His first assignment from Wu Fan nearly killed him. He was forced to sit in meetings with their leader all day; he had called a conference with the South Korean and Japanese presidents. There were several other officials there from China, and the other two countries, including Commander Han Geng. Zi Tao sat directly between the two of them; he’d never felt more awkward in his life. Han Geng knew exactly what was going on; he was in on the plan. A part of Zi Tao wondered how upright Commander Han Geng really was.

He was someone all of China looked up to; he had strong moral fiber, tried his hardest to help who he could, was smarter than most people at the table, and was handsome on top of it. He had been Zi Tao’s childhood hero, but just now, he didn’t feel as pleased as he thought he would sitting next to the man he tried to model his life after. Zi Tao had studied hard, taken up the same hobbies as Han Geng in school, and had planned to join the army and fly through the ranks as he had, before all of this happened.

Every time Han Geng spoke, Zi Tao stared at him; he seemed much less charismatic in person. He was stern and a little dry. Not at all like the face he’d seen on tv for years. He turned to glance at Wu Fan; he was fidgety and nervous, but that changed when he spoke up, cutting into Han Geng's words.

“Money isn’t exactly the issue here,” he said, folding his hands together, “Obviously China needs a boost in its economy, but what we really need is-“

Han Geng laughed, cutting him off, “All we need is the finances, there’s no doubt about that. Isn’t that what this meeting is about? Looking for backup?”

“Partially,” Wu Fan said sternly. He leaned forward and glared at Han Geng, past Zi Tao, whose eyes grew wide as the Commander leaned in, as well, “After everything we started with these countries, do you think they’re very likely to help us this quickly, and after just one meeting? This is about trust.”

Han Geng laughed, Wu Fan tensed up. Zi Tao peeked at him, trying not to wince at the furious expression on his face.

“What do you think China needs the most, Zi Tao,” Wu Fan asked, “Financial status or allies?”

Zi Tao looked down at the table and drew his eyebrows together as he considered, “I think most of all…” he started, “what China needs, right now, is trust and faith between the government and its citizens,” he said slowly, “How could any other country ever trust us again if we don’t trust ourselves? And why would they help finance our recovery if… we don’t try to fix ourselves first?”

Han Geng sat back in his chair and made a few disapproving sighs. Zi Tao hung his head; he stepped out of line, and he knew it. He even disappointed his hero, though he didn’t understand why; he was always spouting about a ‘partnership between government and citizens’. Was it all a lie?

Wu Fan kicked him in the ankle, and he looked up; Wu Fan gave him a quick smile and a thumbs-up under the table. He glanced around at the officials at the table; they were nodding and chatting with their neighbors approvingly. He looked back at Wu Fan.

“That being said,” Wu Fan started, “I think it would be beneficial to start with our own internal problems, as Zi Tao mentioned. After that time, hopefully you will all see that we’re trying to become the country we once were, and consider being allies with us once more. Obviously, it will be difficult to repair our relationships with one another, but I think, with time, it can be done.”

Zi Tao couldn’t believe it; did Wu Fan really want to go back to that time, a time of peace when things were normal? The last thing his father had wanted was any type of agreements between China and these countries, how could he be asking for it? He stared at Wu Fan in awe and froze as Commander Han Geng jumped out of his seat, excused himself quickly, and bolted from the room. He turned to Wu Fan, who was staring at the table with a pleased smirk on his face.

There was a lot of handshaking and farewells and pleasantries that Zi Tao didn’t feel comfortable with, but it wasn’t long before everyone evacuated the meeting room, leaving Zi Tao and Wu Fan standing alone in the doorway.

Wu Fan elbowed him, “Good job,” he said.

“What?”

“That was brilliant,” he stated. He pushed past him, and as he passed through the door, he whispered, “And it pissed Hangeng off on top of it.”

“Want to go for a drive?” Wu Fan asked.

Zi Tao closed his book and rested it on his knee. He watched him, “You want to? Where would we even go?”

Wu Fan shrugged, “Just around.”

Zi Tao stared at him; a car ride through the country sounded divine, but it was late, nearing midnight. “I’ll go with or without you,” Wu Fan said, not taking his eyes off his page. Zi Tao frowned; he couldn’t let him go out on his own. If something happened to him, it was very likely he would get fired, and then how could he assassinate him? Then again, the drive opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

“I suppose I could go,” Zi Tao murmured. He sat his book on the table and stretched his arms high over his head.

“Great, I’ll go get the car,” Wu Fan hopped up and hurried across the floor.

“Just the one?” Zi Tao asked sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Wu Fan replied as he opened the door, “I sold the others.”

“Why?” he asked.

But Wu Fan was already out the door. Zi Tao frowned and followed him out. He didn’t see him down the hall, so he just took the staircase to the main floor and stood outside near the circle drive. A few moments passed, and a sleek, black sports car pulled up in front of him; it looked more expensive than his whole apartment building.

And to think, he had once had more than one of these luxury vehicles.

Zi Tao opened the passenger side and slid into the seat. He barely got the door shut before the car sped off. The gates were opened just in time for them to pull through, and then were shut directly behind them once more. Zi Tao’s heart was racing; Wu Fan was in total control of the vehicle, but the speed at which he was driving was too much for him. He got a little motion sickness, but didn't want to let on. Instead, he covered his mouth with his hand and tried to focus on the dash in front of him.

As they rounded the curving back roads that cut through the rolling hills, Zi Tao imagined grabbing the wheel and driving them off the road. But he couldn’t; he wasn’t going to die for this punk. Or was he just too soft?

He took a peek at Wu Fan; he had his eyes on the road, tapping his index finger on the wheel. “So…” Zi Tao started quietly. Wu Fan leaned towards him to hear better, but didn’t look away from the road, “Why did you sell your other cars?”

“I didn’t need them.”

“Then-“

“This one was my favorite. The others were mostly my fathers; some of his ‘friends’ wanted them, so I sold them off for a high price,” he laughed.

“What did you use the money for?”

Wu Fan frowned and glanced at him. “You can’t tell anyone,” he demanded, “Or you’ll get the can.” Zi Tao nodded and the dictator sighed, “Did you hear about all of those orphanages and shelters that were getting shut down because of lacking funds?” He hesitated, “There was that huge donation from an anonymous, wealthy person?”

“I remember…” Zi Tao said slowly, “Wait. Was that-“

“Yeah.”

Zi Tao leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “Why would you do that anonymously?”

Wu Fan fidgeted in his seat, “I don’t think anyone in this country would let me help them. No matter how badly they need it.” He stopped the car; Zi Tao looked out the window. He’d parked on top of a remote hill that looked over part of the twinkling city below. Wu Fan opened his door and climbed out- the other man did the same.

Wu Fan lay back in the grass, with his arms over his head. “I wanted to do something with the palace; sell it or give it away to the people to do with what they please,” he mentioned, “But Han Geng wouldn’t have it.”

“Why would you do that?” Zi Tao asked. He took a seat in the grass next to him, linking his hands around his knees.

“I don’t want it. Why would I? Would you?”

Zi Tao frowned, “Where would you rather be?”

Wu Fan sighed and looked up at the sky. “I don’t know,” he said quietly, “Sometimes I wish I could just hide away. Change my name and move to the States. Do normal things; own a home, have a job, go to the same café for lunch every day, have drinks with friends…” He trailed off; Zi Tao sat up and stared at him, then forced his eyes away; he didn’t understand. He was supposed to be a heartless villain, but he seemed so normal.

“You know, most people dream of having what you have,” Zi Tao whispered.

“Yeah, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he replied, “I told my father I’d take his place, though, if-“

“If?”

Wu Fan laughed, “If he didn’t arrange a marriage for me. He tried hard to marry me off, but I wouldn’t have it.”

“What?” Zi Tao snorted, “Why- who wouldn’t marry some modern-day princess?”

“I’ve never really been interested in princesses, to be honest,” he cleared his throat and pointed up to the sky, changing the subject, “What do you know about the stars, Zi Tao?”

Zi Tao lay back as well, trying to find exactly which he was pointing at, “Not much,” he said.

“Ever since I was little, I wanted to catch one. I said to my father once, ‘You’re the most powerful man in all of China, all you need to do is pluck one from the sky,’ but he said to me, ‘If there’s one thing a person could never do, that would be it.’” He turned his head, watching Zi Tao gaze at the stars, “But I think that’s wrong,” he said softly, “There’s two things I’ve always dreamed of: having a star of my own, and being able to live as far from China as possible,” he hesitated, “I think I have a better chance of reaching into the sky a taking the brightest speck of light than ever moving away from here.”

Zi Tao turned to him, catching his stare. “You could leave,” he whispered. Wu Fan shook his head and chuckled, letting his eyes search the sky once more. Not thinking, Zi Tao reached out and wrapped his fingers around Wu Fan’s forearm; he pulled his arm back slightly. Zi Tao’s eyes grew wide when he realized exactly who he’d touched and how offended he might be, but Wu Fan only pulled back enough that he could take Zi Tao’s hand in his.

Zi Tao glanced at the other man, who had closed his eyes. A very small part of him wanted to take his hand away, but a frighteningly over-powering part of him wanted to reach out and tear a star out of the speckled night sky for him, just like he’d always wanted.