The grocery store lights were too bright.
They buzzed overhead, harsh and clinical, making Xue Yan wince every time he passed beneath them. He stood in the produce aisle, eyes glazing over rows of leafy greens and rows of fruits whose names he barely remembered.
He stared blankly at a ripe mango in his hand. Is this what healthy looks like? he wondered. He hadn't eaten all day. His stomach curled and twisted—not from hunger alone, but from the relentless morning nausea that came without fail.
He dropped the mango into his basket, along with a few bananas, yogurt, and a pack of prenatal vitamins the pharmacist had practically forced into his hands earlier. The idea of taking vitamins for a baby he wasn't even sure he wanted… made him dizzy.
Still, the sound of that heartbeat—it haunted him.
It had been so faint, yet so sure. Fragile, but alive.
The memory brought a fresh ache to his chest.
Xue Yan sighed, dragging his feet to the checkout counter. His legs were heavy, his soul even heavier. The woman at the register smiled warmly, but her face blurred in his vision. He paid and left, holding his bag close like it contained something sacred.
The cold air hit his face the moment he stepped out.
It had rained earlier. The sidewalks were still slick, the scent of petrichor mixing with the faint smell of ocean salt from the coast. Xue Yan walked slowly, unsure if he was heading home or just wandering. His steps were autopilot.
The world felt surreal.
He remembered what the doctor had said—Go home. Spend time with the fetus. Think.
He had done that. He had gone to his mother's grave, cried until his voice cracked, spoken to her like she was still there… and for a moment, it had helped. Until he remembered she was gone, and he was still alone.
Or at least… he thought he was.
From the moment he'd stepped out of the graveyard, something had changed.
He could feel it—something watching. Not with eyes. But with presence. Like a shadow trailing just beyond the edge of sight.
He glanced behind him for the fourth time. No one was there.
His breath quickened.
He clutched the bag tighter.
It wasn't paranoia. Something was following him. It felt… ancient. Cold. But somehow familiar.
Just as he passed the alley that led toward his apartment, he stopped.
There. In the narrow mouth of the alleyway, a man stood cloaked in black, still as a statue. The only part visible was the faint glow of silver in his eyes, reflecting the streetlight above.
"Who's there?" Xue Yan asked, voice low and defensive.
No answer.
He stepped back.
The man didn't move.
His gut screamed to run, but something else… something deeper, made him pause.
"Xue Yan," the stranger said finally. His voice was smooth as silk but layered with something otherworldly—like multiple voices speaking at once. "I've found you."
His legs gave out before he even knew they were shaking. The groceries spilled across the sidewalk.
"Wh-What do you want?"
The man stepped forward, revealing more of his face. He was tall, regal, with skin like alabaster and lips tinged the color of blood. His beauty was terrifying, like a sculpture carved from sorrow and sin. But those eyes—those haunting, soul-pulling eyes—were the same ones from that shadowed night.
"You," the man said simply. "I came for you."
Xue Yan tried to scramble backward, but his body felt too heavy.
"You were supposed to forget," Su Ye Han said, now fully illuminated under the flickering streetlight. "But your soul… it remembered me."
"Who—what—are you?"
Su Ye Han crouched before him, brushing a thumb gently over his cheek.
"I am the one who should never have touched you," he whispered. "But I did. And now… I can't let go."
Xue Yan's breath hitched.
"Y-You raped me," he said quietly, voice trembling with buried rage. "That night… that was you."
Silence fell like a guillotine.
Su Ye Han looked down, expression unreadable.
"I was… not myself that night," he murmured. "But no excuse will cleanse that sin. If you wish to strike me down, I'll let you. If you hate me, I'll never beg for forgiveness."
"Then why are you here?"
"To protect what I broke."
He glanced down at Xue Yan's stomach.
"You're not just carrying a child," he said. "You're carrying a hybrid—the first of its kind. A life that could either unite our worlds… or destroy them."
Xue Yan's heartbeat thundered in his ears.
"This… this isn't real. This is just some sick dream."
Su Ye Han reached into his cloak and pulled out a glowing vial. Inside swirled a silver liquid that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"Drink this. It will help the baby stabilize. It was never meant to survive long in a human womb without it."
Xue Yan slapped it away. The vial shattered, spilling light into the cracks of the pavement.
"I don't want your help. I don't want your child. I just want to go back to being me!"
For the first time, Su Ye Han looked… pained.
"I know," he said. "But I think fate decided otherwise."With a flick of his hand, time around them seemed to slow. Cars froze. The wind silenced. The world held its breath.
Su Ye Han stood.
"When you're ready to understand everything, come to me," he said, then reached into Xue Yan's coat and tucked a silver coin into his pocket.
"Until then… protect that child. If not for me—then for your mother. She watches still."
And with that, he vanished.
The world returned to motion. Wind howled through the alley. The streetlight buzzed.
Xue Yan sat there, shaking, staring at the shattered vial. His hands trembled as he felt for the coin in his pocket.
It was real.
All of it.
And somewhere deep inside him, the child fluttered again—alive, aware… waiting.