Chapter 34 - YELLOW ROSES

Julien quickly realized that there was nothing he wanted to buy, except wine. He didn't lack food to eat or clothes to wear. Julien wasn't interested in spending money extravagantly either.

[System: You should quit drinking and buying wine. Well, the worst part of it is that alcoholics can't stop.]​​

Julien murmured with a frown: "I should've stopped drinking, but…"

[System: What's your excuse this time, Host?]

Julien had years to learn how to keep his thoughts to himself and had learned not to share evidence of his oddities as a way to distinguish himself from others.

Julien had been embarrassed, but wanted to defend himself: "The smell of wine is oddly intoxicating like it never was before. This scent is like a drug and I can't help myself."

[System: So maybe it is your first instinct of the omega to lose control over the bonding smell.]

What that even supposed to mean?

Julien wasn't aware that in the book was an alpha who smelled exactly like wine.

He was already thinking about something else. Julien decided that visiting Mino was the best idea to spent time. Besides that, he promised to hang out with the little guy.

The foster mom was very concerned and worried lately about the boy. Mino wasn't stupid in any way, but right now he suffered from a lack of passion, as if, at nine, he had already become resigned to the fact that life would be a disappointment and he would be a disappointment to the people in it. He always obediently answered every question, but he never had any questions of his own these last few days.

Julien took him shopping, but Mino hadn't even looked at toys. This was the first time he didn't respond when he tried to talk to him. Julien tried to analyze the possible reasons for the Mino's behavior, but he couldn't guess the thoughts of young children at all.

Mino was going through the stores looking as if he was disillusioned with human society.

What could this little bun possibly be depressed about?

Julien was at a loss. Seeing that little bun was dispirited and downcast, he asked: "What's wrong?"

And then, to his astonishment, Mino had begun to cry. Julien had tried to comfort him. He put his arm around the child and said although he didn't know what's wrong: "It's going to be all right. I promise you, it will be."

But the little boy had only cried harder. He sobbed: "I don't have any friends."

Julien said with sympathy: "Oh, dear child."

He felt then, keenly, the loneliness of Mino's life. He before was a thirty-year-old actor who spent Friday nights sitting alone in his apartment talking mostly to himself.

Julien who felt like he was nothing in his previous life hugged Mino who was by any definition a better kid than he had been and who yet had no friends.

Julien said: "Mino, listen to me, it'll happen eventually."

Mino wailed with such yearning that he winced: "But when?"

Julien told him, petting his back: "Soon, very soon, I promise."

He continued: "You have already one friend - me."

Mino's head was still bent, but Julien saw the tops of his cheeks fattened a little and he knew that the boy was smiling, just a bit.

He didn't know what make him say what he did next: "I never had friends, either, not for a very long time, not until I was much older than you, like I'm now."

Julien could sense, rather than see, Mino became alert, he could feel him listening. He continued slowly because he wanted to make sure his words come out right: "And I wanted to have them too and I always wondered if I will ever find any, and how, and when. And then one day I went out and met a person who, for whatever reason, agreed to be my friend."

He thought of his own new friend, Etienne.

Etienne was quiet, but not out of painful shyness. He was an easy listener, a good audience, always giving encouraging feedback. The other omega had that way of moving that honest people do and there was nothing threatening about him, nothing at all.

Julien smiled: "The only trick of friendship is to meet the right person. A person who is better than you are, kinder, more generous and more forgiving. A person not cooler and not smarter than you by any means."

Mino looked up at him and asked: "But what to do when I find a person like that?"

Julien thought it over: "You have to appreciate them and listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad or good it might be. They should trust you and you should trust them too, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well."

Mino's eyes twinkled at him: "May I know your friend your name, please?"

Julien couldn't help laughing: "What about we surprise him and buy him a gift?"

They make their way to the flower shop. Julien pointed his finger at the yellow roses on the display and asked: "Does Mino knows the meaning of these flowers?"

Mino carefully nodded: "They are a symbol of love."

Julien smiled gently: "You are right, but yellow roses are one of the only roses that have no romantic meaning behind them. They indicate friendship and caring."

Mino smiled back at him: "So let's but yellow ones."

Julien wrote in a card message 'If I told you to 'Get Well Soon,' it wouldn't be soon enough. Get Well Now!' and he drew a little piano on it.

The titanium credit card from Ioan finally found its use.