s n o w b l e s s i n g

CHAPTER 3

The next morning, Deric woke Euri up, "Good morning."

"…Good morning… Don't you have work today?" Euri sleepily replied.

Deric shrugged, "I left all the work to my secretary for a few days. I told them not to contact me unless there's an emergency."

Euri was dumbfounded by Deric's carefree attitude, "Is it alright to be this complacent?... I don't really want to trouble you."

"It's no trouble at all." Deric held out his hand to Euri, "Let's go eat breakfast."

Euri curiously looked around while walking towards the dining area, "I didn't notice this before but… Are there no other servants around?"

"Sebastian is the butler, assistant and chef. The cleaners are usually called when I am not around. I have been haunted by bad insomnia for years, so my mood keeps plummeting and I also don't feel good around so many people." Deric apathetically said.

Euri looked a little guilty as she bowed her head, "I'm sorry… that was insensitive of me."

Deric patted her head and smiled, "No problem… because honestly, I've slept well last night. It has been a while… I even dreamt."

Euri returned his smile, "Oh! That's good. What did you dream about?"

"Hawaii." Deric responded lightly.

Breakfast went smoothly until Deric had to answer a sudden phone call.

"Was it an emergency at your company?" Euri worriedly asked.

Deric shook his head, "No. It was the person I asked to locate Sophia and your family… He said he found Sophia... She got married and moved to London… Do you want to see her? How about a phone call?"

Euri lowered her head and played with her fingers, "She got married, huh. Well… She seemed happy. I don't want to burden her with my amnesia. I'll just contact her when I get my memory back."

Deric noticed this and held her hands, as if comforting her, "I guess that's better… so what do you want to do today? Do you want to go anywhere?"

Euri perked up, "I wanted to regain my memory as fast as possible… so I want to visit places that could trigger it."

"Alright." Deric said as he smiled gently.

Deric brought her to the beach, two cities away from his home. It was the middle of winter, so the wind was cold and no one was around.

Euri was all wrapped up. She was wondering why Deric brought her here, "This place is?"

Deric scratched his cheek shyly, "I don't really know a lot of places that were memorable to you, so I could only bring you to places that were memorable to us."

Euri tilted her head slightly in confusion, "to us…?"

Deric nodded and turned his head to look aimlessly at the ocean, "Yeah. This is where I made my promise to you…"

---------------FLASHBACK-------------------------
It was winter vacation before the start of the last year in high school. Euri was on her way to the convenience store in the middle of the night. She was wearing a white shirt and gray sweatpants, as it was only a quick trip. She didn't expect to run into Deric. Deric looked distraught. He was wearing a black hoodie and black jeans. He was also carrying a large backpack. Euri could not really ignore a classmate, especially when he looked like that. She then approached him.

Euri poked his arm, "Deric? Where are you going?"

Deric did not even looked at her, "Running away."

"Why? And to where?" Euri was so shocked, she grabbed his arm.

Deric tried to pry her hands away, "Anywhere. Its just that… I fought with my dad."

Euri only tightened her hold, "Your parents will surely worry... Why don't you guys talk it out first?"

Deric sighed and shook his head, "…I did… that's why we fought."

"Then... stay at our house." Euri started to pull Deric back. He, however, remained unmoved, "Sorry… I just don't want to involve your family…"

Euri then changed direction to pull Deric forward, "Then… I'll go with you! I'll run away with you."

Deric looked shocked as he allowed her to pull him. They took the train to get to the last stop. They were silently looking at the scenery. No one talked. 

When they arrived at the last stop, they did not expect to see the beach. It was winter and night-time, so Euri was shivering.

Deric took off his hoodie and gave it to her, "Here... and thank you." Deric was thankful that Euri did not berate him. She did not force him. She even ran away with him. This made him calm down and thought for a bit. He realized that he was wrong as well, "...let's go back..."

Euri received his hoodie without hesitation and wore it, "Are you sure? You were so serious about running away earlier."

Deric laughed at his own foolishness, "Hahaha yeah… but I guess I was wrong too… After we last spoke, I thought about my dream. I wanted to be an actor… dumb, I know… I told my parents about it and they were against it. They wanted me to inherit the company since I'm their only son."

Euri excitedly raised a thumbs up, "Being an actor is great. It suits you! and you'll be able to leave your mark in this world. You'll be immortalized together with your films… it'll be great!!"

Deric also excitedly nodded his head, "I know, right? It's great!... but my parents are against it."

Euri frowned, "Then... let's run away a little longer. Maybe they'll regret it and finally allow you."

Deric laughed so hard at her antics, he was clutching his stomach, "Hahaha…but your parents will be the ones worried instead. Why don't I try to talk to them again? I'll try hard to convince them this time."

"Fine. But if you get upset again and run away. You'll have to call me. I'll be your accomplice. Okay? Promise me!" Euri said as she held out her pinky finger.

"I promise." Their pinky fingers intertwined as the sun rose up to the sky.

When they returned, everyone was so frantic. Their parents and friends were there. There were also policemen and a brewing nationwide search. Their disappearance became so big that when classes opened again, rumors spread that they eloped. Everyone was teasing them and they even got to be elected as class representatives together. From there, they started to work together and stay back after class. They finally got closer in their last year of high school.
---------------FLASHBACK END----------------------------

Euri was a little embarrassed hearing stories about herself, "Oh! We were closer than I thought we were... and I seemed like a bad influence to you."

"Hahaha… I guess we were a little close. You were the biggest influence to me." Deric looked sincerely into Euri's eyes.

Euri, however, avoided his eyes, "So did you became an actor?"

Deric smiled solemnly as he also turned his head away, "I did... for two years... but my father got sick. My mother wanted him to retire and rest, so I had to take up the company. Being an actor was my dream... but my family is my life. So I made my choice… anyway, I already starred in a movie. I guess that's enough, right?"

Euri hummed in agreement, "As long as you're happy…" Then, Euri turned to him, "I want to see your movie!"