Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan’s footsteps were quick and anxious.

She kept her head down as she turned into a narrow alley, all while listening to the footsteps following her—not too far, not too close. Her heart was in her throat.

It had already been two hours since she left the supermarket, and by now, night had completely fallen.

But Yuan Yuanyuan still hadn’t made it home.

…That sound of someone trailing her had never gone away. She didn’t dare go straight back.

Gritting her teeth, she glanced at the time and kept walking, head down—but her fingers were already clutching the small knife she carried.

It felt like she was caught in a vicious loop.

Two hours ago, Yuan Yuanyuan had exited the supermarket and headed straight for home. Aware of how dangerous her situation had become, she chose a more secluded route. But even so, someone had started tailing her not long after.

After all, she wasn’t the only yokai living in this area.

Yuan Yuanyuan had done her best to suppress her aura and blend in like a regular human. She was good at it, and some of the yokai who’d been following her gave up and wandered off.

When she saw them go, she let out a breath of relief. But… some didn’t give up. A few just kept trailing behind, keeping their distance.

She couldn’t just head home—not with them behind her. She couldn’t risk them following her all the way back.

So she spent two hours wandering in circles, hoping to shake them off. But instead of losing them, they’d drawn closer.

She couldn’t keep stalling like this… Yuan Yuanyuan’s eyes landed on a familiar alley.

Screw it.

She had no choice left. Only the stupidest, bluntest plan remained.

—Run straight home. According to that “Jiqiu,” she should change back to normal soon after. Even if they followed her, she’d deny everything—two totally different yokai, no proof, no connection.

…Of course, that would come with a wave of suspicion and questions later.

That’s why this was the stupidest plan.

Suddenly, she broke into a sprint. The yokai trailing her was caught off guard—didn’t expect her to bolt—and only reacted after a moment’s hesitation, then gave chase.

Yuan Yuanyuan ran like mad and soon reached her apartment building. She was just about to climb in through the window, heart pounding in relief—when she froze.

She stood before the window, limbs gone cold.

A wave of helpless despair swept over her.

A glowing sigil appeared on the window—a swirling purple pattern like a mystical crest. It looked almost like a beautiful paper-cut decoration.

…

It was an identity marker—one she only received every month when she paid rent to Xue Jie.

Basically, in the yokai world, it worked like a magical doorbell. If any stranger tried to enter, it would automatically appear.

Damn it—when did I become a stranger!? It’s just a different face!

Yuan Yuanyuan nearly flipped the window the bird out of sheer frustration.

Behind her, the shadows were growing closer. Her pursuer likely realized this could be the very “black-cloaked man” everyone was whispering about—he sped up.

Three minutes later, a dark figure landed silently outside her apartment complex. He scouted the area and finally stopped in front of a certain building.

Few yokai lived in this complex. Yuan Yuanyuan was one of them.

The figure followed the trail of residual aura until it led him right to her door.

He reached out to push it—only to stop when he saw the glowing sigil.

He hesitated… then slowly lowered his hand.

…

Inside, Yuan Yuanyuan lay curled up in a very odd spot.

Her face was blank, no emotion showing, coldness radiating from every inch of her.

Breathing was getting hard—which was a terrible sign. She’d been suppressing her yokai energy for too long, and she was almost at her limit.

Suppressing aura wasn’t like holding in a sneeze or a fart… but in some ways, the same principle applied. If you held it in too long, something was bound to slip.

She tried to lift the blanket covering her head to take a breath—only to be shoved back down by a hand.

And that wasn’t the end of it. Whoever the hand belonged to clearly didn’t trust her not to peek again, because they added another heavy blanket on top.

Yuan Yuanyuan felt like she was being crushed under layers and layers. Clattering sounds echoed around her—it sounded like more than just blankets being piled on now.

After half an hour, she finally tried to wriggle free again. The person outside tried to push her down again, but she sighed and said, “It’s fine now. He’s gone.”

…Silence.

Finally, she emerged from the heap. As she sat up, a mountain of things slid off her—blankets, clothes, books…

And if she wasn’t mistaken… there was even a stuffed animal and a back-scratcher in there.

Ahem.

She looked up to see two girls staring at her—Xiao Ying and her friend.

They both looked like they’d just witnessed a miracle.

…

Back when the shadowy pursuer was right on her heels, Yuan Yuanyuan had been crouched outside her own window, helpless.

Suddenly, a nearby window slid open. Xiao Ying had popped her head out—only to lock eyes with the crouching “black-cloaked man.”

They stared at each other.

Then Yuan Yuanyuan hissed, “Get back inside. Someone’s following me.”

But instead, Xiao Ying had grabbed her and dragged her into the apartment, shoved her into the bedroom, and buried her under a pile of stuff.

Now, in hindsight… Yuan Yuanyuan thought about how if she were a high school girl and a random man appeared in her home—especially a clearly supernatural one…

Well, technically not random. In her current identity, she was “that mysterious maybe-a-yokai thing.”

The room was small. Nobody spoke. Outside, Xiao Ying’s mom called, “Xiao Ying? What are you and Li Xin doing in there?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Xiao Ying shouted back. “Mom, is there anything to eat? I didn’t eat enough earlier!”

“There’s food—go grab some.”

Then quiet again.

Li Xin stared at Yuan Yuanyuan for a long time, then leaned over to Xiao Ying and whispered, “That’s… him, right?”

“Mm.”

Yuan Yuanyuan kept her head down, ready to say something to ease the tension. They were probably freaking out.

But before she could open her mouth, the girl—Li Xin—whispered sharply, “Are you crazy? You’re hiding him in here!?”

“What else could I do?” Xiao Ying whispered back fiercely. “Someone’s after him!”

“Girl…” Li Xin pulled her aside and hissed, “He’s a yokai. A yokai. Just because he saved you doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous. What if he’s killed someone? What if he’s a criminal? Fine, you want to get yourself killed—but what about your parents?”

Yuan Yuanyuan, ears sharp as ever, tried to politely look away and pretend she didn’t hear that.

She glanced around the room. It was cozy, pink-toned, far nicer than her own place—even if the layout was similar.

She was broke. The only nice thing in her room was a tiny yellow lamp.

The two girls kept whisper-fighting. Yuan Yuanyuan, for some reason, started finding it… a little funny.

Earlier that day, they’d both said hi to her. Now they were bickering like a scene out of a drama.

“You have no common sense! Your parents are old—why drag them into this?”

“I… but what am I supposed to do?!”

“You can’t save him forever! You’re not even the same species. What if he starts hiding here all the time?!”

Yuan Yuanyuan sat in silence, half-buried in blankets, mildly amused.

She was broke. Couldn’t afford next month’s internet. But here was a free soap opera—might as well enjoy it.

Honestly, this drama was more real than anything money could buy.

“So what now?” Xiao Ying looked like she might cry.

Li Xin smacked her thigh. “Shh. Let me handle it.”

She walked over to Yuan Yuanyuan and looked her in the eye. Yuan Yuanyuan, who had been staring at the ceiling light, turned to meet her gaze.

“…Are you hurt?” Li Xin asked. “Do you need something to eat? What do you want?”

Yuan Yuanyuan looked at her. Li Xin’s expression was calm—but there was a subtle tension underneath.

In her dark eyes, Yuan Yuanyuan saw her own reflection:

A tall, expressionless man with black hair and black eyes.

To be fair, it was a very handsome face… “like someone who stepped out of a comic book.”

But truthfully, if she had met someone like this in high school, no matter how good-looking they were, she’d have been scared to death.

…

She shook her head and started to stand, planning to leave.

But Xiao Ying suddenly dashed off somewhere.

Li Xin panicked when she saw her move. “Xiao Ying—wait—”

But Xiao Ying returned quickly, holding a large plastic bag filled with something cold.

She shoved it into Yuan Yuanyuan’s hands, her face covered in tears.

“Go… Just go, don’t come back…”

She pushed the bag at Yuan Yuanyuan and started shoving her toward the door.

“People are dangerous. Don’t trust them. Don’t help them. We’re all terrible…”

“W-Wait—Xiao Ying, calm down,” Li Xin said nervously. “Let’s think this through…”

But Xiao Ying ignored her. She looked at Yuan Yuanyuan, who was still frozen, and grabbed a back-scratcher from the pile, smacking it against her back.

“GO! Hide somewhere! Don’t come back! This isn’t a game!”

Yuan Yuanyuan wasn’t refusing to leave… She just… couldn’t quite keep up with Xiao Ying’s logic.

In the end, she was shoved out the door, scrambled over the balcony, and made it back into her own apartment—disarming the magical door marker in the process.

She flopped onto her couch, still dazed.

Her face had returned to normal—back to her original self—but her brain was still foggy.

Honestly, the entire day had been one chaotic mess.

She sat in silence for a long while.

Eventually, something clicked in her mind. She opened the plastic bag Xiao Ying had given her.

Inside were chunks of red meat—cold, slightly thawed.

…Pork ribs, huh.

One pound was twenty yuan… This was probably worth over a hundred.

Sitting on the couch, Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the meat in her hands. After a long moment, she silently put it away in the fridge.

Maybe… humans weren’t that bad after all.