Chapter 196: Ch 196: Returning Back Home - Part 1

Daniel called Alan and Noah for breakfast once everything was ready, and Noah slowly made his way towards the dining table while trying to ignore how hungry he actually was.

The moment he sat down, he noticed that there was a surprising amount of food spread across the table. And most of it was freshly made as well.

Noah looked at the dishes for a moment before turning towards Daniel with a slightly curious expression.

"Did you learn how to cook?"

Daniel sat down and nodded with a smile on his face. He looked especially proud of presenting all this to Noah.

"I did."

"When?"

"When you disappeared."

Noah’s expression immediately became awkward, and Daniel seemed to notice it before continuing in a calmer voice.

"I had a lot of free time after you disappeared, and there was not much for me to do. It was lonely, so I decided to learn how to cook. At first, I was terrible at it, but I eventually got better."

Noah looked down at the food again, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and warmth in his chest.

He had not expected Daniel to learn something like this simply because he had been lonely, and he could not help wondering how much Daniel had changed while he had been gone.

After all, this was not something that his visions had shown him.

But looking back at it, his visions had not shown him a lot of things, so there was a chance that it could have slipped past his senses.

"This looks really good. Alan must be happy to have a partner who can cook on days he feels too lazy to cook."

Noah said honestly, feeling a little jealous at the same time. This reminded him of Erin and his habit of cooking and feeding Noah as well...

And now he was getting distracted, which was disrespectful.

Alan immediately looked offended.

"Why are you saying that like Daniel is a better cook than me? For your information, I am a much better cook than Daniel."

Alan pointed towards the food with an expression of complete seriousness, and his tone indicated that he truly believed these words.

Noah looked at him in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Daniel gave Alan a flat look at the confident tone he showed when talking about his cooking.

"You nearly burned water the last time you tried to cook. Are you sure you should be bragging about all that?"

"That was one time. And I did it intentionally. I wanted to burn the station up, so that does not count."

"It happened three times."

Alan ignored him and crossed his arms.

"And it was the same reason all three times. That does not mean I am a bad cook in any way. Noah, don’t misunderstand. The only reason I am eating Daniel’s cooking is because you are here."

Noah stared at him with a look of disbelief at being blamed.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If you were not here, I would be worried about getting poisoned."

Daniel slowly put down the spoon he had been holding and made a mocking face back at Alan.

"You have been eating my cooking for months. At least have the decency to speak the truth... or at least, not insult me like this."

"I am still alive somehow, but that is why I can say for certain that you are out to kill me. At least those first few months, you sure were."

Alan replied, causing Daniel to frown at his words and reply back.

"That is because I was learning how to cook back then. I have improved so much that you can no longer say these things."

"Or maybe I am surviving because I have an incredibly strong constitution."

Noah could not stop himself from laughing, and both of them immediately looked towards him.

For a moment, the room became strangely quiet.

Noah had almost forgotten what it felt like to sit between them and listen to their ridiculous arguments over something as ordinary as breakfast. It was such a simple thing, yet it made the situation feel strangely normal.

Daniel eventually pushed a plate towards Noah. He looked bashful but shy at the same time.

"You should try this. Out of everything I make, this is one thing that even Alan does not complain about. I am sure it will taste good."

Noah looked at the colourful plate in front of him with a slight smile on his face.

He had not been feeling hungry for some time now, but the food in front of him made him feel hungry enough to reach out and scoop the food.

Various flavours hit his tongue, making Noah want to eat more. He scooped another spoonful, and it almost went down the wrong pipe, but he managed to hold his reaction back.

After all, he could see Daniel’s hopeful eyes when he looked at Noah.

There was no way Noah was going to let him down and not eat his food.

Dinner finished in peace, and Noah decided to take a small walk around. The pair walking beside him had taken him to a safehouse not that far away from the village, and Noah found his feet leading him back to his own home on the outskirts.

He did not even realise he was walking towards that place until Daniel grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"What’s wrong?"

Noah asked, turning around and looking at Daniel with a worried expression. And that made the guide sigh and shake his head.

"Where are you going? It’s dangerous to move around all alone like this, especially for a guide. If you have somewhere to go, then we will take you."

Daniel promised, and Noah wanted to tell him that it was fine and that he had nowhere to go. But a pang of longing hit him hard, causing him to stagger. And before he realised what was happening, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I would like to go home now."