Hua Cheng, throughout both his life and undead life, has experienced many sleepless nights. Whether he was in too much physical pain to sleep or his mind was buzzing too loudly to get even an ounce of rest; he knows how it feels to watch the sun come up with a tired, weary soul. Although he was a ghost now, a Supreme one at that, and didn’t actually need sleep, there were times where Hua Cheng was too mentally tired not too. And as of late, he’s been that a lot lately.

But nothing has been too mentally draining. Other than The Nightmares.

Hua Cheng has been having nightmares lately, all with an occurring theme. Gege was always in them, and they always started out nice. But then, gradually, things started to feel… off. Sometimes, Xie Lian would squirm out of Hua Cheng’s embrace with an irritated, annoyed huff, or he’d slap Hua Cheng’s hand away if the ghost reached out to touch.

When that first happened, Hua Cheng had been so hurt and confused. Because that had never happened before. Was Gege upset with him?

And then Xie Lian had complained about his clinginess. How Hua Cheng was suffocating and needed to leave him alone. Xie Lian had once even commented that he was glad Hua Cheng wore an eyepatch because he was sure the sight was ‘extremely unpleasant.’

The morning of that nightmare, Xie Lian had been off to answer prayers. Hua Cheng had cried.

And that’s what he’s doing right now. The dawn sun shined through opaque red curtains, casting a faint red glow on Hua Cheng’s teary, glistening cheeks. He cried silently and quietly, a gaping chasm in his chest and an ache in his soul. He had woken up with a scream lodged in his throat. The nightmare was still ingrained in his head; Xie Lian had given him back his ashes. Then he had left, and Hua Cheng had grasped the ring and crushed it — or, he was about to, but that was when the nightmare ended.

Hua Cheng’s breathing, however quiet, was shaky and uneven and choppy. Sorrow leaked down his face in the form of cascading, crystalline tears.