The Youthful You Who Was So Beautiful

Four

The youth twisted his head to look at her. After a few seconds, a strange smile formed on his lips.

On lowering his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the two loaves of bread Eliza was holding in her hands. When Eliza caught him staring at her bread, she waved the white paper bag containing the bread in front of his eyes, and asked, "Do you want some?"

The youth furrowed his brows, making no attempt to disguise the look of disdain on his face.

The white paper bag was extremely crumpled, and had a layer of oil and water on the interior of the bag. When Eliza noticed the shabbiness of the paper bag, her face gradually turned beet red. Embarrassed, she retracted her outstretched hand, "It's gone cold." It was no longer nice to eat.

Having walked a few steps, the youth suddenly asked, "You're eating bread for dinner?"

Eliza nodded her head.

After a few seconds, the youth asked, "Are you deaf?"

Realizing that the youth had failed to see her nod her head, Eliza squeaked out, "Yup." As her reply had come out of nowhere, it was unclear whether she was answering his question about dinner, or his question about being deaf.

The youth slowed down and came to a stop, his brows furrowing in unhappiness. Eliza belatedly realized that the youth had been staring at her for some time, and raised her head to return his gaze. Unable to stare a response out of her, he couldn't formulate an appropriate response and simply continued walking ahead.

Eliza didn't bother to catch up with the youth before her, and trailed behind him slowly. By the time she reached the traffic junction, the youth was already halfway across the pedestrian crossing. As Eliza didn't have to cross the road, she readied herself to turn around the corner and return home. Although she wanted to bid the youth farewell, she felt that there was no need to do so.

After all, there wouldn't be any other interactions between the both of them in the future. It would be best if they simply parted ways here and now.

The youth slung his jacket over his shoulder. When he reached the midpoint of the pedestrian crossing, he turned back to look at her.

Eliza stood quietly at the edge of the curb, her posture upright and erect, as though she was a small tree sapling. Standing there, she gazed at him silently. Her skinny and frail frame was evident even under her large uniform, which billowed around her.

In the afterglow of the evening sky, the youth crinkled his eyes.

She pointed towards her left, indicating that her house was in that direction.

In response, the youth jabbed his thumb in the direction behind him, signaling to Eliza that she ought to continue trailing behind him.

Eliza's hands slowly fell to her sides. She hugged her school jacket with both hands and simply gazed at him from afar, unmoving.

In the gentle glow of the evening sun, vehicles and pedestrians swarmed around them.

The youth didn't bother waiting for Eliza's response, and simply continued on his journey. When he reached the other end of the pedestrian crossing, he turned back to look at Eliza, only to discover that she was already in the midst of crossing the road.

He snorted to himself, the corners of his lips curling into a small smile. Sticking both his hands into his pockets, he continued walking forward. Before long, the youth reached the entrance of a small restaurant. Sitting himself down on a plastic chair at the outdoor dining area, the youth pulled out a cigarette and started smoking.

After some time, Eliza finally appeared before his eyes. She stood quietly at the side and looked at him.

He raised his eyes and returned her gaze. She had a small and pale face, and her hair was neatly tied into a ponytail. A few strands of hair had escaped her ponytail, and were shining like gold in the glow of the setting sun.