He smiled lightly. It was good enough as long as Hazel was willing to talk to him.
"You didn't?" he asked.
"There are too many people," she said. "I watched the live stream video."
"There was a Livestream video?" He was surprised.
"Yes." She nodded. "A classmate offered to show it on a Livestream website for whoever couldn't squeeze into the auditorium."
He nodded his head. Looking at the small shops on both sides, he asked calmly, "What would you like to eat?"
"Chicken wings, French fries, blueberry sundae." She pointed to the end of the food street. "They're in the snack bar over there. They're very delicious."
He furrowed his brows slightly. "This isn't healthy food. Would you like something else?"
"I won't! I just want them!" she cried, annoyed.
"Well…I'll buy them for you." He gave in and followed her to the snack bar at the end.
The snack bar was closing. There were the last chicken wings and fries left, but the blueberry sundae was sold out.
"No blueberry sundae?" she asked sadly.
"No blueberry sundae," the shop assistant repeated.
"Then don't have it," Joshua whispered. "It's so cold now. You would probably catch a cold if you had it."
"Oh..." she held her chicken wings and fries with a look of disappointment.
"Come on, let me get you back," he said in a deep voice.
It was so late now. He wouldn't feel safe if Hazel went alone.
"Mm," she replied in a low voice and walked toward the university with the food in her arms, drooping her head.
He frowned.
There was something wrong with her. He could feel that she was unhappy.
Hazel began to run, Joshua ran after her and caught her by the wrist.
She stopped, and a few tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks.
"What's the matter? Why are you all of a sudden crying?" he asked, fl.u.s.tered.
"I wanted to have a blueberry sundae…" She sobbed, with more tears falling.
"But the blueberry sundae is sold out." He tried to comfort her.
"But I just wanted to eat it," she said as she cried. "And, now I can't."
It was both amusing and pitiful. Was it just because she couldn't have her favorite blueberry sundae that she cried like that?!
She was like an unreasonable child, but now he just wanted to spoil her and sweet-talk her.
His heart was tender. The next moment, he stretched out his arms to gently hold her in his arms.
He consoled her softly. "Don't cry, don't cry. Shall I buy you something else to eat?"
"I don't want it, I want a blueberry sundae!" she said stubbornly.
"Okay, okay, shall we go somewhere else?" he persuaded her in a low voice.
"... Mm." she sobbed, agreeing.
She was about to hold out her hand to wipe away her tears when he leaned over to kiss them away.
As his thin lips brushed across her cheek, the searing heat and numbness came from her cheek, she stiffened in an instant.
He actually kissed her?
She looked up and stared at him in a daze.
He took off his coat and put it over her. "It's cold. You should wear more clothes in the future."
The temperature of his coat warmed her, she suddenly felt sad and erupted into tears again.
"What's the matter?" Joshua was fl.u.s.tered. He quickly asked, "Shall we go and buy a blueberry sundae now?"
"It's not because of this…" She sobbed. The blueberry sundae was just a fuse, and all the injustice that had been piling up in her heart these days poured out. "They're all calling me names, I know…"
He frowned slightly. He had completely suppressed the media, and there was no news about Hazel, but he knew there were many sinister comments on Quantum University's school forum.
How could Hazel not be envied as her name was linked with his after all?
But Hazel had been busy studying these days, and Joshua didn't think she would take it to heart.
However, come to think of it, how could she be so considerate and not be concerned about what was being said?
She must have been under a lot of pressure alone.
"It's their fault, they're bad," he said to her softly. "Don't cry. How about venting to me about your anger towards them?"
"Poo~!" She couldn't help but laugh as he sounded like he was trying to soothe a child. But after that, she began to cry once again.
"And you!" she said, pouting flirtatiously.
He asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with me?"
"Do you... do you..." she bit her lip before asking in a shallow voice. "Do you really want to ignore me?"
He was in a trance. He could hardly have heard her words without his attention focused on her.
"Hazel Crowe," he said somewhat helplessly, "you told me not to bother you."
"I..." she was tongue-tied for a while, trying to say something.
"I was wrong." His mouth tilted upwards slightly at the corners. "Girls' words mean the opposite. You told me not to bother you, in fact, wanting me to keep bothering you. I'll correct it now, okay?"
"You..." she was so irritated by him that she almost laughed.
Watching her and the fact that she didn't know whether to cry or laugh, he gently stretched out his arms to hold her.
She stiffened a little.
The next moment, she reached out her trembling fingers to gently grab his shirt.
"I'm sorry, but I should have trusted you…" burying her face in his c.h.e.s.t, she whispered.
He was surprised, then smiled and cuddled her a little tighter.
"Has the misunderstanding been cleared up?" he asked in a low tone.
"Well..." Taking a deep breath, she raised her little face. She mustered up her courage, asking, "Joshua Denmark, do you like me?"
His eyes flickering slightly, his heart full of tenderness, he said earnestly, "Yes."
"Why?" She looked at him blankly.
She had always distrusted him because she could not believe that Joshua would really lose his heart to her.
She was pretty, but not to the point of being exceedingly beautiful. She had a good temper, but she liked to fight once there was disagreement. Also, she was a little stubborn.
She and Joshua were two worlds apart. How could Joshua take a fancy to her?
"It's a bizarre feeling when you like someone." He grabbed her hand and put it on his c.h.e.s.t. "I felt overwhelmed when I met you."
Her heart skipped a beat.
He didn't say any moving, sweet words to her, but with this short answer, she sensed that he was serious, and she believed it.
"Do you still want to have a blueberry sundae?" He chuckled.
"Yes!" she said with determination. "I really want to have it!"