"Mm-"
Feng Xuelan felt as though she had had a dream. She dreamed that Tian Yue was chatting with her, speaking in the happiest, gentlest voice. They stood face-to-face in a park filled with blooming flowers, as close as they had been when they first became friends.
"Xuelan!"
In the dream, Tian Yue smiled and opened her arms, seemingly wanting to embrace Feng Xuelan.
Feng Xuelan froze, her steps faltering involuntarily. Her heart clenched, as though something had lodged in her chest, filling her with a faint, inexplicable unease.
She should have been happy. The person before her was Tian Yue, her best friend, the person she had always treasured most. Tian Yue was smiling, her eyes full of affection and expectation. Why was Feng Xuelan hesitating? Why did she instinctively want to pull away?
If asked to describe herself, Feng Xuelan might have said self-deprecatingly that she was a typical people pleaser. She always longed for close relationships, yet those relationships also filled her with anxiety and fear. She was afraid of doing something wrong, afraid that a single word, a glance, or even a moment of silence might affect someone else's mood. So she always weighed her words carefully, always watched the other person's reactions, always gave of herself with trepidation in every relationship.
Feng Xuelan did not hate the nightmare game, because it had given her Tian Yue as a friend.
Tian Yue was stronger, freer, braver, more forthright, and more decisive than she was. In Tian Yue's world, every emotion was direct and clear, every decision resolute and firm. The more Feng Xuelan loved Tian Yue's personality, the more she feared losing her as a friend.
Because Tian Yue was nice to everyone.
When they went shopping together, Tian Yue could chat and laugh even with