Gazing intently at the yellow fortune slip hanging beneath the small bell, Zoe couldn’t decipher the writing on it. As he reached out to touch it, the paper suddenly burst into flames. Startled, Zoe quickly withdrew his hand, watching in shock and fear as the paper turned to ash and fell to the wooden floor. Worry crept into his mind as he thought,
What is this?... Neil, what kind of person is he to have such odd things in his house? Or is it something that keeps spirits away from this house? If that’s the case, what if I accidentally burned it? Could Neil get angry and kick me out?
Zoe anxiously ran back to his room and closed the door behind him. He lay on the bed, eyes wide open, pondering the recent events.
Time slowly passed, and after a long while, Zoe glanced at the clock on the bedside table—it was eleven at night. At this moment, he heard the door opening; Neil had returned. Zoe sprang up, intending to explain what had happened. Even if Neil were to kick him out for this mistake, Zoe would apologize sincerely. But he hoped Neil wouldn’t make such a harsh decision in the middle of the night over a momentary lapse.
As Neil entered and turned on the lights, he saw Zoe coming out of his room.
Neil was surprised. “You’re still awake this late?”
“I…” Zoe hesitated.
Seeing Zoe’s embarrassment and reluctance to speak, Neil sat down on the sofa and motioned for him to come over. “If something’s up, come sit and tell me.”
Zoe slowly walked over and sat down in front of Neil, carefully recounting what had just happened. Neil listened in silence, and after a moment, he smiled gently at Zoe.
“It’s nothing. I’ll just put up another fortune slip tomorrow. Are you okay?”
Zoe shook his head and asked, “What was that thing?”
Neil poured a glass of water for Zoe and began to recount a story from when he was sixteen years old.
That year, he had just passed the university entrance exam with a high score. To surprise his son, Neil’s father had bought him the latest model of the Moto SuperSport motorcycle. Since childhood, Neil had been passionate about motorcycles and had always dreamed of owning one. When he saw the new motorcycle, he couldn’t contain his excitement.
Neil wanted to try out the new bike his father had given him. Initially, everything was wonderful—the bike sped smoothly on the highway, and Neil skillfully leaned into turns. However, he was suddenly startled by the sound of metal scraping against the road, creating a frightening noise. As it was his first time riding a motorcycle on the highway, his reflex was to straighten the handlebars at the apex of the turn.
Unfortunately, once he had exceeded the speed limit, there was no avoiding the other vehicles in sight. Unable to control the speed, the bike veered off onto the opposite side of the road, causing a terrible accident. To avoid colliding with Neil’s motorcycle, a car swerved, triggering a chain reaction with multiple other vehicles. This accident resulted in many injuries and fatalities, and Neil’s father had to pay a large sum in compensation for the accident caused by his son.
Since then, Neil never rode a motorcycle again. The nightmares from the accident plagued him, and he went through a prolonged period of sleeplessness. His father took him to a monastery in the mountains to seek inner peace. There, an elderly monk gave Neil a necklace with an ancient talisman meant for exorcism. It was supposed to bring peace of mind, promote virtuous living, and protect the wearer from malevolent spiritual forces.
Neil took off the necklace and showed it to Zoe, and now Zoe understood why Jill wanted him to stay away from Neil. The issue wasn’t about Zoe but rather Jill. Jill couldn’t approach Zoe if he stayed close to Neil because of this talisman.
“When I was preparing to go home, the monk also gave me these wind chimes. He suggested hanging them in the house for a more peaceful sleep.”
“But why did it catch fire when I touched it?” Zoe asked in confusion.
Neil was silent for a moment and then shook his head. “Actually, I don’t know. I’ve never touched it before; my father hung them up. Before returning to care for my grandmother, he told me not to remove the wind chimes. So, I didn’t pay much attention to them.”
This was a lie to reassure Zoe. In truth, Neil had touched the slip before without any issues. Although he had some worries, he didn’t want to alarm Zoe. One day, he planned to return to the monastery to clarify this matter with the monk.
But there was something more pressing on his mind. After a moment of contemplation, Neil looked at Zoe, hoping that his story wouldn’t remind Zoe of the accident that had befallen his parents. Neil felt increasingly uneasy, wanting to confess the truth to Zoe—that he was directly responsible for the deaths of Zoe’s parents, that he had spent years searching for him.
When he learned of the orphanage that had taken Zoe in, he visited but found Zoe had been imprisoned for manslaughter. Every month, he sent gifts to the prison but lacked the courage to reveal his identity.
He felt remorse and guilt for the terrible mistake he had made, causing a child to lose both parents in one day. If Zoe hadn’t gone to the orphanage, he likely wouldn’t have been charged with manslaughter and imprisoned for years, missing out on education and a bright future—all due to Neil’s fault.
Neil couldn’t tear his gaze away from Zoe’s innocent, focused face as he looked at the necklace Neil had given him. In a moment, an angel had been shattered by him. Over the years, Neil had been unaware of the suffering and pain Zoe had endured.
Now, he wanted to know everything about Zoe and to embrace him, to love and protect him as an older brother would, since Zoe had no other family in the world. Zoe deserved happiness, and the misfortune he had faced was not his fault but Neil’s.
But Neil couldn’t reveal the truth. He feared that once Zoe learned who was responsible for his parents’ deaths, he would leave and refuse to accept any help from Neil. Neil couldn’t erase the painful past he had caused, but he didn’t want Zoe to suffer alone. He wanted to be by his side, more than ever now.
After a month together, the feeling was both unfamiliar and familiar.
The warmth of knowing someone needed his protection, the sight of Zoe sitting by the window, always turning to smile when he came home—each smile felt like magic, irresistible to his heart.
He had thought that by bringing Zoe here, he would act as a caring older brother, but it wasn’t as simple as that.