The campfire crackled, sending flares of embers into the air. I poked the burning wood with a stick, pushing them closer to each other so that the fire burns brighter. I've been camping before, it was fun; we went to one of the so called "Haunted Forests" that some of my coworkers believed to be real, saying that there are ghosts inside of it and going inside would make them follow you around while crying, weeping, wailing- whatever, they just make some sort of crying sounds because they've been "Unjustly killed." Or whatever.

The stories of that place, I think, if I remembered correctly- stemmed from a time when the forests got used as a burial ground for the people that some ancient gang killed and around in the... mid 80s? I think? Some police found a skull in that place and an investigation started that later evolved into a full blown discovery of mountains upon mountains of bones.

I like to imagine that whatever the story behind that haunted forest is- that even if its just some urban legend- the wailing ghosts are actually real. People just can't see them.

Getting pushed into someone's body and living in a cultivation world convinced me even more about the reality of that place. That the forest is actually haunted, we just can't see the ghosts inside of it.

I chuckled, which got Xie Wen's attention, "Yu Song?" she asked softly. Facing her, I realized now that she's actually been leaning her head on my shoulders for some time now.

Our faces are so close by now that I can feel her breath on my cheeks. The orange light that came from the campfire only lit up the side of her face, giving her a look of... It made her more attractive, is what I'm trying to say. I realized that what I'm seeing in front of me is a cliche come to life and probably because I'm feeling stressed after everything- I decided to lean into it, I turned back to the campfire and placed my head against hers.

"I've thought about something," Xie Wen hummed, "There's this... forest, back in my hometown, people say it's haunted. With ghosts and stuff." I felt Xie Wen nod. Feeling comfortable with the situation, I wrapped my arm around her waist.

She leaned into it. "So, there's this time when me and my friends went camping there... And, I guess we stayed there? I- I don't know where I'm going with that story. The campfire reminded me of that time though." I finished lamely. Actually, where was I going with that story? Maybe I should've just offered an explanation instead of starting it off as some tale-

Xie Wen shifting in her seat and pushing her body closer to me pushed me out of my thoughts. I heard her chuckle, "I liked it. As short as it was." She said as she hugged me sideways. She repositioned her head and her hair fell down to my lap, before I can think about just how much time needed to pass for her hair to grow that long, she said something that grabbed my attention, "I want to learn more about you," her voice was soft, "Your story sounded interesting,"

I can hear the smile in her voice when she said that.

"Is... there more?" she craned her neck and her face tilted just enough that I can make eye contact with one of her eyes. She blinked under the campfire light and I don't know if it's because of that lighting up her skin and giving her an angelic look or if it's because I'm just stressed but something came over me-

That feeling quickly disappeared, replaced by mistrust, "Why?" I asked with a tone that's way too aggressive for my liking.

"Yu Song..." Xie Wen seemed patient enough not to really care about my tone and push further though, "Did something happen to you?"

Stolen novel; please report.

So she decided to be blunt? I exhaled a puff of air and nodded, "Yes." I didn't elaborate further.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"It's fine," I replied.

Even with an aggressive exchange like that, Xie Wen didn't let any of it affect how she intimately got close to me. Actually, if there's anything that happened afterward, it's that she actually pushed herself even closer to me in the process. I let her do it at first but I eventually gave in and relaxed, letting myself fall into her hug and even returning it.

The campfire crackled, the sound made it feel like its dying so I had to break off the hug and toss a fuel or two in there to keep it going. When I was done, I returned to Xie Wen's side and wrapped my arm around her waist again.

We both quickly went back to our previous position with her leaning on my shoulder and me pressing my head against hers. "Yu Song," she started, "I really want to know more about you."

"Do you now?"

She nodded, "Yes." Beneath me, I felt her head turn and Xie Wen's breath started caressing my neck, "I wanna know more about the person who went back to me after all this time," Xie Wen's head went further into my personal space until she was leaning against my chest. I looked down, the orange light of the campfire is no longer lighting her cheeks, instead, it went around the back of her head, giving her an orange crown of light, "I... wanna know why you're so... this."

"Why?" I asked. I wanna know the answer. I didn't want to let my guard down but fuck me if everything that happened didn't give me a knot in my chest that made me want to trust her.

Am I doing this because I like her or is it because I'm desperate?

Both. Probably.

"Because I- want to trust you, Yu Song." I frowned but quickly put it away but Xie Wen clearly saw it because of what she said next- "I'm sorry if what I said made you uncomfortable," she explained, "I- I jus- I don't know, I want to know more about you, and why you went back here. I'm just... curious, I guess. Sorry."

"Don't be," Did I feel guilty? I felt guilty. Damn it. "But I guess if you're curious... then I used to be a Social Worker." To be honest, I don't see anything wrong with my job. Hell, I'm proud of it. Helping all of those people, from children with diseases to old people who can't take care of themselves to people with mental illnesses makes me feel happy.

The only real problem that I have with telling Xie Wen about it is that it brings back bad memories, ones that I'd really rather put in the back of my head.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's a job that helps different people, from children to old people to... I guess those with mental demons." Jesus that sounded edgy. "I go around places, helping as many of those as I could, giving them food, services, staying in their houses to take care of them, teaching them how to speak and do sign language. Stuff like that."

"What's sign language?" Xie Wen, by now, has stopped leaning against my chest and is now sitting in front of me cross-legged, "And why would you teach it?"

The way she looked at me reminded me of the children I used to teach. And... thinking about her as some sort of kid made my heart pang. I wanted to see her as an equal, and I'll treat her that way, "Sign language is basically... uhm. What people who can't hear and speak use to communicate." I explained calmly, "I teach it to them because some of them become that way later in life, so they're used to speaking normally. That's where people like me come in, to tell them that everything's gonna be ok and that their situation is perfectly normal. That they're accepted."

"I see!" Xie Wen excitedly said, it seems that she didn't mind the grim topic that we have because she was all smiles, "That's amazing! I want to do that with you one day."

"You really think so?" I smiled genuinely even when the image of a judgemental blonde popped up in my head, "I'd love to teach you sign language so that we can do it together at some point."

"Really?" I nodded, she smiled, "Then do it."

So I did, and we spent the night teaching and learning how to do sign language respectively. The feeling of something heavy lifted at one point, probably because I'm treading into familiar ground and I don't know, doing what I love with Xie Wen helped lift my mood up and the more time I spent teaching her sign language, the more I started to warm up to her.

It didn't help that she'd laugh in a cute way whenever she failed.

Xie Wen wiped her eyes, "Sorry, sorry, it just looks so funny to me,"

Then again, I feel like her laugh is the same as ever.