Chapter 53
"A swallow's wing and the sky"
A minute ago, the sun evaporates the clouds, sets the wind on fire, makes the swallows' wings tilt as they fly through the fiery heat of space. Invisible or visible, everything seems angry at the strange weather—winter, yet as hot as summer.
Now the wind gently blows each cool breath, gliding and hovering around the floating white clouds in the deep blue sky. The swallow no longer staggers like a kite with a broken string. In the distance, birds call to their flock in joy; the messenger of spring echoes the song of convergence.
All things have feelings. A bird with a lost wing does not want to reunite, but quietly moves toward its own kind, lonely and sad, watching its "family" reunite at the edge of the sky. That place holds a family nest—a warm haven that does not offer affection to the outcast.
It only knows how to befriend the dandelion drifting in the wind—who shares the same suffering, not rushing to find a place to be reborn, but wandering between heaven and earth as if waiting for someone.
The immortal petal does not wish to return to life, but to fly—fly with its lonely friend forever. The two, familiar yet not of the same species, do not care where they fly… until the tree stops moving and the wind stops shaking, the flower finds a place for reincarnation and continues to live a lonely life.
The lonely flower chooses a strange "sky" to wait for reincarnation. No matter where it goes, the bird's wing remains beside its "relatives," quietly flying toward the "sky"—the place where its "relative" silently entrusts body and soul.
That "sky" is searching for the "swallow's wing" of its life. The "swallow's wing" has been away for three years. During that time, the only companion of the "sky" has been silent darkness. Although people have looked up to it, the "sky" has still felt lonely because it has been separated from its only relatives.
Now the "swallow's wing" is hurt, but can't be around to protect it. The heart-wrenching pain curses the useless person who has always been proud of being the "sky" of the "little swallow's wing". The "sky" can't wait any longer—just because of keeping a promise to his benefactor and the "swallow's wing", he suffers tormented agony, because the "swallow's wing" is swaying in the storm of life.
Nothing is more important than the humiliation suffered by the "swallow's wing". The "sky" doesn't care about anything else and gives up the promise to the "swallow's wing" to go to the dearest person.
The "sky" no longer wants to live a wandering, lonely life in the sadness of spring's absence.
Without the "swallow's wing", there is no spring.
Without spring, the vast "sky" is just empty space.
Running, running, and running—the "sky" rushes madly through the street, despite the rapid flow of motorcycles and cars, ignoring the drivers shouting and cursing: "The madman is running around like a mad dog!"
The "sky" accelerates, dodges through the noisy crowd, flies past the front of a car. The driver panics, slams on the brakes, causing sparks to splatter across the road and smoke to rise.
- Fuck you, mad dog! If you want to die, jump into the river! Don't drag your dad to die with you!
- Fuck! Daddy's in a hurry! Get the fuck out!
A pile of exhaust gas hits his face. The "sky" doesn't care or apologize, and hurriedly adjusts his crooked face mask and tilted glasses. Several people watch in half-belief as the madman's shadow disappears behind a row of high-rise buildings.
- Weird… looks familiar?
- A blockbuster is being filmed. He can't appear in this country!
- Tsk, maybe I'm seeing things wrong!
***
Constantly subjected to insults to her dignity, life has blown the wind, rolled the rain, rumbled, banged, and whipped—but the "swallow's wing" has calmly accepted all the negativity, letting out a slight smile in response to both praise and ridicule. She has ignored the scrutiny, the jealousy, and the proud crowd watching a "swallow" being buried.
Every minute, every second, the soulmate and the "swallow" have surpassed the waves together. Every moment, she has felt that the "swallow" is not trembling, yet the heart's waves have continued to rise.
She has felt aggrieved because someone's dignity has been trampled upon, sad because she cares deeply for her best friend who always cries until the tears run dry, nostalgic for the one whom the "swallow's wing" misses, and annoyed because the blockades of life have tarnished her best friend. All kinds of emotions have been compressed into pressure, crushing her spirit day and night.
Everything has been just a challenge. The "swallow" has not succumbed to the fate of rearranging her life. The small "swallow's wing" has been determined to fly into the center of the storm, and her strong spirit has always been covered and protected by "faith"—which has become her shield anytime, anywhere.
But only those who are in the situation have been able to fight against adversity. The "swallow" no longer wants to live a weak and fragile life. She has had to face her fate, letting pressure forge a steel spirit, turning her mind into stone. Only in this way can the "swallow" support her family through the storm together with the person she cares about.
Her spirit has burst out fiercely in front of the crowd whispering behind her back, laughing at the "back silhouette" in her heart. No matter how offensive the other party's words have been, the "swallow" has instantly fought back in kind—on all three sides, with just one word.
When Hung Nhat sucks fame and causes the block of life to go crazy, everyone is shocked to see the "swallow" slap a guy's face for daring to offend "someone's" family. The most humiliating thing was being beaten by a woman—he lost all face before the crowd. That "woman guy" charged furiously at little swallow and launched an attack.
Little swallow's confidante—her closest companion through the years, always defending and shielding her—rushed forward, furious, and clashed with the woman guy disguised in a man's skin.
After a brief struggle, that "woman guy" deliberately reached out to grope the confidante's chest. Startled and flustered, she instinctively stepped back, but her clothes were still yanked askew, exposing her. The girl scrambled to cover the patch of snow-white skin on her chest. Seizing the moment, the woman guy swung a hand toward little swallow's face. His arm is tightly clamped by someone near little swallow's cheek.
The whole place falls silent. Everyone's eyes focus on the tall young man wearing leather pants and a long silver-grey coat. His side-parted hair is messy and tangled, fluttering in the wind.
He fixes his murderous eyes on the assailant. The troublemaker cannot see the cold, death-like face behind the mask. Hidden behind the black glasses are countless purple stripes deep in his irises.
The man twists the hand of the guy with a liver bigger than the sky, throws him into the air, and he falls toward the iron pile of the unfinished project. Everyone fears that the one who starts the war will become the victim. He screams in terror at the death waiting for him. But the result is just a violent collision with the hard stone ground.
He breaks into a cold sweat, his pupils bulge, and he stares at the spot where he lands—just inches from the tip of the iron pile. The "victim" wets his crotch, shivers, and crawls up in panic, holding his head and running away.
Everyone turns their attention to the "swallow" and the young man, whispering curiously about the hidden-face hero. The "swallow's" soulmate thinks the stranger is someone unknown, but the stranger gives the "swallow" a feeling far beyond normal. He gently places his hand on her cheek. The "taking advantage" behavior wipes out the good feelings, causing the soulmate to become angry. She waves her hand, wanting to push him away, but suddenly stops—because the person who surprises her is the "swallow".
The "swallow" is annoyed because the stranger is too intimate. Her eyebrows suddenly turn red like fire. She tries to push the guy who takes advantage of the moment to touch her body. He gently places his hand on the "swallow's" shoulder. The warm affection makes the "swallow" dumbfounded.
Shining under the sun that covers the world, the familiar figure obscures the sky in the "swallow's" eyes. At this moment, even the supreme god is just a faint shadow compared to that figure.
In the past, the "sky" has broken the cage to let the "swallow" fly toward the horizon of freedom. The "swallow" has sobbed in the "sky's" arms. At that time, the cry of resentment toward family and the grievances of a puppet life have caused the "sky's" subconscious mind to suffer from phobia. The choking cry that has once made the "sky" sad—now it is no longer fragile.
The unyielding spirit in the wind waves squeezes the cry of resignation. The "swallow" no longer allows herself to be "weak" and cause the "sky" to feel uneasy. At this moment, joy must be the only existence.
Over the past three years, the "swallow" has been yearning for warmth and affection day and night, and the "sky" has been anxiously waiting for family love to no longer be separated by distance. There have been thousands of things in their hearts, thousands of words they have wanted to say, but they haven't been able to express them. Missing a relative has driven them crazy, yet they have quietly felt the joy of reunion.
Spring has come to the sky. The lost-winged bird sings joyfully, sharing its celebration with those who share the same suffering.
The dandelions still linger, as if they want to share the warmth of family affection—the kind of love that lonely people may never feel in their lifetime. The immortal flower is afraid of reincarnation, yet it must reincarnate.
But before entering the eternal cycle of life, the dandelion has existed in the excited eyes of the "little swallow." The "swallow" smiles brightly and watches the immortal flower drift far from the "sky."
Silently attached, and then quietly leaving, the flower spends the entire reunion moment for the "swallow"—the one who has given it an infatuated look. For the first and last time receiving simple feelings, the flower is satisfied with the only happiness in eternity.
The flower is lonely, but not out of place.
The joy of emotional people leads to the confusion of the rational person. The soulmate has not realized who the savior is, so she finds it difficult to understand the feelings of her bestie. Strangely, tears well up in the corners of her eyes. The soulmate can't believe herself, because the girl is always so playful and funny, never worried about her orphan status.
Now, the girl without parents or relatives can't help but shed tears in the face of warm emotions. The soulmate feels sad as the tears penetrate into a heart that longs for family affection. That feeling surges when she hears the gentle words:
- I miss you! My "little swallow"!
When the "swallow's wing" hears a small, gentle, and warm voice, the silent joy is interrupted by the sound of sobbing:
- I miss you! My "sky"!
The longing deeply buried within the rational mind of the soulmate immediately emerges. All along, she has had an optimistic spirit, a carefree mood, loved life, and never worried about her identity—but in truth, she has just been deceiving herself.
A person without a family still longs for a home, wishes that her relatives are waiting for her to come home every day.
That simple wish has never been fulfilled.
People without families are forced to deceive themselves and others to avoid the cruel reality.
The bitter truth causes tears to blur the corners of her eyelids. Her mood fluctuates, but she still notices the lurking owl crow, watching for emotional cracks in all of them. So the soulmate secretly wipes away her tears, blows away the sensitive feelings, and congratulates her bestie.
- Get your dirty hands off her now, dog guy!
The words are interrupted by angry shouts. Everyone is startled to see the guy who has just cursed rushing toward the masked man. His body moves faster than lightning, his footsteps madly billow the whizzing wind.
Dust obscures the space, and everyone frowns and squints their eyes to watch the dramatic developments. The soulmate and the "swallow" wave their hands in a hurry, and the dust gradually dissipates—but the "sky" and the guard have disappeared.