"No," Xia Lian said softly, hugging his arm as a pillow. "I'll just watch Wen Mo, that's enough..."

"Isn't it a little too tight...?"

Wenmo felt a strange warmth and softness on his right arm, and felt somewhat embarrassed.

"No, can I hug you?" She raised her eyes and looked at him expectantly.

"……Can."

The tranquility of the room was comforting, as if all the noise of the world had been shut out, and only the breathing of the two people and the sound of the wind outside the window could be heard.

"Wenmo".

"Um?"

"Thank you."

Wen Mo didn't know what she was thanking him for, perhaps for what she had said today, or perhaps for the arms she was holding tightly, but he didn't ask, and simply replied, "It's nothing."

The two were very close, and even the air conditioning couldn't calm Wen Mo's pounding heart. He turned his face away and met Xia Lian's eyes in the moonlight.

"What's wrong?" Xia Lian asked, puzzled.

At such close range, his cheeks, ear tips, and neck quickly became hot, but he was thankful that the night prevented Xia Lian from seeing his face clearly.

In the center of the lake of the heart, a dragonfly touches the surface, and ripples spread outwards, growing larger and larger.

"It's okay, go to sleep."

He didn't understand what was going on, and his mind was always in turmoil.

Perhaps... this is normal.

It's probably just a protective instinct.

The boy comforted himself, stroking the throbbing in his chest, and closed his eyes, yet he had never tasted the sweetness of love.