A New Home

Lu Yan walked happily toward the moving truck carrying all his belongings, looking forward to life in the little house with its courtyard.

Behind him, Aemeath watched him walk away, the possessiveness in her eyes almost palpable.

A-Yan, from now on, you're mine alone.

They walked down that familiar hallway for the last time.

Every sound of neighbors laughing and chatting here had made up the whole of Lu Yan's life for three years.

But now, he knew he was heading toward a new home.

A new home he had signed for, but one Aemeath had taken the lead in choosing, filled with possession and sweetness.

The moving truck started up, carrying his few old belongings through the noisy streets of the old district toward the secluded little courtyard.

Lu Yan sat in the back seat, with Aemeath beside him.

He turned to look at her. She was clutching the old pillow tightly, her eyes fixed on the scenery passing outside the window.

The truck traveled through the gentle evening breeze.

Lu Yan leaned against the back seat, his somewhat weary face reflected in the window.

His gaze drifted outside as he watched the city gradually shed the clamor of the day and light up, neon sign by neon sign.

Lu Yan breathed a quiet sigh of relief inwardly. At last, I have a decent place to live.

He had spent so many years struggling to make his way in this line of work, but that sense of drifting had always remained, like a stain he couldn't wash out of his life.

In this city, he had always felt like he was just passing through.

If it were just me, living in that room wouldn't seem like such a big deal.

Lu Yan turned to look at Aemeath beside him.

Aemeath had her head bowed, her long, silky pink hair falling over Lu Yan's old pillow.

She held it tightly, as though it weren't an old cotton-stuffed pillow, but some priceless treasure.

A wave of tenderness rippled through Lu Yan's heart.

He remembered when Auntie Chen had introduced him to a potential match, and he remembered Aemeath's unease.

He was an extremely attached person himself, and he understood all too well the fear of being left behind.

It was precisely because he understood that he longed all the more to give Aemeath a space that belonged entirely to the two of them.

Lu Yan quietly clenched his fist. A man had to have a place of his own where he worked to make a living, after all.

"A-Yan, what are you smiling about?" As though she had sensed his thoughts, Aemeath turned to look at him.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about which wardrobe to hang those pretty dresses of yours in once we get to our new home." Lu Yan reached out and ruffled her hair, warmth greeting his touch.

"As long as A-Yan is there, you could even hang them over the bed." Aemeath smiled sweetly and nestled closer against him.

The truck turned into a quiet little lane.

The air here was noticeably fresher than in the old district. The smell of exhaust and cooking fumes was gone, replaced by the faint fragrance of grass and trees.

"Mr. Lu, we're here!" The mover's call broke the silence in the truck.

The truck came to a smooth stop in front of the gate to the two-story house and its courtyard.

Lu Yan was the first to jump out, the keys in his hand and his palm slightly sweaty.

The gate creaked open, and the nest Aemeath had carefully chosen, the one for which he had personally signed a twenty-year lease, officially opened its arms to them.

"Let's move the computer in first and put it in the inner room upstairs," Lu Yan said, bustling about as he directed the movers.

The movers deftly carried the cardboard boxes inside, leaving a trail of untidy footprints across the solid wood floor.

Aemeath didn't help Lu Yan carry the heavy things. She simply held the old pillow and took her time inspecting each room.

She went into the kitchen first. Looking at the brand-new marble countertop and large double-door refrigerator, she gently ran her fingertips along the cold metal edge.

From now on, I can make A-Yan his favorite desserts here, or... little drinks with certain things added to them.

Next, Aemeath went to the bathroom.

Aemeath stopped and looked down at the bathtub. Lu Yan's flustered, bright-red face had already appeared in her mind.

A faint light flickered deep in her eyes.

Aemeath cupped her face and let out a strange giggle. "Ehehe."

Finally, she walked into the master bedroom.

Breathing heavily, Lu Yan put down the last cardboard box, which was packed with clothes.

He wiped the sweat from his face and turned to see Aemeath standing in the doorway. The setting sun cast her shadow across the floor, covering the very spot where Lu Yan stood.

"Aemeath, look how much light this room gets." Lu Yan pointed excitedly at the persimmon tree outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Once we've settled in, let's buy a big, comfortable bed."

"And a pair of those soft, fluffy beanbag chairs. You can read here, and I'll draw upstairs. When I get tired, I'll come find you."

Lu Yan's words were full of plans for the future, the simplest kind of happiness.

But to Aemeath, those words carried a different meaning.

A big bed... for the two of us to sleep in together. When he gets tired, he'll come find me...

"Mm, whatever you say, A-Yan." Aemeath walked over and gently placed the old pillow in the center of the empty solid wood bed frame.

The pillow, carrying Lu Yan's scent, looked out of place in the room.

But only when it was there did the room truly bear Lu Yan's mark.

"Thank you for all your hard work!" Lu Yan saw the movers off and closed the courtyard gate.

The moment the iron lock clicked shut, the whole world seemed to be shut out beyond the high walls.

The sun had sunk completely below the horizon, and dusk gently settled over the courtyard.

Lu Yan stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking at the persimmon tree as a sense of security unlike anything he had felt before welled up inside him.

He looked at the little house before him, its lights on, then at the girl waving to him from the master bedroom's floor-to-ceiling window.

Suddenly, he felt that this was what a decent life should look like.

"A-Yan! Come in, the water's hot!" Aemeath called from the master bedroom.

Lu Yan answered, "Coming!"

This house was a cage tailor-made for him.

Within this closed loop called home, Lu Yan was the only prey.

And Aemeath was the hunter, gentle to the utmost, willing to spend twenty years slowly savoring her prey.

Lu Yan pushed open the upstairs door and looked at the new home, piled full of things yet brimming with life. In his heart, he thought, Work hard. I have to give Aemeath a better life.