The plane had been in the air for about two hours when Guiying’s phone buzzed.

He glanced at the screen.

The ORF group chat.

He shifted slightly in his seat, careful not to disturb Liuxian who had his eyes closed beside him, and opened it.

Bai Feng: Is everyone available? I have a new case I want to go over.

Shen Mingzhu: Here!

Lin Rouyi: Available.

Cao Jingwen: Here.

Liang Xueyi: Present.

He Mingshan: Here.

Wen Ruohai: Available.

Guiying: Here. Though I’m on a plane but I can follow along.

Shen Mingzhu: A plane?? Where are you coming from??

Guiying: New York.

Shen Mingzhu: NEW YORK?? You went to New York and didn’t tell us??

Cao Jingwen: Mingzhu focus (;一_一)

Shen Mingzhu: I’m focused I’m focused sorry Bai Feng go ahead

Guiying almost smiled. He could practically hear Shen Mingzhu’s voice through the screen.

Bai Feng: The case was reported through our anonymous intake channel. A Male Omega, late twenties. Five children, all under the age of eight, all from different fathers. None of the fathers are currently in the picture. The report was filed by a neighbour who said the children have been crying at night for weeks.

Bai Feng: The living situation has been described as very poor. The building itself has been flagged twice for code violations.

Shen Mingzhu: Five children... all under eight...

Lin Rouyi: And none of the fathers are involved at all?

Bai Feng: None. As far as I can tell he’s been managing completely alone.

Cao Jingwen: That’s an unbearable amount of pressure for one person... no wonder things have gotten to this point.

He Mingshan: Has he had any access to healthcare? For himself or the children?

Bai Feng: Unknown. That’s part of why I wanted to bring it to the group. We still don’t have enough information.

Liang Xueyi: A building flagged twice for violations... the children could be living in genuinely dangerous conditions. Broken fixtures, poor ventilation, structural issues. Any of those things affect children much more severely.

Wen Ruohai: Is he employed?

Bai Feng: No record of stable employment.

Shen Mingzhu: So he’s alone, no income, five children in a building that probably shouldn’t have people living in it at all... how did this not get flagged sooner?

Lin Rouyi: These situations fall through the cracks more often than people realise. Especially when there’s no one advocating for them.

Guiying: The children... what’s their condition? Has anyone seen them directly?

Bai Feng: Not yet. The neighbour who reported said they looked thin. Said she’d tried knocking a few times to offer food and sometimes he opened the door and sometimes he didn’t.

Cao Jingwen: Thin... (´;ω;`)

He Mingshan: We need to get eyes on them as soon as possible. If they’re malnourished that needs to be addressed immediately, not after we’ve sorted the paperwork.

Lin Rouyi: Agreed. I’ll prepare a full medical assessment framework before the visit. If any of them need immediate attention we should be ready to move fast.

Bai Feng: That’s exactly what I was thinking. Which is why I want a small team to go in person first. See both him and the children directly before we make any decisions about how to proceed.

Liang Xueyi: I’ll go. I need to see the housing situation myself if we’re going to explore rehousing as an option.

Bai Feng: Good. XiaoYu, when do you land?

Guiying: About twelve hours from now.

Bai Feng: Rest when you get back. I’m thinking Monday. You, me and Xueyi.

Guiying switched to his calendar and pulled up the TongShu schedule they’d sent him. He scrolled to Monday and checked it carefully.

No shoot scheduled. A fitting in the afternoon but the morning was completely clear.

Guiying: Monday morning works. I have a fitting in the afternoon so we’d need to wrap up before then.

Bai Feng: Morning is fine. We’ll sort the details closer to the time.

Liang Xueyi: Monday morning works for me too.

Cao Jingwen: Please give him our information when you see him. He should know he’s not alone in this, that there are people who want to help both him and his children properly.

Shen Mingzhu: Yes... and the children too. If they’ve been going to sleep hungry (´;ω;`) We need to make sure they’re okay first.

He Mingshan: I’ll put together a list of immediate resources. Food assistance, emergency childcare support, anything we can bring with us or refer him to on the spot.

Wen Ruohai: I’ll look into emergency employment assistance. Even something temporary would make a difference while we sort the longer term situation.

Bai Feng: Good. Everyone knows what they’re doing. Let’s reconvene once the in person team has reported back. Thank you all.

Shen Mingzhu: Safe flight XiaoYu!! (o・・o)/

Guiying: Thank you Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu: And you better tell me EVERYTHING about New York when you’re back (ಠ_ಠ)

Cao Jingwen: MINGZHU THE MEETING JUST ENDED

Shen Mingzhu: I knowwww I’m just saying!! (/ω＼)

The chat finally settled after that, the others drifting off one by one until it went quiet.

Guiying locked his phone and leaned back in his seat, looking at nothing in particular for a moment.

Five children. The oldest couldn’t be more than seven or eight. He thought about what that apartment probably looked like, what those children’s faces probably looked like when the neighbour knocked and sometimes the door opened and sometimes it didn’t.

He knew what it was to need someone to knock. To need someone to show up and not leave.

He didn’t examine that thought too closely. He just held it for a moment and then put his phone face down on the armrest.

Liuxian opened one eye. "ORF?"

"A new case," Guiying said. "A male Omega with five children, all under eight."

Liuxian was quiet for a moment. Then: "When do you go?"

"Monday," Guiying said.

Liuxian closed his eye again and said nothing else, which was his version of acknowledged and noted and I’ll make sure the car is available, all delivered in one silence.

Guiying turned his head toward the window. Outside there was nothing but sky, pale and endless, stretching out in every direction with the particular indifference of something that had been there long before any of this and would be there long after.

He closed his eyes.

Somewhere over the Pacific, with twelve hours still between him and Beijing, he finally let himself rest.