Chapter 7: Dream land

Early in the morning, Xuan took his time to wake up. How could one wake up when he was wrapped in a warm one-handed embrace? He was so comfortable, only then he remembered that he has no idea who is hugging him and why. 

He quickly opened his eyes and found sleeping Hon pressed against him and somehow hugging him with left arm on which he was laying. He really didn’t know how they ended up like this, so he only hugged Hon back, pressed him closer and closed his eyes again. 

The sun was only rising and they didn’t need to rush, so they stayed like that for a few hours. 

On the other hand, Hon knew exactly how he ended up in that position. 

Few minutes after Xuan fell asleep last night, Hon woke up. His head was hurting like hell and he wasn’t able to get his thoughts right. He heard ringing from all around him and wanted to vomit, he started cursing this human body of his and couldn’t wait to get rid of it. 

He then remembered everything he told Xuan last night. All the confusing stuff about colours and how he explained his depression, which he managed to hide for 300 years. He just wanted to beat himself up at this point. 

He soon noticed Xuan lying on a bed next to him. He felt sorry for him, because he had to listen to all that bullshit, and thought about what to do as an act of „sorry“ and „I didn’t meant it like that.“ 

„What I didn’t mean like that?“ He thought. Did he say something bad about Xuan? 

And then he remembered. 

He did. 

He told Xuan he’s annoying. But he really didn’t mean it like that! He just wanted to tell him that the way he’s always apologizing for things that don’t matter is annoying! But did Xuan get it or no? 

Hon muttered something silently and crawled closer to Xuan, letting his head rest at the edge of his bed. 

„Xuan~ Are you asleep?~“ he asked lazily. He was, obviously, still drunk, but he was at that point where the darkness came back and it started to hurt even more. 

After he didn’t get any response, he crawled up into Xuan’s bed and spent a good while looking at his face before somehow managing to embrace him. 

„I was supposed to be the cold one... Why are you messing with me like this?“ He asked himself in his thoughts and kept on staring at him. 

He never really cared about anyone and was cold to literally everyone he knew. So, why did he care about this one boy he met just a few days ago? Did it work like this for normal people too, or, is it another mental illness adding to the list? 

„Well, now I actually am cold.“ He thought and pressed himself closer to Xuan’s body. 

He just had no idea what he was thinking all the time, and now, in this drunk state, he felt double confusion. 

After an hour of just following Xuan’s sleeping and calm face, Hon’s eyes started to fall, then actually fell and then he fell asleep. 

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Xuan looking at him with a calm and smiling face. He innerly panicked, but didn’t react in any way on the outside. 

„Good morning, your highness.“ Xuan said and closed his eyes. 

Hon just nodded and then panicked again: „I didn’t do anything, did I?“

Xuan just shook his head and replied: „Of course not. We just somehow ended up like this.“ 

Hon smiled, still not letting go of Xuan. 

„Anyways, are you okay?“ Xuan suddenly asked. 

„Why do you ask?“ 

„Your face... It’s red...“

Just then Hon quickly let go of Xuan and covered his face. If he wasn’t already red he would be blushing now. This body was so weak towards alcohol... 

Hon tried to quickly stand up, but his head started spinning rapidly and he had to slowly sit down again. 

„I might be having a h-hangover.“ 

Hon said quietly and Xuan bursted out laughing. Hon turned around and Xuan unexpectedly tightly hugged him from behind. 

Hon was stunned and didn’t really know what to say. No one hugged him this way before. Never. 

He didn’t even know how to feel about it! Was it a good feeling? Did he want to stay like that for some time or did he want to shake Xuan off and go for a walk or something? 

Xuan pressed himself even closer and his lips were now basically touching Hon’s hair. 

„X-Xuan?“ Hon asked, slowly, but Xuan didn’t reply. 

They stayed like this for a while and, because to Hon it felt really awkward, he placed his hand on one of Xuan’s that was holding him. 

Xuan then whispered, in a gentle voice: „I was worried about you.“ 

„I’m sorry...“ Hon felt really weird, but in a good way. Someone actually cared about him? Someone was worried about him? Before, only thing everyone cared about was for him to get strong enough to stop some rebellion in his territory and other threats. This was something so basic, yet never experienced before. 

„Let’s... Not say sorry anymore...“ Xuan said after a while and Hon’s eyes widened. He probably understood Hon‘s stupid talk from yesterday. Hon was more than okay with not saying it anymore! 

And so, the two stayed like this until someone knocked on the door. 

Even then none of them wanted to stand up and check out who it was, because this silence in a tight embrace was something neither of them experienced before and after a night of ranting they both needed it. 

But, eventually, Hon moved and Xuan stood up to open the doors. 

„Dear god! It’s already 11am! What were you two doing in there?!“ Florence asked. Xuan looked around, but he couldn’t see Adam and he felt a bit of a relief. 

„I’m n-not feeling too well...“ Hon said from behind Xuan and Florence forcefully walked in, pushing Xuan away. 

„Well, you shouldn’t have gotten drunk. I don’t even know what you drank or how much of it, but for someone who didn’t drink any alcohol for 300 years, and to add to all of that, with a weak body like this, you should be happy that you’re not lying in a coma right now.“ She said and slapped him. 

„Can y-you not be so harsh towards us?“ Hon asked and held the slapped cheek. 

„But you need to wake up! It’s a beautiful day outside! And you two just want to spend it closed here? Also, don’t forget that we have to move on! We can surely break the seal anytime we want, there’s no need to rush, but sooner means better! I’m sure Rika already prepared a big welcome-back party for you!“ Florence yelled, walked around the room for a bit and then came back to Hon, helping him on his feet. 

„Wh-Where are we going?“ Hon asked, confused, because she basically dragged him away. 

„For a breakfast, obviously! Or lunch at this point... Human! Baby, you come with us. I can’t find Adam anywhere and I’ll need someone to hold some of my stuff!“

„But I am not-“ Xuan started, but Florence stopped him, leaving Hon leaning against the wall, and came right in front of him, leaning down.

„Sweetheart, you know who I am, right?“ she said and raised his chin like before. „If your mind doesn’t work properly, let me remind you. I am the Queen of the Third circle, Gluttony. My territory is the biggest from all nine and considered to be the most noble and rich. I may not rule over you, but from all people here, I am the one who could send you in a triple hell faster than your poor ass can even imagine. And if you respect some hierarchy here, then you’ll carry my stuff without any other excuses.“

She looked directly at Xuan, who wasn’t even that frightened by her words, but by the way her face twisted and she looked like she was sucking out his soul, plus, her tone really scared him. 

He felt like he might collapse out of fear and that strange feeling any time now, so he just nodded, and when she let go of him and gave him her handbag, he sighed. Florence then returned to help Hon. 

How could Hon be friends with someone like this? Or, is Hon actually like this too but managed to hide it? Or, perhaps, was he like that in the past but changed? But, most likely, it wasn’t any out of these. 

He probably didn’t have any other options. And because of that, Xuan wasn’t that sure about travelling to the demon realm anymore. What if all the demons are scary and annoying like this and Hon is the only exception? 

With doubts, the three finally left the hotel. Xuan really wanted to see the statues and paintings from up close, but he understood that they had to move on. 

But where were they going? He just carried the handbag and followed Florence and Hon leaning against her. He thought „I want Hon to be leaning against me.“  And then he stopped in his step. 

Not because of his mind process, but because the handbag in his hands started making a weird noise. 

„What is this?!“ He yelled and threw the handbag on the ground.

Florence sighed, helped Hon to lean against the wall again and picked up her crimson red handbag. She put her hand into it and grabbed something.

It was a phone! 

But Xuan had obviously no idea what the hell is a phone and he got scared, he even backed up a few steps. Florence picked up the call:

„Hello? Adam? I’ve been looking for you everywhere!“

„Florence! W-who allowed you to bring things from the future here? You can mess up the entire timeline again!“ Hon yelled at her, but she didn’t care at all. „Also, there’s signal here?!“ He added. 

She just replied with: „Sheesh! I’m talking to Adam!“ and continued her talk. 

Hon sighed and noticed how scared Xuan actually was. Hangover must’ve waited. This was more important.

He slowly walked to him, grabbed his hand and dragged him to sit on some bench near them. Xuan was so confused, he squeezed Hon’s hand so strongly it did hurt a bit. 

„What was th-that just now?“ Xuan asked. He tried to act cool but he was very obviously shaking and sometimes looking at Florence and back at Hon. 

„Xuan I- it’s very hard to explain these things to mortals...“ Hon sighed and looked at Xuan. 

„P-please just what in the heavens is that thing? She is communicating directly with Adam but he’s not here.“ Xuan asked and his leg started hopping. 

„It’s called a mobile phone... It’s from 21st century? I guess? And probably even the demon model.“

Xuan didn’t reply and stayed stunned. He didn’t understand a thing Hon just said. 

„I told y-you it’s hard to explain... Ther-there’s one thing about the demon realm... It’s not like here. You probably already know that, but it’s like... Past is future and future is present... I know y-you don’t understand, so just... Think about it like it’s a place where you can find anything. But you can’t bring anything from the f-future to any past timeline if you don’t want to start chaos... Demons shouldn’t interact with living humans in the first place...“ Hon explained. 

This was only one out of many rules of the demon realm. And that’s why mortals should never visit it. Some may think „But it’s not that hard to understand.“  Until they actually arrive there and see for themselves. Some demons still don’t understand it. 

Another fun fact that Hon kept to himself is, that every single mortal that ever lived, lives and will live, is already there, unless someone absorbed their soul. So, there’s a huge possibility that somewhere among the nine circles of hell is already one Xuan. But, that would probably scare him even more, so, he decided to leave that litttle detail for another time... 

Besides all of this, he was still willing to take this Xuan with him, because he appearing in his life might have already changed his own future. And that is why the demons who escaped the demon realm shouldn’t mess around too much since they can change everything in a split of a second.

Xuan also knew too much about the demon realm by now, so he couldn’t be left here. 

„So you can... See the future?“ Xuan asked when he calmed down after a while. 

„I can choose the timeline I want to visit while breaking the seal of the portal... But further into past you want to go, the more difficult it is to travel...“

„Hon- stop- I don’t understand. I really don’t. Are those past 50 years of your travelling not real then? And what about you being dead for 300 years?“

„This realm and the demon realm aren’t connected in that way. It’s literally two realms that are just so close to each other t-that it’s easy to travel between them... Don’t worry about it much. Everything is different there... I think this is an entirely new timeline just because I’m here so nothing matters... But you d-don’t have to care about that. Once you get there, you’ll understand.“

It was really confusing hearing it like this, but it actually wasn’t. It was a different dimension where people go after they die, past and future are connected, but if the human realm changes the way it was supposed to be, everything might change without anyone noticing it. 

But time always finds it‘s way to flow as it should, so, even if there were six world wars, it wouldn’t change the fact that someone created car or phone. Things would be probably just called differently. 

There wasn’t any point in thinking about it now and Xuan had no other option but to accept it. Even though he still didn’t understand, he decided to not think about it right now and just see for himself later. 

„Can I see my future, then?“ He asked. 

„If everything goes smoothly I can take you to another century one day...“ Hon replied and smiled. If everything goes smoothly... 

Demons weren’t able to see their future in the demon realm, or direct future of certain mortals, they could just visit places and see things mortals could never. Basically a pro one-sided stalking roleplay.

Hon was a demon king and he could surely go anywhere he wanted, or, whenever he wanted, but taking a mortal with him... There were too many people and many would be jealous and even try to hurt Xuan... 

Bringing him to the demon realm wasn‘t probably the best thing he could do, but since Xuan insisted so much, what was the worst that could happen? 

Xuan’s eyes bightened after he heard Hon’s words and smiled. „Can’t wait.“ He said and Hon slightly smiled too. 

At least Xuan wasn’t the type of a person who would really want to know every detail, so he didn’t have to bother with explaining it much. 

Florence ended her call and came to the two. „Okay, darlings! Let’s go! Also, I’m sorry for scaring you, but I believe Yumeno already explained everything to you, didn’t he?“ she turned to Xuan and he nodded.

„What about the signal?“ Hon asked.

„Don’t be silly! You know these things don’t need that! Don’t understimate 2000 years of development!“ Florence said and Hon just nodded. It made a lot of sense. To him at least.

Xuan stood up, helped Hon stand up and they left the area of the hotel soon enough. Xuan hoped to see more statues in the demon realm and already forgot about the ones he just passed. 

Hon was getting better, but he still had to lean against Xuan, who didn’t have any problem with that. 

They walked down the street and found Adam standing next to some person, holding three caramel apples in his left hand and one in the right hand, eating it. 

Xuan didn’t have any caramel apples since he was a child and got so excited it was for him that he almost dropped Hon. 

When they got to Adam, everyone received a caramel apple. Xuan assumed that, after all, he might not be that bad. 

Together, they left the city and continued their way. 

They weren’t that far from the portal, it would take them only few days of walking. 

Hon was, thankfully, fully sober by now and able to walk alone, but he still decided to walk close to Xuan. 

Florence and Adam walked a bit behind them, having their own conversation. 

„Should we practice?“ Hon asked. 

Xuan got that he meant practice talking and just nodded, even though he knew it might go wrong again. 

„Then I’ll start... What’s your... Favourite animal?“ Hon asked. 

„I like these small questions... Probably sea turtles.“ Xuan smiled.

„Why?“

„I don’t know... They are just cute.“ Xuan replied, not changing his expression at all.

„Hm I thought you would pick a fox.“

„Why?“

„Because some of them are red... I know, it’s dumb...“

„It is, I told you I like crimson red, not a basic red.“

„Is there really any difference?“ Hon asked and turned to look at Xuan who was still looking forward. 

„Yeah. There is.“

„I see...“

„What’s your favourite animal then?“

„Lemur.“ Hon replied without hesitation and Xuan laughed a bit. 

„What’s so funny about lemurs?“ Hon asked and looked back at Xuan. 

„Nothing, I just don’t know what a lemur is.“ Xuan looked back at Hon. 

Hon didn’t realise that lemurs were probably discovered somewhere in the 19th century and this was long before, so of course Xuan didn’t know what the fuck is a lemur. 

Then he remembered about another small detail.

Caramel apples? Weren’t those invented in like... 20th century? Was this timeline already messed up? Well, one reason less to care about the consequences of his actions.

„They’re kinda like monkeys with black and white striped tails.“ He tried to explain. Xuan still couldn’t visualize it, but he imagined Hon with a lemur tail instead. 

„So... They kinda look like you?“ Xuan asked. 

Hon blushed a bit and quickly looked away, covered his mouth and said: „I- I don’t th-think so... A-anyways... Are you more of a cat or dog person?“

„I like both, but dogs are better. Cats are just so lazy, all they crave for is your attention, even though they don’t give you any. With dogs, you can at least play sometimes. Yeah, I like dogs more.“

„Well, I like cats more because of their laziness a-and that they are very... Petable...“

„Petable? I’m not sure that’s a word but why pet cats when you can pet me?“ Xuan asked and got closer to Hon, wanting him to pet him. 

Hon sighed and actually petted him. Xuan’s hair were so fluffy, Hon couldn’t help but to smile. He then wondered: „Was this boy born with white hair like this or was it caused by the amount of stress he had to go through?“ 

If it was natural, it was beautiful. If it was stress, it was, indeed, very sad, but still beautiful. 

Hon got lost in thoughts and kept on petting Xuan, who didn’t really care about it and enjoyed every second. 

„Hon?“ Xuan asked after Hon started scratching him instead of petting.

Hon quickly let go. „Sorry.“ He said and looked away. 

Xuan sighed. „It’s okay...“ 

He fixed his hair and looked at some random tree in front of them, then back at Hon. He couldn’t stand the awkward silence and asked:

„Favourite tree?“ 

„What kind of question is that?“ Hon asked and looked at him. 

„I don’t know... My favourite is a... I don’t know actually. It was indeed a very random question... So-“ before he could finish, Hon stopped him.

„It wasn’t random. Least favourite tree then?“

Xuan thought about it for a bit and finally replied: „Apple tree.“

Hon got kinda shocked and looked at Xuan: „Why?“

„I lost someone dear to me under the apple tree...“

„Same.“

„Same tree or reason?“

„Both.“

Xuan looked up at Hon, who was already looking at him, they stared at each other for a while and they both started laughing. 

Hon sighed, catching his breath: „Guess apple trees are not a good sign for us.“ And then looked at Xuan, smiling. 

Xuan smiled back.

None of them thought about it as a funny memory, but seeing another thing they have in common, they couldn’t help but laugh. They were so similar, one wouldn’t believe it. 

Xuan was still silently laughing and didn’t pay any attention to the road, and then he fell down, face first.

„Are you okay?!“ Hon yelled and kneeled down to him, helping him sit down. 

He wanted to dust off his clothes and started patting his chest, but before he could notice it, he was struck by the necklace again and had to let go. He wanted to ask more about that little thing soon. 

„My gosh! What happened?!“ Florence yelled from far away and together with Adam ran to them.  

They noticed that the thing that made Xuan trip was actually a dead bird. And it was a dead crow! And that dead crow was holding something. 

Hon picked it up and saw that it was a letter signed by his territory’s mark. It was probably by Rika and this was the crow he assigned to bring the letter earlier. Why was it dead, though? 

Xuan, Florence and Adam stood behind him and looked at the writing. It was certainly Rika’s writing. Hon started reading out loud:

„Your highness, I have received your message that you want to bring your l-little human to the demon realm. There surely are many ways, but at this point, I don’t recommend it. Your crow told me someone shot arrows at it during it’s way here. I am afraid that if this information gets in the wrong hands, demon realm might come to another war. I h-have told all the information about the matter to this certain crow. In case you find it dead, don’t bring the human with you...“ 

Hon finished and looked at Xuan. Xuan looked insecure, but he was still willing to kill himself if there was no other way, so there was no point in telling him not to go. 

„Nothing changes. I’m still taking Xuan with me.“ Hon decided and everyone just nodded and continued their way. 

The crow was shot to it’s death by an arrow, but the arrow was long gone now. The corpse wasn’t that old, but already stinky and a bit decomposed, so it must’ve been killed during the night.

Florence was still willing to show Hon how to take Xuan with him without hurting him, and as long as she acompanied them, there wasn’t anything to worry about. 

They were two demon rulers, no one would dare to attack them, because there wasn’t any chance of defeating them. The worst that could happen was killing their current mortal bodies, which wasn’t a big deal. They had just enough power to not immediately become ghosts. 

They were using them just to blend into the crowds anyways. 

And so, as they walked further and ignored Rika’s warning, Florence and Adam minded their own stuff and discussed things about Florence’s territory, Hon and Xuan continued asking questions and laugh. 

„Favourite fruit?“ Hon asked and Xuan replied. 

„Pears.“

„Strawberries for me. Favourite type of weather?“

„Sunny. I hate rain.“

„Same here. But snow is nice too.“

„Indeed it is.“

„Living in a city or a village?“

„Village, I guess. It’s cozy there and everyone knows each other...“

„I only got to experience living in a village here... But I think I’m more used to cities. My entire territory is a one big city.“

„That’s actually amazing! I can’t wait to see it!“ Xuan said and faced Hon again, smiling. 

„...I want to know something.“ Hon said after looking at Xuan‘s smiling face for a while. 

„Then ask.“

„About that necklace of yours...“ 

„Oh, right!“ Xuan said and put it down from his neck. „I honestly have no idea what it is. I got it from... I thought it was my dad, but, now that I think about it, I can’t be so sure...“ Xuan held it in front of them and put it more into Hon’s direction in case he wanted to take it. 

Hon just shook his head without explaining why he doesn’t want to touch it and Xuan just nodded and put it back around his neck. 

„...Do you like it?“ Xuan asked. 

Hon just nodded and smiled at him. 

They both stayed silent for a while and watched the setting sun in front of them. As Hon felt the last warm rays on his face, he thought about how Xuan acted at all until now. 

He seemed to be... Happy now. But was it even possible for him to feel happy after all those things that happened to him? He was getting worried that he might try to forget about everything and cling onto Hon just too much to actually hurt both of them. 

He glanced at him and remembered how he lied about them being married. It seemed too believable, what if he’s been lying this entire time? Just smiling through the pain and dirty thoughts? 

„Xuan,“ Hon started „How do you honestly feel about me?“

„Oh! I’m scared! Oh no! Evil demon king! Please, don’t punish me for my sins!“ Xuan said and started laughing. 

„Come on now. Be honest.“ Hon said, with all seriousness. 

Xuan thought for a bit before answering honestly: „Honestly? I love you.“ He said it out loud. Wow. It was really true. He truly did fall in love with a person whom he knew for only 5 days. 

He noticed Hon’s expression. Unreadable. Did he want to hear more?

„I’ve never met anyone like you nor no one who would actually care for me. You are very nice to me and despite everything, you refuse to let me die. I am very thankful for meeting you.“ 

Xuan smiled again and looked at Hon. Hon looked at him, stunned and silent. His eyes were shining, because he wasn’t expecting this kind of answer. 

Or did he? He was surprised more by the „I love you“ at the beginning. But people also didn’t compliment him much before. 

He forgot about even suspecting him from lying with that innocent face just now. 

He moved his left hand a bit and gently touched Xuan’s right hand. He had no idea what was he trying to do and he couldn’t possibly fall for this boy, but he started blushing anyways. If he had other hand he would cover his face. 

Xuan also wasn’t expecting this reaction, but he cooperated and held Hon’s hand. They walked like this for a while without any other word. It was just hand-holding. Nothing serious, right?

When it was around 10pm they decided it’s time to rest for a bit, so they went into the woods and rested somewhere under some big trees. 

They ate some meat buns that Adam bought in the city before and went to sleep. 

Adam sitting still and Florence leaning against his arm.

Hon leaning against the tree and Xuan leaning against Hon‘s shoulder.

They bit each other good night.

Hon didn’t sleep at all. He couldn’t get himself to get tired and also wanted to keep watch, in case the thing that killed the crow attacks them. 

Suddenly, Xuan fell into his lap. 

Hon didn’t mind and gently petted his head again. His hair were, indeed, very fluffy.