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

thirty seven

“Are you sure this is ok?”

Y/n held onto Dan Heng’s arm tightly, her head tilted slightly as she looked up at him. The sight of how innocent and naïve she looked sent an arrow straight through his heart.

“Of course.”

“But…shouldn’t I pay for my own food?”

Her words were soft, almost scared and quiet. She knew that the moment she stepped inside the fancy-looking restaurant that she wouldn’t be able to afford any food that they had to offer. She could tell from just outside that the place was expensive, and now, standing next to Dan Heng, she realized why she was wearing such a pretty dress. (And when she asked Dan Heng why they were dressed up, he merely eased her mind and told her not to worry about it.)

“Relax. You don’t have to pay for anything.”

“But I don’t want you to feel like I’m using you-“

He shushed her, “you aren’t using me. You are simply relying on me. There’s a difference.”

He gently pulled her along as they finally entered the restaurant. The waiter immediately recognizing him and grabbing two menus as he motioned for the two of them to follow.

“Which reminds me…,” Dan Heng started as the waiter showed them their table in the far back, “I would like for you to rely on me even more than you already are.”

When she let go of his arm, he pulled her chair out for her before taking his own seat across from her.

“What do you mean?”

The waiter placed their menus down and said he would be back to take their order.

Dan Heng reached forward and placed a hand on her cheek, his fingers lightly grazing her skin, “I want you to stay with me. To put it simply, I want you to quit where you’re working and just be with me. You can even accompany me to my own workplace if you would like.”

“Dan Heng…”

“You won’t have to worry about rent or if you’ll be able to afford something to eat tomorrow. You won’t have to deal with people who just push you around and don’t even care about you as a person. And-“

“Dan Heng!”

She grabbed his hand that was resting on her cheek and pulled it to where she was holding his hand in front of herself, “thank you. It really means so much to me with how much you care, but…I can’t ask that of you. It wouldn’t be right. I don’t want you to feel like I’m using you, Dan Heng.”

“But you aren’t using me. You’ll just be relying on me-“

“You know, Gepard says the same thing to me every time I tell him about my money problems…”

Dan Heng felt his anger spike at the mention of Gepard’s name. His eye twitching slightly as he watched your expression turn soft and caring. A shame that you care for another man so much so. But that is how childhood friends act, right?

“You seem to put a lot of trust in Gepard,” Dan Heng started as he pulled his hand away from her grasp.

She smiled at that, while not noticing the shift in his tone, “of course! I already told you, I’m sure, but we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Dan Heng smiled, “yes, you did tell me, which is why this is going to be hard for you when I tell you…”

“Tell me what?”

Dan Heng reached for his pocket in order to pull out his phone. Unlocking it and tapping the screen for a moment, he searched for the files he was looking for.

“There it is,” he said as he tapped the pdf link, “why don’t you look through this and then tell me whether you truly trust that friend of yours.”

Originally, he really did plan to let this matter be. But every time that she talks about Gepard, it gets on his nerves. So, the only logical reason is to just cut the problem out right here and now.

“I- I don’t understand…are you- are you trying to tell me that Gepard had Sampo mess up the transaction on purpose?”

“Yes, he put you at risk. All so you would rely on him and give him what he wanted.”

“What did he want anyway?!”

“You.”

“…Me? But…,” she read through the IPC report again. If it wasn’t for Dan Heng figuring this whole thing out, then she definitely would have found herself on trial with the IPC declaring her a criminal.

“How did you even fix this problem anyway? Reading through the report…the IPC would have taken me in immediately without any questions asked.”

“Luckily, the one assigned to the case is … unusual. His name is at the top of that report. To be honest dealing with him and Sampo at the same time was a nuisance, but everything worked out in the end.”

Her eyes flicked to the top. Aventurine.

“I didn’t have to meet with the IPC in person, as Aventurine had offered. He said as long as I dealt with the problem right then and there, then you nor anyone else involved will be charged with fraud. That includes Sampo and Gepard.”

“I see…I guess I really should be thanking you again. I didn’t realize that this problem was bigger than it actually was. Who knows, maybe I should go thank this Aventurine too.”

“That…won’t be necessary. Trust me, give thanks to a man like him and he will hold it over your head.”

She gave Dan Heng his phone back and kind of slumped in her chair a bit. The fond expression she had for her childhood friend was long gone and instead replaced with a look of sadness and betrayal, “what do I do now, Dan Heng? Confront him about it? Ignore it? Forgive him without saying anything?”

Dan Heng much preferred it if she cut all ties with him altogether, but … he’ll keep his mouth shut over the matter (for now), “well, what do you want to do?”

She found that she couldn’t look him in the eyes, “I…,” before she could answer, however, there was a loud growl and a rumble coming from her stomach. Her whole body tensing up immediately as she sat straight up, “I think I just want to eat.”

He chuckled at that causing her to flush with embarrassment, “oh, shut it Dan Heng! I haven’t eaten all day! I can’t help it when I’m hungry.”

“Right,” he said as he waved the waiter over, “why don’t you sleep on this whole Gepard problem for now, and instead let’s enjoy our date. Ok?”

She finally started to smile again, “sounds good to me!”

Her stomach let out another growl, “not a word, Dan Heng! Not even a giggle!”