I Became a Guide For My Childhood Friend - Chapter 71-1

It was one of the things that Yernia had always thought was weird.

That Cassian had a girlfriend out of the blue.

That his girlfriend had no contact with Cassian, and that he broke up with her a week later.

Liking someone would usually take time before one cooled down, but Cassian’s feelings seemed too shallow considering the duration of their relationship.

At that point, Yernia concluded that Cassian wasn’t capable of loving other women besides Herena.

Perhaps, he would meet just about anyone and then settle down with  Herena.

Of course, she hadn’t considered Cassian’s previous relationships with other girls during their academy days yet.

“Did you like her?”

Cassian still held her hand as their gazes intertwined.

“No.”

Relieved, the tension surrounding Yernia’s body subsided.

She took a short breath.

So, Cassian didn’t date that girl because he liked her?

“Then why were you dating?”

“Because of you.”

The unexpected answer made Yernia speechless.

“You didn’t like rumors about us.”

“So you dated someone else?”

“Thanks to that, the rumors died as I wanted. Did you think I’ll stay still after seeing you cry?”

One day,  rumors had spread at the academy when they were teenagers.

The rumor about Yernia and Cassian dating had spread quickly throughout the campus, and soon there was no one who hadn’t heard of it.

Female classmates who secretly had Cassian in their hearts often visited Yernia to talk to her.

“You don’t deserve him.” They kept telling her several times and it bothered Yernia a lot that she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

She felt ashamed after being compared to him for no reason and she hated the situation itself.

It was all a misunderstanding.

It was Cassian’s initiative to run towards her and give her a piggyback ride after she got hurt, play pranks, joke around and show her homework that she hadn’t shown to other children.

“Stop pretending that you know me from now on.”

“What?”

“I don’t want people to misunderstand that we were dating.”

Yernia believed that the rumors would calm down once she distanced himself from Cassian but the man still didn’t listen.

Instead, he asked someone else to be his girlfriend to prove that the rumors were false.

For a while, Cassian, his girlfriend, and Yernia had a hard time, but the rumors between the two childhood friends got buried.

“Then, did she like you?”

“I heard that I’m more popular than her and she liked that. Thanks to you, she got what she wanted and I got mine, so we’re all good.”

“I—I had no idea.”

“Trust me. You don’t even want to know.”

Cassian’s mischievous pranks always made him seem younger but now she perceived him to be more mature.

Despite having the same age, Cassian had created another rumor for Yernia, even though the rumor was likely to be shameful.

It was surprising and unbelievable because it was completely unexpected.

Why did you do that, Cassian?

She wanted to ask but her ears suddenly heard peals of laughter.

The soldiers’ voices and laughter came in between the slightly opened tents.

Were they having a snowball fight?

She came to her senses and decided not to ask Cassian anymore.

Yernia shook her head and stared at the tent’s entrance.

“Shall we go out, Cassian?”

Yernia just got a good excuse.

Cassian only stared at Yernia as if he didn’t want to go and play in the snow.

Yernia was about to say something a while ago as if she wanted to bring up some sort of topic.

However, that caught  Cassian‘s attention and she no longer wanted to address it.

“It’s snowing outside,  you know?”

“Yes, that’s why we have to go out. When had we done it together?”

“Won’t you be shivering from the cold?”

“I think you’re mistaken. I’m not a person who catches a cold just because I get hit by snow. I’m that weak, Cassian.”

“Think about your childhood. You were sick all the time.”

Indeed, that was what happened but she was really young at that time and she became healthy later on.

“When was it? A snowball had hit me in the eye a few times when I came here and it didn’t hurt.”

Snow was going to pile up now.

Usually, it was only sleet.

Above all, Yernia wanted to get out of this space where only the two of them remained.

“Do you want to build a snowman? When will we ever make it again?”

Cassian wrapped a cloth around each of Yernia’s hands.

He wrapped the back of her hands with white cloths slowly and meticulously so that she got impatient.

When the knot was finally tied, Yernia pulled out her hands from his grip and pretended to organize her hair.

“If we go out this way, no one will know. You know the forest we went to last time? Let’s go there. What do you think?” Yernia begged enthusiastically.

Cassian reluctantly opened his fur coat and agreed.

“Alright. But you must wear this.”

Yernia looked around by sticking her head out of the tent, grabbed Cassian’s hand, and ran out.

Both headed to the forest where they had taken a walk together last night.

Yernia and Cassian had escaped safely without being seen by anyone.

“Can you put me up like last time?”

It was too much to climb the rock alone, so Yernia sent Cassian up first before she reached out to him.

He bent his upper body and raised her as if she weighed nothing.

Yernia hugged Cassian’s shoulder in surprise.

How could he lift her up so easily?

“Don’t catch a cold, Yernia.”

“I won’t. Don’t let your guard down, too. What if you catch a cold?”

As Cassian put Yernia down next to him, she opened her coat quickly and handed it to him.

Yernia also buttoned up the jacket he gave her.

***