Chapter 196: I UNDERSTAND THE FEELING.

But June said nothing. He simply continued eating, keeping his thoughts to himself.

“Is there any mission at hand?” Simon asked, looking up at Syll. “We saw a group of people leaving when we came here. They seemed to be heading somewhere.”

Grey responded, “Oh, they’re probably heading out for a mission. I heard there was an emergency dungeon break somewhere, so they’re likely headed there.”

Kael slowly nodded. “But aren’t you the main team? Why aren’t you going?”

Grey scoffed. “There’s no need for me to be there. It’s basically not much of a threat, just a lower-level dungeon. They can handle it.”

Kael and Ryan nodded. “Oh, I see…”

Ryan then asked, “So, when do we start our missions? We should get involved in some of the big tasks too. Go on dungeon-clearing missions with you and your top team.” He smiled eagerly.

Grey folded his arms. “You’re really ambitious, I see. Starting off strong. Well, you’ll have to begin with the small ones.”

“No, we can handle the big ones. That’s why we’re here,” Kael insisted.

But Grey shook his head. “I call the shots here, so you’ll have to listen to me.”

Ryan sighed and turned to June. “June, talk to your brother here.”

Syll watched them go back and forth about it, smiling as he listened.

—

After they finished their meal, Grey took them to see some rare gems the organization had captured, something Ryan and Kael had requested to see. While they left with Grey, June accompanied Syll to his office to have their documents signed.

The two of them were alone in the office, with Syll seated at his desk, going through the paperwork. June casually strolled around the room with his arms folded, observing the walls and admiring the decor as he made his own little observations.

After a while, June stopped in front of a trophy. He stared at it for a moment before speaking.

“You should take care of yourself too…”

June continued, “You don’t have to force yourself to come to work if you don’t feel like it.”

Syll looked up at him with a smile. “And what are you on about now?”

June hesitated before adding, “And if you don’t feel enthusiastic about having us in your organization, you can let us know…”

He turned to face Syll, a smile on his face. “We probably won’t care anyway, because I’m too lazy to join any organization, work hard, or do anything like that. So, rest assured.”

Silence settled between them as they stared at each other for a while.

Syll eventually smiled and asked, “And why would you think that? I was the one who worked hard to get you and the others here, so why would I suddenly change my mind?”

June smiled as he turned back to the trophy. “I don’t know… Maybe because I know the reason you wanted us here was because of your dad.”

Silence followed. Syll paused, staring at the file before him for a while before slowly looking up at June, who still had his back turned to him.

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he forced an awkward smile.

“I already told you that I’m not interested in his business. Whether he’s dead or alive, I don’t really care…”

“We’re basically strangers,” Syll added.

June slowly nodded, biting his lower lip. “True. That’s also true…”

He sighed and turned to look at Syll. Their eyes met, and an awkward silence lingered between them for a while.

“Relationships with parents are always so complicated. I also wish there were a way to completely hate them without still feeling some strange connection to them.”

June sighed before continuing, “At the end of the day, they’re still our parents, and we’ll always have that desire to want a connection with them. That feeling… it’s indescribable.”

Syll stared at him for a while. “What do you know?”

June sighed. “A lot of things I wish I didn’t know…”

He hesitated before asking, “You wanted Nyx here to spite your father, right?”

Silence fell between them again before June continued.

“I guess that’s the main reason you wanted us here…”

He smiled faintly. “You wanted him to be angry that he couldn’t get Nyx. You knew he’d come after him, so you wanted to get to him first and spite him.”

“You want to make him angry. You want him to see that you’re actually capable of outsmarting him and getting things done. You want to show him that you’re worth everything you aspire to be.”

June glanced around the office before continuing, “You want to show him that you can handle this organization just fine…”

He looked at Syll again. “And that’s probably why you held on to this collapsing organization when it was at its worst back then. You don’t want to give up to your father.”

June paused briefly before continuing, his voice growing more serious.

“All your life, you’ve convinced yourself that you’re in some sort of competition with him. It’s become a constant struggle to prove yourself to him every day, to make him see that you’re worth something… to show him that you’re not weak, that you’re not useless as he claims.”

Syll listened, feeling increasingly uneasy. It was as though someone had held up a mirror in front of him, exposing all the feelings he’d done such a good job of hiding.

His composure began to crumble, and his fists trembled slightly as he sat there, staring at June as though he were looking at a ghost. The entire situation left him deeply unsettled, and he struggled to understand how June could see through him so easily.

June paused before speaking again. “I think I understand how that might feel… the feeling of having to prove your entire existence at every turn.”

Flashbacks of his years at work surfaced in his mind. Years spent trying to prove to every single person that he was worthy of the dream he was pursuing, that he was worth every minute and every sacrifice he’d made.

June smiled faintly. “I understand how that feels…”

The silence lingered, growing longer and more awkward. Syll glanced around, struggling to maintain his composure, but it was no use. He inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled before finally lifting his gaze to meet June’s.

“How do you know… all these things?”