"Emptiness is but a poor imitation of loneliness, and my life feels like a smoking gun."

The faint sound of singing awakened Bologue; he opened his eyes, finding himself lying on the sofa, the outside dim and snowflakes drifting down.

Bologue felt like he had been lying here for many days, yet it also felt like just a short moment.

The radio was playing a program hosted by someone named Dudel, a music segment that resonated within the narrow room. Bologue quite liked this song, humming along as it played.

"Nameless ghosts are burning, repeating the same words over and over."

Footsteps approached; the elder carried a tray of cookies that Bologue loved and came to his side.

"How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Not bad," Bologue thought for a moment, "I feel like I had a dream, a long one."

"What did you dream about?"

"I can’t quite recall," Bologue hesitated, "but I feel like I’ve forgotten something?"

"You can’t remember?"

"Hmm."

"Since you can’t remember, it shouldn’t be anything important."

Bologue nodded in agreement, smiled, and let go of the content of the dream.

The two sat quietly together as always, Bologue eating cookies, listening to his friend’s stories of her experiences over the years. Not much remained to be said at the end, so they listened to the songs on the radio.

Only the song continued to sing.

"I’ve suddenly discovered the reason I keep evading."

Bologue quite liked this song.

"I want to push open the door, the more I knock, the more excited I become, the more excited I get, the harder I knock.

I want to break out!"

The voice was powerful and emphatically repeated, as if to break through the shackles and the heavy, symbolic door.

"Why don’t you go out and see, Bologue?"

Suddenly, the elder echoed the meaning in the song, asking Bologue.

"Go out?" Bologue didn’t understand why she said this at that moment.

"Yes, you’ve been here long enough. Why not go out and take a look?" The elder shook her head in puzzlement, "You wouldn’t want to stay with this old thing forever, would you?"

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Bologue retorted, "You’re my friend, you took me in."

"But you’re just staying here... you can’t always sleep on the sofa, Bologue."

The elder continued to shake her head, disagreeing with Bologue’s words, "I have my own life, and you—you should have yours too."

"My life is..."

"Your life is not what’s here now."

The elder seemed to know what he was thinking; she stood up, emphasized, "I’ve shared my life with you, so what about yours?"

"I... I have nothing much to say."

"Exactly, because there’s nothing to say, you need to go live your life, experience everything, have your own story!"

Bologue didn’t understand why the elder suddenly got so agitated; he didn’t understand why it was a problem to stay here. Then, Bologue heard a knock on the door.

Someone was knocking, overlapping with the song.

"The other side of the door is locked so tight, I’m shouting loudly."

Bologue was momentarily stunned; he heard someone calling him as if calling his name from behind the door.

An inexplicable emotion swelled and grew inside Bologue’s chest, becoming so large that even the house could hardly contain it. The knocking grew louder, and the song on the radio became stronger, almost shattering Bologue’s eardrums, as if everything were about to collapse into some kind of chaos.

"Knock harder!"

"Knock harder!"

"Knock harder!"

Bologue stared blankly at the departing door, which was now violently shaking, as if someone was trying to break in. She was using all her strength to kick at the door and smash the lock, like venting some fury.

The elder gently pushed Bologue from behind, complaining.

"I can’t be with you forever, Bologue, and you can’t rely on me forever... Am I your mother?"

Bologue glanced back at her, and she continued.

"You can’t be trapped in this house forever; it will make me guilty."

Bologue said impulsively, "You have nothing to feel guilty about... I’m the one who should feel guilty."

The elder grasped Bologue’s hand, trying to guide him to place his hand on the handle and push that door open. Suddenly, cracks appeared on the door, and then it was kicked open entirely.

A familiar yet unfamiliar figure stood at the door, hunched over, panting heavily.

"Bologue, you... you’re really hard to find."

Aimou looked exhausted as she gazed at Bologue, realizing that Bologue was indeed quite introverted; even if Heart Overlapping Shadow was entirely aligned, it was difficult to find his thoughts.

"We’ll apologize later; we need to leave now!" Aimou stood up, directly grabbed Bologue’s hand, and tried to lead him away.

Bologue hesitated for a moment, tentatively calling out her name, "Aimou?"

As the name was called, a tide of memories surged in Bologue’s mind, at first confused and flustered, then disbelief and fear.

Bologue ignored Aimou, instead slowly looking back at the elder.

The elder watched Bologue with a smile, her eyes shifting from fear gradually to clarity, finally becoming familiar rationality and coldness.