Chapter 13

Kenneth set the food and beverages on the console table and fixed his gaze on Eugene who is scrolling through the channels of the television lazily. "You seem like you're not getting enough sleep," he said.

"Yeah?" The other answered him, looking bored.

"Why didn't you join them?"

This caused the other party to chuckle." Then, why didn't you?"

Why are you asking me back... Kenneth complained inwardly. It isn't that I am uninterested. I simply did not want to. It doesn't feel right... Wait.. wait... what? That's correct! I didn't join them because it feels like I'm going to do something wrong, but why didn't I intervene at the time? When they were about to do anything stupid, I would stop them.

I see.... It's because I'm genuinely curious. I'm curious as well. But there's no need for me to do anything that goes against my regular behavior because they'll tell us what they've discovered anyway. So I left them be as it's convenient.

After thinking things, Kenneth was taken aback and feels conflicted with himself.

"You don't have to think too much about it," Eugene spoke, seeing his complicated expression. "Do you think they'd follow you even if you told them to stop like you used to? You see, they're very excited."

"Then, why didn't you join them?"

Kenneth looked deeply at Eugene and asked again. While waiting for Eugene's answer, Kenneth thought... If I were to name a guy that is the most difficult, I would pick Eugene rather than Jun.

Jun is mischievous, he's always up to something. Although it's also hard to read him, it is easier to read someone who shows different emotions in his face. Unlike Eugene who has a blank expression and only shows his playful and jesting side when Dani is around. So I can't figure him out unless he tells me about it.

"I have an intuition that they're not going to find anything. And I'll just wait to hear it from Dani."

Kenneth is flabbergasted as to how he is so confident. He kept a close eye on Eugene and couldn't help but think that, maybe despite his cool facade, he was boiling inside. He thinks he's very anxious looking at the bags under his eyes and his habit of constantly smoothing out the creases in his clothes. If I hadn't known him for too long, I bet I'd not be able to notice anything. Kenneth concludes to himself.

A while later, they heard the voices of others approaching. Eugene swept his gaze at the three. Checking the time, he realized that they only lasted for at least an hour.

"You're all done? That's fast."

Rubbing his stomach, Jun swiftly looked at the food prepared on the table. He paused, praised Kenneth's cooking skills before saying thoughtfully. "Ah, It looks delicious, it's making me hungry,"

"We split up. All wings are the same. Little furniture, no decorations, right?" Jun inquired David and Belle for confirmation, which the two responded with a nod.

"But you see... I found a man's bedroom..." he adds before chewing the food happily.

It's delicious, he thought. He grinned as he felt the silence and saw their impatient expressions. He pushed himself to swallow the food in his mouth. "I'm not sure how they're linked; he's really attractive, but they don't appear to be related."

As expected, I'd want to tease more... Jun restrained his emotions and simply smiled at the boys in front of him. "Calm down, he's probably in his forties," he says.

"You're so annoying."

The first person to react was Belle. She stabbed Jun in the stomach playfully with an eye roll. When Jun looked at the others, he noticed that they were all wearing relaxed expressions. Boring. I expected them to have much more amusing reactions, he mused.

They see Belle has stopped moving and has crouched on the ground like a lost kid. Jun approached her, stooped down to align his eyes with hers, and understood that her prior joking appearance was just a ruse. Kenneth followed suit and gently asked, "What's wrong?"

"What if Dani is really cutting us off?" Belle questioned seriously, her hands shielding her face.

Her question echoed around the room. Jun replied to her first and, with a humor in his voice, he comforted her. "It's not like it's the first time that Dani tried to avoid us, didn't she?"

He wanted to ease the tension but he felt like what he had said only increased the gloominess in the room. Kenneth pushed him away and replaced his position. He saw the other two, David and Eugene, looking at him like he was a fool. Jun shrugged and only continued to eat what was on the table.

'I'm not really good at comforting people' He looked at Kenneth's action to observe him as he is good at it. He and Dani are the only ones who have a knack for persuading Belle.

Kenneth placed his hands on Belle's shoulders and stated what's on his mind. "Remember what our teacher said to us about it being an emergency? Dani's relatives personally contacted the school, so it's certain that it's very important. The fact that this is the first time we've heard anything about Dani's family in two years means that she must be very busy. It's not like she's avoiding us; she just has something to do. And you know, even though she has a hobby of collecting text messages, she replies to them sincerely."

Each person in the room nodded their heads, agreeing with Kenneth's opinion. Expecting Belle to be assured like always, they are surprised to hear her words.

"It's because you guys didn't know anything."

"Are you keeping something from us?"

All of them looked at her seriously. She just kept her mouth shut, unable to say anything. But it's clear that she's nervous. The others gulped down, waiting for her to open her mouth.