That shout was a bit loud.
Several customers who had been chatting idly in the milk tea shop looked over, their expressions turning quite peculiar.
An adult man had made a little girl cry and was being pointed at and called a meanie... No matter how you looked at it, the scene resembled something straight out of a true-crime show.
Kiana gave Su Yu a look one would reserve for garbage, inching her butt away on the seat in an attempt to draw a clear line between them.
"Hey, bullying even an elementary schooler... you're really going to get arrested for this, you know..."
"Ahem." Su Yu coughed dryly, quickly wiping the villainous smile from his face and replacing it with an expression of pained grief and noble forbearance as he turned to Kiana.
"Kiana, this is all for you."
"Huh?"
"For the sake of our grand manga enterprise, to help you get a firm foothold in this world, I have no choice but to bear the infamy of being a big meanie..."
Su Yu clutched his chest, his tone as tragic as if he were about to die a hero's death.
"This is the world of adults, filled with helplessness and sacrifice."
"Cut the crap." Kiana's mouth twitched. She shot him an annoyed glare and took a forceful sip of her pearl milk tea.
"Using me as your shield, have you no shame?"
Su Yu spread his hands innocently.
Griseo watched the two strange people bicker, the tears in her eyes hovering on the brink of falling. Her expression shifted from alarm to confusion.
What... was the relationship between these two?
Kiana was already braced for Su Yu to continue applying pressure, and had even mentally prepared the words to condemn him.
But Su Yu's next move left her stunned.
"Griseo." Su Yu's voice was much calmer than before, the teasing sense of pressure gone. "I didn't show you those things just now to threaten you."
"Eh?" Griseo blinked her large, misty eyes.
Kiana also looked at Su Yu with some surprise, her gaze seeming to say— "Did your conscience finally kick in, or did a phantom thief steal your heart?"
"I just wanted to tell you that I know who Painted World is, and I know how amazing she is."
Su Yu pushed the script back in front of Griseo.
"This script... if you really don't want to draw it, I won't force you. I'll keep your secret for you, too."
Griseo was stunned as well.
She had already prepared herself to be forced by the big meanie, and had even resigned herself to it with a sense of grievance.
But now, this big meanie was saying... he'd respect her choice?
"...Why?" Griseo's voice was small and probing. "Brother Su Yu... why do you want to draw this?"
Su Yu didn't answer immediately. His gaze drifted out the window to a young mother on the street holding her child's hand. He watched for a few seconds, then turned back.
"Because."
"This is the story of a very important, foolish friend of mine."
"She's been through a lot of terrible things, some of them... so terrible that no one would believe them even if she told them."
Su Yu's fingers tapped lightly on the script.
"But those things, that pain, those choices... they all make up who she is now."
"I feel... that these things should be recorded."
"Not as some heroic epic, but simply... as proof that a person once lived."
He paused, then added, "Besides, I think Teacher Painted World is the only one who can draw that kind of color."
Griseo's gaze moved back and forth between Su Yu and Kiana.
She looked at Kiana.
From the very first moment she saw her, this white-haired big sister was shrouded in an extremely complex color—cold gray, scorching red, and a fragile, almost invisible pale gold.
It was a combination she had never seen before.
The sorrow, the distortion, the despair described in the words of the script... faintly overlapped with the "color" she sensed from this big sister.
She reached out her small hand, picked up the stack of scripts, and carefully flipped through a few more pages.
This time, her expression was more focused. Her pale purple eyes reflected the text on the paper, as if she were reading the color composition of a painting.
A few minutes later, she closed the script and looked up.
"...Griseo will draw it."
This time, her voice held no grievance, no sense of being forced, only the calm of someone who had made a decision.
Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? No pressure?"
"Mhm." Griseo nodded. "The color of this story... is very special. Griseo wants to draw it out."
She paused, then added, "But, in exchange—"
Su Yu braced himself for a request for hush money or a snack bundle.
"—you and Big Sister Kiana have to take Griseo to the amusement park."
"Huh?"
Su Yu and Kiana were simultaneously stunned.
Griseo looked completely serious, counting on her fingers. "Teacher said we have to hand in a composition next month. The topic is 'A Day on an Outing'."
"Auntie Mobius's lab has been really busy lately, and Kosma has to prepare for his exams... Only Brother Su Yu is free."
Su Yu's expression instantly fell.
"Hey, hey, the way you say that makes me sound like a jobless bum." he protested. "I'm an indie game developer with a proper job, okay?"
"But Brother Su Yu is always at home playing games." Griseo blinked her big eyes, her tone perfectly innocent. "Little Sister Ellie told me."
"That's called work! Game testing! Market research!" Su Yu tried to salvage his dignity. "And what the hell is 'Little Sister Ellie'? Is that what she taught you to call her?"
Kiana, sitting beside him, couldn't hold it in and let out a "pfft" of laughter.
It was the first time she had truly laughed all day, though she immediately pressed her lips together again.
Su Yu shot her a glare, then sighed in resignation.
"...Fine, the amusement park it is."
He looked at Griseo.
"It's a deal, but you have to draw the line art for The Three-Year Sakura first so I can see the quality."
"Deal." Griseo held out her little finger.
Su Yu helplessly hooked his pinky around hers.
Griseo, satisfied, picked up the rest of her strawberry milkshake and took small sips, her eyes curving into crescents.
"So... when will Griseo start drawing?" Su Yu asked.
"Tonight." The little girl's reply was crisp. "Griseo already has an idea for the first page. I'll use... a very deep blue, and a little bit of shattered pink."
As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward Kiana again, as if confirming the accuracy of a certain color.
Kiana felt a little uncomfortable under her stare and turned her face away.
Outside the window, the sun began to set, plating the street in a warm, golden light.
The after-school crowd had already dispersed, and the street had returned to its peaceful state.
It was time to go home.
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