The awkward silence lingered in the study for several long seconds as neither of them spoke.
Zoey kept her gaze lowered, her fingers unconsciously fidgeting together, while Kael simply sat there, patiently waiting.
Eventually, Zoey let out a small sigh before turning toward him.
"Umm... about what happened earlier..."
Kael looked up at her.
"What about it?"
Zoey hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I... I want to apologize for my parents’ behavior. I honestly didn’t know they were planning something like that. If I had known, I would’ve stopped them before you even arrived."
Kael stared at her for a brief moment before shaking his head.
"Why are you apologizing?"
Zoey blinked.
"You didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s those two. Not you."
His answer only made Zoey feel even more guilty.
She lowered her head again before speaking softly.
"I still think I owe you one. I should’ve known better. They’ve always been... difficult. Looking back now, I should’ve expected they’d pull something like this."
A bitter smile appeared on her face.
"I invited you over just for you to get ambushed the moment you stepped out of the car."
"I’m really sorry."
Kael looked at her for a few seconds before suddenly nodding.
"Alright."
Zoey slowly looked up.
"I’ll accept your apology."
A look of relief immediately appeared on her face.
"But... there’s one condition"
Her expression froze.
The relief instantly disappeared as confusion replaced it.
"A condition?"
Kael nodded seriously.
"Yep."
"What is it?"
A grin slowly crept onto his face.
"You’ve got to smile."
Zoey blinked.
"...What?"
"You’ve been frowning ever since I got here."
Kael leaned back against the chair before shrugging.
"I can’t have Adam thinking I’m bullying his girlfriend."
"I really don’t want to end up on that villain’s bad side."
The room became completely silent.
Zoey simply stared at him for several seconds as though her brain had completely stopped processing his words.
Then...
"Pfft..."
A small laugh escaped her lips.
The laugh quickly grew louder until she could no longer hold it back. She bent slightly forward, covering her mouth as genuine laughter echoed throughout the study.
"Hahaha..."
"You..."
"Hahaha..."
Her shoulders trembled nonstop as tears almost formed at the corners of her eyes.
Seeing her laugh so hard, Kael couldn’t help chuckle as well.
At that exact same moment...
Somewhere inside a large private gym.
A loud metallic clang echoed through the training hall as an enormous barbell was lowered onto its rack. Standing beside it was Adam, sweat dripping from his body while veins bulged across his muscular arms. Just as he reached for a towel, his nose suddenly twitched.
"Ah..."
"ACHOO!"
The explosive sneeze echoed throughout the gym.
Adam rubbed his nose before looking around suspiciously.
"...Who the hell is talking trash about me?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"It better not be Kael again."
After muttering a few more complaints to himself, he simply shrugged before returning to his workout as though nothing had happened.
Back inside the study, the atmosphere had become noticeably lighter.
The heaviness that had weighed upon Zoey ever since Kael arrived had almost completely disappeared. The gloomy look on her face had been replaced by a bright smile, one that looked far more natural than the forced expressions she had been wearing earlier.
Kael quietly watched her for a moment before a faint smile appeared on his own face.
To be honest, he had grown rather fond of both Zoey and Adam.
They hadn’t known each other for very long. In fact, compared to most friendships, the amount of time they had spent together could barely even be considered enough to truly know one another. Yet somehow, during those short experiences inside the Rift, something had naturally clicked between them.
Perhaps it was because they had fought together.
Or perhaps it was simply because their personalities meshed surprisingly well.
Whatever the reason, Kael no longer viewed them as mere teammates or acquaintances. Somewhere along the way, they had quietly become genuine friends.
That was precisely why he had cracked the joke earlier.
Seeing the type of parents Zoey had to deal with, he could already guess that incidents like today’s weren’t exactly uncommon. Judging by the way she reacted, this wasn’t the first time they had embarrassed or troubled her. It had likely happened countless times before.
Since there was nothing he could do about her parents, the least he could do was make sure she wasn’t blaming herself for something she had absolutely no control over.
Unfortunately for Kael, there was something he didn’t know.
While most of Zoey’s worries stemmed from her parents’ actions, another concern had been lingering inside her heart long before he ever stepped foot inside the Estate.
She had also started seeing Kael as a genuine friend.
Back during the Hunter Examination, she had merely thought of him as someone dependable. A reliable teammate with decent potential. Someone she and Adam could invite along whenever they planned to clear Rifts or grind monsters together.
That was all.
But everything changed after the events inside the Rift.
Kael had saved both her and Adam more than once.
He had stood against Marcus without hesitation despite not knowing exactly who Marcus was.
He had never once acted arrogant despite possessing strength that far exceeded everyone around him.
Little by little, her opinion of him changed.
By the time they parted ways that day, Kael had already become someone she genuinely wanted as a friend.
Yet that was exactly where her worries began.
Friendships were easiest to maintain when both sides stood on relatively equal ground.
Not necessarily equal in strength, but close enough that neither person felt impossibly distant from the other.
Power.
Influence.
Status.
Those things mattered far more than most people liked to admit.
Ever since awakening, Kael’s growth had been nothing short of terrifying.
Only a few days after entering the Tower, he was already displaying combat ability far beyond what should’ve been possible for a newly awakened Hunter. Although Kael had casually explained it away as getting lucky during his first trial, Zoey had never truly believed that explanation.
She simply respected his privacy enough not to pry.
Everyone had secrets.
She had hers.
Kael had his.
But despite respecting that boundary, the difference between them continued to grow.
Yesterday, when Kael mentioned he would be visiting today, she couldn’t stop wondering just how much stronger he had become over the past few weeks.
Then her father attacked him.
The answer had revealed itself almost instantly.