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“Don’t touch me!”
It was hard to breathe. The moon shining down at him only felt as if the heavens were taunting him. Loud, unbroken sobs left him. Pete gripped helplessly at the ground beneath him.
For any type of anchor.
To think the one who tied his souls to his would lie to him.
Make him believe that he was going to be able to save his sister.
Now he had to think of a life without her. Just when he was starting to pick himself back up for her. Be a proper big brother.
Pete sniffled. He could feel Thua, Tao, and Jack silently standing behind him. Obviously wanting to comfort him but holding back after he previously lashed out at them. They didn’t deserve any of his anger but he couldn’t help himself.
Well, was it anger?
No it was mainly betrayal. Or he was sad.
Who knows. He couldn’t speak or think properly. His body only wished to curl into himself. Each sob and whimper that left him caused his body to shake. He glanced down, remembering the shirt he had to force Niran to wear.
What a joke.
Pete moved to stand up. Ploy… he couldn’t leave her alone. Even if what was left of her was essentially a corpse. He wanted to hug his sister. Before he could fully stand up, the sound of glass shattering caught his attention.
Everyone, who were originally focused on Pete, turned over in shock to see the artifact that held Qi Rong was broken.
Broken by Niran.
Qi Rong was free. The red spirit rushed away as white little whisps rushed away—as if they were returning to somewhere.
Jia Hao was the first to react. His voice boomed in the empty air, “what the fuck did you just do?!”
“Niran!” Fei gasped. Her face contorted between shock, disbelief, horror, and pure disappointment. She moved to step forward to Niran who still had his back facing everyone but Jia Hao beat her to it.
“Answer me!” Jia Hao yelled, his hands grasped Niran’s shirt as he shook him violently. While they were both equal in height—Jia Hao was intimidating due to his bulky frame. But Niran didn’t look fearful.
No, he didn’t have an expression at all.
Blank, almost dead, eyes stared back at Jia Hao. Niran didn’t make a sound. He didn’t move. His gaze only focused on Jia Hao.
“Niran, do you understand what you just did?” Fei spoke. “After all of our efforts, you—”her voice rose in pitch but she let out a loud sigh, calming herself down. “You set him free?”
Pete could only stare. No words left him. His face was still stained with tears. A small sniffle left him when he reached up to wipe away a stray tear.
Niran’s inability to answer seemed to only frustrate Jia Hao even more. His grip tightening. “You!” From his anger, he was no longer speaking Thai but Chinese. “Bastard, did you do that all for him? Did you risk everything because of him?”
Everyone besides Fei was confused. Pete glanced over at Tong, wondering if he could understand what Jia Hao said but the other shook his head. He turned his attention over to Fei.
“Niran, tell us that’s not true.” Fei replied in Thai but switched over to Chinese. “You did, didn’t you? For him? A man you just met? How can you let your feelings take over your duties as a Wu!”
Even though Pete couldn’t understand—he could tell that whatever Fei said had angered Niran.
Niran didn’t waver nor did he falter. His hand slowly reached up and roughly pulled Jia Hao’s hands off of him. “He’ll always come before anything or anyone.”
Jia Hao glared at him. “Fine. So if you had to sacrifice him, in order to save us—no the world, would you do it?”
“No.”
“Niran.” Fei scolded. “You can’t be serious.”
“You—Niran, if the demon took over his body, would you have it in yourself to kill him?”
“Jia Hao—”
Jia Hao shook his head, “let him answer Fei.”
Niran’s jaw tightened. “I wouldn’t.”
“Even if it’s no longer him?”
“It’ll always be him. I’d keep him in chains if I had to. Because he will always be my Pete. I’d find a way to save him.” Niran said. The mention of Pete’s name catching his attention even though he didn’t understand what was said.
Jia Hao stared at Niran. A shocked laugh left him. “You’re insane.” He said. “You’re insane… You’re a Wu… how can you—?”
“Because Pete matters more to me than being a Wu.” That silenced Jia Hao. Niran didn’t say anything else. With one last look at Jia Hao, he walked away.
He walked past everyone and no one moved to stop him. Pete watched after him. His previous anger all gone.
Jia Hao let out a bitter laugh. “He didn’t lie to you, Pete.” He said. “He lied to us.”
Pete quickly stood up. His legs felt shaky as he rushed to see where Niran was going. The stairs to get back down were long but somehow Niran was already gone. Pete cursed and began rushing down the stairs to quickly catch up.
“Niran!” Pete called out. “Niran, wait!”
One missed step and suddenly Pete found himself tumbling down. He gasped when he roughly reached the bottom, his back tingling and head ringing. After having to handle all of Qi Rong’s energy so no one else got affected—his body felt weaker than usual.
He slowly stood up only to feel sharp pain in his left ankle. Pete bit down on his lip to muffle any cry. Shit, was now the time to sprain an ankle?
Despite the pain, he continued on. Each step brought a tear to his eye. Since he was already crying before it simply looked like he had been crying for ages now.
Pete walked a few more steps and sighed in relief when he saw Niran hadn’t left. Niran stood by the car he, Fei, and Jia Hao had come by. He must’ve been debating if he should walk home or take the car. It was his car anyway.
“Niran!” Pete called out.
Almost immediately Niran looked back. His eyes that once held no emotions now held too many. He looked upset, a little confused judging by the way his eyebrows narrowed.
It was probably a shock to see Pete even wanting to speak to him right now. Especially after Pete almost hit him. Pete slowed to a stop once he stood in front of Niran. He knew he must look like a mess.
Eyes red, face stained with tears. He brushed his hair back to get them out of his eyes. Now that he was in front of Niran it was hard to think of what to say. He hadn’t thought this far.
Niran hummed. “Pete.”
“You…” Pete muttered, eyes struggling to hold Niran’s gaze. “Did you do that… for me?” He felt a little conceited for saying something like that. Why would Niran risk everything just for him? Maybe he believed that leaving all those poor students to die was—
“Mhm.”
Pete couldn’t help the small gasp that left him. “You—? Really? Why?”
Niran sighed, his gaze flickering away from Pete. Why wouldn’t he? There were so many reasons why he did it. “Your tears.” Was all he said. A man of few words.
“My tears?” Pete let out a wet laugh. “So you’d do anything if I cried about it?”
He expected Niran to joke back—banter with him. Call him weird for insinuating that Niran cared for him like a lover. But Niran only looked back at Pete. His gaze unwavering. He didn’t say anything but his gaze was enough.
Pete felt his cheeks flush. Who knew he would cry his heart out only to blush like a school girl minutes later. “Then…”
Niran stepped forward, causing Pete to flinch from his sudden movement. He reached over and grasped the back of Pete’s neck like he did so hours ago. The touch made Pete’s body tingle. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Blaming it on the soul binding felt like a cheap cop out.
He wanted Niran to touch him.
Wanted to feel those hands all over him.
What the hell?
Pete’s eyes were wide. While he and Niran were similar in height, he felt as if he was looking up at Niran. His teeth bit at his bottom lip. Heart racing as he tried to calm himself down. This was normal.
Friends touched each other.
Well friends didn’t soul bind their souls until they died but that’s another topic for another day.
Niran’s gaze narrowed. And if Pete was delusional enough, he would’ve thought Niran stared at his lips for a split second. “Ai’Pete, I’d do anything for you.” He said, his voice soft. It was nothing like how he spoke to others—how he sounded when he performed the rituals.
A voice that felt like it was just for Pete.
A tone that would bless Pete and only Pete.
The thought made him giddy.
“Let’s go home.” Niran pulled away.
Pete tried to ignore the ache in his heart at the loss of touch. He nodded. “Okay.”
“I don’t have the keys. Jiejie does. So let’s walk.” He moved to walk and Pete tried to follow. Only for him to remember that he had a sprained ankle.
“Ow!” Pete cried out, almost falling but Niran quickly managed to catch him.
“What happened?”
“I tripped downstairs when I was…” Pete felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Trying to follow you.”
Niran huffed. His usual personality seeming to come back much to Pete’s delight. “Are you accident prone or something? Why were you rushing?”
Pete pouted, “I didn’t want you to leave without me.”
That got Niran to close his mouth. He gulped, jaw tightening once more. A sigh left him before he kneeled down—back facing Pete.
“What are you doing?” Pete blinked.
“Get on my back. I’ll carry you back.”
“Wait, we can… we can just wait for Fei or get a cab—”
Niran reached back and grabbed Pete’s hand, tugging him close. “Get on.”
Pete stumbled forward. He gasped, chest bumping into Niran’s back before he suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air. He quickly wrapped his arms around Niran’s neck for stability.
“Uh—! Not so tight…..” Niran choked out.
“Sorry!”
The walk back was mostly silent. Pete tried his best to not rest his full weight onto Niran, unsure if the other could really carry him. But to his shock Niran didn’t stumble or hesitate while walking. His hands had a tight simple grip on Pete’s legs. It almost felt a little possessive.
But Pete pushed the thought away.
Pete hesitantly placed his chin on Niran’s shoulder. “Niran…”
“Hm?”
“What were you guys talking about earlier?”
“It’s nothing.”
Pete frowned, lips jutting out into a pout as he sighed, “it was about me wasn’t it? You said my name. Jia Hao and Fei were really upset about what you said.”
“It happens.” Niran simply answered.
“Hmph. I’m going to learn Chinese so you guys don’t talk behind my back ever again!” Pete declared.
“Go ahead, I’m sure you can learn.”
“I already know a word or two. Jia Hao told me about them when he was drunk.”
“Like what?”
Pete leaned in closer to Niran, his breath tickling the other’s ear. “Wǒ xiǎng yào nǐ, lǎo gong.”
Niran nearly stopped in his tracks—Pete almost slipping from his grasp. Pete gasped and quickly tightened his grip around Niran’s neck.
“W-Why would he teach you that?!” Niran practically yelled out. The tips of his ears turning red.
“Huh? He said that I should tell you that to make fun of you.” Pete naively responded.
“Bastard…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Don’t say something if you don’t know what it means.”
“Then teach me.”
Niran tightened his grip on Pete. “Only if I get something in return.”
“Hmmm, say the word. I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?”
“Anything!”
“Mhm. I’ll remember that.” Niran said as he continued on walking.
Pete placed his chin back on Niran’s shoulder, feeling his body begging to rest. As he slowly closed his eyes—he realized he maybe shouldn’t have promised to do ‘anything’ to learn Chinese.
Before…
“So if I say that to him, it’s like me insulting him?” Pete asked, tilting his head.
Jia Hao only hummed. He took a sip of his liquor and let out a chuckle. “It’ll stop him in his tracks for sure. Just remember to pronounce it right. Wouldn’t want you saying the wrong thing.”
He smirked devilishly as Pete nodded. Jia Hao was enjoying messing with Niran. Ah, if only he was going to be able to see the look on Niran’s face when Pete says that to him.
‘Husband, I want you…’
Ah, hilarious. But knowing Niran, he’d probably enjoy it…