Outside the office, completely unaware of the conversation taking place inside, Gou Feng remained seated on the hallway bench.
His phone rested loosely in his hand.
The evening sunlight filtered through the large windows lining the corridor, casting long shadows across the polished floor.
The building had grown quieter.
Employees occasionally passed by, offering polite greetings before continuing on their way.
Gou Feng absentmindedly stared at the dark screen of his phone.
His thoughts drifted, then without warning that familiar fragments returned.
A field of flowers swaying beneath a bright blue sky.
The scent of grass after the rain.
Someone's laughing…
A man's voice echoed in his mind.
"A-Hua, you're still laughing? Look at those wounds."
The scene shifted.
A young figure sat beneath a large tree, sleeves rolled up carelessly as scratches and bruises covered both knees.
"I told you not to climb that tree, but you insisted on doing it anyway and didn't wait for me."
The young man's voice sounded helpless.
Yet there was unmistakable fondness hidden beneath the scolding.
A small laugh followed.
"You always do this." The young figure answered.
"I got the flowers for you though."
The world around Gou Feng suddenly spun, and a sharp pain exploded inside his head.
"...Again." he hissed, while his fingers immediately pressed against his temple.
His brows knitted tightly together.
The headache had returned, not as severe as before, but enough to make his vision blur for several seconds.
He closed his eyes, and slowly inhaled.
Exhaling slowly, he repeated the process, the way Hei Bao had taught him whenever he became overwhelmed.
"Control your breathing first. Don't panic."
And, the pain gradually eased, but the strange sadness lingering in his chest remained.
Who was A-Hua?
Why did hearing that name hurt so much?
Why did his heart ache as though mourning someone he could not even remember?
Gou Feng lowered his head.
"...I don't understand."
He had never met anyone named A-Hua.
At least...
He didn't think he had.
Yet every time those memories surfaced, they felt real, as though they belonged to him.
As though he had once lived them.
The corridor remained silent, and without realizing it, exhaustion slowly crept over him.
The fever from yesterday had only subsided, and the beating he had received that afternoon had drained whatever strength he had managed to recover fully.
Combined with the recurring headaches...
His body had finally reached its limit.
His eyelids gradually grew heavier.
The phone slipped slightly in his grasp.
He adjusted his posture against the bench, and thought,
Just for a moment.
Just until everyone finished talking inside.
Slowly, his eyes closed.
And this time, darkness welcomed him completely.
"A-Hua..."
The name escaped his lips before he fully surrendered to exhaustion he felt.
The moment sleep claimed him, the fragments returned.
The field of flowers appeared once more.
Countless white blossoms danced beneath the gentle wind.
Golden sunlight painted everything in a warm glow.
Gou Feng blinked, and his breathing caught.
This time, he wasn't merely witnessing the memory from afar.
He was inside it.
He looked around in disbelief.
The sky stretched endlessly overhead, clear and bright.
The fragrance of flowers drifted through the air.
The warmth of sunlight and the fresh green grass touched his skin.
Everything felt real.
He lowered his gaze, and saw his hands were smaller, there were tiny scratches marked on his knuckles.
Dirt stained his fingertips and the sleeves of his clothes.
He looked like a child.
Gou Feng was so immersed in what he was seeing, that he didn't hear footsteps approaching from behind him.
Then, his forehead was gently flicked.
"You'll catch a cold sitting here."
Gou Feng flinched and instinctively lifted his head.
A young man stood before him but this remained blurred.
No matter how hard he tried to focus, their faces refused to come into view.
It was as though something prevented him from seeing them clearly, only their outline remained.
"...A-Hua..."
His throat tightened.
The figure had called him that name again.
The blurred silhouette laughed softly.
"What are you so surprised about? Come along. Let's go back inside the house."
A hand reached toward him.
Warm fingertips brushed through his messy hair.
The touch was gentle, and affectionate, Gou Feng could feel it through the man's caress.
"You've grown stubborn."
Gou Feng stared.
His mind felt as though it had stopped working. He still can't quite believe what was happening.
He lowered his eyes to his small hands again before looking back at the figure.
Then, in a trembling voice, he asked,
"...I'm A-Hua?"
The laughter ceased.
The wind sweeping through the sea of flowers seemed to quiet.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then the blurred young man slowly crouched in front of him.
His hands lifted, and gently touched the corner of Gou Feng's eye.
"Why are you crying again?"
Gou Feng froze.
Crying?
I'm crying?
Only then did he realize tears had been falling down his cheeks all this time.
He hadn't even noticed.
"...I don't know."
His voice trembled.
"I just..."
The words caught in his throat.
A painful ache spread through his chest, all of a sudden, as though he had lost something precious.
"...I miss you."
The man figure remained silent.
The white blossoms swayed beneath the wind.
Then, almost like a whisper carried through the endless field, this replied,
"...I miss you too."
Hearing such words from a stranger, something inside Gou Feng shattered.
A grief he couldn't understand surged through him all at once.
His vision blurred, and he reached out instinctively.
"Who are you?"
His voice broke.
"Why do you call me A-Hua? Who am I?"
However before the blurred man could respond, his body flickered.
The sunlight dimmed, the field distorted, and the countless flowers scattered into fragments of light.
"No!"
Panic surged through Gou Feng.
"Wait! Don't go!"
He stumbled forward desperately.
"Please!"
He pleaded, but his outstretched fingers only grasped an empty air.
"No... Please don't go... Please come back... I don't understand..."
The world around him continued to break apart, alongside the figure that has now fully faded away.
"...Please..."
Tears streamed endlessly down his face.
"Tell me who you are... Tell me who I am..."
His voice cracked under the weight of helplessness.
"Please..."
The fragments of light drifted farther and farther away.
Until only the sound of the wind remained.
And somewhere within that fading breeze, a familiar voice whispered softly,
"A-Hua... You promised you would remember."
Gou Feng's wet eyes widened.
"I promised?"
The field collapsed completely, and without seconds darkness swallowed everything.
"No!"
He lunged forward desperately.
"Wait! Please! NO!"
Outside the dream, seated alone on the hallway bench, tears flowed continuously down Gou Feng's sleeping face.
"...Don't go..."
His fingers tightened weakly around his phone.
"...Please... Come back..."
The broken words escaped his lips in a trembling murmur.
As though even in sleep, his heart refused to let go of someone his mind had long forgotten.
"A-Feng?"
Cheung Qi stopped in front of him.
He had only stepped out of the office moments earlier, intending to call Gou Feng inside, but the sight before him made him freeze.
Gou Feng had fallen asleep without anyone noticing.
His head rested against the wall behind the bench, his brows tightly furrowed. Tears dampened the corners of his eyes as soft, desperate words continued to slip from his lips.
Cheung Qi's expression immediately darkened with worry.
Slowly, he reached out, intending to wake him from whatever nightmare had trapped him.
But before his hand could touch the young man's shoulder, a cold voice stopped him.
"What took you so long to call him in?"
Cheung Qi paused and turned around, only to find Hei Bao standing a few steps away, with Shen Jiu and Huan Zhan behind him.
The two cousins fell silent the moment their eyes landed on their sleeping friend.
Concern surfaced plainly on their faces.
"Move," Hei Bao said.
Cheung Qi stepped aside without protest.
The pack leader then approached the bench and stopped in front of Gou Feng.
He lowered his gaze, silently studying the sleeping young man.
Gou Feng's eyelashes trembled from time to time as tears continued to trail down his face.
His lips moved faintly.
"...Please don't leave me..."
Something unreadable flickered through Hei Bao's eyes.
After several quiet seconds, he crouched down.
Without hesitation, he slipped one arm beneath Gou Feng's knees and the other around his back before lifting him effortlessly into a bridal carry.
The sudden action stunned both cousins.
Shen Jiu blinked repeatedly.
Huan Zhan's mouth fell slightly open.
Meanwhile, Cheung Qi simply stared at Hei Bao, carefully observing his expression.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Gou Feng remained asleep in Hei Bao's arms.
Perhaps because he sensed no danger, he did not wake. Instead, he unconsciously leaned closer to the warmth supporting him.
The hand clutching his phone loosened slightly before instinctively reaching for the front of Hei Bao's shirt.
His fingers curled weakly around the fabric.
The movement was almost childlike.
As though he feared that the moment he let go, someone important would disappear again.
Hei Bao lowered his gaze to the hand gripping his clothes.
His expression remained as cold and unreadable as ever, yet he made no attempt to pull it away.
"Inform everyone not to disturb me," he instructed calmly.
"Tell my secretary to cancel the remaining meetings for today."
His eyes shifted briefly toward the others.
"You can all go home."
He turned to leave, but Cheung Qi stopped him.
"A-Bao."
Hei Bao glanced back.
Cheung Qi's usually easygoing expression had completely disappeared.
"I think we should consult the Seer."
His gaze drifted toward Gou Feng.
"A-Feng's condition isn't as mild as we initially thought."
Silence settled over the hallway.
Shen Jiu and Huan Zhan looked toward their sleeping friend.
Gou Feng had not reacted at all.
He hadn't awakened when he was moved or flinched.
He hadn't shown any of the small signs of discomfort that people naturally displayed in their sleep.
Instead, he remained deeply unconscious.
Only the occasional tremble of his lips and the tears slipping from the corners of his eyes revealed that somewhere within that sleep, he was still suffering.
Hei Bao lowered his gaze, and looked at Gou Feng.
At the tear-stained cheeks.
At the fresh bruises marring his face.
At the exhausted expression of someone who had quietly endured far too much for far too long.
His eyes darkened slightly, as though countless possibilities were passing through his mind.
Finally, after several moments of silence, he spoke.
"...Arrange it. We'll go tomorrow."
Cheung Qi nodded seriously.
"I understand."
Then he turned toward the two younger men.
"You two, let's go."
Shen Jiu and Huan Zhan immediately nodded, yet neither of them moved.
Their eyes lingered on Gou Feng.
If consulting the Seer had been suggested...
Then this wasn't simply about strange dreams anymore.
Among the LycanClans, Seers were not called upon for ordinary illnesses or passing troubles.
They were sought out for matters involving curses, soul disturbances, and things that existed beyond common understanding.
The cousins exchanged uneasy glances.
Neither dared voice the fear beginning to take root in their hearts.
But the same question echoed silently between them as they watched Hei Bao carry Gou Feng back toward the office.
Just what exactly was happening to their best friend?