My Strange Boyfriend(s)

My boyfriend suddenly started acting really strange.

It was so bizarre. When I went to use the bathroom, my boyfriend was still lying beside me. But by the time I turned the bathroom's frosted-glass door handle, he was already inside, smiling at me with his familiar, affectionate smile.

But there was only one way into the bathroom.

And that was only the first thing. My boyfriend and I usually work the same hours, but lately I've started seeing him repeatedly downstairs from my office, wearing an expensive watch, his long hair neatly tucked behind his ear.

After work, my boyfriend waiting outside said he was going to get the car and cook for me at home. Then, a moment later, another version walked up from a different direction and said he was taking me out for a candlelit dinner, tender and affectionate.

I even began to wonder whether parallel universes had crossed paths.

I tried dropping hints and asking my boyfriend about it, but he acted completely normal, even brushing it off. He gave me the familiar, refined smile and told me, "Jiangjiang, it's just a hallucination."

That's right. I've been sick for a long time.

These must all just be hallucinations brought on by my illness.

Maybe I should trust the boyfriend who's been by my side for () years.

*

Things seem to be getting worse.

Recently, I keep having a strange dream. In it, countless boyfriends with the same face smile and walk toward me.

The little clock strikes midnight with a soft ticking.

I wake with a start again. My boyfriend has his arms around me as he sleeps. A sense of estrangement pierces my cerebral cortex like a silver needle.

In a daze, I hear someone unlock the bedroom door. I sneak a look and see my boyfriend's refined, courteous face appear eerily in the doorway, as if it had been copied.

I squeeze my eyes shut in terror, and the boyfriend beside me grows hotter and hotter.

I can't hear a thing. I can only keep telling myself that my old illness is acting up.

But soon, I feel a sharp blade plunge through the air and into the heart of the boyfriend beside me. There's a dull sound, then the blade turns in flesh and bone.

My teeth chatter with fear.

Maybe this is how I've fallen asleep, in a pool of dark red blood, on countless nights.

The sun slowly rises. I open my eyes as if reborn. There's no blood or corpse. My boyfriend smiles and strokes my hair. I don't know whether he's watching and testing me, or whether he really loves me as he says.

He simply says, as affectionately as ever, "Jiangjiang, you lazy kitty. Time to get up and eat."

Mitosis-level refined scumbag seme x beautiful, cool-headed uke

Qi Yajun x Yue Jiang

Things to know before reading:

1. Mild Lovecraftian elements. The uke is loved by everyone, basically everyone likes him.

2. Anyone or anything could be the seme. He's fragmented into pieces, and I mean pulverized pieces.

3. The story isn't in first person; only the blurb is. The story itself is in third person.

4. The seme is a long-haired beauty who loves the uke more than anything. You could say he's crazily obsessed.

I came up with this last year and am thinking of starting a new story soon, so I'm posting it now!

2023.5.23

Theme: Break through the fog and embrace the light