It was a rainy day. I was walking back home with my younger sister from coaching. Near the coaching center, there's a small pet store ... not too big, but still cute and sweet.
I'm used to stopping there, just to watch the budgies, cockatiels, and finches chilling, playing, fighting, and sometimes even sleeping all fluffed up.
I've always been fond of birds. They're something uniquely beautiful… all feathers, fluff, noise, and playful energy....yet also so smart in their quiet moments.
The thing birds and I share is the desire to fly.
The difference is... they can, and I can't.
But their wings… God, why are they so beautiful and colorful?
Sometimes, I wish I had a pair of wings too... maybe light blue, or purple, or even pure white.
White is a common color… yet it doesn't feel plain. At least, not after seeing Lan Wangji.
He's like an earthbound angel I deeply wish I could see, touch, or talk to...even just once. Even a single cold glare from him would make me strangely happy.
Anyway… that rainy day, when the sky grew heavy and silent, with no birds flying or singing, I went to the pet store as always.
The shopkeeper knows me well; we hadn't met for a while, so I asked where he'd been.
He told me he'd gone back to his village.
Then he said something surprising: he had a "fatherless" bird to give me.
"If you want, you can take him," he offered.
At the mention of any bird, my heart lit up... it didn't matter if it had feathers or not. To me, a bird is a bird, and that's enough.
When I looked into the cage, I saw a frightened blue male budgie. He barely had any feathers.... only some on his tiny wings and at the tip of his tail.
All the other budgies were biting him, pushing him away, as if they didn't want him around.
Maybe some birds are like humans too ...chasing after beauty, ignoring what doesn't shine.
That budgie hadn't been sold in months.
Uncle gently caught him and placed him in a paper bag, with small holes to breathe and a bit of food.
He gifted him to me. Nothing was paid.
By then, the rain had truly started ...the road was almost floating. It was cold, and the wind stung my face.
I hid the budgie under my sleeve and ran home as fast as I could.
He was chirping helplessly, trembling from the cold rain.
When I reached home, I quickly dried his half-featherless little body and wrapped him in my blanket.
He stayed hidden inside until he stopped shaking like a leaf.
He was so afraid of us… even me.
But birds don't trust easily. Neither do people. So I let him be, quietly.
I didn't have a cage for him yet, so he stayed on my table.
He'd eat his food silently, staring around with those pale blue feathers sticking out in patches.
He looked pitiful… and also kind of funny.
Really ... who keeps their eyes open so wide all the time, like they're staring straight into your soul with those tiny candy-like eyes?
Then I started thinking of a name.
I usually name my pets by their colors, habits, or something unique about them.
And then, a beautiful name came to mind.
I named him Lucky.
Because on a lucky day... when no one else bothered to look at him with affection... I brought him home, seeing him as no less than the others.
And in truth… we both were lucky to have found each other.
So from that day on, his name became Lucky Baby.
[ End of Chapter 01 ]