A Magic to Melt A Heart (TinCan)

Chapter 5 - Tin's Sly Plan Pt.2

Pete and Tin walked away as far as possible from the students to avoid unnecessary disturbance. Tin saw a bench that was under the shade of the tree and dragged Pete there.

"Tin, you didn't have to drag me here. I'm fine," Pete said as he forced another smile although this time it was evident that he was not okay. 

His lips started to quiver and his eyes were watery. Now that they were alone, Pete was more sincere about his feelings although he still tried to hide it. Usually when there was a problem, Pete would deal with it on his own. When it became too emotionally exhausting, he would cry by himself since he didn't want anyone to know his weak side. That was how he dealt with his problems before.

When he met Ae, it became different. For some reason Ae has this ability to make him tell the things he didn't want to share to anyone, not even to his family or to his childhood friend, Tin. When he did share his problems with Ae, he would always feel better afterwards. Ae has this soothing way of talking that would make Pete calm down as they discuss his problems. Whether he would cry, rant, talk about serious or trivial things, Ae would listen to him sincerely.

Right now, he was on the verge of crying and Ae was not there for him. He realized at that moment that he was so used to Ae helping him go through his problems. It just made him feel more pathetic and helpless. This mixture of emotions overflowed as his tears started to fall.

Tin who was by his side did not exactly know how to deal with the situation. He never saw Pete act this way. It was also his first time seeing someone who is close to him cry. It made him uncomfortable. How is he supposed to deal with the situation?

"Go on," Tin said.

"Wh-at?" Pete asked as he looked at Tin.

With a caring manner, Tin grabs Pete by his shoulder still with indifferent look and hugged him.

Pete was surprised about Tin's behavior. The usual cold and aloof ice prince is actually comforting him. 

"Tin?" Pete asked confusedly.

"..."

Pete chuckled a little bit. It must be uncomfortable for him to do this yet he was trying his best to comfort him. 

"Thank you, Tin," Pete said as he reciprocated Tin's hug. 

Pete felt a little bit better. 

"You're actually nicer than I expected," he continued as he withdrew from Tin's hug.

Tin smirked as he lightly ruffled Pete's hair. 

"Oi..Tin! Stop it!" Pete said as he tried to fix his hair while smiling.

This time his smile was sincere.

The two sat down on the bench and looked at the clear blue sky.

Tin gazed at Pete's smile that was still plastered on his face with a satisfied look. He seemed to succeed quite a bit at being more reliable than Ae although he believed it still wasn't enough.

The moment of silence was disrupted when Pete's stomach grumbled. Pete immediately covered his stomach as if trying to hide the grumbling noise but he immediately realized it was useless. His embarrassment has caused his cheeks to blush red like a tomato.

"I'll buy food. Stay here," Tin said as he stood up.

Before Pete could insist that he would buy food for the two of them, Tin already walked away leaving him and his briefcase behind.

"What a good friend," Pete said as he grabbed his phone that was vibrating.

As Tin's figure slowly disappeared from Pete's view, three human-shaped shadows that were hidden from a distance started following Tin.