One Year Promise

"That sly Doctor… What is he planning exactly?"

Once she had walked a distance from the shop, Xie Yi raised the glass vial to examine the moving green liquid inside with a skeptical gaze, before she opened the lid with one hand to take a sniff.

'Whatever it is, it definitely won't be good since it comes from the doctor…'

Xie Yi firmly told herself. Still, she didn't throw the dubious vial away and had instead kept it safely in her clothes.

Then, she raised her head to peer at the sky, noticing that the night was still young.

Instead of returning to the residence as she was told to, Xie Yi walked down the nearly empty streets with her head hung low, tinkering with her new phone and wavering whether to call him or not when suddenly, the phone buzzed with a funny ringtone of a young male voice screaming rock.

Xie Yi flinched out of shock and quickly flicked the screen open, finding the huge glaring bold letters of "Cang Hai <3" on the top section of screen.< p>

She unconsciously cleared her throat and gulped, pausing for a while before she slide her finger against the screen to answer the call.

"Xiao Yi," A low baritone voice that held a certain alluring yet also dangerous charm rang out from the other end of the phone.

For a moment, other than the loud drums of heartbeat from the two individuals on the phone, each beating hardly for a reason vastly different from the other, nothing but silence ensued between the two.

Receiving no answers, a thought of doubt seemed to have crossed his mind as the man's voice suddenly turned grim, "Or, are you not her?"

"No, no. I am. I'm Xie Yi, Brother Hai." Xie Yi quickly said, not wanting to infuriate him furthermore.

Recognizing her familiar voice, the man softly hummed in reply, his demeanor softening so drastically that even his threatening breathing now came out like the calm whips of sea waves, as if a form of soothing music to her ears.

"Fortunately." The man depressingly said, "I thought that you don't want me anymore."

"Brother Hai," Xie Yi's heart dropped at the sudden shift of emotion. She had expected him to chide her, to be mad at her for forgetting her promise and not this.

It was only now that she realized, that kind of negative emotional outburst, Cang Hai had never shown any of them when faced with her. And this version of Cang Hai… This feeling… It made her feel so uncomfortable that she found it hard to breathe.

"I'm sorry for being so useless. I can't even protect your place and let you stay. I'm sorry, Xiao Yi. I've disappointed you." The man said, suffocating her more.

"No." Xie Yi vigorously shook her head in denial. It was unlike him to talk so descendingly of himself. Perhaps, that's what's been bothering her since the start.

"You've never wronged me so don't talk about yourself like that." Xie Yi sternly said, trying to invert the subject. "Didn't you ask me to call you once I arrived at the residence? Are you no longer curious?"

Cang Hai coldly snorted, "And did you, disobedient girl, do as I told you to? If I haven't remembered wrong, it has been three days…"

"Two! It has only been two days!" Xie Yi defended herself, before she sheepishly muttered in a small voice, "I'm sorry, I lost my phone…"

Cang Hai did intend to tease her to get back at her, and once he succeeded, he couldn't help but chuckled out loud, feeling both satisfied yet sorry for her.

Xie Yi smiled as well. Now that her Brother Cang Hai's mood had turned for the better, Xie Yi was finally relieved. She remembered that their relationship had always been this way, with them bantering with each other childishly most of the time.

Unfortunately, after the incident from two months ago, they refrained from talking to each other freely like this. After the strange mishap that had stayed as an unresolvable mystery till this day, things had been highly-sensitive in the military. From the top to the bottom, no one dared to say anything unnecessary in fear of saying something that they shouldn't have.

As the core and only witness to the accident, Xie Yi was constantly put under the watch of so many eyes and therefore had been very careful with her words and actions.

It was even more nerve-wrecking for her when she truly did hide something from them and that was the strange familial connection between her and the 'monster.' A secret as dangerous as this… she didn't dare to risk it as she didn't trust that they wouldn't harm her once they knew.

However, Cang Hai was different. She trusted him unconditionally and yet, still hid the truth from him in fear of pulling him down to the muddy waters with her.

"Brother, today, Brother Mo and Brother Jun brought me around the city. They… were very kind to me." Xie Yi said with a rare hint of gentleness in her eyes. She was sharing every bit of her recent days, hoping that the man would be relieved this way.

Unfortunately, upon hearing this, Cang Hai bitterly sighed, "It has only been two days and you've single-handedly gained another two brothers. Our Xiao Yi is truly capable. If given another few weeks, or even months, wouldn't you bring home a boyfriend for your brother to be pissed at?"

Xie Yi blinked in confusion, "Brother, what is a boyfriend?"

"Whatever it is, they are nothing good so you better not think of getting one!"

"..."

By now, Xie Yi was completely sure that her Brother Hai hadn't been in a very good mood after all, noting how easy it was to rile him up.

"Xiao Yi, remember what I told you before?"

Xie Yi stopped her footsteps, pausing for a while before nodding, "En."

A breath of relief seemed to have resounded from the other side of the call as Cang Hai continued, "One year. Give me one year and I'll settle everything on this side. I'll definitely bring you back so Xiao Yi, wait for me. This time… I will not disappoint you."

"En."

Xie Yi closed her eyes and softly hummed in agreement. She hoped for that time to come as well. The time when they could stand together again and return to how they used to be.

The two of them, side by side… How great would it be? Just one thought about it was enough to warm her heart.

"I will be waiting, Brother."

A beautiful smile akin to that of blooming flowers spread across Xie Yi's palm-sized face. It was unfortunate that the man whom it was meant to bloom for wasn't there to see it with his own eyes, and the next time they met, they would be standing on two opposing sides, their promise of this moment turning into nothing but a laughable joke.

"What to do, Brother?"

She whispered under her breath as tears fell off her monstrous purple eyes. Slowly and tremblingly, her long blade-like jade nails reached for the vial in her pockets, the liquid inside shaking as she opened the lid and raised it to her mouth.

"That day… I don't think it'll ever come…"