What was the number above her head now?
Mobius wanted to ask, but though her lips parted, no words came out.
She was afraid of receiving a terrible answer.
She couldn’t accept a future without Ling Yi.
Ever since her tenth birthday, Mobius had basically stopped looking in mirrors.
Even in her laboratory, there were few instruments reflective enough to show her image, and all the glass containers had undergone special treatment.
Her home went without saying.
The moment Fire Moth arranged accommodations for her, Mobius smashed the mirror.
But there were far too many reflective objects in the world.
Mobius couldn’t guard against them all.
As long as she could see herself reflected in something, Ling Yi could see her too—and therefore see the number above her head.
Every time Mobius accidentally saw her reflection, she would be seized by an inexplicable fear and unease.
She was already grown up.
She was sixteen years old and a world-renowned scientist, but…
She had never known that “loss” could be so terrifying.
Ling Yi was her only friend, and she would remain her only friend.
Only Ling Yi never tried to change her.
Ling Yi believed Mobius was exactly as she should be.
Ling Yi accepted every last part of her.
Mobius had even begun to think that Ling Yi wouldn’t actually leave once the number reached 100, that the number above her head was merely a lie Ling Yi had told her.
Unfortunately, she could tell whether Ling Yi was telling the truth or lying.
Once the number above her head reached 100, Ling Yi really would leave.
Her ability to distinguish truth from lies had once brought her and Ling Yi closer in no time at all, but now Mobius had begun to hate it.
“Ling Yi?” Without thinking, she called the name she had relied upon countless times.
‘I’m here.’ Ling Yi answered quickly, easing some of the panic in Mobius’s heart.
“Don’t go.” For the first time, the fiercely prideful Mobius revealed such a vulnerable side of herself.
‘I won’t.’ “Can you never leave?” ‘…Mobius.
Do you know something?’ After a moment of silence, Ling Yi softly called her name.
“Know what?” ‘I saw it in the river just now.’ “…The number?
What is it now?
Ninety?
Or ninety-five?” Mobius asked anxiously.
She calculated how much time she had left.
She wondered how much time remained to research how to preserve a consciousness, and whether she should conduct human experiments behind Ling Yi’s back to accelerate her progress.
‘I saw an eye booger in the corner of your eye.’ Mobius’s expression instantly darkened.
The fear and unease in her heart were swiftly replaced by fury.
“Hmph.
Maybe it’d be better if you hurried up and disappeared.
Then I’d be the only one in this body.
How could an idiot like you, who took an entire week to learn Lebesgue integration, possibly deserve to share a body with me?” Mobius spoke in a huff.
‘You’re just like those people who say, “Surely no one can be too stupid to learn calculus.” Show a little consideration for ordinary people like us!’ Ling Yi was furious.
No one in the world could understand the things Mobius researched day in and day out.
Back then, Ling Yi had taken the initiative to study so they could become closer.
She wanted to serve as Mobius’s assistant, and thus began her long journey of learning.
Even now, Ling Yi wasn’t sure whether she knew more than Mobius had at nine years old.
“Hmph!
I don’t care!
You’re still an idiot!” Mobius rose and headed home.
As she walked, the anger in her heart gradually faded, replaced by a trace of sorrow.
Was it because she wasn’t important to Ling Yi at all that Ling Yi could treat this matter so lightly?
If Ling Yi didn’t care that much about her, then even if Mobius locked her by her side, perhaps Ling Yi still wouldn’t be happy.
Mobius knew that she was important to Ling Yi.
She simply wanted more.
She wanted to be greedier.
From childhood until now, Ling Yi was the only person who belonged solely to her.
She never had to worry about anyone taking Ling Yi away.
Long ago, Mobius had already decided how she felt about her.
She is mine.
Ling Yi is mine.
Mine alone.
‘Mobius, do you know something?’ “What?” ‘After you meet someone, spend time with her, and come to understand her, your entire world might begin revolving around her.
Your world might finally open up.’ ‘People must learn to savor their happiness little by little.
Every moment right now is real.
I truly exist.
I’m truly talking to you, and I’m genuinely about to make you dinner.’ ‘But if you taste something wonderful and then spend all your time fearing what will happen once it leaves you, you won’t even be able to savor the beauty of the present.’ ‘After meeting comes staying together.
Every moment is real, and no matter how much you worry, you still have to seize that reality with your own hands.’ ‘I want every moment to be real, so I won’t let myself suffer now.
I want to devote myself wholeheartedly to you.
At least right now, you’re the only one on my mind.
I’m thinking of Mobius, and that’s enough.’ ‘If sorrow filled my heart and kept it from being entirely occupied by you, wouldn’t that be what’s truly wrong?’ “…Idiot.” Mobius continued down the road home.
Behind her, the river murmured.
Overhead, the setting sun glowed warm and golden, while shadows danced beneath the trees.
Between heaven and earth, she was not alone.
As she walked the path toward her ideals, hers was no longer a loneliness no one understood.
Amid the wind and clouds, beneath the stars, her friend was right there inside her.
The breeze passing over her fingertips and shoulders felt as cool as poetry.
Suddenly, Mobius felt like crying, though she didn’t know why.
‘So are you really not going to wipe that eye booger away?’ Ling Yi still vividly remembered the instant she had glimpsed Mobius’s reflection in the river.
There really had been an eye booger in the corner of her eye.
“F*ck you, Ling Yi.” Mobius sincerely expressed her heartfelt concern for Ling Yi.
‘Girls shouldn’t use such dirty language.
Is that how your big sister raised you?’ “Go die!” Amid their laughter, in a place Mobius couldn’t see, Ling Yi sat within their consciousness space.
Her mind was filled with the glaring red number she had glimpsed for a single instant.
—————————————————————————————————————————————- This is exactly what friendship between girls should be like (nods).
★ ★ ★ T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!
★ ★ ★ Shilling time!