All the lights in the apartment were out. Rui and her father were asleep, but Zizi wasn’t back yet. Tired of waiting, Yiran grabbed the set of keys by the front door.
It didn’t take long to find the mage. He’d squished himself onto a child-sized swing in the playground at the next block of apartments, nursing a bottle of soda like it was a bottle of beer.
Yiran squeezed onto the other swing. “Getting high on sugar?”
“Is that possible?” Zizi said, his words slightly slurred. He didn’t seem surprised to see Yiran.
“The science says no, but I’m sure parents with small children will tell you otherwise. The crash of the sugar rush ride is real, though. None of this applies to you, I guess, with your immortalness and all.” Yiran was surprisingly unfazed by who or what Zizi was. He supposed the mage had struck him as otherworldly from the first time they’d met.
Zizi patted his own chest with a wry smile. “Alas, I’m as good as human while I’m in this realm.”
It was news to Yiran. “Can you do mage stuff at least?”
“Mortal magic? Sure.” Zizi took another swig of soda and stared up at the night sky. A few stars shone faintly through the clouds. “Rui doesn’t remember anything about me. About us. It’s better that way.” He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. “Still hurts, you know?”
Yiran hadn’t expected Zizi to talk tohimabout his feelings. But what the heck.“Well, the person I’m into feeds on people’s spiritual energy to stay alive,” he confessed.
“The princeling from the highway?”
Yiran nodded, surprised that he wasn’t embarrassed or uncomfortable at all to admit it out loud. Not to Zizi, anyway.
“Ah, enemies-to-lovers with a serving of forbiddenlove.” Zizi nodded sagely. “It’s evergreen, one of the best tropes in literature, in my humble opinion.”
“What?”
“Like in romance or fantasy novels when two characters—” Zizi caught Yiran’s blank expression. “Forget it. You don’t look like you read much.” Yiran punched him in the arm, and Zizi flicked his ear in retaliation. “Anyway, sucks for the both of us,” he said, offering his soda.
“Can’t believe I confided in you,” Yiran said, grabbing the bottle.
“If you were trying to cheer me up, you did a good job. It’s nice knowing I’m not the only pathetic loser when it comes to love.”
“It’s impossible for me and him, but at least you can do something about your situation.” Yiran nudged Zizi with an encouraging elbow. “Go win her heart again.”
Zizi took the soda back. “I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” It didn’t make sense that Zizi was surrendering so easily when it came to Rui.
“I need you to do something for me,” Zizi said, ignoring the question. “Watch over her.”
There were requests that required a short-term effort. This sounded like a forever favor.
She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?
She means everything.
“I failed the first time you asked for a similar favor,” Yiran reminded him. “I’m not sure you should be asking me to do this.”
“Like I said the first time, deep inside that soul of yours, you know what’s right. That’s why you’re sitting here with me now instead of at that dive bar with your villainous daddy.”
Yiran kicked at the sand. “Past-me murdered past-her.”
Zizi sighed loudly. “I choose to believe you’re a good person in this timeline, and I’d like to think you’re braver now.”
“It still doesn’t explain why you need me to look out for Rui when you’re right here.”
Shrugging, Zizi downed the rest of the soda in one gulp. “There is, unfortunately, historical evidence that shows I have been known to do stupid things.”
“Be serious.”
