“Eh... slipped away again. We hadn’t even finished talking.”

As everyone knows, in the world of someone with social anxiety, talking one-on-one is bearable. You can grit your teeth and hold down that fear of socializing. But three people? No way.

So when Lu Huai had no chance to make his escape, the girl could only leave in quick, slightly flustered steps.

It was as if even her retreating figure wanted to fold itself away.

From that alone, Lu Huai could roughly tell that this girl, whose eyes were inexplicably beautiful, practically a treasure of the world, probably had the same problem he did. Fear of socializing. Unease in crowds. The distress of being noticed by others.

That was probably why she hid those stunning eyes behind her thick hair.

Yan Ningning let out a sigh, then looked at Lu Huai with mild annoyance.

“You really are something. Guess your own kind really does attract each other.”

Lu Huai didn’t know how to answer that. He wasn’t sure whether “your own kind” carried any other meaning. With Yan Ningning’s character, she probably wasn’t looking down on someone like him. At most, she was teasing him.

“She seems... kind of like me.”

That was all Lu Huai could manage.

Yan Ningning walked ahead with easy steps. Lu Huai still lagged slightly behind. It wasn’t that he always felt inferior next to a girl like her. Well, that feeling did come up a lot. But more than that, it was a sense of safety in the outside world. Having cover and having none were basically the difference between heaven and hell.

Social anxiety could be classified as a kind of phobia to begin with.

It was real. It could even be hereditary. It wasn’t just some vague “communication issue.”

A lot of people probably thought this kind of condition couldn’t really exist. That it was just weakness, or being overly dramatic, a way to seem different and special.

But that wasn’t true at all.

He looked at the girl a little ahead of him. Her steps were light. She stood under the sunlight, fresh and bright.

Who wouldn’t want to be like that...?

But that was the thing about it. You knew it wasn’t right. You knew it made you look weak, cowardly, absurdly oversensitive. And yet you still couldn’t control your reaction to social interaction.

You could force yourself to endure the fear and manage basic conversation. That much was possible. But in bigger groups, under more attention, Lu Huai would only become lost and helpless, with no way out and no way to soothe himself.

“That girl’s name is Liu Qianxun. She’s probably similar to you, a little socially anxious. Though she’s doing better now. You seriously never knew there was someone like you in our grade?”

Actually, Lu Huai hadn’t shown any obvious curiosity about her, but... he was a little curious. Since she knew Yan Ningning, the thought had flashed through his mind that maybe he could learn a little about her from Yan Ningning...

Of course, there was no way he could say that out loud.

If he did, Yan Ningning would probably think he had some special interest in Liu Qianxun, some ulterior motive. Letting someone see through his thoughts like that was humiliating.

But the girl beside him, as if she could read his mind, just said it outright.

After briefly wondering whether Yan Ningning was probing him somehow, Lu Huai quietly replied, “I didn’t know... maybe I just never noticed.”

There were so many students in the grade. Maybe some people like him would try to find others like themselves. But someone with social anxiety would never actively want to get to know another socially anxious person.

Because the other person would be like a mirror, showing you your own ugliness.

“But she’s pretty cute. Want me to introduce you?”

Yan Ningning had assumed the two of them didn’t know each other. After all, in that brief encounter, they hadn’t exchanged a single line.

And that really didn’t count as knowing each other. At most, they’d just crossed paths once.

“No need... I don’t have that kind of worldly thought.”

The deliberate explanation was awful. Lu Huai regretted it the moment it left his mouth, but there was no taking it back now.

“I see...”

Yan Ningning nodded thoughtfully and glanced at the boy behind her, his head slightly lowered.

Even under the sunlight, he seemed wrapped in shadow, like a world of his own, fractured and cut off from everything else.

There was no more conversation. The two of them got on the bus together.

The wheels jolted as they carried the passengers toward somewhere far away, or back home.

But Lu Huai’s heart never settled. He still couldn’t adapt to the outside world, and all the way there, he kept trying to suppress his discomfort.

The girl beside him seemed to be tapping at her phone the whole time, probably replying to messages.

That was normal too. A popular girl like Yan Ningning... apparently some people had even given her a nickname based on her looks: Yan Ruyu. There wasn’t a trace of mockery in it.

There were probably plenty of boys trying to get close to her in private, trying to pursue her, right?

Why was he even thinking about that? It wasn’t like he’d ever be one of the lucky ones.

He always dreamed about a romantic encounter with some beautiful girl, about a youthful love story. But for a guy whose life was just phone, computer, games, and all kinds of virtual worlds, how could something like that ever happen?

What, was some beautiful girl supposed to suddenly burst into your house and insist on having a fateful encounter with you? That was pure fantasy. He looked average, wasn’t especially tall, and his family wasn’t well-off. He was just one of the countless ordinary people in the crowd. Someone like him would probably have trouble even finding an ordinary girlfriend in the future.

That was what people with social anxiety were like. Outwardly, they were timid and hesitant in social situations. But inside, their thoughts were anything but few.

It didn’t mean they had low EQ, and it didn’t mean they were stupid. They just couldn’t act in a way that matched what they thought. Things always went against what they wanted.

They always tried to be brave, only to shrink back on instinct.

Like the beautiful, perfect, dreamlike girl beside him. And yet he could only look at her face through the reflection in the bus window.

How pitiful.

And yet he couldn’t resist it.

They returned to the apartment complex together and went upstairs. Still half a beat behind as always, Lu Huai finally felt much more at ease. The narrow stairwell gave him a sense of safety. The enclosed space made him feel like there was only himself, and no one else.

Then Yan Ningning, who had stepped up onto the landing first, suddenly turned around. Her hair fluttered lightly as the air slipped through the strands of her black hair.

“Oh right, you’re free tonight, aren’t you?”

Lu Huai froze for a moment, then instinctively said, “I’ve... got plans. Why?”

Actually, he had nothing at all. If there was one thing, it was probably the guild battle on Sunday night, tonight’s game event.

But it wasn’t something he absolutely couldn’t skip.

It clearly wasn’t enough to turn down a possible invitation, and yet... that was how he answered. It was the only way he knew how.

He regretted saying it as soon as it came out, but then he comforted himself: being alone would feel safer anyway, and that wasn’t so bad... even though it did seem like she wanted something from him tonight.

Yan Ningning looked at Lu Huai’s still rather “gloomy” expression, nodded, and said, “Since you’re free, I’ll come get you around dinner.”

“??? I said I had plans.”

Lu Huai reminded her in a very “gentle” tone.

Yan Ningning ignored that completely.

“What plans could you possibly have? How many times have you even gone downstairs this whole summer? And with your parents not home, where else could you even go?”

Lu Huai gave Yan Ningning a puzzled glance, then quickly looked away.

“How do you know I haven’t gone downstairs much...?”

“Obviously, I checked the peeph— mm...”

The girl started to say something, then immediately stopped. A soft pink flush bloomed across her cheeks like peach blossoms. She quickly adjusted her expression and said, “Obviously your parents mentioned it while chatting with mine. Don’t tell me you think I’ve been watching your life? Besides, haven’t you always spent your summer like this? You think I have that much free time to watch what you’re doing? As if.”

She tilted her chin slightly, brushed up a strand of hair, then quickly turned and opened her door.

“See you later.”

The girl disappeared behind the door.

Only then did Lu Huai finally dare lift his head normally and look at the place where she had vanished.

“She said a little too much... It really sounded like she was trying to cover something up. But there’s no way, right?”

It was probably just the power of that childhood-friend bond she had, something he could never protect and never possess...

With retreat drums pounding hard in his heart, Lu Huai went back to his room.

But the girl who seemed to have already returned to hers was actually leaning against the door.

Her cheeks were bright red. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the living room.

She pressed herself tightly against the door, her fair, slender legs drawn close together.

Her hands were clasped in front of her chest.

Her face was flushed red, and she took several deep breaths.

“S-so close... I almost let it slip...”

After calming down a little, she finally lowered her hands. Then, as if remembering something, an annoyed look appeared on her face. She turned and punched the security door with her soft pink fist.

“Is that guy seriously an idiot?! He’s driving me crazy...”