“You okay?” a voice asked him. “You’ve been staring into space for a while now.”

Zhen Xue blinked out of his daze, mentally returning to the small office where he worked. Alice, a short haired brunette woman, and his coworker, stood at his side and watched him with pity. 

He cleared his throat, moving aside to not occupy the space in front of the coffee machine, watching as she made quick use of the space, turning the machine on again. His hand felt warm, he realized. He looked down and noticed the filled coffee mug in his hand. When did that get there?

He sighed at his own negligence, knowing it was going to be a long day. Ever since the events last night, he couldn’t shake his concern for the silver masked man after escaping with Aelius.

He shifted on his feet, trying to stay out of his head. 

He’ll be fine. That man looked quite capable. Not only that, but he was a ghost.

But what if he was wrong?

His hand tightened on the mug as it nearly slipped from his hand. 

Alice frowned. “Why don’t you take the day off?”

“Right,” he said, knowing he wouldn’t be much use right now. The company tasked his team of engineers to handle a piece of machinery that was intended to be revolutionary for the manufacturing department. As one of their top qualified engineers, his input was invaluable to this project, so if he could not be helpful, staying out of their way was best. 

He didn’t wave farewell, grabbing his briefcase on his desk as he left the office, stepping out into the snow. As the coldness seeped through his clothes, his stomach growled in protest, sending him to the bathroom for several hours. The sky was already dark by the time he finished, leaving him to walk home around the time his shift normally ended.

What unlucky timing... The story of his life, really.

His insomnia has become worse these days. 

The sleeping aid his therapist recommended was knocking him out, but didn’t ease his unpleasant dreams. Plus he was catching colds more often. It was like the world was beating him down at every turn. He considered himself a resilient person, taking on new challenges at his job whenever he could, but each new problem chipped away his endurance and left him bone tired. 

His effort never seemed enough for anyone. Even during that time when…

He sucked in a deep breath, pushing away the thought. 

Aelius was right. His obsession with the silver haired ghost would kill him.

He passed under the awning of a local bakery on Westbourne Grove, nearly at Lancaster Road’s apartment complex. There was a row of bicycles to rent on his left. A few cars passed him as he walked, their headlights brightening the otherwise dark road. Shops were already closed at this hour, owners going home for the night.

What if he did end up getting himself killed? The path he was on was dangerous. It was better that he didn’t have attachments or anyone that would miss him. His family was dead and he really didn't allow himself to have friends.

He pulled out his phone, thumbing through the comments on his web novel out of boredom. After 200,000 words, he was at a loss on how to finish the story. His dreams haven’t been super reliable, more like fragments for him to write down.

-[Why am I still reading this? *clicks the next chapter*] sent five days ago. 20 people agree with this comment. There is 1 downvote. No comments.

He scrolled to the top post.

-[I’ve been a long time fan of The Water God and his Silver Dragoness for two years but after coming back to this novel, I’m sad to say it’s lost my interest as the story continues to stretch aimlessly with no direction. Doesn’t Calisaya have enough gods with five already? Why does she need two more??? She only plans to fight her mortal family, not crack the world in half] sent two years ago. 50000+ people agree with this comment. 30000+ people found this comment funny. There are 29 downvotes. 70 people commented on this post.

He opened the comment section for that post.

--shanhaXXX [OP I think you need to reread the story. Much happened between Calisaya and the gods that deepened their relationship and desire to help her. She wants to become the strongest to take back her kingdom. No one has ever been given the privilege of contracts with the gods before so I think it's quite reasonable] sent two years ago.

--LeonXXX [It doesn’t matter because this story has been going for four years and doesn’t plan to finish soon. Take this as the advice from an experienced novel reader, we're going to be here quite a while] sent two years ago.

--MightyX [@shanhaXXX protagonist halo]

--GTube123X [@MightyX LOL]

--OP [@shanhaXXX I still feel like this reason is stupid, but I understand what you're saying now. I went back and reread the last fifty chapters] sent two years ago.

--nobodyX [@LeonXXX man I feel you and you're a Leon shipper which is an extra upvote from me] sent two years ago.

--YourMom [Are we going to forget Sagittarius?? LOL] sent two years ago.

--nobodyX [@YourMom ??? When was Sagittarius a main character or did I miss something?] sent two years ago.

--dewyChan [@OP @YourMom he’s a member of a local church] sent one year ago.

--OP [@dewyChan don’t ping me wtf… it’s been a year and I have moved on from this novel] sent one year ago.

--dewyChan [sorry OP *sad face*] sent one year ago.

--XXXFan [Does anyone know why OP stopped reading the novel? I just started a week ago and I really love it] sent seven months ago.

--nobodyX [@XXXFan I came back to reread the novel and found your question by chance. Pretty sure OP got bored of the updates, I can relate] sent seven months ago.

Zhen Xue put down his phone, having seen enough. Over 100,000 fans, and more than half of them were still reading for the harem. He became a popular author, but at what cost? Why were his dreams plagued by a woman he didn’t even know?

The snow began to fall as he stepped onto the porch of his apartment—a tall white building with a balcony overhead. He was renting the room upstairs from an old woman that lived downstairs. She didn’t exactly like him, but he paid her good money. 

The apartments in this area were decent and affordable, especially when renting from others. He had his own washer and dryer, walk-in closet, and a balcony where he could write his novels out in the fresh air. The only problem was the outdated heating and cooling systems, which meant he didn’t always have hot water—a small issue, but he did miss hot showers. 

He stepped through the door after shaking the snow from his boots. He sighed at the scrapes on them, locking the door behind himself. Buying another pair seemed more like a luxury than a necessity right now. Some things weren’t worth the expense of his living. He enjoyed it here, despite the old woman giving him a hard time. 

“I swear something goes wrong every time he’s around,” Ms. Lockwood said, raising her squeaky voice.

Speak of the devil… Zhen Xue rolled his eyes, having heard the same story over and over again. He walked around the corner stairwell into the living room that was adjacent to the kitchen. Ms. Lockwood stood at the kitchen sink, clutching the cellphone to her ear as she continued to yap about him bringing misfortune to her apartment and how she wanted him gone. He could hear Aelius sigh on the other end of the line and felt a tad bad for him.

Aelius spoke up when she was about to reach the pinnacle of her point from the last five minutes. “We understand your concern, however bullshit it may be,” he added. “But curses don’t exist and they don’t warrant an arrest.”

Choosing this exact moment to make his presence known, Zhen Xue cleared his throat, smiling slightly at the way she jumped. He walked to the fridge, ignoring her stare as he grabbed a bottle of water. “I’ll be heading upstairs.”

When she followed him, he paused. The sound of a fire in the hearth crackled in the silence.

He turned to face her again, jaw slightly tense. “Yes?”

“Someone moved into the empty room across from yours,” she said, stuffing her phone into her sweater pocket.

He wasn’t exactly impressed, beginning to regret that he stayed.

“You should show him around sometime,” she insisted, arriving at her point. “He’s a foreigner.”

She couldn’t be serious. He was also a foreigner, but… Yeah, alright, she did have a point. He knew the area better than someone new. When he had some time from work, he could show them around—not for her benefit though. “Alright,” he said, continuing up the staircase. 

His hands were shaking by the time he entered his room. His back hit the door when it closed, sliding down to the floor. He couldn’t stop the panic attacks, no matter how much therapy he went to. They did get easier. At least he knew by sitting through them, the panic was the worst that could happen. The coldness from the water bottle helped ground him.

He still frequently dreamed of that night. Little things, like the fire running downstairs would trigger his anxiety.

His eyes grew heavy, longing for sleep.

No, please… He didn’t want to see them again, not like that.

His mind sank into that deep, slumbering nightmare.