Chapter 28 Homecoming
Corris walked for an unspecified amount of time, braving the wind and rain, before finally leaving the surveillance range of the Nar family residence. He had no idea when Nuhra would arrive, so he could only keep moving forward.
The rain was still falling, and Chris was already half soaked. He kept walking, braving the surprised looks from passersby and passing cars.
A car was following behind him, its headlights flashing behind him. With difficulty, Chris turned around and squinted his eyes to take a closer look.
At that moment, a car slowly pulled up beside him. The door opened, and Nuhra, dressed in military uniform, stepped out.
In the dark night, Chris couldn't see Nuhra's face clearly, but the moment Nuhra approached him, his whole posture subconsciously relaxed a lot.
"You're finally here..." Kris's short words, half sigh, half reproach, revealed his undisguised reliance on Nuhra. Perhaps Kris himself was aware of this, but he no longer sought to conceal it. He was simply exhausted.
Nuhra said nothing, took the things from Chris's hand, and let the young man, who was soaked like a drowned chicken, get in the car first. After observing the surroundings, he got in, closed the door, and started the intelligent system... The whole set of actions was completed in one go.
The car's heater was on at a comfortable temperature, and Chris's body, chilled by the rain, slowly warmed up. Before he could say anything, Nuhra handed him a clean white towel.
"Wipe it first." There was a barely perceptible hoarseness in Nuhra's voice. While wiping her hair, Corris looked at her secretly, but saw the obvious dark circles under Nuhra's eyes.
No matter how spacious the carriage seemed, it was still a small, enclosed space. Nuhra caught Corris's supposedly cautious gaze, but instead of exposing it, she fetched another clean towel, came over to sit next to him, and naturally began to wipe the rest of his body wet from the rain.
Through the towel, the warmth of Nuhra's large palm seeped in. Kris subconsciously tensed, his muscles instantly stiffening where she touched him, but he quickly relaxed himself.
Nuhra remained silent, minding her own business. They were so close that Coris could smell the perfume emanating from Nuhra—light yet present, yet not intrusive at all, a scent that reassured him.
Chris moved his body, and for some reason, he moved closer to Nuhra. Nuhra seemed to have no reaction to this and continued to wipe the rain off his body.
He had already made too many impulsive decisions tonight, so this time wouldn't be any worse, right? Chris convinced himself in his heart.
"I'm sorry to ask you to pick me up so late at night... Are you still working in the military?" Chris thought for a moment and asked worriedly.
"No need to apologize," Nuhra said, her expression brightening when she saw Corris speaking. "I had just gotten off work when you sent me the message."
"Oh..." Chris responded nonchalantly. He lowered his head slightly, looked at Nuhra's hand holding the towel, and asked again, "Why didn't you reply to the message a few days ago?"
Hearing Corris's question, Nuhra laughed. "So you came to check on me. I've been in meetings these days and haven't had my personal computer with me, so I didn't get a chance to reply. Sorry."
After Nuhra's explanation, Chris felt that he was being unreasonable and nodded awkwardly to show that he understood.
"If I had seen the message earlier, I wouldn't have let you run so far in the rain..." Nuhra was considerate and didn't ask why Chris ran out, but jokingly blamed herself.
"No, actually I've wanted to leave for a long time. It's not a spur-of-the-moment decision." Chris still had a bath towel wrapped around his head. As he spoke and shook his head, a strand of wet hair fell beside his eyes. Nuhra reached out and gently brushed it away.
"Isn't that your home?" Nuhra withdrew her hand, and gently twisted the two fingers that had just touched the young man's hair. The residual touch seemed to still be there.
"That place is just a place where I suppress my pain. I don't think it is my home." When mentioning the Nar family, Corris's face darkened and there was a hint of anger in his eyes.
Nuhra stared at Corris's profile and was silent for a long time before she slowly said, "I told you before that you can use my house as a place to stay..."
"...But if you want, it can also be your home." Nuhra's words were ambiguous and a little tentative.
Nuhra couldn't explain what he was thinking. He was the first one to coldly judge that their relationship was just a marriage of convenience; but he was also the one who couldn't bear to see Chris suffer any grievance.
Well, just think of it as raising a younger brother... For the first time, Nuhra was no longer sure about his emotional inclination, and he had no way to classify this feeling into an appropriate category in a short period of time.
But Nuhra was sure that he just wanted Coris to live a better life, even if it was just in some trivial matters.
On this night of exhaustion, Kris unexpectedly found boundless courage. He looked straight into Nuhra's shimmering eyes and replied softly but firmly, "That place is already my home."
"I have no other place to call home." Coris's tone was flat, as if he was saying something ordinary, but when others heard it, it sounded a bit more pitiful - at least that's what Nuhra felt.
"It's okay, it's okay now," Nuhra reached out again, put her arm around Kris's shoulders, and comforted him, "Let's leave it at that for now."
"Will this affect the investigation?" Chris followed Nuhra's movements and pressed himself against her side. Even though he had some inappropriate thoughts about Nuhra, Chris had not forgotten the original intention of their marriage.
"It's actually not that bad," Nuhra thought for a moment and answered cautiously, "As for the banned drug issue, all leads on the capital planet have been cut off, so we can only continue the investigation in the trading system."
"Speaking of which, Old Nar, uh, my parents found me a new family doctor today. They said they'd give me a physical exam," Kris told Nuhra about his encounter with Ji Keming. "He's a researcher from the Continuation of Science Institute, his name is Ji Keming."
Nuhra frowned as she listened and assured Corris, "I'll send someone to investigate thoroughly. This research institute doesn't seem to be a well-known one."
"Hmm..." The environment in the carriage was too comfortable, and with Nuhra by his side, the long-accumulated fatigue gradually overcame Chris's clear consciousness. He finally said vaguely: "Sorry, I'm really too sleepy..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a noticeable weight on Nuhra's shoulder. It was Coris's head, leaning towards Nuhra neither lightly nor heavily.
Nuhra listened to the young man's breathing beside him, feeling a mixture of laughter and tears. It had been a long time since he had been this close to another person, and it was quite a novel experience.
The rain, which had been falling for several hours, finally began to ease, and the vehicle turned around on the deserted road and headed towards Nuhra's home.
Chris slept for a long time. When he woke up again, the car had already stopped and he was still leaning on Nuhra's shoulder. Nuhra didn't wake him up, but just browsed her terminal.
"How long have I slept?" Chris woke up with a dry mouth and hoarse throat.
"More than an hour." Nuhra saw him wake up and turned off the terminal screen. "Don't sleep here. Go back and get some rest."
Chris nodded, stood up obediently, and wanted to take his luggage and get off the car with Nuhra.
The two walked into Nuhra's villa in silence. The warm yellow lights in the hall were exactly the same as when Chris was last here. Chris breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to be in a much better mood.
"Have you had dinner?" Nohra asked, casually unbuttoning his military jacket.
It would have been fine if Nuhra hadn't said it in advance, but when he did, Coris felt a little hungry. He said honestly, "Not yet."
Nuhra chuckled, beckoned to Corris, and asked him to follow her.
Nuhra took Kris into the kitchen and put on an apron. Kris was still not fully conscious and asked doubtfully, "Don't I need help?"
Nuhra was amused by Corris's clueless look and said with a smile, "We don't need you, the chef, yet. Just sit and wait."
Corris was also infected by Nuhra's mood, and the corners of his mouth curled up, and he responded jokingly: "Okay, then I won't make trouble. Let's see how good my assistant is."
Kris was talking about the last time they cooked cream stew together. Nuhra obviously hadn't forgotten it. He turned around and winked at Kris. "Promise to complete the task."
Nuhra didn't plan to make a complicated dish. She just picked a few ingredients, washed them, threw them into the cooking machine, and waited for them to come out of the oven.
Corris didn't say anything, just sat at the dining table, watching Nuhra's actions, as if in a trance.
"Ding—" the cooking machine's instruction sounded, and Nuhra instructed the robot to bring the hot dishes to the table. He took off his apron, rolled up his sleeves, and sat down across from Chris.
"There's nothing to eat right now," Nuhra handed the cutlery to Corris. "Lasagna would be fine, right?"
"Of course, I love it. Thank you for your hard work." Corris wasn't a picky eater; as long as the food was delicious, he had no taboos. Looking at the fragrant lasagna, his eyes narrowed with delight.
"Have the dessert shop send you some cakes tomorrow." Nuhra was very pleased with this and directly booked desserts for Chris for the next few days.
Chris was even happier now. He felt all his tiredness was gone. He wished he could travel to tomorrow immediately so that he could eat all kinds of sweets!
After chatting for a while, Chris's appetite was aroused by the lasagna, so he closed his mouth and started to enjoy it.
Nuhra didn't have much need to eat, as he had always relied on nutrient solution, so he stopped after taking a few bites and focused on looking at Corris who was wolfing down his food across from him.
"Eat slowly, don't rush." Nuhra gently reminded her, "These are all yours."
Chris nodded vaguely, not knowing whether he had heard it or not. He just slowed down a little, but he never stopped eating.
Nuhra looked at Corris's frizzy head after he had dried it, and suddenly felt as if she was watching some furry little animal eat.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Nuhra, when you feel pity for a young man, you are doomed!
Chris: I'm so pitiful. I have no home.
Nohra: (Even though I’m married) I will treat him like my younger brother
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
