"Don't be like this, okay?"
Su Qing bit her lip, unsure what to do. She could only grasp Jiang Sui's fingers with all her strength, subconsciously.
She lowered her head, seeing the blood dripping from the boy's leg, her eyes dark with worry.
"What do you want so you can go to the hospital?"
The girl looked at Jiang Sui eagerly.
Jiang Sui felt like a needle had pierced his heart. His eyes were filled with deep emotions, and his heart was in turmoil, but he managed to suppress them.
"What happens to me is none of your business."
These were Su Qing's words, and Su Qing hadn't forgotten them.
The phrase "we have nothing to do with each other" made Su Qing's eyelashes tremble, and she subconsciously bit her lip.
"Jiang Sui... I..."
She didn't know how to explain herself, and her eyes welled up.
"Su Qing, release. We have nothing to do with each other anymore."
"You don't need to pity me."
Her eyes were crimson, ready to burst into tears.
Su Qing watched her fingers being torn apart one by one, feeling a pang of sadness. She shook her head vigorously, clutching at the hem of Jiang Sui's clothes, unwilling to let him go.
"I don't have any pity..."
"No!"
She wasn't feeling pity.
The boy stopped and gazed at her.
"If you are not feeling pity for me, what are you doing? Don't tell me you've discovered you like me since you said we were done?"
The sneer in Jiang Sui's mouth smacked Su Qing's cheek, making her feel a bit ashamed.
"Did Hu Yifan tell you that I was kicked out of the house and was playing basketball in the underground court?"
His nonchalant tone brushed coldly against Su Qing's ear, and he turned to meet her gaze.
"Then don't listen to his nonsense. I'm fine. I'm just upset and need to vent."
Su Qing bit her lip, not believing him at all, but meeting his indifferent eyes.
"Okay, okay, I get it, but you have to go to the hospital now."
She didn't care what he said; she was just worried about his ankle, which was horribly swollen.
Jiang Sui, however, didn't care at all.
"I won't die."
Su Qing's heart plummeted. She bit her lip and said nothing.
If he didn't go to the hospital, she would follow him. Wherever he went, she would follow. Even when Jiang Sui couldn't bear it anymore and stopped, Su Qing would raise her eyes, her eyes gleaming with emotion.
"Are you willing to go to the hospital?"
He was like a machine, completely unaware of the pain, his brows unwrinkled, yet his face was a bit grim, which made Su Qing even more worried.
But she couldn't carry him to the hospital.
Thinking of how Jiang Sui had protected her back then, if the court owner hadn't come out later, they would have been stuck there.
Unsure if his injury had gotten worse, Su Qing couldn't stop worrying. She kept glancing at Jiang Sui's ankle, clutching the hem of his shirt, and trying to keep her steps small.
From dusk to evening, the two of them walked along the shaded sidewalk until Su Qing's phone rang. She pulled it out. It was Su Rao, asking her to go home.
Su Qing paused, wanting to answer the call, but seeing that Jiang Sui didn't seem to be waiting for her, she trotted after him, tugged at his shirt, signaling him to walk slower, and then answered the phone.
"Qing Qing, when are you coming home?"
Su Rao always called if Su Qing didn't come home after dark. She was worried about Su Rao being home alone, but she looked down and saw Jiang Sui's bruised ankle. She bit her lip and lied again.
"Mom, I'm staying at Ranran's house tonight. She don't let me go back. I'll be back early tomorrow morning."
Su Rao was stunned for a moment, but still agreed.
Jiang Sui stopped walking, his eyes brimming with unfamiliar emotion as he looked at Su Qing. Seeing Jiang Sui stop, Su Qing thought he was about to speak, and her eyes widened. She then covered the boy's mouth with her hand.
Shh...
She made a quiet gesture.
She remained in this position until she hung up the phone.
Su Qing looked at Jiang Sui, whose mouth she was covering, apologetically, then released his mouth and grasped the hem of his shirt.
"Su Qing, which of your words are real and which are fake?"
"Or, is there any truth left in your mouth?"
He was clearly accusing her of lying.
The hurtful words made Su Qing's fingers tighten around the hem of his shirt, tearing the jersey off considerably.
Her face paled instantly, and she bit her lip, remaining silent.
The two remained in a stalemate until Su Qing spoke.
"I like you is real."
As these words left her mouth, Su Qing felt her heart tighten, a pain like it was being squeezed. She bit her lip and instinctively lowered her head.
She returned to her silent state.
Jiang Sui's cold face was also stunned by the girl's sudden words.
Sparks flickered dimly in his black pupils, threatening to flash, but were suppressed.
"Su Qing, don't you think this is ridiculous?"
"Do you think I'd trust you? Would you treat me like a monkey?"
"Didn't you say before, 'What's up with going to college?' Then you said we were fine. And now, Su Qing, you're saying you like me is real?"
His brows were clearly curled in a faint smile, but to Su Qing, it looked like she was filled with sarcasm, slowly accumulating inside her.
"I..."
She said it all, and she did it all.
Staring at her silent face, Jiang Sui's eyes were indifferent.
"Let me go. You should go home."
His words were like declarative sentences, devoid of emotion.
"I'm not going back..."
She retorted to Jiang Sui without a second thought.
"Not going back? Are you really planning on going back with me?"
Jiang Sui smiled, a strange, somewhat mischievous expression on his lips as he looked Su Qing up and down.
He had never before looked at Su Qing with such impunity; it was almost as if he was looking at an object.
"Jiang Sui..."
Su Qing felt a little sad.
She raised her eyes, somewhat trembling, and looked at Jiang Sui.
"Jiang Sui, don't be like this."
He wasn't like this before. Su Qing bit her lip, feeling a deep pain in her heart, unsure what to do.
"What do I not like this?"
Her chin twitched. Jiang Sui's gaze made Su Qing want to run away for a moment, but she blinked and spotted a pharmacy not far away.
Biting her lip, she made a firm decision.
Following the boy's curved lips, she stood on tiptoe.
She kissed his chin lightly and tugged at his fingertips.
"So, instead of going to the hospital, can we go buy medicine?"
The boy was stunned...