Chapter 393: Childhood Friends Must Be Cultivated from a Young Age (Extra 2)

An Ziyu froze. He looked up at her, and a special feeling welled up inside him.

He glanced over at the auntie and his mom chatting nearby, feeling hesitant and conflicted.

She gave him her strawberry.

Did that mean she liked him too?

An Ziyu took the strawberry, thinking about this.

When he and Luoluo were three years old, they started kindergarten.

When someone tied his hair into pigtails, An Ziyu felt very upset.

The first person he thought of was Luoluo.

He wanted her to stand up for him.

An Ziyu didn’t think there was anything strange about this because, ever since he was little, Luoluo had comforted and spoiled him like a mother.

Subconsciously, he relied on her.

So, when Luoluo told him not to cry, An Ziyu obeyed.

He didn’t want Luoluo to dislike him—he wanted to be the man she always talked about.

The older he got, the more he liked Luoluo, always wanting to be close to her, asking for hugs and kisses.

His mother once teased him, “Do you like Luoluo more, or do you like Mommy more?”

An Ziyu was stunned.

He pursed his lips and, in a childish voice, said, “I like both.”

But deep down, he felt guilty.

He… actually liked Luoluo more—so much more.

But if he said that out loud, wouldn’t Mom be upset?

When he entered elementary school, An Ziyu noticed that Luoluo, just like in kindergarten, was popular among the other kids.

He wasn’t happy about it, though he didn’t show it on his face.

He hated it when people said he and Luoluo were like siblings.

He hated when others flocked around her, and he hated the way they looked at her.

It was like having a favorite toy that you didn’t want anyone else to even glance at, let alone touch.

When An Ziyu realized he was shorter than Luoluo and couldn’t carry her on his back, it bothered him.

He started drinking milk all the time, wanting to grow taller quickly.

But even after elementary school and running with Luoluo every morning, he still hadn’t grown much taller.

Their height difference remained the same.

After graduating from elementary school, they both went to middle school together.

An Ziyu knew Luoluo was beautiful—really beautiful.

He had always disliked people staring at her, and now he disliked it even more.

Why?

Because of the way they looked at her.

An Ziyu felt a deep-seated fear that Luoluo would be taken away from him.

He couldn’t suppress the terrible emotions rising within him—unfamiliar, dark, and hidden away from the light.

This version of himself felt so strange.

Luoluo got hurt once, trying to protect him.

It was the first time An Ziyu felt truly useless.

All his pent-up emotions swirled together, and he couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

All the things people had said in the past echoed in his mind.

He didn’t want to be the little prince anymore—he wanted to grow up fast, to protect Luoluo, and to become her knight.

Learning taekwondo was tough, but An Ziyu persevered.

He made his mom promise to keep it a secret and started controlling his longing, resisting the urge to always cling to Luoluo.

Because he wanted to grow, to no longer be the kid who never matured in her eyes.

Love letters weren’t unfamiliar to An Ziyu—he occasionally received some himself.

But when the recipient of the love letter was Luoluo, it made him extremely unhappy.

He even had dark thoughts, wishing those people would disappear because Luoluo could only belong to him.

But Luoluo said she wouldn’t date any of them.

An Ziyu felt a small flicker of joy.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Luoluo, what kind of boys do you like?”

Luoluo replied that she didn’t know.

An Ziyu looked at her face—a face he could never get tired of—and thought about the past.

Luoluo had always hoped he would come to like basketball, running, and other sports.