Chapter 205; Not Eavesdropping
There was silence as the two of them stared at Karl. It happened that Karl had been sitting up there in the tree for a while now—he was there even before Sunnie arrived.
Karl was sitting there simply listening to what they were talking about, until they started talking about him. He was thinking that Sunnie would agree to come speak with him and ask him questions. He was actually feeling proud at the thought of it.
But suddenly, Sunnie started roasting him. He was so shocked when she began talking trash about him that he sat up immediately to stare down at her—and slipped.
Karl landed hard on his back after his fall. Sunnie and Zayn turned and stared at him.
"Were you eavesdropping?" Sunnie questioned as Karl struggled to get up, massaging his back.
"Eavesdropping? And why would I do that? I was here even before you came, so stop dreaming." He snapped at her as he stood up, rubbing his waist.
Zayn smiled. "I guess the bird forgot he could fly."
Karl rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He turned to Sunnie. "And you, don’t get your hopes high. I wasn’t even planning to tell you anything. Dream on."
Sunnie scoffed. "Sure. Whatever. Like I was going to ask you anything." She folded her arms and looked away.
"Better for you. I wasn’t even going to tell you anything." Karl also folded his arms and looked around—the two acting like kids throwing tantrums.
Zayn casually stared at them and scoffed with a smile. "Childish." He muttered as he turned and continued staring at the stream.
Sunnie then turned to Zayn. "Anyway, thanks a lot for today. I really appreciate it. If you excuse me, I’m already exhausted and tired from today. I’ll go and rest. Bye."
Zayn nodded as Sunnie added, "And thanks a lot for your concern, unlike some people..." She cast Karl a cold glare as she turned and walked off.
As Sunnie left, Zayn casually smiled as he stared back into the stream.
"Look at her, so rude. I can’t even believe that I’m even bothered about speaking with her or even taking pity on her." Karl scoffed as he folded his arms. "Rude."
Zayn smiled as he said, "You’ve gotten more childish ever since you met her. I guess that’s the effect of falling in love."
Karl glared at him. "What rubbish are you talking about... falling in what? Rubbish. Such things can’t happen to me. And with her? You’re just dreaming." He snapped, folding his arms.
Zayn nodded with a smile. "Okay then. Sure. Says the person who was worried about how he was going to speak to her today and even comfort her for what had happened. Weren’t you the same person who was worried about her a while back?"
Karl glared at him. "What slander. I didn’t do that... I... I’m not a monster, I’m also human. So I was just worried because of what happened today. I mean, who wouldn’t be..."
Karl hesitated as Zayn smiled, saying, "You’ve been tackling her all this while as though she’s had it easy all her life. Looking down on her as if she also had an easy life and you were the only one who had it hard. I mean... look at it for yourself."
Zayn stared at him. "She was also abandoned and treated like trash, just like you. And she had it hard all while growing up in the midst of people who hated her. And she was also exiled to die. So at least you should have been considerate about that from the beginning and not always tackling her."
Karl was quiet. He stood there for a while, arms folded, staring into thin air. "Whatever... I mean, now I understand better and that’s why I was considering ways to make it up to her. But she’s still being rude and all... see, she even talked down at me!"
Zayn shook his head. "Childish indeed. If you want to speak to her, just go and do that. Stop acting all childish already. It’s pretty obvious that you like her."
"No I don’t!" Karl snapped, defending himself.
Zayn nodded with a smile. "Sure sure. You’re not."
They were quiet as Karl folded his arms, staring into the stream. The night was silent while the two sat there for a while.
With the moment of silence, the two began thinking about other things. After a while, Karl casually asked, "Do you think they know about it?"
Zayn was quiet. He didn’t need to ask who Karl was talking about; he could already tell. The two of them quietly stood there staring into the water while thinking.
Karl continued, "...Perhaps... do you think they’ve heard about it and are planning to come as well? I mean, a lot of tribes have already made their way here and failed... And since they’re bigger and more powerful, do you think they’ll also wish to try their luck and come?"
Karl added, "I fear they’re more strategic, so they might actually stand a chance if they even try... and I don’t even think we’re prepared to face them if that happens."
Zayn sighed as he said, "Let’s not think about that for now. Okay? Let’s just focus on what’s at hand." He was clearly scared—one could see the flash of fear briefly run through Zayn’s eyes as he thought about what Karl was talking about.
But he held himself. He couldn’t be scared, so he kept his calm as if he wasn’t afraid of anything at all.
Karl sighed with a nod. "I guess so. Let’s not just scare ourselves for now... let’s be hopeful... hopefully they don’t come at all. And hopefully we don’t have to face them at all. I think that would be better for all of us."
Zayn nodded in agreement as the two of them quietly stood there watching the calm water ripple, letting the calm night speak through the atmosphere while they stared.