Running away from the Love-Brain

Love's Detour

"Shuishui, Shuishui!"

Ran Yan called out twice.

Chi Buyu, wearing a gray hoodie, stood in front of a whiteboard covered with numerous drawings. Even indoors, the hood was pulled tight, and she faced away from Ran Yan, lost in thought. After a while, she removed a few sheets of paper from the board.

Muttering something to herself, she finally glanced at Ran Yan and absentmindedly replied, "Ranran, just wait a moment."

Chi Buyu gathered a handful of disorganized papers, returned to her worktable, sat down, picked up colored pencils, adjusted her frame glasses, and began to revise her drawings.

She sketched rapidly on the blank paper, furrowing her brows, clearly dissatisfied.

Then she got up again.

Dragging her feet slowly, she clutched a few sheets of paper, comparing them with the ones on the board. After a while, she pinned all the papers to the whiteboard and ran around the spacious, empty studio, bringing over magazines piled up to her chin. As she flipped through them, she began cutting out images. The cutouts fell to the edge of the table and onto the floor, creating a chaotic mess.

She ignored it and kept rummaging through the magazines, occasionally adjusting her glasses as she cut out more images. After a few snips, she rummaged through some piled fabrics for buttons, messing things up only to painstakingly put them back in order. After getting a button, she compared it against the clothes on a plastic model, realized it didn't match, and started rummaging again...

Ran Yan watched Chi Buyu the whole time—she had maintained this state for over two hours. Ran Yan wondered if Chi Buyu had been like this for the past few days before she arrived.

Since returning from Meishan, it was evident that Chi Buyu was troubled.

Chi Buyu had always liked lively environments.

She could never stay alone for long; once she had some free time, she wanted to find someone to go shopping, drink tea, and chat. According to Chi Buyu, staying alone was simply too lonely, as if even the air felt lonely!

Especially when she had something on her mind?

Ran Yan had rarely seen Chi Buyu hide away alone when faced with difficulties, not reaching out for help, insisting on processing everything by herself.

For a long time, she believed Chi Buyu would always ask for help when encountering problems, whether from her or family.

Chi Buyu expressed her sadness openly; she wouldn't pretend to be happy or hold back tears.

Even that time in Leshan—

Ran Yan saw Chi Buyu secretly upset in the stairwell and realized Chi Buyu had been holding in her frustration with her grandmother for a while.

But that day, upon returning from Meishan—

You Ying seemed to notice something was off with Chi Buyu and offered to stay at home for a few days.

Chi Buyu shook her head.

Ran Yan asked if she wanted her to stay for a few days.

Chi Buyu leaned on her shoulder, fiddling with her phone, and after a long sigh, gently told her, "Ranran, you don't need to worry about me. I want to process this on my own."

Most likely, from that day on, Chi Buyu had been alone and kept this state—

Wearing a hoodie and a hood because she was too lazy to do her hair. Wearing frame glasses that highlighted her dark circles, indicating she hadn't slept much. Barefaced, at most applying some lipstick. Running around her place and the studio, she was trying to convince herself that she was busy.