Cinema Incident

Qian Huanyue did not understand what Shiori had said on the other side of the door, but she had no intention of paying it any extra attention right now.

Inside the cinema.

Shiori hugged a double serving of popcorn and slowly sat down beside Qian Huanyue.

Qian Huanyue was unusually quiet, saying nothing as she focused on the massive movie screen.

Both of them were exceptionally quiet.

By the time they were halfway through the movie, the popcorn bucket was empty too.

Shiori finally could not resist quietly turning her head to peek at the expression of the person beside her.

Sure enough, Huanyue still wore that faintly smiling expression. Her pale violet eyes were slightly dim, but she did not exactly seem uninterested. She appeared to be watching the screen intently.

The film's subject matter was incredibly niche, and its promotion had been weak, leaving the theater so empty that there were only a handful of people.

"Um, Huanyue..." Shiori hesitated, lowering her voice as she spoke. She wanted to ask whether Huanyue was bored, or whether... they should leave early?

Huanyue silently made a shushing gesture. Shiori swallowed her words, somewhat sheepishly turning back toward the screen, though her thoughts became even more tangled.

But Huanyue had not told Shiori to be quiet to preserve the silence inside.

A few rows behind them, two girls who had originally been quietly watching the movie began arguing in hushed voices, the sounds subtle but growing steadily clearer.

"Why are you going to sleep when we're here to watch a movie? It's not even halfway over! If I hadn't deliberately turned to look at you, I wouldn't have noticed that you'd already been snoring away!" One girl, who looked about the same age as Shiori, spoke with suppressed irritation.

At once,