DIFFERENT WORLD

Chapter 9: YOU&I

Audio title: BECAUSE OF YOU

Chapter
IX
You&I

***

It had been five hours since Zhang Qi Ling ran away.

It was enough time for him to stop telling himself he had made a strategic escape, or had left because he had other souls to collect, and admit that he ran like a little girl.

He hadn't been prepared to see Wu Xie like that. The sixteen-year-old had stepped into the room while Zhang Qi Ling turned around fully to face him. Zhang Qi Ling hadn't let Wu Xie see him in ten years, hadn't looked at him in four, and Wu Xie had grown up so much. He was taller now, eyes framed behind glasses and his hair was trim neatly. His hands were shove into the pockets of his blue jeans and an oversized, white hoodie covered his torso. But it was Wu Xie's eyes that had grown the most. Zhang Qi Ling remembered innocent, bright eyes laughing at him, but this older Wu Xie's eyes were sad and lost.

The hospital door slid closed with a soft click. Wu Xie's wide brown eyes looked between Zhang Qi Ling and the bed and back again while his lower lip trembled. "You.." He began again but the door behind him flung open, nurses pouring into the room along with Wu Xie's grandmother.

Wu Xie looked away at the commotion and Zhang Qi Ling disappeared.

And then Wu Xie's Call became unbearable. Zhang Qi Ling immediately went to the mountain, clawing at his chest and gasping for breath. Unlike all the times before, the swirling now didn't cool his skin and the howling gusts of wind didn't block out his thoughts. Unlike before, Zhang Qi Ling could hear words in the plea, 'Xiao ge! Come back, please, don't leave', 'Xiao ge! Please, I want to see you!' 'Xiao ge! I miss you!' 'Just once, please, Xiao ge' and nothing he did could stop the soft words from ripping through his body.

In the end, he stopped trying. Within seconds, he found himself in a deserted playground nestled under the shadow cast by the hospital. A rhythmic squeaking drew his attention and he stepped around a spiral slide to see a painfully familiar head of dark brown hair.

Wu Xie sat on a swing, his tennis shoes leaving ruts on the cool, gray sand as he moved back and forth. His fingers curled around the metal chains until his knuckles were white and his head rested against one of his hands, his eyes closed.

Tears streamed from under his lashes and Zhang Qi Ling nearly tripped on his walk over when a wave of desperation flooded Wu Xie's Call to him.

"Wu Xie," he softly said, coming to stop in front of the teenager.

Wu Xie startled, planting his feet as his eyes opened, followed immediately by his mouth. Taking off his glass, he hurriedly rubbed at his eyes and noticed that the person in front of him was not an illusion. Wu Xie didn't know he was Calling, but for now, he didn't care. For the first time in four years, Zhang Qi Ling didn't feel the constant pull from Wu Xie. Instead, he was left with a gentle hum vibrating through his body, sending a wave of warmth over his mind.

"You."

Wu Xie said the word like a statement and then closed his mouth. Zhang Qi Ling leaned against the metal frame of the swing set, crossing his feet at his ankels.

"Me."

Something dark and sharp flashed through Wu Xie's brown eyes and Zhang Qi Ling was reminded once more of how much he had grown.

"I considered telling them that a man in black had killed my grandfather," Wu Xie began slowly, turning his head to look directly at Zhang Qi Ling, and then shook his head as though he was confused. "But, I've been through the disappearing man in black thing. It sucks."