1 Burn the tree

As the flowers of the Cherry Blossom tree freely intertwined with the gentle breeze, the petals danced together as if in a ball, slowly hovering on the air and gracefully landing on the grasses.

A wistful young boy took out his hand, anticipating for a petal to fall down on his slender palm.

A stronger breeze blew on the cherry blossom tree, causing countless pink petals to fall down on his exquisite pale cheeks. Each petal playfully danced around him, the beautiful scene could make anyone feel their heart skip a beat.

As his attention shifted to the pink petal that fell on his palm, a memory from the past fell over him.

****

The sound of heavy breathing spread over the place.

Droplets of water overwhelmed the surroundings; it was crowded, and the infuriating sound of the siren was driving him insane. He had the sudden urge to puke--His mind was clouded, everywhere he looked, he could only see blurry images of people surrounding him.

He turned around and saw himself bringing someone close to his chest, grieving.

He silently took a few steps forward in order to look closer.

It was his brother, lying on his own pool of blood, with multiple gunshot wounds and lacerations all over his body. He knew his brother suffered a gruesome death.

His vision started to spin, everything around was driving him nuts; the faint and loud voices of people were overwhelming him that he had to cover his ears yet he could still hear them.

"AhZhe"

He was terrified of himself, he could hear his deranged shrieks getting louder and louder until a deafening pinging sound wrapped around his head. He could see vague images of himself grieving next to his brother's corpse appearing on his mind.

"Zhu Minzhe!"

The distant voice called out to him until it got louder and louder. The last call of his name brought him back to the very reality from which he stood.

Tears rolled down on his delicate cheeks. His body felt stiff, it was as if, he couldn't control his body. He felt numbness all over him. His pallor turned a scarily shade of white, lips lightly trembling.

"AhZhe, are you alright?!" A close friend of his asked worriedly.

Zhu Minzhe tried to compose himself. He wiped his tears hurriedly, clenching his jaw. He didn't want to look weak, not now.

"Have you brought it?" Zhu Minzhe asked, crumpling the beautiful petal laying gently on his palm.

"Yes..." The girl said hesitantly while struggling to hand over the canister filled with gasoline.

Zhu Minzhe uncapped it and didn't hesitate to pour it around the Cherry Blossom Tree.

He stepped back a few meters and held a lighter in his hand. With a click, a tiny spark of flame appeared, shrouding over his emotionless face.

With a last look at the tree filled with their memories, he threw the lighter over. It didn't take long for the tree to become engulfed in a sea of fire.

"AhZhe, you....you planted that tree with brother Ren...why?" She was curious as to why Zhu Minzhe suddenly decided to burn such a precious piece of his memory, a significant symbol that served as a reminder of his now-deceased brother.

"It's infuriating to look at, it only brings back bad memories." Zhu Minzhe said with a frown on his face, turning his back on the burning tree to leave as if he had no regrets.