WULFRIC looked down at the hotdog he’s holding covered in mustard and ketchup. His mind was currently blank. What happened to eating at a trendy café that offered healthy dishes and drinks?

This was the other reason why he chose that café. The ingredients they used were all organic and very healthy. He didn’t really care much whether what he’s eating was healthy or not. All he cared was if it’s delicious. But he wasn’t the only one eating breakfast. Aster was with him.

He wanted Aster to eat something healthy but also, at the same time, delicious. It’s important for artist like Aster to eat healthily. Even if it’s just one day, he didn’t want the other to eat unhealthy food because of him.

But here they were, on the side of the street, eating a very unhealthy hotdog sandwich. He wanted to bury himself in the ground for messing up this early. What the heck was he doing?

Astrid had been observing Wulfric. So, he saw how the other’s expression changed from blank to twisted. It’s like he was lost in a forest, found a delicious looking fruit, eating it and realizing that it actually tasted like shit.

He actually had an idea what kind of mental gymnastics Wulfric was having. The other was most likely blaming himself for things not going according to his plans. Astrid resisted the urge to chuckle. If he laughed right now, Wulfric might have psychological shadow from this experience. As much as he found this situation adorable, he didn’t want that to happen.

He took a bite of the hotdog and was very glad that it actually tasted good. “Wulf, go take a bite. It’s really good.”

Wulfric was ‘relieved’ from his ‘suffering’ because of Aster’s call. He raised his head and looked at the other. Aster just finished biting on the sandwich. The other seemed to like the taste. But it could just be Aster being thoughtful so he wouldn’t feel bad. It’s something that the other would definitely do.

“Go, try it,” Aster said, encouraging him as if he was a kid being picky about his food.

Wulfric felt a bit embarrassed thinking that. So, he simply bit on the sandwich. The moment he did, his eyes widened a bit. Because it was indeed delicious. One must know that he’s a very picky eater. He would only eat food that he considered as delicious. He had fired a lot of chefs in Beowulf because they didn’t manage to cook food that passed his taste.

But this hotdog sandwich that didn’t really look that appetizing actually turned to be delicious. A perfect example of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Now he’s sure that Aster was not simply being thoughtful. The other indeed found this street food delicious.

Now he truly felt relieved. Even if this food was unhealthy, at least it’s delicious.

He bit on the sandwich again. Before he knew it, he had already finished all. He looked at Aster and saw that the other had also finished eating. He would feel a bit shameless if he finished eating first.

“Wulf, you have some sauce here,” Aster said pointing at the corner of his mouth.

Wulfric wiped his mouth. “Is there still some?”

Aster showed a helpless smile. “Here, let me do it.”

Before he could say anything, Aster had already raised his hand and wiped the corner of Wulfric’s mouth with his finger. He only felt like his whole body was electrified at that moment. It became even worse when he saw Aster licking the sauce from the thumb he used to wipe the sauce.

“Let- let me buy some drinks for us,” he said in panic, running to the fruit juice stand not far away to buy drinks.

Astrid watched the other scamper off and he couldn’t help smile. He probably shouldn’t tease Wulfric this much, right? But he knew that he would still continue. Because, really, how could he resist?

—–

After eating breakfast, they went back to the aircraft.

“Where to next?” Astrid asked when he saw Wulfric inputting the address on the GPS system.

“There’s a new aquarium that just opened last month. They have a lot of good reviews online,” the other answered. “I just thought that we could enjoy spending time there for a few hours before lunch.”

Astrid suddenly felt a bit excited after hearing that. He had never been to any aquarium in this era. Considering the level of technology, it would probably be very different from the aquarium he knew.

Seeing the excited expression on Aster’s face, Wulfric was glad that he picked an aquarium as their next destination. But thinking of the failure this morning, he couldn’t help but feel that something ‘bad’ would happen again. Although he bought VVIP tickets so they wouldn’t have to queue up, he still felt that a problem would arise along the way.

So, to make sure that everything would go smoothly this time, he sent a message to the group chat of him, his three captains, and his lieutenant.

[Wulfric: Can you check what’s happening at Oceanic Sky right now? If there’s a problem, can you fix it for me?]

[Edmund: (・・?)]

[Slade: Is this related to the reason why you left the base all dressed-up earlier?]

[Hildred: Is there trouble in paradise already?]

[Edmund: Σ(・・)]

[Wulfric: Stop with the emojis, Ed. And you two, please be more serious, okay? This is important to me. Really important.]

[Leland: I just checked. An accident happened just now. They found a leakage in one of the tunnels. They had to close the aquarium for today because of that.]

Wulfric couldn’t believe what he’s reading. Seriously? Seriously? Was he cursed today? He almost let out a curse himself.

[Hildred: Do you need an alternative? I know a lot of potential dating spots.]

[Edmund: Dating spots? Why dating spots?]

[Slade: Obviously because our captain is on a date.]

“What’s wrong, Wulf?”

Astrid’s question pulled Wulfric’s attention from the group chat. He looked at the other guiltily. He didn’t know how to tell Aster about the bad news. Especially since the other was so excited after hearing that they’re going to the aquarium.