Work Text:
“You can keep a distance but I can’t! (...) the people who have gotten involved are innocent and Happy-”
…
“People must learn to forgive themselves, young hero Fang,” Li Lianhua says and finds it hard to hide the wince wanting to show on his face. Trust Li Lianhua to preach wisdom yet be unable to take it to heart himself. He never forgave himself for the events which took place ten years ago. But this is not about him.
Fang Duobing’s eyes shine with unshed tears like two stars in the night sky, clinging sternly to his face as he thinks about the cruel way in which his servant was killed.
Li Lianhua sighs, putting a full cup next to him, “Here, have some tea.”
The young master spares the cup a glance, a loud sniff breaking the silence between them. He doesn’t reach for the tea, doesn’t do so much as move from his seat - guilt and sorrow heavy above his head. Li Lianhua knows this feeling all too well, knows how it eats at one's heart and all their thoughts, leaving you hollow. Obscuring the world around you with shadowy fog.
He swallows, looking at Fang Duobing’s profile. He is not versed in ways of comfort, but something within him yells to provide the boy with consolation. With relief. Is it because of his Uncle? Li Lianhua wonders if this need he feels inside him he placed upon himself in hopes he could atone for all the misdeeds he committed against his Master. Should it matter? The past is the past, and he cannot change it. The only thing he can do is influence the future.
“Young hero Fang,” he starts, clearing his throat quietly, “There was nothing you could do.”
“Yes, there was!” Fang Duobing snaps, his eyes meeting Li Lianhua’s, “If I didn’t tell him to search your room if only I’ve kept him safer-”
“Your suspicions,” the physician continues with a soothing voice, “Although wrong-” he stops giving Fang Duobing a look, “-were your detective’s nature justified reaction. They were meant to be investigated, you could not have done it yourself while having the suspect in front of you. You need not beat yourself up by following it.”
Fang Duobing’s eyes drop to the floor, shame and regret swirling in the rich brown of his irises, “I shouldn’t have involved him. Were it not for me he would still be alive.”
“You did not kill him,” Li Lianhua whispers.
“But if he didn’t follow my orders he would still be alive,” the younger mumbles, uncaring of the first tears falling from his eyes.
Li Lianhua rises from his seat, his steps soft on the wooden floor as he crosses the short distance to where Fang Duobing is sitting. He kneels down by the young master, observing the other’s crestfallen face. Soft sobs rake through his body, mouth locked in a stubborn effort not to fall apart.
“How can you be certain? Death is inescapable, it will find us all one day,” Li Lianhua murmurs, his hand reaching out towards the younger man’s hand clutching desperately onto his knee, “Think not upon what you could have done for there was no error in your actions. Honor the dead with your memory, and catch their killer to provide them a peaceful rest.”
Fang Duobing meets his gaze then, red-rimmed eyes swallowed completely with sadness, “I knew Happy since I was young, he was only a couple years younger… I failed him.”
“You didn’t,” he placates, thumb brushing over the tightly locked knuckles. Something within Fang Duobing breaks at the words, his hands grasping Li Lianhua’s desperately as his form crumbles and he bends in half unable to hold his pain any longer. For the next hour, Fang Duobing grieves, with tears like lotus seeds falling from his eyes and soaking into both their robes.
...
…
“Then let’s make it fair. I’ll get the medicine for you, and you’ll help me investigate the case. What do you think?”
…
Li Lianhua is unable to wrap his mind around how this young man can care so much for a man he met no earlier than a couple of weeks before, always going on about how he’ll protect Li Lianhua, how he provides a convenient way for him to escape any time they so much as encounter a hint of danger. He is foolishly caring, pridefully self-assured, and above anything infuriatingly charming.
As they stand in the Wei Manor’s warehouse he wonders not for the first time, why was it him who the boy imprinted on like a newborn duckling looking for someone to show them kindness.
Fang Duobing is still smiling, satisfied with the plan he came up with and Li Lianhua has the sudden urge to kiss that smile off of his lips. He chases the thought away. What happened that evening at Lotus Tower cannot be ever entertained. He will not give in to this indulgence. Judging by the fact Fang Duobing never mentions it he doubts the younger even remembers it.
“Young hero Fang, should you not be more concerned with your own safety? You are the one in most danger here,” Li Lianhua muses, as he turns back to the laid-out weapons in need to busy himself with something.
“Don’t worry about me,” Fang Duobing responds, his eyes alight with a youthful spark, “I can take care of myself. It’s you who must be protected.”
Li Lianhua turns suddenly, meeting Fang Duobing’s gaze, “And why is that?”
“Well, u-um,” the younger man stutters as if surprised by the question. By the way with which the conversation took the turn to have his motivations exposed in their very center. His gaze drops to the side, arms hanging uselessly at his side before he crosses them at his chest. In the bright sunlight spilling from the windows Li Lianhua can almost swear there’s a hint of color on Fang Duobing’s cheeks. The images of his flushed face and hooded eyes swim to Li Lianhua’s memory with stark clarity. The taste of his lips a phantom on Li Lianhua’s tongue.
“Well because you don’t know martial arts!” the younger supplies, evidently satisfied with himself, judging by the smile on his lips, “And I’m a Baichuan Court detective! I could not leave a defenseless person here without any protection. It would be unbecoming of a hero I am!”
Li Lianhua hums at that. With quick steps, and Fang Duobing’s voice calling behind him, he leaves.
…
…
“Before I leave, I have to bring someone with me.”
“Fang Duobing?”
...
So it was Di Feisheng after all. It seems that all of his buried skeletons came to haunt Li Lianhua all at once.
With quick steps, he makes his way back to Yipin Tomb, the last place he saw Fang Duobing. Unconscious and bleeding. Worry is not a feeling which crosses Li Lianhua’s mind often these days, but as he makes his way through the tomb’s hallways he cannot get rid of it. Li Lianhua cannot leave Fang Duobing here. Not now. Was it a month prior to the date, he would not care about the boy, no matter what his identity might be. Now… Now, his legs cannot carry him fast enough to Fang Duobing’s whereabouts.
Rounding the corner to the secret burial chamber, Li Lianhua feels the faintest touch of relief in his heart as he sees Fang Duobing’s body laying on the floor in the distance. Sadly, it’s short-lived.
“Fang Duobing,” he says softly, kneeling beside the unconscious boy, “Fang Duobing.”
There is no response and the same worry he carried in his mind on the way here rears its head up again. He didn’t think Di Feisheng’s hit would affect the young man this strongly, but he knows from his own body bearing Di Feisheng’s attack many times before the best way to heal it. He hits one of the boy’s heart meridians, another right above the left collarbone and hopes he will not have to wait long before Fang Duobing awakens.
Li Lianhua is unaware of the breath he is holding in until it leaves his lungs once the young man’s eyes flutter open.
“Li Lianhua?” Fang Duobing asks as he sits up, momentarily dazed by the unfamiliar surroundings. A jolt, a harsh intake of breath and the reality must have caught up to the boy for the next thing he does is grasp Li Lianhua’s arm, ask, “Are you okay?
Li Lianhua cannot help but chuckle. The young hero was struck by the very man who ten years ago bested Li Xiangyi himself, yet the boy’s first words are to ask for his well-being. Li Lianhua smiles softly, head shaking as he stands, “Calm down, I’m fine.”
Why? Why does Fang Duobing care so much for him? Li Lianhua is a man on the verge of death, walking in the stolen time of the master the boy desperately wants to meet. It makes no sense that Li Lianhua should have a person this pure and good at his side. And why is it that when Fang Duobing looks up at him from the Yipin Tomb’s floor Li Lianhua feels something within his chest flutter happily?
...
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