Held in her arms, Su Yu's expression was… complicated.
A little awkward. A little resigned. But mostly—strangely fascinated.
How do you even describe it?
Getting princess-carried by a girl who looked a full head shorter than him…Yeah. The perspective was definitely special.
So this was what people meant by "small bird clinging to someone"… except I'm the bird.
Kevin looked at Kiana with that complicated expression that basically said: My buddy's in your hands now.
"Uh… Su Yu is… in your care, then. Don't drop him."
"…Mm." Kiana answered, muffled.
"If you need help, call anytime," Kevin added, then delivered the finishing blow, his eyes dropping onto Su Yu's dead-inside face. "And I mean call me, not Su Yu."
"I know," Kiana said.
Kiana turned, holding Su Yu like she'd just claimed a precious trophy, and started walking toward the old apartment complex.
"Um," Su Yu started carefully, "could you put me down first—"
"Nope."
Kiana refused instantly, and there was still a bit of leftover grievance in her voice.
"Why?!"
"Because when you grabbed me earlier, I told you to let go," Kiana muttered. "And you didn't."
Su Yu opened his mouth and realized he'd been completely blocked by this childishly perfect revenge logic.
What was this? Karma?
"…Fine." He sighed and gave up resisting.
Behind them, Kevin and Mei stood in place, watching the beauty-saves-the-hero silhouette fade into the night.
"Kevin," Mei said.
"Yeah?"
"Don't you think Su Yu's 'cat that fell from the sky' is… a little too special?"
"Don't ask." Kevin rubbed his temples, staring at the receding figures, his mouth twitching. "I want the answer too. But I have a feeling if I learn it, my entire worldview is getting factory-reset."
Meanwhile, Su Yu—still being princess-carried—was experiencing the purest form of social death.
"Kiana…"
"What?"
"Can you walk faster? Like… the kind of speed where people can't see faces?"
"What's wrong?"
"People are staring… and there are a lot of them…"
Kiana swept her gaze around.
Yep. A few college students had stopped mid-walk, phones out, expressions screaming: What the hell is this plot twist?
A white-haired girl princess-carrying a 1.8-meter adult man—this looked like a staged prank video waiting to happen.
"So what if they stare?" Kiana sounded completely reasonable, even a little smug. "They don't know us anyway."
"But I know me!" Su Yu protested. "My public image! How am I supposed to exist in this neighborhood after this?!"
"What public image? You're a shut-in gamer." Kiana jabbed. "Shut-ins don't have an image to begin with."
"How do you know that?!"
"I saw your room. The figures and game discs gave it away, idiot."
Su Yu let his head drop, powerless, letting the superhuman girl carry him through street after street under the cleansing fire of strangers' gaze.
Finally—after repeated complaints (mostly threats involving no soda purchases)—Kiana relented.
"Alright, alright. You're annoying. I'll switch positions."
She rolled her eyes, set him down like unloading cargo, then crouched and patted her shoulder.
"Get on."
So the princess carry became a piggyback.
It looked less insane, sure, but—
"Mommy mommy, why is big brother riding on姐姐's back? Did he break his leg?"
A little girl with pigtails tugged her mother's hand, pointing at them. Her voice was bright enough for the whole street.
The young mom smiled warmly. "Sweetie, that's called 'women hold up half the sky.' Learn from姐姐—be strong like her in the future."
Su Yu's face cycled rapidly from green to white. He wanted to shove his head into Kiana's hood and never return.
And the passersby didn't let up:
A middle-aged guy gave a thumbs-up with a meaningful look. "Bro, your household rank is in danger."
A couple covered their mouths, snickering, eyes saying: Respect, man.
A few grandpas squatting by a chessboard looked up; one sighed. "Kids these days… weaker every generation. Gotta get carried by a girl."
Su Yu felt his Social Death progress bar rocket upward, about to hit the redline.
"Put me down," he whispered.
"No," Kiana said without turning her head.
"Seriously. Put me down. I can walk— I can crawl home if I have to—"
"They don't know us."
"But I know me!"
"You care this much about your image?" Kiana teased. "When you toss your underwear everywhere?"
"I—I don't!" Su Yu spluttered. "That's because I'm looking for stuff!"
He tried to argue, but the helplessness won, and he shut up.
The night wind swept by with early-autumn chill.
Kiana carried him steadily toward the apartment gate. Her breathing stayed even, her steps steady, like he weighed nothing.
Pressed against her back, Su Yu caught a faint scent of detergent—lavender. The one he'd bought yesterday. And the warmth of a living person through fabric.
Her back was skinny, but not bony.
And… unexpectedly reassuring.
"What are you thinking about?" Kiana interrupted.
"Nothing," Su Yu snapped back to reality. "Work tomorrow."
"Liar."
"…How do you know?"
"Because you sighed." Kiana said. "That old-man kind of sigh."
Su Yu fell silent.
He had sighed—but not because of work.
Whatever. Don't think about it. Get home first.
The stairwell entrance finally came into view—
"Yo!"
A familiar voice rang out from ahead.
Su Yu looked up.
A red-haired woman stood at the bottom of the stairs, a few cans of beer in hand, wearing the kind of gossip-hungry grin that spelled danger.
Himeko.
She stared at Kiana carrying Su Yu piggyback, eyes wide like she'd just witnessed a rare cosmic phenomenon.
"Well damn," she whistled. "So you really are the junior sister coming down the mountain."
She sized Kiana up, impressed.
"That strength? Yeah, you've trained."
Then her gaze slid to Su Yu's right leg—wrapped up like a rice dumpling—and her expression shifted into something richly adult and deeply suspicious.
"Su Yu~" she drawled.
"You didn't sneak off to fool around behind your junior sister's back, get your leg broken, and then get dragged home, did you?"
"…Is this the domestic-violence settlement screen?"
....
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