Only three doors stood before Shalu.
It seemed he had no choice but to pick one of the three and open it.
But which door should he open?
To Shalu, these three doors each represented a different emotion.
The first door represented childhood memories and the timidity one felt upon nearing home; the second represented cold scars he was unwilling to touch; the third represented... his current state.
If Shalu truly chose from the bottom of his heart, he wanted to push open the first door.
He had thought that, after leaving his old home for so many years, he had long forgotten what it looked like. Yet when this door appeared before him, he realized that he had never forgotten, nor had he ever erased the memories of his old home. He had merely treasured them deep in his heart like the most precious gift, unwilling to unwrap them.
After all these years, that gift still remained as it had been when he left. Instead, he himself had grown from an ignorant child into an adult.
His once mischievous brother Lisa had become steady and composed, while he had become what he had once hated most.
Shalu stood before the first door for a long, long time, countless memories surging through his mind.
His hand reached out countless times, but each time he only touched the door without pushing it open.
After a long while, Shalu still turned around and left the first door behind.
"The most precious gift should remain treasured away." Shalu sighed softly. Even now, he could not tell whether it was timidity upon nearing home, or whether he simply could not face his old home as he was now.
Between the second and third doors, Shalu did not hesitate and went straight to the third.