The sunset in the suburban town was a sweet, honey-yellow, a color that Zhu Yaiy Han, even if he searched through Luminous's memories in the cold metal corridors of IDK, would never be able to recapture.
"Brother Han! Wait for me!"
A clear voice, like the tinkling of wind chimes in a field of wildflowers, rang out. Yaiy Han stopped, his mud-stained canvas shoes halting. He turned, looking at the tiny figure toddling towards him.
It was Yangtai Yan.
That year, Yan was twelve years old, an age when people still believed that angels existed. She wore a white dress embroidered with wildflowers at the hem, her soft hair fluttering, partially obscuring her chubby face. Every time Yan ran, her rosy cheeks trembled, and her eyes—which Yaiy Han swore contained an entire galaxy—were always brimming with tears.
"Crying again?" Yaiy Han clicked his tongue, his voice curt, but his hand awkwardly reached up to wipe away the tears on the little girl's cheek.
"I... I'm afraid you'll abandon me," Yan sobbed, her small hand clutching the hem of his T-shirt. "Tomorrow is my birthday. Everyone says... after 13, everyone has to get a 'third eye' implanted in the back of their neck. I don't want to. I'm afraid it hurts."
Yaiy Han paused. He looked towards the horizon, where the skyscrapers of the Integrated Dominion Kingdom (IDK) loomed like silver swords piercing the clouds. There, children were called "potential codes." But to him, Yan was just Yan. The crybaby, the only one unafraid of his rebellious, quarrelsome nature.
"Don't be afraid." Yaiy Han took her trembling hand, squeezing it gently. "I'll protect you. If they try to attach that machine to you, I'll smash it first."
"Really?" Yan looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
"Really. I swear on my honor as someone who... never came first in class."
Yaiy Han's joke made Yan laugh, her laughter dispelling the stifling atmosphere of the late afternoon. She pulled a bracelet she'd woven herself with multicolored threads from her pocket and clumsily put it on his wrist.
"This is my amulet. Han, you have to wear it, so no matter what I transform into, you'll still recognize me, okay?"
Yaiy Han looked at the colorful bracelet on his tanned wrist and smiled a rare smile: "Okay, I'll never take it off."
In the distance, QuinTang leaned against an old tree, silently observing the scene. A hint of melancholy flickered in her eyes. She knew Yaiy Han was a wild horse that no one could tame, unless his "little fairy" called out to him.
Before Yan's laughter could fade into the wind, a slender, somewhat sharp voice rang out from behind the ancient tree:
"Oh my, what cheesy vows!"
QuinTang stepped out, her arms crossed, her confident and slightly carefree demeanor characteristic of a girl who grew up amidst the brawls of the outskirts. She glanced at the multicolored bracelet on Yaiy Han's wrist with a slight narrowing of her eyes, but quickly switched to her usual mischievous smile.
"QuinTang!" Yan exclaimed, still somewhat hiding behind Yaiy Han.
"Hey, Han," QuinTang ignored Yaiy Han's annoyed expression, approaching and gesturing towards the glittering silver towers on the horizon. "Anyway, your little fairy has to 'check in' there tomorrow. How about we three take a stroll around the outskirts of IDK this afternoon?"
Yaiy Han frowned: "That area isn't for children. The security guards and those drones scanning codes are very strict."
"But we're not going through the main entrance!" QuinTang winked, pulling out an old access card he'd picked up from an electronics junkyard. "I know a path through the electromagnetic fence on the west side. I heard you can see the lobby of the 'Integrated Area' from there. Let Yan take a look beforehand so she won't be surprised and cry tomorrow, okay?"
Hearing this, Yan's big, round eyes lit up with a mixture of curiosity and fear. She tugged at Yaiy Han's sleeve, whispering, "Brother Han... can we just go take a look? I want to know what that place looks like."
Yaiy Han looked into Yan's pleading eyes, then at QuinTang's defiant expression. He knew QuinTang wanted to prove she wasn't afraid of that "kingdom," and she also wanted to pull him out of their private world with Yan.
"Just watching from afar," Yaiy Han sighed, his hand tightening around the multicolored bracelet he'd just received. "If anything happens, I'll drag you two away first."
QuinTang chuckled gleefully, skipping ahead: "Don't worry, with 'The Rebel' Yaiy Han here, what drone would dare touch us?"
As they approached the edge of IDK, the air grew thicker with the smell of metal and static electricity. But despite the intimidating presence of the walls of light, Yangtai Yan remained as carefree as a little bird lost in a forbidden garden.
She skipped along the grass beside the engineering tunnel, occasionally exclaiming at the sight of an unusual wildflower. Yan picked a handful of flowers, then eagerly chased after a glowing electronic butterfly – a defective product discarded from the school's lab.
"Brother Han! Look, isn't this flower purple like my eyes?" Yan held up a tiny flower, her eyes sparkling with joy.
Meanwhile, QuinTang remained vigilant. Her sharp eyes constantly scanned the security cameras mounted on the high-voltage power poles. She subtly touched the access card in her pocket, calculating the patrol rhythm of the drones overhead.
"Quiet down, Yan, we're in the gray zone," QuinTang reminded, but her tone was much gentler than usual.
"YAIY HAN! STOP HER!"
QuinTang's scream startled Yaiy Han. He turned to see Yan curiously holding up a bunch of dark red berries – a mutated plant resulting from a chemical leak from IDK – intending to taste them.
"YANGTAI YAN! SPREAD IT AWAY!"
Yaiy Han roared, his already agile legs, those of a seasoned escapee, now darting forward like an arrow. He tripped over a root, nearly falling, but managed to grab Yan's wrist just millimeters from her lips.
"You idiot! Do you want to die?" Yaiy Han gasped, his face flushed with fear and anger. He forcefully tossed the poisonous berries to the ground, crushing them under his worn shoes. "Those are poisoned berries from the experiment site; eating them will burn your throat, do you know that?"
Yan was stunned by the scolding, her big, round eyes beginning to well up with tears. She pursed her lips and mumbled, "I... I just thought it was pretty... I wanted to pick it for you..."
Seeing the pitiful expression on the "little angel's" face, Yaiy Han's anger vanished completely. He scratched his head, awkwardly glancing at QuinTang, who was grinning triumphantly behind him.
"Alright, I won't scold you anymore. But from now on, you have to hold onto my shirt, no wandering around!"
Yaiy Han offered Yan a piece of his T-shirt to grab. And so, a rebellious, aggressive boy walked ahead, leading a tearful little girl clinging to his shirt, and a wise childhood friend providing rear guard.