Chapter 29

"Did you drink?" Chester asked as he looked at Theodore with a shocked look on his face. "Drink..." Theodore spaced out as he tried to remember the taste of what he had drunk earlier.

"I drank apple juice, hehe," he giggle as he smiled brightly.

"Oh god..." Chester slapped his palm on his forehead as soon as he saw how Theodore smiled at him. 'He probably drank a bad beer. Why is there even a bad beer here?' he thought as he pursed his lips and sighed.

"Why don't you come with me and sober up? I'm gonna ask my dad how—" Chester stopped mid-sentence when Theodore started resting his head on the table.

Before Chester could even speak, Theodore spoke before him. "Hey, can you listen to my problem?" he sighed.

Chester was debating in his mind whether he should bring Theodore to his dad or if he should just let him talk for now. It looked like Theodore was having a really hard time based on the look on his face, making him decide to just listen to what Theodore wanted to say.

"Go on, I'll listen," Chester said as he turned his chair a bit so he could face his cousin. He leaned his back against his chair and waited for Theodore to speak.

"You see, haaa..." Theodore sighed as he stared at the grass. He remained quiet for a while as he sorted his thoughts, trying to think about what he really wanted to say.

Chester waited for him patiently with a gentle look on his face.

"There's this guy who has been on my mind a lot lately," Theodore started. "He's really annoying. He hangs around the people I'm close to, he's getting closer and closer to them, and he keeps blushing when he's around my friend. It's not like I feel like he's taking my place. It just makes me uncomfortable," he continued.

'Hmm... I think he's talking about Yuri. He's probably the only one around Theodore whom Chesca has mentioned lately,' Chester thought.

"I feel uncomfortable because..." Theodore spaced out once again. He sat up properly and looked down. "I feel weird around him. It makes me so uncomfortable. It doesn't feel nice," he continued.

"What exactly do you feel? What? Do you feel like punching him or something?" Chester jokingly said and chuckled. "No, no! Not like that," Theodore immediately denied.

"It's just... I feel weird inside. When I look at him, I feel like I can't breathe," Theodore said as he remembered the times whenever he looks at Yuri. "When our skin touches. it leaves a burning sensation and it even lasts for a long time," he said, remembering how it felt when his hand slightly touched Yuri's when they went to the mall last time.

"And when we're in the same space or whenever we're so close to each other, my heart suddenly palpitates. It doesn't feel nice. It's so frustrating that I can't control myself around him," Theodore groaned as he frowned.

"What's more frustrating is how I always say insults to him, a futile attempt to make myself feel better so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable anymore. But..." The alpha bit his lower lip and let out a deep breath.

"At the end of the day, I'm just saying meaningless words. I don't really mean what I say to him. I'm just so desperate to feel normal again," he said and covered his face with his palms.

'It's so frustrating. I hate this so much. I don't know what to do,' Theodore thought as he felt all his accumulated stress getting to him.

He wanted to know what it was.

He needed an explanation.

Being someone who's been knowledgeable about a lot of things ever since he was young, it was a huge shock to him that he didn't know what was going on with him.

'I feel bad for thinking this when he's venting to me right now, but he's such a lightweight,' Chester thought as he looked at his cousin, who's still covering his face.

"You said you don't like him, right? But from what I heard, I don't think it's right to say that you don't like him," Chester said. Theodore lifted his head and looked at his cousin with a confused look on his face.

"Theo, you have a crush on him," Chester said firmly with an unchanging facial expression.

Theodore's face became distorted upon hearing what Chester said. It was like just heard the worst joke in history. His head started to hurt and it made his facial expression worsen.

"Don't joke around with—" Chester cut him off and said, "I'm not joking around with you. I'm a hundred percent serious with what I just said. I'm just concluding based on what I heard from you."

"What exactly made you think that I have a crush on him? Theodore asked.

'I get why he's reacting like this. After all, things that we know nothing about always scare us. He looked a bit scared earlier, probably thinking that there's something wrong with him, when in fact, it's normal to feel that way around someone you like,' Chester thought as he smiled a little, thinking how innocent Theodore is.

"You feel breathless when you see him. That means he takes your breath away. When you touch, you feel a burning sensation. That means his touch affects you a lot. When you're in the same space or when you're near him, you said your heart races. That itself could tell you that you have a crush on him," Chester explained continuously without stopping to breathe.

He then took a deep breath and said, "Lastly, you said you keep saying insults to him but all of those are just meaningless. The fact that you said that with a sad expression is telling me that you feel bad about it because you know that your insults make him feel bad."

"Oh, one more," Chester said as he sat straight. "You also said that he blushes around your friend. Deep down, you know that he likes that friend of yours, and you don't like it. You're jealous because he doesn't act like that around you, but acts like that around someone else. Now, is this enough to make you understand why I'm thinking that you have a crush on him?" Chester said and raised a brow.

"I..." Theodore's eyes trembled as he looked at Chester. His already red face turned even redder upon hearing everything Chester has said to him. It was like everything has finally been cleared up to him and he wasn't as confused as he was anymore.

"I like... Yuri?"