Chapter 135: Ch 135: The reason why

Noah’s body felt better when he finally woke up, but his head was still throbbing. So he tried to reach up and massage it when he noticed that both his hands were occupied.

One of them had the IV drip in it, which made it harder to move, and the other was being tightly held by Daniel, who was sleeping beside him.

Daniel’s posture looked awkward, and sleeping in that position sure had to hurt. So Noah reached out to check on him.

But as soon as he moved, Daniel shot up and gave him a worried look.

"Noah, are you alright? How are you feeling now? I was so worried that you wouldn’t wake up that I... Are you sure you are feeling fine now?"

Daniel looked so worried that he was vomiting words out. His eyes kept looking Noah up and down to see if he was truly fine or not.

Noah opened his mouth to say something before he closed it again. He was not sure where to even begin, so he tried to make sense of where he was.

The familiar white walls immediately told him where he was, and he let out a sigh and looked at his roommate.

"Daniel, you can let go now."

Noah still felt unwell, but he did not want to accidentally make Daniel sick as well.

Daniel looked uncertain, but he did let Noah go with a suspicious look on his face.

"Are you truly feeling fine now? If not, then you should sleep a little more. If you want something, let me know and I—"

"Daniel, take a deep breath and calm down a little. It is going to be alright. You just need to relax a little."

Noah reassured Daniel after placing a hand on his shoulder, but Daniel still looked like he was having a hard time coping with what was happening. He blinked at Noah and then nodded slowly.

"Right... I need to calm down. I am trying to calm down, but it is not as easy as it appears... Anyway, I am glad that you are alright."

Daniel looked like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders, and Noah had a feeling this was not normal. He had never seen anyone act like this before, which made him curious to know more.

The other guide noticed this and let out a sheepish laugh.

"Are you shocked to see me this worried? Well, I am not usually like this, but there is a reason this time."

Daniel started to speak but then stopped. His eyes glazed over, almost as if he was recalling something he did not want to remember.

But after a few seconds of waiting around, Daniel realised that Noah was still waiting for him to continue. He did not want to, but he also did not want to disappoint Noah, so he decided to speak.

"You know that I am adopted, right? The family that adopted me has other kids they adopted as well. But our relationship is... well... not the best. But it’s not bad with everyone. In fact, there were these kids in the beginning that I really liked and tried to get closer to. But they all became sick and could not make it after a while. They begged the family to help them, but they—"

Daniel bit his lip there, trying his best not to get angry. And once he had calmed down, he continued.

"Well, my family has always valued strength over everything. They were the kind of people who said that those who succumb to sickness don’t deserve to live. You can imagine the rest."

It sounded dark and gloomy, just like what Noah had seen in his vision before.

In fact, he already knew the kind of life Daniel lived and how lucky he was to end up as a decent person even with such a shitty family and parents.

"Hmm, that sounds tough. It must have been painful to watch from the sidelines and not be able to do anything for the others."

Noah pointed out, trying not to let his own emotions get into his words. This was not about him but Daniel.

Daniel let out a small chuckle at his words and nodded.

"That’s right. It was tough. So tough that I did not even want to get involved with other humans for a while afterwards. But as more and more kids kept joining, I eventually realised that all of us there had no choice but to grab this offered hand, even if it led to our death. There was no other choice left to us."

That was likely not true. If Daniel had tried to run away, then the authorities would have assigned him to another home...

Or worse, taken him to the labs.

In that sense, even that shitty home he ended up in sounded like a paradise.

"Anyway, that is enough about me and my past. I have decided that I will never go back home again. This academy is my chance to be able to run away from home and start anew. What about you?"

Daniel asked Noah, and he was not sure what he should say.

Just like Daniel, this was Noah’s chance to run away as well. But the longer he was here, the more he felt like he was falling into a trap without meaning to.

He knew that it was dangerous to get closer to Alan and Daniel. The more he got to know them, the closer he felt to them. But that was the problem—he did not want to feel closer to them.

Noah needed to start keeping his distance... but it was so hard.

The warmth of Daniel’s hand as well as the way his eyes looked at him... Noah wanted it all. He desperately wanted it all to be his.

"I..."

"Noah, are you in there? You were not in your room, and Daniel was not picking up my calls, so I decided to track your phone... why are you on the drip?"

Alan almost ripped the privacy screen away and immediately exposed Noah to the other side of the room without a shred of hesitation.