《Boss 默默觀察考拉》

文化街的早晨很安靜。 Koala 正在門口晾茶巾，動作慢慢的。 陽光照在她的髮尾，亮亮的。 Boss 從旁邊走過。 單車推在手邊，腳步很輕。 看起來像只是路過， 但其實他走得比平常慢一點。 Koala 沒發現。 她一邊晾茶巾，一邊哼著不知道什麼歌。 Boss 停在院子外兩秒。 沒有說話。 他只是看了一眼她手上的茶巾—— 皺得亂七八糟。 然後又看了一眼她的鞋帶—— 沒綁好。 他喉嚨動了一下， 像是想提醒她， 但嘴巴還是閉上的。 最後他只說了一句： 「……小心。」 就這樣。 也不知道是叫她小心鞋帶， 還是小心太陽太大， 或是小心她晾茶巾會掉。 Koala 愣了一下， 抬頭看著他離去的背影： 「蛤？小心什麼？」 Boss 沒回頭。 但推著單車的手， 悄悄握得更穩。 文化街沒有人知道—— Boss 醫生雖然話少、臉冷、像風一樣來去， 但他對某些事情特別敏感： 比如 Koala 站得太靠近階梯邊緣。 比如她忘了戴帽子。 比如她嘴角沾了茶葉渣。 比如她總是心不在焉。 他都看在眼裡。 只是從來都不說。 因為 Boss 的性格是這樣—— 能開刀救命，但不擅長開口提醒。 多說一句話，都像在做什麼大手術。 Koala 則完全不知道。 她只是站在門口， 看著那個背影越走越遠， 心想： 這個鄰居到底在說什麼啦。 --- English Version Culture Street was quiet that morning. Koala was in front of her house, hanging a tea cloth, moving slowly, her hair catching the sunlight. Boss walked by with his bicycle beside him. He looked like he was just passing through, but he was walking a little slower than usual. Koala didn’t notice. She kept humming softly, completely absorbed in her little world. Boss paused outside her gate for two seconds. He didn’t say anything. He just noticed the tea cloth in her hands— wrinkled beyond rescue. Then he noticed her shoelaces— untied. His throat moved slightly, as if he wanted to remind her, but the words stayed behind his teeth. In the end, he only said: “…Be careful.” That was it. No one knew what he meant— be careful of the shoelaces, the sun, or the tea cloth about to fall. Koala blinked, watching him walk away. “Huh? Careful of what?” Boss didn’t turn back. But his hand on the bicycle handlebar tightened slightly. No one on Culture Street knew this— Boss, despite being quiet and sharp like a scalpel, noticed everything about Koala: How close she stood to the steps. How she forgot her hat. How tea leaves stuck to the corner of her mouth. How she drifted off in her own thoughts. He saw all of it. He just never said it. Because that’s how he is— a genius in surgery, but awkward when it comes to talking. Saying one extra sentence feels like a major operation. Koala had no idea. She just stood there, watching his silhouette fade, thinking: What is that neighbor even talking about…?