"I'm so sorry," Clara said, "Yanny's never like this usually. He seems to like you very much."

"It's okay," Serenity assured her before picking the boy up in her arms. "I like him very much too."

The boy did not struggle when Serenity picked him up. Instead, he happily went along with it and even smiled at her when he was in her arms. But that smile was a mixture of timidness and admiration, which made her feel inexplicably sad.

She tousled his hair and said to him, "Hello, Yanny!"

But the l