PTGWD Chapter 2: Toy

That night, Fang Xingzhou dreamed of something so long ago that he could no longer remember it.

 

Around the age of four, he followed his parents to a newly developed island for vacation, and on the beach, he found a translucent creature trapped in a shallow puddle that was so beautiful that it inspired fear in people.

 

It had light blue fluorescent tentacles full of suckers, a soft head so transparent that you could see its brain, and deep mysterious dark red eyes……. Eerie, noble, and elegant, it slowly floated in the water and seemed to want to approach him.

 

Fang Xingzhou was deeply compelled.

 

With the image of that graceful figure in his mind, he couldn’t sleep all night. The next day, before dawn, he sneaked out of the hotel, collected the “jellyfish” into a large glass jar, hid it in his suitcase, and, strangely enough, passed smoothly through security, successfully brought it home. He lied to his parents, saying that it was a toy he had purchased with his pocket money.

 

For over two years, he kept it by his bed, diligently cared for it, and stayed in his bedroom while other children were out playing. He held his “pet,” foolishly talked to it, told it stories, and sang.

 

It grew bigger and more beautiful while Fang Xingzhou’s health progressively worsened.

 

At first, it was just frequent nightmares, dreaming of a pair of crimson eyes staring at him in his dreams.

 

Gradually, he could no longer sleep, and inexplicable wounds always appeared on his wrists (and disappeared the next day) as if his arteries had been cut by something. At the same time, he developed anemia, his body became thin and weak, and he was often sick, and his mentality became more and more unstable.

 

His parents took him to many famous doctors, but his symptoms never improved and even got worse. When he was six years old, it became difficult for him to even get up, he would lie weakly on his bed all day long, gazing at the beautiful jellyfish at the foot of his bed with bleak eyes, and whispering to calm it down.

 

It seemed anxious about this and pressed its transparent brain against the glass; its tentacles slapped the glass wall. Green tears slowly flowed out of its crimson eyeballs.

 

Fang Xingzhou stretched out his skinny hand and grasped its tentacles through the glass, then closed his eyes and fell unconscious again. When he woke again, the tank was empty, leaving only the tiny bubbles gurgling out of the oxygen injection tube.

 

The “jellyfish” had entered his world like a dream and then disappeared like a dream, as if it were just a hallucination.

 

He couldn’t accept this ending. He hugged the tank and cried, but his body was getting better every day, except for his memory, which was fading rapidly.

 

No matter how much he tried to remember, the memories of the jellyfish were still slowly drawn out.

 

In less than six months, he only vaguely remembered that he had once lost an extremely favorite toy.

 

Later, he returned to his daily life and grew up normally like anyone else. At the age of eighteen, during a new student event, he saw Lu Jianchuan, who was so beautiful that he seemed almost beyond human.

 

When his gaze fell on Lu Jianchuan’s skin, so white it seemed almost translucent, memories that had been buried for over a decade surged back like a tsunami. At that moment, Fang Xingzhou remembered his jellyfish. Seeing Lu Jianchuan, he broke into a cold sweat, his heart pounding like thunder. It was the first time he felt such a strong palpitation, even though he was fully aware that the other was a man.

……

When he woke up, that surge of love still lingered in his heart, making him stare at the ceiling for a long time.

 

An absurd thought crept into his mind:

 

Marriage is nothing, they have no emotional basis, Lu Jianchuan might still stay by his side.

 

As soon as this thought arose, Fang Xingzhou felt disgusted with himself.

 

He sat up expressionlessly, then realized that the inside of his pajama pants was a mess front and back, so miserable that it seemed like he had fought three hundred rounds with someone last night.

 

“……”

 

He bit his lip, feeling an even deeper sense of disgust. He washed up with a cold expression, too lazy to eat breakfast, and silently packed up everything in the house that belonged to Lu Jianchuan, scheduling a courier to pick up the package.

 

The courier arrived quickly, ringing his doorbell within ten minutes.

 

Fang Xingzhou opened the door.

 

Outside, there was no courier, only a handsome face smiling pleadingly at him, its smile eerily similar to the curve of the smile on the corpse in the morgue the night before.

 

“Wife, you’re awake!”

 

Lu Jianchuan raised the paper bag in his hand like a big dog waiting for his master’s praise, “I waited in line for two hours and bought your favorite Carrot Cake.”

 

Fang Xingzhou hated his physical reaction to Lu Jianchuan, just by seeing this face, his heart is already starting to soften uncontrollably.

 

“You came just in time,” he didn’t pick up the carrot cake and leaned against the door frame, moving his gaze away, “I’ve packed your things, take them away directly.”

 

“What things?” Lu Jianchuan pretended not to understand.

 

Fang Xingzhou: ” Things for moving.”

 

Lu Jianchuan: “This is the house we decorated together. Do you want to move out after just half a year? Where does Zhouzhou want to go? I’ll go with you.”

 

Fang Xingzhou, not wanting to entangle with him at his most vulnerable, almost couldn’t wait to move the suitcase outside, then forcefully closed the door.

 

“(Bang.)”

 

Only the cold winter wind blowing past the door remained.

 

Lu Jianchuan’s dark, soft hair was blown up as he stood dumbfounded at the closed door, staring at the peephole. Slowly, his smile faded, and then he sat on the suitcase packed by Fang Xingzhou himself, displaying a strange expression, and began to mutter to himself in a low voice.

 

“Why…” he murmured, as if encountering the biggest puzzle of his life, unable to understand no matter how hard he tried.

 

Then, the sounds coming from his throat gradually departed from the realm of language, becoming blurry and eerie, with only one or two syllables barely recognizable to the human ear.

 

“Angry ……”

“Lost ……”

“Why ……”

“Don’t ……”

“Get.. back ……”

“Child ……”

“Love ……”

“love” “like” “love” “life” “wife “”Love”” “like”” “love”” “swallow”” “Hatch” “Love”

 

……

 

His light brown pupils slowly dilated, encroaching upon the whites of his eyes, hidden in the shadows cast by his bangs.

 

From a distance, a neighbor walking their dog passed by and greeted Lu Jianchuan warmly: “Good morning, Mr. Lu! I haven’t seen you buying groceries these past few days. Have you been on a trip?”

 

It was only upon getting closer that the unfortunate neighbor realized the handsome man sitting on the cardboard box was expressionless, lost in thought, with a stiffness in his face that didn’t seem human.

 

Feeling an inexplicable fear, the neighbor instinctively lowered his voice, “Mr. Lu? Are you feeling alright?”

 

Lu Jichuan raised his head, and for just a moment, he regained his usual genial appearance, revealed a bitter smile towards his neighbor, patted the cardboard box, and said, “Embarrassing, isn’t it? Made my wife angry and got kicked out… “.

 

It seemed, on the surface, everything was normal.

However, the neighbor had an uneasy intuition, quickly offered a few words of comfort, and hastened away from his doorstep, pulling his dog with a big stride.

 

The dog, inexplicably unsettled, urinated continuously along the way, stood with its legs quivering, and stuck close to its owner as if it had smelled something terribly frightening.

 

After the neighbors left, Lu Jianchuan was the only one left.

 

He put away his fake smile and sat alone from daytime to sunset, using his ears to catch every bit of his lover’s movements in the house.

 

He heard the slow, seemingly tired footsteps in the house, the crisp beep of the microwave oven after completing its task, the sound of chewing tastelessly, the sound of rushing water in the bathtub, and then the rude, almost self-abusive panting that was hidden underneath the water flow.

 

Ears immediately perked up.

 

He closed his eyes and could even hear the rustling of fingers as they rubbed against the mucus. A sense of anxiety and jealousy surged through him, and he rose from the crate, his hand on the doorknob, thin rope-like tentacles poking out of the palm of his hand and into the lock hole.

 

The lock clicked softly open. He was ready to push open the door when he suddenly heard an extremely complex murmur, with a tremor that reached the tip: “Lu Jianchuan…”

 

Lu Jichuan stopped.

 

This murmur caused many unknown emotions to well up in his human heart, containing an unfathomable power that bound him firmly to the door, preventing him from taking a further step.

 

After a long time, Fang Xingzhou dried his body, walked into the bedroom, and lay down alone on the bed.

 

Lu Jichuan closed the door again, drooped his head, and picked up the cardboard box, like a pet kicked out of the house, wandering downstairs in confusion.

 

Fortunately, he has always been a creature favored by God.

 

After only half an hour or so, the person upstairs finally couldn’t help himself, and quietly walked barefoot to the window, pulling the curtains to open a very small slit.

 

After just over half an hour, the person upstairs couldn’t bear it any longer and tiptoed to the window, pulling the curtains open just a tiny crack.

 

Familiar eyes looked down from above, and Lu Jianchuan, having waited for this moment, almost immediately lifted his head, giving the person upstairs a radiant smile.

 

Fang Xingzhou:”…….”

 

He closed the curtains again and returned to bed after turning off the lights.

 

However, Lu Jianchuan felt greatly encouraged. He was full of energy and determination to stay at the doorstep, not leaving until his wife spoke to him.

 

He could tell that Fang Xingzhou was

losing sleep.

 

Suffering from insomnia till midnight, Fang Xingzhou opened his swollen eyes to look at the nightlight clock on his bedside, which showed it was already 1 a.m. With a heart full of unrest, he followed his instincts for the second time, walking to the window.

 

Lifting the curtain slightly, he looked down to see the man still pacing downstairs, holding the box, tireless, like a soul tethered to this spot, his long shadow dragged out by the streetlight.

 

His brow furrowed deeply.

 

After watching for a few minutes, Lu Jianchuan stopped walking, placed the box on the ground, and seemed finally tired, sitting on the curb. He didn’t look up, fearing further upsetting his angry lover, but quietly curled the corners of his mouth, his expression hidden in shadow, as his index finger slowly traced something on the ground.

 

Over and over until Fang Xingzhou could make out what he was writing:

 

—I love you

 

With a rustle, the curtain was forcefully drawn up.

 

…Wife recognized it.

 

Lu Jianchuan’s smile widened, revealing his white, even teeth.

 

Author has something to say:

(Laughing excitedly)