The Person I Had a Crush on Came Back from the Dead

In my classmates' eyes, I'm the childhood friend of Xie Tuan, the campus heartthrob, and I met Yan Gui because Xie Tuan suddenly took an interest in him for no apparent reason.

That's not what happened. Yan Gui is my model. I met him first, not Xie Tuan.

I like him very much. Maybe because he isn't in good health, there's something fragile about him. He's like a sharp yet delicate shard of a silver mirror, reflecting a cold light in the dimness.

He's my muse.

But my muse likes Xie Tuan more.

It's always been this way. Everyone likes Xie Tuan better. He's arrogant and conceited, rude and overbearing, yet everyone chooses him, as if he's the only protagonist in the world.

I knew I couldn't compete with Xie Tuan, so I left in quiet defeat and went away on vacation for a long time to clear my head.

I never expected to come back and hear about all the ways Xie Tuan had tormented him. My muse, my Yan Gui, had been tortured by love until he was terminally ill and on the verge of death. When he died, I was the only one by his side. Xie Tuan wasn't there.

I hated Xie Tuan even more.

I hid Yan Gui's ashes. Xie Tuan came looking for them. He was filled with regret and looked like a madman. I could only sneer. Why regret it now? Where was he before? So I lied and told him the ashes weren't with me.

His eyes went vacant when he heard that. He stumbled away, muttering like a madman: "If there's no ashes, if it can't be... he'll come back, Xiao You. You don't understand. He'll come back..."

"If he could come back, that would be wonderful." My heart ached, and rage made my eyes sting. I angrily knocked his hand off the doorframe. "Too bad the dead can't come back to life. He's dead!"

I slammed the door shut. I was angry and heartbroken, my emotions so intense that I was breathing fast, trembling uncontrollably, and feeling as if something were lodged painfully in my chest.

A breeze brushed my cheek. I thought I heard Yan Gui call my name in a faint, aggrieved voice: "Chu You..."

In a daze, I looked toward the sound and saw only a window that had somehow been opened.

So it was just the wind and my imagination.

...That's strange.

When did I open this window?

Blurb posted on March 30, 2023.

Fragile, wicked, beautiful vengeful ghost x neurotic painter

Xie Tuan and Yan Gui hate each other.

A free story, inspired by a blogger I really like.

Theme: He came back.