Jing Yi awoke with a scream but he still felt like he was trapped. Once more a pair of strong arms had wrapped around him and didn't want to let go. He wriggled around, trying to get away but he was pulled back at once.
"My love!" Qiu Ling panicked once more. What was happening with his beloved? Could it be that this fruit had been more harmful than that Hong Ai had told him?! "My love, calm down! I'm here! I'm right beside you!"
Jing Yi froze. Qiu Ling! That was Qiu Ling's voice! He turned around and clung to his neck, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Qiu Ling!" His voice broke in the middle. He really had feared to never see him again, to only be able to watch on as someone took over his body and not only forced him to leave Qiu Ling but even stayed with somebody else. How could he take that?
"Jing … Jing'er what … What happened?" Qiu Ling hugged him back and lightly stroked his head. "What did you see?"
Jing Yi didn't say anything, he just clung to Qiu Ling's side and tried to calm down his frantically beating heart. He really, really didn't want to lose him. Qiu Ling was way too important to him. Just thinking about it …
He closed his eyes, burrowed into Qiu Ling's embrace and just continued to cry. Naturally, a certain dragon king was nearly going crazy.
"My love …" He held him and gently kissed the top of his head. "You don't have to be afraid. Whatever you saw it's just because of that fruit. I'll … I'll go and beat that Grandmaster up for you tomorrow so please stop crying?"
Jing Yi sniffled and looked up at him, his eyes red. "What are you even talking about? What fruit?"
Qiu Ling continued to stroke his hair. "You don't remember? That bastard offered us these fruits from the Beguiling Night Tree and only told me afterward that it might be too much for you because you don't have a high level. Ah, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have thought of that myself."
"So … I … I saw something because of that?"
Qiu Ling pursed his lips but finally nodded. "That's what he said. Well, it's more like his wife said so."
"So, whatever I saw wasn't real?"
"I …" Qiu Ling wanted to nod but he actually had no idea. "Probably?"
Jing Yi took a deep breath. He was starting to calm down. Yes, maybe this had just been a nightmare. Maybe it wasn't real. How could something like that happen in reality?
Qiu Ling carefully peered into Jing Yi's face. "Are you alright?"
Jing Yi's heart still beat crazily. He just … couldn't forget. As much as he had dreaded what happened, there were still that other person's thoughts and feelings and he had felt whole in that man's arms, something he definitely hadn't felt when he was alone.
Just thinking back to how he had sighed when he finished that painting and how he had had been afraid of the future and afraid of telling that man of the fear in his heart … He was probably very alone.
If such a person existed, would he take over a body to not feel as alone anymore? Jing Yi could actually imagine that.
"Did she say anything else?"
"Huh?"
"The Grandmaster's wife, Hong Ai. Did she say anything else about the fruit and … the things I'd see?"
"Mn, no. Just that it was something that is deeply hidden inside oneself."
Jing Yi looked up with a questioning gaze.
"I also didn't really understand. She mentioned it might be a lifelong dream or something one tried to forget." He looked at Jing Yi and gently stroked his head again. "Is there something you want to forget? Did you see that? Maybe … you want to tell me about it?"
Jing Yi shook his head. Actually, he would have loved to talk about it but Qiu Ling was already extremely jealous on a normal day. If he told him he had seen … no, not even seen, but that he had been held by another man and had actually felt these things, wouldn't Qiu Ling go completely mad? He couldn't say anything.
Jing Yi sat up and patted his chest. He had to talk with Hong Ai. He had to make sure what this was about or he wouldn't be able to lay this to rest.
"Qiu Ling, I … I'd like to go and speak with Hong Ai for a bit, alright?"
"Oh. I'll take you there." Qiu Ling sat up with him but Jing Yi hastily shook his head.
"No, it's alright. I … I'm alright. You don't have to worry. I was just … a little frightened at first because I didn't know what was happening. Now that you told me I'm already feeling a lot better."
"But … Wouldn't you still like to have me with you?"
Qiu Ling felt a little strange. It had been several days since Jing Yi fell unconscious. He had imagined how he would wake up and how they would cuddle and spend some hours together to make up for the time they lost but now everything was different. His beloved hadn't been happy to see him. He had reacted as if he was still in a nightmare and had even tried to shake him off. And now he didn't want to have him there. What could have happened? What could he have seen?
Jing Yi bit his lower lip and averted his face, once again showing the same expression Jing He always had when he was about to tell a lie. "I just don't want to burden you."
"Oh. I see. Then … I'll wait here for you." Qiu Ling slid to the side and tried to look as if everything was alright but he couldn't help and reach up to stroke his chest to lessen the pain when Jing Yi straightened his clothes with a smile and hurried out of the room. "Why did you lie just now? What is it you don't want me to hear?"
He was tempted to hurry after him but this was his beloved. If he didn't want to talk about it, he shouldn't pry. Maybe Jing He just wanted to make sure if he had understood correctly and after that, he'd tell him. Yes, that had to be it. It couldn't be that there was anything he didn't dare to tell him.