“You are too late. I was getting worried.”

Kain glared at him while standing at the door.

“Sorry.”

It took him quite a long time to walk all the way from the dorm to Kain’s house. It was already night when he arrived. He didn’t think it would take this long for him to arrive here.

“Hello dear.”

Alessia walked out from behind Kain and greeted him with a smile.

“Ah, hi.”

Kain moved aside and helped Kairen move his luggage in then closed the door.

Once he entered the house, he heard an excited cry.

“UNCLE!”

Tap Tap Tap Tap

He heard some footsteps before a small body jumped out from behind the wall and hugged his legs.

Kairen patted Ariyan’s head with a smile.

“Hello.”

“Hehe.”

The little kid giggled happily at his pat and hugged him tougher. He then turned his head and peeked at Alessia.

“Mama, my birthday!”

He pointed at Kairen with his tiny finger.

“Uncle is here. Now my birthday!”

Kairen closed his eyes and sighed.

‘You really waited a whole week for me to come here?’

That day in the hospital, a small angry individual was so furious about his birthday that he threw tantrums as soon as he saw Kain. He shouted and cried while pulling his dad’s clothes with anger. It was when Kain grabbed Kairen’s arm and used him as a shield.

-You know Ariyan, uncle Kain also wanted to be with you on your birthday. That’s why you have to wait a few more days. He said he will come to stay with us.

That is what he said while forcefully pulling Kairen and smiling.

Those words were surprisingly effective. Aryian stopped yelling and looked up at Kairen with his eyes wide open.

-Uncle wants to be on my birthday? Really?

-Yes. Also, he will live in our house for a while.

Alessia’s eyes widened at those words. She looked at Kairen with surprise. Kairen was too ashamed to look straight into her eyes, he averted his gaze while scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

That was the end. Ariyan released Kain’s clothes and wiped his tears. He looked between Kairen, Kain, and Alessia blankly.

-Then, when uncle comes, I will have my birthday?

-Yes.

-With a BIIIGG cake?

-Yes.

-I want one that is THIS big!

-Okay.

-Promise?

-It’s a promise.

Alessia bent down to match the kid’s height. She pulled his cheek with a smile.

“It is late now and uncle is also tired. How about we celebrate it tomorrow, hmm?”

The kid was visibly disappointed. He looked up at Kairen, then nodded his head with a pout.

“Ok.”

Kairen suddenly felt guilty for arriving here so late.

‘Don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault.’

He avoided the kid’s gaze and ran to the room as fast as possible.

He moved quickly and placed his luggage in the room that he used the first time he came here. This would be his room from now on.

He looked closely at the room. It was a small room, with a small bed, a closet, and a tiny nightstand desk. The room was mostly empty. There were just some books in the book sleeve and a few clothes in the closet. Kain had said before that Kairen would use this room whenever he came to stay there.

‘Did they really leave a room empty just for him?’

That seemed to be the case.

He looked down at his luggage.

‘Let’s organize the room later.’

He was too tired to unpack his stuff right now. He put the backpack and baggage in the room and lied down on the bed.

“Have you eaten dinner yet?”

Kairen turned to Alessia who was standing by the door of the room.

“I’m not hungry.”

“There is food in the refrigerator. Eat anything you want if you get hungry.”

“Thank you so much.”

She then turned off the lights of the room and grabbed the handle of the door.

“Then, have a good night.”

“Good night.”

Alessia smiled, stepped out of the room, and closed the door.

Now in a dark and empty room, Kairen stared at the ceiling. He really didn’t feel comfortable living in other people’s houses. It’s not that Kain or his family treated him badly, it was the opposite… They were too kind that it felt weird to be around them. Kairen wasn’t used to this much attention and care.

‘Why didn’t such people exist in my own life?’

No matter how much time passed, he still felt jealous of the previous Kairen. He really wanted to know what kind of a person this Kairen was to have such people around him.

‘Let’s stop the useless thoughts.’

He brushed off those thoughts and closed his eyes. He had a long and tiring day, he had no more energy left for thinking now.

Kairen woke up because of some noises early in the morning. He could hear Kain and Alessia’s conversation from outside of the room.

“Do you really have to go now? Can’t you reject it?”

“I can’t. I rejected my last mission because it took you too long to come back. They won’t let me skip this one.”

“What about Ariyan.”

“…T-that… do something yourself.”

“Argh!”

“Mmn.”

The kid that was sleeping while hugging Kairen’s arm graned and moved a little bit. He must have sneaked into his room at night like last time. Kairen covered him with the blanked and blocked his ears with it so that he wouldn’t wake up because of the noise.

‘Let’s pretend to be asleep.’

You shouldn’t secretly listen to a couple’s conversation! Kairen closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again.

But he opened his eyes wide as he heard his own name from the other side.

“I’m sure Ariyan won’t be that sad now that Kairen is here as well. I’ll also try to come back soon, so…”

“It’s okay, don’t worry and take care.”

After Kain’s sentence finished, the sound of a door opening was heard.

“You too, take care.”

Clack.

The door closed and the conversation stopped.

‘Did Alessia go to a mission?’

It was what he could conclude from the conversation that he heard.

Kairen didn’t feel sleepy anymore. He moved his body and slowly separated the kid from his arm. He got out of the bed and quietly exited the room. He tried to sneak into the bathroom as quietly as possible but he stopped as he made eye contact with Kain.

“Sorry, we woke you up.”

“Ah, no.”

Kairen waved his hands in the air to show him that it was alright. Kain was standing in front of the door. He looked at the closed door of Kairen’s room.

“Is Ariyan in there?”

“Yes.”

He then turned and looked at the outside door.

“I guess I should prepare breakfast.”

Kain moved towards the kitchen.

‘How are you going to prepare breakfast with a broken arm?’

Kairen followed him from behind.

“I will help you.”

Kain nodded his head and didn’t say anything more. They both went into the kitchen.

Kairen scratched his cheek and asked hesitantly.

“Um… Did Alessia go somewhere?”

“Ah, yes. They called her in the morning. She had to accept the mission.”

“I see.”

Kairen took out some eggs from the refrigerator and placed them on the table. He had zero talent in cooking, even frying an egg was a hard challenge for him. So he decided to leave the cooking to Kain and do the other stuff.

Preparing the breakfast didn’t take long. They soon set the table and placed everything on it. Kairen woke Ariyan up and brought the sleepy kid to eat breakfast.

BANG

“But this was my only birthday! MY ONE AND ONLY BIRTHDAY!”

Ariyan punched the table with his small fists and started yelling. His teary eyes were angrily glaring at his father.

“I’m sorry.”

Kain moved to hug the kid.

“She will come back soon. So if you just-”

“I DON’T WANT TO!”

Ariyan jumped down from his chair and ran towards his room while stamping his feet as hard as he could.

DANG

He kicked the door shut and then shouted again from inside the room.

“ALL OF YOU ARE LIARS. I WISH YOU WERE ALL JOBLESS! YOU ARE ALL BAD. DON’T TALK TO ME AGAIINNNNN.”

“Pfft. Haha- Ahem!”

Kairen pushed a piece of bread into his mouth to stop his laughter. Kain sighed and sent a glare towards Kairen.

“Laugh, yeah. I will also laugh at you when you are dealing with your kid a few years later.”

“What? Was that a curse?”

“Think as you want.”

“….”

‘Come to think of it, isn’t Kain too young to have a 5-year-old kid? When did he get married to have a son that old?’

He must have gotten married when he was younger than Kairen. How could he buy a house at such a young age?

Kairen picked up another piece of bread and buttered it.

“Aren’t you going to talk to him?”

He pointed at Ariyan’s door with his eyes and put some jam on the bread.

“No. Not now.”

“Ok.”

Kairen bite the bread and nodded his head. He glanced between Kain and the closed door of Ariyan’s room with regret. He wanted to ask more about his past from Kain, but the situation wasn’t suitable for such conversations now.

‘I guess I should talk to him later.’

Kairen finished his breakfast and stood up. He picked up the plates one by one and cleaned up the table.

‘I shall first organize my room.’