Grace Bennett wanted to take something out of his pocket and stuff it into Anna Walker's mouth.

Brian Brooks glanced at him but said nothing.

In Anna Walker's eyes, this was tacit approval. He was about to keep asking when Grace Bennett grabbed his shirt and yanked him back.

The phone in the backpack started vibrating again and again—this time it was a call.

Brian Brooks didn’t pay attention. He tapped the backpack with his fingers, expressionless, and continued, “I’ve been paying attention to you since the first year of high school.”

Grace Bennett: “……”

Anna Walker: “?”

“At the sports meet, I watched your events.”

Grace Bennett: “?”

Anna Walker: “???”

“I’m serious.” Brian Brooks's hand hung at his side. “I hope you’ll think about it.”

-

Fat Tiger took a long time in the bathroom, and in the end, Grace Bennett left the school through the main gate, fair and square.

He looked unfriendly, and the students around him instinctively stepped aside.

Anna Walker glanced at him for who knows how many times, finally unable to hold back: “Don’t you think what Brian Brooks just said sounded kind of familiar…”

“No.”

“Really?” Anna Walker scratched his head. “What did he want with you?”

Grace Bennett's face grew even darker. He pressed his lips together and, after a long pause, squeezed out, “…A fight.”

“?”

Anna Walker was confused. “Then why did he say he’s been paying attention to you since the first year…”

“He’s disliked me since the first year.”

“And he watched your events at the sports meet…”

“Wanted to see how badass I was.”

“And at the end he wanted you to consider…”

“Consider fighting him.”

Anna Walker: “……”

Weird, but it made sense. After all, he couldn’t imagine what else could be going on between those two.

Anna Walker asked casually, “So did you guys settle it?”

“Settle my ass!”

“……”

They passed by a supermarket. Anna Walker remembered the snacks he’d hidden at home were almost gone and wanted to go in and buy some.

Grace Bennett waited outside.

The evening air was cool. A couple walked past him, the girl’s hand tucked into the boy’s pocket for warmth.

Grace Bennett clenched the letter in his pocket and suddenly wanted a cigarette again.

He was actually trying to quit, down to one every three days lately, and it was starting to work.

He couldn’t let Brian Brooks ruin it.

Thinking this, Grace Bennett turned his face and exhaled, catching sight of a trash can in the corner out of the corner of his eye.

He hesitated for a moment, walked over, and used two fingers to pull the letter from his pocket, dangling it over the trash can.

The wind blew, and the envelope swayed.

Two seconds later, he clicked his tongue softly and pulled his hand back—

“Damn! A love letter?”

Grace Bennett moved fast. By the time Anna Walker rushed over, the thing was already back in his pocket.

Anna Walker held a plastic bag. “Who gave it to you? Just now? How did I not see?”

Grace Bennett walked ahead. “You saw wrong.”

“No way, my eyesight’s 5.2!” Anna Walker suddenly realized, “I get it, it must’ve been when you went back to write your self-reflection—that’s why your ears were so red.”

Anna Walker had been hanging out with Grace Bennett since way back.

Grace Bennett was the type who could take on five people without breaking a sweat, read a self-criticism in front of thousands without flinching, always acting cool and cocky, like nothing could faze him—

Until a girl confessed to Grace Bennett.

That was the first time he saw Grace Bennett blush.

The guy who never blinked in a fight stood there with his head down, ears bright red, apologizing to a girl barely over 1.5 meters tall, not even daring to look at anyone.

From that day on, he knew that his badass buddy was, deep down, just an invincibly pure-hearted high school boy.

“Are you done yet?” They reached a fork in the road. Grace Bennett turned around and walked off in the other direction without looking back. “I’m leaving.”

-

Grace Bennett took a shower when he got home. When he came out, there was still a racket upstairs.

Cheap apartment buildings didn’t have soundproofing—he was used to it. He glanced in the mirror.

The wounds on his face had faded a bit; probably a few more days and they’d be gone.

Still ugly, though.

Grace Bennett rubbed his face hard with a towel, stopping only when the cuts started to hurt.

He shuffled out of the bathroom in slippers, grabbed a bucket of instant noodles, and was just about to tear open the packaging when there was a sudden “knock knock” at the door.

The two knocks felt like they landed right on his temples.

Grace Bennett froze. When he looked up again, all the laziness was gone from his face, replaced by coldness and wariness in his eyes.

He stared at the shadow under the door, quietly waiting for a while—

“Knock.” Another sound.

Grace Bennett let go of the instant noodles and turned to open the door.

He grabbed the handle and twisted it open—not very gently—eyes tense as he looked outside. Nothing.

Grace Bennett frowned, about to close the door, when he caught a glimpse of a small, dark head out of the corner of his eye.

He slowly lowered his head and met the gaze of a little girl in front of him.

She was the kid from the family that had just moved in—he’d seen her downstairs yesterday, with two little pigtails and chubby cheeks.

Grace Bennett's expression was fierce, and the little girl drooped her brows, looking a bit timid.