515 COMFORT OF FRIENDS
THE first, and only, person who flashed in Snow's mind was a young man with long gray hair and light green eyes. Assil Brewer. His childhood friend who turned into his sweetheart. And now, a complete stranger. At least for Assil, right now, he was only that. A stranger.
Thinking that, he felt his chest tightened. As if he wouldn't be able to breathe in a few seconds. To prevent that, he took a deep breath and tried his best to calm his mind.
As he was doing that, Astrid quickly noticed that sothing was wrong. Snow just froze, and the hand holding the cup of milk tea was shaking. The other only showed this kind of reaction after Kiran asked if he had an ideal type. So, it's safe to assu that his state now had sothing to do with that.
It took Astrid back to the strange reaction Snow had when he t Ash. Outside, Snow might have looked like he didn't like Ash because of how cold and stiff he was acting in front of the other. But Astrid didn't think so.
Although Snow was not that cheerful or friendly, he certainly wouldn't act that way towards soone he just t. In Astrid's eyes, it's more like the other was forcing himself to act that way.
Now, seeing Snow reacting like this, he couldn't help but wonder if it had sothing to do with Ash. But if it was, the question would be 'why?'. Anyway, that's only speculation on his part. It's better to ask Snow directly, rather than speculating like this.
So, he asked, "Are you alright, Snow?"
Snow turned to Astrid chanically when he heard the question. He saw the other's worried look. Sohow, there seed to also be sothing hidden in his gaze. As if he knew what was bothering Snow. With how perceptive Astrid was, that was certainly possible.
He didn't know what to say. Honestly, he wanted to share this secret he'd been hiding, but he didn't know where to start or even what to say. As he was mulling over that, Kiran suddenly spoke;
"Is it your stomach? Are you having indigestion? Should I buy dicine?"
Snow blinked and then turned to Kiran. The other had the sa worried look as Astrid. But unlike Astrid, who had probably guessed what's bothering him, Kiran was the exact opposite. He looked like he genuinely believed that he was having indigestion issue.
Was it because he ate more than he usually did? Well, it was mostly because he was concentrating on listening to Astrid's story that he ended up eating more than usual. If that's the reason, and then add that to Kiran's reaction, things just made sense. And it also beca a lot funnier.
He and Astrid probably had the sa thoughts because both of them laughed at the sa ti. The slight awkwardness that appeared because of him disappeared in an instant.
It also made Snow much braver, and the hesitation he was having regarding whether he should tell them about his secret had completely vanished.
Kiran pouted. "Why are you both laughing?"
"Because Kiran is adorable," Astrid said.
Snow smiled at that. He fell silent again for a mont, and then he spoke, "I- I don't exactly have an ideal type. But..." He paused for a few seconds before managing to continue, "I have soone I like. No, it's probably more than just 'like'. Sothing that's most likely similar to 'love'. So, maybe you can consider him as my ideal type."
Astrid's eyes slightly widened at the sudden declaration. anwhile, Kiran's eyes literally turned as wide as a saucer. Showing just how much shock he got from what Snow just said.
"You- you're in love with soone? Who? Is it soone from the acting departnt of Redwood? Or soone you et at work? Maybe another noble?" Kiran asked one question after another.
He seriously didn't expect that Snow already had soone he liked in that romantic kind of way. He thought that out of the three of them, he would be the last one to actually fall in love. The other just didn't seem like the type who would easily fall for soone. He didn't even look like he would be interested in that.
But lo-and-behold, he was actually the first one of them to experience love. In a way, this was more surprising than the prince being in love with Astrid. Okay, maybe not that much. But still. The surprise factor was that big.
That's why Kiran couldn't help but be curious. Just who was this guy that Snow fell for?
Snow shook his head. "He's none of those. He- we t when we were kids. He was my first friend. And that friendship slowly blood into sothing like young love."
He paused and then looked outside the window with a nostalgic look, as if he was reminiscing of a ti in the past that was so special to him. And the words just naturally flowed out his mouth. Telling his two friends about Assil. He didn't stop until he could get everything out that's pressing down on his chest.
When he was done, he felt lighthearted. Sothing he hadn't felt in a long while. And then, he suddenly felt a pair of arms surrounding him, as if giving him comfort.
"It's alright, it's okay, Snow. Everything is going to be okay," Kiran said as he was patting him on the back.
And then he felt his hand on the table being held firmly. He looked up to see Astrid smiling reassuringly at him. The other didn't say anything, but that smile was more than enough.
Feeling the comfort of both his friends, it was only then that he felt the tears flowing down his cheeks. He wanted to laugh at himself for not even realizing that. But instead of laughter, more tears just ca out.
"I... I just really, really want to go up to him and tell him that I'm Snow," his voice broke. "His Snow."
I apologized for the late update. I was writing this chapter for the past two days, but irl work just got in the way. Sorry. (｡•́︿•̀｡)
Tyramisu
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