It’s been about a week since Sham started freeloading at my place—count the days, and it checks out. Feeding a foodie isn’t easy; my purse shrank like a wilted leaf.

Feeling weighed down, Yun Shi tasted the burden of a household settling over her like morning fog.

Alone, any spending felt roomy. With one more mouth, costs multiplied like ripples in a pond. She wasn’t annoyed—just human. No income, no lifeline. How was she supposed to keep feeding this foodie?

Resignation first, plan later. She had to find a job.

With a past life’s steady hands, she wasn’t worried about the work itself. What gnawed at her was her age—too young on paper, doors closing like shutters at dusk.

A flicker of mischief rose—get a fake ID?

She crushed the thought at once. Weiyang had already crafted her a new identity; asking for more would be greedy, like reaching for the last peach.

“Let fate decide...”

Her sigh drifted like smoke.

She called Sham, saw her eat a good breakfast, and led her out the door. She gently unwound the bandages from Sham’s arms; a week of rest had mended her like grass after spring rain.

“Hey, hey, where are we going?”

Sham’s curiosity bubbled, bright as glass beads.

Yun Shi locked the door, eyes ahead. “You’ll see.”

A hard truth sat in her chest like a stone. She needed to sort out Sham’s situation. She couldn’t keep her forever; that wasn’t a mantle she could wear.

Maybe it sounded like shirking. But she could barely carry her own weathered basket—how could she carry Sham’s too?

The walk turned quiet. Yun Shi was a sealed lake. If Sham didn’t speak, she didn’t. If Sham asked, she answered with “Oh,” “Mm,” “I see.” Even a lively sparrow tires when it finds only silent branches.

Why was this little sprite so hard to serve?

Sham grumbled in her heart, then folded her chatter away like a fan. Less was safer.

The avenue flowed with bodies like a river, cars glinting like scales, laughter chiming like wind-bells. It all surged into Yun Shi’s mind. She kept her thoughts blank as snow, fixed on walking.

Sham drank the scenery with wide eyes, wonder bursting in little fireworks.

“What’s that? So cool!”

“Whoa, the legendary sailor uniform!”

“Wow, a real Japanese high schooler!”

From England to Japan, everything dazzled her. Freshness turned even pebbles into treasures; that was only human.

“Keep it down.”

Yun Shi’s tone was cool water, but she didn’t curb her. Let a young heart tilt toward joy.

They turned a corner and stopped at a residential block. The apartment ahead wasn’t fancy, but it breathed clean and decent, price fair as a balanced scale. That was Yun Shi’s anchor.

She drew a key, opened the door, and brought Sham in. Without furniture, the room felt wide, like a quiet bay. By the look of it, it would be a good harbor.

“I’ve paid your rent. Move your luggage over. You’ll be in Japan for a while, right? This place will do.”

Yun Shi placed the key in Sham’s stunned palm. The metal felt like a cold fish.

This way, their lines would no longer knot together.

Sham looked at the key. Sourness rose like a pinch of salt in her throat. The girl who joked without a care suddenly felt off-kilter.

“You’re kicking me out?”

She put on a wounded face, eyes shining wet like dew.

Yun Shi scratched her head, dodging that gaze. “Isn’t this better? It’s nicer than my place, and the price is good. Most of all, we’re close...”

“You don’t understand anything.”

Sham’s reply was level, a blade laid flat.

Known for gluttony and sly smiles, Sham showing this chill startled Yun Shi like a bird in sudden wind.

“You think I’d cling and never leave? Think I’d eat for free? I’m not that person.”

When Sham lifted her face, the earlier smile was gone. Calm sat like still water.

“I thought I had a chance. Guess I don’t. Maybe you’re right. You and I don’t walk the same road. You said you were my enemy. I wanted to trust you, but we’re either enemies or strangers.”

She smiled with bitterness, a crescent chipped by frost.

She was angry. Yun Shi kept silent, afraid to pluck a raw nerve. Let her speak.

“What do you think of me?”

“...I don’t dislike you.”

“I see. That’s good enough.”

Sham turned away, thoughts clicking like beads in an abacus. Yun Shi didn’t interrupt. Let quiet do its work.

Time dripped one slow drop at a time. The air grew odd, awkward thick as syrup. Neither mouth opened.

“I’ve decided.”

Sham finally spoke, a smile returning, full of resignation like a winter sun.

“Since you won’t sign a contract with me, I won’t force you. I’ll leave. I’ll probably stay in Japan a while.”

Yun Shi should have felt light, but joy tugged no strings.

“Thank you for taking care of me. I won’t forget. If I get the chance, I’ll visit.”

Sham bowed, gratitude clear as a stream. Yun Shi saw the truth in it—no varnish.

“What will you do after?”

Unsteady inside, Yun Shi pressed herself calm. She tossed the question like a pebble.

“No idea... I’ll keep looking in Japan for a suitable contractor.”

“And if you find no one?”

“Then I’ll go back. Even if I can’t report success. The one who fits me most is you, Little Yun.”

“...”

“Alright, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Girls are tough~”

Sham flashed a bright smile, claiming she didn’t mind. Yun Shi saw through it. That wasn’t a smile. It was a tear in disguise.

A grin veiling grief—she knew that texture too well.

Seeing Sham like this, what could she do?

“Okay. I have to hustle today. Find a new contractor soon. But first, food. I’ll head out now~”

She opened the door and left, leaving Yun Shi standing like a statue in an empty room.

Is this really okay? The question circled like a tired kite. Right or wrong, the deed was done.

She refused to sink into the Underworld again. Leaving Sham felt like the best path, the way to keep last year’s quiet rhythm. As long as the Underworld stayed far, anything would be fine.

“Uwaaa!!!”

Sham burst into the street, running alone, voice tearing like cloth. Venting, crying—either way, she was simply sad.

Passersby wore soft sympathy, thinking she’d just lost a love. No one stepped in; they let her run and shout under the sky.

Yun Shi stood inside for an hour, still as a candle. She didn’t know why, only that stillness cooled her thoughts.

“Did I do wrong?”

She kept asking, knowing the silence held no answers.

No one could hand her the right key. The answer lived in her alone.

Time spent, she stepped out and closed the door. Sunlight landed like warm silk on her skin; her heart stayed cold as a winter pond.

A year ago flickered back—when she was blood kin of the Four Pupils Clan...

“If only one day I could reach the world of light. Though it’s only a dream.”

“My life was saved by Miss. I’m hers, always. Without her, I can’t stay. Rather than rot in a dull world, I’ll search with Miss in the dark for a way out!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll come back.”

“Live on with our share... together...”

Memory surged like a storm tide. Pain stabbed, and cold sweat beaded. She clutched her head and squatted, breath ragged.

“Mia, Eil...”

They had died for her. That debt never loosened its knot. She had sworn to live with their share, fulfill their wish, never again bind herself to the Underworld.

If she could live unnoticed in the Outer World to the end, that would be enough. That’s what she’d believed. But again and again, events dragged her into the front light, breaking her own rule.

Sham—these days, the hardest to forget—she had even treated her like a friend. She shouldn’t have. If she forged a friendship... she might lose it. And still, she did.

What should she do?

What counted as right?

She was truly lost, like a boat in fog.

Her phone vibrated. She didn’t want to look, then fished it out.

A text from Weiyang. Simple, a single line:

“I’ve prepared your school entrance exam. You don’t get to refuse. Stop running.”

Plain words, heart bared like a blade.

“Running away?”

Yun Shi murmured.

Yes—wasn’t her life drift and retreat? Always running, never turning to face the cliff.

Mia’s death. Leaving the Clan Head. The Underworld. When had she faced any of it?

It seemed true.

“Heh... hahaha...”

Her laugh tilted toward madness, like a paper lantern in wind. Her life was simple after all, only disappointing. Easy things tangled because she wouldn’t face them.

Sham too—if she’d faced her, it wouldn’t be like this.

Because she kept dodging, she walked alone.

“Sham Einafel...”

She thought leaving Sham would cut off trouble. It did—for her. Trouble just shifted onto Sham like a thrown stone.

She thought leaving Sham would end the tug-of-war of the Underworld. Completely wrong. As long as the Artifact Spirit was in Sham’s hands, trouble would hunt her like wolves.

Yun Shi dropped a burden. But what about Sham?

“Damn it, stop dumping your mess on me!”

She didn’t even know why she started running the way Sham had gone. Instinct lit her feet like sparks.

She didn’t know why she wanted to catch up, even if Sham was already far.

She moved on feeling alone. She just didn’t want to run from Sham anymore.