The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era [BL]

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."

Reas only grunted. The tips of his ears turning red a bit, showing his awkwardness. He removed his apron and sat down in front of Astrid.

"Let's eat."

After saying that, he picked a small bowl and scooped congee for Astrid.

Astrid couldn't help but smile once again. He took the small bowl and started eating. After eating a spoonful, he took a bite of the scallion pancake. As expected, Reas' cooking was also really good.

"I bet if you cook for Lauren like this, he would definitely be overjoyed," he just thought of saying.

Reas suddenly coughed violently because of that. Astrid raised his head and his brother just looked like he just choked on his congee. He quickly gave the other a glass of water. It was a good thing it was the congee and not the dumplings. Or else his grape trauma might just be triggered.

Reas drank small sips of the water to clear out the bits of rice that lodged in his throat. After his breathing returned to normal, he glared accusingly at his brother.

"Why did you have to mention that?"

Astrid looked at Reas, whose face was now flushed red. He didn't know if it was because of his continuous coughing earlier, or if he was just shy at the thought of cooking for Lauren. Maybe it's a bit of both.

"I just thought about it." He shrugged. "After all, I attended the award show with him last night and the two of you have some sort of thing going on."

Reas almost choked again when he heard the last part his brother said. Initially, he thought Lauren might have informed Astrid about their plans to meet the following Saturday, leading to Astrid's teasing remark. But it seemed that that wasn't the case and the other just wanted to tease him.

Astrid bit on a dumpling, his expression filled with amusement. "Look at you. You're not even denying what I said. Are you finally admitting that there's something going on between you?"

Reas wisely decided not to comment on that and just continued eating.

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?

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