Sophie had never imagined that one day the rumbling of a bus would seem so deafening.
It was as if the entire world was resonating with a thunderous noise.
It seed that it wasn’t just the bus that was buzzing, but also her heart, pounding fiercely in that instant.
She didn’t feel like crying, nor did she think the statent was of such importance.
It was just that she hadn’t expected Sam to suddenly say sothing like that.
Her silence seed to be her response at the ti, but... what did the silence an? Was it rejection, or tacit consent?
Or was it just a mont of not knowing how to react, a sense of being at a loss?
Sophie’s brows furrowed slightly. "You better take care of yourself first. I hate it when people talk big."
Although she said this, what she actually feared more was the promise that couldn’t be kept.
So things are too ethereal.
It might not be that the person wants to lie, but rather that one doesn’t realize how fragile grand declarations and the desire to fulfill them can seem in the face of fate.
Like a dam that seems sturdy, a single flood is enough to wash it away completely.
Perhaps no one wants to talk big; when promises are made, they are sincere. But the helplessness that cos later is also real.
No one can be blad, yet everyone can be disappointed.
Sam just lay there, smiling. "I was just joking with you."
This only increased Sophie’s dissatisfaction. "Sam, do you think everything is a joke?"
She really didn’t like Sam’s flippant attitude; it made it hard for her to trust him.
Yet Sam said with a smile,
"Well, isn’t that how it is? But the premise of a joke is that it’s indeed sothing I want to do. However, if the other person doesn’t accept it, to avoid embarrassnt and save face, I say it was a joke. That’s the thing about most heartfelt truths—they’re often spoken in jest."
"Boring. You are sick."
Sophie turned her head away.
Her shoulder rested against the window, leaning like the Tower of Pisa.
Sam still wore that playful, teasing grin.
"You know I’m sick and you still don’t cherish ? After all, handso guys like who are both sick and good-looking are pretty rare these days."
"Can you not be so narcissistic?"
Sophie almost burst into laughter.
This ’jerk’ was so annoying.
He always made her feel the urge to laugh when she least wanted to, especially in the empty bus, which felt like their own private world.
Every word he said was like a bullet, unavoidable, drilling into her ears.
Sam started to laugh. "Isn’t that what I learned from you? Only you’re allowed to be narcissistic?"
"I’m not narcissistic, it’s a clear understanding and assessnt of myself," Sophie declared, as if she truly believed it.
Sam turned to look at Sophie.
"Really? Can people truly have a clear understanding of themselves? Have you accomplished everything you think you can do? Or do you believe that things within your control never have the possibility of miscalculation?"
"Isn’t that a bit of a tricky angle? Sam, did you co here today just to pick a fight?"
Sophie seed to have reached her limit with today’s strange and overly sharp questions from Sam.
Sam, however, let out a long sigh. "Why would I pick a fight... I’ve realized that classmate Sophie is really quite an."
"How am I an?"
"When you can’t answer sothing, you find fault in the person who asked the question, as if the inability to answer is because the question isn’t good enough."
Listening to Sam’s sowhat aggrieved words, Sophie couldn’t help but laugh, finally unable to hold it back.
"Because that’s just how it is. I only answer questions I know, and if I don’t want to answer or can’t answer, it’s clearly the fault of the question. How could I possibly know the answers to everything?"
"So that’s where the anness lies, isn’t it? The real reason is you, so how did it beco my problem?"
Sophie was almost dizzy from the conversation.
Then she couldn’t help but turn her head and glare fiercely at Sam.
"Are you done? We’re about to reach our stop."
The bus arrived at the stop just in ti.
They got off.
The familiar streets.
The sowhat empty and clean roads seed devoid of pedestrians.
Tall trees sprouted from behind the walls, shielding the gradually weakening sunlight.
The autumn sunset, the lingering twilight.
Even the passing breeze carried a taste of an indescribable bleakness.
"I can hardly believe it’s deep autumn already, feels like the events of sumr are still fresh in my mind."
Sam looked up at the leaves that were no longer lush green but tinged with obvious yellow, trembling on the brink of falling from the branches.
Sophie kept her eyes forward, seemingly uninterested in the so-called scenery during the journey. "It’s nothing special, seasons change all the ti, it’s not like there won’t be another sumr."
Sam chuckled. "But every sumr is unique, and we both know that the sa sumr will never co again."
Indeed.
Even if there will be the sa temperature, the sa sunshine, and even the sa lifestyle and environnt.
The exact monts will never repeat, nor will the feelings from that ti.
Sophie snorted softly. "I prefer you when you’re carefree and lighthearted; I really don’t like this side of you."
Sam blinked. "Cool, so there’s another side of you do like?"
Sophie shyly lowered her head.
At that mont, Sam’s smile bead brightly.
"Do you want a Coke?"
"Huh?"
What the heck.
That was a sudden shift in topic.
"Don’t want one?"
Sam suddenly stopped walking, turned around, and stood in front of Sophie.
"I’ll have one."
There was a convenience store nearby... yeah, the place where Sam worked.
But today wasn’t his shift. Mrs. Margaret was on duty.
Sophie didn’t go into the convenience store but stood outside, seemingly to avoid creating any special connection with Sam in the eyes of others.
It was a bit like trying to hide sothing that can’t really be hidden.
"Sam, is that your girlfriend outside? She’s really pretty."
Sam smiled and shook his head. "Not at the mont."
"Not at the mont?" Mrs. Margaret paused, then couldn’t help but cover her mouth as she chuckled. "Is this how you young people are these days?"
Sam explained.
"Mrs. Margaret, I’m just being realistic. After all, who knows what the future holds, right? Isn’t it a sign of maturity to reasonably avoid making assumptions about uncertain things?"
Mrs. Margaret laughed heartily.
"That sounds cool, but I’m too old to understand all that. However, I’ve seen that girl a few tis, always shopping by herself."
"Isn’t that pretty normal?"
Sam asked, puzzled.
Mrs. Margaret glanced at the girl outside, who seed uninterested in what was happening inside but occasionally stole glances their way.
"That girl is soone you can’t help but feel for. She always acts like she doesn’t need any help, but isn’t it obvious that she’s just putting on a brave front?
I know you’re a kind-hearted young man, Sam, but sotis even the kindest people can hurt others without realizing it. And so things, once hurt, are hard to heal. That guilt you feel after the fact is also hard to make up for."
Sam looked at the woman in front of him with so surprise.
"I never would have guessed, Mrs. Margaret, that you had such a philosophical side."
Mrs. Margaret burst into laughter.
"What do I know about philosophy? This is just life. After all, the longer you live, the more you experience, and naturally, the more regrets you accumulate, right?"
"Thank you, Mrs. Margaret~"
"Alright, off you go now, goodbye Sam."
"Goodbye, Mrs. Margaret."
With two bottles of Coke in hand, Sam handed one to the girl outside.
Then they continued walking down the road, as if embarking on the main quest once again. The conversation just now was a re interlude, or perhaps a side quest.
"Buying a Coke only, why were you gone for so long?"
Sophie unscrewed the cap by herself, not needing Sam to show off his strength or chivalry at this mont.
Of course, even if she couldn’t open it, she wouldn’t need anyone’s help.
There’s always a way to solve problems, and she’s used to not seeking help from others the mont she encounters one.
Sam had already opened his bottle and took a big gulp of Coke. "I work there, so I just chatted with so of the staff I know."
Sophie also took a light sip of her Coke. "What took so long to chat about?"
Her expression was indifferent, but Sam could swear he saw her ears perk up.
"You were curious about this from the start, weren’t you?"
Sophie, caught off guard, glared at Sam. "How am I supposed to know if you were discussing or not? Can’t I even ask?"
Sam blinked.
"And you say you’re not narcissistic? How could you even think it was about you?"
"Get lost, you’re the narcissist."
She huffed and gripped her Coke, quickening her pace.
Sam followed behind and couldn’t help but say, "Slow down, any faster and you’ll be ho."
Sophie turned to look at Sam. "This road leads ho anyway."
Sam spread his hands, seemingly helpless. "Isn’t a journey about more than just the destination? What about the scenery along the way?"
Sophie narrowed her eyes, looking at Sam who had stopped in his tracks, as if he was both close and yet so far away. "Are you part of the scenery along my way?"
Sam shook his head with a smile, walked up, and stood beside her.
"Maybe I’m actually your destination."
"..."
The passing breeze stirred up the fallen leaves on the ground.
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They floated, they spun in mid-air, twirling.
It also lifted the tips of Sophie’s hair.
A fleeting look of surprise turned into a blush on her cheeks, like red ink falling into still waters, rippling the surface.
Her pupils contracted, then quickly relaxed.
Then she gave Sam a kick. "Stop using those womanizer tricks on !"
Sam felt both amused and exasperated. "Are you getting flustered?"
"Who’s flustered? I just don’t like hearing that kind of talk, that’s all."
She walked away after speaking, but this ti her steps were noticeably slower.
It was more like a stroll than a walk ho.
Sam rubbed his calf, which didn’t really hurt, and walked beside the girl.
Looking at the deserted street, the clean ground, he ventured a question. "Do you think there’s any chance you and Angel could beco friends?"
It seed like a whimsical question from Sam, but Sophie almost imdiately and swiftly answered without a second thought.
"Impossible. Even if the world were ending, we couldn’t be friends."
"Why not? You can be friends with ."
Sam rembered their first eting; it seed unlikely then that they would beco friends. After all, she seed to loathe everything, including boys with Sam’s kind of personality.
Sophie snorted.
"That was just your luck. As for her... our backgrounds, different upbringings, ways of doing things, and differing values, all ensure we can’t be friends."
"Don’t you think such a relationship between you two is troubleso at school? If there’s a chance to beco friends, I’d be happy to help you both, and it could resolve most of the conflicts and troubles between you."
Sophie let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Why are you always so naively unrealistic? Sam... do you think lions and cheetahs share the sa territory?"
"Lions and cheetahs? Isn’t it lions and gazelles?"
"You’re the gazelle!"
Clearly, Sophie did not want to be seen as the weaker party, nor would she admit to such a fact.
They were almost at the entrance to Sophie’s apartnt complex.
No matter how slowly you walk this road, you’ll eventually see the end.
Sam spoke with a hint of emotion. "In that case, it seems I still have a long way to go."
Sophie couldn’t help but frown and ask. "Do you really want to accomplish this unrealistic task?"
Sam nodded, not hiding his intentions.
"Even though youth is full of troubles, I still hope that everyone can bloom like flowers, not wage wars. Conflict and strife are elents of drama, but for , this is life. I want peace and beauty."
Sophie was silent for a mont, then turned her head to look in the direction of her apartnt’s door.
At this mont of parting, just before taking that step, she looked at Sam.
"Do what you want, I won’t cooperate with you, but I can’t stop you either."
"What do you an?" Sam asked curiously, looking at her.
What did her ambiguous statent an?
Was she saying she wouldn’t reject Sam’s efforts, or that she was indifferent to them?
Sophie’s face flushed slightly as she muttered, "Idiot."
Then she took a step forward. Heading towards her apartnt.
Sam took a deep breath and waved his hand.
"See you tomorrow, Sophie."
Sophie glanced back at Sam.
Then she quickened her pace, soon reaching the door, as if she would disappear from Sam’s sight in the next mont.
What was this feeling?
It felt like loss.
Watching the door about to close, Sam’s gaze dropped slightly.
Then, he reached out and stopped the door that Sophie was about to shut.
Sophie, caught off guard, looked at Sam who had kept the door from closing.
She stared at his smiling face in astonishnt. "What are you doing?!"
Sam shrugged and then squeezed a step inside.
Not only pushing Sophie aside but also making his way in.
"I just rembered, eating alone is boring, and since you’re not busy, let’s have dinner together?"
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