Killed Him, Not Happy

She stared at the tiny model in her palm, her lashes trembling as she tried to imagine it: a stranger with no connection to her or Lin Mo could still be precious to someone, missed and waited for.

After a long while, she looked up and asked the question that troubled her most.

"Does he have a Joanna who cares about him too?"

Lin Mo paused, then answered softly.

"Maybe."

"Perhaps someone's at home, waiting for him to come back."

"Just like I wait for you."

Joanna frowned more deeply. Her confusion grew, but she still couldn't let go of her stubborn conviction.

"But he came to capture you."

"So I won't like him, and I won't make excuses for what he did."

Lin Mo looked at her earnestly, drawing a clear line between right and wrong.

"But doing something wrong and deserving to die have never been the same thing."

"When someone makes a mistake, they can be stopped, punished, or restrained. But we can't take away their right to live just because we're stronger."

Joanna pressed her lips together and fell silent.

Those gentle rules ran counter to everything she had known growing up in the bunker. Under Vought's control, strength and authority were the only rules.

Researchers could dictate when she slept, ate, underwent examinations, and met people simply because they held the authority to do so. They never had to consider what she wanted. Even staff who seemed weaker than her could restrict her freedom if they controlled the rooms, the gas, and permission for her to move around.

And because she possessed overwhelming strength, she had instinctively believed she also had the final say over what happened to those weaker than her, including whether to eliminate a threat.

What Lin Mo was asking her to do was give up the privilege that came with her strength. She still didn't understand why she should yield of her own accord.

After a long silence, she raised her head again, her gaze direct and unguarded.

"You want him to live?"

"It isn't about what I want."

"Then why?" Joanna pressed stubbornly.

"Whether someone gets to live shouldn't be decided by what I like or dislike."

Joanna went quiet. Disagreement filled her eyes, but she didn't know how to argue back.

The priorities in her world were clear-cut: Lin Mo came first, herself second. Everyone else was ranked by whether they were friend or foe, threat or no threat.

She had placed the security guard who attacked Lin Mo at the very bottom, among the threats. She could not understand why a stranger who had hurt Lin Mo had a life that could not simply be erased.

After a long silence, Joanna slowly stood. She still hugged the blue blanket tight, clutching its soft fabric as though it were the only thing keeping her steady.

She didn't move close to Lin Mo right away. Instead, she edged over step by step and sat down two meters away, leaving a polite but distant gap between them.

"Are you still angry?" she asked quietly, her eyes lowered.

"I never want to be angry with you," Lin Mo said gently.

"So you still are." Joanna caught what he had left unsaid, and her voice sank.

Lin Mo didn't deny it. He nodded.

"I just want you to understand that what you did back there was wrong."

"What if I never understand?" Joanna looked up, testing him with unease in her eyes.

"Then I'll teach you slowly. I'll keep telling you."

Joanna gripped the blanket until it wrinkled. After struggling with the question for a long time, she finally asked what frightened her most.

"Will you leave?"

Lin Mo met her frightened, stubborn gaze, his voice firm.

"I won't leave you because of this."

"What if I don't listen to you later?"

"We can talk it through and work things out, little by little."

"And after we argue?"

"We'll still see each other. I won't avoid you."

Joanna's pupils trembled. At last, some of the tension left her back, and she asked softly,

"You still want to see me?"

"Yes."

One word, immediate and certain.

The tension she had held in for so long finally eased. Much of the gloom left her face, and she carefully scooted a little closer to Lin Mo.

"They didn't force you to come?"

"No."

"You wanted to see me yourself?"

"Yes."

After hearing him confirm it again and again, she edged closer and finally settled beside him.

Her gaze fell on the wooden plane in Lin Mo's hands, quiet and gentle.

"It isn't finished yet."

"One wing left."

Lin Mo held out the little wing piece to her.

Joanna didn't take it immediately. She looked up at him, a childlike question in her eyes.

"If I put it on for you, you won't be angry anymore, right?"

"This isn't a trade." Lin Mo shook his head gently, his tone serious.

"Finishing the plane and our argument are two separate things. We can't treat them as one."

Joanna tilted her head, a stubborn little huff in her voice.

"Then I won't put it on."

"All right." Lin Mo let her have her way and didn't push.

Joanna watched his eyes for several seconds. Only when she was sure he wasn't upset or pulling away did she finally take the little wing.

She moved with extreme care, controlling her strength as she fitted the wing into the slot on the body, afraid she might damage the wood if she pressed too hard.

The finished wooden plane rested between them, simple and whole.

Joanna looked down at it. After a long silence, she asked softly, seeking reassurance.

"If someone comes to capture you again, can I still stop them?"

"Of course," Lin Mo answered without hesitation.

"Can I hit them?"

"If you can't protect me without it, yes."

"Can I throw them away from you?"

"That depends on the situation."

She pressed her lips together, then asked about the limit that mattered most.

"But I can't kill them, right?"

"Unless there's no other choice, or they're trying to kill you and you have to do it to survive."

That uncertain exception was too complicated for Joanna, who saw things in such simple terms. She thought for a long time, turning the new rule over and over in her mind.

At last, she looked up at Lin Mo, her voice certain.

"You don't like it when I kill people."

Lin Mo straightened and patiently corrected her.

"It isn't about what I like."

"Taking someone else's life without good reason is wrong in itself."

Joanna looked straight at him, holding fast to the point she understood.

"But you don't like it."

Lin Mo paused, then answered honestly.

"No, I don't."

Joanna nodded. The confusion in her eyes vanished. At last, she had an answer she could fully understand and remember.

"Okay. Then I won't kill anyone."

She agreed at once, without a moment's hesitation.

But her ready compliance sent a faint unease through Lin Mo. It faded almost immediately.

What am I worried about? Try as he might, he couldn't think of anything at this point that could threaten him.

Still, he didn't believe Joanna had truly understood his reasoning or taken to heart the principle that every life deserved respect and should not be taken lightly.

He hadn't seen the thought she kept hidden deepest in her heart. She would have to learn right from wrong through her own experiences.

But Lin Mo was right about one thing: Joanna had not committed any universal rule of good and evil to memory.

What she remembered was only this: Lin Mo didn't like her killing people. It made him angry and unhappy.

The first was a boundary that would guide her wherever she went. The second was a concession she made for Lin Mo alone.

They were worlds apart.