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“To summarize, you’ll both be leaving for H-corp one month from today. The goal is to spend as little time within Hongyuan as possible to avoid any potential prying hands, ears, and eyes. Our lovely new recruit will brief you on the evacuation plan when we are closer to the mission itself. If there are no further questions…you are both dismissed.”
The doors of the conference room shut with a quiet click, and immediately Gubo flipped to a fresh page of the notepad he had been scribbling on throughout the meeting, clearly confident in his ability to write without walking into any walls given the near ninety degree angle his head was at in relation to his notepad. Jia Huan, with little choice, walked alongside him.
While typically every crevice of the corporate building was flooded with a never-ending trickle of employees droning about their work, Hermann had generously booked a conference room settled on one of the top-most floors, resulting in blissfully empty halls. Once they were a comfortable few paces down the hall, Jia Huan didn't think twice before he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and groaned loudly.
“...Giving us one month to attune to a bunch of experimental combat gear without any documented human trials, what a joke,” he muttered, “You’d think an entire cooperation blowing up would pause before decidedly digging through its scraps like a pack of starving mutts." With his right hand, Jia Huan fiddled with the semi-withered box that sat in his coat pocket, the presence itself a temptation. Unfortunately, all the halls within the building were equipped with some nifty smoke alarms, and he didn't feel like trudging his way down to the first floor just to satiate a simple craving. More unfortunately than that was fact he was unsure how many cigarettes were actually left, and the almost nonexistent weight of the thing wasn't exactly promising.
They had only just made it to lunch and his patience was already at its last frayed edges.
Throughout the mission debrief, Jia Huan hadn’t bothered to try and hide the fact that he was less than thrilled about the idea of returning to Hongyuan, and even less about being used at their ticket into Daguanyuan by Hermann in order to nab an Anamnaworm of all things from the Xianren. He was already dreading having to actively attempt best behavior in order to not cause a stir in the poor excuse of “home.” All damned souls who resided in Daguanyuan were either sniveling cowards, malicious demons, or a fun mix of both, and with that being taken into account he supposed it made sense that the only thing worthwhile in that hell hole was an old, withered parasite.
A hum drew him out of his thoughts and into the awful present. Jia Huan did foolishly hope that his briefly verbalized annoyance would just be received as it was, without any sort of addendum, but that hope was squandered as soon as the dolt next to him opened his mouth.
“While your reasoning for such annoyance is ridiculously misplaced, fundamentally I agree that more time would have been preferred to gain proficiency in its use,” said Gubo, not looking up once from that stupid notepad of his. Jia Huan’s head whipped around to face him, and he could feel the muscles in his face scrunching up into a sneer.
“Excuse me? Misplaced how?” he ‘asked’ pointedly. He, of course, didn't actually want to hear an explanation, but whether it was a matter of being dense or just choosing to ignore that fact, Gubo decided to elaborate anyway.
“We have been working with what bits and pieces we could find from Lobotomy Corporation's leftover research for years now, and it has yet to demonstrate any level of faultiness besides the occasional incompletion. We have no reason to believe this time will be any different.” Jia Huan couldn't help but click his tongue.
“There better be no faults. Just the thought of struggling at all against those Xue brats makes my stomach turn. If I am to be humiliated in front of my entire extended family due to something so asinine…” He grumbled, lacing his words with as much annoyance as he could to hide the very real seed of anxiety he felt gnawing at his insides.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Gubo looking at him with that ever-inscrutable expression. Jia Huan was not particularly adverse to others’ gaze by any means, but the way he was being looked at made him viscerally unnerved in the way that makes one wish to claw at their skin. He was about to say something about it, but before he had the chance, Gubo beat him to it.
“Stop fretting. I’m sure they’ll be no match for the reputable Jia Tanchuan.”
Between the millisecond in which the words had been spoken and his brain processed them in full, Jia Huan felt his body stiffen, as if it instinctively felt the sheer wrongness in that extremely short time frame of confusion. Once he had digested what was said, he felt his stomach drop and a wave of fear almost made his legs go weak.
That fear quickly morphed into a more comfortable, stronger, rage. In what could not have been more than a few seconds after Gubo let loose those disgusting syllables, Jia Huan’s right hand snatched the lapel of his coat. Gubo’s eyes widened, but before he was able to do anything else he was slammed against the wall and violently dragged down to Jia Huan’s eye level, the whole affair causing the notepad to fly out of his grip.
“Ghk-!”
“Where did you hear that?”
Either out of instinct or stupidity, instead of giving any sort of answer, Gubo tried to squirm out of Jia Huan’s grasp, which not only resulted him tightening his grip but had Jia Huan unsheathing his weapon from his hip with a practiced finesse to shove the sword tip towards the other’s thyroid.
“Where the fuck did you hear that name?!” he yelled, pushing not just his blade but his entire body closer. Gubo did not immediately reply, and there was something delightful in that little moment of silence. The sight before him matched quite well with it; the false disposition of near-perfection was cracked, slicked back hair slightly disheveled, glasses crooked just enough to be an annoyance, and for a brief moment, eyes widened in what could only have been surprise. The only thing to mar such a delight would be:
“...That is, unfortunately for you, something that will remain a mystery.”
“Don’t get smart with me. The only mystery you should concern yourself with is how long it will take for me to decoratively hang your innards along the walls of this hallway,” Jia Huan spat out, mind elsewhere as he ran through the possible papers that would still have that name. While he did come from a noble family, for one such as him there was not a particularly large list of documentation, at least not that he was aware of. Perhaps Hermann decided it would be funny to alter his current records in N-corp’s system under that name without his express permission, in which case…
“There’s no reason to turn to such violence-” Gubo’s ramblings were cut off with a simple pull forward and hard slam back into the wall. He very clearly tried to siphon a pained groan, and Jia Huan hoped that he bruised his tailbone.
“That mouth on you is making quite the case for it right about now.” He couldn't help the breathy laugh that escaped him, but one must understand, in the face of such audacity-
“Well, I’m plenty sure the director will not appreciate whatever ‘case’ you may be able to present her with,” Gubo said smugly, his lips twitching upwards. In response, Jia Huan pulled the plaid lapel in his grip further downward, pressing himself close enough that he was able to pin the other man’s leg with his own. Despite the two layers of fabric that made up their pants, the heat seeping through the fibers was near searing, disgustingly so.
“And I doubt someone who fails to distinguish something as elementary as where and where not to stick their nose would be missed too terribly.”
“Doubt as much as your feeble mind allows,” Gubo visibly, boldly, rolled his eyes, “That does not change the reality that Director Hermann would be greatly displeased if you were to cause any harm to my person.” And fuck, he was right. He just was, and Jia Huan wanted nothing more than to take hold of the man’s head and twist it enough that the ligaments and facet joints would break with a clean snap for stating what Jia Huan already knew.
As much of a tool Gubo was, he was one of Hermann’s closest associates in both leadership and active dissection of the mirror technology. Himself, however? Beyond what role he would be forced to play in Hongyuan, he did not hold any specialized credentials for his position beyond a solidified loyalty driven by a loathing for everything and everyone else. Hermann would be greatly displeased by the roughing up the poor, feeble scientist had to endure.
Or who knows, perhaps the woman would reveal to have a bleeding heart and agree that no one should be subjected to the pest’s pitiful existence any longer.
Whatever.
That didn't change the fact that Jia Huan didn't feel satiated in the slightest. Anger still rolled through his body in waves with no proper release, left to only build and build against a straining dam. This wasn't just a matter of pride. And if Gubo was able to see-
What if it wasn't just Gubo?
“...What other rats have you involved in whatever ridiculous endeavor it took to find this information?” The grip that he had unintentionally started to loosen tightened once more as the simmering hate rapidly began to return to a boil, “Who are the loathsome souls you have condemned with your idiocracy?”
Gubo didn't so much as flinch at his raised voice. Fantasies of punching him hard enough that a rib or two would snap filled Jia Huan’s mind; the ideal outcome would have said broken thing puncture a lung, leaving the man a pathetic heap on the ground as blood gurgled out of his mouth.
“Calm yourself, there's no reason to go hunting for nonexistent prey. As far as I am aware, the only ones in this building to have laid eyes on such information are myself and the director…” he uncharacteristically trailed off as the smallest dotting of red started to appear between the point of the blade still against him and the topmost layer of skin. Gubo’s stare became more focused for a moment, examining his own before deciding to just keep. Talking. “What benefit would I receive from lying when there's a sword digging into my throat?”
Jia Huan, unfortunately, did believe Gubo. Somewhat. The chances of him having gotten someone else to find whatever he was looking for in his stead were non-zero. Maybe even likely, depending on how much personal effort Gubo was willing to put into the search. It shouldn't matter though. Because, once again, there was little Gubo could do to harm him with it. He really didn't care much at all what Gubo thought of him, and the man was far too droll to think of any creative ways to torment him with the new information in his arsenal. It wasn't even as if he was the only one who knew of it. Jia Huan wasn't without his own mental file on the other either, though to be fair, the manner in which Aseah spoke of some excerpts on Gubo’s past was much closer to office gossip than anything classified. Gubo didn't care what rumors bounced from person to person, and he shouldn't either.
The knot in his gut tightened.
He could rationalize it over and over again until he became sick, but nothing could stop him from feeling like an animal whose tender stomach was exposed enough to catch the gaze of whatever laid in the treeline.
It was becoming increasingly clear, however, that there was nothing in the immediate moment he could do to change that.
Jia Huan sheathed his sword, but just as the tension in Gubo’s shoulders started to dispel, Jia Huan snatched at the bottom half of Gubo’s face. The tips of his fingers dug into the firm jawbone.
“If I ever hear you utter that name again, and Head forbid it be done in front of anyone else, you will have a very hard time convincing me not to rip out your jugular with my own teeth. Do we understand?”
It was an utterly delightful silence.
But that's not what he was looking for.
Nails bit into skin as he increased the pressure of his grip.
The prick only responded with a slow nod.
Jia Huan gave Gubo a sardonic smile, and just for good measure, let go of his jaw to deliver two feather-light slaps to his cheek.
“Good boy,” and with that, Jia Huan hurled Gubo with enough force to nearly throw him to the floor, but unfortunately the man was able to catch himself, stumbling before becoming steady on his feet.
Jia Huan didn't want to spend another second in the buffoon's vicinity, so he attempted to make his escape as seamlessly as possible, but of course, of course, he would almost trip over the damned notepad that had previously flung out of Gubo’s grasp. So, he performed the appropriate action in kicking the cursed thing as hard as possible, resulting in it pathetically skidding across the glossy white floor without the fanfare he desired.
Having experienced enough humiliation for one day, Jia Huan planned to hurry away as quickly as possible, but whether it be out of curiosity or some newly discovered penchance for masochism, he slowed his pace upon failing to hear a second set of footsteps. He looked over his shoulder to see what the hell was going on, but half-formed insults died on his tongue. Gubo was rooted to the exact spot he had stumbled to, arms lowered from their previously outstretched positions as he regained his balance, but not quite at his sides yet. He had not readjusted his glasses, leaving them to precariously sit at the very end of his nose. His expression was as unreadable as ever but his gaze was firmly aimed down.
It…
Jia Huan smirked.
Good.
The man deserved to have a bit of a fright after such a stunt.
With a brand new pep in his step, Jia Huan made his way down the labyrinthian hallways for the elevators to find one completely unoccupied. Pressing the button for the ground floor, he took a moment to rifle through his pocket, grinning as he counted two cigarettes left in the worn package.