Truth and Dare

Thinned Patience

When He Xuan died the first time and became a ghost, he was sure he would never enter the reincarnation cycle again.  The grudge against the one who caused it was too great to move on from.  So after his grudge was complete he expected his spirit to disappear into nothingness when he died again.  What he didn't expect though was what actually happened after his physical form was killed.

He woke up as a human baby in the new, modern world.  The memories of his past, both as a human and then a Devastation ranked ghost, forgotten the moment he was reborn.  Until they gradually reappeared when he turned five.  He still had the same name as in the past, and a similar acting family.  Two parents that loved and supported him, even when times were hard.  A little sister that always teased him for constantly keeping his nose in a book and came to him for advice.  However, certain things changed in this new life.  No Reverend of Empty Words came to haunt him.  Due to magic disappearing with the new times.  Then he met the one that had been given his stolen fate early.

It was when they both were ten.  His father had gotten promoted at his job and his office was throwing a party to celebrate.  Everyone was invited, including the families of the workers.  He was just standing in a corner feeling awkward about being in a strange place, when they approached him.  They had their brown hair tied back with a blue bow, and wore an adorable frilly shirt and lose pants combo that made them stand out.  The friendly smile on their face made their teal eyes shimmer as they said, "Hi, I'm Shi Qingxuan, wanna be my friend?" He Xuan was so overwhelmed by their presence that he didn't even think before he was nodding.  This made the smile grow and they took his hand so they could go off somewhere to play in peace.

Growing up with Shi Qingxuan in his life, the two actually did become friends.  Even though He Xuan would never admit it.  They went to the same school and lived in the same neighborhood, so it was easy to see each other almost every day.  Whether it was walking to/from school, making playdates/sleepovers, and shopping, Shi Qingxuan used every excuse to hang out with He Xuan with the purpose of obtaining the other's friendship.  And it worked.

Before the beginning of high school though, He Xuan had to move away.  Due to his father finding work with better pay outside where they were currently living.  The day he told Shi Qingxuan that he had to leave was one of the worst days of his new life.  On that day Shi Qingxuan had got into a fight with their older brother in the morning and they were getting picked on before being sent to the principle's office for wearing girl's clothes instead of the intended uniform.  Not realizing how delicate of a state this left the other, he casually dropped the bomb when they were walking home.  This caused the two to have their first real fight.  As they yelled at each other, He Xuan finished with saying that Shi Qingxuan was a spoiled brat that deserved everything that happened to them.  In response the other slapped him across the face and ran away in tears.

Realizing what he said, he immediately regretted ever uttering those words.  Especially because barely a minute after Shi Qingxuan ran off, horrible memories of the past appeared.  Ones of when he left them to their fate in the mortal realm directly after killing their brother right in front of them.  He tried apologizing before he had to leave, but the other avoided and refused to speak to him.  Their friendship shattered because of what he did, again.

Even though it was hard for him to be in a new town and new schools, he endured like always and it payed off.  Through all his sweat and tears he graduated at the top of his class.  During the first years of joining the work force however, things got bad.  At his first job, he was accused of purposely messing up the company's financial files.  It was only after he got fired that the accusations were proven false and the real culprit was arrested.  Then in the same week his sister was killed in a hit & run and his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  That time was the worst for him, especially since the recent memories had overlapped with the past ones.  When he contemplated ending it for good, life changing things happened.