Work Text:
He watched Cheng Xiaoshis body fall towards him. He reached out his arms, catching him in his arms.
“Lu Guang…” Those Were the last words he heard before seeing the life drain out of the other mans eyes. It felt like time froze at that moment. Lu Guang felt paralyzed, not registering what was happening around him. The only thing he could concentrate on was the corpse of his best friend in his arms and the blood staining his clothes
B̸̲͊̈́̉̓̈́ḻ̶͔͈̩́͌̿̊̽͗̀̌͒ơ̸̡̮̖̱̠͍̩͍͇̫͖̘̤͎̥͊́͛̔͂̓̑͂̑o̷̧̜̦͚͙̣̬̝̐̔̋̄̈́̏̅͝͝d̸͖̞̝̩̖͙̦̻̱͇̲̣̹͕̮́̑̏̒ ̸̬̥̜͚̦̦̬͌̅̉̍̆̎͆̅b̶̨̡̘̪̤̰̦̰͍͖͚͐̓̈́̈̏̓̊̓̍̿̄͜͝ͅl̶̨̛͚̠͇̭͉̹̤͚̟̪̽͗̈͛̿̔̂̔̈́̓̑̚o̶̧̥͕̱̟̙̠̯͖̙̰̤̪͂͐͆̔͂̓̿̂́̈́͝ǫ̶̡͖̙̺͚̥̟͍͚̖̣̤͑͝ͅḑ̴̩͎̝̫̘̀ ̶̢̛̭͔͕̖̲͈͍̯̖̙̻̪̳̙̏b̶̡̧̨͔͕͇̠͓̦͎͔͈̪̤͙̃̑͐̏͂̓̇̒̀̽̽͛̉l̶͕̪͖̓̅͗̈́̏̎̍̀̎̓̕̚͝ȍ̶̩̝͚̉̂͆͛̀̈́͌͘͘͠͠o̴͈̥̻̽͋̒͊͆̀̃ͅd̴̛͇̭̩̱̬̺͎̓̐̓́̍̇̀̀͒̀̕͝ ̵̰̬͉̗̠̾̕͜d̷̮͕̯̆̓̀̽̎͐̏͋͂͘e̷̻͈̬͓̺̻̹̝̭͗̎́͗̀͂̃̈́̎͌͊̅͝a̵̢̱̲̦̩̘̦̭̻͍̜̠̝̲͂̈̑̒͝͝d̷͉̞̥̯͎̱̬͐̾ͅ ̸̨̳̤̝̣̤̦͙̙͍̽d̸̢̞̱̺̻̝̤̹̐̔͐̉̏̎̂̅͂͜͝͝e̴̻͙͕̾̀̓͛̐̅͑̓ͅa̴̛͍͐́̈́͛̈́̀̉͘̕͠d̵̳͙̤͓̘̖̺̮̝̘̰͖͌͗̑̒́̍̅̌͗͊̈́̈́ ̵̛̭̰̏̈́͆͌̌́́͑͑̃̚͘̚C̸̢̪̺̹̣͓̙͚̠̭̩̯̈́̇́̽̓̆͆̇̍͑̎͊̔́̚h̴̙̅̐̄͘̕͝ę̶̥̯̗͎̗̰̅͌͝ͅn̸̰͂̑͑̂̇g̶̢̳̹̓̀̚ ̸̧̛̰̟̂̌́̔͘X̵̨͇͕̥͚̗̭̳̫͚̱̾̇͆̉̃̎̓̈́̊̒̅̽́̕͝i̸̡͉̞̘̥̙̯͈̙̱͗̇̇͋̕̚̚a̶͔͕̙͌̇̈́̊̌̈́̈͜õ̵̖̙̗̱͓̐̍͋̾̆͠s̷̥͈͈̥̳̃̌̎́̃̒̆̊̍̅̓͋̚̚͜ḩ̸̨̛̫̹̪̰͚̭̳̘͔͖̺́̑̀́͊̊̓̓̎͜͜i̵͔̇̑̂̀́̀̾̌͝ ̶͓̝̻͙͔͍͈̬̰͉̙͚͊͐c̷̯̎̈́̃̅͋͒͆̎̅ĥ̸̡̡͔̲͎͙̺̇̌̊͒ê̷̫̬̪̖͉̫͉̞͑͜n̷͓͉̯͖̥̤͂͂̇̀͊͐ģ̸̛̛̛͇͌̀͑̈̌͊̉͗͒͘ ̴̭͇̗̼̘̼̹͇̝̞͔͕͗̃̓͗̕͜ͅX̸͔͕͉͕̤̥̩̗͐̾̐͒͂ḭ̵̢̨̜͕̦̻̘̮͉͚̹̣͆̋̽̎̃͛̌͗̂͐̽̕͝ą̵̛̳̰̘͎̳͕͖̯̻̣̀̾͑̓̊̃͒͋̅̅o̷̧̭͈͑̾̿ͅs̸̲̗̱͚͕͉̹͉̽̀͒͝͝͝ḩ̷͔̟̭̲̯̠̮̏̅̌ͅi̵̢͚̭̬̻̤̼̮͕̲̿̔͗̈̃̊͝ͅͅ ̴̡̱̞̪͓̥̦̠̦͙̥̯̟̔̆́C̷̡̜͈̙̼̦̹̉̌̄̓̋̄̈́́́̏ḧ̵̠̗̙̠̹͙̹̦̲̬̺̥́́͊̋̒̑͆͒͗̂̚e̸͎͈̤͙̳͙̎͛̈̍͐͋̉͋̅͋͋̚n̴̘̻̘̝̔̈́̌̍̆̅̓̂͛́́̎͛̉g̶̢̧̢̼̲̣̻͎͖͔̹̥͈͓̊̽͌̒͊̒͒̉̿͆̃̄̚͜͝ ̶̱̻͙͐̎̋̀͆̋̂̈́̇͗̆̎̈́X̷̧̧̤̓̎̐̈̄͝͠i̴̢͎̱̯̙̙͔̝̫̒̒̽͋̏̓̽̓̒́͜͝a̴͚͇͂͝ǫ̷̢̨̱̭̬͔͔͕̦̞͎͈͚͚͑͋̽̈́͗͌̄̆͝ş̴̭̰͍̻̫͚͖̝̱͌̾͋̎̌̀̈́̓́͛h̵̨̨͍͚̪̭͇̲̲̲̖̯͌i̵̛̛̦̟̎̈͂̂̋͆͂͑̎̐́̌̕.̵̢̘͉̝̮͎̳̘̜͗̆̓͠.̴̙͉̲̹͈͇̺̺̖̔̄.̷̦̲̩̬̜͐̑̉̏̽̒͑!̸̺̩̩͋̓̄̂̑̈͋͂
“Cheng Xiaoshi!” Lu Guang shot up. His breathing came out uneven and shaky, tears rolling down his cheeks. He took some deep breaths, calming himself down.
"It was just a nightmare…." He thought to himself. It’s been a while since he last dreamt of that moment, still it shook him up all the same as when it happened. He knew that this happened in the other timeline and that this Cheng Xiaoshi is still alive, still he couldn’t help himself to check on the boy. Lu Guang got out of bed, wiping away his tears and climbed up the ladder. He breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Cheng Xiaoshi there alive and well, just peacefully sleeping. He was thankful for the fact that the black haired boy was a deep sleeper and didn’t wake up from him yelling. A sense of dread still lingered as he climbed down the ladder. Lu Guang knew he probably wasn’t going to fall back asleep again and turned on his phone to check the time
Sunday September 1
4:30
It read.
“It’s September 1st already…!” His eyes widened. Lu Guang knew he was beginning to run out of time. The date of Cheng Xiaoshis death was approaching fast. Lu Guang just hoped that he managed to change Cheng Xiaoshis fate, stop his death from happening, at least in this timeline.
"I'm sorry Xiaoshi.. I promise I'll save you this time.."
Lu Guang turned off his phone with a sigh and got dressed and ready for the day.