pure imagination || jing yuan, blade, & dan heng

twenty four

"Ahhhh, thank you so much, Mr. Luocha!"

Two days after the soirée, and it was safe to say that y/n has been trying her hardest to get back into the swing of things.

The swing of things being .. looking for a new job. Again. It was literally the same thing but a different day. And she was honestly starting to think she would never get another job, well, until a miracle happened. (It wasn't actually a miracle.)

Moving on, however, she did try to ignore with what happened with Blade, the kiss still fresh on her mind despite the fact that she barely knew the dangerous man. So after that night and he escorted her home, she decided to do what any awkward adult like herself would do.

Blissfully ignore and forget the whole thing, of course! It definitely made the next two days easier as she looked for a job and had no run-ins with Blade either. Not to mention that the kiss probably didn't mean anything anyway. She was sure of it. Besides .. a part of her .. a very small apart of her imagined that it was someone else she was kissing. In fact, she was thinking of-

The blonde-haired merchant gave a small smile to the young woman, snapping her back into focus. His hand outstretched for her to take, "its my pleasure y/n. I'm just glad that I was able to recommend you to a good place to work. I promise that Mr. Welt Yang and Ms. Himeko are good employers and will take good care of you."

She gave him a bright smile, "I still can't believe you helped me out... it honestly feels unreal, and, well, are you sure I don't need to go in for an interview?"

Luocha shook his head, "trust me, once they see how you work, they'll decide whether to keep you on or not."

Gepard stood a little off to the side, arms crossed over his chest and a small smile on his face despite the turmoil swirling within his gut.

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yesterday afternoon
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"Please, Gepard? I don't know what else to do! I got fired from my night job and the tailor shop isn't bringing in enough money, and-"

After seeing y/n at the soirée, Gepard had been nothing but a pile of nerves and questions. He wanted to call y/n immediately once the night ended but found himself in piles of work.

So, to see her banging on his office door for help, well, he was happy to see her alright despite the distressed look on her face. Now, he had his questions, but with a little digging he did a day prior during his lunch break he had easily found out that Blade was the one who gave her a surprise invitation. It was a dangerous move considering who Blade was, and Gepard did everything in his power to make sure that y/n's name remained a secret. Because it would be terrible if Blade's enemies think that y/n was some kind of bargaining chip that could be used-

"Are you listening to me?!"

"I am, I am. But first, you need to relax, alright? I know money is tight for you right now, so why don't you just borrow some of mine?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Y/n..."

"I don't want your money and I'm not going to use you like that! What I need is job recommendations, please Gepard. I don't want to crawl back to my family."

He broke a little inside at the expression she was making.

Damn, her pouty face really makes it hard to argue with her.