Nathan and Sakhr sat at one of the tables and were eating their meals.
From time-to-time, people would greet Sakhr and Nathan.
In the case of Sakhr, they were old acquaintances and relatives.
Meanwhile, in Nathan"s case, most of them were from the gym that he works, while others were relatives that he wasn"t familiar with.
And because Nathan was a new face and came from the city, it was unavoidable that there were also a few women who would secretly glance at him as well, while others purposely try to catch his attention.
Unfortunately for them, Nathan paid those women no heed.
Aside from the fact that the wound on his heart was still fresh as ever even after 2 months, he was well-aware that he wasn"t someone special.
He knew for a fact that he was just someone who happened to grow up in the city and there were millions of others like him.
And plus, he may be special here, but that soon will fade over time.
Sakhr heartily ate almost all of the oily and sweet dishes that he picked out.
Nathan, on the other hand, despite having a delicious meal, had no appet.i.te and couldn"t focus on eating because he was worried his grandfather would have a heart attack any second.
Fortunately, even after they finished eating, no heart attack or any attack whatsoever happened. His grandfather was as healthy as ever.
"Brat, let"s go somewhere else."
"Grandfather?"
"You heard me. Let"s go."
"But grandfather, we can"t leave uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam here. They --"
"p.u.s.s.y!" Sakhr got up from his seat. "For someone who"s big and tall, you have no b.a.l.l.s. No wonder you got f.u.c.ked over."
Sakhr walked away.
Hearing what his grandfather said, Nathan couldn"t help but cursed inside.
"This f.u.c.king old man! G.o.d! All I want is to have a peaceful time yet I have to deal with this!"
Helpless, he had no choice but to follow his grandfather.
Nathan and Sakhr were now far away from the church and there were only a handful of people could be seen pa.s.sing by.
"Give me a stick."
"A stick?"
"A cigarette, you idiot. I know you always carry a pack with you."
Ever since the break-up, the number of sticks that Nathan smokes per day increased so he had no choice but to keep a pack with him at all times.
Before the break-up, it was only 3 sticks a day. But now, it was close to 10 sticks a day.
Nathan"s eyes widened.
"Grandfather, you"ve just eaten those unhealthy foods. If you --"
"Give one to me right now!"
Nathan closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"What does it matter? He already those unhealthy foods anyway. Plus, if he gets a heart attack, it"s not my fault. I"m simply being a "supportive" grandson who bows down to his grandfather"s desires."
Nathan pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pockets and pa.s.sed them to his grandfather.
Sakhr lit one before returning the pack and lighter to Nathan.
He closed his eyes as he blew a mouthful of smoke in the air, savoring the taste of the cigarette.
"Oh yes… That"s it… Yeah… that"s really good…"
Nathan couldn"t but feel weird hearing those words coming from his grandfather. But at the same time, he also couldn"t help but feel pity.
"Is he this deprived?"
"Go get a bottle of soda. Make sure it"s ice-cold."
"What flav--"
"Just get me one. Hurry up!"
Nathan went back to the church to get two bottles of soda.
He returned to where he left his grandfather and gave him the other one.
"Ahhh…. Perfect. Now this is life," said Sakhr with a cigarette on one hand and the soda on the other.
By now, Nathan didn"t say anything. There was no point anyway. What"s done is done.
"What are you moping about? It"s not like a person can live forever."
Nathan remained silent.
"Brat, why didn"t you ask for that woman"s number? I provided you an opportunity but you stammered like a f.a.ggot. You"re not a f.a.ggot, are you?"
Nathan looked over at his grandfather with a curious expression.
"I wonder if uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam ever thought of killing or just wishing this grandfather of mine would just die."
"So, are you a f.a.ggot? Answer me, brat!"
"I wonder how will I be when I grow old. Would I be this annoying?"
"You"re like your father. I had to get him a wife just so that he can get married. Sometimes I wonder if that father of yours is really my son…"
Arranged marriage was a common practice in the South Muwinian culture, thanks to their religion.
The groom will have to offer a dowry to the bride"s parents to ask for the bride"s hand in marriage. If the dowry isn"t enough or if the parents don"t like the groom, the parents of the bride can reject the groom"s proposal to marry their daughter.
Hearing what his grandfather said, Nathan couldn"t help but roll his eyes.
"What is this old geezer talking about? No matter how you look at it, father and uncle look like you!"
"So tell me, are you a f.a.ggot?"
"Grandfather…" Nathan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I"m not."
"Then why didn"t you ask for her number then? Don"t tell me you"re still b.u.t.thurt from that North Muwinian woman?"
"What? No! There"s no way in h.e.l.l I"m getting back with that b.i.t.c.h!" Nathan accidentally raised his voice and then thought, "My grandfather knows the word "b.u.t.thurt"?"
"Oh, I get it now. Because of your experience, you don"t want to talk to women anymore? How"s that any different from being a f.a.ggot? Are you seriously planning to spend the rest of your life with your right hand?"
Sakhr made a lewd gesture with his right hand.
Nathan clenched his fists. He seriously wanted to punch his grandfather already.
Since he arrived here, no one tried to confront him directly about what happened 2 months ago.
Even his uncle Mabrook and aunt Mariam were careful not to mention anything about it.
"Hahahaha!" Sakhr had a wide grin plastered on his face. "Good! Good! That"s what a real man is! Do what you want! Say what you want! Take what you want! Society must bow down to you, not the other way around!"
"What?"
To Nathan, such thinking was absurd.
As a person living in society, there are certain rules that people must to follow, especially the average ones like himself.
"You know what"s your problem? You overthink things, making you indecisive. A real man must have a clear sense of direction about his desires and must do anything to take it, even if it means stepping on others."
"G.o.d… This grandfather of mine must be a world-cla.s.s b.a.s.t.a.r.d…" Nathan thought.
"But I swear to G.o.d, if you turned out to be a f.a.ggot, I will shoot you myself. And even if you turned out to be one after I"m dead, I will rise from the grave just to shoot you. Remember, the Makhad family has no gay men!"
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Yep, he"s really a world-cla.s.s b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Although Nathan wasn"t a saint or a psychopath, part of being a so-called lone wolf left him trapped in this limbo between being his true self and being a "good" citizen.
By default, he didn"t want to deal with any of that political and social drama.
However, no man is truly an island.
Sure, he could choose to leave the modern world and live his life alone in some deserted island or whatsoever.
But that would mean not enjoying the benefits that the modern world has to offer.
There were books he wanted to read.
There were shows he wanted to watch.
There were foods he wanted to eat.
There were gadgets he wanted to play with.
There were things he wanted to try or at least have.
If he was some rich b.a.s.t.a.r.d that could afford anything, perhaps that would be possible.
But as an average Joe, he had to work to earn money so he has no choice but to deal with people and engage with their political and social dramas.
Perhaps one day if he becomes rich enough, the true lone wolf lifestyle that he desires may be possible to achieve -- or at least something close to that.
"But I guess..."
Given his grandfather"s age, he concluded that there was no doubt that Sakhr had seen and learned a lot of things. Surely he had some great advice to give.
And plus, having the society bow down to you instead of the other way around? As absurd and crazy it may sound, to a young man like Nathan, that kind of logic seemed so bold, daring and… free.
"Grandfather, you"ve lived a long life. What"s the purpose of a person"s life?"
Author"s thoughts:
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
Hi, sorry for posting so long. I was having a hard time writing a flashback arc. I think I rewrote the first 4 chapters thrice before finally posting them. Well, as much as possible, I prefer to post an official chapter here at Webnovel once I have at least a chapter draft that I"m more or less satisfied with to post on P-t-r-e-o-n.
To those people who voted with their power stones, I would like to thank these Power Immortal Voters:
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I wrote "Unofficial Third Seat Power Immortal" because 7Life7Sky and MyRedeemerLives have the same total power stones at the moment.
Hmm...I wonder who will win between the two of them? I can"t wait to see. LOL
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The first immortal position is to become one of my Immortal Patrons at P-t-r-e-o-n and have access to my "chapter drafts" for only $5 a month.
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Please note that to view my P-t-r-e-o-n page, you need to enter the link I posted above and replace the asterisk symbols with the appropriate words. My page doesn"t appear on the search list because it"s marked with adult content. Moreover, the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when I will publish them here, there will be some edits.
By the way, I also posted the draft of [Chapter 109] to [Chapter 112] there.
With that, I want to give my special thanks to the Immortal Patron(s) for January 2019:
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The second immortal position is becoming an Immortal Donator by sending it to my PayPal address.
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Thank you once again and I"ll see you in the next chapter.