The golden rays of the dying evening sun stretched along the road, adding a sense of tranquility to the entire environment. Although I was exhausted from working all day, there was a wonderful lightness in my heart today. Usually, I would run home trembling with fear, but today I kicked small pebbles on the road and smiled to myself, watching the birds flying freely.
"Why are you smiling all by yourself? Still the same old madness?"
My heart stopped for a moment as I heard a familiar, kind voice. I turned around quickly. It was him! He was looking at me with a slight smile, his hands tucked into his trouser pockets.
"You..." was all I could say.
We both walked forward in silence. Usually, I would shrink in mortal fear the moment I saw people, but today I became playful like a small child in front of him. He laughed out loud as he watched me jumping and stepping over the stones on the road.
"By the way, I asked for your name this morning, but you didn't tell me. Will you tell me now?"
"My name... my name is Chenxi," I told him my name with great joy. It was the first time my own name sounded so beautiful to me when spoken.
"Chenxi... a very beautiful name. I am Zhonghe," he introduced himself.
In the excitement of talking with him, I naturally tripped over a stone on the road and fell hard. For the third time, the wound on my forehead hit the ground and began to throb with pain.
"My god... Chenxi!" He knelt beside me in a panic. He quickly checked his bag, but he had forgotten the first-aid kit he used to treat me in the morning, leaving it behind on the bench.
"Oh no... I forgot the medicine box," he said with regret.
"It's okay... I'm used to this. Don't worry about it," I tried to smile, hiding the sting of the wound. Hearing those words, he looked at me for a moment in surprise. He must have felt the pain hidden behind the word "used to."
A heavy rain began to pour, darkening the sky. I closed my eyes in pain as the rainwater hit the wound. Realizing I was struggling, Zhonghe quickly took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and very carefully tied it around my wound. As his fingers touched my face, a strange warmth began to sprout in my heart amidst the cold of the rain. It was at that moment that a massive thunderclap shook the entire area.
Trembling with fear, I screamed and instinctively hid my face in Zhonghe's chest, hugging him tightly. My whole body was shaking. For a moment, the world stood still. Zhonghe also held me firmly and drew me closer to him as if to soothe my fear.
"Don't be afraid, Chenxi... I am here," he whispered, stroking my head.
We both ran under a roof by the roadside to escape the rain. While rainwater was dripping all over us, Zhonghe suddenly opened his bag and looked inside.
"Oh no... Chenxi, there was an umbrella in my bag!" He scratched his head in embarrassment and laughed.
I looked at him in amazement. Had we been getting soaked all this time with an umbrella in the bag? I gave his arm a playful hit. "You are quite a character! You got soaked despite having an umbrella?"
"Look at that, I completely forgot about it," he said, laughing it off.
"Just you wait, Mr. Know-it-all... I'll give you some medicine for your forgetfulness!" I started chasing after him.
Forgetting even the ache of the wound, I began to run after him along the road. Zhonghe ran ahead, laughing loudly to escape me. My laughter echoed amidst the raindrops, telling the world that for the first time in my life, I was truly happy.
Finally, at the moment we parted, he looked into my eyes and said: "Let's meet again... stay safe, crazy girl..."
I looked at him and said in a voice tinged with a bit of sadness, "Let's meet again very soon... you are the only friend I have."
Zhonghe nodded with a small smile as if to say "yes." I watched him for a long time as he walked away into the distance. Truly, he is the only and most precious friend I have encountered in this dark world of mine.