Playful Home Stealing
As Kim Hee-ro carried her suitcase, she received many curious glances from people along the way. With her dark blue hair, she couldn't stand it and lowered her head to continue focusing on finding her way.
After crossing an intersection, she saw that the road ahead had just been paved with new cement. She began to struggle, her slender waist leaning against the handle of her suitcase, wrapping her oversized cotton coat tightly around herself, trying to recall if there were any other paths she could take back.
Just then, a chubby little child suddenly appeared out of nowhere, looking like a walking steamed bun, pointing at her as he ran: "Here!"
Jin Xilu was startled. Before turning around, she subconsciously zipped her cotton-padded jacket all the way up to hide her green sweater, her fingers stiffly digging into the edges of her nails.
"Jin Xilu, you're back."
Upon hearing her name and turning around, Jin Xilu couldn't tell whether she felt more disappointed or relieved. The person who called her was Ni Canyang, not the one she had in mind.
That's right. Back then, she bit that man's hand, and before the blood at the corner of her mouth had even dried, she was already clamoring to leave. Now she's slinking back alone, so how could he possibly want to see her again?
Ni Canyang, who was pushed out, was a little embarrassed. He scratched his head, shrugged, placed his hand on his stomach, repeated the fact, and grumbled, "Jin Xilu is back."
When he said those words, it didn't seem like he was talking to Kim Hee-ro, but rather to the wall behind him. His voice was muffled, and he kept making small, incessant movements. In the end, he stood with his hands on his hips, looking particularly cheeky.
They grew up together and never got along. Jin Xilu knew that Ni Canyang had always looked down on her, so even now that they had reunited after so long, she didn't know what to say.
"Yeah, you're back." Kim Hee-ro's voice lowered a bit when she saw him. She turned around, grabbed the handle of her suitcase, and decided not to stay there any longer. She decided to try walking around in a different direction.
But to her surprise, she had only taken one step outside when...
Ni Canyang reacted as if someone had set off a firecracker. He suddenly jumped up, two choked laughs escaped his throat, and he twisted his body, forcing a smile onto his face. He took two steps forward and snatched her suitcase without saying a word.
"Huh? Why did you take my suitcase?" Jin Xilu chased after him, afraid that he still harbored resentment towards her for suddenly leaving back then and wanted to throw her suitcase into the river.
Ni Canyang didn't say anything, just quickened his pace while carrying his worn-out suitcase. He was indeed very dissatisfied with Jin Xilu leaving without saying goodbye back then, but he was even angrier that Jin Xilu had hurt Jiang Yilin.
As she walked, Jin Xilu gradually relaxed after realizing that this was not the way to the river, but the way home. However, she was soon frightened by Ni Canyang's simple and crude actions.
"Hey, hey! Slow down, my suitcase is fragile."
"Hey? Well done! You've only been away for a few years, and you're back calling me 'Hey' all the time. Did you lose your mind working in the city and forget my name?" Ni Canyang suddenly stopped, threw his suitcase, raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. His red baseball uniform made him look even more upright. Red really suited him.
When she was a child, Kim Hee-ro felt that this person was like the gold ingot embroidered on the velvet red envelope that only rich people would give during the Lunar New Year, who could please adults without doing anything.
"Thank you, Guagua. I'm back. It's been a long time." Jin Xilu took her suitcase and looked up at him again after several years. He had grown taller and darker than he had three years ago. Now that his features had matured, he would never be called a short, ugly gourd again.
Ni Canyang pursed his lips, reluctantly accepting the old nickname, but still wore a sour face. His voice was loud, like a reminder or a warning: "What kind of apology do you give me? Save it for your neighbors."
She did make a mistake back then, and even framed that person for it. She didn't expect that person to still want to talk to her.
Kim Hee-ro's smile froze, slowly receding. She suddenly wanted to run away again, but she had just escaped from the city.
The world is so big, and sometimes Kim Hee-ro feels like a stray dog, a weed, or a speck of dust floating on a weed leaf. Any slight rustling of the wind makes her shiver.
It wasn't until Ni Canyang's next words immediately brought her back to reality: "Jin Xilu, you're home."
The surrounding old houses were washed by the rain, and the oppressive black roofs of every house in my memory had faded considerably. Some houses that had collapsed could be rebuilt, and trees that had died could be pruned again. She had returned after leaving for several years.
"Don't tell me you still don't remember the way home after all this time. Jin Xilu has become so stupid after all these years." He Canyang loosened his suitcase and stood aside, secretly observing Jin Xilu.
Kim Hee-ro bit her lower lip, raised her hand to brush the wind-blown strands of hair behind her ear. Her emotions were fluctuating like a leaky balloon struggling on the surface of water, her gaze shifting from confusion to determination as she looked around.
Ahead, moss climbed the wall, black grime accumulated on the stainless steel ends still dripped, and small advertisements that had been pasted on the utility poles for years had not been removed. Under her feet was an uneven cement road. She stood there, and no one would drive her away. Looking up, she could see the mountain peak not far away, which was revered as a sacred mountain by the townspeople. Nothing had changed.
With every breath, every time she opened her eyes, as long as she stood on this land, it felt as if vines would grow from the soles of her feet, climbing all the way to her heart, touching, knocking, and then striking hard, completely activating Kim Hee-ro's memories of growing up here.
She will never, ever forget everything that happened here.
“No, I remember the way back.” After saying that, Kim Hee-ro picked up her suitcase and continued walking. Her steps were small, and her worn-out brown leather boots made a screeching sound with each step. She knew very well that she was different; she was different from these inanimate objects.
The way home is easy to find. Just look up and you'll see that purple high-rise building. The roof is covered with dense black tiles. Unlike the shiny and gorgeous tiles on the exterior walls of other wealthy people, the entire seven-story wooden building is painted with a special purple paint. Each room on each floor has only two windows, like a pair of black eyes that are always watching this small town in the dark.
Only the top two floors of the seven-story building are inhabited. The house is chilly all year round, no matter the season. She remembers how amazing it was when she first stepped into his house. No wonder it is the clan chief's family. They are so rich that they can turn on the air conditioning every day.
She kept walking until she saw the purple building and the flower-filled courtyard. The familiar wooden swing was still in the courtyard. After walking two more steps, she arrived at her home.
She couldn't possibly live in a nice apartment building. She grew up in a small mud house next to the purple building. Her family didn't have a big yard or a comfortable balcony. Now, all the surrounding families have built new apartments, and her grandmother's small square house looks like a piece of tofu squeezed into someone else's house.
The house was severely deformed due to years of disrepair, and the white exterior walls had turned yellow. The mud plastered on the walls looked like a big crying face. A layer of dead weeds was piled on the roof, with withered, yellow, and charred grass stems curling up and hanging from the roof. Thick layers of moss covered the roof.
Jin Xilu always kept the key to her old home around her neck, close to her heart. When she took it off, the key was warm from her body heat. She gripped the key tightly and bent down to open the door, only to find that she didn't need the key at all.
The flimsy wooden door was ajar. Before she could even push it open, the wind blew it open, carrying the scent of dewy roses from next door. Light streamed into the small house from behind her, and a dark red ribbon, resembling pickled vegetables, hung from the old wooden beam.
The scene she had imagined—where a vast expanse of dust would form a net and envelop her as she pushed open the door—did not occur. Instead, the sun emerged completely from behind the clouds, letting in light not only through the main door but also through the dilapidated windows on the opposite side. These rays illuminated the scattered dust particles, making them sparkle like a rare meteor shower descending upon the small house.
But in reality, this little house is full of holes, pits, and the smell of poverty.
A young man with white hair sat sideways on an old wooden stool. He was looking down and flicking a translucent glass marble in his hand. The sunlight shone on his arm, making it so white that it seemed like a photo would be overexposed. He seemed to know where she was without even looking up, and his tone was indifferent.
"Oh—you're back."
"I'm sorry, I'm back." Kim Hee-ro knelt down immediately upon seeing him. She hadn't even seen his face clearly, but upon hearing his voice, her heart skipped a beat. She tried her best to hide her disappointment, and under her sleeve, she was scratching her fingers with half a stone, the pain constantly reminding her to shout.
"Chieftain." She exhaled softly, suppressing the surging resentment in her eyes. She wanted to smile calmly, but in the end, she could only manage a crooked smile.
She knew that coming back was despicable. She thought that in his heart she had long been a greedy, opportunistic, and ruthless woman. But after running away for several years, she still hadn't learned to admit defeat.
Gathering her resolve, she remained kneeling in the cold, dimly lit room, cautiously raising her head to observe the handsome man seated in the seat, her voice escaping through clenched teeth, each word distinct: "I'm back..."
Jin Xilu had been rehearsing her speech all the way, but she was interrupted by the man in her seat as soon as she opened her mouth. He frowned slightly, feigning pity, raised his chin, and glanced indifferently over her head, seemingly not caring at all that there was a woman kneeling there. He raised his hand, slightly clenched his index finger, and pressed it to his lips in the air, "Shh."
Jin Xilu was overjoyed, thinking that Jiang Yilin hadn't changed and still recognized her.
But Kim Hee-ro soon realized she was overthinking things.
"Quiet down, my cat has run in."
As soon as he finished speaking, he loosened his legs, a slight smile playing on his lips, and with a wave of his hand, four or five shimmering, hard glass beads hurtled towards her.
If someone else throws it, she will immediately dodge it and use all her strength to hit the other person hard, even if it's just a light stone.
But the person sitting opposite him was none other than Jiang Yilin.
Because it was him, Kim Hee-ro instinctively closed her eyes and waited instead of running away, and the pain she had imagined did not occur.
The glass bead came flying at her, but missed. It rolled and rolled, the sound of it rolling echoing faintly in the quiet old house. In the darkness, the sound was like the grinding of teeth by a toothless old woman in a ghost story. The beautiful, transparent glass bead rolled all the way to her knees.
A chubby calico cat suddenly appeared from behind, its pink paws leaving little plum blossom marks on the thin layer of gray ground. It crawled until it stopped in front of Jin Xilu and raised its paw to push and play with the glass beads.
Jiang Yilin stepped off the stool, his once clean sleeves now covered in dust from somewhere. He walked steadily toward her, eventually stopping in front of her like a cat. He knelt down on one knee, reached out and embraced her, his sleeve brushing against her chest. His long eyelashes trembled, and a smile lingered on his lips. He glanced at her lightly and simply commented, "Playful."
"go home."
The invisible hug didn't last long. After he finished speaking, he picked up the cat, his lean waist blocking part of the light from the doorway. Kim Hee-ro was in the shadow he created, listening to his light footsteps as he left.
The familiar scent of the man still lingered around her after he left. She carefully inhaled his fragrance, while the contrast of light and shadow in the old house before her was striking. Jiang Yilin's presence was the soul of the old photograph.
Kim Hee-ro waited until he was completely gone, then collapsed onto the floor, gazing at the blue sky outside. Like a frog at the bottom of a well, she finally laughed without any burden.
Welcome home.
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