The ReD RosE--A Wangxian/ Yizhan RomancE!

CHAPTER 20 : The PaintinG

Chapter 20 : The Painting

Wuxian watched him flinch as though he had slapped him. Then he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

A surge of fury welled up in him. How dare he? How dare he leave, just like that?

Wuxian swiped his hand across the table. A porcelain vase he had bought two years ago fell and shattered on the floor, littering it with red-coloured shards. 

He looked down at them with sudden savage pleasure, then stamped on them barefoot, noting with some disappointment that the shards hadn't even broken his skin.

On the wall, a smiling photograph caught his eyes. It was of himself, taken months ago, in China , just outside Wangji's house. 

Wuxian felt an unbearable swell of jealousy for his former self. How dare he smile, how dare his own reflection mock him ?

With perfectly steady hands, HE pulled it off the wall and hurled it away from him. 

A resounding crash echoed through the empty house as it hit the wall and cracked, falling to the ground with a dull thud. And still, Wuxian was wearing that hateful smile.

HE proceeded to bash it against the table, again and again, till the glass finally shattered and fell away, leaving only the photograph behind.

HE pulled it out recklessly, tearing it into halves, then quarters, then into many small pieces, till his own photograph no longer smiled at him.

HE did the same with all his photographs in the living room, mutilating them beyond repair. 

But he stopped at one---a recent frame. 

It was of the party, a quite close shot of himself and Wangji on the dance floor. 

Wuxian threw the frame away too, but as the glass shattered, Wei wanted to pull out the photograph, but his hands shook as he touched it.

He couldn't tear it, because tearing it would mean tearing Wangji. So HE dropped it, feeling weak.

Rage surged up within him, and he swiped at the showpieces in front of him, which fell to the floor. Some broke with a tinkling noise, while the others fell away from him.

Then, because he had nothing else to destroy, he overturned the chairs, taking savage pleasure in the way they toppled.

He barely knew who he was anymore. All that mattered was that Wangji was gone, and he was alone again...

Wuxian dropped to his knees amidst the wreckage of his own doing, feeling exhausted. His arms hurt, and feet felt numb. HE curled into a ball, shaking with dry sobs. He couldn't even cry properly.

Then the door opened. For a mad moment, Wei thought it was Wangji, and he could beg Wangji to take him back- but it was Ani , flushed and wide eyed as she surveyed the destruction around her.

Then she met Wuxian's gaze, and tears fell down her eyes as she looked at the sobbing boy in front of her.

Ani asked no questions. She simply said, 'Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you to bed.'

Wei shook his head, stubbornly, shying away from Ani as the other woman reached for him. 

Ani knew exactly what Yanli had meant then.