Little Pink Starfish

Yuan Yuanyuan had nightmares for an entire day—each one eerily similar.

She dreamed of chaotic, strange things. In the dreams, everything felt like it was happening inside a drawing. She was surrounded by comic panels and various dramatic angles, as if she were living inside a manga.

When she finally woke up, she was lying face down on the bed, staring at the pitch-black ceiling. Thinking about it… the nightmare wasn’t exactly scary, but it was exhausting. She felt more tired waking up than she had before going to sleep.

Waiting was always the hardest part. Especially when the outcome was unpredictable—like waiting for exam results, or interview calls. It gnawed at you.

There were so many awkward situations she couldn’t even put into words. Like the neighbor’s kid—she’d already avoided him for a full day now, even timing her trash runs for late at night.

That magazine cover with her face was just too much. Even though there’s a boundary between 2D and 3D, people who know you can still recognize you at a glance. The drawing really nailed the key facial features—Jiuqiu had some serious skills.

She still hadn’t figured out what to say if she ran into those two kids again. Unlike regular people, they actually knew the manga characters and real-life people matched—after all, they’d seen the “Black-Clad Man” in person.

And the Black-Clad Man was, well… her. This was karma—she’d done this to herself.

After a whole day of thinking, Yuan Yuanyuan reached a single conclusion: Play dumb. Deny everything. No matter what, deny. Pretend she doesn’t know anything.

She was sluggish the entire day. Even at work, she wasn’t her usual energetic self. Thankfully, Li Zi Jie told her she didn’t need to go out front to pour drinks anymore, so she just stayed in the back kitchen, slacking off when she could.

On Saturday night, while tidying up, she stumbled across a little something in a cabinet. She’d brought it from home and now squatted in front of the cabinet, fiddling with it for a while before sticking it on.

It was a little adhesive hook—leftovers from an old calendar set, three to a box. One remained.

She eyed the stain on the cabinet, peeled off the hook’s backing, and stuck it over the stain. The hook was shaped like a little Japanese-style cat face, complete with whiskers—kind of cute, but small. It didn’t fully cover the stain, leaving a little bit showing… which now looked like the cat had grown a tail.

“You know how old that cabinet is?” Li Zi Jie, who had wandered into the kitchen out of boredom, asked.

“How old…?” Yuan Yuanyuan mumbled.

“Eh… never mind.” Li Zi Jie waved it off. “It’s for personal stuff. Just don’t let anyone see it, or they’ll say you’re wasting money.”

“…Tch, I only put it up for your brother’s sake…” Yuan Yuanyuan thought to herself. But realizing this was her boss’s brother, she figured teasing him wasn’t really worth it and swallowed the comment.

She glanced at Si Qun, who was still scrubbing glasses. He kept his head down the whole time she was talking to his sister, his hand methodically rinsing each glass.

They weren’t allowed to use dish soap on the glasses here—Yuan Yuanyuan had tried once, and Li Zi Jie complained that it left a weird taste. So they used dried loofah sponges instead.

He was definitely good at cleaning. Efficient. It’s just… his personality was exhausting. Li Zi Jie raising him to this age probably hadn’t been easy.

Noticing her gaze, Si Qun’s hand paused for a second, then his movements slowed, and eventually stopped completely.

Yuan Yuanyuan was tempted to lean over and trim his hair—his bangs were ridiculously messy, like a bad haircut done by a blindfolded dog.

He didn’t react when she pushed up his jagged bangs. His eyes, hidden beneath, suddenly met hers—and his face flushed bright red, ears included.

Yuan Yuanyuan quietly lowered his bangs again.

About half a minute later, he noticed she wasn’t doing anything else and resumed cleaning.

All was peaceful again. Yuan Yuanyuan debated whether to suggest Li Zi Jie buy him some hair clips.

She spent the day like this, heart pounding, managing to survive until Sunday night. As she sat in the back kitchen, helping count glasses and wine jugs, she scrolled through her app, waiting for the newest update.

The effects of the Hundred Demon Parade had taken a full day to wear off. The entire Saturday was foggy, and the tavern had no signal.

Si Qun was still scrubbing dishes nearby. Yuan Yuanyuan sat on a small stool with her phone. Li Zi Jie glanced over.

“What’re you looking at?” she asked.

“Just…” Yuan Yuanyuan started.

She scrolled through the latest comments—people were flooding the screen with excitement:

【So hyped!! It’s almost time for the update!】
【Why am I this excited? I feel like something big’s about to drop.】

Yuan Yuanyuan thought, You people are spot-on. Not just big—it’s a damn nuclear bomb.

She saw the time hit midnight and tapped the screen. After a long loading animation, it finally opened.

“What comic?” Li Zi Jie suddenly scooted over with her own stool. At some point, she’d joined her.

“Uhh… nothing special. Just a kiddie comic…” Yuan Yuanyuan tried to hide her phone.

When did she even get here?! She couldn’t let her see this. Yuan Yuanyuan was sure this week’s issue had a ton of panels of her—especially the Black-Clad Man attacking the tavern.

And probably some shots of her getting snatched up too. If Li Zi Jie saw that, she’d explode. After all, the tavern crew still thought the Black-Clad Man had kidnapped a girl…

“Let me see. Don’t be stingy.” Li Zi Jie chuckled, snatching the phone before Yuan Yuanyuan could stop her. She swiped through.

“Is it this one? I see you looking at it all the time…”

Her voice got quieter… and quieter… until it vanished altogether.

Yuan Yuanyuan immediately hugged her stool and leapt three meters away, curling into a ball.

She was witnessing the live-action version of “Smile Slowly Disappears.jpg.” Li Zi Jie now looked like a thundercloud. Yuan Yuanyuan’s heart raced—terrified she might crush the phone in rage.

Luckily, she didn’t. After a full ten minutes, she handed it back. Yuan Yuanyuan, trembling, took it and peeked.

【“What was that sound?” Faning clutched his chest, looking toward the door, only to find the light from the crack had vanished.】
【In that instant, he reacted and grabbed the cabinet door from inside, pulling it shut. A force tugged from outside, but couldn’t open it.】
【Then he caught a whiff of a familiar powdery scent.】
【As the footsteps outside faded, Faning gritted his teeth and rushed out, hoping to get the girl outside to help him escape—only for a sharp wind to whistle past his ear. Everything went black.】

…

Yuan Yuanyuan stared at the panel: a cold-faced figure, eyes hidden behind messy bangs, expression unreadable, lips tight like a drawn blade.

The entire scene was stark black-and-white. It’s a basic color combo, but the hardest to master. The contrast between the black hair and background, the white clothes and face—it hit hard.

Very few characters in the comic world could pull off black-and-white so well. She could only think of a handful.

She glanced over at the dishwasher next to her…

Oh god, the contrast was painfully obvious.

There he was—Si Qun—scrubbing dishes with a loofah, hands wet, now counting glasses like a toddler chanting a rhyme.

HOLY SH*T.

No wonder Li Zi Jie looked like that. Anyone would panic. Frankly, it’s a miracle she didn’t go nuclear.

Yuan Yuanyuan made a snap decision: grabbed her stool and bolted out of the kitchen. She sat at the door, knees together, listening nervously.

She figured Li Zi Jie wouldn’t want to blow up in front of her and would wait to drag her back in later.

Three seconds later, chaos erupted from the kitchen—chairs clattering, someone yelling in pain, and the unmistakable “slap slap”—ah, no misunderstanding here. That was Li Zi Jie spanking her brother with a shoe sole. Yuan Yuanyuan had witnessed it once before…

Back when she’d been hiding in the cabinet.

Covering her face, Yuan Yuanyuan decided to pretend she heard nothing and kept reading.

She turned a few more pages—her expression suddenly grew serious. Because she appeared in the next scene.

【Faning sensed the intention of the person behind him and relaxed, silently following, wondering… Why is he doing this?】
【He glanced sideways at the person’s face—more beautiful than any female demon he’d seen in the tavern, even surpassing the red-dressed woman earlier.】
【What’s his name…? the thought flickered through his mind.】