THE voice's owner was a boy with messy reddish-brown hair that looked as if it had not been met by a comb for a few days. His thin frame made his already petite body looked even smaller. His skin was sallow. Add that to his thin body and one could see that this boy was probably not getting the nutrition he needed for his age.
Astrid wouldn't even be surprised if the other was actually much older than he looked. In his eyes, the boy looked like he was 15-16 years old. But since one of Redwood Academy's requirements for admission was that the student needed to be 18-years-old, the other must be the same age as him. Or maybe even older.
The boy stopped ranting and wiped the tears that welled up in his eyes. And what an amazing pair of eyes the other had. They were the color of sunset – red, orange, even with a hint of gold. It was a very beautiful color. Filled with vitality and determination, these eyes looked like small sun orbs. Beautiful and dazzling.
If the other was given the proper nutrition and was able to fill his body with the right amount of fat and muscle, his looks would definitely be astounding. He wouldn't lose in the looks department to any of the students he had seen so far. Then, Astrid suddenly thought of the boy he had saved from kidnapping. Well, this kid could definitely give the other a run for his money.
But that's only under the condition that this boy could have more meat on him.
Astrid could tell that the other probably didn't have a good living condition. He might be a scholarship student who was admitted in the academy because of his high talent. Based on what he had heard earlier, there's definitely a high possibility of that.
He was thinking of how he should announce his presence to the other when the boy happened to raise his head and their gaze collided. The other's face first turned into shock, then, slowly that shock turned to anger and humiliation.
"You—Are you eavesdropping on me?!"
Astrid put down his food container and stood up. "I was actually here before you, so…" he said, shrugging.
Although his tone was gentle, the meaning of what he said was clear. He didn't eavesdrop. The other just starting talking on his own without checking his surroundings first.
The boy's face reddened in humiliation when he heard that. He bit his lip and seemed like he was about to cry again. But he was obviously resisting to do so. At the end, he turned around was about to run.
"Wait-!" Astrid called before the other could leave.
The other halted in his steps. When he thought that the boy would just continue running, the other slowly turned to him. "What?" he asked vigilantly.
"I actually made too much for lunch. Since our meeting could be considered as fate, why don't you join me? Let's share the lunch I made," Astrid said with a very friendly and harmless smile.
He actually didn't know why he suddenly stopped the other or why he even offered to have lunch with him. He might be feeling a bit sentimental. Maybe because there was a time in his past life that he also experienced being malnourished and poor. So, he unknowingly had the urge to feed the other.
He saw the boy's lips curling up into a sneer and he knew that he was about to be rejected. So, Astrid quickly picked up his food container and opened it. The delicious scent of food wafted in the air. This was his secret weapon. Really, who could refuse delicious food?
When he saw the boy gulping, Astrid knew that he had won.
-----
Kiran wolfed down the food inside the container that he was holding. This was probably the most delicious food he had ever tasted in his 19 years of life. He couldn't even believe that such a delicious food could exist.
For most of his life, he was used to eating low quality nutrient solution. It's what the orphanage he grew up in feed the kids they took in. It was funded by a high-ranking noble who owned the planet where the orphanage was in. The problem was, that noble didn't really care about the orphanage was just giving out money for the sake of being 'charitable'.
That would be fine if the director was kind and really cared for the children in the orphanage. The problem was, the orphanage's director was a greedy son of a bitch who didn't care about the children. He would cut expenses any way he could. That's why the children could only eat cheap nutrient solution and continuously wear old clothes until they're worn out and full of patches.
Because of that, the children in the orphanage were all skinny and underweight. The only thing Kiran was thankful for was the fact that the director wasn't pervert. If the other was a greedy pervert, then, the children would probably not only suffer from malnutrition, they might also suffer from a bunch of traumas.
He shook his head, not wanting to think about that anymore. Then, he continued eating.
"Slow down, the food won't run away," said a gentle voice beside him with a tinge of amusement. "Here, drink some tea."
Kiran glanced to the side and saw the beautiful guy with black hair and black eyes giving him a cup of tea. Since he was already eating the other's lunch, he was not so embarrassed to accept the cup.
He took the cup and drank the tea. At first sip, his eyes quickly widened. This was the most fragrant and delicious tea he had tasted. Although granted that he hadn't really drank any good tea in his life. Still, he was sure this tea was pretty up there amongst ather teas.
"You… what's your name?"
The other seemed to find it amusing that he only asked that now. "I'm Astrid Townsend. You?"
"Kiran.. Kiran Hope."
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