บท 2: Chapter 2 - Changes

Yu Zixin returned home to find a small well-packed box outside his door. Aunty flora had left him some of her curry.

Even though the food was never to his liking this small gesture gave him the warmth he missed in this city. He picked it up and entered his house.

Old man Kijima was still out on his balcony with his cat crusty by his feet. As the name suggests the cat looked quite unkempt. It was not because Kijima did not take good care of it, it was because the cat was inherently curly hair. It had very shaggy long hair that is harder to tame.

He handed him the pack of cigarettes respectfully. "Mister Kijima thank you for your help…" he bowed at him.

The old man scoffed. "What are a few dollars? Hardworking young men like you shouldn't starve. Carrying bricks takes a lot of energy eh, you must eat well..."

He squatted down on the balcony with the well packages lunch box. As soon as he opened the strong scent of lemon hit his senses. '…. It's okay. Its food... it's all food.'

"Wait, are you eating that woman's curry again? Don't eat that. You got sick the last time. I had to hear your toilet flush all night,"

Yu Zixin blushed, thinking of his past embarrassing moment. He gulped down the awful sour curry down. "I have meds this time."

"Ya! Are you willing to risk your life for some food?"

"I'm a strong man. I can handle it," he grinned at him. He was willing to eat it only because it was made with love. Being away from home for so long, he had long since craved hot meals like this. Even though it was atrocious, he was willing to gulp it all down.

"a strong man who poops all night." Scoffing the old man stood up with difficulty.

Yu Zixin awkwardly scratched his head. He watched the old man struggle to actually even take a few steps and move. Mister Kijima was about eighty years old. he had no immediate family and lived alone with only his cat as company. "Mister Kijima do you need me to go on a grocery run for you?"

The old man looked at him with his bushy brows raised. "Do I need someone to babysit me? It's too early for that boy,"

his lips were raised slightly as he entered his house.

The shaggy cat crusty threw a gaze at him weirdly and followed after its owner.

Chuckling Yu Zixin stood out his balcony breathing in the fresh air.

Looking up at the beautiful lights that lit up the sky, he suddenly thought of a certain woman with stark white hair. Her beautiful blue eyes looked at him coldly. Her slightly pursed lips…... she was like a fairy who had descended upon this earth.

Such an unworldly beauty was not something he could get over.

'What is the use in thinking of that beauty? She is like the sky while I'm like a frog in the gutter.' He smiled and walked back in.

What he didn't realize was that the green aurora Borealis above the sky started to fluctuate violently. The colorful sky suddenly turned red, casting an ominous aura on the mortal's world.

Yu Zixin was out as soon as he laid his head on the deflated pillow. A dreamless sleep that was what he had every night.

But all of a sudden, he felt a gutting pain in his stomach. Like a thousand knives being stabbed in his stomach, the pain started to progress up into his heart and into his head.

He tried to blink his eyes open.

But it was not possible.

His whole body froze up. he had no control over it

It was like he had become an invalid.

Sweat started to drip off his body in buckets.

Yu Zixin groaned loudly. 'is it appendicitis? or its the curry…... I even took the meds….'

Slowly his hands and his legs started to gain their functionality. he immediately sat up holding his stomach tightly. Calling an ambulance was not an option.

He did not have money.

His gutting pain intensified. he felt the entire ground shake. His distracted eyes swirled around his room, looking at everything shaking.

'Am I…. dying... what of my family... what will they do… I... I shouldn't die... I can't die… I can't afford to die….' he tightly closed his eyes hoping the pain will recede.

And so, it did.

The pain came and went like a mirage.

Yu patted his stomach once or twice. There was no residual pain, only a feeling of numbness was left behind. "What the hell was that? I should make sure to never eat curry again…"

Sighing, he went to the cabinet and got some gastric disorder medicine, and swallowed it.

After doing so he laid down on his bed. Sleep evaded him.

He laid awake looking at the peeling paint on his ceiling. As he looked closer, he saw a weird red shine reflected on his walls and ceiling.

'There are no fancy neon-lights near my area. What is this light?' he woke up and looked around. His balcony was closed with a thick curtain.

He quizzically looked at the light once again.

The balcony was closed. There was nowhere else The light can come from.

He stepped up and started to search The direction the red light came from. To his surprise, it was coming from his shoe shelf.

Yu Zixin slowly stepped up to it and removed the pair of shoes he recently wore. Behind it was a glowing red gem.

"Isn't this the gem that fairy gave me… I should have given it back to her. it looks costly."

The ruby-looking crystal was jagged with sharp edges. The base of it was made up of some silvery substance, while The crystal itself was jagged, bright red, and growling brightly. The gem must be some display piece. It looked so well crafted, but he couldn't even spot where the red lights were placed in.

the red glow was so mesmerising to look at it. it was like an ancient voice was calling him, beckoning him to look at it even more. Yu couldn't take his eyes off it.

All of a sudden, he felt a small prick.

Startled, he dropped the gem.

"Shit!" he hurriedly scurried down to pick it up.

Thankfully, the gem had not shattered.

"I'll try to find her again..." He carefully placed it on the shoe rack and was ready to head off to bed.

A small red droplet floated right in front of his eyes. For a second, Yu Zixin didn't know what to think. He reached out to touch it when he noticed that the blood droplets were floating up from his fingertips.

The small cut the gemstone made was bleeding profusely and the blood, instead of dripping down, floated in the air!

Little by little, he watched the blood droplet float over to the red gem and they all got sucked into the red ruby. The stone glowed even brighter.

He had no words. This all seemed magical to explain with his logical brain. He simply picked up the gemstone.

The blood from his fingertips started to roll off in droplets and coated the surface of the gem slowly. he watched the blood get sucked in.

After a few droplets, the wound stopped bleeding; the glow dimmed and finally, the gemstone stopped shining.

Yu Zixin couldn't make heads or tails as to what was going on. 'This must be a dream…. Have I finally lost it? I'm delusional? Hallucination things....'

He fell into a major identity crisis.

Right then, he heard a loud smashing sound. It was coming from mister Kijima's house.

Yu Zixin ran to the corridor and knocked on his door. "Mister Kijima are you okay? I just heard a loud sound…."

There was no answer from the inside.

"Mister Kijima …" he waited, but there was no answer even after ten minutes of standing out there.

It was unlikely that the old man was asleep. Even the smallest sound would disrupt him.

"Shit did he slip?" he worriedly pranced around.

He desperately wanted to check on him. "Fuck this." He kicked the door open and rushed in. "mister Kijima?"

The small one-bedroom apartment was dark. Only the slight red glow from outside shone inside through the balcony. He walked close to mister Kijima's bed. "Are you okay?"

The structural layout of his house was the same as mister Kijima's so he knew where the light switch was. He swiftly switched it on to see the old man lying on the ground.

His cat crusty was beside him chomping on the old man's neck.

The whole floor…. It was covered in blood.

"Fuck crusty!" he rushed to him and grabbed the cat's nape tightly. crusty gave out a huge growl and let go of his neck.

Soon the cat wiggled around trying to take a bite off his hand.

He did not have The time to care about this cat. He tossed it to the corner of the room and hurried to mister Kijima's aid. The bleeding was too extensive, and he put a lot of pressure on his torn-up neck. "My phone… mister Kijima where Is your phone? We need to call the ambulance…"

He hurriedly removed his own undershirt and tied it tightly around his neck, putting pressure on The wound. As he was about to leave to get the phone Kijima tightly gripped his hand.

"d-don't…... it's... it's my time."

"No! you have long to live!!"

The old man grinned brightly. "I already see… the light." He coughed. Blood spurted out of his wounds.

Yu Zixin hurriedly placed his hand putting pressure on the bite wound.

The old man lifted his stick-like hand and pointed to the bedside table. "book… take it."

"What?" he couldn't just let him die like this. He made sure to bandage the wound on his jugular and ran to the bedside table. An old model Nokia phone laid there. he hurriedly made a call.

Crusty suddenly let out a loud yowl.

She dashed to mister Kijima again.

"no! crusty! Fucking leave him alone!" he gripped the cat tightly in his hand. There were no cages in the old man's house, so he took The blanket from the bed and hurriedly wrapped up the cat into a huge bag.

By then, his call connected. "Hello, my neighbor was badly wounded and is bleeding."

There was static noise on the other side of the call.

"Hello! Is anyone there?!"

He heard a scream from The other side followed by the sounds of growling.

Yu doubtfully looked at the number he had dialled. It was definitely 112. "Hello? fucking hell…"

He dropped The phone and ran to mister Kijima. If the ambulance can't come to them, he might have to take him to the hospital himself.

Just as he was about to lift him, he saw the man's dull lifeless eyes.

Yu Zixin froze.

"k-Kijima…... old man…." his trembling finger gently hovered over his nostrils. The old man was breathless.

He was…... gone.

He stumbled down to the ground. His brain stopped working for a while. he couldn't think. He closed his eyes and tried to regulate his breath.

The bloody stench invaded his nostrils, making him even sicker.

"he's.... he's dead…."

As he was processing everything, he heard a loud yowling again. Crusty had found a way out of the quilt bag he had tied him up in and dashed to him this time.

With her claws out, she tried to claw at him.

Yu Zixin lost every bit of patience dealing with this cat. He hurriedly grabbed it and tossed it out the open balcony.

He heard a loud crash, and Crusty's sound disappeared.

Yu tightly closed his eyes. "sorry old man... I killed your cat... isn't it great that she is coming with you to the afterlife with you... I'm... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry…." Tears blurred his vision. He held it back with much difficulty.

He stood up unsteadily. The least he could do was to fulfill the old man's final wish. He had pointed to the bedside table before dying.

He pulled open The drawer. Inside was only one small bank book.

"You stupid old man… why…." Tears he had been holding back rolled down his face, soaking the bank book.

Even during his death, the old man was looking out for him.

He hugged the bank book tightly and sobbed his heart out.