atelophobia | justin huang

eight

i follow zhengting home, but i don't miss xuefeng's look of surprise. and betrayal.

i don't want to hurt her. but i can't say no. because regardless of how much a monster zhengting is, he's the first person that reached out to me. and i owe him that much.

we collapse in his mansion of a bedroom, and a picture hanging on the shelf catches my eye.

i walk closer for a look.

it's a picture of zhengting, and a girl.

they look younger, but not that much.

and they're happy.

at least the girl is.

she's smiling so hard.

is that girl-

xuefeng?

zhengting sees me looking at the picture.

there's a wicked gleam in his eye, and that scares me.

"zhengting, this...this isn't xuefeng, is it?"

i find xuefeng under the big tree in our school's courtyard.

i expect her to get mad, or tell me to leave her alone, when i tell her about the picture, but she doesn't. her face is a mask, a cold mask. i can't read her at all.

"what...did zhengting tell you about the picture?"

"n-nothing."

lies.

"zhengting, this...this isn't xuefeng, is it?"

"oh, that. oh no, that's not xuefeng, that monster."

"th-then, who is it?"

he's grinning wickedly by this point. i knew it. zhengting is a monster.

"that's her sister."

xuefeng has a sister? she's never told me that...and i've never met her. zhengting's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"or rather...that was her sister."

was?

that means...

"justin, xuefeng's sister is dead. she killed her own sister."

xuefeng...killed her sister?

"you're lying. justin. what did he tell you?"

i swallow hard. i feel bad for lying, but i can't tell her. can't tell accuse her of being a murderer.

xuefeng's voice is hard.

"let me guess..." she lets her voice trail off. "he told you i killed my sister, right?"

numbly, i nod, unsure of what to do.

i don't know what's happening.

but it's big.

this is her story.

this is what xuefeng's been hiding from me.

i'm about to find out.

but i'm not sure i want to anymore.

xuefeng doesn't look surprised.

almost like she expected it.

"because," her voice cracks. "because, he's right."

i'm really confused now.

he's right? who's right?

zhengting?

what could she mean-

oh.

oh.

"he's right. i killed her. i killed her. all my fault. it's my fault."

and she crouches, in the grass, and sobs into her arms.

i'm not sure if i should comfort her.

she just confessed to killing her sister.

but...

she looks so broken.

xuefeng...

what really happened?

•••

just warning you guys, this is a really, really short story, so any chapter could be the last. sorry there's so few chapters.

and i know the chapters are short, and trust me, i've tried to make them longer but they turn out all weird, so i'm really sorry if you like longer chapters

maybe sometime in the future i'll edit this story, and i'll make it longer ^w^

maybe ;)

thank you for reading!~

03.30 edit: whoaaaa 200+ reads? O.O sh00k

tysm i love you guys <3 have an amazing day/night!~