I woke up on a white bed surrounded by a sea of thorns. Red thorns, green thorns, sharp as razors but still somehow laid out like a cradle for me.
Dong Huyen didn't keep me waiting long. He appeared from behind the thorns, stepping lightly like he was afraid of crushing my shadow.
I reached out. Not to ask, not to blame, but… just to be held.
He didn't flinch. He picked me up like I was something made of porcelain.
"Let's get you a bath first, baby," he whispered, voice soft as velvet. But a chill crept down my spine.
The bathroom was as white as snow. He washed my hair, dried it, fed me spoon by spoon.
I asked if he would eat too. He shook his head. "Watching you is enough."
Then he played with me. Held my hand while painting, watched movies beside me, napped on my shoulder. Sometimes he took me out to walk. Wherever we went, he held my hand like if I took just one wrong step, the world would collapse.
And it was true. Little by little, I leaned on him, depended on him, loved him without knowing when. I learned how to love… from a killer.
Then one day, he vanished.
No note, no goodbye, no last hug. I wandered like a ghost. I talked to flowers. I laughed alone.
That was when a young man appeared. He smiled and greeted me.
I smiled back. It had been so long since I saw someone else. I talked endlessly. I even pulled his hand to show him around, telling stories about Dong Huyen.
But before we finished a single lap around the garden—bang!
The boy fell with a thud. Blood pooled under his head.
I turned around. Dong Huyen stepped out from the shadows.
Gun still smoking.
He walked up behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and whispered: "You're only allowed to smile for me."
I blacked out.
I woke up in a pitch-dark room.
I called his name like someone drowning, but there was no answer.
Then the lights flicked on—blinding.
I shielded my eyes, then looked.
The walls were covered in photos of me. Smiling. Crying. Sleeping. In one corner, strands of my hair were stored carefully behind glass. Every inch of the room was me—me in his mind, me under his eyes, me as an object of obsession.
My hands and feet were tied to the bed.
Dong Huyen stepped in. He looked at me like I'd disappointed him.
Then suddenly, he kissed me. A wild, crushing kiss that took my breath away. I struggled, but he chuckled.
"Shh," he whispered. "Calm down."
He untied the ropes.
"I'm letting you go. Run," he said, tone soft but mocking.
I didn't move. I couldn't.
I grabbed his hand, trembling. "I'm sorry."
He flung it away. "Dirty. That hand touched someone else."
I cried.
He leaned closer. "Do you know why I did all this to you?"
"…Because you love me…"
He smiled.
"Do you remember the last time you saw your parents? I was standing behind them. They treated me like trash. So I killed them. I planned to kill you too… but I couldn't."
I had nothing left. I clung to him like a broken cat.
"I'm sorry…"
He held me too. But it felt different. Like he was hugging my soul goodbye.
"Do you love me?"
"Yes."
He laughed softly. His hand reached behind my neck, gently brushing—
Then stab — a knife into my back.
I gasped. Eyes wide.
He stroked my face lovingly.
"I hate you. You have to die… in my hands."
He cried.
Then another stab — this time, into my heart. All the while, he kept kissing me, like he was possessed.
I couldn't scream. Only tears fell.
I wasn't afraid of dying. I was afraid of dying in the hands of someone I loved.
Finally, he pulled out the knife, licked the blood, and cradled me in his arms. Lightly, like I was a doll.
I died in his arms. Without a sound.
He placed me in a glass coffin. Around me bloomed hundreds of flowers — blood flowers, ghost lilies, flowers that breathed.
He gazed at me like I was a masterpiece.
"Cao Ni Ni," he whispered. "I love you. Let my love drag you to hell. And there… remember me."
He kissed the back of my hand.
Then everything went dark.
– END –