Fallen Apart II

-Excuse us... Is there anyone?- asks Pei when entering the room, an old man approaches -Oh, Ying PeiZhi and Feng Hua... You must have heard about Hao Ming's condition- the guard pushes his lover behind himself wanting to protect him from the upcoming events -Tell me what's wrong before we see him-

-Mhn... He's refusing to eat or drink... He wants to let himself die, he's not fighting for life anymore... We can barely keep him alive in a vegetative like state and honestly it's getting harder by each day since his body is perishing and rotting away day by day... It's not a good sight, unless you're completely prepared for it I suggest to go back and wait for the funeral-

Hua moves past Pei and holds tight his fist -No, I will see him... One last time before...- -Young one, sometimes it's better not to be by their side before death... Trust me, you want to remember them with a smile. My wife's dying memories still haunts me to this day personally- Hua shivers and his resolution wears off

-I'll go ahead and check the situation, if I think you can bear the sight I will call you- declares PeiZhi moving past the back door, the improvised doctor follows behind him and holds the door in silence... Hua grows nervous by each step of the other men, not knowing if he should listen and wait or try to see him one last time to say goodbye.

...

After a while the old man comes back, leaving Pei behind -So... Is he...? Still... I mean, he's still still alive?- the doctor nods -Yes, but I fear not for much more- Hua's eyes widen and he shakily walks toward the door -Are you sure?- asks the man but gets ignored.

Hua opens the door and comes to face Pei's arm, pushing him away -Don't come inside...- -But Ge... He has nobody, at least I should be by his side as the only friend left here- he talks while holding back tear, the other man sighs and lower his arm to let him pass. Hua takes a deep breath and move the white veils away to look at the bed behind it...

The sighs is 10 times worst them what he expected, he stands there frozen... Looking at whatever is in front of him now with fear.

Gray skin, if one could even call it so, dry and thin like paper... Each bone visible beneath it and only a few hair covers his scalp, letting the skull peak through. Here and there there are purple bruises, being so frail each time someone touched him might have caused unbearable pain to Hao... The lips have lost all their plumpness and consumed teeth shows in between those... His whole body is covered in veils and a nauseous smell comes from a bucket beneath the bed, indicating how he became unable to use the bathroom or hold anything inside his body... If one had to rise the veils, they would surely find him drenched in liquids.

What lays on that bed is a corpse, no living being should ever look like that.

Hua moves a few steps toward him, Pei rises his hand beside him seeing how pale he became. He looks at his hands, little sticks with tendons, no nails to be seen anymore as they probably all fell off and exposed the flesh beneath.

-No, Hao... Why? Why have you done this? Is this really better than dying on the battlefield?! Please...! Look at you... This is the worse of deaths!- he falls on his knees and rests his head on the clean veils at the side -Think about your family...! What are we supposed to tell them? You had 3 younger brother and... And... You just recently got arranged with a nice woman, you were so happy about it... Why?- he reaches out to grab his hand -Please come back to us! We can... Agh?!- upon touching the inhuman hand he jumps away scared -I... I'm sorry Hao, I didn't mean to... I'm...- he mumbles but tears fall down like a water fall, stealing his breath away -I... Want to... Be happy a... gain...! I... We...- he starts going into apnea so Pei grabs him and take him in his arms -Shh... Don't talk, just breath- upon saying somthe young man grabs on him and starts screaming for the pain he feels in his heart, hiccuping from time to time as the tears don't stops.

The old man comes back and check on the man lying on the bed, locking eyes with PeiZhi he shakes his head and passes two fingers to close the deceased man's lids... -Let's go Hua, you need some fresh air-

...

-Thanks...- says Hua while taking the water glass the other man lends him -I'm sorry for... Causing a scene... Our friend groups was still blooming and already fell apart. I really wanted to be stronger and stay by his side but... Well, I hate to admit it but I was disgusted. What I touched felt like a dead corpse and...-

-It's alright, you don't need to explain anything- sits down Pei beside him -By they way, I asked a bit around about Hao. I wanted to know what pushed him to this point... It is true that he was scared of the battlefield at first, but that's not the main reason for him deciding to die-

-What do you mean?!-

-You told me he had a bad relationship with his father, that he found him to be a failure and always said that the best he could do was to die an honorable death at least... Right? And you also said he confessed to you that he has been enduring it all for his younger siblings. The scolding, the punishments, the whipping even... Just to smile and cuddle the little ones again the next day.

But... His... His family's mansion got burned down on order of the emperor. They got accused of betraying the country, for having infiltrated spies on the palace before the massacre... Of course that's not the real reason. He just want to scare away anyone who might start a revolt while also searching for the Prince-

-His... Family? But they never hurt anyone, the Ming family was known for being quite... The father was more of a stoic man but...- his blurred eyes finds once again his lover -What if... Our families...-

-Stop, don't even think about it. That's exactly what the emperor wants us to think! He have been suspecting us since a while now, all these unnecessary deaths are his wicked way to make us crumble down and reveal the Prince's location in an act of fear... He knows he can't touch us directly due to my sister but he's still playing mind tricks on us- grabs his shoulder the brown haired man

-Your sister... Ah, she still protect us even while being so far away...- he sighs but then a spark lights in his eyes -Away, let's run away! Let's do it for real now! He won't touch our families anyway so we might at least disappear-

Pei looks at him troubled -I... Don't know what to do anymore Hua, I'm just a human afterall...- he falls on his knees and rests his head on the other man's laps. Looking at the falling leaves of a nearby tree, autumn is approaching already... -I'm scared too afterall. My Guard's instinct tells me to stay, the prince needs us and the emperor might kill more innocent peoples to call us back here if we disappear... But my heart aches when seeing you in pain, I don't care about any luxury... I just want us to live our lives away from all this blood bath till our last days-

The younger man caresses his hair while listening to him -My parents need me too, mother went mad and father is gravely ill... But, your eyes shouldn't see all the uglyness of this world anymore and I'm honestly scared something might happens to you- -What will your sister do if we disappear? Maybe she'll come back and take that man off the throne-

Pei rises just enough to come face to face with him -The Emperor controls each of the letters from her Armada, she only ever recive fake news of me and he wouldn't let the fact that I disappeared reach her ear at any cost... He knows too well that he's no match for her-

-So we can just go, Uhm?- tries to smile Hua -I'm tired of living in fear...- -Mhn, we can just go... We will- leans forward Pei to console him.