A lot had happened in just two short months.
She had jumped into the sea and had a funeral, but she hadn’t died. Now, not only was she back, but she also had a very... close friend by her side.
Hayes Hughes took a deep breath. ’Maybe... this is a good thing.’
She was always alone before.
Whether at ho or at school, she always seed so lonely.
In the past, he had found her more than once hiding from the crowds, silently licking her wounds.
Now, she finally had a friend by her side.
’There’s nothing wrong with that.’
’So why can’t I bring myself to be happy about it?’
He stood under the tree, watching for so long that he felt like he was suffocating. It was as if his chest were stuffed with cotton, and with every breath, seawater flooded into it, pressing down on his heart with a heavy weight that made it hard to breathe.
Not far away, the boy said sothing that made her beam with a smile. "Alright, alright, I’ll treat you to a al."
Their shadows on the ground moved as a pair as their figures gradually receded into the distance.
His body moved uncontrollably, wanting to chase after them. He had already taken a step forward before his brain managed to stop him.
He hid in the shade of the tree like a thief, peeking at soone else’s happiness.
Only when their figures completely vanished from sight did he seem to jolt awake from a dream, finally understanding why he was so unhappy.
Of course he wanted what was best for her.
He wanted her to be happy, to be radiant, to be herself...
But he also wanted to be the one standing by her side, sharing in all her joys and sorrows.
The dining room fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Mia Grant waved a hand in front of his face. "Brother?"
’What’s wrong? Why did he suddenly go quiet?’
Hayes Hughes caught her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He looked up, the smile in his eyes no different than usual.
He was clearly smiling, but Mia Grant’s heart still plumted as if she had missed a step on the stairs.
Because she noticed that the Corruption Value above Hayes Hughes’s head had just risen by 10...
It had shot up without any warning, all in the blink of an eye.
His Corruption Value hadn’t started as high as the other male leads, and it had always stayed within a safe, controllable range.
But that didn’t help if it was going to jump ten points at once!
The other male leads’ values always increased one point at a ti!
She finally understood why Hayes Hughes’s Corruption Value wasn’t as high as she’d expected.
It seed that his value always decreased in incrents of 10.
’If that’s really the case... then Hayes Hughes is definitely, absolutely not as safe as I thought!’
’I’m screwed. I let my guard down!’
Mia Grant couldn’t understand. ’Did I say sothing wrong again?’
"Ahem." Clearing her throat, she pulled her hand back and picked up her chopsticks again. "We shouldn’t talk while we eat. Co on, Brother, let’s eat."
Mia Grant diligently placed food on his plate while stuffing a large piece of a brown sugar stead bun into her mouth.
’If you can’t overco the problem, overco yourself.’
’Maybe I should just choke to death and get it over with.’
’I never should have brought it up!’
Afraid she might choke, Hayes Hughes ladled so soup for her. "Eat slowly."
"There’s no one else here. You can talk about whatever you want."
"You don’t have to be so formal."
His tone was as gentle as ever, like a clear spring bubbling in the mountains.
But how could Mia Grant dare?
She was terrified that one wrong word would set him off again.
Hayes Hughes keenly sensed it. The little snail before him had just mustered the courage to poke him, only to be scared back into her shell by his sudden advance.
Sensing danger, she refused to co out, no matter how he tried to coax her.
Resigned, Hayes Hughes decided to follow up on her previous topic, trying to lure her out of her shell again.
"Have you been in Jynsia this whole ti? Or were you with your friend?"
It took Mia Grant a second to realize that "this whole ti" referred to the two months she had been gone.
"I don’t know where I went. It felt like so place far, far away. Then, a stranger rescued ."
After a long silence, he asked in a heavy tone, "Did you get a physical checkup? Is there any... discomfort?"
After drowning, a person’s heart and brain are deprived of blood due to hypoxia and water pressure. Their heart rate and blood pressure begin to drop, eventually leading to shock.
Over the past two months, he often found himself thinking about it. Underwater, her first reaction would have been to struggle helplessly. It’s human instinct.
Then, slowly, her hands would have dropped, and that strong, beating heart would have stopped along with them...
Every ti he thought of this, he would feel a physical sense of revulsion.
It got so bad that, for a ti, he couldn’t even enter an operating room.
He was forced to take so ti off, only to find he couldn’t stand being alone with his thoughts.
Mia Grant had no idea what he was thinking. She chose her words carefully. "It’s nothing serious, but I think the drowning left so aftereffects. My immune system doesn’t seem as strong as it used to be. I’ve been getting sick easily lately."
Hayes Hughes’s expression turned serious, and he imdiately asked about her specific symptoms.
He was a professional, so Mia Grant didn’t dare to just make things up, afraid she wouldn’t be able to strike the right balance.
If she made it sound too serious, his family’s hospital was just next door, and he could drag her over for a full-body checkup on the spot.
But if she made it sound too minor, she wouldn’t achieve the effect she was hoping for.
She was on pins and needles the entire ti.
With every sentence, she had to carefully observe Hayes Hughes’s expression and adjust her story based on the depth of his frown, trying to salvage her shattered nerves.
Hayes Hughes said he would take her to the hospital for a checkup, but she refused. "I’m scared... Can we not go? Just hearing the word ’hospital’ makes dizzy."
"But if you don’t go to the hospital..."
Without another word, Mia Grant tilted her head and leaned right against his arm, playing the victim on the spot.
She rubbed against his arm, letting out a series of soft "Ows."
Hayes Hughes couldn’t help but smile. He held her shoulder and patted it gently. "Alright, alright, we won’t go. But you have to take good care of yourself and co here for dinner every day on ti."
"...Alright, fine." ’In any case, Hayes Hughes is a good cook, so it’s not a bad deal for .’
"If you feel unwell at any ti, you have to tell imdiately. Okay?"
He was so consultative and gentle, making it hard to refuse.
"You have to finish all of this today." He placed more food on her plate and began cracking open a crab.
Mia Grant loved watching him when he was focused like this, so she didn’t bother hiding it. She propped up her chin and watched him openly.
"Brother, it looks like you’re performing surgery on that crab."
He had a set of crab tools next to him, and the way he switched between them really did make it look like he was at an operating table.
Hayes Hughes actually removed a piece to show her. "This is its heart. A crab’s blood tends to pool in its heart, which may contain harmful substances. It’s also considered a ’cooling’ food in traditional dicine, and eating it can cause an upset stomach."
"..." Mia Grant didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His expression was so serious, he really did look like he was at work. "This crab didn’t die in vain."
After dinner, Mia Grant was forced to go rest on the sofa while she watched him busy himself in the dining room.
’He’s so good to .’
And because of that, she grew even more curious about one thing—
"Second Brother."
She called out to him from behind, her voice so soft it seed to co from a faraway place.
"There’s a question I’ve always wanted to know the answer to... That day on the boat, when I was about to jump, why didn’t you show up?"
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