Chapter 56 The Eyes

Nix sat on the chair, his eyes darted everywhere, taking in the blood marks on the wall.

He wondered why anyone would choose such a weird pattern to decorate their walls.

Click!

Looking over to the right, he could see Lank come back with two bowls.

"You didn't have to–"

"Take it!" Lank cut in, shoving the bowl in his hand.

Walking over to his bed, he sat cross-legged, dipping his spoon and taking a sip of the liquid.

'A liquid?!' Nix's eyes widened in horror, he never dealt well with foods that were majorly liquid. He couldn't even tell all that had gone in it.

Looking at the bowl before him, his expression fell in an instant, it was some sort of soup that smelled like a mix of chili and beef.

His stomach never went well with spicy food and he couldn't tell if this fell in that category. The only thing that had caught his fancy was the submerged beef, but even that could have soaked up enough broth to almost be indistinguishable.

Setting it on the table, he pushed it away from himself, looking back at Lank who was sipping on the broth.

'Is this a payback for asking you a question I wasn't supposed to?' His brows twitched at how comfortably he looked while eating whatever that had been prepared.

"Lank..." He began.

Raising his head, he stared at Nix for a while. "You called?"

"What is this?!" He pointed at the bowl, he wasn't going to eat something he wasn't accustomed with, especially something not remotely related with ramen at the very least.

'I for one didn't draw this sort of food, so where the hell did this come from?' He had wanted to say.

Lank narrowed his eyes, but never said a word. Instead he looked back down and continued eating, gulping down the rest.

Nix's mouth gaped open for quite some time, he couldn't believe he could be ignored in such a manner.

"I guess you aren't hungry, I totally made a miscalculation." Lank finally replied, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "If it's a bother, how about I help you with it?"

Nix could sense he wasn't pleased with how he had spoken earlier, he was yet to taste it and yet had outrightly condemned it.

"No, it's not a problem actually." He chuckled nervously, "I was just curious what was put in it to make it smell so well. You know what? Let's forget this conversation ever took place." He looked back at the bowl.

After repeated contemplations, he dipped the spoon in, he fought the urge to pull his hand away from his face and instead did the opposite.

Shoving it quickly into his mouth, he gulped down on the broth.

Closing his eyes, he expected some sort of reaction, his taste buds didn't react in any way.

"Hmmm..." his interest peaked at that moment, he wasn't expecting such a savory taste.

Lank shook his head, a smile made its way to his lips as he watched Nix hurriedly eat.

"Be careful of the broth, you might choke if that goes on." He warned.

"I gurt tit!" Nix's words were muffled by the beef in his mouth, giving a V sign with his fingers.

Lank looked weirdly at the hand sign, guessing he meant he had understood.

–––––––––––

"So did it still taste as bad as you thought it was?" Lank questioned, looking at the guilt stricken face of Nix.

Nix on the other hand, belched in response. "Excuse me." He nervously chuckled.

When he had finished the food, he hadn't expected to be in such a position to be guilt stricken. He had to admit he had expected things to go worse than it had, but was pleasantly surprised.

"You got me." Nix raised his hands, conceding defeat. "It tasted great actually." He chuckled.

Lank nodded his head, a smile gradually making its way to his lips again.

Nix was glad even if his actions could bring a smile on Lank's face, it was worth it.

"You know..." Lank's face suddenly went sober, "you are the first person who complimented my cooking.

'Sh*t it was his cooking! No wonder he got offended when I asked.' Nix sweat dropped, he covered his nervousness with a chuckle.

"Oh!" Nix looked away awkwardly.

Then something did have a lasting impression on him, if he had heard correctly, he had said the first person.

"Yes, no one has ever tried my food except you of course." Lank replied as though he had read Nix's thoughts.

"Not even family, perhaps?" Nix pressed on, hoping to find at least one person who could be accounted for.

"..."

He tried to get him to talk. "Lank, are you an orphan like me?

Lank looked away, feeling a bit uncomfortable discussing his life with someone who he was just getting to know.

"It doesn't matter if you are or not, but–"

"Yes," Lank said in barely a whisper, he had known Nix was during schooling hours, in fact everyone did.

He had been scared to let this news out as he felt if his weakness was exposed, he would be seen as one truly not deserving of love.

"I never knew my parents." He looked down, "all I remember was being brought here by someone when I was little."

"Someone? Could you remember any little detail on how the person looked?" Nix questioned, this story was a little too suspicious to be taken lightly.

"It all felt like a dream actually." He rubbed his arms, as if he was cold and needed warmth. His eyes stared at the wall for quite some time as he spoke.

"I was strapped to a chair, and injected. It must be a dream!" He held his head as it began to ache, the more he tried to remember.

But there was one thing that he couldn't help but chant continually. "Her eyes!"

"Lank, focus." Nix said firmly. "What is the color of her eyes?"