It all started at that time and before they knew it, they already fell in love with each other.

There were times that Alex would get jealous as Nile’s attention would now be fully offered to Jellan, however Nile would always assure him that he won’t be leaving. 

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After that, during their fourth year of high school, the three became even closer. Jellan also no longer hangs out with her fake friends as she felt genuinely happy with just being on Nile’s side. 

Alex had also lowered the frequency of his absences and cutting of classes. However, he still has that habit of visiting the bars to have some fun. 

They were genuinely happy at that time, not until her father, the mayor, knew of their relationship. She did not know what exactly happened but weeks after her father knew of their relationship, Nile suddenly went missing. 

And at that time, Alex keeps on blaming her for Nile’s disappearance. She also thought that her father might have something to do with it, as she was also confronted by her father at that time. 

She was asked if she truly loved him. After Nile’s disappearance, Jellan returned to her former self and no longer talked to anyone else, apart from her aunt, Dotina.

Even at school, her performance dropped to rock bottom due to Nile’s disappearance. 

Jellan finishes her recollection and this time, there was now a glint of determination on her eyes. She promised to herself that she would never leave Nile’s side again, and she also won’t let him leave her so suddenly this time. 

She doesn’t want to repeat what happened before. 

Although the matter about his disappearance was still unclear, she already has some information about it based on the events that Nile was able to recall. Her father was really involved in it and she just did not know to what extent he was involved. 

However, even if her father was truly the one who caused Nile’s disappearance years ago, she no longer has any intention to blame him. 

In her heart, her father already died months ago when he transformed into a zombie. She already accepted the truth long ago and that’s also the reason why she was able to stay calm after her zombified father got killed by Nile. 

She stared at Nile and she didn’t have anything to do, so she decided to squat beside Nile while closing her eyes to sense her surroundings and see if some zombies managed to slip in. 

While doing so, she also took a zombie gel and started absorbing it in meditation. 

She was fully absorbed with her meditation that she didn’t even notice that a hybrid was already making his way towards the abandoned house. 

The window creaked open as the hybrid jumped over to enter the house with great familiarity. 

He was holding a plastic bag filled to the brim with unknown contents. He was also a little thin, but not as thin as Nile’s body when he just transmigrated over. 

He held the plastic bag tightly as if his life depended on it. He then walked forward to go towards his real intention of being here.

Sometime later, he stepped inside the living room and his movements instantly stopped after seeing the meditating Jellan, and Nile that was lying beside her.

The hybrid gulped a mouthful of saliva in nervousness as he retreated carefully with slow steps.

But despite doing so, his foot still accidentally stumbled upon the table’s foot. 

And due to how old it was, it immediately crumpled into pieces which caused a loud sound to echo in the living room.

The hybrid stopped in his tracks, beads of sweat were already running down his cheeks as he felt his heart trying to get out of his throat due to the nervousness. 

He then slowly turned his head and saw if he somehow alerted the two, and it was at that exact moment that Jellan also opened her eyes.

Their gaze landed on each other’s eyes as both of them stared at each other along with a moment of silence.

The hybrid broke into a cold sweat as he immediately decided to turn around and run. Despite being nervous, he did not let go of the plastic bag and even hugged it more tightly to secure it from falling. 

Jellan immediately stored the zombie gel inside her pocket as she picked the two swords before pursuing the hybrid who snuck in. 

Swoosh! 

She threw one of the swords forward, successfully stopping the hybrid from jumping over the window to escape. 

The hybrid was forced to halt his plan as he immediately turned towards another area to run again and escape. 

However, Jellan then pulled the sword she just threw earlier before pursuing the hybrid tightly.

Swoosh!

She threw yet another sword to intercept the hybrid again. She was having trouble closing in on him as it seems that he was extremely familiar with this house. 

The hybrid instantly stopped in his tracks as he dodged the incoming sword yet again. However, he did not realize that at the next moment, Jellan’s second sword was already in front of his chest.

And in instinct, the hybrid raised his hand along with the plastic bag to try and defend the incoming sword. But the sword was unstoppable as it pierced through the plastic bag smoothly before stabbing into the hybrid’s shoulder. 

“Noo!”

The hybrid screamed in agony not because of the fact that he was just stabbed. It was because the content of the plastic bag he was trying to protect with all his life was now suddenly spilled to the ground. 

And its content was surprisingly not human remains, but instead, normal foods that could be seen before the apocalypse, such as a can of sardines, biscuits, moldy bread, snacks, and many other kinds of foods.

Jellan was also surprised by the plastic bag’s content but she did not stop her advance even for a second.

The moment she arrived near the screaming hybrid, she immediately pinned him down to the ground before pulling the sword on his shoulder. 

Just as she was about to behead him, the face of a certain someone suddenly emerges on her mind. 

She then compared that person’s appearance to the hybrid in front of her and upon noticing the similarities, she could not help but doubtfully ask,

“Istan?”