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[Huaisang's quiet for a long moment, just basking in the physical closeness and feeling of feeling connected to someone. He's made it a point to be a truthful to Shi Qingxuan as he possibly can during the course of their friendship and not sully it with lies or deceit.

Truth be told, he'd been thinking about confiding in Shi Qingxuan about his problems and history with Jin Guangyao long before the man had ever shown up in the island. In the end, he'd wound up keeping quiet out of caution and a need to get his own bearings. And maybe out of a fear that Shi Qingxuan wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore if he saw the colder, uglier side of himself that he's grown to hate so much that causes him so much discomfort.

However, since his return, Jin Guangyao has done nothing but make one emotional demand after another when he's already at the limit of what he can take. He doesn't know how to navigate this situation at all when words are failing him and he's scared of what the future here will entail. But he can't keep bottling this up like this and never telling a single soul about what's truly on his mind like this. It's destroying him and halting any sort of forward progress in his own life.

When he speaks, his voice is very soft, barely above a whisper. His lips tremble and he licks them nervously before taking a long, deep breath to steady himself.]

I.. I was talking to someone. A former friend of mine. It was more of an argument really. A very nasty one. We... We used to be really close but we fell out with each other. We broke up and it was really terrible for both of us. But I guess we're still really close now, kind of like you and I are, but it's really complicated.

[Huaisang sighs, giving Shi Qingxuan's hair another stroke.]

We'd agreed to a truce to keep the peace between us, Shi-xiong. So no more bystanders would get dragged into the conflict. But relations between us are getting really bad again and I don't know what to do about it.

[Another weary sigh. Huaisang looks sad and downright haggard.]

The last time we fought, it lasted ten years and people died, Shi-xiong. Both of us are really tired and don't want to fight anymore but it seems like we might not be able to live in the same place together peacefully. I'm not sure how to fix this or if there's a way to do it at all.