3 Chapter 3 - The vivid dreams

The dream felt too real, he had never felt a sensation like that before.

'What was that? How can a dream be so real?'

Kui blankly gazed up at the ceiling refusing to wake up. Closing his eyes he remembered his face so vividly,

He had such a thick set of black lashes and his beautiful blue eyes shone brightly. His voice was so soft and husky.

Just thinking about it gave him a weird shiver down his spine.

"a merman…." Kui sat up touching his cheek again. The cold feeling still remained on his skin.

He had heard rumors about them before.

When he was young, he lives in a small seaside village... His father was a fisherman and so was his mother. They both woke up at Five and headed off to eth sea so early at dawn.

He was such a young kid that he was left behind with his grandmother.

Back then his grandma had told him tales about the mythical creatures, the mermaids.

Kui got up and started to make himself a fresh toast.

Right then the doorbell rang loudly.

There was only one person who would actually come visit him every day without fail. It was Woo Tan.

He opened the door with a small smile.

"Godddd I'm so hung over... fuck my head hurts. It doesn't actually happen to me you know,"

"You're not that young anymore," he opened the door wide letting him in.

"don't remind me anymore," he grumbled plopping down on the sofa. "How do you look so refreshed? We both drank together yet you look like you just bathed in fresh spring."

Kui chucked loudly. He even made a few toasts for him and handed it to him in an old plastic plate.

"Nah I got hangover soup." He handed a small parcel to him.

Kui shook his head with a small smile, "it's almost afternoon. I am no longer hungover. You drink it. I'll pour it for you in a bowl,"

"Aww, but I got a portion for you too,"

"Its fine, well drink it later,"

Woo Tan peered at him intently. Kui looked quite normal. Unlike yesterday he looked much more cheerful and sunny. 'My therapy worked! Yes!! I hope he doesn't resort to hurting himself again…' he shook his head slightly and smiled widely at him. "What shall we do today? Shall we head out to the streets? I heard there is a happy street going on right now. Lest dance our hearts out,"

"Nah, I have plans…." He planned on heading to the bank to pout the lottery money into a fixed deposit. Then he can get a monthly interest that will pay him while he worked on his new pieces.

Kui gazed back with a slight frown. 'Should I tell him…. It's okay. He is a trusted friend…' he poured the soup in the bowl and handed it to Tan. "Tan, you see today morning…"

"Oh my god this is too spicy," Woo Tan hissed as he took a sip of the hot soup. "Water water!"

"Here,' Kui hurriedly poured him a cup and handed it to him.

Coughing loudly, he gulped the drink down. "Why is it so spicy…I'm going to have diarrhea. I hate my life,"

Kui searched through all the junk and found a small candy. "Here eat this."

"You are a life saver man," sighing Tan plopped it on his mouth.

Kui sat beside him silently. "Tan, do you remember about the Mermaid stories?"

Tan paused for a second. "yeah, your grandma used to tell us a lot of tales. what about it,"

"don't know... just asking,"

Their village had supposedly had a lot of sightings of these mythical creatures. But he had not personally not seen any of them. they were elusive but kind-hearted that they would even save boats that have lost their ways.

Some brave men had cruised the sea to find these elusive creatures but came out empty handed. It was such a huge thing back then that it was so vivid in his memory.

Woo Tan hung around until he drank the hangover soup and left.

That day was the weekend and he did not have part time jobs. He was free for the day.

He gazed at the paintbrush he had stashed away in the corner. 'Maybe I can use my time to paint…'

But he ran into one problem right as he started. He did not have new canvas with him.

Kui's eyes fell on the half-finished canvas hanging on the wall. His past lover's face was completely painted while his face was still unfinished. It was such an ominous painting to be honest.

He pulled it down and gazed at it with a slight frown.

Overpainting on a canvas was such a normal thing. Back then even da Vince and many other famous painters used to do it. But he did not know if he wanted to overpaint this one.

Because it was such an unlucky piece.

"I have no other go...' sighing Kui attached the painting to the stand and picked up his old brush set. He started to paint the background white.

Soon the whole canvas was clean white with no specks of any color in it.

Kui picked up his brush and dipped it in paint but as he was about to touch the canvas his hand froze. It started to tremble slightly.

He steadied it with his other hand but it was of no use.

He could not do it.

He could not paint.

Sighing, Kui sat there with his head lowered. "Fuck…..."

He picked up his cracked phone he gazed at his contacts. He had only three. One was Woo second was that scum's number and third was his grandmother,

His fingers hesitated over that contact again. 'it's okay... I can do this.' He took a deep breath and put on a smile on his face and clicked the number.

The call went through for a while.

He anxiously bit his lips. 'Why isn't she picking up the call? Is she okay… I hope she I not working typo hard.'

The call concerted. "Hello? Kui…"

Her aged voice came through the speaker. Kui froze.

Tears started to trickle down his face. He hurriedly wiped his face. "g-grandma…."

"Baby, how are you feeling? Are you eating well?"

"I am… Great. I live in a three-bed room apartment. Its even in the center of the city." He said chuckling through all the tears.?

"your voice sounds dull. Are you sick baby?"

"No no," he hurriedly wiped his face. "I'm super great. I barely get sick, you know that,"

"Good good. You have to make sure you sleep and eat well, baby. Painting talent is good but you have to always concentrate on your health," her voice brought even more tears to his eyes.

"My works are well invited. I even sold a few of them recently... wait I'll send you some money."

he did not spend any of his lotto money. Everything belonged to his grandma and him. But he didn't send a lot of money to her. His grandma was always to kind-hearted she always lent it to anyone who asked. So, he sent her portions every month. Rest he put them all in fixed deposits.

"No, no, I have money. Don't send any. I... I just hope you can save it. It should all be used for your future wife,"

Kui bit his lips. His grandma still did not know about his sexuality. He did not wish to tell her either. It was such a taboo topic for her and he did not wish to aggravate her any more.

With a small smile, he nodded. "Yes, I will save it all... please don't work too much. Make sure to take care of your health grandma."

"I will baby,"

Their conversation fell into a comfortable silence

Kui awkwardly held the phone close to his ear, not finding a common topic to talk about he started to ramble on about random things. "Umm grandma, today I had a dream of a merman. it must be because of your various tales." he chuckled.

"y-you what?"

"I saw a merman in my dream. his beautiful green tail shimmered in the sun. it felt too vivid to be honest,"

"Oh... child do you have your red string with you?"

Kui blinked confusedly. "Why?" he gazed at his wrist. his eyes fell on the bloodied bandage. 'oh when I cut myself I must have cut it.'

he remembers wearing a red string for as long as he could remember.

"Do you have it, child?"

"Yeah, I have it," he did not wish to worry her any more than necessary.

"oh, thank god. you have to keep it close to you at all times. do you lose it child? it's very important,'

Kui simply nodded. "I know." he gazed up at the clock. it was twelve. the bank will close by one. "I have to get going, grandma. I'll talk to you later,"

'Hmm take care, child,"