His tense shoulders slowly sagged.
Then he noticed a faint ache spreading through his body.
The boy knew.
It was because he had been so tightly wound just moments ago.
Now that he had relaxed all at once, the aftereffects were setting in.
The boy carefully rolled his shoulders.
Then he turned his neck.
"What are you doing?"
Ya Ya watched the boy suddenly start acting strangely again, looking utterly confused.
"..."
The boy gave a wry smile.
How was he supposed to explain this?
"Why do you look even worse than when you failed your exam?"
Ya Ya hadn't meant anything by it, but the boy took it to heart.
Boy: ...
He suddenly regretted telling Ya Ya that he'd failed his exam.
"Ya Ya."
He looked helpless.
"Could you forget that I failed my exam?"
"Could you stop comparing everything to it whenever something happens?"
"Why?"
Ya Ya asked as naturally as could be.
"Your face looks worse than—"
"Ya Ya!"
The boy interrupted her, feeling a headache coming on.
He took a deep breath.
"Ya Ya."
He tried to keep his voice calm.
Everything he'd been through lately—
Honestly, it had really helped him get better at controlling his emotions.
He calmed down quickly.
"I don't like people constantly reminding me... that I failed my exam."
"That exam is over."
"Can we just stop talking about it?"
The boy looked earnestly at the gray-haired girl.
Ya Ya blinked.
"I'm not a person."
Boy: ...
"Huh?"
He didn't understand why Ya Ya had suddenly said that.
What did she mean?
Not a person?
Was Ya Ya saying she didn't care about his—
"You said it wrong."
Ya Ya's next words instantly shattered the unpleasant thought that had just crossed the