Food and Intentions

"I'm back!" Ray increased his voice as he entered his home. His mother's reply came a few minutes later. "Welcome back! Come and take a seat in the dining room. I was just about to serve dinner!"

"Coming!" Ray neatly arranged his shoes on the small cupboard next to the entrance doorway before replying back. He then entered the dining room, where his sister and father were sitting, while his mother was in the middle of carrying a large plate of roast chicken onto the table.

"It's late," Ray's father spoke in a calm and collected voice as he read the newspaper and slowly sipped his tea. He didn't even turn to glance at Ray as he continued, "What took you so long?"

"Don't tell me that he was out with his girlfriend or something, haha…" His sister spoke with a mocking tone, tapping her fingers on her phone screen at lightning speed.

"Uh, yeah, actually.." Ray nodded his head as he sat down on his chair. "..I was indeed out with my girlfriend."

PSSSS!

CLANG!

The noises of water spraying and something slamming on the ground echoed throughout the dining room. His father, who had been acting calm all this time, had suddenly spat out the tea from his mouth, while his always mocking sister had dropped her phone onto the ground, and the two stared at him with surprise and shock on their faces.

"WH- WHAT!"

"HOW THE FU- FRICK DID THIS DWEEB GET INTO A RELATIONSHIP BEFORE ME?"

Although both the family members had similar expressions on their faces, the questions they asked him were completely different. His father was more surprised than shocked, and his sister seemed to have gone into denial.

Well, I guess this was to be expected, Ray thought to himself and shook his head, letting out a helpless sigh in the process. He remembered the first time he ever told his parents about his relationship. He was in his early twenties at that time, and he only introduced his partner to his parents when he was certain that he was going to marry her.

The reason he didn't wish to say anything about his relationship with his parents unless it was serious was because he had a fear of being judged by his own parents if the relationship didn't work out in the end. He was afraid that it would end up becoming an embarrassing situation, and he didn't wish to be an embarrassing figure in the eyes of his own family.

But in his most previous life, when his partner dumped him, and he was at his lowest, his family did provide him support and encouragement. Of course, their words didn't get through to him at that time as he was too depressed, but he was thankful afterwards.

Which is why, in his fourth life, Ray felt that he didn't need to overthink about these meaningless things. Of course, this didn't mean that he was going to be completely open about his relationship. But he understood that it wouldn't be so bad to be open about some things.

".... Son? What did you just say?" Just then, Ray, along with the rest of the family, turned their gazes to look at his mom, who was staring at Ray with a surprised expression, all while holding two large plates of roasted chicken. It seemed that she was in the middle of taking them to the table when he spoke his mind.

But what worried the three family members was that the plates that had the roasted chicken were shaking violently. It seemed that just like his father and sister, his mother was also caught off guard by his answer, and their dinner might be on the floor if they didn't do anything.

"The chicken!" The three screamed together, and Ray immediately rushed forward, right as the two plates dropped from her hands.

Whoosh!

But before the roasted chicken could touch the floor, Ray had instantly shortened the distance between him and his dinner, and he grabbed the plates mid air before smoothly pushing them onto the table with a light nudge.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Safe!" His father and sister gave a thumbs up as his mother wiped a tear off her eye. "Sniff, sniff… My son has finally grown up… sniff, sniff."

'Why do I feel like I'm going to regret my decision?' Ray shook his head before returning to his seat again. Maybe he might end up regretting his decision, but for now, he had a dinner that he had to finish.

-----------------------

Orlinion City.

Government Dungeon #31, B-Rank.

"Congratulations, Mr. Hendrick!" A small group of men bowed their heads in unison as a bearded man wearing glasses and gold chains on his neck walked up to them.

The group of men were all dressed in purple, and they were standing together in the public lobby, which meant that they were attracting a lot of attention from onlookers. The group didn't seem to mind all the attention, though, as they were more focused on the bearded man, who had a bright smile on his face.

"Hahahaha! Although I am happy, the one you should be congratulating isn't me, but my son!" The bearded man roared with joy as he waved his hands in the air, laughing loudly before pointing his finger at the giant screen in the lobby, which was showing the picture of a young man with blonde hair and green eyes.

The young man on the screen was George Hendrick, a hunter who is touted to be an up-and-coming genius, jumping from D-rank to C-rank within a record four months, and the bearded man was his father, Leonard Hendrick, a Nobleman who is known amongst the public for being the oldest A-rank hunter that the world had ever seen. But amongst a few, he has an infamous reputation of being an extremely difficult and frustrating person.

There were even rumours going around that he was an abusive father, with some claiming that the young genius had even cut ties with his father. But of course, with the delighted expression on his face, one would assume otherwise.

"Hahahaha! My son! The young genius!" Leonard Hendrick raised his fists in the air and smirked.