✧𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕆𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ~ 𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃~✧

✧ Nie Huaisang- Struggling ✧

A/N- I'll add the stars on the title later, I'm on my phone so it won't let me copy and paste. Also I wrote dialogue in this in Pinyin, so if you get confused I put English translations in parentheses on the side. If I made any errors in translation, please politely correct me and I will edit them ASAP.

HUAISANG WAS STRUGGLING after his older brother's death. He tried to hide it, but all  his friends saw it, especially you, who had been one of his close friends for many years. It hurt you to see your friend like this- starving himself, isolating himself, hurting himself- especially since you didn't see this side of the normally bright Huaisang.

One day you went to the home of Huaisang to check on him after a mutual friend of yours said that he had seen scars on his wrists, which concerned both him and you. When you knocked on the door to Huaisang's room, you heard his soft voice weakly saying, "Give me a minute, it's messy in here."

You waited outside for five minutes before he came to the door, and you were shocked by the change in him. His hair that used to look so beautiful was now a tangled, clumpy mess, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his body was bent over and unhealthily thin. He fanned himself gently, and with the airflow of the fan brought the scent of blood to your nose.

"Huaisang-di, why does it smell like blood?" you asked him.

Huaisang covered his face with his fan, not answering. You sighed and pulled his sleeves up, revealing fresh cuts all the way down his lower arm, stopping right before his wrist. You also felt how thin he was- you could feel his bones protruding, trying to rise up and penetrate his skin. His pulse was dangerously weak, and his entire body was trembling under your fingertips.

"Why..." you trailed off, unable to speak, not knowing what to ask since there was so much to say.

"Y/N," Huaisang whimpered. "Wǒ shì nǐ de péngyou, duì bùduì?" (I'm your friend, right? Duì bùduì literally means 'correct or not,' and it's used to question the veracity of a statement.)

"Duì," you responded firmly. (Correct.)

He buried his head in your chest and sobbed, "Nǐ chóuhèn wǒ, nǐ shì yīge tuōkōnghàn!" (You hate me, you're a liar!)

You wrapped your arms around the crying man and whispered, "You're my friend, I love you. I love you, Huaisang-di."

"Kěshì... kěshì nǐ..." Huaisang choked out. (But... but you...)

"Huaisang, wǒ aì nǐ," you said, saying it firmly to show how serious you were.

Huaisang burst into tears and sobbed, "Y/N. I miss dá gē!" (eldest brother)

"He's in heaven now," you said, stroking Huaisang's hair and getting your fingers stuck in the clumps, wincing as he cried out in pain. "He's happy now."

"Dà gē! Dà gē! I miss my dà gē!" he wailed.

"Poor Huaisang-di. Do you want me to stay here with you to make you not feel lonely?" you asked.

Huaisang couldn't even respond, he just shook, sobbed, and stammered. You reached out to touch his cheek, and he took your hands in his tremulous ones and gasped, "W-wǒ shì... wǒ shì duìbúqì." (I-I'm... I'm sorry.)

"Why are you sorry, Didi?" you asked him.

"I-I made you worried, y-yo-you matter so much to m-me. I..."

He trailed off, but you got the message already. He felt bad for being so unhealthy and making you worry. You felt bad for making him think it was an issue.

"Huaisang, when has it been since you last ate?" you asked him, changing the subject.

"A... a week and a half," he said hesitantly.

"Didi!" you wailed, making him whimper in fear.

"I-I'm sorry," he sobbed.

"No, I'm not mad. I'm just concerned for you. I'll make you some xiǎo lóng bāo, okay? You can eat them and I'll stay for the night, okay?" (Steamed dumplings)

"N-no, I can't. F-food reminds me of b-blood. And b-blood was... too much blood... no, too much!" he sobbed.

"Alright. Alright, how about jītāng? Do you like jītāng?" you asked. (Chicken soup)

"Jī... jītāng? Chicken soup... o-okay," he said.

With a smile, you went into the kitchen of the Nie household and started to cook the soup. In an hour, it was done, and you brought it into to Huaisang's room. When he took the first bite, he coughed it up and whimpered, "Blood..."

"No, didi. It's chicken and seasoned water, not blood," you said.

After taking a few more bites, Huaisang was able to eat the soup without coughing it up, and when he finished it, he even asked for more.

When it became night time, time for sleeping, Huaisang became scared again. He said he would have nightmares, and that nobody would comfort him. You said that you would sleep next to him, and that you would soothe him if he felt scared, and that helped him be able to lie down on his bed with you next to him.

Late in the night, you woke up to the sounds of him screaming, and you immediately got up and gave him a hug. He sobbed in your arms for a few minutes, then fell asleep again without having any nightmares for the rest of the night.

The next day, you had to return home. It was obvious that Huaisang didn't want you to leave, but you didn't expect him to want you to go in the first place. You packed your bags and left at 10 in the morning, returning to your home by 12 noon. A few hours later, you were surprised by a knock on your door and seeing Huaisang standing there with his servants, holding dozens of packed bags.

"Didi, what are you doing here? Why do you have so much stuff? Are you moving in or something?" you joked.

"Please... let me move in with you," Huaisang responded. "I can't live by myself. I feel like I'm dying alone. Please..."

"My poor didi. You can live with me as long as you want," you said. "I wouldn't want you to die alone."

Huaisang threw his arms around you and exclaimed, "I love you, Y/N! I love you!"

And forever and always, you would live one another.