chapter 10: 'charmer'

ASTRID looked outside the window of the shuttle. There was nothing there but the vast blackness of space alongside millions of flickering stars. He could still remember his first space travel. That was during his and Reas' first visit to the Academe Planet. He was so ecstatic back then. After all, travelling in space had always been one of man's ultimate dream. It was a good thing that he was a child then. So, it wouldn't be too suspicious if he acted all excited and giddy during his first space travel.

He glanced at his twin brother who was leaning on him and sleeping deeply. He smiled helplessly. He knew this kid wouldn't be able to resist and would sleep once again. He relaxed his body so Reas could sleep more comfortably. He would let his head rest on his shoulder but the height difference between them was too huge that it would just make Reas uncomfortable if he did that.

Their difference in height was definitely something he was most aggrieved about. They're twins, they had been eating the same food and drinking the same drink and yet the growth of their height was vastly different. Reas' height was 190 cm and definitely still growing while he seemed to be stuck at 178 cm. How unfair was that?

If he was still living on ancient Earth, then he certainly wouldn't mind his current height. After all, among Chinese men, this height was already considered tall enough. But no, he was now living in this era where the common height of men seemed to be 188 cm or more. Now, he seemed to be really short when in fact he wasn't. The men here were just too damn tall.

He was actually kind of worried that his height might affect the roles that he could take in the future. After all, it was kind of hard to make people believe that he was a reliable male lead when he was only as tall as the female lead. Well, at least he was confident that he could supplement that with his acting skills.

He actually wanted to try drinking one of those vitamins that could help people increase their height but his mother wouldn't allow him to. Saying that what if those things had adverse effect on his body. Which he highly doubted, by the way. She was just worried because when he was a kid, he was very frail and often sick. The doctor said that it might probably due to my mental strength being too powerful for my body. It was the same doctor who took his and his brother's qualification.

He had to undergo a lot of physical fitness training just so his body could adjust to his mental strength. Even now, he was still doing those exercises. So, despite looking so slender, his body was filled with firm muscles.

He sighed and just continued watching the vast expanse of space outside.

"Astrid—" a passing boy tried to call him.

But before he could finish, Astrid raised one of his fingers to his lips, silently telling the boy not to continue and then glanced sideways at his sleeping twin. Meaning that they shouldn't talk loudly because his brother was sleeping.

The boy quickly understood and mouthed, "Sorry."

Astrid only smiled at him which made the other blushed to the roots of his ear. Then he continued walking and sat back down to his seat.

"Charmer," said a voice beside him, probably referring to the way he handled that boy.

Astrid glanced at his brother whose eyes were still closed. "If you're already awake, then please, do stop leaning on me."

"Nah. I enjoy leaning on you," Reas replied shamelessly, still not opening his eyes.

Even though Astrid truly wanted to slap this brat away, at the end, he still endured and let him lean on him. Who told this kid to be his twin?

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The space shuttles carrying the students from different planets started landing on the space port of the Academe Planet. When the shuttle the twins were in landed, the two were the first ones to go out because they were sitting at the very end.

Astrid looked around. It was still kind of a novelty to him seeing people with all kinds of colors of hairs and eyes. Red, orange, green, blonde, probably all the color in the spectrum, at least one person in the Empire had it as the color of their hair or eyes. When he was a kid going to school with other children that had all this assortment of hair and eye colors, he felt like he was inside some kind of anime or something.

He often wondered just what kind of gene did those people in the earlier generations introduced to the gene pool so that the human population of the Interstellar era would have all these sorts of hair and eye color. And even the black hair and eyes that should have been the most common became something extremely rare. It's truly a big wonder.

"Aster, let's go quick before these people mob you," Reas suddenly said, clutching his wrist and pulling him forward. Of course, he did all that very gently.

Astrid wanted to say that he's exaggerating too much. He looked from left to right and saw the bright eyes of their batchmates while staring at him. Then he looked to the direction where Reas was pulling him. It was where the buses that would take them to the auditorium where the party would be held were parked.

Now, he understood what Reas meant. Their batchmates who were looking at him probably wanted to be on the same bus. Although it was indeed an exaggeration that he would be mobbed. There would definitely be one or two people who would try to stop them so they could talk to him.

Just as he thought, there were some who quickly followed them.

He heard Reas tsked. "Seriously, why are there so many people blinded by your face?"

[Well, it's not my fault the people in this era have problems with their aesthetic.] – Astrid thought.

Reas chose a bus and together they boarded it. They once again chose the last seat. Those who wanted to be on the same bus as them also quickly boarded. Because they were sitting at the very last seat, they could only glance at Astrid disappointingly.

Reas tsked again when he saw that. "Charmer.���

This time Astrid really did slap his arm. "Stop that, will you?"

Reas only smirked at him which only made him more irritated. Seriously, why couldn't he have a cute and obedient little brother?