If the Deep Sea Forgets You

Mo Han had never met such a clingy person before. He went out of the room with the clothes he was going to change into. After changing, he went to the study to finish the rest of his work.

Just as he was about to close the door, he heard a soft voice from the floor, “Please turn off the lights. Thank you.”

Mo Han shook his head, turning off the bedroom’s light wordlessly.

He continued to work in the study for next few hours. He had a short teleconference with some lawyers working overseas to discuss about how the shares for Shengda Shopping Center were divided. When the teleconference had ended, Mo Han glanced up at the wall clock, noting that it was already 11PM.

Mo Han rubbed the bridge of his nose. He shut down his computer, ready to go to sleep.

He was a little surprised when he returned to his room to find a small heap covered in a blanket on his rug when he turned on the lights. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was Xia Qingyi. He turned off the lights, making use of the faint moonlight shining in from the window to return to his bed to sleep.

Xia Qingyi slept very quietly. There was close to no sound except for the faint breathing sounds. He thought he would be able to fall into a deep sleep after a short while, as he usually did.

This time, he appeared to be wrong. After a while, he heard soft sob from nearby, just as he was about to fall asleep. The sound was soft, as if its owner was trying not to cry.

He did not pay too much attention to it, but the cries grew louder and clearer and felt like a loud wail in the end. Mo Han broke out from his sleep haze straight away. The cries seemed to be coming from the floor where Xia Qingyi was.

He got out of bed straight away and turned on the lamp. The dazzling light brightened the room immediately. Mo Han covered his eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light. After a while, he opened his eyes to see something he would remember for his rest of his life.

The rug on the floor was pushed messily to one side. Xia Qingyi was curled into a ball, as her body was not covered by anything apart from the thin pajamas she was wearing. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself. Trails of tears covered her face as she kept crying. Her brow was tightly knitted as she started to wail loudly in anguish. The entire room echoed with the sound of her cries.

Mo Han was shocked. He knelt at her side and pushed her softly. He asked, as he did not know if she was still sleeping, “What’s going on?”

Xia Qingyi continued crying. Her face was covered with tears, as she cried shakily, “Let me… go… Please…”

Mo Han had a suspicion that she was dreaming. He held her in his arms as he called her name. He wanted to wake her up from her dream, “Wake up! It’s just a dream!”

She kept crying. Mo Han could not tell which were tears or sweat on her face as her messy hair stuck closely to her face. Xia Qingyi kept shaking as she continued to cry and whimper. Her arms curled around her head protectively, as if she was trying to hide away from something. Mo Han could not help but worry at her state. He had never seen her cry, and even though he knew that she was just having a nightmare, he felt his heart ache for the first time at the sound of her cries. He could only shake her vigorously to wake her up from her dream, “Xia Qingyi! Xia Qingyi! Wake up!”

It may be that Xia Qingyi had heard his voice, as her breathing started to calm and returned to normal. Her eyes finally opened. Though, she probably had not realized what was happening as she stared blankly at Mo Han with her tear-filled eyes. He was staring back at her anxiously, and she could feel the lingering warmth of his fingers while being in his embrace.

“What happened to you?” Mo Han finally let out a relieved sigh when he saw that Xia Qingyi was awake.

Xia Qingyi touched her face, which was covered in tears. Her throat was dry and painful. How she had ended up in this situation was also a complete mystery to her. She could only stare at Mo Han blankly, unsure of how to answer him.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Mo Han released Xia Qingyi, before sitting by the side of his bed.

When Xia Qingyi opened her mouth, she could feel that her throat was as parched as sandpaper, “…I think I did…”