Yuanyuan had happily run over with her arms full of clothes, but before she could even speak, Yingze’s harsh voice froze her in place.

She stared blankly at the dim room, her eyes avoiding Yingze’s face, as if afraid to meet his cold gaze. Instead, her sight drifted to the magazine in his hands.

The magazine cover showed a bicycle, and Yuanyuan felt like its wheels had rolled right over her face. Her nose tingled with a stinging sadness.

Second Brother, standing against the light, felt different than usual. There was something about him that made her heart ache.

Although Yingze wasn’t as gentle as her older brother, he’d never been this cold and distant.

Feeling like a withered little flower, Yuanyuan stood there for a moment, too scared to even pout or whine. Without a word, she hugged her clothes tightly and ran back to her room, her steps heavy.

Once the sound of her footsteps faded, Yingze put down the magazine he had been pretending to read.

The empty hallway made his heart feel just as hollow, and a suffocating sadness began to gnaw at him, making him feel worse with every passing moment.

Instead of feeling satisfied after driving Yuanyuan away, he was left with a deep, uncomfortable tightness in his chest, as if something important had been lost. The quietness of the house only made things worse, amplifying his unease.

Yingze tossed the magazine onto his desk and slumped forward. Moments later, there was a soft knock on the door.

The door remained still, as if the person outside was waiting for his permission to enter.

“Come in,” Yingze muttered into the desk, barely lifting his head.

Mingxi pushed the door open and immediately saw his younger brother slouched over the desk, looking completely defeated. It didn’t take much to guess what was going on.

“I think I heard you yelling at Yuanyuan earlier,” Mingxi said, pulling up a chair next to him. “What’s wrong? Are you upset about something? Do you want to talk?”

Normally, Yingze found it easy to open up to his older brother, especially under Mingxi’s gentle guidance. But tonight… he didn’t want to say anything at all.

“No, it’s nothing,” Yingze mumbled.

“If you don’t want to talk now, that’s okay. You can always come to me when you’re ready,” Mingxi replied softly, standing up and patting his brother on the shoulder. “But just be careful. If you say something out of anger, it might end up hurting someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

The room fell silent again after Mingxi left.

Yingze slumped over his desk, trying to distract himself with novels and video games, but nothing seemed to lift his mood. In fact, the more he tried to escape, the more restless he became.

No matter what he did, his mind kept drifting back to the image of Yuanyuan’s scared, sad face and the way she had left, shoulders drooped like a wilted flower.

She’s just a little kid, and she didn’t do anything wrong. He’d played with her before, hadn’t he? So why did he feel the need to chase her away?

Yingze sat up suddenly, replaying the scene in his mind. He realized that his tone had been harsher than usual—colder, more distant, even though his voice hadn’t been particularly loud. But the seriousness in his words must have hurt Yuanyuan, who was always so innocent and sensitive.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Yingze realized that he had been unfairly taking out his frustrations on her, using her as an outlet for his own pent-up feelings.

None of it was her fault.

Feeling even more uneasy, Yingze started pacing back and forth in his room, unable to settle down, not even to play his games.

Meanwhile, Yuanyuan, back in her own room, was still feeling dazed. She couldn’t figure out why Second Brother seemed so upset with her. Had she done something wrong?

Lying on her bed, Yuanyuan thought and thought, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t understand why Yingze suddenly seemed to dislike her.

Suddenly, the door creaked open just a crack.

The light from the hallway spilled into the slightly dark room, creating a line between shadow and light.

Yuanyuan awkwardly twisted her neck to look over her shoulder. Her slow, clumsy movements made her look like a little kitten still learning to walk.

Especially since she was wearing white pajamas today, complete with a hood that had two small cat ears.

“Second Brother?” she whispered hesitantly.