"Smack!"
Xu Qizhen slapped his own cheek hard again.
Then he pressed the drink can against his face.
The lingering chill made the hairs on his face stand on end.
"Phew~"
Xu Qizhen let out a long breath.
He felt calm again.
"Student Xiao."
"I'm sorry."
Xu Qizhen smiled bitterly.
"I keep letting you see me at my worst."
"It's okay."
Xiao Xiao's eyes curved with a smile.
Xu Qizhen froze for a moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Really?"
"That's good, then."
As long as some things went unsaid, he could keep deceiving himself.
Student Xiao's reaction almost had him believing that what he'd said and done earlier hadn't been all that awful.
"Student Xiao, I found her."
Xu Qizhen murmured.
Something he'd been looking forward to for so long had finally come true one day...
Yet he felt a little as though it weren't real.
Maybe it was because he couldn't see her?
Or perhaps...
After being disappointed for so long...
he couldn't quite feel happy right away?
Was he afraid to be too happy?
He didn't know.
All in all, his feelings were complicated.
But as time passed, he slowly began to accept it.
Joy started bubbling up inside him like a spring.
A smile seeped into Xu Qizhen's eyes.
Only now was he beginning to feel excited.
"I found her..."
He'd actually found her?!
It was unbelievable.
It was practically a miracle!
Xu Qizhen clenched his hands.
"I really found her..."
He repeated words like those over and over.
As if telling himself again and again:
This wasn't a dream.
It wasn't an illusion, either.
It was real.
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao nodded.
"You found her."
"You're lucky."
Xiao Xiao's lips curled upward.
He meant it.
Xu