“Jiao Nian, I mean no offense, but perhaps it’s my imagination—you smell like you’re in a bad mood today.”
“Oh? Is it that pungent?”
“Hm?”
“Does it make you want to dig a hole in the snow and bury your head?”
“…Not really.”
Wei Zhi sat with her hands on her knees, posture perfect like a primary school student.
When Wei Zhi wanted to be well-behaved, she could be incredibly so—and this wasn’t an exaggeration. At her kindergarten graduation ceremony, she was the only child who sat on the teacher’s lap for the graduation photo.
Now, this well-behaved child tilted her head, rubbed her hands together, and pushed up her ski goggles, revealing sincere, caring, round animal-like eyes behind the lenses.
“Skiing should be fun. If you’re not in a good mood, I was wondering how I could cheer you up.”
How’s that? Behaved enough?
Praise me.
Right now.
Wei Zhi’s eyes sparkled, but the man sitting opposite didn’t immediately respond.
However, he wasn’t entirely silent. From behind his ski goggles, he lazily raised an eyelid and glanced at her.
“You want to make me happy?”
Before Wei Zhi could answer, he lifted his goggles and silently stared at the young girl.
His deep brown eyes showed no emotion.
…It was somewhat intimidating.
Wei Zhi instinctively shifted back a bit.
The man’s eyes held a calm expectation.
Yes, expectation.
This was the message Wei Zhi received—though not necessarily accurate—because she had no idea what he was waiting for…
If he was indeed waiting for her at all.
“Could I request a hint?” Wei Zhi’s back was now fully pressed against the chairlift seat. “You’re looking at me so eerily, it’s quite frightening.”
“Alright,” he agreed generously. “The hint is: look into my eyes.”
“?”
Wei Zhi’s lips parted slightly, bewildered. She didn’t understand how looking into his eyes would make him happy…
She gazed at him, her eyes full of confusion.
He gazed back, his eyes full of calm.
“Oh, your eyes are quite nice.”
“?”
“?”
The chairlift suddenly fell silent.
A stalemate.
Until a minute later.
Behind his face guard, the man’s thin lips parted, slowly exhaling.
“Never mind.”
“Huh?”
Before Wei Zhi could react, he had already unhesitatingly put his ski goggles back on. His previously upright posture relaxed as he leaned back, crossing his arms and settling in.
He turned his head to the side with noticeable emotion—
As if the unfortunate skiers tumbling about on the mushroom trail below the chairlift had suddenly become incredibly interesting.
This was a gesture refusing further communication.
He turned away, leaving Wei Zhi looking utterly confused and pitiful.
Wei Zhi’s fingertips, resting on her knees, twitched slightly. She wasn’t particularly surprised by this big shot’s sudden bout of tsundere behavior (*difficult to please, hard to communicate with, moody, causing headaches): today’s chairlift ride was, as expected, exceptionally long… and torturous.
She leaned forward slightly, her gaze fixed on the tip of the man’s nose, partially hidden by his face guard.
“If I may ask, does this mean your mood has worsened?”
After a few seconds of pause.
“Yes.”
Without even moving his eyes, the man answered concisely, “Whoever taught you how to comfort people, make sure they pay you back later.”
“…Well, I didn’t learn it from anyone in particular.”