Sitting in a cozy room, the three of them chatted, joyfully with glasses filled with wine in their hands.
"For a better tomorrow!"Leo cheered as he raised his drink.
"For a better tomorrow!"Liam and Fiona followed as all of them clinked their glasses together.
Liam then withdrew his glass while laughing, he was happy, he never could have imagined himself experiencing something so joyful in his life before, especially with the friends he has now. Thinking about this, he remembered the past he experienced, which made him feel guilty for ruining such a happy moment with negative memories.
"Liam, are you not going to try your first alcohol?"Leo asked him, causing him to snap out of his past memory.
"Ah...right..."Liam replied as he looked at his glass. He then twirled it for a bit before leaning in, to take a whiff."What-What is this smell?!"
It smells so weird!
He withdrew his head immediately, away from his drink.
"Haha, first time smelling the scent of alcohol?"Leo laughed then continued."I didn't know it was that new to you! Even the scent!"
Leo continued to laugh out loud while Fiona used her hand to cover her own mouth as if trying to hide her laughter but Liam could still hear her soft chuckle.
"Ya, ya, laugh all you want..."Liam said, kind of annoyed yet, used to them teasing and laughing at him.
"Come on, don't take it too seriously," Leo said without laughing anymore.
"Ya! And not to be rude or anything, but is it even possible for your age to not even experience the scent of wine? Your father must have drunk it before, right?"Fiona said, curious about his life.
Mentioning his father, Liam grew silent.
"Ya, I never heard you talk about your father before," Leo added after realizing this fact.
"I don't remember my dad. You see, he died from the curse when I was 3."
"Oh..."Leo replied his eyes widened with shock but soon switched to sadness."I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let you remember your past."
"It's alright, I don't mind."
"What curse are you guys talking about?"Fiona joined in, confused by what their 'curse' meant.
"Well..."Leo said, uncertain if he should tell her or not since it would only bring sadness and it's not his own past, it is not something he should share with just anyone without the owner's permission.
He turned to peek at Liam to see his response. Liam was hesitant but soon he nodded, slowly.
"Liam is here with me on this journey because... "Leo began telling her about Liam's past.
After they were done, Fiona's eyes widened in shock yet, you could still see her eyes were a little watery.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, you have to experience such a past..."Fiona said, her voice sounded shaky like she was about to cry.
"No, it's fine. It's already in the past..."Liam replied but even so, Fiona still had that pitiful expression on her face.
Leo, who is sitting in the middle of the depressed scenario going on(even though it was supposed to be a happy moment)decided it was time to draw their emotions back in place.
"Come on! Stop with the past and focus on our present life now! The past is the past! Let's look forward to our bright future!"Leo said, hoping to get their spirits back together.
Hearing him say that, both of them turned to look at him. They were replying to him in silence at first but after a second, Liam spoke out.
"Ya, what past is the past..."Liam wasn't at all fine but he didn't want his terrible and depressing past to ruin their joyful moment.
Fiona switched her gaze to Liam, hearing him say that, Fiona as well changed her expression.
"Ya, let's focus on what's happening now!"Fiona wasn't upset anymore and instead seemed happy as if everything that happened just now didn't exist."Anyway, Liam, are you not going to have a taste?"
"I don't want to...the smell is a little funky..."Liam said as he looked at his cup in disgust.
"Come on, it's only the scent! Try it! You'll never know you like it if you don't try! Maybe you will like how it tastes."Fiona urged him to give it a go.
Liam felt like he was being forced into doing something he didn't want to do and immediately turned to Leo to seek assistance. He stared at Leo, his eyes screaming'Help me!'Leo noticed his pleading eyes but instead of rescuing him, he supported Fiona.
"Well, it's true...If you don't try it, you won't know if you like it. Maybe you dislike its smell but not the taste?"Leo said as he twirled his wine before drinking it all in one gulp, which amazed Liam.
Seeing Leo drinking it all in like nothing, Liam leaned into his drink but this time doing it without breathing. Then he opened his lip a little, allowing a few drops of alcohol into his mouth.
"Yuck! Why is it so bitter?!"Liam yelled as he hastily placed his drink on the table.
Leo and Fiona laughed, uncontrollably after seeing his reaction.
"How do you guys even drink this?!"Liam added as he let his tongue out of his mouth."Stop laughing and give me water to wash the taste away!"
"Ya, ya. Don't be so feisty~"Leo continued to laugh as he reached for his bag.
He took out a water pouch and handed it to Liam. Liam snatched it, opened the lid and immediately devoured it.
"Slow down, later you choke!"Fiona stopped laughing after seeing him gulping up the water abnormally quick and immediately started worrying that he might choke.
"Ah, "Liam sighed after drinking a large amount of water."The scent it's still there but at least it's dull now...And why does my stomach feel hot after drinking it?
"It's normal, it's a part of the drink!"Fiona replied as she swung her hand onto his shoulder as if she was saying 'You're fine, stop being so dramatic! You won't die!'At least that's what Liam thought...
Liam went silent for a second after she did that, then, he noticed Leo staring at his drink before pouring all of Liam's abandoned wine into his own glass.
"Are you going to drink all that?!"Liam asked, shocked by Leo's action.
"Ya, who else is going to drink that? I bet you had enough, right, Fiona?"Leo turned to Fiona.
"Ya, how do you know?"Fiona answered, amazed by his guess.
"Well, you haven't been touching yours for a while now."Leo pointed to her glass that was placed on the table.
"Wow, nice observation!"Fiona gave him a thumbs-up.
"Thanks!"
"Anyway, now back to me. How do you guess drink that?!"Liam dragged the conversation back to him.
"You sure ask that a lot..."Fiona mumbled without letting anyone hear her but Liam saw her mouth movement.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing!"
"Well...you will get used to the scent as time goes by," Leo replied when he saw Fiona not answering Liam.
"What does that even mean? How will I even drink it again if I don't even like the taste? How do you guys even like it at first?"
"Well, we don't! We take time to adapt to it...you will understand in the future."Fiona helped Leo answer since Leo was drinking.
"You are all treating me as if I'm a child!"Liam yelled, offended by the fact that Fiona said 'You will understand in the future' like an adult talking to a kid.
"Who told you not to know how to drink booze?!"Fiona said, teasing him. (Isn't that supposed to be Leo's job?)
"You-"
"Done!"Leo shouted after finishing everyone's glass.
Liam was amazed by how he managed to drink all three glasses on his own but what Leo did next made him stunned in astonishment.
"Where should we throw this?"Leo asked both of them as he held the empty wine bottle in hand.
"You- you drink all of it?! On your own?!"
"Yup, why's so flabbergasted? Do you think one bottle can make me drunk? Well, if so you better think again!"Leo confidently replied as he smiled at Liam then he flexed to him about his alcohol tolerance. "I joined drinking competitions too and joining those...you know you need to learn how to devour a ton of them in one go."
Liam stared at him, shocked as he thought.
How?! He doesn't even seem like someone who drinks! And he even joined drinking competitions like that?! Wait...there are competitions for drinking these?!
While he was in his thoughts, Fiona was talking to Leo again.
"You can put the bottle outside, there will be someone picking it up."
"Oh, thanks for the info!"Leo walked to the door and pushed it open.
He then extended his hand to place it on the wooden floor.
"Done!"Leo shut the door behind him as he walked to them."Anyway, let's head to bed! We need to get all the sleep we need to prepare for the game tomorrow!"