The Eerie Childhood Friend

Ever since Yan Qiu's childhood friend was taken away by his biological father, he has often dreamed of stormy nights. In the dreams, his friend stands silently in the shadows, soaked through, watching him. Water always drips endlessly from him, drip, drip, drip.

Later, Yan Qiu often hears the sound of dripping in his ears. In a daze, he seems to see his childhood friend standing outside the window, watching him.

Everyone says he is so lovesick that he has become delirious. But he can't shake the awful feeling that something is wrong. He desperately wants to see his childhood friend and find out whether he's doing all right.

But he hears that his friend's family has emigrated, and their old villa has been sold.

He returns home in a daze. Outside, a torrential rain begins to fall, just like in his dreams, and a familiar figure seems to be standing in the rain once more.

Without a second thought, he rushes out and pulls the slender, wavering figure into his arms. "Linlin, you're finally back! I've missed you so much!"

Xu Xilin's face is deathly pale. His dark eyes stare blankly at Yan Qiu. After a long moment, he comes back to himself and smiles faintly. "Mm, I'm back, Ge. Please don't send me away, okay?"

"All right. As long as you don't want to leave, I'll never send you away."

Yan Qiu brings his childhood friend, whom he thought he'd lost forever, home. Xu Xilin says he snuck away and doesn't want anyone else to know he's here, so Yan Qiu hides him in his room, even keeping him secret from his parents.

But Yan Qiu soon realizes his friend has changed a lot. The reckless, spirited boy he once knew has become quiet and obedient. He's also inexplicably always soaked, as if water is pouring endlessly from him. Sometimes, Yan Qiu thinks the water looks bright red, so vivid it hurts his eyes. Xu Xilin is always cold, too, and it takes a long time for Yan Qiu to warm him in his arms.

Yan Qiu feels terrible for him. He thinks Linlin must have suffered terribly to become this way, so he treats him even better.

Until his parents discover Linlin's presence.

These people, who had never been afraid of anything, tremble all over with fear. They drop to their knees and beg through their tears: "Linlin, you're already dead. Yan Qiu never wronged you. Please, let him go!"

Xu Xilin disappears. In the middle of the night, Yan Qiu braves the downpour and goes to every place he might be, shouting his name over and over.

Xu Xilin thinks to himself: See? I'm not the one clinging to you. You're the one summoning me again and again, binding me here with your longing and refusing to let me leave.

Theme: Love can bring the dead back to life.