𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎'𝒔 𝑨𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓
∘∙⊱⋅━━━━━━ ༻🦋༺ ━━━━━━⋅⊰∙∘
The rain begins to pour just as the elevator reaches the basement parking lot. The metallic ding sounds like a death knell in the heavy silence. Qiuqiu steps out first.
His long coat is damp, and his messy black hair clings to his forehead. His vision remains blurred, turning the rows of cars into sleeping monsters in the dark. He tightens his grip on Peanut's small hand. A memory he has tried to bury begins to surface, heavy and suffocating. 🩹
"Mama, why are you crying?" Peanut whispers. He looks up with innocent, wide eyes. Even at seven, he can feel the waves of sorrow radiating from Qiu Dingjie.
Qiuqiu wipes his eyes quickly, forcing a smile that doesn't reach his gaze. He remembers a night from years ago—the sight of a photo in Eliot's hands. It was a rare breed of dog, a companion Eliot had once longed for.
Qiuqiu had searched the entire city to find that same breed, not for himself, but to feel a connection to the man who refused to look at him. That search led him to Peanut. "I'm not crying, baby. It's just the rain," he murmurs. The lie tastes like ash on his tongue. 🥀𓋜
Beside them, Lele 🐕 stands tall. He is handsome and silent, his eight-year-old face masked with a maturity beyond his years.
He scans the shadows, his protector instincts flaring. He isn't Peanut's biological brother, but their bond—forged in the same kennel before the D4 members adopted them—is stronger than blood.
Suddenly, a camera shutter clicks from behind a concrete pillar. A flash of light blinds Qiuqiu for a split second. A group of Sasaeng fans has followed them down. Their faces are twisted with a terrifying, hollow obsession.
"Look! It's the kids! Are they the secret sons? Give them to us!" one fan screams, lunging forward with a heavy camera held like a weapon.
Qiuqiu's eyes flash with a flickering, dark amber light. It is a desperate remnant of his Shadow resonance,
struggling against the suppression gas. It isn't the brilliant gold of an Anchor, but a wounded, earthy glow that mirrors his internal pain. "Stay back!" he roars. He moves to defend the children,
but the darkness of the garage disorients him. Is the van at Pillar B-4... or C-9? His sense of direction fails him at the worst moment. They are trapped between the charging fans and a dead-end wall. 🧭
At that moment, a black SUV skids to a halt in front of them. The window rolls down, revealing Muna 🕵️♀️.
She isn't looking at the fans; her gaze is fixed on the empty seat beside her, where a small, invisible presence seems to play with a silver bell.
"Get in, Qiuqiu-ge," Maymuna says. Her voice is calm, chillingly so.
"The Butterfly has already been taken by his 'savior.' If you stay here, the secrets of the Spirit Squad will be exposed before the first moon rises." 🌬️
As Qiu Dingjie throws the children into the back seat, he notices a small, purple cat toy on the floor. It belongs to someone who isn't there yet. A memory of a small, meowing shadow—Xiao Qiuqian (Little Nugu)—flickers in his mind like a dying spark. 🐾
The car speeds away, leaving the screaming fans in the dust. But the silence inside the SUV is even more painful. The war isn't just in the hospital; it is in the past they all share—a past that is slowly beginning to bleed into the present. ⚖️
༺⊰━━━━━━─ 𓃥─━━━━━━⊱༻
Inside the speeding SUV, the air is thick with the scent of rain and old secrets. Qiuqiu 🐕 leans his head against the cold glass window. His messy black hair hides the exhaustion etched into his eyes. He looks at his hands—the hands that fought so hard today—and feels a strange, hollow emptiness. Beside him, Peanut 🐶 has fallen asleep, his innocent face tucked into the collar of Qiuqiu's long coat.
Maymuna 🕵️♀️ drives with calm precision, her eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. Through the rearview mirror, she watches the two children and the broken Shadow beside her.
"You know, Qiuqiu-ge," she starts, her voice a soft melody. "The elders say every trial is like a dark cloud. We only see the darkness, but behind it lies a light we cannot yet perceive. We must have patience—Sabr." 🌙
Qiuqiu looks at her. His vision is still blurry, but the weight of her words settles in his chest. "Patience is hard, Muna. Especially when the person you'd die for is looking at someone else." He thinks of A'xing 🦋 and that 'fake savior.' The pain is sharp, but he remembers the values of his upbringing—to stay truthful even when the world is built on lies. 🥀𓋜
Suddenly, Lele 𓋜 sits up straight in the back. His silver-toned black hair bristles. "Mama, someone is following us. Not the fans. Two black cars with no license plates." 🚘
Muna's grip on the steering wheel tightens. She glances at the silver bell on the seat beside her—the one Xiao Qiuqian (Little Nugu) used to play with in a memory that feels like a lifetime ago. "They are the subordinates of the one who hides in the shadows,"
she murmurs. "They think they can trap us, but they forget that the truth has its own way of shining through the darkness." ✍️
At a sharp turn, the SUV's headlights illuminate a small wooden sign by the road. It is an old prayer house. For a split second, Qiuqiu feels a sense of direction he usually lacks. He doesn't need a map; he feels a spiritual pull. "Muna, turn left! Into the forest path!" 🌳
"But that's a dead end on the map!" Muna questions.
"Trust me. Sometimes the path that looks like a dead end is the one that saves you,"
Qiuqiu says. His voice is firm, backed by a new-found faith. As they veer off the main road, the chasing cars overshoot the turn, their tires screaming against the asphalt. ⛓️
Inside the forest, under the canopy of ancient trees, Maymuna slows the car down. She looks at Qiuqiu and sees the mole on his cheek glowing faintly in the moonlight.
"You did well, Qiuqiu-ge," Muna whispers. "You chose the path of faith over the path of fear. That is the first lesson of the Anchor."
As the moon reaches its peak, a small, distant sound of a bell echoes from deep within the woods—ting-ling—a sound that makes Qiuqiu's heart stop.
It is the same bell sound from the memory of Xiao Qiuqian (Little Nugu). The mystery is calling, and they aren't walking this path alone. 🐾🔔