No one else approached the boy.
Many people only glanced at him as they hurried past.
Their steps might falter for a moment, but they soon continued on.
Few people would stop for a stranger.
Especially when the other person didn't seem to be in any serious trouble.
Hm?
The boy's sluggish mind finally registered something.
He slowly raised his head.
Sure enough.
At some point, an umbrella had appeared over his head.
The boy turned around.
Xiao Xiao's eyes curved slightly.
"Hello."
"We meet again."
The boy's eyes widened in surprise.
B-Big Brother!?
The person standing before him, holding an umbrella over him... was the Big Brother who had saved him from a car accident a few days ago.
It was him...
"You?"
"Mm."
Xiao Xiao smiled and nodded.
"It's me."
"Looks like we're quite fated to meet."
"Though every time I see you..."
Xiao Xiao took in the boy's current appearance, his brows lifting slightly. "You don't seem to be doing very well."
At that, the boy froze.
The next second, his cheeks flushed bright red.
He didn't know what to do with himself.
Only then did Big Brother's words make him realize...
just how disheveled he looked right now...
The first two times, he could excuse his disgraceful behavior by saying he'd bumped into someone—and in the second case, nearly been in a car accident.
But this time...
What excuse could he possibly give for looking like this?
"Here."
Xiao Xiao held out a fist.
Huh?
The boy instinctively held out his own hand, too.
Then he felt something being placed in his palm.
He looked down.
And froze.
It was a piece of candy wrapped in pretty glassine.
The vivid orange brightened the boy's dull eyes.