My Dead Boyfriend Came Back on the Seventh Night

At three in the morning, the news came that my boyfriend had drowned after sneaking into Nine Dome Skylight at night.

My parents were terrified. Overnight, they burned everything we'd prepared for our engagement and smeared glutinous rice flour all over me, warning me not to leave the house for seven days and seven nights—so my boyfriend wouldn't cling to me even in death and drag me down with him.

I cried until I couldn't breathe. I scrolled through our photos, our chat history, drowning in regret. If I'd just refused to let him go that night, maybe none of this would have happened.