I have always been curious, what is the bond between boys and girls all about?

Is it friendship? or could it be...

The sudden ringing of my phone interrupted my thoughts, and a new email notification appeared on the screen.

I looked and surprisingly, it wasn't from Yuanhui this time, it was from Yu Nai!

Oh, she mentioned going to Beiyu Park together tonight, should be to set the time...

After reading that message, I was stunned.

"Hey, is it Juxi? Sorry, my mom is coming back tonight to celebrate with my dad and me, so I can't make it."

A simple phone call, but for some reason, I felt a sense of loss.

"What should I do by myself? It feels like I've been stood up or something."

Saying that, I collapsed on the bed again, blowing the warm air from the room's air conditioner, feeling my heart calming down slightly.

Well, even if I try to calm down, how am I going to spend tonight?!

Yukari is the student council president, and we just had a falling out, so she probably won't have time for me.

Although Yu Nai and I have been childhood friends, I heard that her mother only comes back for a few days every year, and she wouldn't abandon her mother for me, besides... it wouldn't make me feel good either, right?

Everyone is busy, only I have nothing to do.

Buzz buzz buzz...!

Darn, I was already annoyed, who is bothering me now?

I impatiently opened my phone.

"Hey, heard that Yu Nai can't make it tonight, how about we go to my place to play games after my 8 p.m. cram school class?"

In the end, Yuanhui is the one who is kindest to me on Christmas, I have to admit... it's a little touching.

"At 8 p.m.?"

"Yeah, we may not have fancy Christmas cake and bubble tea, but you can have beer, fruit juice, cola, sushi, egg tarts... anything you want!"

It was then that I felt how kind Yuanhui was, you know, no one has ever invited me to any Christmas party before, the previous Christmas Eves were just some pocket money given by my parents, then I would go to the game store to buy some so-called 3A-level "masterpieces" to spend the night with the female protagonist in the game!

I don't know why, but tears were already streaming down my face as I replied to him.

"You are really nice..."

"You... This is the first time you've called me nice! I like you..."

"Get lost!"

"Haha, just a little joke, see you at 8 tonight!"

Really, we are already high school students, why are we still talking like this?

I turned off my phone, feeling once again, why did I make such a lousy friend?

Smiling wryly, I remembered how Yuanhui was the first and only person to see me smile, he thought it was very beautiful and charming, even surpassing the usual beauty... Ugh!

That summer –

The scorching heat of the summer sun was baking the earth, but once you stepped into the junior high section of the campus, you would notice that only a few rays of light managed to scatter around.

Among them, the most dazzling ray of golden light fell on the most inconspicuous boy in the room, who always covered his face even after class, as if afraid of contact with others.

In the corner, the same boy who seemed to reject anyone with his distant eyes.

It wasn't until a guy with a thin face and prominent cheekbones, who looked like an antagonist no matter where he went, started walking towards me.

Although the boy didn't know what the other wanted and may have thought he was just a delinquent trying to extort some pocket money? At that moment, the boy had mentally prepared himself... prepared to give him some money (I was very timid as a child)!

"Hey, don't you want to...?"

"What?" Despite the silence, just as the boy was about to make friends, a hint of coldness could be vaguely seen in the beautiful big eyes of the boy, putting the boy in a dilemma.

"Well..."

The boy's speech annoyed the boy. Just before the storm, he spoke calmly one last time, "What do you want to bother me about?"

"Do you think... do you want to know what kind of panties girls wear?!"

With an intense sense of nervousness invading his rationality, the boy seemed to have gathered courage and lost control of his brain to blurt out this earth-shattering sentence.

"Pfft... Ha, ha..."

Covering his mouth, the boy burst into laughter, from a smile to a hearty laugh. This left the boy somewhat perplexed, but the former's wholehearted smile couldn't help but make the latter burst out laughing too.

After much inner turmoil, the boy also gave the boy a big smile.

However, for me at that time, this compared to the laughter of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and his companions, was chilling enough to give anyone on the street an excuse to beat him up.

The second time we had a conversation was during the days when we were about to graduate from middle school.

Looking at those annoying couples, the boy sighed catastrophically and took out a textbook to grab attention.

At this moment, a girl holding a lunch bag walked in, seemingly delivering lunch for a classmate.

The girl blinked her big emerald eyes and smiled as she handed over the lunch bag in her hand. Unfortunately, it seemed like the boy hadn't heard her at all, continuing to browse through the foreign language textbook in his hand and practicing to himself. After all, every time that violent girl spoke, she was in for trouble. The girl furrowed her eyebrows slightly, took a deep breath, and shouted.

"Jū! Yū!"

The gold-colored ponytail on the girl's head instantly turned fiery red, rising in anger!

"Oh, Shinran?"

With those words, a fist squarely aimed at the boy's head descended, "Wow, that hurts! What are you doing, Shinran... Yu Nai!"

Watching the boy wailing while clutching his head, Shinran gave a slight smile, casually rubbed the boy's almost splitting head, and mockingly said, "That's more like it, remember to call me Yu Nai in the future!"

By the way, the school's middle school section has a uniform style of brown suits, with the difference being that boys wear long pants while girls wear skirts.

But Yu Nai seemed to dislike this attire at the time and always wore clothes different from those of the school, like long pants similar to the boys'.

"Uh, sure," the boy replied absentmindedly with a smile.

Facing the boy's dismissive answer, Yu Nai might have felt a bit dissatisfied, resulting in a scolding, "Oh, oh, oh, if you call me wrong again, I'll split your head open to see if there's pudding inside! Understand?"

"Oh..."

"Alright, alright, let's take a break and have some lunch now!"

Maybe he had put too much pressure on himself with his strong desire to study, and the boy thought it was a good opportunity to relax for a moment.

"I say, Shinran," the boy tightened his grip on the chopsticks and habitually tapped the table, with a resigned look on his face as he reminded, "Since we're already graduates, shouldn't we act a bit more mature towards girls?"

The boy didn't know how many times he had reminded her, but she remained indifferent as usual, doing things her own way and keeping her cool.

"You make a good point," Yu Nai finally listened and responded, but then quickly turned the question back on me.

"For example...?"

"Like having an idol-like aura, just like...um, just like...?"

Completely speechless, he struggled to come up with an answer.

"Just like what?"

Just as I was at a loss, a figure that could pass as a character in a fictional story suddenly appeared in sight - a girl with straight, black hair falling to her shoulders and eyes that sparkled like brilliant starlight refracted through blue tints. Her presence was simply idol-like!

"Um...how should I put it? Like our classmate Yukari, who's calm and steady like an angel...huff!"

Before the words had even fully left my mouth, Yu Nai landed a solid blow to the boy's abdomen, sending him crashing into the corner of the back wall.

"Whose side are you on?! If Yukari is calm and steady like an angel, then go ask your Yukari to help you with lunch!"

With that, Yu Nai, with a darkened expression, boldly walked out, casually tossing the food bag in his hand at the boy who had already been dealt a blow, delivering a final blow.

Naturally, this pitiful scene attracted a strong crowd of onlookers, somewhat alleviating the gloomy atmosphere of the rainy day.

"What's going on? Such a waste."

The boy, however, showed no sign of embarrassment. Instead, with a look of regret, he picked up the crushed bread from his body, savored it carefully, and then praised, "Truly deserving of someone who has been independent and cooking since childhood."

"Hey, boy! You only know how to flatter when everyone is gone?"

A boy with a face that resembled a monkey's, but was rather friendly, teased like an old friend.

"Nonsense, I don't remember having a friend like you who jokes around with me and my friends!"

They had been classmates from elementary school to ninth grade, and even in high school. This was perhaps fate's way of bringing them together, as he often said.

His only close friend at school, often involved in shady dealings but with a good heart, he was an important guide for me through difficult times.

"This summer is unexpectedly cold, defying the laws of nature." The boy lightly touched his head, looking gloomily at Yuanhui.

"What's wrong? Feeling down again? Come on, buddy, whatever you want, I'm here for you!"

Yuanhui was quite optimistic about such weather. One might say he had a very positive outlook on life.

"I got some new stuff from those guys the other day, you know," Yuanhui assured the boy after making sure no one was around to hear, before leaning in closer to share his glorious deeds.

Smack! Upon hearing these words, the boy immediately stood up, clapped both hands on the table, and, like a boss, pointed at Yuanhui's nose to criticize.

"I...I am upright, with principles and morals in all my dealings! And you..."

The boy's righteous declaration caught the attention of many in the classroom, with everyone staring at him in confusion. Sensing trouble, Yuanhui quickly covered the boy's mouth with his hand, trying to hide his own secrets.

"He's been driven crazy by his classmate Shinichi. As a loyal friend, I'll take him to the infirmary!" Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his left hand, and covering the boy's mouth with his right, Yuanhui slowly made his way out of the classroom, away from the prying eyes of many.

"Big brother, if our conversation just now is exposed, we're both done for!" Yuanhui exclaimed in a daze, rubbing his cheeks anxiously.