Work Text:
This story takes place around 25 years ago before the game starts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a long hike through the apartment stairwell, Vince appears at a brown door in the left corner of the sage green floor. Entering it to escape the humid summer air. Wooden floorboards greeted him with a creak and he greeted them right back with a heavy drop of groceries.
“Ai Hua honey, I’m back!” Met with silence the rustic furniture with thick fabric covered in plastic wrap stared at him. A strong smell comparable to a mix of rotten onions, sewage, and raw meat appeared in the air.
“Dead bodies don’t smell like this.” Vince mumbles as he tiptoes his way to the kitchen.
As the smell gets stronger he covers his mouth and nose with his bruised hands. Leaning his ear against the wooden door.
“Chop, chop, chop.”
“She uses poison…there’s no way she would be….no..that can’t be right.” Vince shakes his concerned thoughts out of his head.
“Ai Hua honey! Are you in there?” He knocks.
The door swings open, nearly knocking over all of the kitchen supplies.
“Ah! Vince bao bei!” Ai Hua takes Vince’s hand as they squeeze shoulder to shoulder into the kitchen together.
On the countertop lay a mysterious object that appeared creamy and pale yellow with a shell with spikes that resemble the spikes of an iron maiden.
“Ai Hua, what is this?!” Vince pitches his nose as he lets out a cough.
“Durian!” Ai Hua takes a piece from the plate and puts it in her mouth. “Do you want to try one?”
“…maybe a small piece.”
Ai Hua hands Vince a piece. With a deep breath he puts it in his mouth. He grimaced slightly at the taste. A dull taste with hints of bitter onions and melons.
“Tastes good?” Ai Hua continues to cut the fruit out from its shell.
“Honey…I don’t really like it.” Vince places his hand on her shoulder with a deflated expression.
“Okay.” Ai Hua smiles back at him. Placing her hand on his. Giving it a gentle squeeze as she packs the durian into a container.
Their daily sunset observation from the small balcony was a quiet observation. That night was even quieter. Comfort can be found in silence with the one you love but today was filled with a rather strange sense of unease.
For the rest of the week, the smell wouldn’t go away. Opening the refrigerator, no containers with yellow fruits were to be seen.
“Where is that coming from?”
The trash can. It had the shell of the fruit wrapped up in newspaper. There’s no way Ai Hua wouldn’t do a better job at hiding this if she really wanted to or needed to.
“She’s a skilled killer who works with poison! She’s slick with her work!” Vince putting theories together in his head.
Vince followed the faint smell of durian lingering in the air. He followed it into the balcony, where they would watch the sunset everyday. There she sat. Ai Hua was hastily trying to stuff the durian peel into a newspaper, her back turned to him.
Ai Hua, hearing him behind her, jumps off of the stool, her eyes flickering between the fruit and her fiancé.
“Durian?” Vince asked
Ai Hua’s smile faltered.
Vince watched her, his eyes softening with understanding. He knew Ai Hua loved durian, even though it was the one thing they didn’t share love for. It wasn’t that he disliked her love for it, but the smell was overpowering. And yet, here she was, going to such lengths to hide her passions for him.
Ai Hua glanced at Vince, sensing the tension in the air. "It’s okay," she added quickly, "I know you don’t like it."
Ai Hua wrapped up her newspaper and walked back into the apartment. Leaving Vince on the balcony.
Later that day, as the sun began to set.
“Ai Hua,” Vince said, his voice gentle but firm.
She froze. Slowly, she turned around. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Vince took a step forward, his gaze soft. "Ai Hua, you don’t have to hide it from me."
She blinked, confusion written across her face. "What?"
“You don’t have to hide it from me,” Vince repeated. “You don’t have to hide anything, not even your love for durian.” He paused, his eyes meeting with hers."I know it’s not something I understand, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love all of you. Even your obsessions. I’m falling for you more every day, even with things I can’t feel.”
Ai Hua’s eyes widened at a loss for words. Now she was found guilty for hiding this small piece of herself, thinking it would drive him away. But here he was, looking at her with nothing but pure love, even for something as simple as a fruit she adored but he couldn’t bear.
“I was just... trying not to make you uncomfortable,” Ai Hua whispered. “I didn’t want you to think it was a big deal."
Vince gently reached out, lifting her chin so their eyes met. “Ai Hua, love isn’t about hiding pieces of yourself. It’s about being real. And I want you to be real with me. All the way.”
Her heart swelled with the kind of sweetness she hadn’t expected. She had feared that being honest about something so small, so silly, might make him pull away. But instead, he had come closer.
"I’ve always been falling for you," he said softly. "Not just because of what happened but because it’s a part of you." He placed one hand above his heart and the other above her’s.
Ai Hua smiled, her heart lighter than it had been in weeks. She placed her hand over his fingers filled with scars brushing against each one of his bruises and scars. A gesture that felt like a promise.
“Thank you," she smiled
“爱,我爱你" Ai Hua, whispered. “Love, I love you.” Ai Hua, still interlocking hands with Vince’s.
The golden rays of the sunset brush their faces with warmth. Sitting in the stools on the balcony together, the summer air stopped feeling suffocating.
Ai Hua taking out another piece of durian.
“Would you like one?”
Taking it from her hands. He grimaced slightly at the taste, but the smile on Ai Hua’s face made it worth it.
Through the thick smell and sour taste, a hint of sweetness appeared in Vince’s mouth.
His face lit up as if he saw Ai Hua in the sunset for the first time.
“Bao bei? Are you alright?” Ai Hua starts to take out the antidote to all her poisons bags just in case a chemical solution of hers accidentally found its way into the fruit.
“Hahahaha!! Ai Hua honey! This isn’t too bad!” Vince stretches his arms into the sky. Then leans his head on Ai Hua’s shoulders.
“This isn’t bad but, I think I’ll let you enjoy the rest.” Vince closed his eyes to take in his lover's warm aura.
“Vince, you're so cute.” Ai Hua ruffles Vince’s hair as she places another piece of durian in front of his nose.
“AHH!!” Vince yelps off of Ai Hua’s shoulder.
With his heart jumping heavy, Ai Hua leans close to listen to every beat skipped. While admiring her lover in the sunset.
Sunset observation now had an added bonus, eating durian and two lovers who always appreciate the scent of love that is unfiltered and fully seen.