Another day they met. Xiao asked him another question, like always, but it was the most “special” question… Why didn’t you dissipate, Xiao?

There was silence for a while, then Xiao was about to answer when, right at that moment, Muke came! Oh no… why her, of all people? Of course, they were at her favourite pub. So… that pick-me, of course, noticed her best friend and ran to hug him, ignoring Xiao, which he hated. Then he just went outside to vape—yeah, he died at 18, so he can.

Shinko noticed that and wanted to follow him. Muke tried to stop him because of jealousy, but he ignored her like nothing.

Outside, he saw Xiao vaping and talking on the phone with someone. Yeah, he had someone to talk to, but that was another friend. He had all his attention on Sawa before, but now the only friend who knew his intentions was Yota, the person he was talking to on the phone.

Shinko wasn’t a stalker, but he was too curious not to listen to what Xiao was saying on the phone. And so, it all started. Xiao was talking about his intentions—why he still hadn’t dissipated—and he said that he wouldn’t dissipate until he revived the most important person to him. Then he started talking about all his personal things, so Shinko could know more about him. It wasn’t right to listen to the call, but he couldn’t stop.

After Xiao finished the call, he turned around and saw Shinko staring at him. His reaction wasn’t anger or anything; he was just surprised to see him there. Shinko explained everything to Xiao, including that he had heard the whole call. But Xiao wasn’t angry at all—it was a perfect way to tell him the whole story without telling it directly.

Then Shinko saw his vape and just took it and threw it away. Um… he was an angel, he was immortal—how to say that… eh…? But okay, Xiao didn’t think about that. He just fell in love with the fact that someone cared about him, even though he was immortal. That was sweet.

They weren’t boys like “Oye bro, wanna drink?” “Yeah bro…” Nah. They were both male, but one was more girly. Other people, friends, always shipped them, and Shinko kind of liked that—he thought it was cute. He didn’t even know what intimacy or excitement was for something older than 16. Let’s just say he was used to being close to everyone. He could hug a girl if she wanted without thinking about what it looked like. Because of his innocence, he was always taken advantage of.

But he wasn’t used to being used in a romantic way. He was used to it like when a popular boy is surrounded by pick-mes—he always accepted everyone for who they were. He had no enemies, let’s say. But Xiao had an enemy… a cruel enemy who hurt his friends and the people close to him. That’s why he tried to act cold and not make friends. Even if he was considered attractive, he didn’t communicate much with others.

But he couldn’t save the one person he cared about the most.

After that, Shinko proposed helping Xiao. He, of course, accepted happily—just for someone who truly cared about him, or even just cared a little.