"Eldest Brother Xiao."
The young man steadied himself.
"You did this because..."
He paused, unsure how to put it.
"You knew... I was afraid of monsters..."
"So..."
He'd brought him to see the Plum Blossom Woman on purpose.
To show him that the monsters in this world weren't like he'd always imagined.
So that when he thought of monsters, he wouldn't remember only the frightening things he'd seen before.
Instead, he'd remember what was right in front of him...
Beneath the gloomy sky, the white plum blossoms were so translucent they seemed to glow.
Even the gloomy sky looked bright by comparison.
It was an utterly beautiful, dreamlike sight.
His heart finally settled.
Xiao Xiao smiled faintly.
He said nothing.
But the young man was already certain his guess was right.
He was suddenly deeply moved.
It had been so long...
Since he'd met someone who cared so much about him.
Especially when they were strangers meeting for the very first time.
He thought he ought to thank the two girls who'd mistaken him for a ghost earlier.
Thank them for screaming.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have met Eldest Brother Xiao.
Sometimes, the way people crossed paths really was mysterious.
"...Thank you."
The young man thanked him sincerely.
He rubbed his nose.
Then, as he lowered his head, he blinked a few times.
He didn't want to seem overly sentimental.
What was he doing?
He didn't want to make things awkward.
The young man took a deep breath.
"Thank you. Really."
This unexpected kindness had eased so much of the negativity that had built up inside him over time.
He felt a little lighter.
His smile came more naturally, too.
He told himself:
See? I'm not really that unpleasant to be around.
*There are still people willing to help