She pointed toward the distance, where the deflated raft was barely visible. "That’s our raft. It’s already leaking. I think the acid rain corroded it. This rain is really dangerous."

As she spoke, she watched Liam closely, and sure enough, his brows drew even tighter.

She thought she heard a faint sigh. Then he gave a small nod and turned back toward his seat.

Suzy followed behind him. By now, she had begun to piece something together. Testing the waters, she asked, "Are you trying to get back home?"

She hadn’t expected a response.

"...Mm." He answered.

"Is there someone at home waiting for you?" she asked casually.

She could almost understand now why he had tried to touch the rain.

He must have been testing how much he could endure. If possible, he probably intended to brave the storm and make it back.

To be in such a hurry... the only explanation she could think of was that someone was waiting for him.

This time, he didn’t reply.

They returned to their seats and fell into silence once more.

This should have been a good opportunity. Suzy wanted to take the initiative, to find a topic and build some kind of connection with him.

But he clearly had no intention of talking.

Several times she tried to start something, and each time, he let it fall flat.

It was obvious—his mind was elsewhere. He didn’t want to engage.

Embarrassed, she gave up.

No rush, she told herself.

If she pushed too hard, if her intentions became too obvious, it might only make him dislike her. That would lower his favor instead.

She needed the right moment.

Letting go of the idea of forcing a conversation, Suzy glanced around to make sure there was no danger. Then she reached into her pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, unwrapped it, and slipped it into her mouth.

A sweet strawberry flavor spread across her tongue. The candy was fragrant—she could smell it the moment she opened the wrapper.

She sucked on it absently, then took out her phone to check for any updates.

A faint sound came from Liam’s direction.

Instinctively, she turned her head—and met his eyes.

Was he... looking at her?

Suzy blinked, curious, thinking it might be her imagination.

Then he spoke. "Are you eating candy?"

She nodded blankly. "Yeah."

She slipped her hand into her pocket, using it as cover as she pulled out three different kinds of candy from her space.

"Do you want some?" she asked, opening her palm.

His gaze dropped to her hand. Then he stood and walked toward her.

Suzy’s heart skipped. No way... was he really coming over just for a few pieces of candy?

"Do you have more?" he asked.

She nodded.

She had plenty.

Chocolate, lollipops, hard candies, soft candies—every flavor imaginable. She had stocked up on a huge supply before.

She didn’t even eat much herself. She had only taken one just now out of boredom.

"I can trade you for something else," he said politely.

"Of course," she replied quickly.

He paused, then turned back to his seat, picked up his backpack, and returned to her.

Suzy still held out her hand, the candies resting in her palm. "Do you want these?"

He nodded.

She set them aside and unzipped her bag for show. "I also have chocolate and lollipops. Do you want those too?"

"Yes. All of them."

He opened his own bag and took out a few cans and packs of instant noodles. "I’ll trade these with you."

Suzy stared at him in surprise.

Canned food and instant noodles weren’t cheap commodities. Liam was being surprisingly generous.

So Suzy reached into her bag and took out even more candy, piling up a generous handful beside her. "Is this enough?"

His eyes lit up ever so slightly. Looking at the pile of sweets, he nodded. "That’s enough. Thank you."

He handed her a can of meat and a pack of instant noodles. Suzy accepted them and tucked them into her bag.

"Do you like candy?" she asked curiously.

He didn’t answer right away. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Just when she thought he wouldn’t respond, he said, "It’s not for me."

Perhaps it was only because she had given him the candy that he offered that extra explanation.

Suzy nodded thoughtfully. "I see... it’s for someone at home, right?"

He was in such a hurry to return, and he had specifically traded for candy. From that, she could guess there was probably someone younger waiting for him.

Liam glanced at her and said quietly, "It’s for my younger brother."

"Is he home alone?" she asked.

He nodded.

That explained it. No wonder he had been so anxious to get back—he was worried about leaving his brother by himself.

Liam carefully put away all the candy, then kept one strawberry milk candy aside and handed it to her.

"This is for you."

Suzy blinked in surprise.

Looking at her, his voice softened slightly. "For the earlier... a thank you gesture."

He had acted on impulse just now, reaching out toward the acid rain. If she hadn’t stopped him, who knew what might have happened.

Before Suzy could even process what he meant, he had already turned and walked back to his seat.

Silence settled between them once more.

Still, Suzy was quite satisfied with how things had gone.

At least they had spoken. She had even learned about his younger brother—that was something.

The only regret was that his favorability hadn’t increased.

On Suzy’s side, things were progressing smoothly, without trouble.

Meanwhile, Thomas was making his way upstairs in search of Leonard.

After leaving Suzy, he climbed three floors in a row without seeing Leonard or hearing a single sound.

Fourth floor. Fifth floor.

It wasn’t until the fifth floor that he finally found Leonard—and Wendy.

Only, he had arrived at a rather unfortunate moment.

Inside a private office, the two of them were nearly in each other’s arms. Wendy’s lips were just about to meet Leonard’s—

If not for the beam of Thomas’ flashlight landing squarely on them, they would have kissed in the next second.

"...What’s going on here?" Thomas asked hesitantly, making no move to lower the flashlight.

Leonard snapped back to his senses and quickly pulled away from Wendy, his expression shifting between pale and flushed.

"Thomas? What are you doing up here?" His voice carried a trace of awkwardness.

Wendy, having been pushed aside, lowered her gaze in frustration.

They had been so close—just a second more, and it would have happened. Thomas had impeccable timing for ruining things.

She bit her lip, then swiftly adjusted her expression. When she looked up again, her face was painted with just the right amount of shyness and fluster.

"Please don’t misunderstand," she said softly. "I slipped just now and almost fell. Uncle Leonard caught me."

Thomas glanced at her but said nothing, shifting his gaze to Leonard instead.

Leonard took a breath. "It’s nothing. Just like she said."

As he spoke, he deliberately avoided Thomas’ eyes.

Thomas frowned slightly but didn’t press further. "I wasn’t comfortable staying downstairs, so I came up to check. Have you found a suitable place?"

Seizing the chance to change the subject, Leonard pointed toward the end of the corridor. "There are a few private offices down there. The environment’s decent—we can rest there."

The two of them continued talking, completely ignoring Wendy.