Chapter 341, Grown Up

Zero flipped his hair up and left the room.

Zhuo looked at this and lay down on the bed again.

(How can I calm down when someone suddenly says something like this?)
While feeling the pain from Zero's unexpected directness, Zhuo stared at the ceiling until the heat from his body dissipated.

"Allah, good morning."

The parents were already seated and waiting in the restaurant on the first floor.

The sound of cooking could be heard from the kitchen, and the familiar light gold color could be seen. Zero should be making the steak that had been agreed upon before.

"……Good morning."

"Alright, come sit down. Today's breakfast was made by Ling-chan~"

"Oh."

Zhuo was late for a long time because he needed to deal with various things and calm down. During this time, Ling should have been ready and came. Because we had an appointment to make steak, there might be more time, so it might be just right, but I still hope that the mornings in the future can be calm.

“What a great relationship.”

"…We were already dating so it's normal. Compared to you guys, we were slow."

"That's true, but we weren't as bold as you back then. We were beyond the boyfriend and girlfriend relationship and were more like a young married couple."

As his father Shuichi was looking at Zhuo who was speaking slowly, the sound of water rushing into the sink suddenly increased from the kitchen.

Although there was no messy scene with water splashing everywhere, it must have been because of what was said in the living room.

"Ah, is Rei-chan okay?"

"Yes, sorry to interrupt your conversation."

"It's okay, it's okay. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes."

Although her hesitation was probably caused by humans, Zhuo did not say it out loud, but decided to ignore Sa Chiko's secret gaze at her.

Having lived with Sa Chiko for so many years, in these nearly eighteen years, Zhuo has fully learned that she will be teased if she is given the opportunity.

Although Sa Chiko was somewhat dissatisfied with Zhuo for coming over and sitting down without giving her a chance, she still spared Zhuo after being comforted by her father Shuichi's eyes, and Zhuo felt relieved.

Then after a while, breakfast was placed on the dining table.

"Come to think of it, Zhuo has already started making friends locally~"

After Ling, who had made steak specially for Zhuo, sat down, the four of them started having breakfast. But when Zhuo just put a mouthful of rice into his mouth, Sa Chiko directly said this, so Zhuo paused.

I thought I would be asked about the night I spent with Zero, but it seems that I noticed that this was the cause of the incident.

Zhuo was once again amazed by his mother's keen sense of smell.

In short, you can't talk while eating. You have to chew and swallow well before you speak.

"…Why would you think that? I have a lot of friends in Tokyo, three in total!"

"You guys have been different since we came back yesterday. I was wondering if you had a fight or something, but judging by last night's situation, that shouldn't be the case, so I'm asking."

"Zhuo, don't underestimate us as parents. We know very well what our son is like." He thought he was behaving the same as usual, but he didn't expect that his parents seemed to see through him.

Although they were worried, for Zhuo, the matter had already been handled by him, so there was no need to worry.

"Nothing. I just ran into someone I knew when I went to visit Zero's friend and talked some things out with him."

"Ah, so that's how it is... Looks like the matter has been resolved?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's solved, or it's explained. I don't think there's any need to worry about it anymore."

Even when recalling the past, Zhuo no longer finds it difficult to accept. Even when facing Lu Mingze, who can be said to be the culprit, his heart can still be calm.

These were all unimaginable before - if Zhuo could really face Lu Mingze with confidence, he wouldn't have deliberately put on such a big show when they met at the beach. On the contrary, Lu Mingze's indifferent attitude towards the tsunami he brought with him was what we call being calm in the face of danger.

These changes were possible thanks to Zero who sat next to me. Now I know what I really want.

"You seem to have really grown up. I feel like you have mixed feelings."

"Yeah, I've always felt like I had something on my mind since Zhuo transferred to Tokyo, and now I feel like I've finally let go."

It seems that he can talk about this matter calmly, and his parents seem to be relieved.

And it was the first time that Zhuo heard that "his worried look had been discovered a long time ago", so his parents must have been very worried in the past two years. Although Zhuo usually didn't think that there was anything special about him that deserved attention, his parents still cared about him.

While the parents were relieved, Zero, who was sitting on the side and did not choose to interrupt, had a subtle dull expression on his face at their conversation.

"Don't worry, things are getting better and better."

"It does seem to be the case. Zhuo has become more and more reliable... Is he feeling the urgency because he is planning to start his own family?"

Zhuo dispelled the last bit of worry from her parents, and gently placed her palm on Ling's head and stroked it back and forth, which helped Ling's expression return to normal. Although her parents did not mean it, and Zhuo had explained it, Ling probably still blamed herself for all the worries Zhuo had in the past two years.

It was great that the gentle caressing gesture completely conveyed Zhuo's feelings to Ling.

"I don't know. This day will come sooner or later. I don't have any idea now. We'll talk about it later."

"Oh, I didn't expect that Zhuo could let loose in a place like this. Although I think you looked cuter when you were shy before... But if you really decide that day, you can even not come back to your hometown~"

"There's no such thing as being shy—"

"That's it~"

Although Zhuo has just reached adulthood, his parents seem to have fully foreseen the day when he would start his own family. To be honest, Zhuo had never thought about this before leaving Izu for Tokyo. He thought he was just going to a big city to study, but he didn't expect that he might end up staying there.

"I can wait until that day comes before considering it... and I'm still in high school, so it's a little too early to say such things. I don't see you very often now, so I want to cherish this time."

From Zhuo's point of view, the time he had been able to stay with his parents had been too short since he entered high school, so he was not in a hurry to leave Izu.

And Zero got along well with her family, and her friends, the Kuroishi Residence, were also here, so this couldn't be considered a bad thing anyway.

“Children will grow up too~”

Sa Chiko sighed like this.

(End of this chapter)