Mabel was immediately covered in cold sweat. He... where did he go? And his mindset is only that of a 6-year-old child now. Six years old—thinking about it, that’s exactly the age to be kidnapped by traffickers!
If it were said that a dignified president was kidnapped and tricked into doing something bad, she... she dared not imagine any further.
Mabel anxiously searched everywhere. Yet, she couldn’t make a big fuss out of it; otherwise, Kyle’s condition would be known to others.
Just as she grew more anxious, with cold sweat constantly breaking out, suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind, "Sister!"
She turned around sharply and saw Kyle holding two sticks of cotton candy, looking at her with a flattering smile.
"Where did you go? I told you to wait here, didn’t I? Why did you run away?" she questioned, all her previous worries and fears now pouring out through her words.
His smile froze, replacing it with a look of helplessness. His lips quivered slightly, but he said nothing.
"Do you realize what you did could make someone..." she lunged forward in a flash.
And he, reflexively, squatted down, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and murmured, "No... Sister, please don’t hit me. I was wrong. I won’t dare next time."
Mabel was stunned. Did he think she would hit him?
And now, was he afraid?
What exactly did he experience during his childhood?!
Her chest felt as if something heavy was pressing on it, dense, yet intensely sour and bitter.
Mabel squatted down, gently cupping his face with her hands. She could feel his stiffness, but he did not avoid her touch.
"I won’t hit you, I just... really worried about you." Mabel murmured, "I’m afraid something might happen to you, afraid I won’t find you, and afraid you won’t find me."
His eyes slowly opened, "I... I’m sorry, I just saw someone eating this cotton candy, and it looked tasty, so I wanted to eat it with you and went to buy some."
Only then did Mabel understand why he had those two sticks of cotton candy in his hands.
"Next time, if you want to buy cotton candy, wait for me to come back, and we’ll go together," Mabel said, smiling softly. "Kyle, when you’re with me, you don’t need to be afraid . Even if you did something wrong, I wouldn’t hit you."
"Really?" he asked cautiously.
"When did I ever lie to you?" she replied with a smile.
He shook his head as she pulled him up to stand straight again. "Alright, let’s continue playing. Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to ride the Ferris wheel?"
"Okay." He handed her one of the cotton candy sticks, "Sister, have some."
She took the cotton candy but was also puzzled. He probably didn’t have any money, so how did he manage to get things? But when she asked, the answer she got was, "Two older sisters gave it to me. They said if I took some photos with them, they’d give me cotton candy, and they said I was very handsome and good-looking."
Mabel was speechless. The advantage of having a good-looking face—it even got him free cotton candy.
Still, to be safe, Mabel advised, "But next time, don’t casually take photos with people, okay?"