6 He Was The Yin To My Yang (2)

Waking from that dream, the black-haired boy brought his hand to slap himself across the face.

"What are you doing?" Yuan Ji sat up, sleepily rubbed his eyes.

YueChen stared at his own hand and said nothing. The deity noticed that the hand was shaking. The slapped right cheek was already red, with a shape of hand.

What... actually happened?

The room was quiet, the souls slumbering there hadn't stirred yet. Only two were awake, a deity and a ghost.

Worried that his vessel might do another stupid deed that could wake the others, he moved to take a better look at the boy.

Eyes somewhat dull—his eyes were a little dull to begin, but this time, they were unfocused and blank—his body shaking, his lips quivered, his breathing irregular.

A nightmare?

"YueChen? ChenChen?" Yuan Ji gently shook the boy, his brows knitted together.

YueChen blinked after a while, raising his gaze to look at the deity. "Uhh... what?"

His face, full of confusion, didn't help at all. But at least YueChen didn't drift away into his maze of a mind anymore.

"Did you have a nightmare or something? Why did you do that??!"

A nightmare or a dream would be the least feared for now. But if it was a case of an error in the contract or anything that could cause imbalance in his Qi circulation and started a frenzied-state, he doubt that he could help him regain the balance state of soul. So, before YueChen could even open his mouth and say anything, Yuan Ji had already fumbled and touched his body.

YueChen blinked once more at the sudden groping, hands roamed around his chest, neck, and arms to check any irregularities. Nimble fingers moved to press on acupuncture points. Eyes, fine. Breathing, constant. Heart, working. Response, too slow.

Response, still too slow. Maybe a forceful hit upside his head would fix that.

"A—A-Ji... calm down.." He regained his senses and tried to pry the hands off his body. A shade of red nearly as red as the slap mark crept up to his face.

Yuan Ji ignored him, continued to feel up the other's body.

Only one time YueChen flinched at his touch. And it was a year ago. For what reason he reacted that way, Yuan Ji never knew. But it might had connection to what he asked before.

/'Delete my memories.'/

"A-Ji..." YueChen whined, the red only increased as time passed. "A-Ji... it's okay, I'm fine. I just got a dream..."

The last sentence made his temper flare.

•

Thank heavens that the red marks disappeared before the breakfast gathering, otherwise YueChen had to carry around the shame.

Yuan Ji, being enraged by his last statement, had added another slap mark on his other cheek and a bite mark on his right upper arm. While the slap marks had faded, the bite mark had to be hidden.

After breakfast, YueChen walked around the inn, looking for the sulking deity. Yuan Ji ran away right before the assembly, leaving YueChen all by himself and disappeared into thin air.

He had visited every single corner of the inn, yet the deity couldn't be found anywhere. The anxiety could only grow, not ceasing a bit.

Five minutes later, YueChen spotted a small figure in the distance, squatting down and patting the sand. On closer look, said figure was halfway destroying a sand castle and flattening the sand.

"A-Ji?"

The figure raised its head and locked eyes with YueChen's dark ones. It was indeed Yuan Ji, but...

His messily done blue robes, slightly askew ponytail, sleeves rolled up, face littered with patches of sand here and there....

Not to mention the holes surrounding him. Whatever that might be the reason of the creation of those holes, it should be left unsaid for greater good.

Gulping, YueChen walked down the stone stairs and approached him. Yuan Ji chose the side of the inn, where the port was seated nearby, as his hiding place. People rarely come to that place, a perfect choice for a hideout.

"..."

If people found him in this place, alone and talking to invisible being, what would they say?

His school had deemed Yang YueChen crazy, but maybe it would add another reason to bully him even more than before.

"Go away!" Yuan Ji exclaimed to YueChen, not allowing the latter to close the space between them. YueChen stepped back, creating a five feet distance from the deity.

What had gotten into Yuan Ji?

Beating around the bush, avoiding YueChen... Although he sometimes did the former, he had never avoided his vessel.

It took a moment of persuasion and a convincing act from the boy to move them into a better place to talk about it—the port. No ships or boats would be docking there in any moment anyway.

"Tell me what..." YueChen made a gesture, trying to fill what he couldn't find the right word for.

The deity stared far into the lake, opened his mouth to whisper, "....rry..."

"What?"

He iterated it, " I'm sorry..."

... Could—Could a deity got possessed? Preferably by evil spirits?

The hands roaming, the slap, running away, and then apologizing. Those four points weren't what the water deity had done before.

Not allowing his vessel to dive further into his imagination, Yuan Ji quickly explained, stuttered as he tried. "It's... You woke up this morning and... and slap yourself. I was just, right, I was just worried that you were having a Qi deviation and tried to help. The... uh.. I swear I didn't have any evil intentions... I mean, I'm just checking your... Pulse, breathing, heartbeat, and... and then you said you're fine. I became furious...and, yeah... slapped you."

Hearing the word 'slap', YueChen subconsciously brought his hands to his cheeks.

Thank you for worrying about my well being, but please don't ever slap me again when I say I'm fine!

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't be sorry, I'm at the fault too." Yet, his hands never left his cheeks, still fearful of receiving another hit.

Yuan Ji stayed silent for a long while, brushing the sand off his face and clothing. The next thing he blurted out heated the boy's cheeks once more.

"What was it, your dream that made you go like that?"

Is it... is it possible to ignore that question? Talking about that, YueChen preferred another slap.

He rose up and walked away from the port, ears tinted with red. The only excuse he managed to mumble was: "The religious assembly is in five minutes, hurry up..."

•

"You liked that Xu HuaLi girl."

"No! I don't like her!" The boy turned around to hiss lowly. The redness on his ears didn't dissipate.

The water deity rummaged his robes for something, saying, "It's obvious. That girl had a step-mother vibes, but she's pretty decent."

"No! I'm not!"

Boy, don't you know how absolutely not-subtle kind of person are you? You literally stared at her the whole time. You even read the wrong passage, spelled few words wrongs, and stuttered when she turned only a little bit. Keep it subtle and vague, no one will notice. Denying it would only make you look like a thief who stole the bell.

"She's smart, pretty good looking, lots of friends—" The deity continued.

A muffled groan came from behind the hands covering his face, "A-Ji... please, I beg you."

"She's a bully, but maybe I can just enchant her to be submissive and kind-hearted to suit you."

"No. Just let her be."

Yuan Ji raised an eyebrow, "I never knew that you are a masochist..."

"That's not the point here! Listen—!"

The deity put a finger on his lips, "Not too loud, if you would, please."

The assembly had ended, yet the matter hadn't. They both dragged each other deeper into the problem with no escape in any moment.

"I'm not interested in girls! I don't want a girlfriend!" YueChen gritted his teeth and grumbled.

"Listen here, you little brat." Although his words were harsh, his tone was gentle. "Mortals are short-lived, there's a possibility of terrible things and good ones. Once I ascend back to the heavens, you'll be alone. Find a friend and socialize more. That way you won't depend too much on me. In case I couldn't help you, there's another person who is willing to lend you a hand."

/That way, I won't have any attachment for you./

"What do you mean? Huang OuLin isn't a friend?"

".... He is. But find a few more, one isn't enough to take care of you."

|Aren't you afraid being alone?|

|I got used to it.|

YueChen swept his feet across the waves caressing his skin as he listened half-heartedly to Yuan Ji's lecture. As it was the last semester of junior high school, the principal brought all the ninth-graders to an island in the middle of a big lake. An annual spring season's three days and two nights vacation. And by the second day, YueChen already took a favored place to talk to his one and only trusted friend. Of course, he avoided social circles formed by his classmates and chose solitude as usual.

"I understood, but— Can I just drop myself into the water?"

"No. You can't swim. I'm not having you struggling to stand in six feet of water."

"Don't mock me for my demerits."

Not far away from where YueChen sat on, a group of students had separated themselves from the others in the grass field and holed up at the beach where Yuan Ji hid before. Three or four also joined them, only that they didn't plan to get into the water, but to fish. Seeing that his peers were playing cheerfully near the water, YueChen was a little intrigued. He then pondered for a while whether to join them or stay there, talking to his deity alone.

"Don't mull it over." said Yuan Ji calmly. "Go."

As if to emphasize the deity's words, a young teen saw him and waved to him. "YueChen! Come over!"

The boy couldn't help but to sigh, he rose and brushed dirt off his clothes and walked to that direction. To where a grinning Huang OuLin and a bunch of other kids played.

OuLin had taken care of YueChen for a year, with a little help from the principal. While OuLin took the role as his friend, the principal made sure that YueChen was properly social and not causing another trouble (read as: attracting problems.) But... OuLin had been distant these days. And YueChen had since long anticipated this day for the reason people never stay a long time with him. So, if one day OuLin left him for good, he wouldn't be having an heavy heart to let him go.

Yuan Ji too, would never forever stay. Yet, YueChen still without any hesitation feel attached to him. Seeing the deity leave him to ascend back to heaven will be the most painful thing in his life.

"Okay." YueChen smiled and ran to them, feet and body light.