He’ll Invited Me to Fall in Love (Infinite) - Chapter 2

In the dream, the sun was setting, and the clouds burned like a raging fire.

Shen Yi’s dreams always took place during this kind of twilight. It was late autumn, and the wind had grown cold. Shen Yi wore a straw hat and rode a rickety old bicycle, carrying two large bags of oranges in the front basket. Humming a simple tune about the beauty of a quiet life, he pedaled with a rhythmic creak-creak-creak until he reached a certain doorstep.

It was a green sheet-metal door, heavily rusted, with a pair of Door Gods pasted on it, blackened and yellowed by years of wind and rain.

He hopped off the bike, grabbed a bag of oranges, and knocked twice. Duk-duk. “A-Mo—”

There had been the sound of splashing water inside, but as soon as Shen Yi knocked, it stopped instantly. It was replaced by the sound of hurried, frantic footsteps.

Outside the door, Shen Yi chuckled. “Don’t rush!” he called out, standing there with his hands on his hips.

“Aiyo, Brother Yi! Why do you love looking after the Wen family’s little mute so much?”

He turned around. The village’s busybody, Auntie Li, happened to be passing by.

“Just got back from town, didn’t you?” Auntie Li remarked. “You left before dawn and just got back. You don’t even go to your own house first; you come straight to see the little mute?”

Shen Yi heard himself give a hearty laugh. In these dreams, he had no control; he was merely an observer in a first-person perspective.

“A-Mo is well-behaved, much better than my own brother,” he heard himself say. “Who wouldn’t like A-Mo?”

“Aiyo, listen to you! In this whole village, you’re the only one who cares for him this much.” Auntie Li teased him for a moment longer before saying goodbye and walking away, her bamboo basket full of vegetables.

Once her figure disappeared around the corner, the door in front of Shen Yi finally creaked open, the groan of neglected hinges filling the air. The door only opened a crack, revealing a small, thin head with jet-black hair. It was a beautiful face with surprisingly deep-set features and thick eyelashes. A pair of almond-shaped eyes looked down, appearing innocent and pitiful.

The boy pressed his lips together, hiding behind the door as he gazed at Shen Yi with unease.

“A-Mo.” Shen Yi heard his own voice, sounding both helpless and amused. “Don’t be scared, A-Mo. Auntie Li is gone.”

Only then did the person inside open the door fully.

Wen Mo stood behind the door, positioned in the shadows where the sunset couldn’t reach. People in the dream said his life was hard, and it seemed to be true; a teenage boy shouldn’t be that thin and small. His hands gripped the doorframe with a nervous intensity, as if he were afraid of something. His fingertips were bright red, covered in wounds.

“Your mother made you wash clothes in cold water again, and it’s already late autumn… I’ll sneak a thermos over to you later so you can use some hot water. Oh, and I went to town today to sell the corn we harvested. It all sold! I made a good profit, so I bought some oranges.”

Shen Yi stuffed the oranges into his hands and whispered, “This bag is for you. Hide it and eat it yourself, don’t give any to your mother or your brother. I bought other snacks too; they’re at the bottom of the bag. Check them when you get back. Keep them for yourself, alright? Don’t give them to your brother.”

Shen Yi smiled at him. The sunset bathed him in light, making him look warm and glowing.

Inside the door, “A-Mo” flushed. He lowered his head, set the oranges down, and slowly made a few hand signs.

So cute. So, cu—

Zzzzt!

The dormitory curtains were heartlessly yanked open.

Shen Yi was still smiling like an idiot in his dream when the morning sun blasted him in the face, making him shudder awake. He cursed under his breath, reluctantly pulling the duvet over his head. “Ughhh… are you crazy!?”

Gong Cang tapped the curtains with a laundry pole. “Who’s crazy? Get up! It’s 8:45, Shen Yi. If I didn’t wake you, you’d—”

“Shut up!” Shen Yi bolted upright, shooting him a resentful glare.

Gong Cang grinned, dropping the act. “Up you get. We agreed to go to the haunted house today.”

With a head of messy bed-hair, Shen Yi remained resentful. He hadn’t been able to resist the strange pull of those five words at the bottom of the flyer: “Please head to Hell.” That was the only reason he had agreed to go with Gong Cang.

“Senior!”

As Shen Yi and Gong Cang emerged from the subway station, they saw a group of two men and two women waiting. Shen Yi recognized one of the girls; she was a freshman in his major named Fang Li. She had worked on group projects with him before and was quite friendly.

The other three were total strangers.

Shen Yi waved to Fang Li. As he and Gong Cang passed through the turnstiles, he whispered, “Why are there so many people?”

“It’s a haunted house! The more, the merrier,” Gong Cang laughed. “Strength in numbers!”

“Strength in numbers? We’re going to a haunted house, not planting rice in a field. Whatever, who are they?”

“Junior members from the Student Union’s Arts Department,” Gong Cang explained.

“Oh.”

Shen Yi remembered now. Fang Li had mentioned she was in the Arts Department. Gong Cang was the department head; usually, if the school or Student Union needed posters or designs, his department handled it.

Shen Yi wasn’t part of the Student Union. Even though he and Gong Cang shared a dorm, and Gong Cang had tried to recruit him multiple times, Shen Yi always refused. His reason was simple: laziness. He viewed the Student Union as a group of cheap laborers wearing fancy titles, doing grunt work for the school for free. He’d rather spend his time in the dorm playing games.

The group exchanged greetings. Fang Li looked at Shen Yi in surprise. “Senior, what happened to your face?”

Shen Yi’s face was a colorful mess of bandages and bruises from the day before. He rubbed his cheek and laughed. “Nothing, just took another tumble yesterday.”

“Another one? How can you be so clumsy?” Fang Li winced as if she could feel the pain. “Be careful, Senior. It seems like you’ve been falling constantly lately. I heard you even rode your bike into a hedge a few days ago. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Won’t die yet.”

Fang Li still looked worried. Looking at her face, images from Shen Yi’s dream flickered through his mind.

【Brother Yi!】

At the end of that rural path in his dream, a girl with a braided ponytail would call out to him, waving as she ran. That girl was Fang Li same voice, same face.

“Xiao Li, let’s go.” Another short-haired junior stepped forward, interrupting his thoughts. She checked her phone. “Where is this haunted house? I didn’t bring the flyer, so I don’t know where to navigate.”

“Oh! I have it!” Fang Li chirped, pulling the flyer from her pink crossbody bag.

While she fumbled with the flyer, Shen Yi scratched his head and looked toward the subway exit. It was a beautiful, sunny day perfect for getting some fresh air.

Once they had the address, the group headed toward the mall. The haunted house was located on the top floor of Building B.

“Actually, I’m surprised you came, Senior,” Fang Li said, turning back. “Didn’t you say you weren’t interested in haunted houses?”

“I’m usually not scared of this stuff,” Shen Yi replied. “But this one caught my interest. Something about ‘Hell’?”

“Hell?” Fang Li paused. “What Hell?”

“What do you mean ‘what Hell’? It was on the flyer. ‘Please head to Hell’ or something. I thought it sounded unique, so I came.”

“Was it?” Fang Li pulled the flyer out again, looking it over with a confused expression. “It’s not here, Senior. Did you misread it?”

“No way. Let me see.”

Shen Yi took the flyer. His eyes scanned the page. Just as he was about to point out the small text to her, he froze.

Where his finger pointed, there was only a blank space.

The blood-red words were gone. There was nothing but empty black background.

Shen Yi stood there, stunned. Fang Li leaned in, seeing him pointing at a blank spot. “Where is it? Those words?”

Gong Cang leaned in too. He scanned the flyer and looked at Shen Yi with suspicion. “What ‘Hell’? Were you dreaming?”

Shen Yi didn’t speak. It was midsummer, the sun was scorching, and the sound of cicadas was deafening. A thin layer of sweat broke out on the back of his neck.

A strange chill slowly crawled up from the soles of his feet.

Shen Yi was certain he had seen those words yesterday. It wasn’t a dream, a delusion, or a hallucination.

He had never been afraid of horror; as a kid, he’d watched Ju-On, The Shining, and A Wicked Ghost back-to-back without blinking. There wasn’t much in this world that could scare him. He was here today specifically because of those words.

He followed the group to the temporary haunted house entrance. It was built to look like a dark, craggy mountainside, splattered with fake blood. Twisted red letters spelled out the name: “Yang Village.”

Yang Village… The name sounded familiar, but Shen Yi couldn’t place where he’d heard it.

The juniors were already buzzing with excitement. Two of them went to buy tickets. At the front desk sat a single staff member: a beautiful young man with white hair. When Shen Yi looked over, their eyes met.

The white-haired man seemed to have been watching him the whole time. He leaned his chin on his hand and, rather than looking away, narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Shen Yi blinked. The man had blood-red eyes striking and eerie.

“Albinism?” Gong Cang muttered.

“Maybe,” Shen Yi replied. “He’s quite striking. Anyway, give me your flyer.”

“What for? Getting nervous? Want to read the spoilers?”

“Just give it to me.”

Gong Cang handed over his crumpled flyer. Shen Yi smoothed it out and scanned it.

This one didn’t have the words either. The bottom was completely blank.

Shen Yi’s brow furrowed. “Is this the same one you showed me yesterday?”

“Yeah, same one. Why?”

Shen Yi fell silent. His expression grew grimmer. It wasn’t a printing error if it were, Fang Li’s flyer might be blank while this one wasn’t. But both were empty.

“Chief!” The juniors returned, waving the tickets. “Got ’em!”

“Great!” Gong Cang snatched the flyer back, stuffed it in his pocket, and grabbed Shen Yi’s arm. “Let’s go!”

Before Shen Yi could say a word, he was dragged toward the entrance.

The white-haired man stood up after checking their tickets. “Go on in,” he said, pulling back the barrier. “You’re lucky, you’re the first group today. I wish you safety.”

The juniors, giggling with nervous energy, huddled together and vanished inside. Shen Yi and Gong Cang were at the back. As they prepared to enter, the white-haired man reached out and stopped them.

Shen Yi paused, looking at him in confusion. The man was still smiling. He looked at Gong Cang, then specifically pulled Shen Yi aside, creating a bit of distance. He opened his eyes slightly and tapped Shen Yi’s chest twice.

“May you find fortune upon meeting,” he said cryptically.

Then, he stepped aside and gestured toward the dark interior, his eyes narrowing again into a smile. “Please.”

Shen Yi and Gong Cang exchanged a look of utter bewilderment.

Inside, the haunted house was filled with a simulated chilly wind and was pitch black. Eerie laughter mixed with the sound of phantom chewing and dripping water.

The juniors had only entered thirty seconds before them, yet they were nowhere to be found. Shen Yi and Gong Cang walked for two minutes, calling out, but received no response.

The air conditioning was cranked so high that Gong Cang rubbed his arms. “That white-haired guy was weird, don’t you think?”

“I thought so too, but think about it, this is a haunted house. Maybe it’s an escape room element?” Shen Yi suggested. “Maybe he was giving us a hint?”

“Oh! That makes sense!” Gong Cang realized. “Trust you to figure it out. Let’s hurry up and catch the others!”

Gong Cang suddenly bolted forward. Shen Yi shouted after him, but Gong Cang vanished into the darkness like a puff of smoke, leaving Shen Yi behind.

As the footsteps faded, Shen Yi stood alone amidst the sounds of chewing and laughter.

“Damn,” he muttered. “Roommates really aren’t human.”

Sighing, Shen Yi began to shuffle forward on his own. The further he went, the clearer and more layered the creepy sounds became. It was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

But Shen Yi wasn’t bothered. He wasn’t afraid of ghosts, even with his recent streak of supernatural bad luck.

Faint green lights on the floor began to guide his way. After a few minutes, he realized something odd: he hadn’t run into a single ghost. No jump scares, no actors, just darkness and audio.

The hallway was narrow, which didn’t really fit the “Village” theme.

Must be a cheap production, Shen Yi thought. All hype and no substance.

As he turned a corner, his face slammed into something hard.

Ouch!

Shen Yi let out a low cry of pain. He stumbled back, clutching his freshly bruised face, eyes tearing up as he hunched over. When he finally wiped his eyes and looked up, he saw that the object he’d collided with was a door.

The door was entirely black, carved with incredibly intricate, terrifying designs. Upon closer inspection, the patterns were all demons and ghosts with bared fangs and sharp claws. The handles were two bronze rings held in the mouths of snarling monster faces.

He looked back at the empty, dark path behind him. It was strange, there were no forks in the road, yet he hadn’t seen a soul.

There was only one explanation. His “soul-stirringly kind” friends and roommate had gone through this door without waiting for him.

Shen Yi gritted his teeth and let out a frustrated laugh. Just as he reached out to push the door open, a voice screamed from behind him:

“Wait!! Stop!!”

Shen Yi startled and looked back. Gong Cang was running toward him, wailing and stumbling, tears practically flying from his eyes.