Xiao Xiao moved the coffee away from the man.
He pushed the other cup in front of him.
"Chocolate milk tea."
Xiao Xiao smiled.
The man was stunned for a while.
Then he reached out.
Only then did he notice.
His fingers were trembling slightly.
He clenched them tightly.
The rich aroma of chocolate milk tea wafted toward him.
Its sweet fragrance seemed to soften the air around him.
His hands slowly closed around the enamel cup.
Carefully, slowly, he lifted it.
The rich chocolate milk tea slid down his throat.
Its gentle warmth chased away the chill in his limbs.
His expression softened a little.
"...Thank you."
Only then did he realize how glad he was that he'd been willing to talk.
"Later, when I was a little older, I finally understood..."
The man gave a bitter smile.
His fingers rubbed against the side of the cup as he looked down at his reflection in the chocolate milk tea.
For a moment, he seemed to see the pale, childish face he'd had more than twenty years ago.
The big, dark eyes unique to a child held not a trace of liveliness.
He could no longer remember what those eyes had looked like at first.
As far as he could remember, they had always been so... dim, empty, and full of fear.
Even now, they hadn't changed much.
"So they couldn't see them after all..."
The man let out a long breath.
"How stupid was I..."
"After all that time..."
"After going through so much..."
"If only I'd realized sooner..."
Everything would have changed.
His parents would still be the way they'd been at first.
He wouldn't have taken a leave of absence from school.
He wouldn't have been rejected by everyone else and left