"...Goodbye."
The gray-haired girl watched the boy's retreating figure.
She lifted her eyes.
Her face, bathed in the sunset glow, was impossible to read.
A hint of obscurity had crept into her expression.
The boy started running again.
He had miscalculated the time. He needed to get home before his mother returned.
Aside from those days when his mother came home late, her usual return time these past few days—
If she didn't need to go to the market for groceries that day,
then she would get home not much later than he normally did.
"Song Xiaoxuan."
Someone called out to the boy.
Though he was anxious, he still stopped.
He turned to look.
The next second, a flash of surprise crossed his face.
The person behind him... the one who had called out to him... was a classmate.
And not just any classmate...
The boy pressed his lips together.
A sudden unease welled up inside him.
It was those same boys who had confronted him face-to-face in the teacher's office.
What were they doing here?
The boy was confused.
They shouldn't have been coming from this direction.
Before today, he had never seen them on this road.
Could he simply have never noticed them?
Or had they changed their route?
"Song Xiaoxuan, we saw everything."
The Short-haired boy wore a strange look.
What he said was strange, too.
They saw everything?
Saw what?
The boy froze for a moment.
But soon, his heart gave a heavy thump.
His fingers dug sharply into his palm.
Don't panic.
The boy struggled to keep his expression under control,
trying not to let anything slip.
He understood what the other boy meant...
"You followed me?!"
The boy was furious.
He was angry not only at the boys