The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

There are two types of dreams in life; one that we see with our open eyes. We often define them as ambitions. And the second ones are those that come to us when we sleep. But how can one define them?

Some say when we sleep we end up living in another world. While others believe that those dreams are just a way of our mind telling us what we are missing.

But what if we disagree with all those conjectures?

Honestly, it’s not like one can understand the dreams of a human. We are yet to understand the difficult and complicated nature of a human being. How can we claim to understand the dreams of that same human being?

Often our dreams are complicated or plain simple. But still, we find them hard to understand except for the feeling they left behind.

Tonight was bound to be a long night but who knew that Ru would be too tired to keep her eyes open? And more surprisingly, who would have thought this person who claimed to have never seen a dream in life would actually end up finding herself in a strange dream.

Walking through a thick bamboo forest bare feet, Ru found herself in a vast and barren land which seemed endless. No matter where she looked, she found nothing even the green forest she had just left vanished.

Suddenly, she heard the laughter of a woman making her ears perk up. Her brows wrinkled as she scrutinized her eyes to look ahead, trying to find the source of that laughter.

Ru saw the land before her turning into a beautiful green land with a lush green grass looking like a natural carpet. Ru slowly stepped on that grass and found the grass softer than she had expected it to be. It felt like she was stepping on cotton.

As she was slightly distracted by this soft feeling underneath her feet, Ru soon heard that laughter again. She looked up and saw a huge weeping willow tree emerge out of a pure haze. Ru seemed enchanted by the way it’s slender branches were dancing at the rhythm of the breeze that softly blew around.

Mesmerized by this simple scene, Ru kept moving forward and soon found the person whose laughter was pulling her in.

Before her, a woman in pastel green long-sleeved robes was sitting while leaning against the tree. The woman had long black hairs that were tied up in a beautiful braid with simple but elegant ornaments used for styling. Her eyes were lowered but Ru could tell they held an immense amount of love and gentleness by the way her lips were curled up.

As Ru lowered her eyes, she found the reason behind that smile of hers. A man had his head in her lap while he was talking animatedly to her. At the sight of that handsome face that was already etched in her mind, Ru stood there dumbstruck.

"Zhi-Zhiren?" She whispered softly in confusion.

But there was no doubt. That smile wasn’t unfamiliar to her anymore. But why was she feeling an itch in her heart? As if someone was prickling it with something softly at first but then he lifted his hand to caress that girl’s face and Ru felt like a fire was ignited within her.

He suddenly seemed far away. Out of her reach. As if there was a huge gap between them. But what was it? She wanted to call out to him but couldn’t do so.

Just as she wanted to move, she felt a glaring and scorching heat touching her body. She instinctively lifted her hand to shield her eyes.

And that’s how her dream came to an abrupt halt.

While back in Ru’s apartment, she still had her hand before her eyes to shield the blazing sun rays that were falling on her through the glass windows in the living room. Groggily, Ru sat up and after rubbing her eyes, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the same couch where she was sitting with Xiao Zhiren last night.

The scenes from last night played like a movie before her eyes and she got stunned. Why was she sleeping here? The answer would be that she had completely lost track of time and space as she spent hours arguing with Xiao Zhiren like a kid. She felt like she should be ashamed of herself. But wasn’t she too thick-skinned? How could something like a bit of banter embarrass her?

While she was pondering over that, she suddenly felt a body heat close to herself. She was immediately in an alert mode as she whipped her head and saw Xiao Zhiren sleeping right beside her. Her eyes widened, this time in shock at this unbelieving scene.

The couch was big but not that big and yet she found herself sandwiched between him and the couch while he looked quite uncomfortable at the edge.

Without even thinking, Ru pushed him off the couch and with a ’thud’ Xiao Zhiren landed on the floor.

"Ommff!" A groan escaped his mouth. "Why are you so violent early in the morning?"

Seeing him scowl at her with that adorably handsome face of his, Ru’s face darkened because it contrasted with that smiling face he had in her dream. And that too for the OTHER WOMAN!

That gorgeous, peerlessly beautiful woman! How infuriating!

"I was born violent. What does it have to do with you?" Ru pushed her chin up and shouted in a defying manner.

Xiao Zhiren was confused at her sudden outburst. What went wrong? He wondered but couldn’t come up with anything. ’Forget it! She’s temperamental and eccentric one. I really won’t be able to understand her mind.’

With that thought, Xiao Zhiren decided to disregard her ugly expressions and glaring eyes.

Like a calm and rational person, he stood up and said, "My little chili, if you are this violent early in the morning. I can only wonder how violent you can be in bed."

"Huh? What?" Seeing her yet again dumbfounded look, Xiao Zhiren didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was way too clueless for her own good!

It wasn’t that she was clueless about his meaning. She simply didn’t find the reason to let him know.

However, he felt like he had to teach her. And there was a lot to teach here as well. Sigh! It’ll certainly be tiring. But he was ready to invest in her both his time and effort along with himself. Oh, wait! He was already invested in her way beyond his own belief.

"Nothing. Mind telling me what made you so angry?" Xiao Zhiren tried to steer away from the topic which was beyond her understanding.

Again, his handsome profile in those white robes flashed before her eyes lying with his head in another woman’s lap. Ru closed her eyes to shoo away that image and opened her eyes only after taking a long and deep breath.

"Who allowed you to sleep with me?" Might as well use this excuse for her outburst. He wouldn’t know anyway.

Xiao Zhiren rolled his eyes at her as if seeing right through her as he said, "Oh, please! You didn’t mind my presence when you used my shoulder as your pillow. I’m not complaining and here you are hurting my feelings after taking blatant advantage of me."

Ru stared at him with her mouth agape in disbelief. "Wh-What the bloody nonsense are you spouting? I didn’t take any advantage of you!" She stammered in her speech which was so unlike her.

Xiao Zhiren secretly grinned and massaged his own shoulder. "Aiyo... You really are ruthless. My shoulder is numb because of you."

Ru couldn’t tell whether he was lying or telling the truth. For one, he was getting good at hiding his feelings. And second, she wasn’t sure how she had a deep sleep last night. She had never even had a dream before in her life. At least not the one that was just a figment of her imagination. All her dreams were comprised of her lost memories.

Although this particular dream also felt like a memory, Ru was certain it wasn’t hers. There was no way it could be hers. Right? That small voice of uncertainty was enough to shook her resolve.

Seeing her dazed expression, Xiao Zhiren felt something amiss as he came close to her and asked, "Are you still lost in the dream?" Ru didn’t know why but she nodded. "Haiz! Don’t overthink about it. What did you dream about anyway?" His curiosity grew when he saw her reaction.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Ru insisted.

"Whatever. By the way, I heard that dreams are like wishes that our hearts secretly ask for. Hope your heart made the wish for us to be together."

Ru abruptly stood up and made a beeline for her room upstairs while shouting at him, "Stop your stupid remarks and get out of my house. Don’t let me see you when I come back."

Her weird expression was amusing to Xiao Zhiren as he watched her retreating back. But as she disappeared from his vision. His smile froze and a gloomy look took over.

Last night, he also had a dream...