Not a Ghost

This is a story about a forced match.

Chen E came back to life ten years after his lover had led the campaign to exterminate him.

The person who resurrected him was named Ming Qiu. Chen E didn't know him, and Ming Qiu was ugly, ruthless, and impossible to communicate with. He seemed completely absorbed in his own world, firmly convinced that he should be repaid for saving Chen E's life with Chen E's hand in marriage.

Chen E couldn't talk him around and couldn't get away, so he steeled himself and tried to take pills. He took too many, though, and Ming Qiu knocked him unconscious and forced him to throw them up.

Chen E really wanted to die. Being forced to stay by Ming Qiu's side made him wish he were dead.

*

Ming Qiu grew up in an abnormal environment and didn't think of himself as normal, either. He had quietly loved someone for many years, even though that person didn't know he existed. He had never once appeared before Chen E.

Ming Qiu silently watched Chen E's life, watching him fall in love with someone and then die because of it.

Ming Qiu finally regretted it. He thought he should have mustered the courage to appear before Chen E.

Ming Qiu used an ancient secret art to create a new body. He pulled out his own bones and heart to make the body's skeleton and heart, then poured Chen E's soul into it.

He thought he could finally have the person he loved.

A Chen E made from his very own flesh, bones, and even heart, created by his own hands: the most "complete" Chen E.

Ming Qiu recalled the sweet times Chen E and Mu Changzhen had shared, imagining that he could experience the same happiness. He didn't care that using the forbidden art had left him haggard, emaciated, and with little time left to live.

Ming Qiu hoped that in the time he had left, he could spend it with the person he loved, then die happy.

But it wasn't until Chen E awoke after being resurrected that Ming Qiu began to realize the truth: Chen E didn't love him. It had all been wishful thinking. Chen E hated him.

Ming Qiu didn't take long to calmly accept the fact that he didn't deserve the happiness he had imagined.

Although he couldn't become Chen E's lover, as they spent more time together, they at least became friends. Perhaps out of consideration for a dying man, Chen E became noticeably more attentive to him. Ming Qiu was satisfied.

Chen E was still devastated.

He loved Ming Qiu so, so much.

Their blood and bones were joined, and they shared the same heart.

But Ming Qiu didn't believe that he loved him.

The gods do not love all living things.

To them, all things are as fleeting as mayflies and clouds.

How dare you disappoint their kindness?

At first, I wrote this just to let my imagination run wild. I was afraid it might upset some people, so I wasn't planning to submit it for a recommendation slot, but now that there's a multi-genre channel, I feel like this story has found its home.

I wanted to add content warnings, but everyone has different triggers...

For now, all I can say is that I'm neither an attack-top stan nor a bottom stan, and I'm not a purity-obsessed reader. The top really did love his ex very, very much. And because of his upbringing and background, the bottom initially has a flawed understanding of love.

My preference is for that kind of story where, once you realize you're deeply in love with someone, being apart from them hurts like having your heart and bones ripped out, leaving your soul incomplete.

If you like it, please add it to your favorites!

Theme: Everyone will find the salvation that truly belongs to them.