Truth and Dare

Truth 2 (He Xuan)

After a long time of He Xuan holding onto Shi Qingxuan to comfort them, the later feels relaxed enough to sit up on their own and wipe away their remaining tears.  He Xuan asks, "Better?" Shi Qingxuan nods, not ready to talk yet.  With one squeeze to their shoulders, He Xuan removes his arm.  Just in time for a text to ping, this time coming from his phone.  Sighing, he grabs the phone and opens it to read the text.  He isn't surprised what is on the text, but it still doesn't stop him from being irritated at Hua Cheng's pettiness.

Unknown Number:

Truth: What is the biggest regret in your life?

There must be a certain look on his face because Shi Qingxuan asks, "Is it really bad?" He shows the text to the other the same way they did with him.  When he's sure that Shi Qingxuan has finished reading, he lowers the phone and drops it to the side.  It's then that he realizes Shi Qingxuan is being too quiet.  Looking up he sees the other have a contemplative look on their face.  Not knowing what is bringing this on, he asks, "What's up?" Like they were in a trance they blink and shake their head a bit.  They then tell him, "I wasn't sure at first, but now I'm positive that I've heard of these questions before." This surprises He Xuan to hear this.

As long as they've known each other in this life, Shi Qingxuan has not shown any sign that they have any memories of their past life.  Was his assumption wrong?  A little weary He Xuan asks, "What do you mean?" Shi Qingxuan furrows their bow like they are concentrating on something.  After a bit they then exclaim, "Ah ha, I remember now," Shifting their side-sitting position to settle on the other side of their legs they explain, "I've been having these vivid dreams since I was ten.  In one of them me, you, Lian, and Cheng were sitting in this broken down place and playing some sort of game.  We were also all wearing ancient clothing and talking about something called 'the Reverend'.  It sounded like a bad spirit or something.  Anyway, I think we were waiting for it come to us, so we passed the time by playing a game.  I don't really know if we caught it in the end or something else happened though.  All I know is that I had dared Lian and Cheng to do something before I asked the question I got asked in the last round and then you asked the same question that you got in this round." He Xuan can only stare at Shi Qingxuan in wonder.  So they do remember their past life, but they think that the memories are dreams.  How peculiar.

He's pulled out of his thought process when Shi Qingxuan comments, "It was so detailed, it feels more like a memory for some reason." Causing him to stare at Shi Qingxuan again.  Seeing his reaction, Shi Qingxuan chuckles in a humorless tone, "Listen to me, I must sound crazy to you." Quickly realizing that a misunderstanding is going to take place if he doesn't do anything he blurts out, "You don't." Making them stare at him instead.  Clearing this throat, he elaborates, "You don't sound crazy to me.  I've had those kind of not really dreams/memories happen to me too." Shi Qingxuan's eyes widen at this.  They mutter with astonishment, "Really?" He nods, telling them, "I talked with a person about it when they got really bad.  She told me that in some rare cases, there are people that experience visions from their past lives.  Visions of memories from that life which either appear in dreams or during events that trigger a certain moment that we probably didn't want to forget in our current lives." Furrowing their brow in thought they conclude, "So my vivid dreams are really memories of one of my past lives?" He Xuan nods, "That's what it sounds like." Shi Qingxuan hums at this.

A moment of silence passes between them before Shi Qingxuan startles, "Hey, you haven't done your truth yet." He Xuan realizes they are right and some part of him wants to smack himself.  He was so caught up in the realization that Shi Qingxuan has some memories of their past life that he almost forgot about this stupid game.  Looking at what the truth he was given again, he frowns in thought.  There is only one thing he regrets in either lives.

Taking a deep breath, he says, "This is something that happened in my past life that I remember." Shi Qingxuan gives him their full attention but doesn't say anything.  He Xuan closes his eyes and sighs, before opening his eyes once again, "I did something unforgivable, to someone I cared about.  I...I tortured them with the thing they feared the most, killed their sibling who ruined my life and caused my family's death, and left them to die in the streets after it was all over.  I only realized what I had done when it was too late, and have hated myself for it ever since." Silence permeates the room.  Looking at Shi Qingxuan, he sees that they have an unreadable expression on their face.  He Xuan can only hope and pray that the memory of his betrayal is not within the memories that they have witnessed in their vivid dreams.

He Xuan ends up looking down at his lap, so he doesn't notice that Shi Qingxuan has moved from their spot until he sees their bare knees and feels hands on his face.  The hands raise his head so the both of them are looking eye to eye.  When they have his attention, they softly mutter, "I think if I were that person, I would hit you over the head first before giving you a hug.  We all have done something bad at one point or another in our lives, doesn't mean we can't learn from them to be better." After this is said they bring him close into a comforting hug.  He Xuan just sits frozen for a bit before he slowly returns the hug.

They both stay like this for a while.  He Xuan basking in the arms of the one he has hurt and still loves.  He's not sure if Shi Qingxuan remembers everything like he does.  However, he will allow himself to be forgiven just the same.