His brows knitted tightly.
A few seconds later, the gray-haired monster's furrowed brows relaxed a little.
It seemed... not as hard to drink as before...
But...
A hint of distaste appeared on the gray-haired monster's face.
"It's still not very good."
"It does smell pretty nice..."
Xiao Xiao chuckled.
"If you don't like it, you don't have to force yourself."
The gray-haired monster glanced at Xiao Xiao.
It nodded.
Exactly.
It had never forced itself to do anything just because a human told it to.
The gray-haired monster grinned.
It poured the rest of the tea out of the cup.
Then tossed it casually.
"Ah!"
The boy cried out.
In a daze, he thought he could already hear the cup shattering.
"Clink~"
But the sound of porcelain breaking that the boy had expected never came.
The teacup lightly tapped the stone table.
It made a rather crisp sound.
The cup wobbled slightly.
Then settled upright on the stone table.
Huh?
The boy's eyes widened.
It had landed upright?
It hadn't broken...
Amazing.
The boy looked astonished.
It was just like an acrobatic trick.
"Clap, clap—"
Only when he noticed Master Xiao and Ya Ya looking over did the boy realize that he'd been clapping without thinking.
His applause came to an abrupt stop.
The boy gave an awkward smile.
His hands slowly dropped to his sides.
He opened his mouth.
In the end, all he managed to say was, "Ya Ya is amazing."
He meant it.
But when Ya Ya looked away, he gripped his clothes tightly.
The next second—
Ahem, ahem~
He let go with one hand and raised it to touch his throat.
His eyes lowered.
"I'm leaving."
The gray-haired monster stood up.
At that, the boy's face fell. He