At 12:07 AM, in the back alley of the Fugen Tavern, Li Ke carried a huge box with a green fuse nearly half a meter long attached to it. Beside him was Isha, and the two walked along the path, following Jinx ahead.
Led by her, Li Ke and Isha arrived at a place that resembled an abandoned attic. After climbing up, they found themselves in a huge columnar attic with a private little space at the top. Li Ke's eyes lit up when he arrived there.
Is this Jinx's private room?
All around, various things hung from the huge ventilation blades. Jinx stretched her hands to the sides, walking dangerously on the trembling blades in her iron boots, her body steady as she walked ahead. She then turned and smiled at Li Ke. The moonlight shone on her hair, making the blue hair appear white, adding a touch of holiness.
Because the weather was getting cooler, Jinx was dressed rather warmly, wearing a dark black coat over a blue wool sweater, and tight black pants. One of her long legs strode forward and touched the wind blade.
Jinx shouted, "Set it off right here, Li Ke! I want the whole city to see this giant firework!"
Zaun was bustling tonight. Jinx, Li Ke, and Isha had eaten a lot at the market and played around until almost midnight before she brought Li Ke to this place.
"This is where you used to live, right?" Li Ke looked curiously at Jinx's collection of small items, which were messy and covered with various graffiti monsters.
Upon hearing Li Ke's question, Jinx nodded, jumped off the wind blade, and grabbed Isha, who was trying to imitate her movements and sneaking onto the wind blade.
"Don't try to learn everything, this requires skill!" Jinx said, one hand on her hip, the other pointing a finger at Isha and shaking it.
Isha was a little unconvinced, let out a soft cry, and stomped her foot.
She idolizes Jinx, so she wants to do everything Jinx does.
"I said no, and that means no. If you really want to learn, I'll take you to the horizontal bar next time, and you can come back when you've mastered it." Seeing that Isha was angry, Jinx bent down again to coax Isha.
Isha nodded happily, held out her hand to make a promise with Jinx, and then cleverly ran off to play by herself. She went to the big fireworks and waited for Jinx to give the order to set them off.
She's so smart!
It's obvious that the older brother and sister are going to be all lovey-dovey again.
"Life is tough," Xiaosha sighed.
This is how it is at home. Sometimes she will take her homework outside to do it, and incidentally, she will also stand guard for Li Ke and Jinx.
She understands so well!
Li Ke picked up a rag doll. It was pink, crudely made, and quite old; it was very dirty, and one of the buttons for its eyes was missing. Looking at the doll, Li Ke immediately smiled. "Jinx, is this Vi?"
"Yes, it's from before. I made it myself when I was nine years old." Jinx nodded and obediently squatted down next to Li Ke, holding her braid in her hand to avoid dragging it on the ground and getting it dirty.
Then, she grabbed her braid and began to explain these things to Li Ke.
"This is the first decent weapon I made when I was eleven years old!" She picked up a tattered square box; the graffiti on the box was peeling and looked strange.
She picked up the box and placed it in Li Ke's hand, saying, "I put a net inside. When it's thrown out and hits someone, the box will open, and the net will catch them."
"This is something I made when I was thirteen years old. It was my first handgun, and based on that, I developed the small handgun I use now."
Li Ke listened attentively to Jinx's voice as she shared her past stories, and then, Li Ke himself began to ponder them.
When Jinx was nine years old, she made a Vi doll because she was afraid to sleep alone at night, and Silco couldn't always put her to sleep, so the doll became her comfort.
When Jinx was ten years old, she made dolls for her other friends, Milo and Craig.
Eleven-year-old Jinx made her first weapon.
At twelve years old, she begged Silco to buy her a cake—a tiny Cupcake from Upper City, but one she loved.
At thirteen, she made her first handgun.
At fourteen, she did her first favor for Silco by making a Swift Crab Monster doll, hoping it would drive away her nightmares.
At fifteen, Jinx created the Pow-Pow, the light machine gun she would carry on missions.
At sixteen, Jinx stopped making things for herself, and at seventeen, she did the same.
And she'll be eighteen soon.
Jinx is turning 18.
Looking at her serious profile, Li Ke was intently memorizing everything Jinx had done over the years. Silently gazing at her face—her cute, upturned nose, her soft, pink lips, and the captivating smile on her lips—he seemed lost in his own memories.
"I don't know what's wrong with me, but I used to get really angry whenever I thought about these things." Jinx suddenly put down her things and then spat at a doll in the distance.
It was a thin, pointed doll, Milo. She made a face at him, as if to tell him that she had let go of the past.
She won't act crazy again, right?
Well, at least I won't go crazy because of Milo anymore.
"But I can't now." Jinx looked at Li Ke, her Big Eyes blinking.
"Hmph, that must be because you met a super handsome guy with a great personality and amazing abilities," Li Ke said shamelessly.
Isha stepped aside, so this was one of the few times that Li Ke and Jinx were "alone" outside of bed.
In the past, whenever Jinx was alone, Silco and Vander would suddenly appear out of nowhere. And not only that, the two of them would just stand there without saying a word!
Sometimes, when Vi sees Li Ke and Jinx alone together, her pretty face will display a gossipy expression as she stands with her hands in her pockets, looking at Li Ke with disdain in Li Ke eyes.
Wei's gaze irritated Li Ke; it gave him a kind of...
Oh? We're still just chatting?
Li Ke, how can you be so useless?
Do you want me to teach you how to pick up girls?
That's the feeling in my eyes.
Therefore, Li Ke really enjoys spending time alone with Jinx.
These somewhat shameless words were simply spoken as I felt.
Despite the changes in his status and abilities, Li Ke's mindset didn't change. If he could, Li Ke would really like Jinx to praise him; he genuinely enjoys Jinx.
It feels really good to be praised by someone you like with adoring eyes.
"Yes, I met a really great girl. She's amazing, so kind to me, and incredibly gentle. She listens to everything I say." Jinx nodded vigorously, beaming as she affirmed Li Ke's words.
This made Li Ke a little embarrassed, and he coughed as he looked at Jinx.
"Isha, she's so cool, isn't she? I've never seen such a cool kid before."
Li Ke: "???"
"You've gone astray, Jinx." Li Ke reached out to grab Jinx, but she nimbly dodged backward. Of course, this was just Li Ke teasing Jinx; otherwise, Jinx wouldn't have been able to dodge.
Li Ke pouted and crossed his arms, looking at Jinx.
Seeing Li Ke's expression, Jinx smiled and said, "Okay, okay, it's you! The super handsome guy I've met, the one who's so nice to me, the one I like the most, it's you, okay?"
"That's more like it," Li Ke nodded, then glanced at the time.
"Is it almost time?" Jinx leaned closer and looked down at Li Ke's wristwatch, the little watch that Jinx had made for Li Ke.
Isha also has a blue children's watch, but it has a dog pattern, while Li Ke wears a cat pattern.
Li Ke didn't feel embarrassed at all. If he were an ordinary person, wearing a cat-ear hat and a children's watch, people might think he was an idiot. But if the Lord of Zaun wore a cat-ear hat and a children's watch, people would think it was fashionable.
"Yes, it's time to set off fireworks."
"Isha!" Jinx exclaimed, immediately getting up and running towards Isha.
Little Isha turned around and saw Jinx coming over with a lighter. She volunteered to stand on tiptoe to grab it.
"This difficult task is entrusted to you. Light the fuse, then run away quickly, understand?" Jinx said seriously to Isha.
The materials used in this firework are enough to make several highly destructive bombs, so standing next to it would be very dangerous.
However, there are no issues with safety. Jinx's creations may not be the most sophisticated or aesthetically pleasing, but they are absolutely reliable and practical!
"Eeya!"
Isha nodded vigorously, pressing down on her hat with one hand as she carefully lit the fireworks.
Li Ke and Jinx sat on the stool watching Isha's movements.
After lighting it, Isha hurriedly ran away, but she ran in the wrong direction. In her panic, she ducked under the blades and ran to another place to stand.
Looking up, she saw Li Ke and Jinx on the other side. She wanted to rush over, but the fuse had already started to burn.
"Just stand there, Isha," Li Ke said to Isha.
Isha thought for a moment, nodded, then squatted in the corner, covered her ears, and stared intently at the fireworks box.
Li Ke and Jinx are watching too.
Then
As the thread reached its end, accompanied by strange "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds, a smile crept onto Jinx's lips.
"Pfft--Bang!"
A loud noise rang out, and the attic trembled slightly, followed by a series of loud noises.
Huge beams of light shot from the depths of the Sump towards the sky above Piltover. Li Ke looked up and saw the light fly higher and higher until it reached the sky above Piltover.
"Smack!"
In the night sky, a huge firework exploded with a deafening roar above the two cities, its commotion so great that it seemed to illuminate the entire world. Multicolored light burst forth from the center, some fiery red, vibrant and unrestrained; others like rosy clouds, dreamlike and gentle, illuminating the darkness; still others a bright blue, mysterious and refreshing.
In an instant, everyone in both cities looked up at the sky.
The Zaunite are like this, and so are the people of Piltover.
That enormous firework overshadowed all the others; it was the sole protagonist in the entire sky.
One burst of fireworks after another turned the night into day.
Jinx jumped up from beside Li Ke, spread her arms, and shouted, "Go!"
"Oh no, I mean happy New Life Day!"
She finished speaking to the fireworks, then turned to look at Li Ke, her face beaming with a huge smile.
But suddenly her smile vanished, and she looked at Li Ke seriously, saying, "Li Ke, it's a new year, you have to promise me one thing."
Li Ke looked at Jinx, the light from the fireworks shining on her, and Li Ke.
"You can't leave me, absolutely not, or I'll go crazy," Jinx said to Li Ke with utmost seriousness, enunciating each word clearly.
"I can't live without you now. If one day you leave me all alone, I will kill you, and then I will kill myself. If I can't find you by then, I will kill myself too."
"Li Ke, I mean what I say."
Li Ke paused for a moment, feeling a little short of breath, then looked at Jinx and said, "What are you thinking? Didn't I tell you, I'm not going anywhere. We're together, and I'll take you with me wherever I go."
"Real?"
"I won't lie to you, Jinx, I promise," Li Ke said.
Looking into Li Ke's eyes, Jinx bit her lip, stretched out her hand, extended her pinky, and said earnestly, "Then let's make a promise."
She gave a thumbs-up and whispered, "Don't think I'm a nuisance, Li Ke. I'm just... just afraid that one day you'll suddenly leave me."
Li Ke reached out his hand, hooking his little finger with Jinx's.
I heard her still explaining--
"The people around me always seem to leave me; I'm afraid I'm a curse."
Li Ke quietly looked at Jinx's small face, her subtle expressions, and the timidity and hope that flashed in her eyes. Then, Li Ke made a decision.
Lee's hand, which had been hooking Jinx's thumb, moved upwards to grasp Jinx wrist, and then Li Ke pulled Jinx towards him with a little force.
Jinx
She's clumsy with words; she always repeats the same few swear words over and over. When expressing feelings, she can only awkwardly use phrases like "I like you" and "I care about you," unable to come up with anything more eloquent.
Her emotions are heavy, often involving life and death. Like now, Jinx is clearly expressing how important Li Ke is to her, but all she says is a threat to Li Ke. With a pitiful expression, she says something terrifying—either Li Ke dies, or she dies.
This feeling is too heavy.
But that's Jinx.
Emotions are incredibly clumsy, yet as fiery as a flame—if not properly protected, they will burn you.
He pulled Jinx into his arms, lowered his Li Ke, and his lips touched something soft. His eyes met Jinx's wide eyes, those Big Eyes filled with moisture, misty and incredibly beautiful.
Jinx's breathing was erratic; she seemed frozen in Li Ke's arms, her legs stiffened, lying rigidly like a Li Ke.
Don't blame me
Who told you to suddenly say something like that!
Do you know that just now, after that time, you'll be eighteen years old!
Can Li Ke be blamed for kissing Xiao Jin?
No, who could possibly resist that?
A pair of small hands appeared behind his head, wrapping around his neck. After his impulsive act, Li Ke began to act on instinct. His mind was blank, as no one had told Li Ke what to do next.
So he just awkwardly touched Jinx's lips, once, twice.
It's as if he's telling Jinx through his actions that he won't leave Jinx and that he'll always be there for Jinx.
This is an emotion that can never be expressed in words.
She awkwardly responded to Li Ke, sometimes her teeth brushing against Li Ke lips, leaving a faint mark.
Not far away, little Isha stood up straight, covering her eyes with her hands, but her fingers were slightly parted.
"Hmm--"
"Eeya!"
Little Isha shouted loudly, her face flushed, then quietly looked at her older brother and sister over there.