Chapter 1239: Friends
Kiki took the picture frame. Lowering her head, she said softly, "...You weren't here today because you went off to do this?"
"...I thought you wouldn't want my gift." Eleven answered without addressing the question.
Kiki sighed, walked over to Eleven, and hugged her.
As they embraced, Eleven heard Kiki sniffing and guessed that she might be crying again. Kiki was like that—she cried at the slightest thing. But at that moment, Eleven's nose felt a little sore too.
"Thank you," Kiki whispered. "I thought we would never be best friends again."
Eleven suddenly clenched her teeth, her lips trembling uncontrollably. She hugged Kiki's shoulders tightly too, afraid that if Kiki stepped back now, she would see that Eleven's eyes had also filled with tears.
"Then will we still be best friends?" Eleven quickly rubbed her eyes. "I still want to talk to you every day like before, sit with you, eat with you, play together..."
"Me too." Kiki's sobbing grew more obvious. "I still want to be friends with you."
Eleven suddenly felt some regret. Before coming here, she had cut out the photo of Kiki and Hesta from the newspaper, pasted it onto a sheet of white cardstock to make it look like a photograph, and put it in the frame—she had originally wanted to give Kiki a complete picture frame, with not only the metal stand but also a photo inside.
Maybe she should have put that newly made photo in it, because Kiki had forgiven her so easily.
Yet when such a picture frame sat on the counter, Eleven felt an almost physical pain, as if someone were truly using an iron shovel to pry at the flesh of her heart again and again. At the last moment, she tossed the cutout photo