The Forbidden Beginning
The moon had always followed Li Wei.
Even as a child, when he trained alone in the cold courtyards of the Celestial Sect, he would glance up and find it watching—silent, distant, unchanging.
"Do not look at the sky too often," his master once told him. "Your path is on the ground, not in dreams."
Li Wei had nodded.
But he never stopped looking.
1. The Night of Blood and Fate
The forest was not meant to breathe.
Yet that night, it did.
Each tree whispered. Each shadow moved. The wind carried the scent of iron—thick, suffocating.
Li Wei tightened his grip on his sword.
"Stay alert," one of the disciples whispered behind him. "The criminal was last seen here."
Criminal.
They always used that word.
Not a name. Not a person.
Just something to be erased.
Li Wei stepped forward, his white robes brushing against the damp earth. His heartbeat was steady—but something inside him… felt wrong.
Then—
A sound.
Soft.
A breath.
Li Wei turned sharply and pushed through the trees—
And found him.
He was lying beneath a dying tree, red spreading across his chest like blooming flowers. His long black hair was tangled, his lips pale, but his face…
Too beautiful.
Too calm.
Too human.
Their eyes met.
And everything stopped.
"You…" the stranger whispered, voice barely there, "are from the Celestial Sect."
Li Wei raised his sword.
He should have struck.
That was his duty.
That was his purpose.
But the stranger didn't move.
Didn't beg.
Didn't resist.
He only smiled faintly.
"…Then finish it."
Li Wei's hand trembled.
Just slightly.
"What is your name?" he asked.
The stranger's eyes flickered with something unreadable.
"…Shen Yan."
The name felt dangerous.
Like it carried stories Li Wei had never been told.
"You're the one they call a criminal," Li Wei said.
Shen Yan chuckled weakly. "Is that what they told you?"
"Yes."
"And you believed them?"
Li Wei hesitated.
"I… don't know."
Silence fell between them.
Then Shen Yan closed his eyes.
"Then leave," he said softly. "If you hesitate now… it will destroy you later."
But Li Wei didn't leave.
Instead—
He knelt.
2. The First Choice
"You're losing too much blood," Li Wei said, pressing his hand against Shen Yan's wound.
Shen Yan's eyes flew open.
"…What are you doing?"
"Saving you."
"Why?"
Li Wei paused.
Because he didn't know.
Because something in his chest refused to let this man die.
Because the word criminal suddenly felt like a lie.
"I don't want to kill you," Li Wei said simply.
Shen Yan stared at him for a long moment… then laughed, though it hurt.
"You're going to regret this."
"Maybe."
"…You're strange."
"And you're not what I expected."
For the first time, Shen Yan looked at him—not as an enemy, but as something else.
Something dangerous.
Something fragile.
"Li Wei," Shen Yan said quietly, reading the name from his sect emblem, "if you save me… your life will never be peaceful again."
Li Wei met his gaze.
"It never was."
3. A Love That Should Not Exist
Days turned into nights.
Nights into something softer.
They hid in an abandoned shrine far from the sect's reach.
Li Wei treated Shen Yan's wounds, though the man often joked even when in pain.
"You're terrible at this," Shen Yan teased once.
"And you're terrible at staying alive," Li Wei replied.
Shen Yan smiled.
A real one.
And that… changed everything.
One night, rain poured endlessly outside.
Thunder shook the sky.
Inside, the air was quiet.
Too quiet.
Shen Yan sat near the window, watching the storm.
"You should sleep," Li Wei said.
"I don't sleep much."
"Why?"
Shen Yan didn't answer immediately.
Then—
"Because I'm afraid I won't wake up."
Li Wei's chest tightened.
Without thinking, he stepped closer.
"You will."
Shen Yan looked up at him.
"Are you promising me?"
"…Yes."
Shen Yan's expression softened.
"Then stay."
Li Wei hesitated. "Stay?"
"Until I fall asleep."
It was a simple request.
But it felt like something more.
Li Wei sat beside him.
Close enough to feel his warmth.
Close enough to hear his breathing.
And when Shen Yan finally leaned against his shoulder—
Li Wei didn't move.
4. The First Touch
"Li Wei…"
"Hmm?"
"…Why are you still here?"
Li Wei didn't answer.
Because the truth was too dangerous.
Because leaving felt impossible.
Because somewhere between saving him… and staying beside him…
He had already fallen.
Slowly, Shen Yan's fingers brushed against his sleeve.
Then—
His hand.
Li Wei froze.
But he didn't pull away.
Their fingers
intertwined.
Careful.
Hesitant.
Like something sacred.
"Your hands are warm," Shen Yan whispered.
"…Yours are cold."
"Then don't let go."
Li Wei's heart began to race.
"…I won't."
Outside, the storm raged.
But inside—
Something quiet and irreversible had begun.
5. The Crime of Love
They were found.
Of course they were.
Love like theirs was never meant to stay hidden.
"LI WEI!"
The shout shattered everything.
Disciples surrounded the shrine.
Swords drawn.
Eyes filled with judgment.
"You dare protect a criminal?!"
Li Wei stepped in front of Shen Yan.
"I won't let you harm him."
Gasps echoed.
"You've lost your mind!"
"Move aside!"
But Li Wei didn't move.
Not this time.
Not anymore.
Behind him, Shen Yan whispered—
"…You shouldn't have chosen me."
Li Wei's voice was steady.
"I didn't choose you."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"I chose us."