Janet, who was standing aside and looking at Bill, tittered and replied to him, "Sure I've missed you."
"Oh. Jane, I love you so much! Eh? Jane, when have you become so stiff?" asked Bill. He felt puzzled, and when he looked up he saw Brian's cold, stiff face, which almost made him throw away the bunch of roses he held in his arms.
He also heard people around him slightly laughing and mocking him.
He then felt embarrassed, and loosened Brian instantly, asking, "Brian, why are you hugging me?"
"It was you who rushed over to hug me in the first place!" replied Brian. He also gave Bill a look.
With his swarthy face a little twisted from the amount of training he was going through, Bill snorted and then gave the roses in his arms to Janet, who was standing next to him, as if he presented to her the dearest of treasures. "Jane, look. These are the pink roses I managed to order from abroad. Do they exceed your expectations? Are you surprised? Do you like them?" asked Bill.
Janet, who was now looking at the pink bouquet, released Brian's arm and took the roses.
"Hum, yes, I like them," replied Janet. Maybe Bill was the only one in the whole world who knew that she loved pink roses. He was also the only one who had given her pink roses since her return home to C Country.
She was enjoying smelling the fresh scent of the rare, pink roses. She, indeed, loved their faint smell.
Standing opposite her, Bill was still talking about the roses, "... There are nine roses in total in the bouquet. They are sending out the faint scent now. I know you will..."
And then, Janet suddenly gave Bill a big hug, which surprised everyone around them.
With a cool expression glaring in his eyes, Brian stared at the pink roses in Janet's arms, seeming to know something.
What was really going on? Was Janet Brian's girlfriend? Why did she hug Bill just now? Or did they think of it too much? Was it really just a hug?
Bill was flabbergasted, and tried hard to utter the last two words of his phrase, "Like it."
'Who is hugging me? Is it Jane? Yes, that's true. My lovely Jane is really hugging me!" thought Bill.
But just when Bill was ecstatic and was about to hug her back, Janet left her embrace, and said, "Bill, you really are a good friend!"
On hearing her words, everyone felt relieved, while Bill, who was in ecstasy just a moment ago, began to be more and more morose.
"Come on, I have so much to tell you. Please, follow me," said Bill. And after he finished these words, he dragged Janet towards the back gate, but was soon stopped by Brian.
"Don't go anywhere yet. Grandfather's birthday ceremony is about to start."
OK! This time, Bill pulled her in the front of the dessert table which was nearby, and Brian followed them.
The three of them got together and started chatting with each other. But, however, Brian in fact didn't utter a single word, his face growing grim by the moment.
And this was just because Bill was the only one speaking during the whole conversation; he kept on saying on and on about how much he had missed Janet.
Also, he completely ignored Brian, and repeatedly talked about his longing pain for Janet.
"Jane, I'm behaving well in the military camp. Are you still willing to wait for me?" asked Bill.
Brian picked up a glass of red wine near him from the table and clinked it with the one in Bill's hand, saying, "Wait for you? For eight years or maybe ten years or more? I'm afraid that Jane will be long be married when you finally become a military officer," finished Brian.
When he opened his mouth to say something, Bill then thought that Brian's words actually made some sort of sense.
"If not, Jane, I can leave the military camp. Will you marry me then?" asked Bill.
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