Looking at the older boy's face before him, the young man looked completely bewildered.
He was sure he'd never seen this face before today.
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao nodded.
"We've met."
"You bumped into my friend earlier."
The young man immediately looked embarrassed and awkward.
W-we did?
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao's eyes curved slightly.
"You took off in a flash."
"My friend was really upset."
"I-I'm sorry."
The young man lowered his eyes.
His hands twisted tightly together.
"Did you make him start wondering if he looked really scary?"
The unexpected turn of events made the young man lift his head at once.
Huh?
Xiao Xiao smiled at him.
"Otherwise, why did you run so fast?"
"You just bumped into someone."
"All you had to do was apologize."
But the way the young man had acted made it seem as though he'd done something terribly serious.
That was why he'd needed to bolt as fast as he could.
Uh...
The young man stared at him, dumbfounded.
"My friend couldn't stop thinking about how badly he'd scared you."
Xiao Xiao winked at him.
"He's always thought he was very approachable."
"The sort of person people liked at first sight and wanted to get close to."
"But your reaction really shook his confidence."
Ah...
The young man murmured, "I-I'm sorry."
But his nervousness had eased considerably.
In fact, he almost felt like laughing.
The older boy's friend... sounded like an interesting person.
"I'm sorry."
The young man apologized again.
This time, his words came out much more clearly.
And his voice was considerably louder.
"I ran away last time."
"Please apologize to your friend for me."
"I'm really sorry."
The young man lowered his head.
"It's all right."
Xiao Xiao smiled.
"That's