The tiny bakery was warm and inviting as Hua Cheng stepped in, shaking the rain out of his hair. His tall stature was intimidating to say the very least, and he noticed several people shrink back.
He strode purposefully to the counter, one side of his mouth pulling up into a smile as Xie Lian stepped out of the backroom, hanging his apron up on a hook and grabbing his satchel.
He reached out to take Xie Lian's hand, his heart skipping a beat as thin fingers laced between his. He leaned down to kiss his head. "You smell like powdered sugar."
"It was crepe day."
"Did you save me one?"
Xie Lian patted his bag in response. Hua Cheng smiled.
"You came exactly on time." Xie Lian remarked.
"I waited out in the rain until 5:00." Hua Cheng replied, reaching into Xie Lian's bag to pull out his umbrella.
"In the rain? You could have gotten sick."
Hua Cheng shook his head, opening the umbrella and nudging Xie Lian under it. "I haven't gotten sick in years." He murmured. "And you were sick last week."
Xie Lian scoffed but huddled into Hua Cheng's side as they began to make their way down the rainy street.
"Maladaptive daydreaming describes a condition where a person regularly experiences daydreams that are intense and highly distracting."
Hua Cheng opened his eyes, wincing as his head bumped against the window of the cramped taxi. That had seemed so real. He could still smell Xie Lian's powdered sugary self. But his hair wasn't even wet. He sighed and leaned his head against the cold window.
Xie Lian. A baker. A writer and an artist. His significant other. The boy who endlessly haunted his daydreams. He had never felt a love so deep for anyone. Hua Cheng knew that his mind had crafted him a gift of absolute perfection.
"Maladaptive daydreaming mainly consists of extremely vivid daydreams with their own characters, settings, plots, and other detailed, story-like features."
The first time it had happened, Hua Cheng had been shocked. The second time, he'd been scared. By the third time, he'd already fallen in love with Xie Lian and was starving for more.
He'd researched online about parallel universes, about glitches in the so-called Matrix that was his shitty life. When he'd clicked the article on maladaptive daydreaming, everything had lined up. He hadn't even bothered to look for help or find a way to stop it. Why would he? Xie Lian and the pretty world they lived in was all he needed.
Sometimes, the daydreams would last for hours. Those were his favorites. He could actually pretend it was his real life. Sometimes, they'd last for minutes. He was thankful for each second.
It didn't pose a threat at work, because he had no customers or coworkers in the tiny diner in which he worked. He was happy.
Then
he started to show up. Hua Cheng didn't know his name, and he didn't care to learn. The boy had started coming into the diner every afternoon. He'd order something, and try to initiate conversation with Hua Cheng. The latter was having none of it. Sure, he was cute, but he had Xie Lian. And by humoring this boy, he was wasting precious time.
"It is a real disorder that can have painful effects on a person’s daily life."
Hua Cheng paid the driver and stepped out of the taxi, trudging through the door of the derelict diner. It looked and smelled stale and depressing.
He didn't know why he was still paid to upkeep it. The owner was elderly and stupidly sentimental. The diner had been a prime spot back in...who knew. Before Hua Cheng's time, definitely.
He sat behind the counter, tapping his fingers against the empty register. Perhaps he could sneak away early and force a daydream to come to him.
That wasn't how it was supposed to work, but Hua Cheng could care less. He'd spent hours figuring out how to abuse it and force himself into a daydream.
With practice, he could do it pretty easily. They held less substance then the ones that came naturally, but it was still something.
Just when he was getting ready to go to the tiny staff room, the diner's door swung open. Him, again.
He took a seat at the diner's counter and gave Hua Cheng a bright smile. Hua Cheng just stared. Surprisingly, the boy didn't falter. "I have a new question. Do you serve alcohol here?"
"We don't serve anything here. No customers." Hua Cheng replied, reaching down into the minifridge under the counter and pulling out a cheap beer. He slammed it on the counter, angry that his chance to see Xie Lian was taken from him. "I.D."
The boy slid his identification across the counter. Hua Cheng glanced at it. An American name that slipped out of his mind the second he read it.
Hua Cheng ignored the customer's attempts at small talk for a painful twenty minutes, before the boy took the hint and left. Finally. Hua Cheng locked the door and made his way to the staff room. He sat on the dilapidated couch, closing his eyes and waiting.
"Experts still aren’t sure what causes maladaptive daydreaming."
He opened his eyes to Xie Lian brushing flour off of his hands. "...like I was saying, bread is so hard to get right. It took me ages. So don't be discouraged if yours comes out inedible, San Lang." Xie Lian poked Hua Cheng's cheek, leaving behind a dot of flour.
Hua Cheng smiled, shaking his hair out of his eyes as he began to knead the bread in front of him. "I'm a terrible cook. Everything I make is inedible."
Xie Lian sighed good-naturedly. "Practice makes perfect..."
Hua Cheng grabbed the smaller by his waist and pulled him close. "You're perfect."
"Corny." Xie Lian replied softly, a smile on his lips. Hua Cheng kissed it away.
"I wish we could stay like this forever."
"There is no cure."