a quiet mind | huang renjun

Chapter 26

"What happened?" Xinyi hadnt quite wrapped her head around what chaos had just occurred. Xinyi and Renjun were sat together on the kitchen chairs, Mireu tucked into bed and Renjun regaining his energy.

"Taeyong must have told you that you can feed souls for energy" Renjun picked at his fingers. He had a bad habit of doing that.

Xinyi nodded.

"Mireu's soul is good, very good. Children's souls tend to be the most naive and young. That's why we angels like to protect children. Their souls deserve to be treasured. Up there, they usually fuel our energy with stuff like potions and artificial shit. Those are like short remedies. What Mireu gave me, was his true soul. I shouldn't have taken it" Renjun groaned in regret "I didn't know why I did"

"When you need something desperately, all you want to do is get it" Xinyi shrugged "It's normal"

"Because Mireu gave me such a young soul, I'll be able to withstand exhaustion better than most Angels can. As for Mireu...his health and energy level will deteriorate rapidly. He has to live off that little energy he has so he'll be much weaker than most humans. Lucky you took him away quicker or else..."

They went quiet.

"He's just a boy" Renjun muttered. Something wet fell on to his thigh. She could tell he had fallen into a deep void of guilt, remorse and regret. Xinyi sat quietly beside him. She reached a finger out to touch his hand. The moment their skin made contact, a snap rung through the air and the environment around them burst into an explosion of colour.

She glanced around her. Renjun was still knelt in front of her, his head buried down and gentle tears rolling down his cheek.

"Renjun" She shook him on the arm "Where are we"

Renjun lifted his head, hand swiping the tears free of his cheek as he chuckled softly.

"Sorry" His eyes ran across the wonderland around them. It was the replica of her dream. She recognised the lively trees performing their waltz and the garden of lavender flowers hugged together and inviting them to come closer. She could hear the trees, breathing in its stillness. There was the river too. The pastel water and the crystals that replaced the beads of water. Clear and soothing, it felt like a silent boat ride down a lake of clouds.

"I didn't hold my emotions down well enough" Renjun lay down, the sun, not blinding, but only emitted a soft ray of warm yellow grazing over his face.

"I make this place for myself when I'm stressed. This is like my utopia. Of course, such place doesn't actually exist. This is all just moulded but my imagination" He sighed, placing his hand on his brow "There's no noise in this world. Maybe the sound of the wind or two, but no noise. Noise makes it all a lot worse"

She lay down beside him, pleasantly surprised that there was no need to squint her eyes at the sun.

"Do you have a place like this? In your world, you know, earth" Renjun rolled his body over. His head leant against his arm and eyes infatuated by her tall nose and skin of a blooming snowdrop.

"Not a place. A thing" She spread a crescent moon across her lips "Alcohol"

Renjun rolled his eyes, turning back to stare upwards towards the stretch of blue.

"I make vows made of wine and speak things I'm afraid to. I tell people of my wounds that's never bled. I tell them that I'm a pair of bloody knuckles and shattered glass. I feed them my vulnerability for them to take it and make it into a weapon" Xinyi murmured

"If alcohol is your type of remedy, then shouldn't it make you feel safe"

Xinyi chuckled coldly "Safety..."