Even though his parents didn’t blame him and comforted him just like the doctor did, telling him it was nothing, from that day on, Ryan Cooper still consciously kept a distance from his younger brother, not getting too close. He couldn’t quite explain why—maybe it was the lingering fear and guilt from that night, or maybe he had come to understand what restraint meant.

Earlier than many adults ever do.

After growing up, Ryan Cooper often felt that he was born with a sense of detachment from the world, holding just a few threads in his hand, connecting him to only a handful of necessary people in his life. Everything was set in shades of black, white, and gray.

Only Ethan Clark was an unexpected visitor outside of fate, like a sudden downpour. Some said it was the brotherly bond left unfinished in a previous life, so they ran into each other again in this one. Thus, he had one more special thread in his hand—a thin red one, so delicate it seemed it would scatter with a breath. In the end, it didn’t really belong to him, so he not only held onto it, but also tried to maintain it.

He just chose the clumsiest, but safest, way.

Chapter 7 Colored Juice

Ryan Cooper very briefly told Ethan Clark about his first allergic reaction, skipping over his feelings and inner thoughts, wrapping it up in just a few words.

After hearing it, Ethan Clark had only one thought—Ryan Cooper probably wouldn’t let him eat anything tasty anymore.

This made Ethan Clark a little disappointed. But he didn’t say it out loud, since that would make him seem childish. Yet in Ryan Cooper’s eyes, this disappointment could be interpreted another way, like being unable to accept the fact that he’d almost been killed by Ryan Cooper.

So neither of them continued the conversation.

When he returned to school in the afternoon, the girls in the class surrounded him, bombarding him with curiosity. Ethan Clark had a headache and could only dodge their questions, not directly mentioning that he had lost his parents. He just said that their fathers had a good relationship, the two families were close, so he was temporarily staying at their house. That wasn’t really a lie.

Actually, he didn’t think not having parents was something to be ashamed of. It was just that if he said it, everyone would definitely show him those faces full of sympathy, and Ethan Clark could never get used to that.

He felt he was quite happy and didn’t want to become the pitiful child in other people’s eyes.

Aside from their curiosity about his family, what Ethan Clark didn’t expect was an even bigger problem—the admirers of Ryan Cooper.

Peiya’s high school and middle school buildings were two in total, connected by a skywalk on the third floor—the only link between them. Coincidentally, the classes of Ryan Cooper and Ethan Clark were in these two buildings. This made it very convenient to look for someone across departments.

Many girls who had a crush on Ryan Cooper, unable to get a response from him, came up with a roundabout way—adding Ethan Clark on QQ to get information from him. To put it nicely, they were asking for help; some even went straight to Ethan Clark’s class to corner him. Most of them were upperclassmen, and Ethan Clark had no idea how to deal with them.

Evening self-study ended at 9:30. Everyone counted down the seconds for the bell and rushed out. Ethan Clark didn’t hurry. The high school’s evening study ended at 9:50, so he slowly finished his homework, slowly packed his bag, and was the last one to leave the classroom.

He was like this almost every day.

When he got to the third-floor skywalk, Ethan Clark hesitated again, looking up at the brightly lit classroom of Senior 3 (5) across the way. Time dragged on, and Ethan Clark sat in the corridor reading comics, waiting until 9:50 when the bell rang, but there was no movement at all at the door of Class (5).

The Senior 3 rocket class really was tough.

In the end, Ethan Clark rode home alone. Grace Miller had simmered yam and pigeon soup, filling the house with a delicious aroma. As soon as he opened the door, the little Pomeranian ran to Ethan Clark’s feet. Ethan Clark scooped it up, “Marshmallow, have you gotten fatter again? You’re so heavy.”

“Is that you, Lele? Tired?” Grace Miller tossed some rice cake slices into the pot, waited for them to cook until soft and sticky, then served a bowl for Ethan Clark, and cut up a red-fleshed dragon fruit to put in a small bowl.

Ethan Clark sat on the carpet, tilting his head back to take the bowl of soup from Grace Miller, and casually asked, “Where’s uncle?”

“He’s gone abroad on business, probably won’t be back until next week.” Grace Miller patted his head. “He said he’ll bring you a gift when he returns.”

Ethan Clark happily took a big sip and almost burned his tongue.

“Be careful.” Grace Miller put the dragon fruit bowl next to him and went back to the kitchen.

Sitting cross-legged on the carpet, Ethan Clark ate rice cake soup while watching variety shows. When he finished the big bowl, he heard the door open, immediately put down the bowl, and lay on the sofa to look outside.

Ryan Cooper put his keys on the entryway cabinet, changed his shoes, and came in. The family cat, hearing the noise, lazily lifted its head, flicked its tail, meowed once, then turned its back and went back to sleep.

“You’re back? Come here.”

Ryan Cooper followed Grace Miller’s words and went into the kitchen. Ethan Clark trailed behind Ryan Cooper, complaining that he’d become a tool for others lately. “They all add me on QQ, and the first thing they ask is, can you tell me Ryan Cooper’s QQ number? What’s the answer to his friend request question?”

“Just say you don’t know.” Ryan Cooper looked unconcerned, calmly drinking his soup.