Chapter 86: Her First Visit (1)
A week had passed,
Christian, reclining in his desk chair and spinning himself around like a kid, was thinking about the past week after he'd made his intentions clear with Eva. It had actually been a relaxing week, with him not doing much work. Experience more content on m v|l e'm,p| y- r
But while it was indeed a relaxed week.
'Hmm.'
What should he say it? That something wasn't right? That something felt wrong?
In the end, he didn't know exactly.
But why was he expressing himself so vaguely in the first place?
It was, in fact, because of Eva.
Christian didn't think that, miraculously, after what had happened, they would become very close, with nothing hidden between them at all.
But what he had in mind was still a bit different.
'Before we talk about her, I'll talk about myself,' was the first idea that came to his mind right after their date at the riverside. But when it came to putting it into action? No, this time it wasn't about failure or anything like that.
But that he had nothing at all to say about himself.
He realized that his life had been spent doing nothing meaningful.
Could the incident with his girlfriend in middle school be included? That was the only thing that stood out. However, it was something he didn't want to discuss unless asked, and naturally, Eva didn't ask.
Then, should he talk about his parents' incident? But what could he say about it in the first place?
Actually, he had actually mentioned it in passing before, but he hadn't elaborated on the situation at all. Sensing the atmosphere at the time, Eva also hadn't pressed on.
But again, the problem wasn't just that; it was about opening the topic itself. He didn't like people's gazes when they learned about it. While he hadn't faced the same situation with Eva, he struggled to explain it properly, to convey that even though it had been a devastating incident for him, he would naturally correct everything with his own hands.
Could he say that?
Naturally, no!
And that was the biggest problem. His current situation, looking into his parents' incident illegally but without finding much, made him feel impatient at times and incompetent at others. It made it even harder to provide information, even if he could.
Anyway, putting those things aside, the biggest problem was what happened after he got his system. While he could mention that he'd started trading and planned to create an AI, he couldn't explain anything in detail. Even with his sister, whom he trusted more than anyone in the world, he hadn't shared this. Then Eva? Naturally, it was even more impossible.
Here was the problem: if he considered the things he couldn't talk about, the things he didn't like to discuss unless asked, then, what remained?
His sister and his lonely life.
Did he talk about them?
He did! Even if shutting himself in his room wasn't exactly something to be proud of, considering the kind of person he was, he hadn't planned to hide anything. And over the past week, he talked more about these two things.
Now, Eva could confidently say that he really did brag about his sister, because he actually did.
The sacrifices his sister had made for him when she was young, were things no one else could ever match, and he was naturally filled with gratitude and pride for her. Even if he couldn't yet think of a way to repay her, since Time, even with his system, wasn't something he could easily compensate for, but, he knew he could reflect more on this in the future. They had plenty of time... hopefully!
While Christian's thoughts drifted slightly from the important issue, that something was wrong, returning to it, he realized it wasn't actually about him, but about Eva.
He still didn't hear anything important about her life, he didn't like to ask about thing, lacked the initiative and like the other person involve him, herself. But it's actually not happening, which is the reason he is feeling things are wrong.
He still hadn't heard anything significant about her life, and he didn't like to ask about personal matters, preferring the other person to involve him on their own. But that wasn't happening, which was why he felt something was off.
Even if there were things one couldn't talk about, it shouldn't be to this extent.
Naturally, there had been some development between them, as they started spending more time together, even if there were no specific plans in mind. More importantly, it was evident in her attitude; Eva had become more blunt, more open with him, and more expressive of herself.
But it was about things that felt unimportant!
There was still that invisible barrier, which, while it had perhaps grown thinner, was still there nonetheless.
Christian had also discovered her hobby, which was related to gardening. As while she didn't like to take care of it on her own, she still enjoyed keeping a well-maintained garden.
He wondered how that worked, why say gardening and not simply strolling through gardens? Of course, he didn't know, and even she couldn't explain it.
As for the skin-ship, it was actually just hand-holding and hugs, but Christian didn't mind and felt that if he were to advance in that regard, he wouldn't face any obstacles. However, in the end, he still didn't.
Not because he was chickening out, but because he felt he should wait. Maybe after something meaningful happened, then something could develop on that front as well.
'So, why is Eva like this?'
'What could her past be that makes her so secretive?'
All kinds of theories ran through his mind. But while he thought about a lot things, he was still someone who didn't like to take the initiative. He felt he had already done enough, after all, and wanted something to happen from her side this time.
He also didn't consider using his Program Hacking skill to obtain any information, even though their relationship had changed.
He wanted Eva to take a step forward this time!
Fortunately, even though she hadn't come to his house in the past week, she would be coming in a few days to have a conversation with his sister. As like they had said, it was to get to know each other, and when he invited her, she seemed pretty much unbothered. So, hopefully, things would progress then.
So, while hoping that her visit would spark some change, Christian stopped the chair from circling, now facing his desk and looking at the screen of his computer, filled with numbers, code, and the like.
'It's beautiful.'
He could never have imagined a day would come when he would call something so incomprehensible beautiful. Yet in the last week, he had actually done things that could be questionably called artistic as a hobby.
It was about the interface of Iris, his AI, but more importantly, it was about the voice. He thought, why not create a natural voice that is very pleasing to the ear? Something unreplicable, one even more beautiful than the real ones, whether from actresses or singers.
With ample time, as he didn't read many novels or play games like before, it was naturally possible, and while he couldn't say he had fully achieved what he had set his mind to, it was still enjoyable; he was even a little hooked.
After all, this time, aside from his hobby work, Christian approached his other tasks lightly. Even his sister had commented on his work with the voice project, which was something pretty fun, unlike the serious work he had done before.
Christian didn't intend to shroud his life in anger and other negative emotions. He genuinely wanted to resolve his parents' case and would seek revenge, but his life wasn't solely about that, and now that he had taken some proper rest, even his normal routine seemed to become easier and smoother.
So, he developed things at a normal pace with the AI this week, but with his skill level constantly rising, the speed of development was also accelerating.
As for the program-related skill; hacking, unfortunately, it still needed a long time until it reached the desired level five, allowing him to make his third attempt, or more accurately his first attempt at the government.
Anyway, aside from the programming skills, there were new developments with his other skills, such as Trading. Christian, now having nearly three million, with half in his bank account and the other half in his trading accounts, decided to slow down significantly more than before, following his sister's advice.
As if he worked with true determination, he could have easily reached ten million. However, after hearing his sister's reasoning that there was no need to raise any suspicion, he ultimately agreed.
As aside from that time when they went to the shopping mall or when he bought equipment for work, Christian didn't feel the need for money much right now, and when it became more necessary, he could always make more, as lately, he had even more ideas for his earning income.