"...What?"
If Xiajun remembered correctly, there had been some sort of incident.
Chen leaned down. "You used to be the most popular guy at school. I remember because I always saw you in a light of awe and envy."
Xiajun sipped his wine again in an attempt to hide his smirk.
"Everybody knew you," Chen continued, his gaze on the draped table. "But then one day you didn't come to school for some reason. It was strange because you never missed school."
Xiajun nodded. His grandma had been sick that day.
"And fortunate for you, that was the day some punk decided to light up the school," Chen sighed.
Xiajun cleared his throat. "So that's why we had holidays for the next month or so."
Chen nodded. "I don't think anybody ever told you but some kid died in the incident. When the fire brigadiers finally vanquished the flames, they found the body of this kid in your year. You may have even known him, though I don't remember his name."
Xiajun raised his eyebrows. He never really paid attention to anybody at his school and never really understood why everyone was so stuck on being with him. His only goal was too pass school with the top grades.
"After that, school shut off for a couple months," Chen sighed.
Xiajun remembered to ask. "Wait, so what's the point of telling me this whole story? Did you die in that fire?"
Chen shook his head. "No, I got out."
Xiajun finished his glass of wine and almost instantly, his glass was refilled. "You must've died in this hotel. I'm curious as to how that happened."
Chen's ghost sighed as he remembered the unfortunate day of his demise.
"I came here with my Uncle one autumn in the break our school provided after the fire incident. My uncle was rich and there was no other way I could've ever dreamt of staying here. So yeah, my parents thought it's be a good idea if I went to tour Hong Kong with Uncle. We booked a suite here and I had my own room. It was a wonderful experience.
"But then I... erm... I slipped in the bathroom and my head hit the sink. My uncle was asleep at the time so he never heard me and I bled out all night till the point it cost me my life. Not much of a heroic death, was it?"
Xiajun was about to chuckle when the waiter arrived with his food. The plate was placed gently in front of Xiajun's torso. The waiter asked if he wanted any extra sides and Xiajun politely refused as he picked up his cutlery to slice into his food.
"A steak, huh?" Chen muttered wistfully as he eyed the thick cut of meat oozing with juice. Oh, how it sucked that ghosts couldn't eat!
Xiajun took his sweet time to slice himself a portion of steak and pierce it with his fork. He put the juicy meat in his mouth and smiled as it melted in his mouth.
Chen gulped. "Being dead sucks," he muttered bitterly.
Xiajun chuckled. "So why are you still here? Have you any dissatisfaction with the way you lived? Any last thing you'd have liked to do before you died?"
Chen thought long. In that while, many expressions passed his face as he thought about what he still wanted and the reason why he wasn't able to pass on.
"I... I guess it upset me that I was never able to give a proper farewell to my parents," Chen said quietly and soberly. "And there's not a chance for that to happen any time soon since my parents live back in Guangzhou."
Xiajun nodded and wiped his hands with a napkin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "I can call them for you if you'd like. Tell me what you wish to relay to them."
At this, a sad expression passed Chen's face, filled with both fondness and terror.
"Y-You would... I can do that?"
Xiajun nodded and turned his phone on and clicked on the little icon shaped like a telephone receiver. "Tell me the number."
Chen recoiled. "I-I'm not ready."
Xiajun nodded and put his phone back into his pocket. "Well then. After I finish this steak, my offer would be up. I'm giving you time till the last remaining bits of meat disappear through my mouth to think and prepare yourself for whatever you may want to say to your parents for the last time."
As Xiajun cut bit after bit of the already small portion of steak, Chen's thoughts whipped up into a frenzy. What should he do now..? Won't his parents find it weird if a random person relays his thoughts to his parents? After all this time?
"I'll do it," Chen sighed. "Here, write the number down, will you?"
Xiajun was almost done with his steak. He chomped down the last slice of meat and wiped his hands and mouth once again and pulled out his phone. He typed in the number Chen recited and waited for someone to pick up on the other end of the line.
Something clicked. A voice cracked up on the other side. "Hello?"
Xiajun braced himself. "Yes, hello," he said gently. "My name is Xiajun and I used to be a schoolmate of your belated son, Chen..erm..."
"Just Chen."
Xiajun nodded. "Yes, Chen. I'm staying here at The Elysium and I came upon a letter he left before he died." Xiajun heard a sob from the other side. The woman was crying.
Xiajun cleared his throat. "It says..."
"I wish my last days had been with you guys, Mom and Dad," Chen muttered as he hid his face behind his hands.
"The letter says that he wished that he got to spend more time with you," Xiajun said, changing the words in a way that didn't sound suspicious.
"....And I could've been a good son to you..."
"And he conveys his sadness that he was never quite the son you hoped he grew up to be," Xiajun said and ignored the glance from Chen.
"...And I wish you won't miss me too much and go along with where life takes you..." Chen sighed.
Xiajun was starting to feel sad himself as he heard the woman, most likely Chen's mother cry from the other side of the receiver. "And he wishes that you and his father be happy and joyful, always."
Chen nodded. "I love you, Mom...Dad. I love you so much more than you knew." His face was screwed up in a way one's does when they were crying.
Xiajun frowned. "He writes that he loves you, that you have no idea how much he loved you and his father. Oh, do stop crying, Ma'am," Xiajun said gently into his phone.
Chen held his head. "And lastly, tell Mom to relay this to Dad, that I always worked my hardest to be a son he could be proud of. And even if he beat me at times, I still loved him."
Xiajun sighed. "And he writes that despite the fact that his father beat him at times, he never really stopped loving him. I wish you a great day, Ma'am. Goodbye."
With that, the woman's cries were cut short as Xiajun pressed the red button to end the call. "How do you feel?"
Chen wouldn't show his face. "Not good. But I feel happy somewhere, I guess. Thank you for that."
Just like that, in front of his eyes, Chen's ghost started flickering, as if a TV screen with a bad cable connection. Chen's ghost was about to pass on to the other side.
"I hope you don't have any regrets," Xiajun said quickly because he knew Chen could disappear any moment now.
Chen finally revealed his face. It was a shocking mixture of sadness, happiness and pain. "I think I'll be okay now. Yeah... I better be."
With that, his blue figure's color started to drain and it started becoming more transparent, as if his ghost was merging with the air.
Xiajun was just going to see him pass on with ease but then he remembered something.
"Hey, how did you know I could see ghosts?"
In his last flickering moments, Xiajun saw Chen smile. And with that, he disappeared. *poof* Gone. His journey to Heaven and Hell was about to commence.