The Pain That Never Ends

Lin Ke jolted, quickly sitting up, panting heavily. HIs forehead was full of sweat.

"Ah!" Lin Ke cried, his breathing jagged.

With a deranged expression, he clutches his chest, as if checking that his body was still intact. Lin Ke could feel his own heartbeat, sounding so irregular and fast.

"Lin Ke? Lin Ke? Are you okay?" A faraway sounding voice calls.

A beautiful face appears in his peripherals. Looking over, Lin Ke looks at Lia with his eyes wide open in shock.

"Ah… I- What… What happened… It hurts! It hurts so damn much!!!" Lin Ke rapidly spoke. Not only did he not calm down, he spoke even faster, and even more desperately. "He reached out… My body… He- Hand… Stabbed me… Pain- Hurts… W-w-"

Unable to deal with the intense pain, Lin Ke curls up, wrapping his hands around his legs tightly.

Lin Ke truly couldn't be blamed for this irregular reaction. From the beginning, Lin Ke's pain tolerance was never that great, and that coupled with the scale of the pain he had to endure, Lin Ke's reaction could be considered light. In fact, what Queen Mary had neglected to mention was that, if Lin Ke's pain tolerance was any weaker, he would've been reduced to a vegitative state.

If Lin Ke's pain tolerance was the same amount as it was when Lin Ke arrived in this world, he wouldn't even be able to speak or move. He would be no worse than dead.

As Lin Ke wallowed in the depths of his own thoughts, as he wallowed in the lingering sensation of the pain, he suddenly feels a hand on his head.

It's a warm, soft hand, one that felt like a grounding pin, causing him to come to his senses just slightly. Slowly, he raises his head to see Lia looking at him with a kind smile on her face.

In her other hand, she has a cup of steaming tea, which she hands to Lin Ke.

Looking at the tea, Lin Ke finally chooses to accept it. Taking a small sip, Lin Ke coughs from how hot it is.

"Ah! Sorry, it's a little hot…" Lia said sheepishly.

With a few blows, the tea was finally drinkable. Gulping down the scalding hot tea, Lin Ke feels it burn his throat. However, the pain was barely comparable to the pain he had just experienced.

After drinking the tea, Lin Ke feels as though his head was slowly clearing up. Blinking his eyes, Lin Ke slowly looks around for the first time since he woke up, and took in his surroundings.

He was back in the hotel room, sitting on the bed. The bedsheets were all rumpled from his thrashing. By his side, Lia was looking at him, waiting for him to speak.

After a few minutes just sitting there, Lin Ke slowly spoke.

"I… It hurt… It hurt so much. It hurt so much I just wanted to die. It hurt so much… But no one could help me. Not even myself. I-" Lin Ke stops himself and smiles wistfully.

"I'm sorry you have to listen to my pathetic ranting. I probably seem ridiculous and hypocritical to you. I told you all those things… but in the end, I couldn't even apply it to myself, huh?"

Lin Ke looks at Lia tentatively, afraid of what she would say. However, hearing what Lin Ke said, she didn't immediately put on an expression of disgust. Instead, she laughed.

Lia giggled a little, before covering her mouth. After getting herself under control, Lia coughs.

"Lin Ke… You're a really weird guy, you know?"

"Huh?" Lin Ke scratches his head.

"Well, you act as if you being scared of pain is something bad, you know? The way you say it, it's almost as if it's wrong to feel pain. However, that's not true! You can feel pain! You just have to get over that pain, and not let it stop you! You have to let it become your driving force, your motivation!" Lia says.

"It's just like what you told me! Even though you comforted me… even though you told me those nice things, the pain from losing my grandpa didn't just go away! But… but what you said gave me motivation, it helped me see what I wanted, it helped me clear up my thoughts! So, that's why, you don't have to keep it to yourself and you don't have to think being afraid of pain is weakness."

Hearing Lia's thoughts on the matter, Lin Ke feels a trickle down his cheek. Surprised, Lin Ke wipes at his face with his hand. Looking at his hand, Lin Ke sees the faint glistening of teardrops. Turning around, Lin Ke quickly rubs his eyes to get rid of the already forming tears.

With a faint sniff, Lin Ke tries to speak as steadily as he could. "Sorry, my eyes are a little itchy."

Lin Ke feels slightly fearful of how Lia would react after seeing him start crying like a child. Would she think he was weak? Would she-

Lin Ke hears the sound of a chair scraping against the wooden floor. Before he knew what was going on, someone had wrapped their arms around him tightly. With a hand on his head and another around his back, Lia quietly said.

"It's alright to cry."

It was this that made Lin Ke lose control. All the pent up emotions, the overwhelming torrent of negative thoughts all came gushing out in the form of tears. All the pain, the suffering, the injustice that Lin Ke had to endure, but had no way of protesting against, had piled up within him.

Unable to stop himself, the tears kept flowing down his face as he cried and cried in the warm embrace of Lia. Instead of hating him for it, Lia was there for him instead, comforting him. Even when she was probably still recovering from losing her grandfather, she was still sparing emotions for him.

After a long time, Lin Ke finally got a hold of himself. Sniffling, Lin Ke slowly mutters. "Sorry… I might've ruined your clothes."

Lia giggles a little. "It's alright, as long as you're alright!"

Looking at the girl standing in front of him right now, this beautiful, picture perfect girl, who was kind, caring, smart, strong, shy at times, but decisive at others, Lin Ke couldn't help but smile in contentment. 'Oh how nice.' Lin Ke thought. 'Would it be if we could always be together?'