Chapter Text
A foggy mist covered the surroundings, making everything seem dull and grey. The air that Xie Lian breathed in was thick and humid, and his clothes stuck to his skin uncomfortably. He carried grocery bags in both of his hands and looked around, slowly circling in place.
“Am I lost…?” He mumbled to himself. Neon signs flickered on rundown buildings, with stone and brick walls that were chipping and littered with graffiti. The place was eerily empty, not at all like the busy streets of downtown Xianle that he was used to. He shifted the grocery bags to one hand and pulled out a hand drawn map with the other. It had boxes that symbolized buildings, with a single line curving through the page. The only words written were “Dorm” at the bottom of the page, and “Store” at the top. He looked around and tried to compare his surroundings with the scribbles on the paper.
“Mu Qing,” Xie Lian sighed, and pressed his hand to his head, still holding the map. He should have known. Both Mu Qing's artistic and directional skills were on par with a goldfish. That is to say, they were basically nonexistent. Perhaps it was Xie Lian's own fault for not checking the map in the first place, but he honestly thought that he wouldn't need it. After all, the district that the shop was located in was easily visible from where Mu Qing pointed it out from their dorm window. Xie Lian figured he'd just walk in that general direction and ask around for the shop name, and then walk the same way back. He, however, did not account for the fact that the dorm would not be visible with all the towering buildings blocking his view.
“The food here is bland as hell, I'm sick of it,” Feng Xin had complained, and Mu Qing scoffed in response, rolling his eyes.
“This is the fifth time you've said that this week. If you keep complaining, I will throw away all of your socks”
“What the fuck?”
Xie Lian had to throw pillows at both of them to break up the fight that ensued. He demanded that they both apologize, and that's when Mu Qing chimed in with the wonderful idea of buying a “crap ton of snacks” from his favorite store as a child. They ended up insisting that Xie Lian be the one to make the impromptu grocery run, as he was the Xie clan heir, so if he got caught sneaking out, he would most likely only be lightly reprimanded. However, if either of his two dormmates snuck out, they could very well be expelled from the academy. Xie Lian could not argue with that knowledge, and besides, life wasn't as fun without a bit of rule breaking!
Xie Lian, at this time, slightly regretted his decisions. It seemed like he would just have to ask around for directions back to the academy. If only there were someone to ask. The street was still completely devoid of life.
“Okay, so I walked straight for about 5 minutes before taking a left at the red building, another two minutes before taking a right at the bridge, then…” Xie Lian paused his muttering as he heard a faint sniffling noise.
“...Hello?” He asked cautiously, and looked around for the source of the noise. He walked towards the sound, following it into an alleyway behind what looked to be an abandoned tattoo parlor.
The alleyway was ridden with trash, crumpled cans, and broken glasses. At the far end, there seemed to be a mound of clothes, and upon closer inspection, Xie Lian realized it was not clothes that he saw. It was a child.
The child was shivering, despite the warm weather. Xie Lian slowly approached, and set the bags and map on the ground once he got closer. He knelt down in front of the child, who either didn't notice he was there, or didn't care enough to react.
“Are you okay?” Xie Lian asked softly, and the child slowly raised their head in response. Their face was wrapped in bandages, covering the right side, and their black hair was so severely matted that Xie Lian doubted it could ever be fixed. One black eye peeked up at Xie Lian, filled with uncertainty, fear, and the tiniest bit of hope.
After a moment of silence, Xie Lian tried speaking again, "Could I get your name?”
The child was silent for a second, before murmuring, “Don't have one.”
Xie Lian was taken aback. Who in this world didn't have a name? It made no sense. Even pets had names, so how could this tiny child not have one?
“Surely you have something people call you, then?” Xie Lian asked, his voice a bit tight.
“...Honghong'er”
Xie Lian smiled at the adorable nickname, "Alright then, Honghong'er, it's nice to meet you. My name is Xie Lian.”
The child, who Xie Lian now assumed to be a boy, jolted back in surprise.
“Xie…?”
Ah, Xie Lian thought, so he recognized my name, then.
Suddenly, there were hurried footsteps coming from outside of the alleyway.
“Look over there!” A voice yelled.
Honghong'er gasped, then threw his hand on his mouth and curled in on himself.
“Are they looking for you?” Xie Lian asked, worried.
The boy nodded frantically, and tears started to well up in his eyes.
“Don't worry, I'll fix this.”
Xie Lian quickly looked around for something he could use to cover HongHong'er, and he found some torn up cardboard boxes and newspaper. He whispered to the boy to stay still, and covered him with all of the things he could find. Then, he grabbed his things and walked out of the alleyway towards the sound of the voices. There were two men and a woman, all in white coats, and wearing briefcases. Xie Lian froze, his eyes widening slightly, as a memory came to him.
“Cousin! Cousin save me!”
Xie Lian watched in horror as his cousin and his aunt were both dragged away by men in white suits. One of the men held a blade to his cousin's throat, and sneered at everyone present.
“If anyone tries to make a move, it dies here and now. Be good, and it lives.”
He could do nothing but watch as they were dragged away, kicking and screaming. It's my fault, he thought to himself.
His cousin had always been distant, rarely leaving the home where he and his mother resided. Xie Lian would visit often, and he knew very well that he was the only friend that Qi Rong had. The few times that they went outside together, Qi Rong was so rude to the other kids that no one ever wanted to play with him. But he was always nice to Xie Lian. One day, by chance, he happened to see one of Qi Rong's eyes turn red and black. He had mentioned it to his mother, and the next day, the men in the white coats came to take his cousin away.
It's my fault, it's all my fault!
He watched as his aunt wrestled free from the grip of one of the men and lunged towards her son, trying to grab him. He watched as a spear was impaled through his aunt's stomach, he watched as blood poured all over the stone pavement, dying it red, and he watched as the life faded from her eyes. Xie Lian could do nothing but watch as nausea and dread pooled in his stomach. He faintly heard his own mother screaming and Qi Rong crying, but all he could pay attention to was the puddle of blood that was slowly expanding. After that day, he never saw Qi Rong again.
He had learned later that Qi Rong was a half-ghoul. His aunt had run away to elope with the man she fell in love with, only to later realize that he was a ghoul. He eventually was killed, and his aunt and her two year old child came back to live with them. No one knew that Qi Rong wasn't human until Xie Lian mentioned his unnaturally colored eye.
Snapping back to the present, he quickly pulled himself back together so as to not seem suspicious, and slowly approached the people in white coats.
Their heads turned to him, and one of the men raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Well, ain't this the little Xie clan heir? Xie… Lian?”
Xie Lian was a little downcast that he had been recognized twice already. He nodded, and tried to look as meek as he could.
“Um… I just wanted to buy some snacks from my friend's favorite store, to surprise him…” he shifted from one foot to the other, and looked at the ground in shame.
The man laughed, “Alright, alright, we won't bother you then.” He paused, “Actually, have you seen a boy around these parts, black hair with bandages all over his face, about this tall?” He waved his hand out to indicate the approximate height.
Xie Lian put his hand to his chin, and tried very hard to look like he was pondering the question.
“Ah!” Xie Lian exclaimed, “Yes, I saw him! He went that way.” Xie Lian pointed towards the direction that he had originally come from, opposite from where Honghong'erwas hidden.
The man nodded, “Thank you for your cooperation, Xie-gongzi.”
The man motioned to his coworkers to follow him, and Xie Lian stood there, waiting until he could no longer see or hear the group. Then, he ran back to Honghong'er.
“Are you okay?” He asked as he arrived, slightly out of breath. Honghong'er shook the trash off of him, and nodded.
Xie Lian sighed in relief, and held out his hand, “Come on, before they realize that I lied, let's go. I'll take you somewhere safe.”
Honghong'er's eyes lit up, then a look of hesitation flashed on his face.
Xie Lian frowned, “Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I don't like those people either. They took away someone I cared about.”
Eventually, the boy nodded and grabbed his outstretched hand. Xie Lian pulled him up, and looked around.
“So, um… Actually… I don't know exactly where I'm going. Do you know how to get to Xianle academy?” Xie Lian laughed sheepishly, and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.
The boy thought for a moment, nodded, then started to drag Xie Lian out of the alleyway.
“Woah, woah, woah, slow down! How are you so strong? You can't be older than 10!”
It was nearing sunset when they approached the academy 20 minutes later, and the boy reluctantly let go of Xie Lian's hand as they came to a stop at the bottom of a grassy hill, spotted with trees. On top of the hill was a stone wall, and past that stone wall was the dorms.
“Okay, we're nearly there, now for the hard part,” Xie Lian said quietly, then nodded his head towards the stone gate, and pressed a finger to his lips, signaling to stay quiet. Xie Lian crouched down, then started walking slowly up the hill. He glanced behind him to see Honghong'er doing the same.
They made their way to a large tree with a branch that hung over the stone gate. Xie Lian stood up and turned towards Honghong'er.
“Okay, we will need to climb up the tree. There's a rope on the other side that we can use to climb down. Come here and I'll lift you up to the lowest branch.”
Honghong'er's eyes lit up, and he nodded enthusiastically. Xie Lian grabbed Honghong'er and held him up as high as possible. After a bit of struggle, he managed to wrap his arms around the branch.
“Okay, I am going to let go, can you pull yourself up?”
Honghong'er nodded, and true to his word, as soon as Xie Lian let go, he kicked his legs up and flipped himself over the branch so that he was sitting on it.
Once Honghong'er crawled closer to the trunk of the tree, Xie Lian jumped and grabbed the branch, and then struggled to pull himself up.
“How did you make this look so easy,” he whispered dispairingly after his third try. Honghong'er crawled back, and held out his hand to Xie Lian. Xie Lian grabbed it without question, and was simultaneously pulled up by the 9 year old boy. They did a little shuffle so that Xie Lian was once again in the lead, and they began to crawl again. The bark was rough against Xie Lian's hands, and he winced as he was scraped more than once. This was his second time climbing this tree in a day, and the scabs that had formed on his palms were scraped away. They made their way through the branches until they got to the one that hung over the stone wall. There was a grappling hook embedded in the branch, and the rope was tidily wrapped around it.
Honghong'er watched as Xie Lian unraveled the rope with a slight furrow in his brow. He tossed the rope and bags of snacks to the ground, and sighed shakily. The ground looks a lot further away from up here. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he stared at the ground that had to be more than 5 meters away.
“Well, here goes nothing…”
His slightly bloody hands grabbed onto the rope, and he slowly inched off of the branch until his feet were touching the side of the stone wall. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck, causing even more of his hair to stick to it. Holding onto the rope, he slowly walked down the wall.
Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down…
After what seemed like forever, his feet finally touched the ground. He sighed in relief, and plopped himself on the soft grass, then laid back in a starfish position to look at the gloomy sky.
“Hah! I did it!” He exclaimed quietly.
Honghong'er peeked out from the top of the branch with wide eyes. Xie Lian thought that he looked a little shaken. Probably afraid now that it's his turn to climb down.
Xie Lian stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants.
“Don't be afraid, if you fall, I will catch you!” Xie Lian whispered as loudly as he could.
Honghong'er's response was to simply blink, unhook the grappling hook, and throw the grappling hook with the rope still attached onto the ground, a notable distance from Xie Lian. Then, Xie Lian watched in horror as he jumped off the top of the tree that was at least 5 meters high.
Before Xie Lian even had time to scream at him to stop, he had already landed on the ground in a squat, completely unharmed.
Xie Lian gaped as Honghong'er stood up, brushed off his clothes, and looked at him with raised eyebrows and a questioning gaze, like what he did was completely and totally normal and Xie Lian was the weird one for being freaked out.
“...Okay, then,” Xie Lian mumbled uncertainly, and decided not to question anything.
They made their way to the dorm building, and Xie Lian stopped under his dorm room windows. His room was on the 2nd floor, and he would need Feng Xin and Mu Qing's help to get up. He got on his knees and started to pat the ground underneath the tall grass, looking for a suitable rock.
“Aha,” he exclaimed softly when his hand touched one, and he grabbed the rock and stood back up.
He nodded the rock that he held in his right hand into the air and caught it again. Then, he drew his hand back in a rather bad imitation of a baseball player, and threw the rock at his room’s window. Luckily, it hit on the first try.
The window opened very quickly after that, and Feng Xin's enraged face popped out to glare at him.
“Where the hell have you been? It has been two hours. And why the fuck do you have a homeless kid with you?” Feng Xin yelled, enraged. Xie Lian's eyes widened and he pressed a finger to his mouth.
“Shh! Do you want me to get caught?! And he helped me find my way back, so I am going to give him some clothes and something to eat to repay him!” He whisper-yelled back. Feng Xin looked to the side guiltily.
“Whatever,” he scoffed, then threw down a rope.
Xie Lian turned to Honghong'er, “you're going up first this time. Don't get any more crazy ideas, I don't want you to get hurt.”
Honghong'er gave him a look of poorly concealed surprise, and the corners of his mouth twitched into a slight smile. He nodded vigorously, then grabbed the rope and began to climb up.
Once Honghong'er climbed over the window frame and into the room, Xie Lian looped the grocery bags over his arm and followed.
He jumped over the window frame to see Honghong'er sitting with his back against the wall, and Mu Qing glaring at him with his arms crossed. Xie Lian walked over to Honghong'er as Feng Xin rolled up the rope.
“What's going on?” Xie Lian asked Mu Qing.
Mu Qing heaved a sigh and turned to face him, “What's going on, he says. Xie Lian, sometimes I wonder how you haven't gotten yourself killed by your own stupidity yet! You can't just pick up random people off the street and bring them to your home! Oh and, by the way, this one is lying! He says he's homeless, but I know all the homeless kids in Xianle and I have never seen this kid in my life.”
Xie Lian put his hands on his hips and shouted back, “He is just a child Mu Qing! He isn't going to hurt anyone! He was being chased by bad people, and I was completely lost, so what's the problem with asking him to lead the way here, then giving him a bit of shelter? I don't see any problem with that! Look at him!” Xie Lian picked him up under his arms and turned him to face Mu Qing, “Look at this kid! Look at how tiny he is! He couldn't hurt a fly!”
Suddenly, there was a bang, and all 3 of them turned to see Feng Xin with his fist on the wall.
“Did you, perhaps, forget about the open window?” He said as he gestured with both hands to the window that was, in fact, still wide open.
Xie Lian's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, while Mu Qing scoffed and rolled his eyes. He did also look a little embarrassed though.
Xie Lian gently set Honghong'er back on the ground while Feng Xin pulled the window closed.
“So, what even happened?” Feng Xin asked, exasperated, while flopping onto the bed beside him.
“I got lost,” Xie Lian shrugged, “Then I found Honghong'er. Some bad people started looking for him, so I took him away and asked him to lead me back to the academy. That's all that happened!” Xie lian explained, then tossed the bag of snacks to Mu Qing. “Heres your snacks, by the way.”
Feng Xin pressed a hand to his forehead and groaned, “I can't believe that I'm saying this, but Mu Qing has a point. You can't just bring strangers here, you know, the place we live, even if they seem like innocent-looking kids. What if those bad people followed you here? What if he is a thief? There are so many things that could have gone wrong.”
Xie lian huffed and dropped down on his own bed, opposite to Feng Xin's. “I don't care what you think, I still believe it's the right thing to do.”
Mu Qing rifled through the bags of snacks, and threw one to Xie Lian. “Here, you'll like this one best I think, it's sweet and a bit sour.”
Xie Lian's lips curved into a smile at Mu Qing's purposeful change of subject, then he patted the bed next to him.
“Come on, come on, have a seat! Don't just stand there awkwardly.”
Honghong'er's eyes darted between Xie Lian and the other boys. He looked visibly nervous, and Xie Lian couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
“Seriously, you guys, you scared him! Come on–I promise it's okay. Don't listen to anything those fuddy-duddies say.”
“Hey!” Mu Qing and Feng Xin yelled in unison, then glared at each other.
Xie Lian beamed as Honghong'er finally sat down. He grabbed a handful of the candy from the bag and held it out to Honghong'er.
“Hey! What the hell, why are you hogging all the snacks, I was the reason you got this whole snack run idea anyways! Give me some snacks!”
Xie Lian rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh at the two's bantering, and then chose to completely ignore them once Feng Xin decided to tackle Mu Qing.
Xie Lian turned his attention back to the boy beside him, who still hadn't taken the candy. “Here, try some! It's very yummy.”
Honghong'er looked at the candy, then slowly turned his eyes up to Xie Lian, looking visibly confused. They sat there like that for a few moments, staring at each other in confusion, while Mu Qing tried to smother Feng Xin with a pillow on the other side of the room.
“...Um, do you not like candy? I can get you something else then."
A look of realization flashed in Honghong'er's eyes, and he quickly shook his head back and forth.
“So you do want it?”
He nodded just as enthusiastically. Then, he hesitantly inched his hand forward, and picked up a single candy. He stared at it for a few seconds, somewhat cross-eyed, before squeezing his eyes shut and shoving the candy in his mouth.
He immediately gagged and spit the candy back out, then threw a hand over his mouth and looked at Xie Lian, terrified. His entire body was shaking, and his eyes were visibly wet.
Xie Lian was dumbfounded, and even Mu Qing and Feng Xin had their attention pulled away from their petty fight and towards the boy. Why did he have such a violent reaction to some candy? Just what is going on?
“Ah… not a fan of sour things, huh?” Xie Lian laughed nervously. He watched as Honghong'er visibly melted in relief. “Mu Qing, do you have anything more mild for-” Xie Lian began to say as he turned towards his friend, but paused as soon as he saw his face. He was glaring at the boy, his eyes narrowed in suspicion, and his hands clenching at the bag of snacks so hard that his knuckles turned white. “...him?” Xie Lian's eyes flicked towards Feng Xin to see he had a similar expression on his face. Really, it was weird how these two hated each other so much when they were so alike.
Mu Qing quickly snapped out of the trance he was in, then nodded slowly. The shuffled his hand through the bag, and pulled it back out holding a few bright red chips. Xie Lian walked over, grabbed the chips, and walked back to Honghong'er, who was still curled in on himself and looking like he'd rather be anywhere but there. Mu Qing took out a can of milk tea and popped it open. He did nothing but hold it in his hand while watching Honghong'er expectantly. Xie Lian couldn't help but feel something was wrong.
“Uh… here you go, hopefully you'll like these better!”
Honghong'er's face said that he would definitely not like them better. He shoved the chip in his mouth anyways.
Somehow, his reaction was even more violent this time. He doubled over coughing, and his entire face turned red.
“Are you okay?” Xie Lian put his hands on Honghong'er's shoulders, “what happened? Mu Qing, what did you give him?”
“Oh no, I accidentally handed you a hot cheeto.” He said in a flat voice, very much implying that it was not at all an accident. “Here, some milk tea, it should help with the burn.”
He walked over and held out the can of tea in front of Honghong'er. Honghong'er's eyes were wide and he was shivering. He shook his head back and forth and looked away.
“Oh? Isn't your mouth burning? You should drink this, it will help. Unless… you have something to hide?”
Honghong'er's head whipped around to face Mu Qing. All 3 boys stared at Honghong'er. Xie Lian kept a hand on his shoulder, Mu Qing held out the can of tea and raised his eyebrows expectantly, and Feng Xin had backed into the corner of the room that was furthest away, a fist pressed over his mouth. For once, he was completely silent.
“Mu Qing, what are you trying to do? Why do you sound like you're accusing a criminal?” Xie Lian snipped at his friend, who only rolled his eyes in response.
Honghong'er snatched the can of tea from Mu Qing, brought it to his mouth, and started chugging it. Not even two seconds after he started, he threw up all of the tea that he drank, and dropped the can. It rolled across the carpet, spilling milk tea as it crossed over to where Feng Xin stood.
“Honghong'er, are you sick? Just what is going on?” Xie Lian grabbed his chin and moved his head from side to side, looking at his complexion, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. He only stopped when he saw Honghong'er's eyes widen in fear. Honghong'er scooted backwards on the bed until his back hit the wall. He was shaking his head back and forth frantically as he stared at something behind Xie Lian. Xie Lian turned, and his heart dropped.
“Mu Qing, what are you doing?”
Mu Qing had pulled out a gun from who knows where, and was pointing it straight at Honghong'er. Without even thinking, Xie Lian dove in front of the child and held his arms out.
“Get. Away. From that thing.” Mu Qing snarled with his teeth clenched. He kept the gun pointed to the two of them, not moving an inch.
“MU QING! What the fuck do you think you're doing, huh?! Don't point a fucking gun at Xie Lian!” Feng Xin roared and stomped over, then punched Mu Qing in the side.
Mu Qing glowered, but he did lower the gun. He, however, did not put it into safety mode.
“Mu Qing, explain yourself!” Xie Lian cried. Why was he pointing a gun at Honghong'er? Why does he even have a gun? That can't be legal!
“You should be asking that question to the thing behind you. I wonder, Xie Lian, just who were those ‘bad people’ that were following him? We're they, perhaps, dressed in white?”
Xie Lian's heart sank even further as realization dawned on him. People in white. The CCG. The CCG who hunts ghouls. The same CCG who took Qi Rong away, who was a ghoul. How did I not put it together sooner? No wonder Honghong'er couldn't eat food!
Xie Lian didn't move. He scooted back, getting closer to Honghong'er, and glared at Mu Qing.
“So what if he's a ghoul, he's still a kid! Just let him go, don't you dare try and shoot him. If you do, I'll turn myself in to the CCG for harboring a ghoul, so there!”
Mu Qing's eyes narrowed, and Feng Xin facepalmed.
“What are you doing Xie Lian! You're going to get people killed! Or didn't you forget, ghouls eat people!”
“WE DON'T KNOW THAT HE HURT ANYONE! Did Qi Rong ever hurt anyone? Why did he have to suffer such a fate when he was innocent!”
Feng Xin stomped on the ground, “Can you stop bringing up that shitty cousin of yours!”
“Something we agree on, for once!” Mu Qing yelled.
“I don't care what you two think, you will let him go. And you still haven't explained why you have a gun!”
Mu Qing laughed, sounding a bit insane, “You're still stuck on that? My parents are dead, Xie Lian. WHO DO YOU THINK IT WAS THAT KILLED THEM? Have you ever even wondered who has been raising me since their deaths? Has that thought ever crossed your mind?”
Oh.
Oh no.
“You work for them? You…” Xie Lian couldn't help but feel betrayed. After all, the CCG were the ones who killed his aunt and took his cousin away. He had never liked them. How good could someone be if they did things like that? Besides, they killed ghouls indiscriminately, but how could all ghouls be evil? His cousin wasn't evil at all. Sure, he was a little annoying, spoiled, and had zero social skills, but that wasn't a reason for him to die. Xie Lian thought that Honghong'er wasn't evil either. He was just a kid, and they were alone for plenty of times today. If he had really wanted to, he could have killed Xie Lian without question, but he didn't.
Xie Lian sighed and turned around to face Honghong'er. The boy looked utterly horrified, his knees were pressed to his chest with his hands wrapped around them, and he was shaking so hard that Xie Lian was slightly worried that he was having a seizure.
“Come on, let's go, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to you.” He threw a glare back over his shoulder at Mu Qing, then grabbed Honghong'er's hands. A look of hope appeared on Honghong'er’s face.
“You-” Mu Qing exclaimed.
“XIE LIAN.”
Xie Lian ignored them, and stood in front of Honghong'er, blocking their view. He walked him to the window as quickly as he could.
“Go on, I'll make sure they won't tell anyone about you,” Xie Lian said softly. Honghong'er looked up at him and beamed, then threw his arms around him and whispered a quiet “thank you.”
Then, he turned around and jumped out of the window.
Xie Lian whirled around to face his friends with his hands on his hips. They were both glaring daggers at him.
“He wouldn't hurt a fly,” Mu Qing said mockingly.