"cell phone?"

The clerk thought about it for a moment, but still frowned, "Sorry, I don't remember seeing the mobile phone. Did you remember it wrong?"

I hurried back to the restaurant at five o'clock, but when I got this answer, I felt a little panicked and couldn't help but ask again, "Has it been put away by other clerks?"

"Probably not. If we pick up a customer's belongings, we will report it..." The clerk seemed a little embarrassed, "If you don't mind, can you tell me where you are dining?"

"Number eleven."

"Ah, I did leave something behind on the 11th, but it's not a mobile phone. Please wait."

Not long after the other party left, he handed the key with the doll pendant to Wu Geng's hand.

"We found this on the seat, and we didn't see any mobile phone...Guest? Guest, are you okay?"

Wu Geng's whole body froze, as if he was suddenly thrown into an ice cave. His body temperature gradually disappeared under the erosion of the cold air. His voice turned farther and farther away. All his attention collapsed into a small point, the key that fell in the palm of his hand.

superior.

——

"Can you please give me the spare key? Ikoma-chan wants it very much, doesn't it?"

I can still remember the girl's hesitant but somewhat moved expression. Maybe this was also a proof of trust for her.

"It's okay, but it makes me feel uneasy about Ikoma. I always feel that she will use my house as a secret base. Nanase can just keep it."

"I...maybe I'll do the same thing."

"What?"

"Go to Xiaoxiao's house uninvited, and maybe even stay overnight."

"Welcome, welcome. Anyway, Nanase and I are used to living together. Otherwise, we might as well move in together."

"Really, Xiaoxiao can say nice things."

——

That was the most comfortable and comfortable period of getting along.

Girls embrace all kinds of longings and ambiguities. The love before fermentation presents a special texture of green, subtle, hazy and misty, like a budding flower. The most anticipated thing is always before it blooms.

At five o'clock, hold on to the key.

"It's okay," she said, showing an apologetic smile to the clerk, "I know, I may have misremembered the cell phone thing. I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's okay," the clerk waved his hand and said, "It's quite common for things to be lost. I've also dealt with many such situations. There were people who forgot to pick up their bags before because they couldn't speak, and they were so anxious that they almost shed tears.

After I got down, it took me a long time to calm down and communicate smoothly before I got what I left behind."

I don’t know if it’s because I rarely have the opportunity to communicate with customers at work, but this clerk unexpectedly talks a lot.

"Do you know sign language?" Wu Geng captured the key words from his words.

The clerk didn't expect Wu Geng to care about this, "Yes, the staff at the amusement park have been trained in sign language. There are still many such customers. It will be very troublesome if they can't communicate."

——During the MV shooting yesterday, the sign language I made at that time, Xiaoxiao, do you know the meaning now?

"That!" Wugeng interrupted suddenly, leaving the clerk stunned.

"Can you help me find out what this action means?"

Wu Geng held the key and repeated the movements that Nishino taught her in the dance studio yesterday. She was fortunate that she had excellent movement memory skills and had not forgotten them even after a day.

Also recalled were the curtains blown by the wind, and the gentle touch of Nishino's little finger still remaining next to her.

The wound on his lip seemed to start to hurt slightly.

"...How about it, do you know what this means?"

She stopped moving at five o'clock, and her heart began to beat slightly. A thought told her that it didn't matter if she didn't know now, everything... everything was already too late.

She missed the tram that Nishino took. Just like at the end of the MV, she stood on the platform and watched the tram drive away. The emotional separation, driven by machinery, seemed indifferent and stiff.

Wu Geng, who was standing outside the carriage, could not see Nishino's expression inside the carriage.

The clerk smiled congratulatoryly.

"My boyfriend made it for you," he said. "Many young people nowadays use this subtle way to show their sincerity, writing love letters and sending messages to friends. Before, it was popular to stuff notes into dolls and send them out.

Obviously the power of words is more direct. A phone call is more manly than an indirect confession like this..."

As he was talking, his cell phone rang at midnight.

The caller ID was Nishino Nanase. The address book on her mobile phone was all her real name.

Wu Geng held the phone tightly, and it took a long time to connect it and put it to his ear.

"..."

There was a deep and lingering silence in the receiver. For a few dozen seconds, Wu Geng was somewhat lost in this silence, like exploring a deep and silent cave, groping for a way out in the darkness.

The sound of breathing became more and more prominent in the monochrome background, and she could not even distinguish whether it was her own or Nishino's on the other side of the receiver.

The sound was long and lingering, and she didn't want to speak at all. She knew that as soon as she opened her mouth, something would be finalized in the world of consciousness and become a real existence. She hoped that this indifference could last forever.

But Nishino still took the initiative to speak.

She has always been proactive.

"Xiao Xiao, let's break up."

Then the darkness collapsed, the universe was shattered, and life returned to its silent origin. In this world with a beginning and an end, they turned around and returned to the starting point.

Wu Geng exhaled a breath, accompanied by a wry smile, and her vision suddenly became moist and foggy. Holding her head, she subconsciously turned around and looked into the distance through the window of the store.

She couldn't even control her behavior. She wanted to be quiet and listen to what Nishino said quietly, but all these actions were more like instinctive reactions. Her rational attempt to stop the restless riot of the emotional elephant under her body failed.

It seems that he is overwhelmed and in a hurry.

She hates this. She hates immature actions, hates rude attitudes, hates begging, and hates trying to stay. She believes that people should stick to their own ideals and principles even if they die.

But then she realized that Nishino's existence was higher than these things. Far higher than these.

"guest?"

The clerk was puzzled by Wu Geng's unusual behavior. But Wu Geng couldn't care less about it at this time.

"Nanase." She returned to calling Nishino the way she used to call her. Maybe she didn't notice it herself.

"Nanase, I...I didn't find your mobile phone..."

"Yes, I know. I have the phone here. Sorry, Xiaoxiao, I lied to you."

"It's okay, it's okay..." Wu Geng shook his head.

"I have told three lies in a row in the past two days. I have indeed become bad. If I continue to be with Xiao Xiao, I will become even worse and tell more lies."

"It's okay, Nanase, I will forgive you."

"But I can't forgive myself, Xiaoxiao."

"I..." Wu Geng bit her lip, rubbed her red eyes with her palms, and whispered, "I ran over here and asked the clerk, and the clerk only gave you your key——"

"Xiao Xiao," Xi Ye interrupted her, "That is the key returned to you."

Nishino's decisive attitude completely cut off all the twists and turns in Wu Geng.

Ah, this is the mentality of a rejected person. I suddenly realized it in the fifth hour.

A humble, crawling, sinking, lonely mentality.

When she was a student, her ultimate goal was to create an airtight shell for herself to completely separate herself from others and the world. Although she would lose some of the beauty, harm would also not come in.

If it hadn't been for Nishino, she wouldn't have let down her guard so completely and broken out of her shell.

Wu Geng, who had never had any contact with her, tasted friendship and love for the first time, but due to lack of experience, the concepts of the two were mixed, and they went from one extreme to the other.

Then, finally, the whole thing got mixed up.

"Nanase," Wu Geng's voice trembled, "...are you still waiting for me where you are?"

"Sorry, Xiaoxiao, this is my second lie."

"..."

By now Wu Geng was at her wits' end. She had no choice but to surrender in front of Nishino every time. This time was no exception.

"Xiao Xiao...see you tomorrow."

The call is disconnected here.

At the fifth watch, I suddenly retreated from the chaos of emotions to the desolation of reality. In just a few minutes, the world in front of me changed drastically, as if the world was turned upside down.

It seemed that she was sitting in the classroom again, becoming an abandoned individual, coexisting in an incompatible environment.

The boys, who were noisy like the chirping of cicadas in summer, touched her arm turning the book while they were playing, and the book fell straight to the ground.

"guest?"

When she came back to her senses, she realized that it was the clerk patting her arm as a reminder.

"Guest, are you okay?"
To be continued...