“You… I…”
Su Ling’s face turned bright red instantly, and his speech became somewhat incoherent. He had never been called a handsome boy in his entire life.
“You’re blushing!”
“You… you can’t do that…”
Su Ling nervously twisted his two small hands together and shifted his body uncomfortably, moving slightly further away from Nangong Wan.
Seeing this, Nangong Wan’s heart sank, but she didn’t let it show on her face.
“All right, I’ll stop teasing you. Let’s go have some fun.”
Su Ling nodded and dodged the hand she reached out to grab.
“I—we should keep some distance…”
Su Ling bit his lip. He knew it was wrong to act so distant, but if his Elder Sister found out, she would definitely be angry.
A forced smile appeared on Nangong Wan’s face.
“Fine.”
She pretended not to care and shrugged, taking the initiative to walk ahead.
Su Ling thought for a moment before quickly catching up.
Nangong Wan knew Su Ling took small steps, so she walked very slowly. At the same time, she felt an inexplicable ache in her heart!
In her memory, Ye Jin should have been the lively, cheerful, and proactive one, while she was the timid, cowardly person with social anxiety.
But now, the roles were reversed. Su Ling had become like her past self, and she had become like the old Ye Jin!
“Maybe I should go back?”
Su Ling walked a few steps faster, slightly turning his body to block Nangong Wan’s path. He lowered his head and spoke in a soft voice.
“Why?”
Nangong Wan snapped out of her thoughts, unable to hide her surprise. Everything had been fine just a moment ago, so why did he suddenly want to leave?
“I’m sorry. I think… I… we aren’t suited to be friends…”
Su Ling kept his head down, his voice timid. From their brief interaction just now, he could feel that he simply didn’t know how to interact with people anymore.
He hadn’t been like this before. He used to have friends and got along with them well, but things were different now. He couldn’t go back to that state.
They couldn’t find any suitable topics to talk about; he didn’t even know what to say or what to do.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have friends in this lifetime?’
With that thought, he only wanted to go back quickly and didn’t want to try making friends anymore.
“What… did you say?”
Nangong Wan’s gaze went blank as she looked at the little fellow in front of her in disbelief.
“I… I’m sorry…”
Su Ling felt terrible. He just wanted to leave quickly. After saying those words, he turned to walk away, but before he could take a single step, his wrist was grabbed!
Nangong Wan’s eyes were slightly red as she stared at him intently!
“Is it because I did something wrong?”
“You know that I haven’t had any friends since I was a child. You’re the only friend I have. You can’t do this!”
Nangong Wan’s voice was filled with grief and indignation, her tone carrying a heavy sense of resentment and grievance.
Su Ling panicked. He completely hadn’t expected her to react this way, let alone grab him.
He wanted to break free, but looking at her, he lost the courage to pull away and found he had no reason to.
“I… I’m sorry… You, please don’t cry.”
“Fine, I won’t cry!”
Nangong Wan took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on Ye Jin.
“As long as you take back what you just said, I won’t cry. Okay?”
“I… I understand. We… we can be friends. Is that okay? Please don’t cry.”
Although Su Ling’s body was trembling with fear, his eyes were filled with deep concern. He didn’t want to make others sad, especially not because of him.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to get along with friends anymore. I don’t know what to talk about, what to do, I don’t know anything.”
“I messed up. I mess everything up.”
Su Ling’s voice grew weaker as he spoke. In the end, he was the first one to start crying.
Nangong Wan watched in a daze, feeling even more pained. Ye Jin shouldn’t be like this.
She secretly clenched her fists. She had to snatch Ye Jin away from Ye Moran’s side—for her own sake and for Ye Jin’s!
“No, you didn’t mess anything up.”
“You don’t know what to say because it’s been a long time since we last met. We’ve both changed a bit, haven’t we?”
“So, it’s perfectly normal for us to feel a little like strangers. It will get better once we spend more time together in the future.”
Nangong Wan’s tone was gentle, and her words were strangely convincing.
“Is that really true?”
Su Ling’s eyes were teary as he looked at her expectantly.
“Yes, that’s exactly how it is!”
“Okay… thank you.”
Su Ling wiped his tears and managed a small smile. Although he still wanted to go back, he was moved by her words. Perhaps it really was just because they weren’t familiar with each other yet.
“Then let’s go play. There are so many people here, and many of them saw you crying just now.”
Hearing this, Su Ling looked around in shock. Sure enough, he saw many people casting strange looks in their direction.
He immediately lowered his head, wanting to flee the scene. However, his wrist was still being held by her, so he could only look at her for help.
“Don’t worry. You’re bundled up so tightly that no one will recognize you.”
“Come on, let’s go for a stroll in the mall.”
As she spoke, she took Su Ling’s hand and led him forward. Su Ling had no choice but to follow. He wanted to ask her to let go, but after what had just happened, he didn’t quite dare to.
Nangong Wan led Su Ling into the mall. Instead of buying anything, she headed straight for the elevator.
“Where… are we going?”
“To eat.”
“But I just ate.”
“Well… then just consider it as accompanying me. I haven’t eaten anything yet, and I’m starving.”
Nangong Wan patted her stomach. She hadn’t had much of an appetite when she woke up this morning. She was supposed to eat lunch, but she had forgotten because she was too busy with work.
Finally, after Ye Jin sent her a message, she completely forgot about food and rushed here without stopping. Now, she was truly hungry.
“All right.”
Su Ling didn’t say much more and followed her to the restaurant area on the fourth floor.
“What do you think we should eat?”
Su Ling hadn’t expected her to ask him. He froze for a moment before looking at the restaurants visible within the mall.
There were stir-fry, hot pot, barbecue, and Western food. Everything looked delicious. After a slight internal struggle, his gaze settled on the hot pot restaurant.
“What is it? Do you want to eat hot pot?”
Su Ling didn’t answer. He felt that since Nangong Wan was the one eating, he should choose something she liked, not something he liked.
But what did she like?
He didn’t seem to know. In the past, he had never treated her to a meal. He would only share his snacks with her during class.
He really didn’t know what she liked to eat. A sense of disappointment washed over him. Was he a failing friend?
“What’s wrong?”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? If you think hot pot would be good, then let’s go eat hot pot, okay?”
“No… you should choose something you like to eat.”
“Something I like?”
“Let me think.”
Nangong Wan placed a hand on her chin, pretending to think seriously.
“I don’t think I have anything in particular I want to eat. Hot pot seems pretty good. I used to like it, but I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time for it. Come to think of it, it’s been a long time. Let’s have hot pot!”
Su Ling didn’t respond, but he felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. It was like happiness mixed with a bit of sadness.
He couldn’t make sense of it, nor could he explain it.
—