The Terrifying Summer Home

The weather finally cooled down a bit during the last two days of summer vacation.

A slight chill began to creep into the air, and the cicadas in the yard stopped chirping so loudly, as if their throats had been hoarse for most of the summer and they had finally decided to give themselves a break.

When the bird woke up in the morning, it saw that the sky outside the window was much higher than it had been a few days ago, and the blue was different too—

It's no longer a blinding, glaring blue, but a deeper, more distant blue that makes you want to look at it a little longer.

She stretched and glanced at her phone. The message Hua Hua had sent last night was still displayed on the screen:

"We're going to Xia Jun's house tomorrow!! We meet at 10:00! Don't be late! His house is an eight-minute walk from the east exit of your school's bus station! I drew a map, it's very close!"

A photo was attached below the map.

The route map was drawn with colored markers, and the relative positions of Hua Hua's house, Xia Mo's house, and the station were marked with dots of different colors. Next to it, there was also a smiley face and a thumbs up.

Feiniao stared at the map for three seconds, feeling a bit weary, and typed out a message:

"Your home is in Bunkyo Ward, and Natsume's home is in Katsushika Ward. The distance between the two points on your map is only two centimeters? In reality, it takes forty minutes by train, okay?"

Hua Hua replied instantly: "Artistic embellishment! Don't you understand?!"

"That's called art fraud."

"Anyway, as long as you can find it! You walk home from school with Xia Mo every day, how could you not know his house?"

Feibiao's fingers paused for a moment, then she placed her phone face down on the bed. "Walking home from school together every day..." That made it sound like she specifically waited for Xia Mo every day. They were clearly going the same way—

Just turn right after leaving the school gate, and it's a short walk away; you don't even need to cross the traffic lights. Last time, going to the beverage shop near the station required crossing traffic lights and walking along that slope lined with cherry blossom trees, which was a huge detour.

Xia Mo's home was right behind that row of gray apartment buildings next to the school, so close that she didn't even need to go to the tram stop. She just... lived along the same route, so they often walked together. Nothing special.

She straightened her clothes in front of the mirror. She changed into two T-shirts: one white, which she felt was too plain; the second light pink, which she felt was too deliberate.

Finally, she went out wearing the white one, but hesitated for three seconds after stepping out of the entrance hall before turning back to change into the pink one and putting a sun hat on her head.

"I'm leaving!" she called out. Her mother's voice came from the kitchen: "Be careful on the road! Be back before dinner!"

"Okay, okay—"

The tram swayed and wobbled to the station. Exiting from the east exit, Asuka didn't even look at the map. Relying on her memory, she turned left, walked straight, crossed two more intersections, and entered a residential street.

Actually, she doesn't often take this route from the station to Natsume's house—she usually doesn't need to pass through the station when going from school to Natsume's house. But since Hana came from Bunkyo Ward by tram, meeting at the station is the most convenient option.

Xia Mo's home is a gray two-story building. It's not big, but it's very clean. There are a few potted plants at the entrance, and a small bunch of slightly wilted flowers on the shoe cabinet in the entryway.

She arrived five minutes earlier than scheduled, but Huahua hadn't arrived yet.

Feiniao hesitated for a moment at the door before reaching out and pressing the doorbell.

The doorbell rang once, and then the door opened.

The woman who opened the door was in her thirties, dressed in home clothes, her hair neatly tied up, her face looking somewhat tired but forcing a smile.

It was Xia Mo's mother.

"You're Asuka-chan, right? Summer often mentions you. Come in, come in." Her voice wasn't loud, but she spoke quickly, as if something was urging her to leave.

Asuka bowed and said, "Excuse me," before changing into slippers in the entryway. Summer's slippers were dark blue and a bit too big; they made her look like she was walking on two small boats as she carefully made her way down the hallway.

The living room wasn't large; the sofa was an old-fashioned fabric sofa with a thin blanket draped over the cushions. On the coffee table lay an open sheet music book and a pencil, next to a half-empty teacup.

The TV was off, and the room was so quiet that it made you almost afraid to speak loudly.

Xia Mo walked over from the other end of the corridor, wearing a dark gray T-shirt and shorts, her hair looking like it had just been washed and wasn't completely dry yet.

"You've arrived."

"Hmm. Hasn't Huahua arrived yet?"

"Not yet. She's late."

"That's normal," Asuka said.

The two stood facing each other in the living room, separated by a coffee table, unsure of what to do next.

Xia Mo glanced towards the kitchen, then towards the stairs, as if confirming something. He lowered his voice so much that only a bird could hear it:

"My dad's home today. He...isn't very talkative. You don't need to worry about him."

Feiniao nodded and lowered her voice as well: "Where's your mother?"

"She went upstairs; she's going out in a bit."

The conversation ended there. The two fell silent again. Asuka sat upright on the sofa, hands on her knees, just like she had on her first-year school opening ceremony. Summer sat at the other end, picked up the sheet music from the coffee table, flipped through it, and then put it down.

The air in the living room felt like it was being pressed down by something; it was thin and not enough to breathe.

Hua Hua arrived ten minutes later.

When the doorbell rang, Feiniao practically jumped off the sofa—not because she wanted to greet Huahua, but because she finally had something to do.

When Hua Hua entered, she brought a gust of hot air with her. Her bun was tied higher than usual, and she was carrying a bag of snacks from the convenience store. Her voice was as loud as if she were shouting in an empty stadium: "Xia Jun! Your house is so hard to find! I clearly marked it on the map, but that intersection—"

"Keep your voice down." Xia Mo raised her hand and made a downward pressing motion, her ears twitching slightly, as if she had caught a sound from somewhere in the room.

Hua Hua immediately shut her mouth, her eyes widening, and asked in a whisper, "What's wrong?"

"My dad's upstairs." "Oh—oh oh." Hua Hua lowered her voice to one-third of normal volume, placed the snack bag on the coffee table, and moved as lightly as if she were defusing a bomb.

Feiniao and Huahua exchanged a glance. They both read the same four words in each other's eyes—good, not good, at ease.

Xia Mo left for a few minutes to go to the kitchen and bring out the tea her mother had prepared. The three of them sat around the coffee table, with three cups of barley tea and a bag of shrimp chips that Hua Hua had brought in front of them.

The television remained off, untouched. Cicadas chirped outside, but their sounds jarringly jarring in the quiet living room, like someone coughing loudly in an empty theater.

"You guys want some shrimp chips?" Hua Hua pushed the bag towards the two of them. Fei Niao took one, took a small bite, and chewed very slowly. Xia Mo took one but didn't eat it.

From the other end of the corridor, a man's voice could be faintly heard—deep and indistinct, as if he were talking to someone, or as if he were talking to himself.

Then came a woman's voice, softer and more urgent, like raindrops hitting a tin roof. The two voices overlapped, making the content indistinct, but the tone was clearly off.

Like two taut strings, they vibrate and hum with the slightest touch.

Xia Mo's hand paused for a moment. His gaze fell on the coffee table, not at the flowers, nor at the birds, but fixed on the half-empty teacup. His fingers unconsciously tapped lightly twice on his knee.

It's not the way you play the piano; it's the kind of restless little movement you make when you don't know where to put your hands.

Hua Hua and Fei Niao exchanged another glance.

The silence in the living room lasted for a long time. So long that Hua Hua didn't even notice when she crushed a small piece of the shrimp cracker in her hand and a crumb fell onto her shorts.

Xia Mo stood up, said, "I'll practice the piano first, you guys can play whatever you want," and then walked into the room at the other end of the corridor and closed the door.

The moment the door closed, Hua Hua and Fei Niao exhaled simultaneously—like two people who had been holding their breath underwater for a long time finally surfacing.

"...How scary." Hua Hua said in a breathy voice.

"Yes." Asuka nodded.

"I'm not saying his parents are scary, it's just... the air is scary. You know? Like that feeling in the classroom when you're waiting for your exam results."

"Mmm." Asuka nodded again. She understood. It was that feeling of having to be careful even when breathing, afraid that if she made too much noise she would step on something she shouldn't.

Hua Hua looked down at the shrimp cracker crumbs on her shorts, patted them off, then put the snack bag away and back into the plastic bag.

She was just asking for snacks, but now she seems to have lost her appetite.

The two sat for a while longer. The sound of a piano drifted down from the other end of the corridor—

The piece I played today was quieter than usual, like a river flowing very slowly, with long gaps between each note.

That blank space isn't due to a lack of skill, but rather because the pianist is hesitant, unsure whether to press the next note.

After listening for a while, Feibiao suddenly stood up. "I'll go check on him." She walked to the door of the music room, which was not closed completely, leaving a crack.

She peeked through the crack—Xia Mo sat at the piano, his fingers resting on the keys, but not playing. His shoulders were slightly slumped, and he looked a little thinner than usual. Fei Niao didn't knock; she went back inside.

About twenty minutes later, Xia Mo came out of the music room. He closed the music room door, walked into the living room, and saw Hua Hua and Fei Biao sitting on the sofa with untouched barley tea and a bag of snacks that had already been put away in front of them.

Neither of them spoke, but there was a cautious hesitation in their eyes as they looked at him, as if they didn't know whether they should speak or not.

Xia Mo stood at the living room doorway, looked at them, and then at the barley tea on the coffee table, where Hua Hua and Fei Niao had barely moved.

"Aren't you guys very bored?" he asked. Flower and Bird shook their heads simultaneously, then looked at each other, and then simultaneously said—"A little."

Hua Hua and Fei Niao whispered to each other.

Xia Mo was silent for two seconds. He raised his hand and touched his ear, standing there thinking for a while, as if making some important decision.

"So...should we go out?"

Hua Hua's eyes lit up: "Where to?"

"...To Asuka's house?"

Asuka paused for a moment, then asked, "My house?"

"Isn't your home not too far from here?" Xia Mo looked at her, her tone carrying a hint of uncertainty.

"If that doesn't work—"

"Sure," Asuka interrupted him, her voice a little louder than before, "My house is nearby, and my mom is home today, she won't mind."

Hua Hua had already sprung up from the sofa and started packing her things. She stuffed the shrimp chips back into the bag and stacked the barley tea cups together, moving as fast as if she were fleeing a disaster.

Feiniao also stood up and put his sun hat back on his head.

Xia Mo glanced back at the direction of the stairs, then at the direction of the kitchen, before picking up the key and gently leading the two out the door.

The moment the door closed, he stood outside the entryway and let out a deep breath.