The boy took a deep breath.
"Something just came to mind."
The boy smiled apologetically at his two friends.
"You two go ahead."
"I won't come with you."
The boy struggled to control his tone and expression.
His whole body was so tense, he seemed ready to explode at any moment.
The two boys looked at each other.
Though they could both see the confusion on the other's face...
"Oh."
"Alright, then."
They didn't ask any more questions.
One of them handed the bag in his hand to the boy.
"Here."
"The ice cream we bought."
"You suddenly disappeared just now..."
They had looked all around for him but couldn't find him.
But after waiting in line for so long, naturally they didn't want to "come away empty-handed."
"We just picked a flavor for you."
"Hope it's not one you hate."
"There's no flavor I hate."
The boy grinned.
There were only flavors he didn't like very much.
"Thanks."
He hadn't expected them to buy ice cream for him too, so he was surprised—and even happier.
But soon...
Looking at the bag of ice cream being held out to him, the boy realized he'd been happy too soon.
Neither of his hands was free right now.
So how was he supposed to take the bag from his friend?
And how could he explain his current predicament?
Especially since only seconds ago, he'd denied his friend's suspicion.
He'd said his hands weren't doing anything.
Well, this was awkward.
He'd been caught out in no time.
If his hands weren't doing anything, why wasn't he reaching out to take the bag of ice cream?
The boy was suddenly caught in a dilemma, unable to move forward or retreat.
Xiao Xiao stood beneath the shade of a tree. It