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Xingqiu remembered the time he met Chongyun. He was beautiful, his kind heart showing in how he behaved with others, his devotion to his study as an exorcist and to his family, he was amazing, gorgeous, perfection at its finest.
His eyes were so full of life, Xingqiu had never met anyone who took his jokes and pranks without at least trying to defend themselves from them. They had so much fun together, they messed around with each other and hung out and did whatever friends do.
And eventually, they fell in love.
It was only natural. Holding their hands tight under the moonlight, their joy found in each other shone brighter than any star in the sky. Sure, sometimes Xingqiu was an asshole to others and even accidentally to Chongyun himself, but he always apologized and made up for it at the end of the day.
By Celestia, Xingqiu loved Chongyun.
He loved him, he loved him, he loved him.
Nights came and passed where all he thought about was how much fun he had with him or what they were going to do tomorrow, or in general, how stunning Chongyun was, even if he had some fun poking at his condition and purposely setting it off to see what would happen.
He loved him so much that it consumed his world. His focus became less on the stories of knights and royalty, it became more about Chongyun. Together, they could do anything! They helped Xiangling cook her new dishes, and helped out some folks with exorcisms.
“You shouldn’t be with him.”
His brother stared him down. Xingqiu stood his ground, “and why not? I love him and we’ll be together forever. It may be childish of me to think so, but I believe it with all my heart.”
“Father would disagree. You’re going to have to leave him.”
“You have no say in what I can and cannot do!”
Their argument stirred something in Xingqiu. Was it worth it to forsake all he had just for love? Was it really worth it? He fell asleep to those questions, maybe he would have answers someday. That someday would never come.
He was dragged out of bed, late at night. It was raining. Xingqiu woke up on the grass, seeing his brother pace around and mutter some things. Tiredly, he called out, “what are you doing? Why are we here?” he sat up, confused on what was going on.
“Be quiet! I’m thinking.”
A river was flowing nearby. Xingqiu attempted to get up, but he was grabbed by his brother. Without missing a beat, his brother put his hands around Xingqiu’s neck. He began to struggle, “let go of me! What..are you doing?!”
“I have to do this, I’m sorry!”
His Vision had been stripped from him as he tried to fight back, “drop me right this instant! This isn't right! I’m your brother! ”
It was getting harder to breathe. He began to lose energy attempting to survive. In a few minutes of struggling and trying to call for help, his body went limp and his eyes closed, throwing him into eternal darkness. His brother dropped him.
“Shit..shit..!”
Xingqiu was still breathing, though it was shallow.
His brother picked up a heavy stone from the riverbank and hit Xingqiu over the head with it. He hit him with it over and over and over again, trying to make sure he was dead in his panic. Blood ran down Xingqiu’s head and his breathing stopped.
He was dead.
Picking up his body, his brother threw him into the river and took off. When Xingqiu had opened his eyes again, he was a spirit overseeing his own funeral. He rubbed his fingers over the plaque they made in honor of him.
“Loyal Xingqiu will be dearly missed and loved in this life and into the next.”
Loyal? That kind of made him laugh. He looked up from the plaque, he couldn’t get near Chongyun due to his condition, as much as he wanted to. However, he could make his murderer’s life hell for taking him away from this world.
He made it to his home. It was nighttime. Xingqiu knew his way around the house and walked into his brother’s room, where his brother was sitting on the bed, looking like he was deep in thought. Xingqiu forced a smile.
“Brother.”
His voice was heard, but he wasn’t seen. His brother looked around the room wildly, “Xingqiu?” he asked out loud, confused on what he was hearing. Taking gentle steps around the room, the spirit decided to knock over all of his brother’s shit.
He forced him to know that he was here. Singing a ghastly melody under his breath, he spun around the room, dancing even, all to add more salt into the wound. Making his way to his brother, he put one hand on his shoulder.
“I hope you never sleep again.”
With that, he took his leave from the house, knowing for sure his brother will have nightmares for days, weeks, months, even years from now. He made his way from the house, finding Chongyun at the plaque, kneeling at it. He had strung some flowers over it.
Chongyun wiped his teary eyes, “I love you, Xingqiu..”
Standing just far enough to not be affected by his condition, yet close enough to hear him, “oh, Chongyun..”
“You’ll live in my dreams,” Chongyun whispered before getting up and walking away. He was wearing all black, his eyes had no emotion, he was nothing but a walking shell. Xingqiu watched him go, beginning to cry.
This was too cruel! His hands clenched into fists as he went to his plaque, trying to stop his tears. He wasn’t ever going to be able to get near his boyfriend again. His stupid brother killed him and threw him into that damn river for Chongyun to see too!
He knew Chongyun saw him dead.
It didn’t take a genius to find that out. Staring at his plaque one more time, he went away and vanished with the wind, without a trace. He was praying that Chongyun would move past this and move past him, as much as he loved him.
It began to rain again.