Desk mate, your persona has crumbled.

Xu Mo and Song Shuyan walked quietly home, one after the other.

The surrounding area was filled with the noise of students leaving school.

The students walked happily along the road, chatting in twos and threes about the weekend.

Song Shuyan habitually followed a step behind Xu Mo, a position that made her feel at ease.

She looked up, her gaze falling on the back of Xu Mo's head.

The weight of her schoolbag pressed down on her shoulders, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

This was the first time she had walked home with a friend.

Although we were just walking in silence, the feeling of walking together was wonderful.

The feeling of going home with my dad and brother is completely different.

Going home with family, the final destination is the finish line.

The journey itself isn't actually that important for getting home.

However, when traveling with Xu Mo, Song Shuyan discovered that she cared more about the feeling of the journey.

Going home was inevitable, but the scenery along the way took on a different hue because of the presence of friends.

She was with her friends.

(happy.)

Although Xu Mo did not turn around, the emotions emanating from the girl behind him constantly reminded him.

He's going home with a female classmate now.

Like Song Shuyan, this was also the first time Xu Mo had walked home with a female classmate after school.

Even those who travel together all the way.

At that moment, Cheng Yuanhao's words "pure love" inexplicably popped into his mind again, making him shake his head in annoyance.

Pure love my foot!

Xu Mo suddenly stopped.

When Song Shuyan saw Xu Mo stop, she also stopped and looked at him with some confusion.

Xu Mo turned around.

His gaze fell on Song Shuyan, then he pointed to the person next to him.

"Well, how about... you come over here? It'll be easier for me to talk to you that way."

Song Shuyan's heart started pounding faster.

"Move to the side?"

"Walk side by side with Xu Mo?"

This thought made Song Shuyan feel a surge of tension.

Following one step behind her was a safe buffer zone for her.

Walking side by side means being closer.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted to the spot beside Xu Mo.

Sensing Song Shuyan's nervousness, Xu Mo did not press the matter.

"Actually, you can think about it another way: when we were deskmates in the classroom, weren't we sitting side by side?"

"So when we walk side by side, it's actually a kind of desk mate situation. If you think about it that way, doesn't it make you less nervous?"

That's obviously a fallacy.

Song Shuyan naturally knew that this was absurd.

But that doesn't stop her fallacies from working for her.

Xu Mo looked at the incredibly beautiful girl in front of him.

Her fingers, hanging at her sides, curled unconsciously.

Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the roadside trees, dappling the tips of her dark hair.

The noise of students leaving school seemed to be blocked out by an invisible barrier at this moment.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, Song Shuyan took a small step forward.

This step brought her from the safe zone behind him to his side.

The distance between the two shortened, and their shoulders were now only half an arm's length apart.

Xu Mo could even smell the shampoo on Song Shuyan.

The girl turned her head, and her cool, aloof features softened slightly at that moment.

Those eyes were now looking at him with a tense expression.

(nervous!)

so cute.

Xu Mo could feel his Emperor Engine running at high speed.

The boy suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and tried his best to make his expression look as natural as it was in the classroom.

"See, it's not that nerve-wracking, right? It's just like being deskmates in the classroom."

"Um."

Song Shuyan responded softly.

The two of them just looked at each other.

At this moment, Xu Mo quickly chuckled, trying to dispel the sudden, awkward atmosphere:

"Haha, see? I told you! It's just like a classroom!"

The boy's voice was deliberately louder.

Perhaps it was to help Song Shuyan, who was still tense, relax, or perhaps it was to cover up his own feelings.

"Look, do you see that stationery store?"

He pointed to an inconspicuous little shop by the roadside:

"The owner is really nice. Notebooks and pens are a dollar cheaper than the one across the street. The only downside is that the shop is a bit small and doesn't have a lot of stuff."

Song Shuyan looked in the direction he pointed and gave a soft "hmm".

But the girl's gaze was indeed filled with intense curiosity.

"And that one too."

Xu Mo then pointed to a shop diagonally across the street: "The owner of that shop has a bad temper. I saw him arguing with a student before."

"It's also lively after school in the evening."

Xu Mo continued his eloquent narration.

"Over there, around 5:30, when we have dinner, several food stalls will pop up!"

"You probably don't know this, but we can actually sneak out during dinner time, and the school security guards won't say anything. That's why those stalls appear at that time."

"They'll keep setting it up until we finish our evening self-study session."

"Let me tell you, there's an auntie who sells jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes), her skills are amazing, and her sauce is especially fragrant. There's also a fried skewer stall, I particularly like their fried rice cakes. Oh, and they also have oden."

"However, I prefer fried rice noodles, the kind that's a bit dry, not too oily. Soggy ones aren't tasty."

Xu Mo described it vividly, as if the delicious food was right in front of him.

Song Shuyan listened quietly, her gaze following his directions as he wandered down the street.

Perhaps this is the difference of traveling with friends.

Her brother and father would only ever ask her how her school life was, or simply focus on taking her home.

Song Shuyan understood that they were worried that she would be bullied at school because of her social anxiety, and they also knew that she would feel more relaxed when she got home, so they were eager to take her back.

But Xu Mo is different.

He sees himself more like an ordinary friend.

His own social anxiety was not the most important factor to consider.

For Xu Mo, she was first and foremost a friend.

Song Shuyan listened quietly to Xu Mo's words.

Those street scenes that she usually ignored or even deliberately avoided took on a different hue under Xu Mo's description.

The two walked side by side like this, and Xu Mo's mouth hardly stopped.

Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the roadside trees, casting dappled shadows on them.

Finally, they reached a street corner.

Xu Mo slowed his pace and pointed to a clean and tidy-looking breakfast shop in front of him.

"Here you go!"

Xu Mo's voice was tinged with amusement: "Song Shuyan, you bought your rice ball here."

The boy's gaze fell on Song Shuyan's face, as if he wanted to see her reaction.

The girl's gaze immediately fell on the shop, and a look of understanding flashed in her eyes.

She seemed to be saying, "So this is the place."

Xu Mo smiled as he looked at her focused gaze.

"Actually, there are quite a few breakfast shops and stalls on the way to school."

"If there's anything you'd like to eat next time, just tell me and I'll bring it to you!"

Looking at the boy's radiant smile, the girl softly replied:

"Um."