It was a male voice.
William immediately turned his head sensitively, and Ellie also turned her head to see the boy behind them.
Landon looked at Ellie and said with a smile, "What a coincidence, we meet again."
"Sure are," Ellie said, and then there was no follow-up.
Landon glanced at William next to Ellie and recognized him as the boy Ellie had wiped sweat off before.
William was also looking at him, then subtly stood closer to Ellie.
Landon addressed William, "You're from No.6 Middle School, right? I'm from No.17 Middle School, Landon. We've met at the sports day before."
William naturally remembered he was from No.17 Middle School. He glanced at him with a faint look in his eyes, slightly unfriendly, and said, "I'm her deskmate."
"Is that so, did you guys come to the bookstore together?"
William replied, "Yes, together." He deliberately emphasized the word 'together'.
After hearing his words, Landon said, "Do you mind one more person joining?"
William responded, "I do mind."
Landon was not embarrassed and changed the subject, "Merry Christmas."
Ellie said, "Merry Christmas." After she finished, she added, "Thank you for your Christmas Eve gift. Did you receive the gift I had my classmate pass on to you?"
Mentioning that gift, Landon felt somewhat complicated.
Ellie had stuffed a note inside, the content of which was polite but also distant.
She wrote: Thank you for your Christmas Eve gift, but please don't send any more in the future. It's very troublesome for you. This is a return gift and I wish you a Merry Christmas.
That return gift clearly drew a line and created distance.
Landon said, "I received it."
Ellie asked, "Did you also read the note?"
Landon hummed and said, "Yes, I saw it."
William, on the side, was somewhat confused. Note? What note? Why didn't Little Miss Know-It-All mention anything about a note to him.
Ellie politely smiled at him and said, "Then we'll continue to read inside."
Landon could not say anything more and replied, "Okay."
At that moment, William's inner thoughts: Note? What note? What on earth is the note about?
Ellie looked at the distracted William beside her and whispered, "William, help me get another copy of that book."
"Note... Okay," William almost blurted out 'note' because he was thinking about the note.
Ellie watched him take down the book and then took the book from her hand.
Even when they sat down to read, William was still thinking about the note.
Ellie quickly turned to the page she was reading. She had just started reading when she felt someone hooking her finger.
She looked at William across from her with some confusion.
William pointed to his phone, indicating for her to look at it.
Ellie took out her phone and unlocked the screen.
[William]: He mentioned a note, what note? I didn't hear you mention it yesterday.
Ellie realized what they were talking about, something she hadn't told him last night.
William looked at the message from Ellie.
[Little Teacher]: It's just to tell him not to ask people to deliver things anymore, it's troublesome. This is a return gift and I wish him a Merry Christmas.
After reading this message, William's discomfort subsided a bit. He then remembered what he said about meeting again.
[William]: Did you meet him in the bookstore before?
[Little Teacher]: Yes, the first time was in the bookstore when we both reached for the same book. The second time, he helped me get a book I couldn't reach. I haven't met him since.
After reading her words, William felt certain they must have met again in the bookstore later.
Only she hadn't noticed.
No wonder at the sports day, he kept talking to Ellie.
William felt slightly displeased. He decided that if he didn't have tutoring, he would accompany Ellie to the bookstore every Friday.
Seeing William staring at his phone without replying.
Ellie waved her hand in front of him and sent him a message.
[Little Teacher]: Shall we go eat?
[William]: Sure.
Ellie held the two books and then picked up two unopened books from the shelf with William.
She went to the front desk and took out her membership card from this bookstore to pay. William took her phone again.
Ellie said, "I have a membership card, there's money on it, I'll pay."
William met her gaze and then nodded.
Ellie paid and stuffed the book into his hand, saying, "Let's go eat."
William looked at her and said, "Okay, let's eat, I'll treat the little teacher."
Ellie said, "You can't always be treating me to meals."
William said, "The little teacher even gave me books, why not let me treat you to a meal? Plus, you're tutoring me tonight and tomorrow for the weekend. Each meal I treat you to is like my tuition fee, is that okay?"
Ellie listened to his words and said, "Alright."
Behind them, a pair of eyes were closely watching the two.
He watched as the two left the bookstore.
His unspoken crush seemed to be ending before it began.
It seemed that the two had a good relationship, but they probably weren't lovers.
He didn't know whether he should take a chance or not.
...
After dinner.
William, as usual, escorted Ellie home.
...
In the evening.
"Little teacher, look at it."
Ellie looked at Coco in the camera. He was being held by William, with the bell that Ellie bought for him around his neck, and the white hat that Ellie gave him on his head.
He looked incredibly cute.
Coco seemed to notice Ellie looking at him, and he shook his head at the camera, the bell around his neck ringing.
Ellie said, "Very cute, it suits him."
William laughed, then rubbed Coco's head, seeing Coco about to get close to the phone screen again, he pulled him back into his arms.
Ellie said, "Bring him along next time for tutoring."
William glanced at Coco and said, "Maybe not, I'm afraid he might disturb others."
As soon as he said this, Coco was not pleased. He jumped onto William's shoulder and meowed at the camera, seemingly complaining to Ellie, or expressing his dissatisfaction.
Ellie laughed, "He's quite well-behaved, you can bring him out."
William said, "Okay, I'll bring him next time."
Coco seemed to understand, he held his head high and then shook the bell around his neck.
Ellie couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
William said, "He's happy because he heard you say he's well-behaved."
...
In the following weeks.
Every Saturday, William would bring Coco to find Ellie.
Each time William saw Coco snuggled up in Ellie's arms, he felt like he had adopted a disobedient child.
Yet, Ellie still loved him to bits.