Made of Stone [WenZhou]

1. Fake Sympathy

"I think you're insane." He caressed Wen Kexing's cheek, placing soft kisses all over his face. "Insanely in love with me."

"I'm glad you know..." Wen Kexing took the other's face into his palms, their hot breaths mixing into one, "You love it." He gazed deeply into his eyes, "A-Xu... Let me show you how much I love you-"

Wen Kexing dropped the glass of wine, splashing the red against the floor, blinking few times to re-adjust to his current reality. "It's happening!" He shouted, grabbing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. "Finally! It's happening! Our first time!" He smiled, the smile turning into a grin then into a joyful laugh. "A-Xiang!"

"Ge..." She seemed concerned, a bit embarrassed, "The visions again?" She asked, glancing at Cao Weining for help.

Wen Kexing laughed louder, snatching A-Xiang's glass of wine to drink what's left in it. "I'm telling you! It's finally happening! The next vision will be our first time!" He placed the glass back on the table and fetched the bottle, taking a gulp, "I love him so much... I've been waiting for this for so long."

A-Xiang joined him with nervous laughter, "Ge... You know this isn't real, right?" She tried to be as direct as possible. "You can't keep living in this illusion..."

Wen Kexing's expression hardened, "I don't need to hear any more of this. I told you not to mention it again."

"Ge!"

"A-Xiang!" Cao Weining placed his hand on her knee and turned to Wen Kexing, "We are both just worried about you, so we have discussed a solution earlier. A-Xiang told me that she was helping you to find a good therapist-"

Wen Kexing slammed his hand on the table, the sound of plates and silverware clicking loudly on each other, "I don't need two kids to tell me what to do!" He stood up wrapping his coat over his shoulders, "It's late, I must finish the last piece before the exhibit tomorrow. See you later."

It wasn't the first time his friends told him to see a therapist, and it wasn't the first time he stormed out of a place after hearing their unwanted 'solutions'.

He never really knew how or why the visions started, it was a mystery to him just like it was to others. The visions were blurry and scattered most of the time, but they became vivid and evident the more Wen Kexing focused on them, and the man's face became clearer the more he sketched it until his features became unforgettable.

The man in the visions called him Lao Wen, and Wen Kexing called him A-Xu. He had searched the internet, magazines, newspapers for a man with the same name and same face yet found none. Hence, he stopped searching and succumbed to the delusion, falling for his own mind tricks, living in his own fantasies.

When he first admitted his 'abnormality', most of his friends laughed at him, mocking his unbelievable words, calling him crazy, other times 'delusional' and 'insane'. And like he had expected, most of them never believed that he actually had visions, they just labeled him as mentally ill, advising him every now and then to go see a 'professional' and fix himself.

Their reactions varied between surprise, disbelief, and pity. However, those reactions were considered simple compared to their expressions when he confessed that he was in love with the man in his visions.

Some of them were shocked, a bit repulsed by the fact that it was a man, others were surprised that he possessed the ability to fall in love, while his closest friends rejected the whole idea of him falling in love with an illusion, be it man or woman.

An illusion. What is an illusion? It's a false idea or delusion, an instance of wrong perception, it's abstract and unreal, untouchable and deceptive. So, what if he turned this illusion into reality? Will they be convinced?