Sakurako craned her neck up past the shower curtain rod and saw a sleek, golden ape squatting there, fixing her with an unwavering stare. It held half an uneaten apple in its hand; likely, that rustling sound she’d heard earlier had come from this creature.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh…” Sakurako made a face at it, puffing out her cheeks and making little noises to tease it.

The monkey, however, was not amused. It actually hurled the half-eaten apple straight at Sakurako. She ducked, flinched to the side, and dodged the attack. The apple struck the wall behind her with a loud smack, immediately shattering into pieces. A puddle of juice mixed with debris slid down along the base of the wall.

What incredible strength! Sakurako thought. She’d smashed apples herself in fits of temper, but when had one ever broken like that? Unless the apple was already rotten through like pulp, how could anyone smash it into such fragments, like pounding garlic?

As she was pondering this, the sound of a key turning echoed from the front door, and Xiaohao walked in, dusted with travel grime. Seeing Sakurako standing at the bathroom entrance, with the remains of the apple splattered across the wall, he instantly understood what had happened.

“We have a monkey in the house,” was Sakurako’s first reaction upon seeing Xiaohao—reporting the uninvited guest’s arrival.

To her surprise, Xiaohao wasn't fazed in the least. He walked directly toward the bathroom, stretched out his arm, and said to the monkey, “Come down.”

The monkey surprisingly obeyed Xiaohao completely. Seeing the command to descend, it slid down from the curtain rod along the shower head, landed near the faucet, stepped on the hot water knob with one foot, and then sprang forward with a whoosh, leaping onto Xiaohao’s arm. It scrambled upward a couple more times and then zipped smoothly onto his shoulder, settling there with an air of formality.

The monkey’s stomp on the hot water knob sent water gushing out with a swish-swish-swish. Xiaohao had to lean over to turn off the faucet. Before his hand could reach it, the monkey preemptively stretched out a paw and touched the stream of hot water. Hiss, hiss, hiss... The scalding water drenched the monkey’s paw and splashed onto Xiaohao’s face, startling both man and ape into quickly stepping back a pace.

However, that step back came too late. Xiaohao was unharmed, but the monkey’s paw was instantly turned bright red, like a scalded chicken foot, causing the creature to hop frantically on Xiaohao’s shoulder in pain.

Sakurako, initially watching with utter bewilderment, wondered when Xiaohao had acquired such an intelligent monkey. Then, seeing the creature clumsily nursing its scalded paw, she couldn't help but burst into laughter. She rushed over to the showerhead area to help them shut off the water.

Having been burned by the hot water, the monkey dared not approach the showerhead again. It merely huddled on Xiaohao’s neck, emitting soft, mournful whimpers.

Seeing how pitiful it looked, Sakurako retrieved the first-aid kit from the bedroom and asked Xiaohao to place the monkey on the table. The monkey was compliant, doing exactly as told, though it maintained a look of utter, tearful misery.

Having prepared the medicine and scissors, Sakurako first trimmed the fur around the burned paw, then applied burn ointment, wrapped it gently with gauze, and sealed the opening with a strip of medical tape. She then crushed one painkiller in its bottle, converted the dosage based on the ratio of human to monkey weight, and carefully fed the creature about a fifth of a pill. Not long after taking the analgesic, the monkey grew drowsy, climbed onto the sofa by itself, curled up in a corner, and fell asleep.

Watching the large golden ape snoring away, Sakurako was filled with questions she wanted to pose to Xiaohao, but he simply offered a sheepish smile and said he had to leave immediately for an errand. Sakurako knew this was a delaying tactic; he didn't want to answer where the monkey had come from. She deliberately stood in the doorway, blocking his exit.

During the time they had lived together, Xiaohao had always kept certain things hidden from Sakurako, something she had vaguely sensed for a while. Now, with this monkey appearing out of nowhere and his refusal to explain, if this pattern was allowed to continue, how much more would he keep secret from her in the future?