Chapter 2

The whole bed comes into view.

The girl lies motionless, one leg dangling over the edge.

Her eyes are shut.

A pillow beside her bears a deep indentation.

A terrible thought flashes through my mind.

Did he suffocate her with it?

Were those muffled sounds her struggling for her life?

He returns, grips her leg, and pulls her off the bed.

After a moment's hesitation, he pushes her underneath.

He kicks several unopened gift boxes in after her.

I clamp a shaking hand over my mouth.

Dragged like that, she still doesn't wake.

Perhaps she really is dead.

Has Lin Kan actually killed someone?

Should I call the police?

No.

I mustn't jump to conclusions.

I know him.

He's simple and kind.

She was the one who approached him.

Then there was an accident.

She brought it on herself!

Wait...

What if he meant me to see this?

Now we have a secret together.

Or perhaps she saw me in the wardrobe, and he killed her to protect me?

Hee hee...

It could be true.

After all, we were meant for each other.

Or perhaps I should use this secret to make sure he can never leave me?

I'm lost in these delightful thoughts when his private message arrives.

【MOMO, something's come up. I probably can't stream tonight.】

I check the time.

Nine twenty.

Baby, you can't do that.

【Oh, what a shame. I was planning to go straight to level 60 tonight. Apparently the platform gives you a souvenir.】

On the camera, he sits at the computer not far from the bed, repeatedly wiping his forehead.

【Then... MOMO, would just an hour be all right? I really have something important to do.】

I give him a way out.

【Of course. I'll make it quick.】

He tidies the bed and changes to a sheet that reaches the floor.

Then he arranges tonight's backdrop: two brown teddy bears.

After thinking a moment, he raises the wide-angle streaming camera a little higher.

Everything ready, he starts right on time.

I'm first into the room.

Without a word, I send three Yachts, worth six thousand yuan each.

He's not a big streamer yet.

Only a few hundred followers.

Naturally, I'm his biggest spender.

“Thank you, MOMO, for three Yachts! Love you most! What would you like me to perform tonight?”

I type in the public chat.

【You should have received the presents I sent a few days ago. Put on what's in the pink box and dance for me.】

His eyes flicker away.

“MOMO, I haven't opened the gifts yet. And... I've forgotten where I put them. Could we do something else?”

Careless boy. How could he forget?

He just kicked them under the bed himself.

I say nothing.

Twenty more Yachts.

My account jumps from level 58 to 59.

Brilliant gift effects flood the screen. The other fans cheer.

【MOMO is unstoppable! Kan, show us what you've got!】

【It's only one dance. Come on, say yes!】

【Say yes! Say yes!】

Resigned, he gets up and goes to the bed.

He bends to reach underneath.

My phone stutters.

The Bluetooth connection drops for a moment.

A piercing scraping sound bursts from the speaker, perfectly synchronized with the surveillance feed.

Screeeech...

I jump. This time, I almost do throw the phone.

Frantically, I stab at the lock button.

Black screen.

Silence.

I hold my breath for several seconds. Only when the earphones chime to signal reconnection do I exhale.

Perhaps starting the stream disturbed the connection.

It frightened me half to death.

I daren't keep listening.

I mute every app, take out the earphones, and toss them into a corner.

Did he hear?

Does he know someone else is here?

I stare at the silent video.

Fortunately, he doesn't look around. He's still absorbed in trying to retrieve the gifts.

He's wearing noise-canceling headphones for the stream.

Perhaps he heard neither me nor that scrape.

I can't tell if the eerie sound continues.

If I had to describe it, I'd say something was clawing furiously at the floor.

He reaches under the bed.

After a struggle, sweating heavily, he pulls out a blue box.

I asked for the pink one.

Disappointed, he pushes it aside and reaches deeper.

Suddenly he freezes.

His expression turns awful.

I enlarge the image.

His right hand trembles.

He grips that wrist with his left, holding on hard.

Terror in his eyes.

As though something under the bed is pulling him in.

The viewers can't see below the bed's edge. They only see him crouch and stop moving.

The chat grows impatient.

【Passing through. New special effect, or is the streamer lagging?】

【Kan, if you can't do it, apologize and give us two dances. MOMO will forgive you.】

【We old fans know she spoils you most.】

Their praise lifts my spirits. I send more gifts.

One has an amusing name.

“Forgive the Lemon.”

That's me.

Funny and thoughtful.

He can't see the effects right now. When he gets back, he'll be touched.

Delighted, I return to the surveillance view.

He's pulling his hand out, shaking.

A metal chain has caught around his wrist.

What a coincidence.

It's the body chain from the pink box, the one I wanted him to wear for his dance.

I'd packed it in two layers: a velvet box inside the pink one.

Now both boxes have vanished.

What's happened under that bed?

The chain is bloody.

Two small white mice hang from it, twitching. Not quite dead.

Looking sickened, he throws it back underneath and wipes his wrist on his trousers.

He hurries to the streaming camera.

“Sorry, everyone. I must have eaten something bad. My stomach's killing me. I need the toilet.”

He tears off the headphones and rushes into the bathroom.

When I switch views, he's already retching over the basin.

Nothing comes up.

He rinses his mouth several times, grabs the vape by the sink, takes a series of drags, and sits on the closed toilet lid.

He removes his bloodstained jeans while typing quickly with his other hand.

I zoom in on his lean waist.

A tiny English tattoo.

Zero.

His message arrives.

【Sorry, MOMO. Somehow I've got mice. They've ruined your presents. Please, could we do something else?】

So he was messaging me.

Poor innocent college boy. He must be frightened.

【Do you like my present?】

【Of course. I like everything you give me.】

Liar.

He just threw it back under the bed.

I tighten my grip on the phone.

Time for a little lesson.

【Liar!】

【Liar! Liar! Liar!】

【If you like it, why did you lose it?】

【If you like it, why won't you wear it?】

【I worked so hard on that chain for you. Those two little darlings struggled terribly when I put them in. I was very careful about how I did it. Aren't I clever?】

【Answer me!】

【Why don't you like it?】

【Answer me! Answer me! Answer me!】

His expression grows worse.

He slams the phone facedown on the edge of the bath.

He looks ready to lose his mind.

Jumping up, he tears the toilet roll from its holder and shreds it, swearing continuously.

I freeze the image and zoom in on his lips.

I can make out a few words.

“Fuck.”

“Crazy bitch.”

“Drop dead.”

Once he's vented, he picks up the phone.

【Please, don't tease me anymore... Your boy loves you most.】

Loves me?

Then I'll have to reward him generously later.

I don't answer immediately.

He takes a few more drags and changes into cargo trousers from beside the bath.

The bloodstained jeans go into the bin.

Such a waste.

He should have kept them for my collection.

An idea occurs to me. I give him a graceful way out.

【I'm about to reach level 60 tonight. Could I ask for a particular present?】

Some old clothes, for example.

He sends a cute sticker whose meaning escapes me.

That means yes, surely.

Back at his desk, he puts on the headphones and starts a track with a strong beat.

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting. I'll give you a dance first.”

He picks up a small prop and begins moving to the music.

I understand.

More gifts.

As the rhythm speeds up, his movements grow strange.

First he tears off his shirt.

Then he hooks a finger into his waistband and starts pulling down...

【Whoa! Kan's going all out tonight. Slow down before they ban you!】

【Enough! That's enough!】

The fans are worried.

Too late.

The stream is shut down for twenty-four hours.

I haven't finished sending gifts.

Only about three more worth two thousand yuan each, and I'd have reached level 60.

What a pity.

He doesn't seem to care.

Throwing down the headphones, he stretches and walks into the kitchen.

When he returns, he's holding a long, almost-new boning knife.

He climbs to the head of the bed, lifts the sheet, and stabs wildly underneath.

“You bitch! Think you can play games with me?”

“Acting all innocent and mute to get near me. Then pretending to be sick, pretending to be dead. Now you're hiding under there trying to scare me?”

“You think those creepy presents frighten me?”

“Get out!”

From what he's saying...

He seems to think that girl and I are the same person.

Blind idiot.

As if she could compare to me.

He stabs and slashes for a long time.

No movement.

Furious, he gets off the bed and heaves up the ruined mattress.

No one underneath.

Only mangled gift boxes.

The girl...

Has vanished.