Chapter Text
PROLOGUE
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Take my hand and help me understand
Why we’ve grown so apart like this
Shattered dreams are all that I’m left
With and I can’t start to comprehend…
~ “Slip Away”, Sagisu Shiro
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Hua Cheng held Xie Lian’s hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, as they stood in front of the dark marble grave that commemorated two members of the Xie family whose lives were lost in a car accident. It wasn’t their fault in the slightest—they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one could have predicted it or stopped it. Because the world had always been cruel to those who didn’t deserve pain and suffering.
“I wish I had run after them. I wished they had taken my soul with them,” Xie Lian had shouted piteously as he collapsed into Hua Cheng’s arms, barely a few minutes after the doctor had given him bad news. “It’s my fault. I never had the chance to apologize to my father for being such a failure of a son.”
It had been raining for the past two months, ever since the car accident, and today was no exception. The pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the surface of the red umbrella echoed above their heads—the only sound that could break the silence that had been present between them since morning.
Hua Cheng hated the rain.
A stream of silent tears flowed down Xie Lian’s cheeks. Lately, it had been a sight so common that Hua Cheng had already forgotten what a simple smile—even the smallest curl of his lips—could look like on his best friend’s face.
And as always, the devastated expression on Xie Lian’s face shattered Hua Cheng’s heart into pieces.
Xie Lian hated the rain too. However, despite that, he had asked Hua Cheng to go along with him to visit his parents, saying that he wanted to talk to them. Saying that he missed them.
“If your heart is troubled, the sky becomes cloudy. If you grieve, it will rain ever so easily*,” Hua Cheng suddenly murmured, having just finished his prayer to Xie Lian’s parents, promising them that he would take care of their son for the rest of his days. No matter what.
Still holding the umbrella—shielding Xie Lian’s body from the rain, rather than his own—Hua Cheng turned and looked at his friend, whose eyes were solely fixed on the grave in front of them, as if hoping it would be enough to bring his parents back to life.
Even though Xie Lian seemed absent, Hua Cheng knew that he was listening to him—he always was, no matter what was going on in his head at the moment.
“To stop that rain, I will give you any strength, any power you need. If you just have faith in me, I will not allow any rain to fall upon your world anymore,” Hua Cheng promised, giving Xie Lian’s hand a gentle and reassuring squeeze. To his surprise, Xie Lian slowly turned his head towards him, looking at him with his lips slightly parted.
“It’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s my fault,” Xie Lian had repeated, pulling his hair so hard it must have hurt.
Only when Hua Cheng had placed his hands on Xie Lian’s, had the latter relaxed a bit and slowly let go of his hair, but kept wailing quietly. “My fault, San Lang…”
“Not your fault, gege,” had been what Hua Cheng repeated firmly, over and over again. He had pulled Xie Lian’s body close to his chest, comfortingly rubbing his back. “Not your fault.”
“Trust me, gege. As long as I am here, you’ll never have to fight alone,” Hua Cheng said firmly and let go of Xie Lian’s trembling hand, instead pulling him into an embrace so tight it could break bones. With Xie Lian’s emaciated body pressed against his chest, Hua Cheng looked up at the sky—the raindrops hitting his face made his pale cheeks look as if they were stained with tears.
The red umbrella no longer protected them from the rain, having flown away, carried by the wind.
That didn't matter, though. Hua Cheng's broad body was enough to shield Xie Lian from the rain.
I will sacrifice everything I have to protect you from this cruel world, Hua Cheng thought with a fiery glint shining in his dark, yet determined eyes, and he placed a light kiss on the top of Xie Lian’s head as if to seal his promise.
If the Demons, lurking deep beneath the surface of the Earth truly existed, Hua Cheng was willing to make a pact with them to ensure that Xie Lian, the most important person in his life, was safe and happy.
He couldn’t count on the Gods anymore. Because if they really existed, they were too cruel beings to ask them for anything.
And then it finally stopped raining.