"I don't know how."
"Can I just buy the stuffed toy?" Yuan Chen asked.
"Yes, of course."
Shen Yi watched the transaction wrap up swiftly before him.
He felt a little dazed.
"The stuffed toy... was what you wanted?"
Yuan Chen glanced at him, his eyes seeming to ask, "What's wrong with that?"
He reached out to straighten Shen Yi's turned-up coat collar. His touch was almost gentle, though his expression remained indifferent.
"Did you think I wanted to play with a gun like a kid?"
"You don't collect stuffed toys, do you?"
"I wanted it because it reminded me of someone."
With that, he turned and walked ahead. Shen Yi hurried after him, unable to keep his eyes from drifting to the side.
The sight of an impeccably dressed, top-tier alpha walking with an enormous stuffed toy tucked under his arm was decidedly incongruous.
"Let me carry it."
Afraid they would draw attention, Shen Yi hastily took the toy from him.
Though Shen Yi insisted on carrying it, the scene looked no more harmonious. He simply felt more comfortable.
Shen Yi looked down at the stuffed toy, which he could barely wrap both arms around.
It was a stuffed koala with upright ears.
The way its paws were neatly clasped in front of it was adorable... but somehow familiar.
"When you said it reminded you of someone... did you mean me?"
"You're not that slow after all." Yuan Chen chuckled, then stopped and took his phone out of his coat.
On the screen, Shen Yi was instantly captured holding the koala with a bewildered expression.
Yuan Chen looked at his phone screen, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Don't let the stuffed toy outdo you. Smile a little cuter."
"..."
Shen Yi's shoulders gave an almost imperceptible twitch.