Every Single Thing I Touch || HeartLiming "Moonlight Chicken"

26. Every Lifetime, I'm Yours

"No words appear before me in the aftermath, salt streams out my eyes and into my ears. Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness, 'cause it's all over now, all out to sea. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. You were bigger than the whole sky; you were more than just a short time. And I've got a lot to pine about, I've got a lot to live without. I'm never gonna meet. What could've been, would've been. What should've been you, what could've been, would've been you"

—Taylor Swift, "Bigger than the whole sky"

"What?" Liming breathed out, his voice barely a whisper as he staggered back, staring at Heart. The air between them crackled with unresolved tension. Heart had been shaking with anger, but the moment he let that sentence slip—that sentence, the one Liming had dreaded hearing for eight years—he froze. He seemed to collect himself, the fiery rage dimming, but the damage had been done. Liming's world tilted.

The weight of Heart's words hung in the air, and Liming felt it crush his chest. He had come to terms with the fact that Heart losing his hearing was his fault—it was an unspoken truth he carried with him every day. But hearing it from Heart's mouth? Hearing it now, when they were both so vulnerable, when there was nothing left to salvage? It felt like a knife to his heart.

Liming's breath hitched, the simple act of breathing becoming an effort. He blinked rapidly, his vision blurring as a tear rolled down his cheek. Every inhale felt shallow, as if the air was slipping away from him. He was losing the need to breathe at all.

"Baby, I didn't—" Heart started, his voice wavering, but Liming turned his head, unable to face him. Another tear fell.

"You're right," Liming replied, his voice cracking. He tried to push past Heart, to get away from the suffocating pain, but Heart caught his wrist, his fingers gripping tightly, pulsing with the desperation to hold on.

"Ming, no," Heart pleaded, shaking his head.

Liming opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out—just a shallow breath, a sob that escaped against his will, breaking through the dam of his emotions. It felt like it pierced straight through him, tapping into the raw, wounded child he'd buried so deep. His legs gave out, and he slid to the floor, his tears flowing freely now, hot and relentless.

Heart crouched in front of him, his own eyes glistening with unshed tears. Liming kept trying to wrench his wrist free from Heart's grip, but Heart held on, refusing to let go.

"No, Heart, you're right," Liming managed to choke out between sobs, his voice barely holding together. "We should've never started this in the first place. We should've never kissed. You should've never... never saved me."

"Shut up," Heart's voice broke, and Liming felt his own heart shatter a little more at the sound. "Don't you ever—"

Liming's gaze snapped to him, sharp and filled with anguish. "You're blaming me for what happened to you," he said, his voice trembling as his eyes searched Heart's. "And we both know it's true."

"It's not," Heart whispered, shaking his head, a tear slipping into his mouth. "I don't know why I said that when I don't believe it, myself. You are not to be blamed, Ming. I'm sorry—"

"Saying sorry won't—" Liming started.

"—Make up for what happened, I know," Heart interrupted, his voice desperate. "You also said that it's just a meaningless word, yet people try to clog it with so much meaning. I know that too, but sometimes... sometimes, it's all we have. Sometimes, a single 'sorry' can do wonders."

"Heart..." Liming started, but Heart didn't let him finish. He wrapped his arms around Liming's neck, pulling him into his chest, as if by holding him close, he could erase the years of pain between them.