Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR IS MY CONSTANT

When Yao Shen returns to the apartment, the bedroom light is on and Xin Hulei is awake, waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" he asks. His tone isn't accusatory, or demanding. He just wants to know that Yao Shen is safe.

"I went to visit Meng Po," Yao Shen admits, sitting down on the bed next to him.

Xin Hulei sighs. "I don't know when I'll have the courage to face her..." His dark eyes drift towards Yao Shen. "Should I thank her, or curse her?"

Yao Shen pulls the four memory vials she gave him out of his pocket.

"I went there to curse her, but she gave me this."

Xin Hulei picks one of the vials and inspects it, turning it slowly under the room's weak light.

"Memories from your past lives?"

Yao Shen nods. "She also gave me this."

The incense burner he pulls out of the front pocket of his jumper is far bulkier, but still disconcertingly small, for what it promises to do.

"She said to burn the memories here, to learn about the 'consequences of remembering'."

"Are you going to?"

Is he? Yao Shen doesn't know. As with everything related to Meng Po, there isn't an easy answer.

Xin Hulei hums a little to himself. "You could also drink them, and just get all the memories back. She must have known that was also an option."

Yes, he also considered that.

"I don't think I want that, though," he admits, his shoulders hunched. "Just seeing what happened to the Crown Prince was bad enough." He shakes his head. "I can't imagine living with those feelings inside myself."

The corner of Xin Hulei's lips hook up, but it's a sad smile, almost defeated. "I guess I must have felt the same way."

Yao Shen lowers his head against his shoulder, and laces their fingers together. Maybe that's what Meng Po meant.

Maybe Yao Shen is wasting his time by being focused on the past, when he should be looking at the future.

A future that he and Xin Hulei are now free to build, without Si Wang in the way.

He feels as if he should be happier about that. "I think, I'm grieving something, I don't know what, though."

Xin Hulei's warm fingers sink into his hair, massaging his scalp softly. "I think you're mourning what could have been. All the versions of you that didn't get to exist..."

He remembers Meng Po's words, accusing him of thinking that knowing the truth sooner could have saved him from the miserable life he ended up stuck with.

He sighs. "Where do we go from here?"

Tomorrow seems so far away, and they have all the mess in the mortal realm to deal with.

"Let's go to bed, we can think about this in the morning," Xin Hulei says, pressing one last kiss to Yao Shen's lips.

Only minutes after slipping into bed with Xin Hulei, and resting his head against his chest, Yao Shen is out like a light.

---

Tomorrow comes, and Yao Shen is tired beyond words. Tan Liansi is still unconscious on the sofa. He knows that none of them is in any condition to go back to the set yet.

His first instinct is to call Bi Jialu and explain the situation -- but of course, that is no longer a possibility.

He calls Director Chen's assistant, instead.