"Unfortunately, Kiana had already gotten dressed by the time I entered the changing room."
Jiang Lianqiu: "?"
When Firefly said that, she wasn't looking at Jiang Lianqiu. Instead, she was watching Kiana in the distance as she agonized over which flavor to choose. The corners of her lips curved up, and her tone was as casual as if she were commenting on the nice weather.
After saying it, she lightly kicked a small stone by her feet.
The stone rolled forward a little.
Jiang Lianqiu turned to glance at her.
The tips of Firefly's ears were red, but her expression did not change in the slightest.
Jiang Lianqiu didn't have time to respond, because a series of hurried footsteps came from ahead.
Kiana was back, holding up three ice cream cones. Two were in her left hand—one had a lopsided strawberry scoop, while the matcha on the other was already dripping down.
The cone in her other hand was blueberry-flavored.
She rushed up to Firefly and, without a word, stuffed the matcha cone into her hand. Her movements were crisp and decisive.
"Eat it, quick! It's going to drip!"
Then she turned toward Jiang Lianqiu.
Her movements suddenly slowed.
Holding the remaining two cones, she unconsciously rubbed the edge of the wafer cone with her fingertips. Her lashes lowered for a moment, then lifted again.
Those blue eyes were especially clear in the sunlight, rippling with an almost gentle light.
"...Here."
She offered the blueberry cone to him.
Jiang Lianqiu accepted it.
"It's very sweet," he said.
Kiana's lips curled upward uncontrollably. She tried to press them back down—failed—and simply gave up, turning to hug Firefly's arm.
"Come on, come on! What are we playing next?"
"Wait, I haven't finished eating yet—"
The scoop of matcha ice cream in Firefly's