The two walked through the streets, talking about different topics. The cold breeze of the night coupled with the serene atmosphere of the entire base made it a rather pleasant ti.
Talon had a craving for such walks. He used to go out late for a long walk when he was stressed or tired. It helped him clear his mind and think better, almost like a therapeutic session.
Eventually, they ended up at the main gates where a small building rose from the ground. It was the guards' building which was used for the 24/7 shifts they had going on.
"Why is she here?" Sophie asked.
"She told that she needed to talk to the guards. They have to be more alert for the next few days due to the increase in the number of monsters around here. We might get attacked at so point." Talon explained as he approached Hyun-Jae.
"Do you understand? Make sure you stay awake and alert or anyone else the mont you notice anything abnormal."
"Yes, Miss!" They saluted her before they turned around and left.
Sighing, Hyun-Jae turned around to walk away, only to realize that Talon and Sophie were waiting for her.
"Hey, are you done with them?" Talon asked her casually.
"Yes, they should be able to handle the situation. I'm not worried." She replied. "What about you?"
"I have finished most of the paperwork and the other things. I'm going to leave tomorrow morning."
"Mm, be careful out there."
"Always will."
As the two talked to each other, Sophie was standing on the sideline with a panicked look on her face.
'This vibe… Why do they sound like an old married couple?! I hate it!!' She scread inwardly as she tried to hide her internal struggle.
She had noticed how these two seed way different than before. The vibe around them was far too mushy and familiar to be ignored. Just like a married couple that spent years together and grew old together.
"Ehem, so, should we go now?" Grabbing Talon's hand, she nudged him.
"Oh, right. My dad wants us to have dinner together, are you fine with that?" He asked Hyun-Jae.
"Of course but… Is he sure he wants there?" Hyun-Jae raised an eyebrow. As far as she's concerned, she was an outsider in Lucas' eyes so his invitation was unexpected.
"Yeah, he actually insisted you co too since he wanted to thank you for your help a few days ago."
'Insisted?! Uncle Lucas?! Oh no.' Sophie scread in her head.
"Hmm, if that's the case. Then, sure."
With that, the trio finally turned around and headed straight toward the restaurant. It wasn't that far away, barely 5 minutes on foot and it was one of the few restaurants that opened on the base after the integration. It was available to serve food for free for the citizens who lived in the area.
However, since most people were able to cook their own food in their hos, the restaurant wasn't always full of people. That night particularly, it was completely empty.
*Ding* Ding*
Walking inside, the door made a ringing sound, alerting the workers.
"Welco!" One of the chefs greeted them with a smile. But, when he noticed who it was, he was shocked. "Oh! Leader! Welco, welco!"
"One table for five, please," Talon said.
"Yes, of course. Follow ."
Then, they were guided to a secluded corner of the restaurant where they sat down.
"Are you going to order?"
"No, we are waiting for two more people. Give us a minute." Talon replied as he picked up the nu.
'Even though I heard that it's very much a normal restaurant, the fact that it serves this many dishes is surprising.' He thought to himself.
After living the past month on canned food and so other small varieties of dishes, Talon had a deep craving for a restaurant al. Sothing that he didn't have to prepare himself.
"Who is the other person coming?" Hyun-Jae asked.
"Her father." He replied as he flipped the nu busily.
"Dad is coming too?"
"Yeah, the two of them spent the evening together actually."
'Weirdly enough…' He added in his head secretly.
He knew that his dad and Evan hadn't talked in years even though they had been best friends before. Still, he would be lying if he didn't feel weird about it. Mainly because of his problem with Evan that he told no one about.
'Sigh, he seems to have changed for the better. I won't need to deal with him that way.' Closing the nu, Talon looked up just at the perfect ti when the door opened again.
Two n walked inside as they looked around.
"Here." Talon raised his hand to call for them.
"There you are!" Lucas approached them first with a smile. "Sorry for being late. We took a detour on the way."
"It's fine. We just arrived." Talon replied.
"Thank you for coming, Sophie, Miss Hyun-Jae."
"Hyun-Jae is enough." She smiled kindly at him.
"Oh, hahaha! I didn't know how to address you before."
"You are Talon's dad, you don't have to be formal. Please, take a seat." She said.
anwhile, Sophie watched the entire interaction with her hands tightly. 'Grrr! That smile!!'
"You can sit next to , Uncle!" She quickly shifted her expression as she moved to the side.
"Thank you, thank you!"
anwhile, Evan sat down next to Talon with an awkward look on his face. The table was now complete.
"I didn't think I would be visiting a restaurant again. This is surprisingly pleasant." Lucas said. "You rember when we used to go to that ran shop back in the day, Evan?" Lucas said with a nostalgic smile.
"Yeah… Good old days."
"I miss them too."
Then, the entire table went quiet for a mont as if they didn't know what to say. The atmosphere was weirdly awkward for so reason. So, to defuse it, Talon decided to change the topic quickly.
"Well, what are you going to order?"
"Yeah, let's order."
"I agree."
With that, the group took the nus and started choosing from them. There weren't many at-based dishes due to the shortage of ats so they mostly took vegetable dishes and so side of fried chicken.
The chef took the orders and left to prepare them. So, the awkward silence ca back again.
Talon stared at his dad with a aningful glance. "Don't you have sothing to say?" He whispered to him.
"Oh, right. Ehem, since we are all here. I wanted to properly say this." He stood up and stared at Hyun-Jae before he slowly bowed down.
"Thank you for your help the other day and for taking care of my son all this ti. He had told a lot about you."
Hearing that, Hyun-Jae was naturally surprised as her eyes moved to Talon. The latter gave her a small nod which made her purse her lips.
"There is no need to bow, Mr Lucas. I didn't do much. If anything, I should be the one grateful for his help."
Lucas looked up with a smile. "You are very humble. I'm glad my son found a nice girlfriend like you."
"Pfft…" Suddenly, Sophie spat out a mouthful of water as she started coughing.
'What?! Girlfriend?!'
Evan sighed as he pulled a handkerchief for his daughter. 'Oh boy, this dinner is going to be interesting.' He thought to himself. 'I want to go ho.'
"Uuuh, Mr Lucas… and Talon… Aren't uh, in a relationship yet."
'What do you an 'yet'?! It's not going to happen… Not in a million years!!' Sophie glared daggers at her.
"What? Is that the case? My apologies. I assud you two were dating with how fondly he talked about you."
After their eting that evening, Lucas' impression of Hyun-Jae changed drastically. He had never seen his son talk about soone that much since Sophie had left.
Those words were akin to a critical hit to Sophie's consciousness as she struggled to keep her neutral face the entire ti. The fight she had to go through at that mont was brutal.
'Uncle, please!'
'God have rcy on my soul.' Talon face pald himself with a tired look on his face.
"He did?" Hearing that, however, Hyun-Jae was more than delighted as she focused on Lucas. "Can I perhaps ask what he said?"
Deep down, she felt on cloud seven. The fact that Talon was talking about her this much ant that he thought about her as much as she did and she couldn't describe how good that felt. It was the best news she heard the entire day… No, week even!
"He told a lot about how strong and capable you are and how you're very trustworthy. He als-"
"Ok, dinner is here." Talon cut his dad off as he tried to hide his embarrassnt.
'Why did you even talk about this?!' He gave his dad a strong look.
anwhile, Lucas was oblivious to it. All he thought about was how glad he was to see Talon get close to soone. After what happened with Sophie, he had seen his son detach himself from people and live his life with no friends for the most part. It worried him a lot and yet he couldn't do much about it.
Now, his son seed to be more socially open and he couldn't be more glad to see that.
"I'm glad you also made up with Sophie. Don't you think so, Evan?"
"Hm? Oh yeah… That's true."
"I'm really grateful I had the opportunity to et him again after so long. I'm also happy to see you too, uncle!" Sophie jumped on that opportunity imdiately.
"Haha, thank you. You were always a kind and considerate girl. I thought you two would've never separated like that."
His comnt made the entire table go quiet again as if they couldn't find sothing to say.
'Is he deadset on making this table the most awkward place on planet Earth?!' Talon felt his head about to burst with a headache.
Due to his lifestyle as a writer, his dad wasn't particularly good with people. He had a few good friends, but that was it. Now, he realized that Lucas wasn't just bad. He was creating one awkward situation after the other with no end!
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!
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