The World Ends In 27 Days

Hanchuan looked at the phone in his hand.

He had been about to ask Shichen for the drawing, then warn him that Zhiyi could only look at it for a few minutes. He would probably have told him not to let her get involved, too, before she had even seen what they were doing.

Now that she had asked why, he couldn’t bring himself to make the call that way.

"Because I’m afraid you’ll keep going until you’re in pain," Hanchuan admitted, setting the phone beside her bed. "And by the time I notice, you’ll already be hurting."

Zhiyi watched him without reaching for his hand. Across the room, Qinghe stayed beside the counter, giving her time to think without either of them answering for her.

"You can ask," Zhiyi replied.

"I have asked," Hanchuan said gently. "Sometimes you tell me you’re fine and keep working."

"That happened before I was injured," Zhiyi pointed out.

Hanchuan nearly smiled, then stopped when he saw how closely she was watching him.

She wasn’t trying to be funny. She had always needed help stopping once something caught her attention. That didn’t mean she had never been able to do the work.

He pulled his chair closer so she wouldn’t have to keep looking up at him.

"You’re right," Hanchuan said. "I’ll ask him to bring it."

Zhiyi watched him pick up the phone. He called Shichen and asked for the entrance plans, stopping himself before he could add instructions about what to do if she offered to help.

Qinghe came over while they waited.

"Let’s start with one sheet," Qinghe suggested, looking at Zhiyi. "If you get tired, we’ll put it away. Bringing it in here doesn’t mean you have to finish anything."

Zhiyi nodded, then looked at the bedside table. Her box and the small piece of panel sat beside the page Hanchuan had written for her, leaving little room for a drawing.

"Move those," Zhiyi requested, pointing to the two objects. "Keep the paper."

Hanchuan put the box and the piece of panel on the counter where she could still see them.

She relaxed a little as he cleared the table. He wondered how often he had decided what she needed lately without giving her a chance to tell him.

Shichen arrived with a folder tucked under his arm, dust clinging to its lower edge. He stopped in the doorway and glanced at Hanchuan and Qinghe before coming closer.

"I brought the original drawings and the measurements we took this morning," Shichen told her. "Which one do you want to see?"

Zhiyi considered the folder before answering.

"The one that shows where it is," Zhiyi said.

Shichen took out a sheet and laid it on the table, turning it so she could follow the entrance from the bottom of the page. He sat across from Hanchuan and pointed to the outer end.

"The gate was here," Shichen explained. "We want to put the temporary barrier behind it."

Hanchuan kept his hands on his knees. He recognized the entrance, but he couldn’t follow the rest of the drawing as easily as either of them could.

Before she was hurt, he would have waited for her to explain what he was missing.

Now he kept checking her face for signs that she was struggling. When he caught himself doing it again, he looked down at the paper.

"The inner barrier?" Zhiyi asked.

"Here," Shichen said, pointing to it. "We haven’t changed anything there."

Zhiyi followed the passage with her finger until she reached the place marked for the new panel. Shichen waited while she studied it, leaving her to look without explaining every line.

Something rattled past the open door, and Zhiyi lifted her head.

"That’s Zeyu moving the tools," Hanchuan told her.

She looked back at the drawing, but her finger came down farther along the passage. Hanchuan noticed because he had been watching her hand. He shifted forward, almost pointing out where she’d stopped before the noise.

Shichen touched the mark for the panel.

"This is where we planned to put it," Shichen said. "But the frame’s bent. We can’t attach it the way I wanted to."

Zhiyi traced the line once more, then held out her hand.

"A pencil," Zhiyi requested.

Shichen handed her one and set a blank sheet beside the plan.

Her first line barely showed. She adjusted her grip and tried again, drawing two short lines before joining them.

Hanchuan watched without speaking, although the slower movement made him want to ask whether her hand hurt.

She paused to check the original drawing.

"Are you thinking of putting it here instead?" Shichen asked, pointing to her sketch.

"Farther inside," Zhiyi explained with a nod. "Past the damaged part."

Shichen leaned closer to see what she’d drawn. He stopped glancing at Qinghe and Hanchuan, his attention finally caught by the work in front of him.

"We might be able to attach it there," Shichen said. "Hang on. I’ve got a better drawing of that section."

Hanchuan felt himself relax and was almost ashamed of how much he wanted this to work. He wanted Shichen to say she’d found the answer. He wanted something he could point to when he started worrying about her again.

Then he noticed how Zhiyi was watching the folder, waiting for the next page.

Shichen laid the more detailed drawing over the first.

Zhiyi moved her sketch beside it and looked between the two. Her finger stopped at a rectangle near the place she’d chosen.

"The service door opens away from it," Zhiyi said. "There’s room."

Shichen’s hand stopped above the page.

Hanchuan saw him hesitate and knew something was wrong. He glanced toward Qinghe, then looked back at the bed. Zhiyi had asked Shichen about a door. He needed to let Shichen answer her.

Shichen checked the drawing before pointing to the doorway.

"It opens into that space," Shichen said gently. "If we put the panel there, we won’t be able to open the door."

Zhiyi looked at the printed lines. The pencil rested against her sketch, but she didn’t move it.

Hanchuan wanted to tell her they could find somewhere else.

Shichen had made a mistake that morning, too. He almost mentioned it, then held back. She hadn’t said anything yet, and he was already trying to make her feel better.

Zhiyi put down the pencil and looked at Shichen.

"Did I read it incorrectly," Zhiyi asked, "or did I remember a different door?"

Shichen glanced at Hanchuan. Zhiyi’s fingers tightened around the edge of the sheet.

"Please don’t ask him," Zhiyi added. "I’m asking you."