Muchen grinned as he playfully teased, "Shao, are you up to something?" His tone was light, but his gaze was sharp. "And wipe that ketchup off your face."
It wasn't often that his best friend joked like this, but sometimes, he had his moments. Muchen still remembered the time Shao had hidden in the dark, scaring him half to death, murmuring that he was a vampire. It was all because Shao had a younger brother still in school—he still pulled these tricks occasionally to cheer him up.
But this time, Shao didn't laugh. Instead, he slowly slid down against the wall, hugging his bent knees. His face was pale, his body trembling.
Hana, standing beside him, clenched the edge of her shirt, her knuckles white. Anxiety flickered in her eyes. "Hey, you're scaring the kid," Muchen sighed, pulling off the countless medical needles attached to him before walking up to Shao. He crouched down and gently wiped the ketchup from his friend's face. "Enough with this. Can't you see she's scared?"
