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“You are cured. Your body is aging as a normal person now and there are no indications of side effects or other diseases. I have to say I'm really surprised!”
When the dean from Meiyu private hospital finally left, Xie Qingcheng’s thoughts were in turmoil and he drove home without understanding what was happening. There is no such thing as a good fortune, right? When he almost died, Qin Ciyan was the one who saved him. After he injected RN-13 on himself once more, the god of death was so close to reach him and yet, another miracle had kept him bounded to the world of the living.
How come? A cure? He obtained the outcome he always wanted in a way he couldn't have ever imagine...
He had studied diligently for years, submitted himself to the most painful and excruciating treatment just to prolong his life. He remembered for a moment the agony during the sessions, the needles that pierced his body, the dizziness and nausea he felt after waking up each time. The goal was to get a few more years to resolve his pending issues: the truth about his parents’ death, about what really happened to Qin Ciyan, and to find a cure or a dignified treatment for patients who were subjected to RN-13. He felt that this was his final duty as the Primeval Emperor, as a doctor, as Qin Ciyan's adoptive son. He couldn't waste his valuable time thinking about anything else or anyone else. That’s right, his short life had to be meaningful and useful, not to be wasted in trivial matters.
Still, who would have thought that an unexpected someone would derail the Emperor’s plans?
A problematic person that turned out to be the cure he was searching for.
A cure for his body and a cure to his broken soul.
Xiao Gui.
That kid, He Yu.
It was not like he didn’t think about Xie Xue, his own family and blood, or about his friend Chen Man, or even the aunties in the village when he analyzes his own feelings.
But with that boy He Yu, his heart is always uneasy, it's certainly 'that' different kind of feeling. As much as he avoided him at all costs, as much as he considered himself a straight man to the bones, and although he had given up on love affairs after his divorce…
That youngling gave him no other choice but to fall.
To love.
Xiao Gui… Xiao Gui…
After what happened that night, Xie Qingcheng was experiencing a daily dose of agony and anxiety. He never felt so worried in his life. He thought that the loss of his parents or Qin Ciyan’s death had been painful enough to endure, but nothing could compare to the suffocating feeling that welled up in his chest in the past month. The situation seemed to consume him completely. He wanted to scream, but his voice was hoarse, and wanted to cry, but the tears had already dried up. Then, he tried to focus on his work, but it was useless due to the several nights he was sleepless. It didn’t take long for him to start taking some medication to help in this matter.
Xie Qingcheng was so fatigued that his face was showing dark circles, eye bags, and wrinkles. It was even worse than when he had an actual sick body! His students noticed, the other professors noticed, Xie Xue and Chen Man noticed…and even Auntie Li…
He Yu… What did they do to you? Where are you?
"Xie-Ge I want you to live. Live, this is my command."
"Xie-Ge if there is reincarnation, I would fall in love with you 100 thousand times or 100 million times..."
He has always wanted to end his relationship with He Yu. That crazy, persistent, and passionate entanglement with the boy took away his sanity, and he thought for a while that they were doing such a wrong thing to be together like that....
But...what happened between them, was it really wrong?
Indeed, in all of a person's life there would be mistakes and regrets, situations when maybe one would feel ashamed and wanted to erase from its life without a trace after a sincere apology. But love could not be a mistake. Whether eros or agape [1], how could love be considered a bad thing?
Yes, He Yu was his ex-patient, someone from a powerful and rich family, son of his previous employer. Yes, he was 13 younger than him, impulsive, obsessive, childish, sometimes creepy and cringe.
He was... such a lonely someone...
And... a man.
However...
"Xie-Ge it's so painful to like you... I'm sorry, I'm hopeless... I just love you. I want to love you every single day of my life. If you don't want to live for yourself just do this for me, okay? just do this for me, okay?"
Xie Qingcheng finally got home with his medical results in his hands. He sat down next to the window, and said the boy's name in a low tone, his eyes wet, “He Yu…”
After that little devil found out about his health condition, Xie Qingcheng was disturbed by him almost all the time they’d met. He Yu wanted to take him to the United States for proper treatment, which was obviously refused. The financial cost would be sky-high, and Xie Qingcheng could not afford it. Moreover, as a man, he could never admit He Yu to pay for him. He had his pride, after all. Still, the young man's insistence was exhausting.
“Ge...consider this as if I'm lending you money then.”
“He Yu, even if I work my entire life I wouldn’t be able to pay you back this ammount of money!”
“Then marry me. It’s okay for a married couple to pay for each other stuff right?”
“The hell I would marry you! Go fucking marry someone else! brat!”
He Yu was silent for a moment and then teased him, “I’m sorry to inform you, Dr. Xie, we will get married and be happily ever after. It’s inevitable, we are soulmates, a match made in heaven! Perhaps you will be the one who proposes in the end, hm?”
Xie Qingcheng was feeling angry, “You are dreaming too much!”
He Yu sighed and then continued, “Ge, then take it as a gift… a special gift from a patient that is so grateful for your service… you treated me and you took me away from the abyss! You gave me hope! I owe you, right? So let me pay you back!”
At some point Xie Qingcheng felt tired and ended up promising with a lie that he would go abroad with He Yu as soon as the school semester was over, just so that the boy would stop insisting on the matter.
Added to all of that tiresome insistence, He Yu was also disturbing him with something else.
Every single day, from the moment He Yu found out that Xie Qingcheng had only six years at most to live, he started to give Xie Qingcheng bloody kisses and to say a command: “Live Xie-Ge, live.”
When he first did it, Xie Qingcheng thought: kid is doing childish things again, and rolled his eyes . On the other side, He Yu was somehow feeling relived kissing him like that, as if Xie Qingcheng’s cells and bones were responding to his Blood Gu’s command.
The days went by, and it was all the same...
“Xie-Ge I command you, live!”
Whether after they’d met in the university's cafeteria, or after Xie Qingcheng’s classes, even when they went to the vegetarian restaurant, to the movies, empty parking lots, or in their crazy lovemaking nights... he would attempt to bloody kiss him and to say at least once...
“Ge... I command you to live. I love you, live with me Xie-Ge, live with me, I’ll accompany you, for the rest of my life.”
Of course, Xie Qingcheng didin’t give too much attention to that kid’s silly act.
Until today, when he got the exams results on his hands and Lao Qin’s fellow colleague in private Meiyu hospital was looking at him with disbelief.
“I really, really don’t know what happened Xie Qingcheng. The alternative treatments you went through would only give you a few years… and your life would last a bit more, but definitely, that painful treatment was not made to reach a cure. And even if a patient take those injections in higher doses, as I found out you did, it was expected that we could detect some cancerous tumors in the body eventually. You were willing to pay such a high price for your goals and, you were doomed anyway, refusing to get another treatment abroad, I felt I couldn't stop you, wasn't my decision to make after all, but yours.”
Alone in his room, Xie Qingcheng looked outside the window. The rain was light, and he could sense the fresh wind on his face.
He kwows who is the enemy, more than anyone. That australian organisation, what exactly are their goals? They are after the Primeval Emperor data for sure, but why the hell do they need He Yu? The only possible explanation is that He Yu is “Blood Gu”. The fact that the deceased Jiang Liping knew about it could confirm his suspicions.
Was He Yu dead, injured, being tortured or something else?
He Yu…
He Yu…
The clock annouced 11pm and the memories of that night were relentlessly flashing through his mind.
Xie Qingcheng acted on impulse, and told He Yu out loud the deepest feeling in his heart. A feeling that seemed unsettled and messy, but in a moment of desperation were said aloud without hesitation. Even though he hadn't planned to say what he said, or the consequences of it, his voice simply came out as he clung to the bloodied boy in his arms.
One fact was unknown to Xie Qingcheng: some members of that organisation were hiding, looking at them coldly through a surveillance room. The most notable figure among them was a young boy who wore ordinary clothes and a pair of red high heels.
The underlings, “Those incompetents shot Blood Gu”
The boy suddenly announced, "Get him."
The underlings replied, "What shall we do with the other man? Should we kill him?"
The boy, “We need Blood Gu, but the other one can't be killed now. Just make the man go unconsious and drop him on that shitty university. He didn’t see anything that can incriminate us. Besides, looks like this man is very important to Blood Gu, and Duan also has some mysterious interest on him that I don’t understand...” The boy sighed and then gave one last order, “Don't forget to burn this place to the ground.”
He Yu was in a deplorable state, so Xie Qingcheng didn’t care much about their surroundings. He tried to stop the bleeding with his white t-shirt and to keep He Yu awake, but the boy had already turned pale from blood loss.
Xie Qingcheng was falling into a state of utter hopelessness.
No... No...
“Don’t you fucking dare to do this to me He Yu…”
He felt as his heart had been stabbed over and over.
And then he heard himself shout and cry desperately, “Kid don't leave me, you said you would never leave me! Don't teach me what love is and then leave me like this, stay the fuck alive He Yu! HE YU!!!!!!"
He Yu was nearly unconscious, but those words snapped him back from the trance. At first, he thought he heard it wrong, but then he widened his eyes and begged, "Can you say that again...? What you just said..."
“He Yu…”
“I love you Xie-Ge… I love you too I…I love you so much…”
"Stop talking! Just stay awake, don't strain yourself! I've managed to stop the bleeding a bit..."
He Yu did his best to smile before saying sweetly, "Ge, when we get out of here, I'll take you to that hotel room again and I-"
"How can you be thinking about such things in this kind of situation? You-"
He Yu touched Xie Qingcheng’s chin, whispering some words that only both would be able to hear, “Allow me to continue teaching you what love is in the future, okay....”
“Ge... you didn’t lie to me, right? What you said to me… was not a lie, was it?”
For a moment there was just those two pair of eyes, one apricot, the other peach blossom, staring at each other.
Xie Qingcheng said softly, “I didn’t lie to you...”
Then, He Yu kissed his lips quickly before pressing their foreheads together.
Xie Qingcheng noticed a trail of blood.
"Live Xie Qingcheng, live!"
Xie Qingcheng's body suddenly paralyzed. Every muscle tensed up and he began to break into a cold sweat. He Yu's command “live!” – “live!” – “live!” resonated in his brain like a continuous echo. He didn't know how long he remained in that daze until someone struck him violently on the head.
The rain became heavier outside.
Xie Qingcheng looked at the medical examination papers thoroughly and the results were clear. His body has completely healed, and there was no plausible explanation. Nothing that could generate any data or that he could use in other patients. It was as if his body had clung to life of its own accord. Was it possible that his body had really obeyed that boy's Blood Gu command? What if He Yu, in his desperate attempt to do anything to save Xie Qingcheng, had actually succeded to find a cure? [2]
It can't be… there is no way.
No, no, no...
That's absurd.
But…If perhaps…is the case, then Blood Gu could not fall into the wrong hands...
Xie Qingcheng's eyes widened.
He would not be useful dead, right? If that organisation needed him to fulfill some purpose, in theory, he needed to be alive…
Just thinking about the fact made Xie Qingcheng's heart race.
He knew He Yu well enough. That youngling would never become a member of that organisation willingly. He would have to be forced somehow. Perhaps they would torture the boy to make him behave? Or something else?
They had the obedience water so who knows what other tricks that organisation would have at their disposal....
Blackmail?
Thinking more seriously, what the hell could they use to blackmail He Yu? He had nothing to bind him to the world. He didn't care about his own family, parents, brother. He had no friends....
But...
But he has me...
In that small room Xie Qingcheng started to breath rapidly as the raindrops and the wind shook the window.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Suddenly, the cellphone rang and displayed a notification. There was a message from an unknown sender. Xie Qingcheng was terrified, with sweat dripping down his face.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Another message appeared on the screen - sender unknown.
Xie Qingcheng was still unwilling to check it out.
He was almost thinking about how he would destroy the goddamn phone when, this time, it rang announcing a call! [3]
Caller Id: Unknown.
What the hell? How can someone be so insistent? Xie Qingcheng cursed in thought.
When the phone stopped ringing it took just some minutes for that person to call him again! – Caller Id: Unknown.
However, the melody that came out was not the usual ringtone that Xie Qingcheng setted for his calls.
“ 𝄞 Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you, the-” This time, the cellphone rang for thirty seconds and then abruptly stopped. [4]
Xie Qingcheng finally opened the messages that appeared on the screen, his fingers trembling.
Message number 1: A jellyfish sticker.
He knew that sticker pretty well, because it was the one that He Yu did specially for him.
Message number 2: The same jellyfish sticker.
Xie Qingcheng waited for a while but the phone did not show any messages or calls from that unknown sender again. But it was enough.
His Xiao Gui was alive.
...END...