Qiqi opened the door as silently as she could, wondering if she could come out now, but when she saw them she held her breath and just as silently closed the door, determined not to open it again until they called her.

Yunlan's arms were circling Wei's waist while Wei's hands were on Yunlan's cheeks. It looked like Wei was kissing him senseless, stealing all his breath away.

Qiqi decided that she didn't care what they might think of her for staying in there for so long, she wasn't going to walk in on them now.

They kept kissing for a long time, Wei just couldn't get enough of his lips; he didn't notice that his own eyes were filling with tears while he buried his hands in Yunlan's hair to kiss him more deeply, moaning into his mouth, desire coursing through his body, a new warm emotion he had never felt before taking over his mind and for a few blessed moments he felt secure.

No doubts, no fears, Yunlan was holding him tight grounding him to this moment, and he had never felt so good in his life.

Yunlan was happily relieved, this kiss told him that it hadn't been just his fancy imagination, there was something real between them and Wei felt it too.

He had never wanted to push him, he had always been careful to let him set his own pace, but now he felt encouraged by Wei's fierce kiss.
His mind was full only of him, everything else forgotten, girl in the bathroom included.

He tightened his hold on his back, pressing their bodies together; feeling Wei's hardness against his own fueled his desire and his hands fell lower and lower, grinding himself against him.

And that's how the spell broke.

Wei felt Yunlan's hands on his behind, he gasped and took a step back; his heart was hammering in his chest, and his eyes were wild with a mix of want and terror that puzzled Yunlan.
"What... what is it?"

"I..." Wei was breathing too quickly, his mind struggling to come back to his senses. "I can't... go, I have to go."
He turned and dashed for the door then seemed to remember something. "Where's Qiqi? Qiqi?"

She opened the door hearing her name, but what she saw wasn't what she expected. She guessed she would find a smiling, blushing Wei, not a panicking one.

As he saw her he grabbed her arm.
"We have to go, now!" and he pulled her out leaving behind a shocked Yunlan with no idea of what he had done.

Wei's steps were quick and his hold on her arm strong, so she cried out, "Slow down, you're hurting me!"
He let go of her, apologising.
"What happened? Do you wish to talk about it?"
He remained silent while they walked at a slower pace until they reached his apartment.

They entered and she tried again. "Is it because of Yunlan? Did he do something to you?"

Wei shook his head. "No, no he wouldn't... I... I like him but I can feel that he wants... but I can't Qiqi, I can't... I want to but I can't..."

She was close to him but he had his eyes lowered and he stopped talking, shaking like a leaf.

"You can talk to me, tell me what's troubling you, after all we're supposed to be close, we might as well become good friends."

He sagged down where he was, with his back against the door. "I'm messed up, I'm sorry Qiqi, I shouldn't have dragged you into this."

She knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm grateful for this chance, and I want to help you. You look like you need to talk about it. Don't you have any friends you can share your thoughts with? Maybe back home?"

He lowered his head and buried it into his arms. "I... not really, I talked to my brother once, he got angry and told everything to a friend that he trusted, but he shouldn't have, from that the rumours started, got twisted and I couldn't take it... I wasn't strong enough, it was only words yet I couldn't take it... so eventually I ran away."

"So now you hate him and can't talk to him anymore? Talk to me Wei, I'm here."

He raised his teary eyes on her.
"Hate him? Who?"

Surprised, she answered with a matter-of-fact tone. "Your brother, for spilling your secret and causing all this. Isn't that why you don't want to talk to him about what's going on with you?"

"I don't hate him! He's my brother! He shouldn't have said anything but he was trying to help, I could never hate him."

"Does he know that? If it was me, I'd hate myself for ruining your life forcing you to run away from your family. Have you two talked about it?"
Qiqi considered that if he talked to his brother maybe he could help him more than she could, after all she was still a stranger he barely knew.

Wei's eyes seemed unfocused, he had shut himself off from the world and his brother had become restless and unmanageable, they had never shared a personal conversation since that day when he confessed to him what had happened. Yezun had severed ties with his friend Jiu and Wei had closed his heart, feeling that it was all because of his weak unworthy self.

Could it be that Yezun thought he hated him? Was that why he was never there when he talked to their mother?
He felt a rush of nostalgia, he missed talking to his brother, they were so close once, after Chu left he was the only one he had left...
he took his phone out of his pocket under Qiqi's caring gaze, and a tear fell slowly down his cheek but he didn't wipe it away.

He opened an email and she saw him write,
>Are you free tonight? If you're out call me when you get home, I'll be awake waiting.

On impulse he added,
>Love you.
And pressed send.

Then he buried his head into his arms again and she got up, looked around for his computer then put it on the table, switching it on.

One last look at Wei's figure and she went to bed, wishing she could do something to help him, but she had no idea what he was going through and he didn't look ready to share his feelings with her, so for now she could only give him some privacy.

It wasn't until an hour later that a call arrived. Wei bolted up to answer, finding himself face to face with his brother. How long was it since he saw him? Yezun seemed to be always out whenever he called his parents, he would just answer the call then quickly disappear, leaving them alone. Wei studied his face now, he looked torn, empty even. His eyes were red with big bags under them, he was too thin and pale.

"Why did you write that?" Was Yezun's greeting.

"I wanted to see you, hear your voice," Wei said, feeling stupid. His once cheerful, outgoing brother had been his anchor, and when they stopped talking he had felt lost, much more than he already was. After such a long time that 'I wanted to hear your voice' sounded so lame now.

Yezun looked like a three years younger copy of Wei but their characters were almost opposite.

"Why?" Yezun asked again. "Don't you hate me? You should. I do."