35 A Silly Dream

Huo Zi Feng sighed happily after Qiu Yue hung up. For the last two years, every moment of every day had been perfect. He couldn't imagine a world without Qiu Yue in it anymore, so before this trip, he had taken another kind of trip - to a jewelry store.

His grandmother didn't have any special family ring, and his parents' marriage didn't really have such an end where he could've kept his mother's ring, so instead, he decided on a designed custom wedding ring just for Qiu Yue.

The ring was unique. Even after having looked for a ring through many different stores, despite having found so many beautiful rings that were crafted in their own unique and beautiful ways like the rarest red stones, white diamonds of incomparable beauty, and beautiful green emeralds. However, not a single one of them represented what Qiu Yue meant for him.

But this ring... it was a raw blue diamond set in gold that was cast especially for this one stone. It wasn't polished or cut, it was beautiful just the way it was. Two smaller uncut raw blue diamonds were placed on either side of the larger center stone.

For him, this was the best ring for Qiu Yue. It was raw and the only one of its kind. Even if people tried to copy it, no one could ever make one the same way again. And the color of the diamond was blue. In the beginning, Huo Zi Feng had wondered and thought of getting a red center stone, since red was a huge part of her, a fire that burned so bright and strong, people feared it, unable to understand that this fire could only provide warmth and care, never harm. But to him, blue signified so much more.

One day, he would explain it to Qiu Yue himself.

​

He knew that some of his friends had held doubts at the beginning about Qiu Yue, what was so special in her that she had stolen his everything?

How could he tell them that he couldn't stop himself from calling and checking in so often because he was afraid. Afraid of losing her. She was so much more than he deserved, and only he knew how true those words were.

He knew that even she herself felt he was her anchor, that he would always be whatever she needed. But for him, being without her, he wouldn't even have existed.

She was the first person to accept him, the only one to show him an unconditional kindness and love. She would stand by him through anything that the world could throw at them.

From within his soul, he could feel that this connection, for both of them, has become a bond forged by their own hands. They didn't have anything like destiny supporting them, but through sheer want for each other, they had become a couple that even the heavens had to accept.

It was as though every cell in his body screamed at him to cherish her.

Since he was a child he had never wanted anything, he had always been the best at everything. Even when starting this company, it had all been to please his grandparents. But it was also his own way of searching for something that mattered. The work, the money... to him, what was it all if he didn't have a person to call his own?

Because he didn't want to carry the ring along with him on the business trip, he had hidden the ring in his office desk, telling Yao Yan to protect it till he came back.

And yet, of course, he couldn't tell Yao Yan that it was the ring Huo Zi Feng intended to use to propose! With her mouth, all of C country would know by morning!

.......

Qiu Yue grinned and hummed opening a box she held in her hands, looking at the ring she had bought for Huo Zi Feng.

Unknowingly, she had actually matched the band to the ring Huo Zi Feng had bought for her!

It was as though their thoughts were in sync, both of them had gone all out for the engagement ring and would be using the same ring for both the engagement and the wedding. Qiu Yue's wedding band was made of a simple gold, polished and structured with a single raw red beryl studded on the center.

Keeping it aside together with her hairpin, Qiu Yue drifted off into a peaceful sleep, not knowing that the events that would follow... would violently disrupt it.

........

Qiu Yue could only see darkness. It was as though all the light within her had vanished. All of a sudden her heart jolted in shock - Zi Feng!

Why could she see him?

Suddenly a warm hand touched hers like he always had done in the moments she felt darkest. But the touch receded and even as Qiu Yue ran towards it she couldn't catch up.

She couldn't reach him!

She couldn't-

Heaving, Qiu Yue woke up crying like a storm as frightened sobs wracked through her body. What was going on? Why did she feel like she had lost Huo Zi Feng?

Her shaking hands fumbled around as she dialed his number, fervently wishing he'd pick up fast. But the phone just rang and rang... before cutting off. It was as though her breath was caught in her throat. She couldn't understand what was happening.

She dialed, again and again, she was so lost that she hadn't even noticed Yao Yan come into her room.

Yao Yan was shocked to see Qiu Yue so agitated. She was still crying and held onto the phone like it was her lifeline.

"He isn't picking up! Yao Yan-!"

"Who isn't? Zi Feng?? Ah Yue he had a morning flight! He probably has it switched off! Calm down, come here."

Yao Yan tried to soothe her and gently held Qiu Yue as she cried but Qiu Yue's tears fell heavier and heavier.

"Please, can you check if he's okay? Please?"

Seeing her pleading, Yao Yan couldn't stop from frowning. Why was Qiu Yue in such a condition?

"Okay okay, wait just a second."

Yao Yan pulled up his profile in the system database. Seeing his status displayed as alive and well she sighed in relief.

"He's fine! He's fine. Don't worry, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Hearing that Huo Zi Feng was fine Qiu Yue could finally feel some amount of relief, but that knot of tension and fear didn't dissipate.

She couldn't immediately stop crying and Yao Yan waited, just sitting beside her, looking at the distraught girl with worry.

"I had a dream... it felt so real I thought-"

Qiu Yue gulped, not wanting to finish her statement.

Yao Yan sighed feeling a bit better.

"It's just a dream silly. He'll be here soon enough!"

Yao Yan left Qiu Yue to get refreshed and went down to get breakfast for her.

Placing the tray on the coffee table in Qiu Yue's room, Yao Yan took out her phone and performed a thorough check on Huo Zi Feng's flight. If it had been tampered with...

But after 20 minutes of going through every passenger, flight crew and pilot onboard with a fine tooth comb, Yao Yan could rule that the flight had not been tampered with by anyone.

She told Qiu Yue what she had found out, but Qiu Yue still couldn't seem to calm down. She kept fiddling with the wedding band.

Looking at the wedding band Qiu Yue held, Yao Yan smiled helplessly. These two were so similar in some things. Huo Zi Feng had asked her to take care of his ring while here she had also been thinking of proposing.

She hadn't seen the ring he had bought for her and even though she could have, she decided to respect his wish and let Qiu Yue be the first person he would show it to, rather than anyone else.

Qiu Yue and Yao Yan chatted, while Yao Yan tried to calm her down by speaking of the proposal, she could see that although Qiu Yue tried to act normal, she was unusually tensed.

Yao Yan sighed quietly and switched on the television, passing the remote to Qiu Yue.

Qiu Yue started to flip through the channels and suddenly gasped, trying to increase the volume. It was a news channel, currently reporting about a plane crash...

Qiu Yue instantly started to call Huo Zi Feng but this time the urgency she felt in her heart was exemplified, all the fear she'd been feeling was collected and it was now surging darker than before.

Like last time, this phone just rang until it went to the dial tone.

Qiu Yue, in her shock, had forgotten to ask Yao Yan then, but after coming up empty-handed, she turned to her, and even before Qiu Yue had said anything, Yao Yan understood.

Yao Yan checked the system once again but this time her eyes widened in shock and her complexion went pale. Even though she didn't want to break the news to Qiu Yue so suddenly, Qiu Yue could see it in her expression.

"Why? What happened? Is he okay? What happened to him!?"

Qiu Yue couldn't even feel it but her voice grew higher and louder with fear. That bad feeling intensified all of a sudden, engulfing her.

"Ah Yue... he-"

Looking at Qiu Yue, Yao Yan couldn't bring herself to lie, but neither could she say the words. Her words broke off and she shook her head, watching Qiu Yue carefully.

Qiu Yue couldn't seem to understand what Yao Yan meant. Hadn't she said that Huo Zi Feng was fine just an hour ago? So why? Why?!

She started to feel dizzy as her breathing became increasingly erratic. She bent her knees, placing her hand onto the floor for support.

Yao ya quickly came up to support her but Qiu Yue couldn't see anything straight anymore.

She clutched Yao Yan's hand in a frenzy.

"No. No, you're lying. Please... you can't be- Yao Yan you- please!"

Even as her voice broke down, Qiu Yue couldn't stop begging Yao Yan to take back her words. She couldn't believe it, she couldn't allow herself to believe it! If he wasn't there then what would she do? What would she-

"No! Please..."

Qiu Yue completely broke down in tears, holding onto Yao Yan's hand as she begged her to take back what she had just said. To let it be a lie.

But Yao Yan hadn't. Even after seeing Qiu Yue break down like this, that prideful girl, falling onto her knees, she wanted to tell her that he was alright but... she couldn't.

"I wanted to talk him! He promised me... he said he was coming back! You-"

But no matter how much she begged Yao Yan could only sadly shake her head, looking at Qiu Yue's breakdown, Yao Yan couldn't stop her own tears from slipping away.

"...take me away..."

"Please... take me away from here..."

Qiu Yue just wanted to sleep, never to wake up again. Ever.