The cafeteria was located near the training grounds of the Training Center.
It wasn't grand, only a modest room with long wooden tables and sturdy benches, arranged in a practical manner to accommodate the trainees.
The walls, adorned with simple tapestries depicting scenes of valor and heroism, inspire and remind those present of the path they have chosen.
"Brother over here!"
Jin had just entered the cafeteria when he heard Tanya's voice.
He looked over and saw her sitting with Rowena and the others.
"No! Brother Jin, come here instead!"
However, before he could walk towards them, he heard another voice.
He looked over again and saw Marco and the others seated at the table next to them.
Tanya shouted in anger, "Shut up, Marco! Stop trying to take my brother away!"
"Why are you boys even sitting near us!?"
"Stop bothering our brother and piss off!"
…
Tanya's friends also chimed in from the side, unaware that their "support" only made her angrier.
If in the past, Marco and the boys would have chickened out as soon as Tanya lashed at them, it was different now.
They liked being friends with Jin.
Although their goals were different when they first "played" with him, they found themselves enjoying his company over time.
Marco didn't feel scared and instead, smirked at them, "Oh please! It isn't our fault that Brother Jin likes to be with us more!"
"Yeah! Stop forcing him to be with you!"
"He clearly likes being friends with boys more instead of girls!"
…
Jin speechlessly looked at the two groups quarreling.
'They've done this every single time we've had our lunch break, don't they get tired? And sister, why do you talk as if I'm a toy that you don't want to share with others?'
He wordlessly left and went to get food.
The cafeteria of the Training Center provides nutritious meals for every trainee.
This ensures that they would get the nutrients needed for a healthy growth.
After Jin got his tray of food, he looked for an empty table and sat at it.
He then began to eat his food.
However, he noticed someone sitting at the other end of the table.
He turned his head and saw someone he least expected to see.
It was the castellan's son, Anton.
Jin carefully observed him while eating.
'Come to think of it… I haven't really seen him be with someone…' He pondered silently.
Although they were trainees, they were still young.
Therefore, it was common to find them having their own friends to play with and whatnot.
However, as Jin thought about it, he really hadn't seen Anton be with his friends.
He was always alone, looking aloof and cold.
'Maybe he just likes being alone…?' He thought as he shook his head.
"Do you know that staring at people is impolite?" Anton spoke, clearly having felt Jin's gaze on him.
"Sorry, I was just wondering why you're always alone." Jin spoke curiously.
The innocence in his expression told Anton that he didn't mean to make fun of him.
Anton sighed and said, "I just like being alone. Besides, I have to train so I don't have time for mere relationships."
His words stirred up some emotions in Jin's heart, 'So he's just like me, huh?'
The determination to just focus on training, it was what Jin had done since he was only 5 years old.
However, his hard work had somewhat paid off.
This enabled him to enjoy the normal life he had been longing for since then.
Seeing someone who was very similar to his past self, Jin decided to try and become friends with him.
Unbeknownst to him, Anton only had one thought in his mind, 'Please keep talking to me.'
Ever since he was a child, others had compared him to his brother.
Anton had always heard others talk about how better his brother was compared to him.
In his heart, he felt inferior to his brother.
However, his parents had always been kind to him.
It was precisely because of this that he didn't know what to feel.
His shy personality prevented him from talking about it with his parents as he felt that doing so would be ungrateful of him.
'They are kind and loving. Even my brother is good to me. I'm the worst…' is what he thought.
This led to him developing an introverted personality as he grew up.
When he first attended the Training Center, Anton had been looking forward to making friends with children his age.
However, his shyness kept him from being able to initiate talking to other children.
That was why he liked it when others approached him first.
Unfortunately, to Anton's dismay, the other children rarely approached him.
It was as if they were afraid of him.
This made him feel helpless as he couldn't do anything about it.
And now, it had already been a month and he was still eating lunch alone!
That was why when he saw Jin sitting at the other side of the table he was eating at, he felt delighted.
"Hey Brother! Where have you been, I've been looking for you since earlier."
Jin looked up and saw his sister with her hands on her hips.
Marco also arrived and panted, "Damn, this cafeteria is needlessly large! Brother Jin, why didn't you come to eat with us!?"
Jin replied, "I just wanted to have lunch with my new friend."
""New friend?""
Tanya and Marco were confused.
Then, they noticed Anton who was eating on the other end of the table.
One must know that the cafeteria only had long tables to cater to the large number of trainees.
That was why the image of Jin and Anton eating at both ends of the table was silly.
However, Tanya and Marco didn't speak any further.
They only looked at each other before running away.
Jin didn't know what they were up to, not that he cared.
He just kept eating his meal while thinking of how to talk to his "new friend".
'I wonder what I should say…'
To be honest, Jin really didn't know how to initiate a conversation with other people.
His sister's friends were already good to him from the start.
While Marco and the others kind of just became friends with him at some point.
In the end, both Jin and Anton were stuck eating silently.
Not knowing what to talk about despite wanting to talk about something.
It was awkward.