WARNING ! WARNING! WARNING!
HIGH SUGAR CONTAINED AHEAD !
Then a warning came to his mind from the system.
[Ding!]
[Host, do not share your memories with His Highness Huai. His system already gave me a warning before. If you share those memories, the future will be changed.]
Wuhe was still catching his heavy breaths. His eyes were covered in uncontrollable tears. This time not red, but normal water came from his eyes. He nodded after hearing the notification.
He asked, "When? When will I know more about what happened after that?"
[Ding!]
[Host! Have you gone crazy? Even this time you delved too deep into your memories and you almost lost your life. If His Highness hadn't come back in time, you'd be dead by now.]
Wuhe let out a mocking laugh at himself. "He... he saved me again, didn't he? Why, as my master, would he need to sacrifice himself like that? And what about those words he said to me, 'I recognized him too late!' Do I know him even before that?"
His head started aching so hard that he grabbed it and groaned in pain.
[Ding!]
[Host, stop thinking. Those memories are all your own, that you stored in different timelines and in different...]
[Buzzzzzzzz! Buzzzzzzz! Buzzzzzzzz!]
[Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Buzzzzz!]
This time a different, heavy voice came to his mind. The voice was deep but mechanical.
[The system has again revealed a secret!]
[The words are omitted! Not known to Host fully!]
[The system is shutting down for one day!]
[1... 2... 3...!]
Wuhe felt dumbfounded. Last time his system revealed something, 'last time when we tried to find him it was already too late,' and his system was punished by Huai's powerful system. And now this time, the words were directly omitted from transferring, and his system was forced to shut down for a day.
He stared into the void in surprise. He remembered the last words his other self had said. Take care of Huai. Yes, he will take care of him no matter what.
Huai appeared in the middle of the room without a sound.
He had left a thin thread of his consciousness outside the courtyard door when he left. The moment Wuhe's breathing turned fast and shallow, then ragged, that thread pulled at him. His own breath hitched. He was back in one step.
What he saw stopped his heart for a second.
Wuhe was sitting bolt upright in the bed, drenched in cold sweat. His inner robe was stuck to his back and chest. His hair was wet at the temples. His hands were still locked around the blanket, knuckles white, shaking uncontrollably. His eyes were wide open, unfocused, and filled with fresh tears that were finally clear, not red.
When he saw Huai, his whole body flinched, then broke.
"Mas...ter," he choked out, the word barely a breath.
He did not wait. He threw himself forward and crashed into Huai's chest. His arms wrapped around Huai's waist so tightly his fingers dug into the fabric. He buried his face against him and sobbed, his shoulders convulsing with each gasp. He was shaking from cold and from terror, trying to hide himself inside Huai's robes the way he had in the memory.
He did not say what he saw. He could not. The system's warning was still ringing in his head. So he just held on, as if letting go would drop him back into that world of corpses and the silver mask with blood tears.
Huai dropped to his knees on the bed and caught him. He wrapped both arms around Wuhe completely, one hand cradling the back of his head, the other pressed firm and warm against his trembling back.
He did not ask questions. He did not scold.
"I'm here," Huai whispered, his voice low and close to Wuhe's ear. "Wuhe, I'm here. Look at me."
Wuhe shook his head and clutched harder, his face still hidden.
Huai let him. He gently rubbed slow circles on his back, up and down his spine, until the frantic gasps started to ease. He took his own sleeve and wiped the cold sweat from Wuhe's forehead, then from his temples, then carefully wiped the wet tracks from his cheeks.
"You're safe," he said. "Breathe with me. Come on. In."
He breathed in deeply, deliberately. Wuhe tried to follow and failed, his chest hitching.
"Again," Huai coaxed, pressing his forehead lightly against Wuhe's damp hair. "Out. Slowly."
He kept his hand on the back of Wuhe's neck, warm and steady, until Wuhe's breathing finally matched his. The violent shaking turned into smaller shivers.
Huai pulled the soaked blanket away and drew Wuhe down with him, laying him back against the pillows, never letting go. He brushed the wet hair off Wuhe's face with his fingertips.
"You scared me," he admitted quietly, his thumb stroking Wuhe's cheek. "One moment you were sleeping, the next my heart almost stopped feeling you like this."
Wuhe finally opened his red eyes and looked up at him. Tears slipped out again. He reached up with a trembling hand and weakly grabbed Huai's sleeve, as if to check he was real.
Huai caught that hand and held it tight against his own chest. "Sleep," he murmured. "I won't leave this room. Not for a second."
Wuhe gave a small, broken nod. Exhaustion pulled at him, but his fingers never loosened on Huai's robe. He curled into Huai's side, his breathing finally evening out, his face pressed to Huai's shoulder where he could hear his heartbeat.
Huai stayed like that, holding him, one arm around him, the other still gently stroking his back, watching over him until the cold sweat dried and sleep finally took him again.
Wuhe's shivers lasted through the whole night.
He did not sleep peacefully. Every so often his body would jerk, and his hands would grab for Huai in his sleep, clutching his robe tight as if he was afraid he would disappear. Huai held him every time, rubbing his back until the shaking eased. It was not until morning light filled the room that the shivering finally stopped.
Huai stayed with him all night.
While Wuhe slept against his chest, Huai was awake for a long time, thinking. One word kept echoing in his head. The word Wuhe had gasped out when he first saw him after the nightmare.
"Master!"
Something deep inside Huai stirred when he heard it. It did not feel like a mistake. It felt familiar, like an old name Wuhe had called him a thousand times before.
But from the moment Huai had known Wuhe in this life, Wuhe had been his dearest friend. Now they were boyfriends. So how was it possible for Wuhe to call him master with such pain and longing in his voice?
He could not find an answer. In the end, he sighed and stopped thinking. He shifted Wuhe more comfortably into his arms and finally let sleep take him, with Wuhe held tight against him.
Wuhe woke up first in the morning.
The early light was soft on the bed. He opened his eyes and saw Huai still sleeping peacefully in his arms. His face was relaxed, his breathing even, his long hair spread across the pillow.
Wuhe just watched him for a moment. Then he leaned in slowly, careful not to wake him, and stole a gentle kiss from his lips.
He stayed close, his forehead almost touching Huai's, and whispered so only Huai could hear, even in sleep.
"I don't know why you did it last time," he said quietly. "And I don't know why you are carrying this heavy burden for me. But in this life, I won't let you go like that. I won't let you get hurt. Even if that ethereal being comes again this time... I will face it alongside you."
Wuhe looked at Huai's sleeping face for a long moment, his heart steady now.
"I won't let you go again," he said quietly, with a firmness that was not in the dream.
Then he leaned down to steal another kiss.
He did not make it.
Huai's eyes opened suddenly. Wuhe's face was barely an inch from his. Huai froze, then his whole face turned bright red in seconds, all the way to the tips of his ears.
He shoved at Wuhe's chest with both hands and yelped, "Hey! You were going to steal a kiss from me, weren't you? You pervert!"
Wuhe blinked, confused for half a second, then a slow, mischievous smile spread across his face. He did not let go. He grabbed Huai's wrists and pulled him right back in, planting a loud kiss on his cheek.
"So what?" Wuhe said shamelessly. "I'm doing it to my boyfriend. I can do it again. Wanna see?"
"Wuhe!" Huai scolded, but his voice wavered because his ears were still burning. He tried to sound stern. "You shameless thing, you only know how to sneak attack when I'm sleeping. That's what perverts do."
Wuhe laughed and ignored him completely. He leaned in again and kissed the other cheek, then his forehead, then the corner of his eye.
"Stop kissing everywhere," Huai muttered, pushing at him weakly while secretly tilting his face up just a little. "You have no discipline at all."
"I learned it from my master," Wuhe teased back, and kissed the tip of Huai's red ear. Huai shivered and smacked his shoulder.
"Don't say that word," Huai said quickly, his eyes flickering. "And don't... mmph!"
Wuhe cut him off by kissing his lips, short and soft at first, then again, deeper when Huai did not actually pull away.
Huai made a small, frustrated noise against his mouth. "You see? Pervert. Big pervert."
"Your pervert ! Your personal pervert ! ," Wuhe whispered against his skin, and moved to his neck, pressing a kiss right where his pulse was beating fast. Then back up to his jaw, to his closed eyelids, to his forehead again, like he was trying to cover every place the nightmares had touched.
Huai was breathing harder now, his hands fisted in Wuhe's shirt. He was still nagging, but it was all soft complaints. "You are too clingy. You kissed my face five times already. Are you a puppy?"
"Six times," Wuhe corrected, and kissed his nose.
"Seven," he counted, and kissed his left eye.
"Eight," and he kissed his right eye.
Huai finally gave up pretending to be angry. He let out a defeated sigh and let his forehead rest against Wuhe's. His face was still red, but he was smiling now, just a little.
"You win," he mumbled. "But only because I let you."
Wuhe grinned, holding him tight, his arms still wrapped around him from the night before. "Then let me win again."
He leaned in, and Huai did not push him away this time.
Wuhe did not give him another chance to nag.
He leaned in and locked his lips against Huai's. It was not a quick peck this time. It was firm and sure, his hand sliding to the back of Huai's neck to hold him close.
Huai made a surprised sound against his mouth. His hands, which had been pushing at Wuhe's chest, froze for a second, then curled tight into his shirt instead of pushing him away.
The atmosphere in the small bedroom turned hot in seconds.
The morning light felt warmer. The air between them felt thin. Wuhe kissed him like he was trying to erase the whole night of nightmares, like he needed to prove to himself that Huai was here and real and his.
The kiss got deeper. Wuhe tilted his head, and Huai finally let out a soft breath and answered him. His red ears were burning, his face was flushed, but he did not pull back. He kissed Wuhe back, shy at first, then with the same quiet desperation he had held him with all night.
Wuhe moved from his lips to the corner of his mouth, to his jaw, then back again, never giving him space to think. Huai's fingers slipped up from his shirt to his hair, holding on. Their breathing mixed and grew uneven.
They stayed like that, tangled in the blankets, foreheads touching between kisses, hands not letting go for a moment. One kiss led into another, slow at times, urgent at others, until time stopped meaning anything in the room.
It was a long while, around fifteen minutes, before they finally separated.