"Scary..."
The little boy's tears pattered down.
"Wah..."
The crying had almost stopped, but when the child saw someone who made him feel safe, big tears spilled from the corners of his eyes again.
Xiao Xiao was slightly taken aback.
Then he reached out and gently rested a hand on the child's head.
"It's okay now."
"Don't be scared."
"Is something wrong with him?"
As if he were afraid something would chase him down.
He wasn't talking about me, was he?
Could it be...
Why had the child been crying when he bumped into me, but started crying again after we'd had a friendly conversation?
The child threw his head back and wailed.
A few seconds later, inspiration struck me.
I thought our conversation had been peaceful and friendly.
Just as I turned to look at the person he'd bumped into, the child came running over and crashed right into me.
Now that an accident had made me stop, I'd checked right away to see if the other person had followed him...
If that guy were still around, how could the little boy have calmed down so suddenly?
"Here."
His eyes and nose were red, too.
"You guessed right."
What did he mean, he thought?
I blinked.
"The one chasing him was a big dog?!"
Just as Zhang Bo was starting to get used to it—
The little boy was small, and though he ran fast like a little cannonball, crashing into Zhang Bo was no different from an egg hitting a rock.
Watching the child from the side, I might have made him feel pressured.
Xiao Xiao smiled.
He looked utterly astonished.
He wiped the child's face.
As expected.
The warmth on his head and his big brother's comforting words only made the little