“Isn’t the forest unusually quiet today?”

Daniel’s voice broke her train of thought. She looked up to see him smiling at her with his usual cheerfulness and calm.

“How can you be so relaxed?”

Evelyn froze. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud—it had slipped out because of her pent-up tension. She panicked and immediately covered her mouth with her hands.

“Oh, are you talking about the last time we came to the forest and got attacked?”

Daniel asked in a calm tone. Evelyn nodded slowly.

“In that case, let me ask you this: why are you so tense?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been really on edge these past few days. It’s obvious to anyone who knows you. You’ve always been a shy girl since I met you, but this is different. Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Evelyn didn’t respond for a few seconds. Was her anxiety really that apparent? Daniel was usually quiet and didn’t ask such direct questions. But it seemed she had worried him enough to make him speak up, Evelyn thought.

“I-it’s just... so complicated...”

Evelyn wanted to make up an excuse, but her mind was so cluttered she couldn’t think straight. Suddenly, Daniel stopped walking. They had reached a small lake. Daniel stared at the water for a few moments, smiling, before turning back to her.

“If it’s that complicated, then let’s sit down and just watch the lake for a while.”

“What?”

“Sorry, I’m not good at giving advice. But this is the best I can do for you. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I always come to quiet places like this to watch nature. Just for a few minutes, try not to think about anything. Just look at the view.”

Evelyn and Daniel sat down together, their eyes fixed on the still water. Slowly, Evelyn felt the noise in her mind quieting down, and she took a deep breath.

“It’s about Jane...”

Daniel paused, turning to look at her with surprise.

“Jane? That bully?”

“Yes... I suspect she hired those men who attacked us in the forest.”

“What? Why would she do that?”

“After they grabbed you, one of them said, ‘We’ll scare her the way the girl wants.’ And before that, Jane and I had a confrontation.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. You were defending a girl she was bullying, weren’t you?”

“You knew about that?”

“Of course. Everyone knows about it. I was even there that day—I saw the whole thing. Honestly, you were incredible. So brave.”

Evelyn blushed and turned her face away.

“Really? I didn’t think I did much... If Alice hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have managed it.”

“But you were the one who took the first step to stand up to her, and that’s what was amazing. After that day, I actually tried to talk to you, you know?”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. You shone like a star that day, and I really wanted to be friends with you. But I couldn’t bring myself to approach you directly. That’s why I came to the forest to take photos that day—to clear my head. And then, by complete coincidence, I ran into you there.”

“Oh...”

“And then, the moment you saw me, you turned and walked away...”

Evelyn froze. That had actually happened. She had been on her way home and didn’t want anyone to know she lived in the infamous forest house, so she tried to avoid people as much as possible.

“I didn’t mean to avoid you... I just didn’t want to bother you.”

“Haha, I was just teasing you.”

Daniel chuckled softly, and Evelyn let out a relieved sigh. After a moment of silence, Daniel spoke again.

“What I’m trying to say is... my first impression of you was how brave you were. That’s why, even though you’ve been so tense these past few days, I haven’t asked you, ‘What’s wrong?’ Because I know you’re brave enough not to run from your problems. That’s why I brought you here today. I want to help you, Evelyn.”

“Help... what do you mean?”

“You said you suspect Jane. That means you’ve been secretly following her these past few days, trying to gather evidence, right?”

“How do you know that?”

“A few days ago, after class, I was looking for you in front of the school, and I noticed it.”

“You were looking for me? Why? What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh, nothing... it wasn’t important...”

Daniel blushed slightly but quickly steered the conversation back.

“What I mean is... if you’re looking for evidence, let me help you.”

“I don’t want to drag you into trouble again...”

Daniel suddenly took Evelyn’s hand in his. She turned bright red and looked at him. Daniel smiled at her with determination in his eyes. After a moment of hesitation, Evelyn sighed and gave in.

“Alright... tomorrow, we’ll gather information. But I don’t have a plan.”

“Don’t worry. Let’s both think of something by tomorrow. We’ll come up with a plan at school.”

After that, neither of them said anything more. They sat together in silence, watching the lake.

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