The Best Friends in the World

Gu Zhuoling was afraid that Shen Xinde would have lots and lots of friends, and he would be just one of them.

Would Shen Xinde have a better friend than him? If he did, what would Gu Zhuoling do?

"Dolly is different."

Shen Xinde seemed to understand what Gu Zhuoling was worried about.

Ever since he had fallen ill last time, he had realized that Gu Zhuoling was an extremely sensitive person.

When people were too sensitive, they would dwell on the same thing over and over, lying awake all night because of it.

It was especially obvious when they were doing something or interacting with others: from the very beginning, they worried about the worst possible outcome. If something ended badly, they would immediately feel that they must have done something wrong.

They worried over and over, blaming themselves again and again.

Shen Xinde remembered that whenever Jiang Nan was close to him, Gu Zhuoling never looked particularly happy. Presumably, this was why.

"Dolly." Shen Xinde sat up and called his name as the bedside lamp came on.

Now Shen Xinde could see clearly that Gu Zhuoling had cried until the skin around his eyes was red. His double eyelids and the pouches beneath his eyes stood out more, and his nose was red too.

Gu Zhuoling was embarrassed. He knew he must look a mess, so he looked away from Shen Xinde. To his surprise, Shen Xinde reached out and turned his face back.

He met Shen Xinde's eyes, which shone brightly.

Shen Xinde looked more serious than ever, and his voice was firm. "Dolly, you're different. Dolly and Haohao are the best friends in the world."

We're the best friends in the world.

No matter who came along in the future, no one could hold a more important place in either of their hearts than the other.

Gu Zhuoling felt something slowly melt inside him. While it had been there, it had felt as though it had a corner of his heart in its grip. When it vanished, it left no trace, flowing out of his heart with his blood.

"Haohao and I are the best friends in the world." Gu Zhuoling spoke each word slowly, as though trying to understand them over and over.

"No one can be closer than us. Haohao has to be Dolly's best friend." Sitting beside Gu Zhuoling, Shen Xinde went on, "If you don't want to be best friends with Haohao anymore, Haohao will ignore you and hate you."

"I won't."

Gu Zhuoling had stopped crying. He sat up and faced Shen Xinde, looking him in the eye as he explained, "Haohao and I are the best friends in the world. I won't be best friends with anyone else."

"Liars turn into stupid pigs." Seeing that Gu Zhuoling was feeling better, Shen Xinde broke into a delighted smile.

Gu Zhuoling smiled too.

"Then, Dolly, Haohao will tell you a secret." Shen Xinde's eyes darted about, and he lowered his voice. "Actually, there was another reason Haohao fought with Chen Ming."

Chen Ming was the chubby kid from that afternoon.

Gu Zhuoling frowned, clearly taking a strong dislike to Chen Ming.

"Haohao wanted to draw Dolly a picture these past couple of days." To cheer Gu Zhuoling up, Shen Xinde went ahead and revealed the surprise. Sure enough, he saw Gu Zhuoling's eyes brighten.

"I finally finished it, and Chen Ming stepped on it a few times," Shen Xinde continued. "Haohao got angry, so I fought with him."

Gu Zhuoling's frown deepened. Afraid the crease could crush a mosquito, Shen Xinde reached out and smoothed it away.

"But I pulled his hair really hard during the fight, and he didn't even notice when I secretly kicked his foot." Shen Xinde's voice was full of glee at the other boy's misfortune.

That chubby kid surely still thought his hair had just been pulled hard.

"But I didn't pull out many hairs, or his hair would end up like his dad's." As Shen Xinde spoke, he proudly folded his arms and waited for Gu Zhuoling to praise him.

Although Gu Zhuoling did think it was pretty mean, he naturally rewarded Shen Xinde's pride with a flick to the forehead. "You're proud of that? What's that on your arm?"

"Ow, ow, ow!" Shen Xinde pretended it hurt and began grimacing.

Gu Zhuoling's voice was very nasal, and his words were a little muffled. "I want to see the picture."

"Beg me." Shen Xinde had heard him clearly, but he decided to punish this crybaby for ignoring him today.

"Please, I'm begging you. Please, Haohao."

Gu Zhuoling had no hesitation whatsoever about begging Shen Xinde.

Shen Xinde was overjoyed. He climbed off the bed and turned on the room's light.

The picture was on the desk by the window, but Gu Zhuoling hadn't paid any attention to what was on the desk when he came in, so naturally he hadn't seen it.

"Haohao couldn't get rid of the shoeprints, so I had to draw something to cover them up. But the whole picture doesn't look as good as it did before." Shen Xinde handed the picture to Gu Zhuoling, grumbling a little unhappily beside him.

Gu Zhuoling carefully took the picture and studied it. It showed the two of them saving the flowers. The little flowers floating in the rain to cover the marks looked rather strange, but Gu Zhuoling thought it was beautiful all the same.

So Haohao had taken his request to heart and acted on it quickly.

So the reason he hadn't let Gu Zhuoling touch his schoolbag today was that he didn't want him to discover this little surprise.

And another reason he had fought with someone was that he was angry about the picture being stepped on.

"No more crying!"

Shen Xinde was grumbling when he turned and saw Gu Zhuoling scrunch up his nose and blink rapidly. He immediately sensed something and reached out to cover Gu Zhuoling's eyes.

"No more crying, Dolly! You'll cry all your water away!" Shen Xinde felt the other boy's long eyelashes flutter against his palm, a little damp.

"I won't cry." Gu Zhuoling wasn't frightened when his eyes were covered. He quickly adjusted to the darkness and only smiled at those words.

Only then did Shen Xinde move his hand away and meet Gu Zhuoling's smiling eyes.

"That's more like it. Dolly, you look pretty when you smile," Shen Xinde praised him cheerfully.

"I'm going to put this picture by my bed." Gu Zhuoling didn't dare touch the picture itself. Instead, he carefully placed it back on the desk, then shut the window tight and drew the curtains, guarding against anything that might damage it.

"Haohao's work deserves it." Shen Xinde was full of himself and waved a hand to show how much he approved of Gu Zhuoling's care.

"I really like it. Thank you, Haohao." Gu Zhuoling naturally played along.

"You're welcome!"

Gu Zhuoling first went to the bathroom and washed his face again before returning to bed.

Shen Xinde was already lying down, and Gu Zhuoling climbed into bed and lay close against him.

"Not sad anymore?" Shen Xinde teased, his eyes open.

"Don't say it." Gu Zhuoling copied Shen Xinde and reached out to cover his mouth.

"Give me kisses. You haven't kissed me at all tonight." Shen Xinde moved Gu Zhuoling's hand away and made his request.

When Gu Zhuoling had come into the room that evening, he had gone straight to sleep without even a goodnight kiss.

Gu Zhuoling did as he asked and gave him two kisses.

One was a thank-you, and the other was a goodnight kiss.

"Let's sleep." Gu Zhuoling turned off the bedside lamp again.

"Dolly." After the light went out, Shen Xinde still didn't go straight to sleep.

"I'm here."

"Haohao will always be good to you."

So don't be sad, and don't be afraid.

"Me too."

"If something makes you unhappy in the future, tell Haohao right away."

"Okay."

"Share the happy things with Haohao too."

"I will."

The night grew deeper, and even the moon was about to hide behind the clouds. At last, the room fell quiet, with only two little hands clasped tightly together, passing warmth to each other.