"Shang Jing! What the fuck is this!" Jingwei demanded hotly, grabbing Shang Jing's arm the moment he entered the room.
"Ah, so you've found out," Shang Jing said with a raised eyebrow, nonchalantly leaning against his chair when Jingwei confronted him on the existence of the videos.
Jingwei had done the impossible - he had managed to hack into Shang Jing's computer, a challenge that Shang Jing claimed was impossible.
But whatever joy he derived from the accomplishment slowly turned into horror as he browsed through his files. He was initially looking for some funny blackmail material, such as Shang Jing's pornos, just so he could make fun of him later.
What he found though, was a lot more horrifying. Jingwei felt a chill spread through his body as he glanced through the videos and pictures, disgust curling in his gut, threatening to make him throw up his lunch.
How could Shang Jing keep this kind of… sin lying around? Did he partake in such activities?
Why was Shang Jing such a pervert, to keep multiple, numerous video clips of unsuspecting women changing in the bathroom? Some of them weren't even grown women - only mere girls!
What's wrong with him! He even saw some with mutilated animals, and he had to hurriedly click away before he vomited for real.
He even saw Shang Jing's ex-stepmoms in one of the videos, which scared him even more. How long had this been going on?
While Jingwei was out sending cat memes, Shang Jing was accessing the in-built cameras of the phones and computers to take secret videos of women.
Come to think of it, he never wondered why Shang Jing required such a rigorous security system to begin with. It wasn't as though their school work needed that much secrecy!
"Oi, answer my question? What the fuck is going on?" Jingwei asked, this time taking a quick glance around the room to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. He didn't even want servants to know. Jingwei lowered his voice. "Why do you have all these videos? What for?"
"Come on Jingwei, don't act dumb." Shang Jing scoffed, with a knowing glance at his crotch. "What do you think I use these vids for?"
"You - but one of them is your stepmom?! And some of them are children!" Jingwei burst out, appalled at Shang Jing's callous response. "How could you do this to them?"
"Why not?" Shang Jing replied, having the nerve to actually sound confused. "They don't mean anything to me."
"Dude, they are real people! This is illegal! You can't do this!" Jingwei protested, gripping his arm tight enough to hurt.
"What nonsense. Of course I can. I already did, and I will continue to do it." Shang Jing said casually, twisting his arm away from Jingwei's hold.
"Don't be jealous, Dimitri Von Holson, I'll teach you how to do it too so you can get videos of your own. Also, you owe me a cat meme."
Damn it, he actually sounded pleased and proud that Jingwei managed to break through his security system and discover evidence of his illegal activities. He even clapped his hands slowly, the same way he did when Jingwei bullshitted an essay 10 mins before submission time.
Meanwhile, Jingwei was this close to losing his mind.
"What cat meme?! How can you joke about this!" Jingwei yelled out, his eyes wide with shock and hurt at how nonchalant Shang Jing was about everything. "I don't want such videos! Did you not hear what I just said - This. Is. Illegal. What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Shang Jing repeated softly, his face darkening. "Nothing is wrong with me. I have always been like this. You know me."
"No." Jingwei said, shaking his head frantically, as though he was trying to convince himself. "This isn't you. I'm sure you're not this kind of person right? You're not a criminal."
"Wrong. We already did lots of illegal things already, what's one more? Besides, do you think your family is so clean and innocent? That's not possible," Shang Jing said, shrugging easily, and he wasn't wrong.
At 16, Jingwei was old enough to know, in that vague blurry way that he didn't want to know the details of, that his family had grown into wealth really quickly, and chances that the growth wasn't due to legal means was all too likely.
(He'd seen the bodyguards lurking around his father, and they sometimes had a bit too much blood on their suits for people offering 'protection'.)
What's more, Jingwei already had access to a Ferrari that he loved taking out for a spin way above the speed limit. Him and his classmates all drank alcohol when they were underage, and brawled at anyone that looked at them the wrong way. Their families had enough money to blind anyone that wanted to complain.
But still, two wrongs didn't make a right. There was no reason for Shang Jing's activities.
"This is wrong! It's so fucked up!" Jingwei hissed, highly upset. Meanwhile Shang Jing just stared at him patiently, waiting for Jingwei to finish throwing his tantrum, as though they were back to being kids and Jingwei was just kicking up a fuss over who got the last chocolate cone.
Jingwei got even more upset at his lack of reaction. Couldn't Shang Jing see that he was making a huge mistake?
"Why would you do this?! Just go and search for porn like a normal person! Even paying for a prostitute would be better!" He continues to rant, willing him to see sense. To Jingwei, there was a line that shouldn't be crossed, but Shang Jing couldn't see that.
It was one thing to do illegal things that only endangered himself and other willing participants, but Jingwei had an ironclad rule: he vehemently refused to involve others that weren't involved.
There was a reason why he would eagerly drink when he was underage, but never go behind the wheel even if he took a sip of alcohol, despite whatever names people teased him with, calling him a coward or a goody-two shoes.
"Normal? Do you think you and I are normal people?" Shang Jing asks rhetorically, before breaking into cheerful laughter, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Jingwei felt a chill run down his spine, at the fact that his best friend could still be laughing when his heinous crimes were being discovered.
"Stop joking! I'm being serious here - there are children involved!" Jingwei had yelled, wondering if he had entered an alternate reality where committing such crimes against the vulnerable was something alright.
Shang Jing had stalked closer then, levelling him a cold, cruel look. "So? It doesn't matter. My family makes everything legal. If you dare to breathe the word of this to anyone, you'll just be barking at the air. Don't be a loser, Jingwei. You've been making so much progress," He finished consolingly, paired with a condescending pat to Jingwei's cheek.
"You can choose not to support me," Shang Jing continued unhurriedly, but he gave Jingwei a slow, warning glance. "But if you ever think of telling anyone, don't blame me for being unkind, even to you, my best friend."
Shang Jing patted his shoulder, his fingers digging painfully into his muscles before letting go. Jingwei could only watch speechlessly as Shang Jing walked away, whistling a jaunty tune.
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