relevant documentation to HR and report back to me as soon as you are done."

"But Madam, I… " 

"And, Meng Yao," I interrupted, making the man stop fidgeting with his fingers and look at me, "Inform HR to contact me. Darling, your considerable skills are being wasted on the ground floor, and trust me, you are not cut out to be a dimensional God. Moving forward, you will work for me."

His expressive pools dilated in response, and his mouth fell open. 

"Welcome to JD, love," I announced. Patting his back encouragingly, I showed him the door. Literally. "Chop. Chop. My sweet. Time's wasting!"

The dumbfounded man bobbed his head, bowed like he had been taught by his mother, and left my office. Feeling somewhat confident about my next move, I returned to my screen, where Wei WuXian was still cursing himself for being too forward with Lan Zhan and fucking up his chance at befriending him. 

Yep, I was right about the dumb fucks. What they needed was an intervention, and Yao was it. 

*****
Chapter Word Count: 1662
Word count so far: 21568

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