Leave Me Alone, Big Brothers! [BL]-Chapter 78: The Monster

Alexander felt suffocated. His eyes widened in fear. The corridor felt endless.

He was running, but his legs felt like they were moving through waist-deep mercury.

Behind him, the sound of wet, heavy footsteps echoed.

Thud, drag, thud, drag.

A shadow loomed, taller than the vaulted ceilings, a mass of shifting darkness and jagged edges.

The monster didn’t growl, it exhaled a frozen mist. Cold and suffocating.

In its massive, gnarled claws, it clutched a golden basket that swung empty. Alexander stepped back, but no matter how fast he ran, he could never escape the creature.

Then, behind the monster’s large feet, he saw the figure of a baby poking its head out. Alexander’s eyes widened, because if the monster moved, the baby would be crushed under its massive feet.

"No! Stop!" He tried to shout. But no sound came out.

The baby giggled softly, its beautiful eyes shining, moving atop the monster’s feet and waving at him.

Amidst the chaos, terror, and fear, Alexander saw how beautiful the baby was. Before the monster moved, it swung its golden basket, causing the baby to fall to the floor.

The baby was stepped on!

"NOOOOO!!" Alexander felt like he was screaming with all his might until his stomach was stiff.

The monster walked back toward him. He tried to scream, but his throat was filled with dry earth. He tripped, falling into an abyss. The monster leaned over him, the golden basket in its hand glowing blindingly bright, ready to crush him.

Alexander’s eyes snapped open.

Hah... Hah...

His heart was beating fast. It was slamming against his ribs like a trapped animal.

Just a dream.

Alexander swallowed hard. Staring into the not-quite-dark room.

Then, he saw a figure moving beside him.

His eyes widened, his hand moved on instinct. He lunged, his fingers closing around the cold, heavy steel of the gun beneath his pillow.

He spun, the barrel leveled at a dark figure standing at the edge of his bed.

"Don’t shoot! It’s me!" a voice shrieked, sharp and desperate. "Alex, it’s me!"

Alexander recognized the voice before the figure became clear.

Huan stood with his hands flung high in the air, his silhouette trembling against the dim light inside the room.

The click of the safety being disengaged was the only sound in the room. Alexander froze, his finger tensed against the trigger. His vision was blurred by sweat, the phantom image of the monster still flickering in the corners of his eyes.

Slowly, the fog cleared. He saw Huan’s wide, terrified eyes more clearly.

Alexander lowered the gun, his hand shaking so violently the metal rattled against the nightstand. He slumped back against the headboard, gasping for air, his chest heaving as if he had actually run miles through that marble corridor.

"Shit... Shit!" Alexander rasped, his voice a broken wreck. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his trembling hand. "Don’t do that again, Huan! You scared me! I almost... I almost killed you."

The thought of it, the image of Huan slumped on the floor with a hole in his chest, was more terrifying than the monster in the dream.

Huan remained still, his breath hitching. He was visibly shaken, his usual composure shattered by the sight of the barrel pointed at his heart. He slowly lowered his hands, but he didn’t move away.

Alexander reached out and fumbled for the lamp. The room flooded with warm, amber light, cutting through the nightmare.

"I’m sorry," Huan whispered, his voice small. "I just wanted to check on you."

"I’m okay," Alexander snapped, though his pale skin and the way he wouldn’t meet Huan’s eyes told a different story. "Go back to sleep."

"No, you are not," Huan countered. He stepped closer, ignoring the danger that had just passed. He saw the way Alexander’s silk robe was damp with cold sweat. "Don’t push me away. Please let me stay."

Alexander closed his eyes, leaning his head back. The nightmare was always the same. It had started seventeen years ago, the night he had driven a sweet baby in a basket to the gates of an orphanage and walked away. The guilt, the fear, the desperation.

On the other hand, he had felt despair when his parents left that burden to him. When he returned, his mother was gone.

The guilt grew every night, haunting him. And he didn’t know who he could share those feelings with. He just kept them bottled up inside.

But the monster always appeared on some nights.

He was better when someone was there. When a warm body occupied the other side of the bed, the monster stayed in the shadows. But his pride, his fear of being seen as weak, kept pushing people away.

Huan sat on the edge of the bed, hesitant but firm. He reached out, his cool fingers hovering over Alexander’s hand before finally settling there.

"That damn monster again, with that fucking basket," Alexander muttered, his eyes still closed. "In the dream... it was so heavy. I couldn’t breathe."

Huan squeezed his hand. He knew the history. He knew that for all his power, Alexander was still a boy standing in the snow, haunted by the twin he had discarded.

"It’s just a dream, Alex," Huan murmured. "Nathan is here now. He’s safe. You brought him back."

"I brought him back to a broken family," Alexander replied, finally looking at Huan. His eyes were raw, filled with a rare, naked vulnerability.

Then he sighed. "I almost shot you, Huan. If I had... I wouldn’t have survived it."

Huan leaned in, pressing his forehead against Alexander’s. The intimacy was quiet, grounded, and devoid of the usual power games. "But you didn’t. I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere, even if you keep trying to lock your door."

Alexander let out a long, shuddering breath. The ice in his chest began to thaw, replaced by the grounding presence of the only man who knew exactly how many ghosts lived in his head.