1 1: regrets?

"Yuan!" A cheery voice called out, interrupting the gentle strums of a zither that were blowing through the air like a faint calming breeze.

Jade like hand that would've been perfect if not for those delicate lines of scars as thin as the strings on the instrument they were on stopped before sneaking back under pure white sleeves embroidered with cranes.

The owner of those near perfect carvings smiled gently and sat back a few inches to allow the owner of the cheery voice to rest his head on his lap. The bright youth smiled and when he did, it was as if the entire void lit up with his bright youthful aura and a lingering hope. Yet the void did not dissapear, only calm az it waited for an opportunity to once again engulf the world in black.

The pale and gentle man, Yuan as proclaimed by the youth, smiled once again, but this time it looked strained. It didn't go unnoticed by the youth. "Venerable Hei, how has it been going?"

"Yuan!" Xiao Hei called back in a spoiled tone, "Just call me Hei Kong, like before?"

Although it begged for papering just as a spoiled cat would, the underlying sadness would never be missed by the man adressed as Yuan. Just as Hei Kong would never be able to miss the flashes of nostalgia and trace of unwillingness that would always linger in the depths of Yuan's ruby orbs.

"Hei.." Yuan started to speak, before choking back a sob. He has always been good at controlling his emotions, no matter the circumstance, and yet...

drip

The tears were overflowing, drop by drop they were dropping onto the youth's tanned skins while his golden irises blinked in confusion that quickly flashed into panic. "Yuan! Yuan, what's wrong? Are you not happy? Tell me, if it's me... I'll change, so please, please tell me what's wrong and just show me a smile?"

Hei was begging, only this man infront of him could ever make him beg. Yuan, his Yuan, his one and only weakness. They cpuld never go back to how things used to be, never go back to normal, never go back to the past they so longed for, but he wanted to try. Hei desperately wanted to mend everything, even if it was a foolish and futile effort. Atleast then he could say he gave it his all, he could say that he had no regrets...

"Yuan please..." If only Yuan would talk to him, Hei knew, he always knew, knew that Yuan wasn't fine with this, with them. But how could he let go so easily?

And Yuan also knew, knew how much Hei cared for him. He knew just how much Hei had sacrificed and suffered for him, yet he still couldn't bring himself to accept him and leave everything he used to believe in behind. Even if it was only just in fragments now. "Hei please, just let me go. It can't work between us."

Infact, both of them long knew. Knew that this was going to end in tragedy. Yuan had given up while Hei wanted to try and persist.

Hei felt indignant. He was mad, upset, sad? He couldn't quite comprehend his own feelings. He knew Yuan would ask him this someday and he told himself that he would let go, let go and do what was best for Yuan, but he couldn't bring himself to. To think it would actually hurt so much when he finally heard it from the one he loved... For the first time in his life, Hei overestimated himself and felt his own vulnerability.

Then, red plum blossoms bloomed across the white terrain on Yuan's lap. The luxurious white brocade robe were so easily dyed pure crimson.

Yuan choked while Hei got up in disbelief.

His hands were shaking, Hei was in shock, in denial. "Yuan, you!"

The tears were pouring now. "Hei.. I'm sorry."

The last apology. Yuan swore to himself, this would be the last time he ever apologized to this man. He already owed him too much...

As Hei choked out blood like a broken faucet, the wonderland around him withered as if grieving with him. The paradise full of lush trees and dozens of rare flowers all withered as Hei's golden irises started to dim, not from his life slipping away from his grasp, but from the shattered hope and last strands of sanity he had been hanging onto until now.

"Yuan..." The ground cracked and shattered as space tore open. The blood of a celestial demon was afterall, a powerful medium and precious treasure everyone sought after, not to mention in such quantities from the most powerful one that has ever been recorded. As the space around the shattered, Hei laughed. He laughed in ridicule as blood red tears rapidly stremed down his face.

Yuan seemed to snap out of his trance when he saw Hei's state. It was so nostalgic, he seemed to see a mass of black fur coated in blood and aggressively growling at him... Why did it hurt so much? Yuan regreted it, he ran towards Hei and the growing spacial crack.

The white robed man reached out his scared hand and prayed for a miracle, even if he knew it was impossible, he prayed that Hei would accept his help, just like he had when they first met...

Yuan soon met with Hei's lifeless and disappointed gaze, he didn't even seem heartbroken anymore... No, Hei shouldn't have been, Yuan had personally crushed that already cracked heart into pieces and grounded it into dust before scattering it. From now on, they were truly over, and truly could never go back to the way they were before. They didn't even have the slightest chance...

"Yuan Ming, from now on, we're truly strangers." Hei Kong's voice was cold. So cold it it froze Yuan Ming midstep. So cold Yuan Ming felt that the ice daggers would slice him into pieces if he dare to even look at Hei Kong.

"I hope you regret this decision."

A gentle smile and voices full of ridicule was all Hei Kong left for Yuan Ming to remember him by before he was gone. The Hei Kong Yuan Ming knew was gone...

Did Hei Kong regret meeting Yuan Ming? Did he regret falling for him? No, it could be said that he has never regretted anything before in his life. Yet, if he could choose to do it all over again, he really wished that he never met Yuan, never knew the warmth and care of another person. Never gave his everything only for it to be discarded so easily. Hei Kong would have abandoned the world for Yuan Ming if it woukd have made him happy.

Did Yuan Ming regret meeting Hei Kong? No, to him, meeting that man that was so bright and warm, it even brought warmth into his life was the best thing that ever happened to him. Yuan Ming didn't regret either, he didn't even regret destroying this light that had shown him the way with his own two hands because it was right. He wouldn't abandon the world just for Hei Kong. Yuan Ming had a duty to uphold, and he would choose that over Hei Kong even if he had the chance to do this all over again.