Calls Across Time and Space [Mystery]

[Short story, free to read in full]

Pei Zi and Xie Huai had lived next door to each other since childhood, but they had always been at each other's throats.

One night, after Pei Zi and Xie Huai had just finished cursing each other out in a game, Pei Zi was happily getting ready for bed when Xie Huai suddenly called.

Xie Huai sounded utterly incredulous. "Pei Zi? You're not dead?"

Pei Zi laughed in exasperation. "Are you crazy? You weren't satisfied with wishing me dead in the game?"

There was a pause on Xie Huai's end. His voice grew more serious. "Why did you kill yourself?"

Pei Zi instantly bristled. "What the hell are you talking about? I'd have to be out of my mind to kill myself!"

"So you were murdered," Xie Huai said, his voice so certain there was no room for argument.

Then Xie Huai added that he was calling from five years in the future.

Theme: Love yourself.