Aster Veren
Episode 27's

- Ansel

"Don't yell, you can wake Uncle Ansel!" Carel's voice sounded faintly in my ear.

"It's night, you better go to bed." Hana continued with her soft voice making my eyes open.

"Then Aster would sleep with Hana again." This time the voice of Aster that caught my attention and I lyrically his figure who was seriously looking into Hana's eyes.

"What's this?" I asked to surprise them. It seemed like they were not aware of me who had woken up thanks to their noisy voices.

"Tu–tuan! Forgive the commotion ...." Hana said along with Aster's hand which grabbed Hana's clothes and held her tightly.

It seems he's still afraid of me. My inner self when I saw Aster avoid my gaze.

"Why are you awake?" I asked to pay attention to the purple bead that was secretly stealing glances at me.

"Eh, that's ... Asters ...." Answer stung.

"I woke him up by accident." Continue Carel while putting the photo album in his hand to its original place.

"Wake up?" I asked to look at Carel full of investigation.

"That's .. I went into her room and opened her window. Looks like Aster woke up because of the air of his room ...." Clearly avoiding my long stare.

"It turns out you haven't changed, yet" I muttered after sighing.

"Hehe ...." His laughter sounded forced.

Carel Alterio .. I can never forget his mischief all along. He's completely different to the Alterio I know. My mind remembers the figure of his father who was very quiet and firm in making decisions. Unlike the boy standing in front of me.

"Miss, let me take you to the room. I will accompany the lady to sleep." Hana's voice breaks down my daydreams as she watches the ring in Aster's briefcase for a moment.

Looks like Arsel was right about Aster's nightmare. Seeing him who was so reluctant to go to sleep like this .... My mind was worried about Aster for no reason.

"But ...." Her speech stopped when she saw Hana's smile.

"Then, we'll excuse you, sir." Hana continued while bowing her body before leaving from before me.

"Hana. Make me some hot chocolate and take me to my room." Pinta Carel stops Hana and Aster from leaving the living room.

"He? But den ...." Hana said stopped when she saw Carel's face that I couldn't see because she was already behind me.

"Okay, I'll make it." Hana immediately went to the kitchen and left Aster in the family room.

"Ka–kak Hana?" Aster muttered unable to prevent his departure.

Then I saw Carel who was walking towards Aster and his left hand immediately pat Aster on the shoulder before going to his room.

I exhaled my breath when I saw the figure of Aster sculpting, standing not far from me. His right hand seemed to tremble holding a ring that was clad around his neck.

Every now and then my eyes met her, but she quickly took her eyes off me. Is he afraid of me?

Tik.. tok...

The sound of clockwork fills the silence between us, I who again dissolved to see the photo of Helen carrying her baby was not able to hold my feelings for her. I feel like my chest is so tight right now.

"You've taken your medicine?" I tried to break the silence between us, trying to shift my longing towards Helen.

"He? Be–but." Answer stung.

"Go to sleep after taking your medicine." I said as I grabbed a photo lying next to the album I saw.

"Good." He said straight to his room.

There is a story behind this photo .... My mind turned over a photo of Aster crying near a piano.

Unknowingly I started smiling after reading Helen's handwriting, then my nosy hands opened all the photos on the album to see the writing behind each photo.

Then my eyes were fixed on a white envelope that was overtaken behind the photo album. Without thinking much, I grabbed the envelope and opened it after reading all the writing behind the photos.

"This is ...." I muttered as I looked at the contents of the letter inside the white envelope.

You've prepared everything carefully, Helen, it seems you know that I can't acknowledge Aster as my daughter without solid evidence. But with this DNA test evidence .... My mind is still watching the paper in my hand.

"Aster's self-data, your wedding ring, your photo album and your letter, then this DNA test result...Why am I so stupid?" I could not shake the shadow of Helen's face that smiled warmly at me on our wedding day.

"It looks like I'm too cold on Aster." I continued to pay attention to the door of Aster's room from the living room, then returned to pay attention to the paper in my hand.

But how could he do a DNA test? how did he get my DNA and match it with Aster's DNA? Inner wondering.

"Justin." I murmured as I remembered our fight.

Does he have anything to do with this? The only one close to Helen is Justin. Could she help Helen get my DNA? But how? I continue in my heart.

***

The time has shown at 07:45 am, today sister Hana forbade me to go to school for reasons of my health. Then I have to get stuck at home with the super active Carel.

It seems like tonight I can sleep soundly without any interruption from my nightmare .. but last night it was .. I really couldn't say anything to dad. Why would Carel make such an awkward situation for me? My mind recalls the incident last night while watching Carel climb a mango tree in the backyard.

My uncle had just come home, but I couldn't see him because my father took him to his study.

"Oiii! What are you daydreaming Aster?" Shouted Carel who was already sitting sweetly on the mango branch.

"You're still thinking about your math replay today?" It further made my annoyance come back.

As he said, today there was a math replay in my class. But I couldn't follow the replay because I had to rest at home.

Rather than resting, this was more like playing with a shitty person like Carel. My mind while remembering all his behavior this morning.

The boy was really hyperactive, early in the morning already infiltrated my room and bothered me just to see the sunrise being hilly behind the house. We sneaked out of the house without anyone's knowledge. Although in the end we were caught going out by sister Hana.

"It's as if you won't be stupid just for not attending Aster's day school." Carel said, standing next to me and making me surprised when he heard her voice.

"Somehow I feel that Carel's nature is getting annoying." I muttered while grunting in annoyance.

"You just found out this kid sucks?" The red uncle's voice surprised me, even my uncle's palm had landed on the top of my head, and the other hand was at the top of Carel's head.

"Let go!" Carel tried to let go of uncle's hand.

"Uncle is done?" I asked while hugging my red uncle.

"Done?" Uncle asked, confused.

"You're going to your study with Uncle Ansel. Didn't you guys go there to talk about something important?" Obviously Carel after successfully removing uncle's hand from his head.

"Ah .. yes it is done. By the way you've been eating medicine, haven't you been eating Aster?" Said uncle made me look up to see uncle's expression.

"It." I answered while smiling at him.

"You didn't go to Carel's school?" Dad's voice made me look towards the source of his voice.

I saw my father walking up to us in the back yard of my uncle's house in a white shirt and black pants.

"You're truant again?" The uncle made Carel tick.

"It's not uncle's business." He answered while throwing away the face of direction.

"Again?" I muttered wondering with red uncle's words.

"You mustn't trouble Tomi at all times Carel." Said the father who was standing near Carel.

"Hah .. I don't like going to school because it's boring." Carel said after sighing tiredly.

"How can going to school be boring? Couldn't Carel meet Carel's friends at school?" I said ask him.

"I don't like to be friends with stupid– people" he said immediately stopped by the red uncle pinch on his cheek.

"sick! Let go of me fool!" Carel said trying to remove uncle's hand from his face.

"How can a child like you talk like that? You really wouldn't make friends if you spoke like that!" Oceh's uncle was upset by Carel's stupid words.

"But I'm right, anyways all the material I've learned up to Junior High. How can I be friends with people who haven't finished learning such simple SD material?" Carel grumbled before managing to remove the red uncle's hand from his face.

"You're really very smart yeah ...." Guman Father after sighing tiredly.

"Why do you piss me off, it reminds me of someone" the uncle murmured as he glanced at the father standing up.

So Carel is very smart, huh? He said he had finished studying SD materials and now he was at Junior High?

"If so Aster can not be friends with Carel also dong yes ...." I said with a faint smile at him.

"Why?" He asked while glancing at me while his right hand was busy stroking his cheek which was reddened by uncle's pinch.

"Aster hasn't finished studying SD." Answer surprised.

"A–aster ...." Uncle's grunts sounded worried.

"I–it'll be different again." Carel made me reflexively laugh when I saw him misbehave, even my uncle and father also secretly laughed at Carel.

And that was the first time I saw my father's laughing expression. Somehow I felt happy because my fear of my father started to disappear bit by bit.

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Thanks for reading...