Love Theory

Chapter 4

Xie Lian's POV

With my eyes fixed on the clear night sky, I took a deep breath and stared at the small air clouds that my breath created on this cold winter night.

It was a beautiful night, and the stars shone high in the sky.

I closed my eyes to make a wish, not because I thought it would become real, but because of a promise.

A vow I had made a long time ago faded through the years but was never to get broken again.

It was always me who told Hong Hong-er fairytales on the frightening nights in which the moon shone high and the wind howled while we cuddled in the safe blankets of each other's embrace.

There was one time he asked me that whenever I would get the chance to see a shooting star, I would have to make a wish because it would become true.

My Hong Hong-er got taken from me, and every night I would stare up at the sky, watching the stars, praying, to anyone who would be listening to give me back my Hong Hong-er.

Over time, I learned that in this world, there is no such thing as "forever" in life.

I let out a deep breath, and a light headache intruded inside my head.

Hong Hong-er had once told me that a shooting star equals the symbol of happiness and luck.

The moment I opened my eyes, I was lying on a beach.

The sand stung like needles in my back, so I slowly got up.

My legs felt numb, and my intuition told me that whatever was to come could not be a good thing, but I buried the feeling away with my emotions.

I looked up at the sky, and the first thing that caught my attention was the moon; it seemed to emit a mystical white glow that created a path.

Without much thought, my legs started moving, and I followed the path that the moon created, and it led me to him, the one I thought I lost, never to get found again.

There he stood, a few meters away from me with his back facing me, just like nothing happened.

I would have recognized his appearance from anywhere.

He looked just like he used to, a red coat hugging his body, flowing with the wind, his raven black hair a little longer than I remembered it to be in a loose ponytail on his back with a pearl intertwined.

Yet, I could see he had changed; he had become taller, his posture more open, as if he was ready to face the world, and above all, he looked alive.

Through a light gust of wind that made his coat ripple, the moon that lit him and the way he stood there, I would almost think he was an angel.

The angel of death.

I kept staring at him, and thousands of words and phrases I wanted to say went through my head like a whirlwind, but none seemed right.

My heart beat like a madman only wanted one thing.

I wanted to grasp his arm, make him stay, stay with me and protect me just like he had promised, just like I had promised the same to him.

Slowly he turned a quarter just as if he felt my presence.

From this side, I could only see his profile a little, but it was clear he hadn't changed at all, his skin almost white under the moonlight and his dark eyes holding mysteries of the world within them shining.