He was breathtaking. Golden hair that would catch the warm light overhead. Sapphire eyes that observed his every movement. His presence alone outshone all others in the room.
It was fortunate he remembered how to dance, but instead of taking the lead, Zhen Xue pretended to fumble, letting the silver masked man guide him along instead.
There was a subtle shift of weight, allowing him to follow along with ease.
Zhen smiled, amused that he accommodated.
Just who was the identity behind this enigmatic stranger?
To his delight, and displeasure for having to end their little game, he spotted who he was looking for, breaking away during a spin. “About time you showed up."
Apollo’s gaze was the richest shade of purple that ever existed, resembling the deepest floors within an inferno. “You have no faith in the gods," he observed. "But Zhen Xue,” he added, reeling in his attention like a spindle of unwoven yarn. “Keep an open mind,” he advised softly. “We haven’t lost yet.”
“Yeah,” Zhen Xue said dryly, not withholding his sarcasm. “You’re right. There is still time for that to happen.”
A group of civilians across the room were ensnaring the Ice God, Boreas, into conversation. Zhen Xue watched him sip on his glass of peach-colored wine a little too long before letting his frosty gaze drift to him for a moment.
He looked uncomfortable.
Good, Zhen Xue thought to himself. Let him suffer. The artifact nearly got stolen because of him.
Apollo and he fell into sync with the other nobles, waltzing across the paintings that swirled along the marble floor. Zhen Xue’s feet moved with him, trying to keep his pace, but he easily overshadowed his steps, unlike with the silver masked man who patiently guided him. Speaking of which, where did that person go?
“I’ve already consumed most of the mana,” Apollo said, effortlessly twirling Zhen Xue around. “And Boreas is stabilizing the artifact. So, in other words,” he dipped him towards the floor where Zhen Xue spotted shadows moving in the crowd. “Just focus on our targets. The situation is becoming more dangerous, and other then the artifact, you are their prime target.”
Sparks crackled through the air, sending the ballroom into a frenzy. Apollo left him alone to help defend Boreas as an onslaught of men in black robes tried to apprehend him from stabling the core. More appeared in the midst of the chaos, faces concealed behind their hoods.
Zhen Xue followed after Apollo, but got lost in the crowd. He stepped through the chaos, dodging those that lost their balance, swerving with practiced ease. While not trained in martial arts, he could use other means to survive.
Moreover, should the situation require, he would be their best distraction.
Lights flickered overhead, bringing sparks of magically infused electricity upon the crowd like falling stars.
An opening in the crowd allowed him to see Boreas at work. He kept the enemies at bay, freezing the Sorcerers in place, Apollo at his side with flames of fury.
The scene continued to escalate becoming more tense by the moment. With a load groan, Zhen Xue spotted his father storming down the staircase, no doubt spotting him in the crowd.
He looked even more mad than the last time Zhen Xue stepped out of line. As though sensing his urgency to get away, the silver masked man appeared by his side, taking his arm to usher him towards another entrance. When they reached the threshold, the man gave him an extra push. “Go,” he encouraged softly. “We’ll finish things here.”
His escape was right ahead, but he stopped, his gut pulling him in the other direction.
He wouldn't see Apollo, Boreas, or this mysterious benefactor again.
His hesitation made the silver masked man smile faintly. “Our paths will cross again, you need not worry.”
Zhen Xue's mouth opened, Li Wei’s name nearly falling from his lips.
Li Wei… This was not a ghost. He was an acquaintance from his college days in the modern world, and the first person he wanted to befriend. Whenever he thought of their past, his heart would sink that they never reconnected.
He chose not to say his name. Li Wei clearly didn’t want his identity revealed. A feeling rose to his chest akin to warmth that their paths crossed again. He leaned forward, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Until later.”
Li Wei inhaled sharply, breath catching in his throat as his throat bobbed.
Zhen Xue smiled as he pulled away.
He couldn’t explain why, maybe from being nineteen again with all his hormones shot to hell, but after thinking further about what he did, he sprinted upstairs, taking two steps at a time to flee the scene.
His ears were burning from how he tried to suppress his embarrassment. He never did something so intimate before nor understood why he felt the urge to do so with Li Wei to begin with.
But a part of him had longed to see him.
He pushed open the doors to the nearest balcony, finding a moment of relief when he was finally alone. The cold winter air swept against his face before a hand abruptly clamped over his mouth.
His eyes widened, struggling against the sudden attack as the frosty edge of steel brushed against the skin of his neck. With a pounding heart, Zhen Xue held his breath, unable to pull away from the heavy grip that threatened to suffocate him.
There was a loud thud, followed by the loosening grip around his mouth.
When free, Zhen Xue gasped for air, vaguely spotting the sorcerer as he fell to the ground, unconscious. An unknown figure emerged from the shadows.
The hand that reached out was pale and wrapped in black fabric from heavy sword practice. “Oh, it’s just you,” Zhen Xue breathed, relaxing a bit. The ribbon holding together his long brown hair came loose and fell near the floor, of which Ming Yi immediately collected.
Ming Yi’s green eyes shimmered in the darkness as he reached around Zhen Xue, bounding the ribbon back into his hair.
He couldn’t help feeling proud of how far Ming Yi had grown. Unlike when they met on the carriage fifteen years ago, when Ming Yi was skin and bones, he now resembled a beautifully trained shadow and stood among the strongest of the Cassanova royal guards.
This boy went through a lot.
But of course he did, Zhen Xue thought with guilt, much like he often did whenever he looked at Ming Yi’s distraught and hazy expression. Zhen Xue could only blame himself for creating him that way... inherently broken from the tragedies he suffered. Dead parents. Not a single family member would adopt him, like he was a useless thing they discarded a long ago. A fallen rose they wouldn’t pluck again.
In the original novel, Ming Yi’s life took an upward turn after meeting Calisaya. They fall in love, supporting each other through the hardships of their journey, but their awaited meeting never happened in this present world. It was troubling how Ming Yi seemed to go down the same path of heroism, but alone.
Even through his effort to protect him, what he truly owed Ming Yi was the truth, and that’s something he hadn’t been able to admit.
Because telling him, “I screwed up your life,” would not go over well.
Ming Yi was staring at him again, like he would often do sometimes. A frown deepened on his face, like whatever he saw troubled him. “How did you notice it was me?” he finally got out, entirely sour for a reason Zhen Xue couldn’t imagine.
Zhen Xue almost laughed. “How could I not notice you?”
Ming Yi’s eyes narrowed with displeasure, clearly wanting an actual response. “Be serious. I know you saw me before I came out of the shadows. How?” he demanded in a flat tone. Zhen Xue could no longer resist cracking up in laughter. Ming Yi scowled further, nose held high while snarling, “How can that be? Not even the most wanted assassin picked up my presence when I snatched her.”
With a dry smile, Zhen Xue leaned forward like he was going to divulge a secret, only to flick his forehead. “You’re thinking too much.”
Why would he know the answer to such a stupid question? Zhen Xue’s oddities were too many in between for him to consider them useful. It’s not like he could sense other people in the shadows. It was just Ming Yi specifically that he noticed.
Ming Yi tilted his head at the object in his hands. “What’s that?”
Zhen Xue looked up, fingers freezing over the bolts from the cube he unconsciously took out to play with. He offered Ming Yi the object, watching him take it and study the structure with some fascination.
He glanced up for a moment, green eyes glowing more than usual. “It looks like a puzzle,” he determined, returning to study the object with interest.
Zhen Xue smiled at him fondly, taking the cube back when he finished. “It’s rather useless,” he admitted, putting it back into his sleeve pocket. “But I like it.”
With a tilt of his head, Ming Yi reached out his hand in a silent offer. Zhen Xue took one look between him and the railing that Ming Yi seemed fully prepared to heave them both over. “I know you’re a skilled swordsman,” Zhen Xue laughed softly. “But we both know you can’t fly. You’re the only one that can climb from this height.”
Ming Yi chuckled, a deadly sound that made Zhen Xue freeze to the spot.
Did he… just laugh? When did he ever laugh, especially like that? In response, Ming Yi suddenly snatched his waist, hauling them both over the railing.
They fall weightlessly together. Air rushed through his hair and he found Ming Yi grinning broadly by his side, eyes sparkling wide and brilliant.
The wind became too harsh for him to watch any longer, but he knew Ming Yi enjoyed the thrill of making him suffer. Ming Yi caught him, setting his feet on the ground before he murmured in warning near his ear, “Dianxia, don’t open your eyes.”
“Why?” he asked in a heartbeat later, light blinking through his vision as he, of course, went to open his eyes. He met the sight of a bandaged hand. Darkness surrounded his peripheral vision, leaving him unable to see anything. “What’s going on?”
Zhen Xue shuffled anxiously on his feet, attempting to move Ming Yi’s hand, only to freeze as his foot landed on something that softly crunched beneath his shoe. His stomach twisted into knots, faint nausea washing over him as he realized the sound and how the smell of burning charcoal wasn’t from the kitchen.
“Trust me,” Ming Yi breathed sharply. “You don’t want to see this.”
Comments (2)
See all