Chapter 8
The living room light seemed softer than before.
On the dining table, the cake box had been opened. The strawberry cake she'd fought to carry back from the alley—its lid now flipped to one side, revealing the cream and strawberries inside, perfectly intact.
Lu Qi had cut it at some point—divided into 2 pieces, each plated on a small dish, with a fork laid neatly beside each one.
Lu Qi sat at the table, chin resting on the back of her hand, watching her come out.
"You're out." Her eyes curved into a smile, her voice soft. She beckoned. "Come have some cake."
Lu Li's footsteps faltered.
The scene—the warm light, the dining table, the person waiting for her—was almost too cozy to be real.
Lu Li wrapped herself in the ill-fitting Sleep Dress and walked over to the dining table with some awkwardness.
The scrape of the chair sounded a little loud in the quiet living room. She sat down, her damp hair hanging behind her, already soaking a small dark patch into the chair back.
At this moment, the atmosphere at the dining table carried a subtle warmth.
Under the amber light sat 2 plates of sliced cake. 1 piece was cut large, the other small—and at the tip of the smaller piece stood the 1 lone fresh strawberry.
Lu Qi reached out and slid the strawberry piece toward her.
"Here."
Her tone was casual, but Lu Li noticed—Lu Qi's gaze lingered on her face for just a moment.
That look was strange. Like she was checking to see whether she'd been eating properly.
Lu Li froze.
Before—every time they bought a cake, the strawberry on top was always the one she saved for Lu Qi. It was an unspoken rule between the two siblings, because she knew Lu Qi loved strawberries.
'I don't like sour things.'
That had been her brother's excuse for years.
But now—Lu Qi had given the strawberry to her, to Lu Li. To this complete stranger she'd picked up from the alley, a girl she didn't know at all.
Lu Li stared at the bright red strawberry as a strange, sour ache welled up inside her.
"You... won't eat it?"
"I don't really like strawberries."
Lu Qi said it so naturally—even the excuse was identical to what Lu Li used to say back then.
"Besides, you look even younger than me. Eat more."
...Though it was true, those 2 words still hit like a pair of little hammers, making Lu Li's head throb.
"...Thank you." She heard herself say, her voice muffled.
Lu Qi didn't say anything more. She simply picked up her fork and started on her own piece of cake.
Lu Li lowered her head too, speared the strawberry with her fork, and brought it to her mouth.
For the current Lu Li, it didn't taste like anything in particular—just mechanical chewing, her vision beginning to blur slightly.
She chewed slowly, grinding the strawberry into smaller and smaller pieces before finally swallowing.
By the time she finished the cake, Lu Li realized she'd barely eaten. The small slice—she'd eaten less than half of it before feeling full. She didn't know if it was because her stomach had shrunk, or because her heart was too full to hold anything else.
Lu Qi stood and began clearing the dishes, transferring the leftover cake back into the box and putting it in the refrigerator. Then she walked to the sink, turned on the tap, and started washing the plates.
"Xiao Li."
Lu Li had been spacing out. At the sound of her name, her body gave an instinctive jolt.
"Hm?"
"You don't... have anywhere to go for now, do you?" Lu Qi didn't turn around. Her voice was half-swallowed by the sound of the running water, but it came out calm.
It was a statement, not a question.
Lu Li opened her mouth.
It was the truth. Her ID, phone, and money were all in Lu Li's old clothes—and that person no longer existed. The current "Lu Li" was completely off the grid.
She genuinely had no idea where she could go. A lie? She couldn't come up with one. After a few seconds of silence, she could only nod.
"...Yeah."
"Then stay."
Lu Qi set the clean plates into the dish rack with a crisp clatter.
"My brother's not home anyway. Having 1 more person around... is fine."
"I..." Lu Li wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.
"You don't have to explain." Lu Qi turned around and leaned against the sink, both hands braced behind her.
"I won't ask, and you don't need to tell me. Say it when you're ready."
Lu Li looked at her, the tightness in her throat growing worse.
Then Lu Qi gave a small smile, the curve of her eyes holding just a hint of mischief.
"Get some rest, Xiao Li... little sister."
‘Little sister.’
At that title, the corner of Lu Li's mouth twitched. “I'm the older brother…” The words rolled to the tip of her tongue before she swallowed them back down.
"...Yeah." She said quietly. "Thank you."
The rain outside had stopped at some point. The living room light was bright, bathing everything in warm gold.
Lu Li sat in her chair, wrapped in the oversized Sleep Dress, hair still dripping, damp against her back. She watched Lu Qi moving around the kitchen—clearing dishes, wiping down the table, tying the trash bag and leaving it by the door.
"Done." Lu Qi clapped her hands together and walked back to the living room. "Time to sleep. I have school tomorrow."
She glanced at Lu Li's still-damp hair and frowned.
"Your hair's not dry yet. Hold on, let me get the blow dryer."
"You don't have to—"
But Lu Qi had already turned and left.
Lu Li had been about to say she could manage on her own, but before the words were out, Lu Qi was already back with the blow dryer—and a small stool in her other hand.
"Sit."
She placed the stool behind Lu Li and sat on it. "Hair this long, sleeping with it wet will get you sick."
The blow dryer hummed to life. Warm air poured down from overhead. Lu Qi's fingers slipped into her hair, separating strand by strand, letting the heat pass through evenly. Her movements were practiced and gentle.
But it wasn't only gentle.
Lu Qi's fingers would occasionally pause against her scalp, as though checking for something. From the hairline to the back of her head, from behind the ears to the nape of her neck—every spot was carefully felt out.
This didn't feel like drying hair.
It felt more like... confirming something?
Lu Li sat rigid, unsure what to say.
It used to be her doing this for Lu Qi. Lu Qi hated the whole process of drying her hair—after every shower she'd run around the apartment with it soaking wet, and Lu Li would chase after her with the blow dryer.
And now—
"Your hair is so long." Lu Qi's voice drifted down from above, carrying a note of wonder. "Even longer than mine. Must be a pain to manage."
"...Yeah." Lu Li gave a muffled sound in reply.
"I'll teach you how to braid it later. Easier that way."
"...Okay."
Lu Qi's fingers slid down through her hair, reaching her shoulders—then stopped.
"You're so thin..."
Lu Li's heart skipped a beat.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just mean you're too skinny. Your shoulders feel like bones."
Her fingers pressed into Lu Li's shoulder blades, firm but measured, as if locating the position of the bone.
"Anything hurt?"
"...No."
"Really?" Lu Qi's hand moved to the back of her neck, fingertips resting against the skin, as if taking her temperature. "No headache? No nausea?"
"Really, nothing..."
Lu Li found this strange.
The questions were too specific.
Before she could dwell on it any further, Lu Qi withdrew her hand.
"Good then."
The blow dryer's warm air kept coming, the heat spreading from her head down through the rest of her body. Lu Li closed her eyes, feeling Lu Qi's fingers moving through her hair. The emotions that had been lodged in her chest seemed to be blown apart—just a little—by the warmth.
Only a little.
But it was enough.
Her hair was finally dry.
Lu Qi switched off the dryer, unplugged it, tested the temperature of Lu Li's hair with her palm, and nodded with satisfaction.
"There. You won't catch a cold now." She wound up the cord, picked up the dryer, and walked toward the bedroom.
"Time to sleep. You're taking my bed."
Lu Li blinked. "What?"
"You sleep in the bed, I'll take the sofa." Lu Qi said without looking back.
"No!" Lu Li refused almost on instinct.
She'd said it a little too loudly—it rang out in the quiet of the late night. Even she startled herself. She quickly lowered her voice.
"No... that's your bed."
Back home, whenever they had guests, or when the summer heat got to be too much, Lu Li had always been the one to volunteer for the sofa. And even though it was old, he'd slept in it so often that a perfectly shaped groove had formed just for him—he'd even come to think it was more comfortable than the bed.
Lu Qi looked at her with a slightly odd expression.
"Xiao Li." She walked over and pressed both hands down on Lu Li's shoulders, gently pushing her back into the chair.
"You're injured."
"Don't push yourself."
‘Injured?’ Lu Li instinctively looked down at her own arms. The skin beneath her sleeves was smooth and unmarked—not even a scar. The wound from the blade in the alley had healed completely without a trace.
"I'm really fine..." Lu Li tried to explain, but couldn't find the right words once they reached her lips.
"Xiao Li...!" Lu Qi stepped in front of her, hands on her hips.
"Look at you right now. Would it make any sense for me to put you on the sofa?"
"And besides..." She paused, and gestured at the height difference between them.
"See, that sofa is only 1.6 meters long. I'm 1.62 meters."
Lu Li looked at the girl standing before her—a little more than half a head taller. That was wrong, wasn't it—she used to be the taller one.
"And you look like... maybe 1.5 meters? Give or take?"
"..."
Lu Li looked down at her own legs, then back at Lu Qi. She had to admit: as proportionate as this body looked, it was undeniably shorter than Lu Qi by, well—a tiny bit.
‘Just a tiny bit! Half a head at most!’
"I really—"
"Stop arguing, go sleep in the bed." Lu Qi simply reached out, grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her toward the bedroom.
Lu Li stumbled along after her. In the end, she gave in—because she found she had absolutely no way of arguing with Lu Qi and the 2.8-meter aura she was radiating right now.
"...Put on something thick, at least..." She couldn't stop herself from adding that last bit.
Lu Qi turned to look at her and suddenly smiled.
"I know, I know." Her eyes curved into crescent moons. "You're really like a..."
Lu Li's heart skipped a beat.
"...Like a what?"
"Nothing." Lu Qi pushed her into the bedroom. "Sleep. Goodnight."
The door closed.
Lu Li lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling vaguely unsettled by that last look Lu Qi had given her.
Not fear. Not worry.
More like...
Confirmation.
Like she was confirming that something she had waited a long time for had finally come to pass.