Alice and Rudy went to the nearby park.

Since it was morning, many people were around doing yoga, exercising, and jogging.

It was hard to find an empty bench, so they had to walk for a while in search of one.

After finding the bench, Rudy and Alice sat beside each other.

Alice wanted to ask if he was feeling alright, but Rudy's head was banging from the inside.

His superpowers were going insane in his mind, and he was slowly losing control. It wasn't something dangerous since this had happened once before too.

Rudy simply needed a little rest.

He leaned back on the bench and covered his face with his hands because the sunlight was making him annoyed.

He closed his eyes and slowed down his breath to control the blood circulation in his body.

Alice was getting anxious. She thought Rudy was having a stroke or something.

'I will get something for him to drink!'

Alice got up and dashed to the vending machine to buy drinks for Rudy.

Rudy opened his eyes and saw Alice leave, but his vision was blurry, and he couldn't figure out whether she was carrying her school bag or not.

'I have had a headache before; everyone does. But this is at least tens of thousands of times worse than that. I feel like my brain is boiling and being minced before creating a milkshake.'

Rudy sighed and muttered, "I can literally feel every tiny movement in my brain."

"Maybe I should take a day off?" Rudy wondered. "But today is the first time I am picking up Alice from her house to go to school. I don't want to ruin it for her."

After a few seconds, Rudy heard footsteps approaching him, so he opened his eyes and saw Alice standing in front of him with an innocent smile on her face.

"I bought drinks for you," she said.

Rudy looked at her hands and saw lemon juice in one hand and mango juice in another one.

"Which one do you want?" Alice asked in a gentle voice.

'Mango is my favorite, but Alice likes it too. So I will go with lemon,' Rudy decided and said, "I will go with lemon."

Even in a time like this, Rudy was being considerate of Alice.

He didn't want to repeat the same mistake again as his past life and neglect the girls who loved him. He was going to give them a happy ending, no matter what it took.

After drinking a few sips from the can, Rudy let out a loud groan and sighed deeply.

'I feel a lot better now.' Rudy looked at the ingredients on the can and wondered, 'Could it be that there is an element that can subdue my condition?'

"What's wrong?" Alice asked. She tilted her head to the side and looked into Rudy's eyes before asking, "That was a loud groan. But your facial expression looks a little less painful. Did the juice help you?"

"Yeah, it did," Rudy said with a smile.

"Thank god~!" Alice sighed in relief and started drinking the mango juice from her can.

Rudy watched Alice drink with her juicy red lips, and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Alice noticed Rudy staring at her lips, but she thought he was looking at the can.

She raised her brows and uttered, "I know mango is your favorite, but I assumed maybe your taste had changed now."

"Nope. Mango is still my number one," Rudy uttered nonchalantly.

"Do you want to drink it?" She asked jokingly with a grin on her face

"Sure." The grin on Alice's face disappeared, and it was replaced with embarrassment.

Her face flushed as she stuttered, "I-I will g-go buy one for you—"

Alice stood up, but Rudy grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Can't I drink from yours?" Rudy asked with a grin on his face. "I just want to take one sip."

"Oka...y…" Alice reluctantly gave Rudy her can, but she couldn't stop blushing.

Rudy grabbed the can and searched for the spot from where Alice had drunk. He placed his lips on the same spot and drank one sip.

Then, he glanced at Alice from the corner of his eyes and saw her blushing redder than before.

'Am I going too far? Or maybe this is too early?' Rudy asked himself.

"Here." Rudy gave the can back to Alice and said, "Thank you."

"You… are well..come.."

Alice looked at the can and thought, 'Wasn't this an indirect kiss?! Why was Rudy so calm about it?!'

She glanced at Rudy and saw him drinking lemon juice with a delighted expression on his face.

'Am I the only one who is conscious of all this? I get that we are childhood friends, so he might not find it awkward, but… I want to be more than childhood friends.'

Alice drank a few sips and thought, 'Does he not realize my feelings? Maybe I should tell him?'

'But… I don't want to be direct. What if he doesn't like me back?' she asked herself. 'It will also ruin our friendship, and I will end up losing him.'

'I am happy with how things are right now. And besides, I don't think Rudy is in the mood to date anyone. He broke up with his girlfriend not long ago. I should give him some time.'

Alice always considered others' feelings before her own, which created a mentality in her mind.

'If I do good and be kind with others, good things will happen to me, and everyone will be kind to me too.'

That was Alice's mindset, and it got worse as she grew up.

It gave her false hope and expectations, which shattered, again and again, leaving her heart empty. In the end, that led to severe depression, and she later committed suicide.

'And I don't think he can spend his life if we start dating. I don't mind paying for dates and all, but I am sure he could feel conflicted.'

(Un)Fortunately for Alice, Rudy heard everything using telepathy.

Since Alice was thinking about Rudy, it acted on his telepathic ability.

Rudy smiled wryly and thought, 'She was always considerate of me. Even in small things. She was always by my side, and yet, I never noticed her love.'

'And when she confessed to me, I took that as a joke. I wasn't considerate of her.'

'But not this time…'

Rudy turned to Alice and smiled at her with a sad look on his face.

Alice gathered up her courage and asked, "Do you want to take one more sip?"

Rudy scoffed softly and said, "I will drink it directly from your mouth."

"Huh?"

Before Alice would never process what Rudy had said, she was stopped by a pair of soft lips on her juicy lips.

It took a while for Alice to realize that Rudy was kissing her. But when she did, the kiss had already ended.

Alice stared at Rudy with a flushed face and teary eyes. Her lips trembled as she said, "We are getting late!"

After saying that, Alice grabbed her bag and rushed her way to school.

Rudy looked at the juice can in his hand and muttered, "Did I mess up?"

===

Thanks, @jonlaca, @puremichigan, @The_Invisible_Man, and @Ok_Two, for the gifts!

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