After Xiao Hui said those words, he found that nothing happened.
Haruko was still smiling. Everyone laughed and joked with him, as though they had grown even closer.
But that sound... had he imagined it?
Something had died. That was the feeling Xiao Hui had, and it filled him with an inexplicable worry...
But since he had no idea what it was, and couldn't connect it to anything concrete, that worry soon faded.
A little later, Xiao Hui suddenly discovered a number on his palm.
The number 1.
It was tiny, nestled in the gap between the lines on his palm, looking almost like a dot.
But he was certain that his palm had never had anything like it before.
After class, Xiao Hui ran to the restroom to wash his hands. He scrubbed hard, but no matter how much he scrubbed, it wouldn't come off.
That 1 seemed branded onto Xiao Hui's body.
Night fell.
Xiao Hui lay in bed. He slept together with his grandfather.
In the middle of the night, Xiao Hui needed to pee. He opened his eyes and woke up, then sleepily headed toward the restroom. Suddenly, he paused.
It felt as though something was missing.
"Nightmares. I don't think I've been having nightmares."
Xiao Hui shivered after peeing, feeling strangely disappointed. It really was odd. When he had nightmares, he longed to be rid of them, but once the dreams disappeared...
He felt a little lost instead.
At some point, his grandfather had appeared behind him. He seemed shrouded in a gloomy aura, his face indistinct in the darkness.
Only when Xiao Hui abruptly turned around did he discover that his grandfather had gotten up without making a sound.
"Ah!" Xiao Hui cried out in fright.
After that cry, the sinister air