ASTRID woke up rather later than he was used to. It was because he left the after party with Ellis nearing midnight. It's not just because of tiredness or lack of sleep, the alcohol he drank also played a role.
He got up from the bed while letting out a yawn. He left the room after washing his face. The moment he did, he immediately smelled the delicious scent of food.
"You're awake?" Reas voice called from the kitchen.
Astrid raised his head and looked in that direction. He raised his brow when he saw his brother wearing an apron and was putting a small pot on the table. Not only that, there were also other simple dishes on the table, like scallion pancakes and fried dumplings.
No wonder he smelled something delicious. It turned out that Reas was cooking.
"Let's eat breakfast," his brother continued.
Astrid walked over and sat down in his usual seat. He looked at the small pot of congee and asked, "How come you suddenly thought of cooking?"
Reas had once asked him to teach him how to cook when they just entered secondary school. It was because he wanted to prepare something for their parents. It's a time when their family's farm successfully expanded their trading route outside of the planet.
His brother wanted to congratulate their parents for such a big milestone. And the idea he came up with was to cook for them himself. Since it was something he had never done before.
Reas was pretty good at following instructions, so it was easy to teach him. But maybe because the other was not really into cooking, he didn't really try learning complicated dishes and was satisfied with simple ones.
And since Astrid was most confident in Chinese dishes, he decided to teach him those. Because of that, Reas only knew how to make Chinese food.
"I want to congratulate you for winning Rookie of the Year award," Reas said, answering his question earlier. "Since I know you will definitely appreciate this more than some expensive gift or something."
Astrid smiled at that. "Well, I can't deny that. After all, Reas' cooking always makes me happy."
But at the back of his mind, he was thing - would it really be good if he cooked for Lauren?
-----
After breakfast, Astrid started checking on his messages. He didn't have much time yesterday because of how hectic it was. And when he arrived back home, he just went straight to sleep.
He first opened the messages from his parents. They congratulated him for winning the Rookie of the Year award and how proud they were of him. Instead of replying, he directly called the two.
Their conversation lasted for almost half an hour. Mostly, it involved his father enthusiastically praising him, while his mother offered maternal advice, reminding him always to look after himself, and similar sentiments.
After that call, he checked his other messages. He read the ones from his friends and replied to them. Casey also sent a congratulatory message, saying that Nicol was also very happy about his win. He sent a very polite message back.
And then, finally, he read Wulfric's message.
[Aster! Congratulations on winning! I knew you will get that award. I mean, is there even another rookie as great as you out there? Man, I wish I was there so I could personally congratulate you. Anyway, I'm so happy that you won.
PS. Hopefully, amidst the numerous best actor awards you'll secure in the future, there will be one that allows me to proudly declare to the world that you're mine. And, in return, you can confidently affirm that I'm yours as well.]
A smile subconsciously appeared on Astrid's lips as he read that. The message was just filled with excitement and happiness. As well as Wulfric's hope for the future.
"Hmm... maybe it will indeed happen," he mumbled to himself.
He just chuckled at that thought, and then decided to call Wulfric. But the moment Wulfric's handsome face appeared on the screen, he noticed something.
The other seemed to be... sulking?