“Asleep.” A clear, smooth voice responded to him.
Ning Shuang laughed. “You’re even cracking jokes now.”
Ji Huaizhi opened his eyes and looked at him. “Can’t sleep?”
How could Ning Shuang possibly sleep soundly with the object of his love right there in the same bed?
He nodded. “A little.”
Ji Huaizhi asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ning Shuang furrowed his brow, wrestling with his thoughts for a long while before finally speaking cautiously. “I want to confess something to you. No matter what, I hope you won’t get mad—or even if you do, please don’t leave here.”
His voice was a bit sticky, probably because he’d just been lying there with his eyes closed, trying to summon some sleepiness.
Ji Huaizhi seemed to have anticipated what was coming, and he felt his heart beat faster. “What is it?”
There was a note of pleasure in his tone.
Ning Shuang continued, “Um, I don’t know how you feel about guys liking guys. If you’re totally against it, then I’m sorry, but my orientation seems to be toward guys.”
A flicker of confusion passed over Ji Huaizhi’s face. This wasn’t what he’d expected.
He didn’t respond right away, as Ning Shuang kept going. “So if you’re uncomfortable with that, I’ll go sleep on the sofa right now.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he felt a cool hand suddenly grasp his wrist where it rested on the pillow. Ji Huaizhi’s voice was hoarse as he said, “It’s fine.”
He paused, then added gently, “When it comes to you, it’s fine.”
Ning Shuang: !!
His clear eyes widened in an instant, and any trace of sleepiness he’d managed to muster vanished into thin air.
“You—you—you really mean that?” Ning Shuang felt certain his face was as red as a boiled shrimp. He hadn’t even noticed his voice trembling.
Ji Huaizhi released his hand. “Is that what’s been keeping you up this whole time?”
Well, not exactly. It was mostly because you were lying right there beside him, making it impossible to calm down.
Ning Shuang nodded, his tone noticeably lighter. “Yeah, but now that it’s out in the open, I’m good. Let’s sleep, then. We’ve got a movie to catch tomorrow.”
Ji Huaizhi said, “Okay.”
Ning Shuang was satisfied.
He pulled the blanket up a bit higher, covering half his face and leaving only his eyes peeking out.
“Good night, Ji Huaizhi. This time, for real.”
Ji Huaizhi watched him for a long moment before his lips curved faintly. “Good night, Ning Shuang.”
~~~
The path beneath his feet was a moss-covered slab of bluestone.
Strange plants grew along both sides of the road, their flowers resembling human faces one after another.
Somehow, Ning Shuang had ended up here. He glanced back and saw only an endless abyss behind him. Ahead, at the end of the bluestone path, stood a tightly shut, weathered door.
It was an ancient carved wooden door, its patterns worn from years of exposure to the elements.
Where was this…?
This place wasn’t in Ning Shuang’s memory.
Yet he had a premonition that if he pushed open this dilapidated door, he would tumble into an abyss of no return.
Through the cracks in the door, he seemed to glimpse someone inside speaking—his younger self?
Ning Shuang gently pushed the door open.
“Creeeak—” The old door emitted an unpleasant groan.
A harsh, grating cacophony. That was Ning Shuang’s assessment.
Only after stepping inside did he realize his hands and feet had shrunk; he’d turned into his childhood self.
He whipped around quickly, but the door that had brought him here was gone, replaced by a stilt house. Beneath it lay the ancestral hall from his hometown.
So he was on the path from behind the ancestral hall to the back mountain now?
He remembered this road well. As a kid, he’d often sneak off from here to play in the back mountain. That all stopped at fourteen, when he’d caught a chill from staying out too long. After he recovered, his family forbade him from going there anymore, and gradually, he stopped altogether.
Ning Shuang made his way slowly up the stone steps. Everything around him matched his memories perfectly, unchanged.
Further up, the steps gave way to a rugged mountain path. A small stream appeared before him, and he crossed it via a log bridge.
Then he entered a whole new world.
The mountain forests of the Miao Village were nothing like those outside.
Every few steps brought poisonous snakes, venomous insects, and all sorts of toxic plants.
As a Miao Frontier native, Ning Shuang wasn’t afraid of such things, but he’d never liked bugs or snakes since he was little, so he felt uneasy all the same.
Pushing through the underbrush, Ning Shuang came upon another scene.
A small clearing lay before him, with a hammock woven from vines strung between two trees, not far off the ground. Ning Shuang wondered curiously if someone actually lived here.
He grabbed the edge of the vines and flipped onto it, swinging gently. The sky overhead was gray and dim, without a hint of sunlight.
A sudden gust blew up, tumbling him off the hammock. He landed hard on his rear, nearly splitting it in two. Pain shot through him as he lay on the ground, grimacing and rubbing his backside while scanning his surroundings.
Suddenly, he spotted a blurry figure not far away, hidden behind some bushes.
Rubbing his sore bottom, Ning Shuang crept toward the bushes. It was a person of moderate height, with shoulder-length hair, kneeling upright on the ground. From the back, she seemed a bit smaller than him.
Ning Shuang was always too rowdy in the village; parents of kids his age wouldn’t let them play with him. So seeing another child here came as a shock.
He quietly parted the bushes, leaping out to scare the other kid. He was just about to let out a roar when the kneeling little girl suddenly turned her head toward him.
Startling Ning Shuang instead.
“Whoa!” He plopped down onto his butt.
So creepy…
Ning Shuang couldn’t make out her face.
It was blurry. He could only hear her voice. “Who are you?”
A boy’s voice?!
Ning Shuang’s eyes widened as he scrutinized the figure before him.
The little boy was kneeling, and even as he spoke to Ning Shuang, his knees stayed planted firmly on the ground.
“I’m Ning Shuang. Who are you? What are you doing here?” Ning Shuang stood and scampered over to the little boy.
The little boy lowered his head, ignoring the question.
Ning Shuang pressed, “Why are you kneeling on the ground? Aren’t you cold? There are poisonous bugs here, and tons of snakes…”
The little boy looked up. Though Ning Shuang couldn’t make out his features, he could feel the intensity of the gaze fixed on him. But the boy said nothing.
“Um…” Ning Shuang cupped his chin, bending down to meet the kneeling boy’s eyes at his level. “Where are your parents?”
The little boy replied, “I’m being punished. Can you not talk to me?”
He’d spoken at last.
Ning Shuang puffed up like a little adult. “You’re being punished by kneeling here? Why?”
“Because I did something wrong,” the little boy said.
Ning Shuang sat beside him. “You did something wrong, so they make you kneel here? That’s too harsh.”
“…” The little boy glanced at him but fell silent again.
Ning Shuang leaned in closer, tempted to peel away the thin veil of darkness shrouding the boy’s face. But even up close, he still couldn’t see it clearly.
Instead, he noticed the boy’s chapped, dehydrated lips.
Ning Shuang sprang to his feet, looking around before dashing off. Soon he returned, cradling clear spring water in a massive banana leaf, his pockets bulging with wild berries.
He held the water out to the little boy with a grin. “Drink!”
“…” The little boy merely glanced at it.
Ning Shuang grew impatient and thrust the leaf toward the boy’s lips. “It’s from the stream over there—safe to drink. Come on, have some!”
The little boy relented and let Ning Shuang feed him every drop from the leaf.
Once it was empty, Ning Shuang pulled out the fresh wild berries from his pocket and dumped them all into the little boy’s hands.
“Eat up.” Ning Shuang urged, “Sit and rest for a bit. I checked around specially—there’s no one nearby at all!”
The little boy hesitated. “But I’m being punished.”
“You’re just a kid. Why make you kneel here? Parents always dote on their children the most. Even if you sit and rest, they wouldn’t really blame you.” Ning Shuang’s own parents had always been wonderfully kind to him, so he couldn’t imagine parents who weren’t.
The little boy said, “They’ll hit me.”
“They won’t. If they try, come find me in the village. I’ll get revenge for you!” Ning Shuang declared loyally. He tugged hard at the little boy, leading him over to a large nearby rock.
The boy limped along behind him until Ning Shuang finally forced him to sit on the stone.
“Your knees… they’re bleeding,” Ning Shuang said.
He crouched down in front of the little boy, his face full of sympathy for him.
“It’ll be fine,” the boy said.
“They definitely aren’t your real parents. They’re way too cruel,” Ning Shuang insisted.
“They are my real parents,” the little boy emphasized.
Ning Shuang felt a bit helpless. “I was just exaggerating! Hurry up and eat those wild fruits. I’ll go find some herbs to put on your wounds.”
He had been around plants and flowers since he was little. Though he wasn’t an expert, he could manage to find some that would reduce the swelling and promote healing.
It wasn’t long before he returned clutching a handful of herbs.
The little boy was still sitting obediently on the rock, waiting for him. Ning Shuang felt a surge of warmth at the sight.
He stepped forward and carefully bandaged the boy’s knees.
Then he sat down beside him. “When are you heading home? We can go back together later.”
The little boy’s tone turned dejected. “I can’t go home for a whole month.”
Ning Shuang was stunned. “A whole month? Where do you sleep? What do you eat?”
It took him a few seconds to put it together. The hammock he’d seen earlier must be the boy’s bed, and the wild fruits cradled in his arms were his meals.
“Are you cold at night?” Ning Shuang asked, determined to help however he could.
The little boy shook his head, though he let out a light cough. “I’m fine.”
“You’re coughing, and you call that fine?!” Ning Shuang jumped to his feet, shrugged off his thick jacket, and draped it over the boy.
“Your parents are awful!” he said angrily.
“From now on, let’s be good friends. I’ll protect you, okay?” Ning Shuang’s other friends had stopped playing with him because their parents wouldn’t let them hang out with him anymore. This boy’s parents clearly didn’t care about him, so they probably wouldn’t mind who he befriended, either.
The little boy nodded. “Okay!”
“Hee hee, great! Will you be here tomorrow? I’ll come find you and bring something yummy—steamed buns my mom made.” Ning Shuang’s joy was impossible to hide.
…
Over the next two weeks, they became fast friends. Every time Ning Shuang visited, he brought a thick piece of clothing and added it to the boy’s hammock so he wouldn’t get so cold at night.
He always came bearing tasty treats and fun little toys, too.
By the time his mother started wondering why Ning Shuang kept “losing” his clothes, the little boy’s punishment had finally ended.
That afternoon, they sat by the stream, soaking their feet. The boy said, “Tomorrow my kneeling punishment is over. I have to go home.”
“Where’s your house? Once you’re back, I’ll come find you and we can play,” Ning Shuang said, taking a bite of an apple.
The boy’s voice grew quieter. “My home…”
“My home won’t let me go out.”
“Why not? Don’t you have to go to school?” Ning Shuang asked, puzzled.
The boy didn’t answer directly. Instead, he turned his head and looked at Ning Shuang. His usually hazy face seemed to clear up a little, and most strikingly, Ning Shuang could now see his eyes.
They were dark and brooding, filled with a possessive hunger—and their pupils seemed to glow with a faint purple light. He stared at Ning Shuang. “From now on, we’ll be together forever, okay?”
“From now on, we’ll be together forever, okay…”
“Forever together, okay…”
“Forever, okay…”
“Forever…”
