More than an hour later, they finally returned to the hotel.
The group walked into the hotel carrying bags large and small, a whole pile of things in their hands.
They were chatting and laughing, looking to be in very good spirits.
They came to Lin Ao's room and saw him sitting on the balcony, drinking tea as he looked out at the night view.
"Master~ we're back!"
Sasaki Nozomi set down her things and ran toward the balcony. Lin Ao turned back and gave a faint nod.
"Master~ let me tell you, we ran into some thugs at the mall, and Masami took care of them all at once."
"And the udon there was so, so good. We thought about packing some back for you, but it wouldn't taste good by the time we brought it back. The noodles would go soggy. You really should've gone out with us."
Sasaki Nozomi was like a skylark, chattering nonstop in front of Lin Ao. Lin Ao only watched her with a smile and did not interrupt.
Lin Ao stood up, rubbed Sasaki Nozomi's head, and walked into the room.
"Masami, how was it? Did you enjoy the outing?"
Lin Ao looked at Suzuki Masami, who seemed a little restrained off to the side.
Hearing Lin Ao's question, Suzuki Masami smiled faintly. This was the first smile she had shown in front of Lin Ao.
"It was... wonderful. Like a dream."
Her voice was soft. That one sentence had already summed up everything she had experienced today. It was like a dream, so dreamlike that it did not feel very real. She was so afraid that after she slept tonight and woke up, everything would have vanished.
That she would discover this was only a dream she had had after being injured