[Private Chat: BlackNine ↔️ XYN]
It was almost midnight.
Yinyin sat in the dark with nothing but the glow of her laptop screen on her face.
Zeyan was asleep in the next room.
Or so she thought.
BLACKNINE: You're married to someone powerful.
BLACKNINE: But if you had the chance to disappear... would you?
She stared at the message.
Her heart sank a little.
"Why is this guy pushing so hard? What does he want?"
Her fingers hovered.
She typed.
XYN: Why are you asking?
BLACKNINE: Because ghosts don't get to live normal lives.
BLACKNINE: You can't be both XYN and a housewife.
BLACKNINE: One of them will burn you.
She bit her lip.
Was he right?
She responded:
XYN: Then let me burn quietly.
BLACKNINE: What about your husband?
BLACKNINE: What if he finds out?
BLACKNINE: What if he turns away?
Her breath caught.
She whispered to herself, "He won't. He's… not like that."
But the doubt still sat in her chest like smoke.
She typed:
XYN: Then I'll leave before he ever gets the chance to reject me.
XYN: It's better if he hates me than if he gets hurt because of me.
[Lu Zeyan — Still Awake]
Zeyan sat in the study, watching the screen.
Reading every word.
His knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping the edge of the desk.
"You think I would hate you?
After everything you are?"
He was silent.
Then typed.
BLACKNINE: So you'd leave the man who loves you…
BLACKNINE: Just to protect him?
XYN: I wouldn't want to.
XYN: But I'd do it.
XYN: That's what love means. You hurt alone so they never have to.
His heart cracked open a little.
She didn't trust him with the truth…
Because she loved him too much.
Then He Crossed a Line
He wanted to know one more thing.
Just one more.
He typed:
BLACKNINE: If you had known everything from the start—
His power, the risks, your secrets—
Would you still have married him?
There was a long pause.
He waited.
She finally typed back:
XYN: Yes.
XYN: A thousand times yes.
XYN: Even if I lose everything in the end.
Zeyan's vision blurred.
He couldn't tell if it was the screen light—or the weight in his chest.
That Morning
Yinyin found him already dressed, sipping tea by the balcony.
She padded over and hugged him from behind.
"You're up early," she mumbled.
"Mm." He placed his hand over hers.
"Had a strange dream."
"Yeah? What kind?"
He turned and looked into her eyes.
"In the dream, you said you'd marry me all over again."
She blinked. Heart skipping.
"…That's weird."
He smiled softly.
"Isn't it?"
But inside, he whispered:
You already did.