Warning: Major Character Death

~~

Hu Xia's hand grasped tightly on his dark brown jacket, as he took quick paced steps towards the door of his house, with a worried expression on his face.

As he slowed down, approaching the door, his eyes lingered on the table next to the entrance of his house. He rushedly put on his jacket, slipping his arms through the sleeves, then grabbing the keys off the table. He slipped his feet into his shoes, stomping to put them on properly. Using his hand without the keys, he picked up his bag from the floor next to the door, before reaching out to open the door. However, something caught his eye.

On the table, where the keys were placed just a second ago, was another figure instead. A small plush toy of a brown capybara sat there, facing forwards towards where Hu Xia

It was as if through those sleepy eyes, the capybara was watching Hu Xia. He stared back at it for a few moments.

Why was he staring at a capybara toy? He was late for work, and he was having a staring contest with a capybara toy. He quickly took the capybara and shoved it into his pocket, before rushing out of the door. It was probably Fu Xinbo's, who had come over the previous night to catch up.

He quickly ran up to the car that was waiting for him after locking the door of his house, and went inside, sitting himself down behind the driver's seat. He felt the capybara toy in his pocket poking out of his pocket, its ears matching the colour of his jacket.

As the car started to drive Hu Xia to his workplace, he placed his bag to the side of him, securely placing his keys in the pocket. He then took out his phone from his pocket, before opening his chat with his long time friend, Fu Xinbo.

'Can we meet after work? You left something at my place.'

After he pressed the send button, his eyes flickered over to the time in the corner, only making him more stressed. After placing the phone next to him on the seat, he used the edge of his jacket to fan himself of the heat that he was feeling. He used his hand to push his glasses up his nose, after it started to slip down.

"Sir, could you please turn the AC on?" Hu Xia called out to the driver, before being given a concerned look by the driver.

Through the rearview mirror, he could see the eyes of the driver. "Xia-ge, are you feeling alright? It's cold right now. Maybe try taking your jacket off?"

Hu Xia processed that for a moment, before moving his hand to touch his ear out of awkwardness. As he made contact with his ear, he had realised that the temperature of his ears contrasted heavily to what he was feeling at that moment. He thought in his mind maybe it was because of the stress, that he was feeling this heated up. As he put his jacket on his bag next to him, a certain capybara toy had fallen out of the pocket of the jacket, landing next to Hu Xia's leg. Its little head had landed onto Hu Xia's phone

He looked at it for a few seconds, before starting to feel a throb of pain in his head. Slightly wincing, he reached a hand to his head, keeping it there, only emphasising the pain further. He took the capybara toy off his phone, before holding it. This toy seemed like it caused a lot of trouble for him already, and it did nothing at all.

He shook his head, before relaxing back in his seat. His arms had started to feel the coolness of the AC that was turned on, causing him to look back at his jacket. It was one of those moments when he didn't know whether he felt too hot or too cold. Placing the capybara carefully to the side, he took his jacket to put it back on.

Whatever, he had to give this capybara toy back to Fu Xinbo after work.

~~

He looked at his phone, before shifting his gaze to the building in front of him. 'Liang Long's Corn Stall'. Out of all places, he was brought to a corn stall? Fu Xinbo really did know him. With the capybara in one hand, and phone in the other, he looked around, waiting for a certain Fu to arrive. He had only an hour break and he was waiting to give this capybara to the other quickly, and enjoy a cob of corn.

Anxiously, he held onto the toy, looking at the time of his phone again. As the screen of the device flickered on, his eyes subconsciously travelled to the lockscreen paper. There were two people, standing side by side, holding up piece signs together. The two had bright smiles on their faces, happiness reflected in their eyes.

Seeing this photo, Hu Xia smiled a bit, his eyes lingering over Fu Xinbo in the photo.

"Xia Xia, what are you looking at? You're smiling so much." A familiar voice was heard next to Hu Xia's ear, making him jump a bit. An arm was placed around his shoulder, and a Fu-ge had appeared next to him. "What's making you so happy?"

Hu Xia gave a scoff, before speaking. "I was happy because the person I was waiting for was nearly late. So that gives me an excuse for not seeing you."

"You were the one who wanted to meet me, Xia Xia, don't pretend you didn't want to." Fu Xinbo gave a light punch to Hu Xia's arm, who laughed in return. "What did you call me here for?"

The younger male lifted up his hand, which had the capybara in it. "I think you left this at my place yesterday, so I wanted to return it to you." He brought it forward, giving it to Fu Xinbo. "It's been annoying me this morning, so I wanted to give it to you quickly." Hu Xia saw the slightly confused expression on the other's face, making him laugh a bit.

"How did it annoy you, Xia Xia? It's so cute." Fu Xinbo took the capybara into his hands before inspecting it for a bit. "It reminds me of you." He brought up the capybara next to Hu Xia's face, slightly pressing it on the other's cheek. This scene alone made Fu Xinbo smile a bit. "Exactly the same."

Hu Xia pushed Fu Xinbo's arm away lightly before laughing a bit, feeling the warmth of being with the other. "So you think I'm cute?" He had said this question in a slight teasing tone, making Fu Xinbo pause for a bit. Seeing this reaction from his older brother, Hu Xia laughed a bit.

"I... I mean how could I not?" He reached out a hand to pinch Hu Xia's cheek slightly. "Just like a capybara." He gave a smile to the other, before letting go.

"You have a wife, Fu-ge." Hu Xia laughed a bit seeing the expression of the other change quickly.

Fu Xinbo slightly choked for a bit. "You don't think I know that, Xia Xia? You're my younger brother." He tried to give a smile to the other, before dropping it after seeing Hu Xia's teasing expression.

He looked down and gave a smile, before speaking. "Well, that's all, I'll have to get to work now." He brought up his phone, checking the time again. "I'll see you another time?"

Fu Xinbo's expression had changed many times in the past few minutes, and now it was finished with a disappointed look. "Oh?"

Hu Xia looked at the other. "What's wrong, Fu-ge?"

"It's nothing. I just thought we could spend more time together." Fu Xinbo raised up his hand without the capybara to rub the back of his neck. "Grab a cob of corn, walk around together. It'd be nice to spend time with you."

Hu Xia gave a laugh. "So was it me wanting to see you, or you wanting to see me? It's not like you don't know my schedule." He looked at the other, seeing the disappointment evident in Fu Xinbo's eyes. "Okay, okay then. Maybe tomorrow we'll hang out together?"

After hearing this, Fu Xinbo nodded. "Our schedules are free tomorrow, we can meet here at the same spot." He gave a smile, the disappointment slowly fading from his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Okay then, Fu-ge. I'll see you tomorrow!" Hu Xia waved at Fu Xinbo with the phone in his hand, the lockscreen turning on. The other's eyes saw this photo in the midst of Hu Xia waving, making Fu Xinbo subconsciously smile. After the program of Call Me By Fire 4 had ended, he had still kept this photo as his lockscreen.

Fu Xinbo gave an enthusiastic wave. "See you tomorrow, Xia Xia!"

"So you two came here to just talk? And not even buy anything?" A voice came from the inside of the corn stall, where a man was standing there, resting his arms on the counter. "My stall has become a place for young people to bond. I don't know whether to feel happy or sad."

"Ah, sorry Liang Long-ge, I'll get two corns." Fu Xinbo, raised a hand, the capybara in the air. "One of them is his, the other is mine."

Liang Long, the owner of the store, gave a laugh, before waving a hand. "Don't worry about it, Bao Zi, I was just messing with you. Seeing you two interact is enough for me already." He watched as Fu Xinbo reached for his pocket to bring out his phone to pay. "You two have already supported my stall enough, coming every time to eat corn together."

Fu Xinbo gave a smile, before paying, and taking two corns for himself and Hu Xia. "Xia Xia gets his corn, so it's a win win." He waved the corn, thanking him, before turning to Hu Xia, handing the corn to him. "Here, take it."

Hu Xia, who was about to protest, had the corn shoved into his hands by Fu Xinbo. "Eat it, you haven't had your corn today, right?"

Hu Xia, who felt the warmth of the cob of corn in his hand, slightly smiled, before looking up to the older brother. "Thanks, Fu-ge. Then I'll see you?"

"See you, Xia Xia." Fu Xinbo smiled at Hu Xia, before waving for real now.

Hu Xia waved his hand with the corn, before turning around to head back to his workplace. He looked excitedly at the corn, before he started eating it, savouring each kernel carefully.

~~

Fu Xinbo sat on the couch in his living room, looking at the plush in his hand. The capybara toy rested in his hand, fitting in it perfectly. The size was small enough for him to hold it in his hand, with its small ears poking out of its head. It did really remind him of Hu Xia.

But the problem was, it was not his.

He had seen many other capybara toys before, but it did not look like the one he had currently. Even though they were all capybara toys, this one looked... different. He took it not because it was his, but because he was curious. It had reminded him of something he was told before, but he just didn't remember.

On the kitchen bench, his phone lit up, followed by a notification noise, causing Fu Xinbo's head to look up to it. He stood up, placing the toy on the couch, before walking up to retrieve his phone. With his hand, he turned on the phone, seeing the notification on the lockscreen of Hu Xia's photo.

'Hao Hao-ge: Do you want me to send you a link of what I was talking about the other day?'

Fu Xinbo read over the message a few more times, before processing what it was about.

He remembered.

~

"In a person's life, they will have a representative version of themselves. It can be anything. Whatever it is, make sure to keep it safe at all costs. Your life depends on it. It is your life."

"What is it? How come I haven't seen it before?" Fu Xinbo questioned, curiosity evident in his voice.

Qin Hao gave a sigh, before trying to explain. "It comes randomly in life. As I said, your life depends on it, it'd be quite rare for one of them to come into sight for you, unless they trust you a lot."

"What is it?"

"..." Qin Hao went quiet for a bit. This brother really had a lot to ask. "It can be anything. For example You Zhangjing could have a Pikachu toy, Miyavi could have a Charmander. Similar things like that."

"... I still don't understand. Could you tell me after Pi Ge (the program they are in) has finished? I think I'll understand once this is over." Fu Xinbo asked, causing Qin Hao to slightly deadpan.

"I'll send you a link after Pi Ge, is that alright?" Fu Xinbo could hear in the older brother's voice that he couldn't really keep up with Fu Xinbo's questions, so he decided to go along with it.

Nodding, he spoke. "Yeah, that sounds good."

~

Fu Xinbo's eyes widened slightly before turning around to look at the capybara. So that's what it reminded him of-.

The capybara, who he had not paid much attention to, was now the main thing in his eyes. The brown, small toy was now hanging off at the edge of the couch, where Fu Xinbo had left it before. Was Hu Xia's life in his own hands?

As he placed the phone down on the kitchen bench once again, the next few seconds that happened went by too fast.

As the robot vacuum that was on made its way in its own path, the front of the robots had made contact with the leg of the couch. Fu Xinbo had processed this scene for a moment.

From the movement of the sofa being pushed, the capybara that was sitting there peacefully tumbled over the edge of the seat. His eyes widened. The head of the capybara had harshly made contact with the floor, resulting in it sitting dully on the ground on its side. The capybara could look at Fu Xinbo through those sleepy eyes at that point.

As the capybara toy sat there on the ground, Fu Xinbo slightly collapsed to the ground, looking at it with hopeless eyes.

Hu Xia had given his life to Fu Xinbo. And he failed to protect it.

~~

"Will he be okay?" Her voice, with concern, trembled slightly, looking over to the male at the side of the room.

Ying Er, the mother of this young daughter had taken her by the hand, before pulling it slightly. "Come on, let's leave father alone for now." Her daughter looked up at her mother, standing there for a bit, before looking back at Fu Xinbo.

With the battered and bashed robot vacuum in his hands, he had smashed it against the wall a few more times, shouts of words that couldn't be heard as real words were cursed. His trembling hands held on tightly to the device, before hurling it across the room, away from the two family members watching.

"Will father be okay?" She asked again.

Ying Er picked up her child, and held her in her arms. "We'll go, it's dangerous in here."

"What happened to Uncle Hu Xia?"

The violent acts of Fu Xinbo had paused slightly after hearing this one name, before giving a look to his daughter. In those glistening eyes held despair, covered with a glimmering layer of tears, threatening to spill out. His grasp on what he had destroyed slightly loosened, as he saw the image flash in his mind again.

Hu Xia, right before heading to the corn stall to meet Fu Xinbo, had jumped off a building.

His legs turned weak, as he collapsed to the floor. His hands slowly let go of the thing that had caused the death of Hu Xia.

Of course, that was not the cause of Hu Xia's death. Fu Xinbo was trying to find excuses. Because Hu Xia's life was in his hands a few seconds ago, and he dared to let it go. Hu Xia gave his life to Fu Xinbo. And he couldn't protect it for him.

The wife and daughter of Fu Xinbo had already left the room, leaving him alone on the cold ground. The cold was piercing him through his thin clothes, and it was getting painful, second by second.

He looked up at the desk drawer in the room, seeing the capybara toy innocently sit there, with its sleepy eyes filled with emptiness. Still on the ground, Fu Xinbo had scrambled up to the drawer, ignoring that the pieces of remains were scraping on his legs. With a helpless hand, he grabbed the small plush off, and brought it close to his chest.

Dammit, Hu Xia, why did you have to die?

Fu Xinbo could feel the tears falling slowly down his cheeks, like a river starting to be formed.

Tears is the smallest river. Love is the strongest bridge.

He wished this line was true. His large hands held the capybara toy protectively, holding it close to himself. With his shaking hands, he slowly brought up the warm capybara toy to his lips, giving it a soft kiss. He felt the softness of the toy as he kept it there.

In this desolate room, was Fu Xinbo, and Hu Xia, forever staying by Fu Xinbo's side in the form of a small capybara toy.

~~