Xie Yi-jun

1303 years after The Long Night

Hêi'àn City

"Don't look now, but it appears we have a shadow..."

The King looked anyway, finding Songcai's whispered words to be true as he spotted the figure crouched behind the bushes.

Chuckling softly, he watched as the boy peaked out at the two of them. When he saw he'd been caught, Zhao Xingyi's grey eyes widened and he ducked down.

Beside him on the shore of the pond, Jin Songcai sighed. Yi-jun watched as the man closed his eyes and tilted his head back slowly. After having spent the afternoon with the healer, showing him one of his favorite spots by the water, the King could say that this might truly be the happiest day of his life.

"Do you know him?" Songcai asked.

Yi-jun nodded and turned again to see only the boy's eyes through the leaves. The King smiled...

"He's the son of a local merchant. Everytime I go past he runs out and offers me all manner of things, asking questions, saying he wants to join the war effort."

The healer perked up-

"Oh? And you haven't let him?"

Yi-jun scoffed, "He's just a kid."

He watched as Songcai glanced over at where the boy was hiding again, and very slowly a sweet smile appeared on the man's face. He raised his hand, calling out in a gentle voice;

"Hello there! What's your name?!"

As Yi-jun listened to Songcai's beautiful voice, the sound of the waves slowly lapping against the shore, he couldn't even find it in himself to be irritated or disappointed at being interrupted when the boy suddenly ran over to them, tripping all over himself as he juggled several papers and objects...

He stopped a few feet away, still wearing that startled expression, and then bowed several times to both Yi-jun and Songcai.

"Zhao Xingyi, My Lords! I'm sorry, My Lords... I- I'm disturbing you, I'll leave!"

Jin Songcai smiled and shook his head;

"Not at all," then he saw what the boy was carrying.

"What have you got there, Xingyi? May I call you that?"

Of course, because of Songcai's ease with people and his sweet nature, a brilliant smile spread across the boy's face and Xie Yi-jun felt like rolling his eyes.

Oh great, next thing you know he'll be following Songcai around like a love-sick puppy! As if I don't have enough to deal with-

Zhao Xingyi nodded again a few times and sputtered;

"Ah! Yes, of course! Oh, this?! I just came out to draw, but then..."

That was when Songcai caught sight of one of the pictures. He gasped, quickly going to nudge Yi-jun in the side. When the King begrudgingly turned to look, he had to pause for a moment too.

Wow, that's...

Us. He's drawn pictures of us; Songcai and me. Several, it seems-

Zhao Xingyi looked embarrassed but Songcai was too kind-hearted for anyone to remain that way around him long.

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"Look at that!" He gasped, "That's beautiful! You drew all these yourself?"

"Um, I... yes-"

At Songcai's request, the boy sat down and started showing them his paintings, several of them apparently weeks old, dating back to the time Songcai first arrived in Hêi'àn City. Pictures depicting Yi-jun and Songcai surrounded by crowds in the market, the King practicing on the training field while Songcai watched, even the one he'd been working on today; the two of them sitting by the lake, smiling.

They were all made with such... Yi-jun couldn't quite put his finger on it. Such emotion. What might have been simple brushstrokes and lines under someone else's hand, were instead elegant, masterful markings. It was more refined than any painter the King had ever seen.

"You have a gift!" Songcai exclaimed excitedly, to which Xingyi blushed bright red.

Finally Yi-jun spoke as well, having been staring at the pictures for some time and admiring them.

"Why would you join the militia? With this kind of talent you should be apprenticing. Are your parents forcing you? Should I talk to-"

Stammering, Zhao Xingyi was still smiling brightly as he raised his hands;

"Ah! No no, My Lord! Thank you... I wish to serve for my conscience and loyalty only. This was just because... I find you both very inspiring, but- I... I can stop if it's-"

"You will do no such thing," Jin Songcai was still glowing.

Xie Yi-jun felt the same pull he always felt to the man in that moment, and he supposed he really couldn't blame Zhao Xingyi for feeling it too. Part of him wanted to lean in and whisper to Songcai, not to get too friendly with the boy, as he tended to stick to your heels. The King knew from personal experience. However, seeing the light in Xingyi's eyes, his beautiful drawings, and of course Songcai's joy at meeting such a person, Yi-jun had only gratitude and warmth inside his heart. He wouldn't push any of it away again...

After several more weeks, it became clear to Yi-jun and Songcai that the boy had decided to continue painting them. They caught him watching whenever they were in town, or on the training field; as it was open to the public.

Xingyi would always wave to them and smile, and then settle down against a tree or on the hard ground, and unroll another sheet of paper.

To his surprise, the King wasn't at all bothered by it. Because, when he heard Songcai's explanation one night, there was no way he could be...

"You're his hero, Yi-jun!" The man had laughed.

"Didn't you guess that when he said he wanted to be just like you someday?"

The King didn't know why this hadn't occurred to him. He'd just shrugged, Songcai shaking his head with an amused sigh.

Now here they were, about a month later, and Zhao Xingyi had become as familiar to both Yi-jun and Songcai as they were with their real shadows...

"Want to see what I've been working on?" The boy asked shyly as he'd caught them walking through the market.

They both nodded and then Xingyi pulled out of his bag a well-worn leather book. Upon opening it, it was clear that it was in fact a journal-

Songcai and Yi-jun listened to the boy ramble on excitedly about this idea he'd had; of compiling some of his drawings, paintings and sketches into a collection!

"And I could write a bit too," he said. "About you both. So future generations can know what you were like!"

To Yi-jun at first, even though the paintings were beautiful, the idea of the subject being himself was quite awkward. That all faded from his mind though when he took in Jin Songcai's face in all of Xingyi's work.

A face like that deserves to be painted... that was all he could think-

So like that the two of them agreed, Zhao Xingyi practically fluttering on his heels as he called after them;

"Ah! If you have anything to add, just come find me! I won't be far!"

Xie Yi-jun chuckled, "Oh I'm sure."

Everytime Songcai talked about Xingyi or his art, he'd get this look in his eyes that Yi-jun had fallen deeply in love with. Songcai enjoyed beauty, in nature, in people, in music... It was the King's great joy to wander after him and soak up all the love that the man had pouring out of his heart for these things.

"A'Xing's paintings are different." The healer had said late one night.

Xie Yi-jun was watching the flames from the candles in the room, dancing inside the man's bright eyes...

"Let me try to explain," Songcai smiled.

Yi-jun smiled too as the man placed his hands on the table, as if he was receiving something invisible from the universe.

"Everyone feels the fluctuation of energy in souls, even if they aren't aware of it. As a healer, it's a large part of who I am; being able to not only feel people's auras, but see them. Zhao Xingyi is an artist like many are, but he is also one of the very few that exist who is placing pieces of himself in everything he creates."

Xie Yi-jun was so focused on the sound of his voice that everything else had fallen away...

"He is likely unaware, but all of his work shines with soul-energy. Unfiltered, straight from his core. He is literally within every painting, every word he writes. For me, who can see it all... it's almost an otherworldly gift, to be the one he's chosen to be inspired by."

After a few moments, Xie Yi-jun realised that he'd closed his eyes and Songcai had snuck up behind him and wrapped his arms around his neck. Hearing the man's whisper, feeling his breath tickle his cheek, the King found he was blushing...

"How was that for a bedtime story?" Songcai softly kissed him.

Yi-jun's heart fluttered from the warmth and he swallowed.

"Your voice..." his voice was raspy-

Songcai giggled, "I'm also grateful for the gift you've given me."

The King blinked, feeling the healer's lips on his ear then, causing his blush to grow even hotter and his heart to thump.

"Gift?"

As Yi-jun swallowed again, he could feel Songcai nodding. The man murmured yes softly, and then spoke with the most heartfelt sigh;

"To be the one you've chosen, Xie Yi-jun... it is the greatest gift of my life."