Poisoned

"Xin Yu!" he exclaimed with happiness. But the girl in front of him, who was smiling, was standing in fighter's stance, ready to pounce over him any moment.

"Wait wait!! Are you going to fight me too? I don't think I am good enough to take you on! I will die inside the illusion itself!" he waved his hands, trying to persuade the Xin Yu before him otherwise. The girl, however, did not listen to him. She charged forward and turned her body to make a roundhouse kick near his ear with full force.

He easily blocked the kick with his arms.

"Xin Yu ah! Why do you hate me so much? I do not wish to fight you," he had almost grabbed her leg when Su Xin Yu retreated and tried an upper cut below his chin. Li Ming Hao was taken by surprise and almost took the blow but managed to dodge in time.

This girl might not be real but her attacks were all real. Even in the illusion, Li Ming Hao did not want to fight her. If he could, all he wanted was to adore her.

"I wish you were sweet to me rather than wanting to fight me. Would that work?" Li Ming Hao closed one eye and half wished his fantasy came true.

The girl in front of him, who was still in a fighting stance slowly retreated and stood gently there. This was such a contrast. Her ruthless eyes also became gentler.

"Ming Hao," she called sweetly. It felt to him like her voice was dipped in honey. He very well knew it was an illusion. That girl Su Xin Yu could never be this obedient. But he could at least enjoy this sweet sensation in his dreams or in an illusion like this.

He was okay with that for the time being. He would slowly make her his.

"Xin Yu?" he called her name in response, his eyes becoming the softest. She was approaching him slowly, his heart starting to pick up the pace. He did not have any erotic thoughts as of now, but the petite girl walking like that could very well arouse him. No, he did not want that at all.

"Ming Hao, you have been poisoned," Su Xin Yu, who was within his personal space now, whispered in his ears. Her voice was very bewitching, and Ming Hao could not help but swallow his saliva. His face had started to heat up. Was her extra seductiveness a result of his inner thoughts?

"Poison? But I dodged everything. How could I?" he checked his own body for any ruptures to his body but there were none.

"Yes, I know. Just wake up, I am waiting for you outside. I'll explain everything then," the girl before him smiled again and then poof! She disappeared into thin air like smoke. Li Ming Hao looked around but could not find her.

"You'll give me this much affection only? Since this illusion works according to my wishes, can I summon her again?"

He tried very hard but the girl did not appear. A but disappointed, he started looking for an exit. Where should he go from here?

There was no other way! He closed his eyes and focused on listening on any sounds. In the dark, a faint familiar voice was calling for him. He felt his heart filling with warmth.

She was out there, concerned for him, something he had not experienced in a long long time. Not his dad, not his aides and definitely not his fiancée. But here that girl was.

He just wanted to run towards her, and hug her, and kiss her. But how was he supposed to hold this light within him? He ran and ran in the darkness, finally finding a small opening with light emanating from it. This! This was the exit, he was sure of it!

Excitedly, he ran towards it until the opening became large enough that he could jump from it. The light was blinding but he was so confident that he just took the leap.

"Li Ming Hao!! Wake up!! You can't just go like this, after we have tackled so many problems already. Hey!!" A very frantic Su Xin Yu was crying with the guy's body in her arms. She was sitting on the cold floor, not caring about the temperatures. She was hugging his body as if he was already dead, mourning loudly.

Rocky on the side had come outside to howl loudly as well. She was nudging Su Xin Yu from time to time, licking her tears.

"Xin-Xin Yu." As soon as he woke up, he found his face smashed against two soft melons. What was this feeling. He could not open his eyes but he could hear the girl wailing for him. But the girl had held him so tightly that he could not breath. While he would have loved to be like this forever, he wanted to see her face, see if her tears were really for him.

"Ming Hao! Are you awake?" Su Xin Yu instantly separated from him and looked deeply in his eyes. The color was returning to his pale face, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"What happened to me? Did I not avoid all the rods? How did I get poisoned?" he asked curiously.

"How do you know you were poisoned?" Su Xin Yu replied with a question of her own. She had not said it out loud, was he consciously aware when he was in his previous state?

Li Ming Hao had a sudden realization. Then girl he saw in the illusion was just a figment of his imagination. How could he foolishly think that it was really her?

"Uhh… I feel like I woke up from a long dream. I am not sure," foregoing the details, he just made an excuse. It was not completely false though, the illusion was indeed more like a dream.

"Oh, okay. There is a poisonous miasma in the air here. I am okay because I have eaten too many herbs since my childhood. But you took more of it in when you were fighting just now and could not avoid getting poisoned anyway," she explained the details to him. Interestingly, she had not let him go and he was still in her arms.

Li Ming Hao lifted his hand and wiped away the tears. There was also some green substance on her lips. He looked at it inquisitively when he also realized that there was a bitter taste of herbs in his mouth. Did they just…? Did he miss it?

Su Xin Yu blushed when his hand touched her face. Why was he suddenly becoming so emotional? It was kind of getting weird but she was liking the feeling? What was this, was she falling for him? Why was this question coming up again and again?

Not making it more awkward, Li Ming Hao let go the countless questions he had in his mind. He had gotten gist of it anyway. But he was really regretful of not having any awareness when she fed him the herbs mouth to mouth.

"Why would you spill your tears for me though? Don't cry so heartbreakingly next time," he said to her.

"I… Don't think too much about it. I have trauma regarding students dying because of my ignorance. I had my previous partner die like this too. I… just cannot bear any more deaths because of me," she replied, sniffling slightly, covered in an indescribable sadness.