Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

290 Why is this kid like this?

In the next few days, Kairen did as he was told. Eat, take medicine, rest. For four days, those were the only activities on his schedule. Oh, there were also the parts that he had to suffer from his injuries, which didn’t heal as fast as before for some reason, and also deal with his landlord and his friend.

Contrary to his expectations, these simple actions of doing totally nothing the whole day were actually really hard. He was more than bored. He had to lay around the whole day and stare at the walls, doing nothing while a lot of things were going on around him. He was going nuts. He wasn’t even allowed to play with his phone much. Who didn’t allow him? His mom!

Pat Pat Pat

Kairen’s hand moved repeatedly, patting and stroking Ariyan’s hair nonstop.

That was the only thing he could do while laying down on the bed the whole time. Ariyan seemed to like Kairen stroking his hair a lot, and Kairen also enjoyed it.

‘Free therapy.’

It made him feel so good.

No wait, he shouldn’t be feeling good right now!

Kairen stopped patting Ariyan. Turning his head to the kid who was also sprawled on the bed while hugging Kairen’s arm, Kairen took a deep breath and started to talk in the most serious tone he had.

.....

“Ariyan?”

“Uh?”

Ariyan raised his head to look at Kairen.

“This is the last day you are skipping classes!”

“...”

The kid blinked a few times before lowering his head and pouting his lips.

“No!”

He then shook his head and grabbed Kairen’s shirt.

“I wanna stay with uncle!”

“Nope. That’s not allowed.”

Kairen moved up his body in an attempt to look more serious. He also looked away from Ariyan’s face and frowned.

‘Gah, that was close!’

Kairen did his best not to peek at the kid’s adorable face.

“Mrs. Neal told me that you have been skipping classes since I left? It has been nearly two weeks! Your friends are going to learn lots of things while you laze around in the house!”

According to Mrs. Neal, the kid only went to the kindergarten for one day and then stopped attending classes properly. He either didn’t go or went and cried the whole day so the teachers sent him back home.

‘Why is he doing this?’

Kairen had been absent for 11 days, so it was natural that the kid would miss him, but it was strange how he started acting like this on the first day of Kairen not returning home. There had been a lot of times when Kairen didn’t return home for one night, or maybe two. The kid must’ve been used to it already, but he seemed to have not.

‘Why is he like this anyway?’

The kid had been laying on Kairen’s bed for the last 4 days and accompanied his uncle in doing nothing. Was that natural? Was that okay? Should kids be like this? Shouldn’t they go play outside, break some windows, burn the house, or anything else? Shouldn’t they request to be taken to the park or something? They had to at least play with their toys, crush some toy cars, and break some robots. They had to at least draw, watch cartoons, or play games!

This wasn’t natural! This kid looks like a small piece of melted cheese than a 5-year-old.

Also, there was another strange thing.

This kid was... too clingy!

Kairen thought that it was natural as the kid liked him a lot. He had been like this since the beginning and he is still the same as before, maybe a little bit more clingy since the day his parents disappeared.

But now, that didn’t feel natural at all!

Why would a kid like him so much since the first day it was born? For any kind of attachment to be created, even one between the baby and its parents, there should be some kind of interaction between them.

A baby’s parents are the ones who pay him attention, answer his calls, provide him with his basic needs to live, are always available when he needs help, and give him love and support. That’s what creates a strong bond between the kid and his parents. That’s what makes the kid trust his parents and feel safe around them, and in the world.

Ariyan’s parents were more than caring. They weren’t the perfect parents, but Kairen knew that they did their best in raising this kid for five years. They were attentive and caring enough as parents for the kid to attach to them and trust them.

But what about Kairen? He barely even met this kid. He was a student at the academy and lived in the dorms with barely time to visit Kain and his family. And even in the times that he was home, like in the new year holidays or between two semesters, he never spent much time with the kid.

It wasn’t like he ignored him or something, he just didn’t know how to deal with kids and what to do with them, so he just did his best not to get too close to him.

But Ariyan, even as a baby, always stuck to him whenever he was around. He would crawl out of his bed and come to find Kairen in his room and stick to him. He would run away from his parents to glue himself to Kairen. He would sneak out of his room to come to sleep with Kairen. And he oddly felt satisfied and happy when he was around Kairen, so his parents let him be.

But that wasn’t natural! Not natural at all!

“Starting tomorrow, you will have to attend all of your classes! I won’t let you miss even one class, do you get it?”

“...But I want to be with uncle...”

“Nope! You can play with me after coming back from your kindergarten!”

“...Uncle...”

Kairen ignored the near-to-break-into-tears eyes of the kid.

-Why do you like to cling to me so much?

He had asked that question from Ariyan long ago.

-Un... I like hugging uncle!

-Why?

-Umm... uncle is nice and kind... I like uncle a lot! And he is warm. He feels nice. It’s nice to hug...

-Feels nice?

-Un! Umm... It’s nice... Like when mama hugs me when I pretend to be asleep and covers me with a blanket... Um... And when papa places me on his shoulders when we go out. And when... umm... It feels nice like when papa said he would always be there if anything were to happen to me and protect me. Also, like when mama said she would cook me anything I wanted every day. Also, like that one time when papa placed his coat on my head when it suddenly started raining in the street so that I wouldn’t get wet. And when mama places me on her lap and combs my hair every day.

-...

-But it’s much, muuuuchhh, a loooott stronger with uncle! This much more! Hehe!

“Hmm...”

Kairen had wondered about the meaning of those words before. He didn’t really understand what the kid meant.

‘He gets restless when I’m not around...’

That’s what he assumed after learning about the things that had happened in his absence.

“Hmmmmmm....”

Kairen didn’t notice how the kid looked at him each time he hummed to himself. He also didn’t notice how he crawled closer to Kairen to put his head on his uncle’s lap.

‘The thread of fate... the kid’s strange behavior... the dark gray eyes... dark gray light that appeared when he came here... the cracks... Atypical matter... Gaaahh!’

Kairen punched his pillow in annoyance.

‘I can’t find the connection!’

He was sure. There must be a connection between all these. There was something here that he didn’t know. He was so close to finding his answers yet he couldn’t connect things to each other.

He needed to know more.

‘I have to talk to him.’

There was one person who probably knew a lot, and he was no one but Kairen’s brother... who was currently being held by SMF.

“I have to go pay them a visit tomorrow.”

It has been 4 days since he came back. He wanted to go to talk to the team leader and also the commander about his brother and the other things they had found out, but he didn’t manage to do so as he had to deal with an intense fever and various episodes of pain and coughing up blood.

His mom didn’t let him take a foot out of the house.

“Is uncle going again?”

Kairen turned down to look at Ariyan’s teary face after hearing his sad, low voice.

“Don’t go, uncle!”

“I’m not going anywhere far!”

Pat

Kairen placed his hand on Ariyan’s head and started to stroke his head again.

“And I will come back home soon this time.”

“Hmph!”

The kid let out a displeased voice before burying his face in Kairen’s legs and closing his eyes. And soon enough, he was in a deep sleep while still hugging his uncle.

.....

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