Thursday came with rain and the specific atmosphere of a confrontation that everyone is pretending is not one.
Zhao Wei arrived at the café on 4th with two guild members and sat down across from Su Ming with the measured ease of a man who has prepared for this meeting and would like you to know that he has prepared for this meeting.
Su Xuan sat beside Su Ming and said nothing.
This seemed to bother Zhao Wei more than if he had spoken.
"I'll be direct," Zhao Wei said.
"Please," Su Ming said pleasantly.
"Your numbers are impressive. You're in the top fifteen of the district at Level 41. With an Undead Summoner class that everyone in the game has written off." He leaned forward slightly. "That means you know something. A technique, a build path, a system exploit — something. Iron Vanguard wants access to that information."
"I don't have any exploits," Su Ming said. He was perfectly relaxed, which Su Xuan knew was calculated. "I just play the class the way it's meant to be played."
"Nobody plays Undead Summoner to Level 41 in twenty days," Zhao Wei said.
"I did."
"How?"
A pause.
"Practice," Su Ming said.
Zhao Wei's jaw tightened. This was the kind of answer that was technically sufficient and practically maddening, and all three of them knew it. He shifted gears. "The A-rank Death Knight your brother acquired in the C-rank dungeon—"
"His," Su Ming said, without looking at Su Xuan. "Not mine. Ask him."
Zhao Wei looked at Su Xuan.
Su Xuan had been looking out the window. He turned to meet Zhao Wei's gaze with an expression of mild inquiry, as if he had been listening to the rain and had been interrupted.
"The Death Knight," Zhao Wei said. "How did you acquire an A-rank undead without a registered class?"
"Hidden room in the C-rank dungeon," Su Xuan said. "Negotiated."
"You negotiated with an A-rank undead."
"He was amenable."
"That's—" Zhao Wei stopped. Restarted. "That's not how undead work. You can't negotiate with—"
"And yet," Su Xuan said.
A silence.
Zhao Wei was a practical man, ultimately. He set aside the sub-argument and went back to the main point. "Iron Vanguard is the strongest guild in this district. Affiliation with us gives you protection, resources, and—"
"You said that last time," Su Xuan said. "The answer is the same."
"I'm offering better terms—"
"It's not about terms," Su Xuan said. He picked up his tea. "We don't need what you're selling. We don't need protection because we're not threatened. We don't need resources because we generate our own. We don't need a guild name because we're not looking for recognition." He looked at Zhao Wei over the rim of the cup, very steadily. "There is nothing you can offer that changes this."
Zhao Wei looked at him. At the two guild members beside him, one of whom had stopped looking at Su Xuan approximately thirty seconds ago and had not started again. At Su Ming, who was watching his brother with an expression of patient attention.
Then Zhao Wei said: "People without guilds get hurt out there. Without backup—"
"Was that a threat?" Su Xuan asked. His tone did not change. Not colder, not harder, just perfectly level, the way a blade is level before it's swung.
"An observation," Zhao Wei said quickly.
"Mm." Su Xuan set his cup down. "Here is my observation. We will be leaving now. You will go back to your guild and decide whether to accept that this conversation ended at the word no. If you decide to accept that, we will never have a problem." He stood. "If you decide not to—"
He looked at Zhao Wei.
"—I'll handle it," he said. "Quietly, and without giving you the opportunity to complain about it."
He walked toward the door. Su Ming followed, unhurried, with the specific energy of a man who had watched this play out and had decided his brother's version of the conversation was superior to any he could have offered.
At the door, Su Ming looked back once and offered Zhao Wei a small, genuine smile.
"Thank you for the coffee," he said, though neither of them had ordered coffee.
They went out into the rain.
Behind them, in the café, Zhao Wei sat very still for approximately ten seconds and then said something to his guild members that was too quiet for anyone to hear.