Chapter 3: Unexpected Gift

Vesa Araya had almost no friends on campus. That's because most of his classmates were people who were quite respected and at least had a higher social class than him. 

Vesa's friend was from another faculty and of course not invited to Derrick's birthday party. Vesa was used to being ignored by his friends so he just walked alone and took a glass of what he thought was a lychee-flavoured drink. 

The owner of the event didn't serve alcohol because at the party, not only friends from college but also several children who were most likely relatives of the Whites attended. 

Vesa took a sip of the lychee-flavoured drink and was stunned when his tongue loved the drink so much. He just drank it down until he heard someone spit, "You've never had a drink like this, have you?" 

It was Alea's voice, the girl who apparently still didn't want to let go. The girl's gaze looked down on him but Vesa didn't do anything and instead remained silent. 

Alea, who didn't like being ignored, immediately said again when she saw the gift that Vesa had brought, "Hey, you brought a present for Derrick." 

Vesa didn't really want to respond to Alea's words but he could be that brave so he replied, "Of course. I went to a birthday party. I couldn't come without a present, right?" 

Alea sneered, "Oh, fine. Why don't you give it to Derrick now?" 

Vesa was silent. Seeing the disdainful look that Alea gave, it seemed that the girl was deliberately trying to insult him. 

"Derrick, Derrick." Alea Green called her friend and the man who was talking to his friends immediately turned to the girl and then came over to her. 

"Why, Alea?" Derrick asked while looking at Alea in confusion. 

"Derrick, when are you going to open our gifts? Our dear friend has brought you a present too." Alea spoke in a slightly louder voice because it seemed that she deliberately wanted her friends to hear her talking to Vesa and Derrick. 

"Vesa, you don't want to hand over that gift you brought to Derrick?" Alea turned to look at Vesa. 

Vesa sighed and then he handed his gift to Derrick who looked confused but accepted it anyway. 

Vesa said, "Happy birthday. I'm so aorry if you didn't like the gift." 

Derrick actually didn't expect anything from his classmate because he knew Vesa was really poor. He knew very well that Vesa would not give him the gift he wanted. 

"Thank you," Derrick replied awkwardly. 

"Derrick, you're going to open our gifts now, right? I want to know what Vesa has for you," Alea said and didn't forget to grin at Vesa who was still showing a calm face. 

"Oh, that's right. You just said you'd open the present right away," Sebastian added. 

Derrick's parents who were also there then approached the son, "Derrick, if you want to open it now, that's okay." 

Derrick, who got the approval of his parents then went up on stage and opened the gifts from his friends. 

Derrick smiled as he opened the first gift that came from Sebastian, Derrick's best friend. 

"Thank you, Sebastian. This is an amazing jacket," Derrick said. 

Everyone clapped their hands. 

"Wow, that's the newest jacket from MnM. It costs around five hundred pounds," one of Derrick's classmates said. 

"MnM" was a very well-known fashion brand and only had one store in England. They all knew that MnM's goods were always made in limited quantities and of good quality. So it would not be surprised if many people felt proud when they got it. 

Sebastian smiled proudly because he could give such an expensive gift to his best friend. Derrick's parents even smiled happily at Sebastian, feeling lucky that Derrick had such a good friend that he gave his son such an expensive thing. 

"Okay, then I'll open the gift from Alea," Derrick said excitedly. 

He immediately recognized the gift wrapped in dark brown paper. There's a big "G" logo in the middle. It was the emblem of the Green family. The family used the logo on various occasions and everything that belonged to the family had the letter G. 

Derrick tore the wrapping paper and immediately smiled when he saw a small sling bag with the brand "CherNos", a brand that was quite well known in England. 

"Wow, Alea. Thank you very much. This is really amazing," Derrick said with a smile. 

Alea smiled at her friend. 

Next, Derrick continued his gift opening ceremony and Vesa, who was still enjoying the lychee-flavoured drink in his third glass, was even more surprised. All his friends seemed to be competing to give gifts to Derrick. 

"And this is the last one, a gift from Vesa." 

Derrick didn't smile and wasn't curious. He was even a little lazy to open it. But to keep his good name, he then tried to give a fake smile.

"Well, we'll see what gift Vesa gives Derrick," Alea said, who again deliberately provoked everyone to focus their attention on Derrick as well as glanced at Vesa. 

Derrick who had torn the wrapping paper was surprised when he opened the small box behind it. He took it out of the box. Derrick was stunned. 

For a moment he was speechless but he stammered, "This is ...." 

Alea smirked while glancing at Vesa who was still as calm as ever. 

Derrick's father who saw his son was silent approached him, "What's the matter?" 

Derrick held and examined what turned out to be a watch. 

"Th-this ...." Derrick turned and looked at Vesa, "Where did you get this, Vesa?" 

Everyone turned to look at the young man. A triumphant smile appeared on Alea Green's lips, she deliberately wanted to embarrass Vesa Araya for speaking harshly to her earlier.