Chapter 12: 19 Years Ago

He narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward a little, taking a closer look at the silver ring.

And she wore it on the ring finger of her left hand. . .

He slowly moved his hand over to hers, placing one finger onto the ring, feeling the coldness of the silver under his skin.

This ring. . .

--- 19 years ago

He sat underneath the shade of the tree, watching the other kids playing around with the jump ropes together, chattering happily.

He stared at them for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and muttering, "Stupid."

Then, he looked down at the ground and began watching a tiny ant move around.

Suddenly, he saw a pair of feet stop a few inches away from him, stepping onto the ant, which would have definitely died.

A little annoyed, he looked up and saw a little girl who seemed to be at most 5 years old. Her hair was in pigtails and she was staring down at him with her sparkling, round eyes.

He furrowed his eyebrows together and they stared at each other for a few seconds.

Then, the little girl smiled and sat down next to her on the dirt, creating a stain on her favorite white dress, "You are very handsome."

Mo Yelin blinked a few times, unsure of how to react, ". . . Thank you?"

She smiled, revealing her missing tooth to the side, "You're welcome."

Seeing the hole in her line of teeth, he couldn't help but laugh and she tilted her head slightly, "What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing."

"What is your name?"

Mo Yelin looked over at her, "You don't know who I am?"

She shrugged, "I do. I heard some stories about you from the other kids and the teachers."

Mo Yelin's face darkened slightly, "So you do know. Then why are you here?"

She smiled widely, "I like your face."

Yes, kids at that age were just that direct. There was no filter to their words. And, Mo Yelin did not get mad because of her blunt reason. Instead, a small smile appeared on his face.

"What's your name?"

"Li Yixin."

"Li Yixin," he repeated. "You are not scared of me?"

Li Yixin tilted her head slightly, "Why should I be scared of you?"

Mo Yelin looked down and shrugged, saying coolly, "I killed someone. . . I stabbed someone to death."

He looked up, expecting to see the little girl run away, but she didn't seem to have any reaction to his words and instead looked up curiously with her large eyes:

"Why did you kill that person?"

". . ." Huh? Since he was sent to this adoption center, the rumor of what happened in the last adoption center he was in had spread and the adults didn't like him and the kids were scared of him.

He had been alone for the past few weeks all this time, and sometimes, the other kids would come in groups to pick on him. They all knew he had killed someone, but no one asked why.

He shrugged, "Because."

"There has to be a reason." Li Yixin lifted her hands up and grabbed onto Mo Yelin's arm, shaking it gently, "Tell me."

Mo Yelin was slightly surprised by her sudden touch, and he frowned softly before turning to look at her in the face. In return, he received another toothless smile.

A small and short laugh escaped his mouth before he looked back down at his feet and began wiggling his toes, "I killed the owner of the last adoption center I was in."

Li Yixin crossed her legs together and folded her arms together, in the position of getting ready for storytime.

On the side, a group of girls originally jumping ropes looked over and one girl snorted, "Look! The stupid Li Yixin is now hanging out with the murderer!"

Hearing this, everyone looked over at the tree and they all started murmuring.

The girls did not like Li Yixin because the adults and teachers all favored her because she was smart, pretty, sweet, and likable. Of course, this caused the other kids to seclude her, with the girls in the lead.

When Mo Yelin first came, all the girls flocked around him because he was one of the oldest and tallest boys in the adoption center, and he was very good-looking. As a face dog since birth, Li Yixin had also wanted to become friends with the new boy, but whenever she got near, the other girls pushed her away.

However, once news that the handsome new boy had killed someone spread, no one dared to hang out around him anymore. And for Li Yixin. . . Well, this was her chance!

Li Yixin jumped up from the ground and pointed an angry finger at the girl, "Shut up, Yuyu! You don't know anything!"

Mo Yelin didn't care about what the dumb girls said, and he was a little surprised at Li Yixin's reaction. Was she defending herself or was she defending him?

He then looked over at the girl named Yuyu, and when their eyes met, the girl immediately looked away in fear because of Mo Yelin's cold expression.

Li Yixin sat down angrily and crossed her arms together, "You don't have to listen to them! They don't know anything."

Mo Yelin smiled, "I know. . . Thank you."

Li Yixin smiled brightly back at him.

"Do you still want to hear why I killed the owner?"

Li Yixin nodded excitedly.

Mo Yelin smiled and turned around to face her, "The owner of the last adoption center I was in was a very bad person. He didn't give us food, and when he did, it was mostly stale and leftover food."

Li Yixin's mouth fell open as she listened intently.

"The young girls that reached 10 years of age also mysteriously disappeared sometimes, and there were rumors that he sold them to bars or as. . . Do you know what prostitutes are?'

Li Yixin shook her head confusedly.

"Never mind. Anyway, he was just very bad. He only opened the adoption center to earn money and help write off some taxes."

"So why did you kill him?"

Mo Yelin's face darkened slightly as he lifted one hand up, revealing a silver ring that was way too big for him on his finger, "I had this ring with me since birth. . . Maybe my parents gave it to me? I don't know. The owner wanted to take it from me one night when he was drunk, probably to sell it. . . I didn't want to give it to him. So, he started to beat me up."

Li Yixin's lips quivered as she unconsciously grasped onto the edge of her dress nervously.

"We were in the kitchen since I was on cleaning duty that day, and I got mad so I. . ." Mo Yelin glanced up into Li Yixin's anticipating eyes and hesitated. If he told her would she become scared of him like all the other kids?

"Go on. . ." She urged, holding a breath in.

Mo Yelin gulped before looking down, "So I grabbed a knife that was on the table and I stabbed him."

Li Yixin gasped as she placed her hands over her mouth. Mo Yelin looked up a little nervously, afraid of how she would react. Would she run away?

However, the next second, she lifted both arms up and clapped them together.

"You're so cool!"

--- Author's Note

Hehehe I wonder who this Li Yixin girl is? Hmm (SPOILER ALERT) why does she kind of remind me of our shameless face dog female lead? ^o^