"..."
Chu Qingjiu answered Qi Wu with silence.
Everything Qi Wu had described was too beautiful, far beyond his reach. Once he found the last Soul Puppet Threads, it would be time for him to leave.
"Why aren't you saying anything, gege? Don't you like it?"
"No, I like it very much." Chu Qingjiu shook his head and raised his eyes to meet Qi Wu's gaze. "I promise."
Qi Wu's violet eyes held utter sincerity. Chu Qingjiu watched him smile with delight and lean forward to kiss him.
He had made Qi Wu a promise, but he knew full well he could never keep it.
Why promise something he could never do? Because then, whenever Qi Wu saw the sea or the grasslands, he would remember the future he and Chu Qingjiu had promised each other.
That illusory, unreachable future.
He wanted to make Qi Wu grieve, to remember him forever. Even hatred would do.
After losing Zhao Yang, Lin Ran no longer smiled. He often recalled the sweet days they had spent together, and every recollection brought him happiness. But soon, the crushing contrast and emptiness would leave him helplessly weeping.
In his memories, he fell in love with Zhao Yang over and over again, while in reality, he endured the anguish of everything he had lost.
Knock, knock, knock-
Someone was knocking at the door. Lin Ran merely turned mechanically toward it without saying a word.
"Lin Ran, it's me, Chu Qingjiu."
Only upon hearing Chu Qingjiu's voice did Lin Ran let out an "Ah," as though he had finally come to his senses. Then he went to open the door.
Seeing Chu Qingjiu alone, he asked, "Where's your boyfriend?"
"We had a fight. I didn't let him come along. This is between the two of us."