Raise Love-59-Ryder, holding vinegar and drinking wildly

Aria asked, "I bought these yesterday. Are they delicious?"

Ryder lazily grunted, pushing the candy to one side of his mouth with his tongue, causing a small bulge in his cheek.

"How old are you this year?"

Aria was taken aback for a moment, then replied honestly.

"Nineteen."

Ryder squinted, "Is that your nominal age?"

"Yeah." Aria nodded, and as if remembering something, she emphasized, "I'll be turning nineteen in a real sense soon."

She didn't like it when others thought she was too young.

They were supposed to be in the same grade, but she started school early. Even after repeating a year, she was still younger compared to them.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Ryder's eyes held a faint look, and he sneered, "How many days has it been since you became an adult?"

Aria furrowed her brows slightly, her eyes dimming a bit as she emphasized, "It's been four months already."

"Oh——" Ryder drawled out the response.

Aria felt a bit deflated. She had known before that this person regarded her as a younger sister, but he was only less than two years older than her.

She was no different from others.

Ryder curled the corner of his lip, looking down at her. The little girl's puffed - up,not convinced expression was a bit like a little hamster. m.gΟиЪ.ōΓＧ

Quite cute.

He put his hands in his pockets and said in a lazy tone, "Your current task is to study hard. Don't think about all that messy stuff, like love and such. Even if you like him so much, does he know it now?"

"When you see a broader world in the future, you'll surely meet someone a thousand, even ten thousand times better than him."

He said it casually.

But Aria's eyes suddenly grew hot.

She raised her head, finally daring to look at him, her eyes red - rimmed.

Ryder paused, then helplessly used his thumb to wipe the corner of her eye, getting his hand wet. He sighed softly, "A little girl's tears are precious. Do you shed them for just anyone?"

Aria didn't say anything, but her tears flowed even more profusely.

"..."

In his life, Ryder had never even seen his mother cry. The person he had seen cry the most was definitely Aria.

This girl seemed to be made of water.

This wasn't the first time she had cried in front of him because of that boy.

He wasn't good at consoling people originally, but now he had learned about seven or eight - tenths of it. He had wanted to call her over when he saw her crying, to tell her that studying hard was the most important thing now.

Harvard University wasn't an ordinary college. There was so much to learn. Since she had repeated a year and got admitted here, she shouldn't let her efforts go to waste. She was beautiful, and in the future, she would surely meet all kinds of boys. There was no need to be obsessed with a boy she liked in high school.

That guy didn't know, and he couldn't see her feelings. If she really liked him, she could think about him occasionally, and over time, she would forget.

This girl was young, and her feelings were like soda. Maybe they would bubble up at first, but then fade away.

The sky is vast for the birds to fly. They were just at the beginning.

But now, it seemed he couldn't say these things. Ryder felt a bit at a loss and could only resign himself to wiping her tears.

But he didn't know that the gentler he was, the sadder Aria became.

She had liked him so much before, but he didn't know, and he wasn't by her side. She could only feel sad. But now, she liked him even more than before. She loved him the most now.

What he said was like a knife, denying her long - held feelings, trying to make her cut them off. All the grievances she had endured alone suddenly couldn't be suppressed.

She cried fiercely, choking as she retorted, "N - no, it's not messy. It's not messy at all. He may not know, but I worked so hard to get into this school."

"Someday, he will, he will notice me..."

She had finally managed to get a little closer to him.

How could he so easily deny all of this?

It was too cruel.

The little girl was crying so hard that she was almost out of breath.

Ryder watched as her tears seemed endless. As soon as he wiped them away, new ones welled up. His eyelids twitched, his eyes gloomy, and that restlessness grew stronger.

He pulled her closer, lifted her chin, and coaxed in a low, serious voice, "Do you really like him that much?"

"L - like." Aria nodded randomly, tears streaming down, her voice small and aggrieved, "I like him the most."

Ryder: "..."

Fuck.

How come he didn't know there was such an asshole in The Bronx Middle School?

Probably even Maya Brooks didn't know.

What kind of best friend was this girl? She didn't even know her little sister had someone she liked. What was she doing?

He was almost laughing out of anger.

From the age of thirteen to seventeen, more or less, he had watched this girl grow up. She was so cowardly that she didn't even dare to say a word to him, yet she had the guts to have a crush on someone else? And was so miserable about it.

Fine, really fine.

She was such a good girl, but she was lured by some random guy.

Ryder took a deep breath, suppressing that inexplicable anger, clenching his teeth a bit harder, and continued to coax in a low voice, "You really want him?"

Aria nodded while sobbing.

If she could have fallen for someone else, she would have already.

But she couldn't meet anyone better. She wasn't without hope, but even in college, he was still the center of attention, the one being looked up to. He was still that abyss.

And she was always the one gazing into the abyss.

She was even so pathetic that she didn't even have the permission to jump in.

"Fine, you can have him." Ryder gritted his teeth slightly, asking in a low voice, "So where is he now? Do you know?"

He'd find the guy and teach him a lesson.

Aria looked at him through the hazy tears, her eyelashes fluttering, and more tears fell. She bit her lip, "I don't know."

Ryder's expression softened slightly.

But before it could fully relax, the next second, his face darkened again.

"I knew he was here. He, he always has girlfriends... He doesn't like me... He always likes others..." The little girl sobbed, her words slurred.

Ryder got the general idea.

So, the guy was at Harvard University and always had girlfriends.

This was a fucking playboy.

Ryder lowered his eyes and chuckled. Fine, if he was on campus, everything was manageable.

If necessary, he could even snatch her back, right? Worst - case scenario, find someone to beat him up and then find her a better guy. Once she fell for someone else, everything would be okay.

Aria had no idea what was going on in his mind. Crying so hard, she didn't care about anything else. She simply grabbed Ryder's sleeve to wipe her tears, soaking a large patch of it.

Ryder didn't mind. His hand rested on the back of the little girl's neck. He squinted his eyes and coaxed in a low voice, "Tell me, what's his name?"

Unexpectedly, Aria shook her head. She couldn't say.

Ryder: "..."

"You won't say?" His voice was hoarse, tinged with a bit of danger.

Aria shook her head again.

Ryder was really laughing out of anger this time.

She was still trying to protect that guy.

Aria cried quietly for a while longer, and finally stopped. After crying her heart out, she felt that she had vented all her grievances. She let go of the sleeve she had been holding tightly in her hand.

She lowered her eyes, with crystal - clear teardrops still hanging on her eyelashes. She silently smoothed out the wrinkled sleeve.

She apologized in a small voice, "I'm sorry."

Ryder: "Oh. Sorry for not telling me who he is."

Aria curved her lips into a smile.

Look, even though he knew she had someone she liked so much, he still had that lazy and casual look.

Maybe he was a bit angry.

But it wasn't because he liked her. He just wanted to protect her.

"Really can't say?"

Aria nodded. She'd die if she said it.