To Live Again, For the First Time!

The water came not long after and by the time the noodles came, Jenna was already back from her trip to the loo.

Theodore had chugged the water and he had even taken to bites into the noodles by the time she came back.

"One second, I'm going to the bathroom too," he informed rather offhandedly.

Since things were being processed, it was inevitable that he would have to go to the bathroom, it just wasn't as urgent as Jenna, who had already been holding back for a while.

Jenna nodded as if to say that she would look after their stuff.

She sat back to her seat, but thinking a bit longer, she sat in the middle of the couch to take up half of her own seat and half of Theodore's.

She was really just sitting in the middle.

Her intentions were clear.

She didn't want such a thing occurring again.

Then, without really learning her lesson, she went back to sipping her drink.

She drank like normal, still without batting an eye at the alcohol intake, looking down at the pretty color of her drink.

She was currently drinking the peach fruit wine.

It had a yellow and pink hue, which made it a fan favorite for the females.

It also tasted really nice, so that was a plus.

Well, that is, if you could drink 3 sips without getting drunk.

But then, her face, which had been completely normal up until now, flushed red.

Like really red.

And not because she was drunk either.

She stopped drinking and looked at the straw she had just drunk from.

Jenna didn't think about it when all that was in her mind was the flowing water sound of nature, but now that she was clear-headed again… she noticed.

Wasn't that the same straw that Theo just drank from?!

And her face flushed harder.

Hey! Wait a second!

This is my drink to begin with… why am I the one feeling embarrassed.

It wasn't as if Jenna had never had a boyfriend before, she had one back in high school, but they separated upon entering university and he even had the guts to say that it was all because she cared more about studying than their relationship.

Of course, she cared more about studying than their relationship!

It was her future vs, their (quite honestly non-existent) future.

Not to mention, she had made it clear to him before they agreed to get together.

Back then she was rather shy, so she recalled that she was probably beat red when she blurted out those truthful words, which is why the other party took it for a joke or something like that.

But was that even her fault?

So even though Jenna had been in a relationship before, the two didn't get too far either and her experience was still rather limited.

As for the scenario right now, it was hard for her not to be affected, especially under the influence of some alcohol.

She was rather prone to overthinking.

Jenna had all these indignant thoughts in her mind about Theodore's actions and how casually he had done them, so much so that she couldn't think of anything else.

"Are you getting drunk? Your face is beat red, you should probably stop drinking." 

Theodore, who just came back to the scene of Jenna cutely pursing her glossy lips while metaphorically staring a hole into her alcoholic drink, commented.

He had tried for himself how strong that drink was, and he still couldn't believe it could be called wine.

Much less that someone was drinking it as wine.

It was clearly a shot, okay…

Jenna's indignant thoughts deflated like a balloon the moment she heard those words of concern.

Well, it wasn't his fault, right?

He seemed pretty restless and ill at ease at that time.

Jenna could imagine the reason why he was pending for a drink, having even assumed that hers was non-alcoholic, of a low degree at best.

She had been drinking it all night, and Jenna knew exactly what impression she gave off.

It wasn't the first time such a thing occurred before.

There had been many who tried her drinks thinking that they wouldn't be too strong before, of course, they did that out of their own cups.

She frowned.

Maybe Theodore didn't care all that much about sharing a drink, I mean, a lot of people nowadays were like that, so maybe she shouldn't care that much either?

While Jenna was lost in thought, Theodore, who had sat across from her, getting her message, took his bag and rummaged through it, taking out the same pill that he had taken not long ago.

"Do you want one?"

Jenna snapped out of her daze.

Huh?

What?

Who am I? Where am I? Why is this guy offering me his medicine???

For a second, the scene could almost be interpreted as a little lamb, an innocent young girl, being offered drugs from a person who popped out of absolutely nowhere.

Or worse yet, someone who they thought they knew. 

Tsk, tsk.

[AN: Don't do drugs kids. And don't accept drugs. And don't sell drugs! You too adults… watch yourselves. ?]

Seeing the confusion in Jenna's eyes that made her seem even more like a lost lamb, a sudden flash of realization dawned upon Theodore.

"Ah, don't misunderstand."

Thinking back, there did indeed seem to be a lot of things that could be misunderstood in that situation.

Especially the contents of his bag.

Mm, very prone to misunderstandings.

[AN: Seriously… why the heck does this sound more and more like drugs, for people who are new here, just know that they aren't drugs goddamnit.]

"Those pills are…"

How should he even describe it?

Theodore thought long and hard before coming up with something suitable.

"…special."

???

Jenna didn't even know how to react at this point.

Seeing the question marks floating over Jenna's pretty little head, Theodore could already imagine what kind of thoughts she was having at the moment.

"No… I'm not terminally ill." 

Theodore spoke seriously, but even that wouldn't save him.

Sister, how was he supposed to explain this?!

I mean the scene really couldn't get any stranger.

Jenna was looking at him as if she were looking at someone on their death beds saying that they were absolutely fine and as healthy as ever.

As if he were a crazy person in denial.

Theodore sighed.

"I'm really healthy, as healthy as one can be, even more so."

Theodore said as he stared at the incriminating evidence that said otherwise.

"These, these…"

He couldn't say that they weren't to supplement his health, since they were, but that didn't mean that he was ill.

In the end, there was really nothing he could say, other than the truth, right?

Well, it shouldn't matter too much.

"Well, it's easier if I take them out and explain."

As Theodore said that Theo slowly started taking out bottle after bottle without missing a beat.

Rows after rows.

There were… a lot to say the least.

Since these were already patented, it should be fine, right?

Theodore already considered Jenna as a friend.

Not to mention since no one really knew his background, truth be told, other than his grades, looks, and his great personality, there was no other reason they would approach him.

He found these friends rather trustworthy, plus, there was a contingency plan.

Though of course, it would be best if such a plan was unnecessary.

Then Theodore started pointing at things, rather casually if I may add.

"At this row, yeah, these with the greenish colors, those are all vitamins, you can tell which from the letter on the label."

The Vitamin D was in a slightly larger bottle which held more pills.

This was taking into consideration his profession.

The letters were also on the capsule of the pill, so even though they were of the same color, there was no need to fear mistaking them.

"Oh, this one, this big bottle is the one that you eat if you consume too many sugars and fats throughout the day."

This bottle was at least 3 times the size of most of the others.

"Oh, and this one, this one is in case I don't sleep properly."

This worked kind of like coffee but without the adverse effects. In the end, some people still preferred coffee even if it affected one's health to some extent, so to some, these were pointless.

"This one is for bowel movement."

"This one is for the drinking thing, you remember right? It's the one you just gave me. You can give it a try if you'd like. It's really effective."

Jenna hesitated to take the pill, before actually putting it in her mouth.

And as a matter of fact, she could really feel herself getting more clearheaded, though she wasn't too drunk to begin with.

"Eh, how come your face is still flushed? Hmm, it should have subsided by now." Theodore murmured.

These pills had been tested before and the results were all given to Theodore, and since he was taking them, of course, he would know them like the back of his hands.

Jenna blushed a little harder, but she just acted dumb, moving the back of her right hand to her cheek.

"Really? I think it's working." 

As if saying that her face was cool.

"Hm, is that so?"

Theodore instinctively reached out to touch the other side of her face.

"Well, I guess this it's the temperature of a drunk, maybe it's just the heat here."

Theodore still hadn't gotten too accustomed to the heat here in Basilian, so it bothered him more than others.

"I guess so."

Jenna said in a half-whisper.

What was this guy even doing!

┻━┻ミ ＼（≧ロ≦＼）