Zach dropped by his apartment to get some of his things.
He looked at Torin"s door across the hall and decided to drop by and check on Torin first. Besides, he had not properly thanked him for saving his life.
He knew Torin"s pa.s.sword, and he was used to just opening his door without ringing the doorbell. So, this time, he also did the same.
As soon as he stepped inside, he was startled to see Lyra standing in the living room. It looked like she was startled too as she stood frozen in her spot while she looked at him with her mouth agape. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you here? Haven"t you moved into my apartment already?"
Lyra gulped down hard and quickly nodded. Torin, who just came from the kitchen, greeted Zach as soon as he saw him. He went to him and said, as he hugged him, "Bro, why are you here? Sit, and I"ll get you some snacks."
Zach sat down on the couch and answered, "I"m just here to get some stuff from my apartment." Then he s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to Lyra and repeated his question, "What are you doing here?"
Lyra, who had now regained her composure, smiled and said, "Oh, I"m here to see if he needs anything. I cook for him once in a while. He saved your life, so it"s the least that I could do."
She exchanged meaningful glances with Torin, who was now in the middle of preparing a sandwich and a gla.s.s of juice for Zach. Torin signaled Lyra to leave them alone, and the latter followed as she bid her farewell to Zach, "Big bro, I will just go ahead and leave now. I still need to check some case files." Zach nodded.
"Here, bro, eat something… You still need to gain some more weight to get back to your previous weight," Torin said as he put down the sandwich and a gla.s.s of juice down in front of Zach.
Zach accepted it and ate heartily while he informed Torin of his plan, "I already went to the base to file my resignation. I will make a few endors.e.m.e.nts for my replacement and hand over things in several weeks."
"I see. So you really will be focusing on your business now? Hmm, good luck, bro… I hope you"ll enjoy it and succeed in it. But in case you miss us and want to become a soldier again, you can always come back. You know, a lot of the high ranking officers have also endorsed you to be the successor of Field Marshal Chan," Torin told him while looking so dejected.
Torin was sad that Zach was leaving the military. He would definitely miss to see his bro in action. Zach was unquestionably the best superior Torin had ever had. This was also the reason why he was willing to s.h.i.+eld him from Leon"s bullets without a second thought. Because he knew, Zach would also do the same for him, or any of his subordinates.
Torin then sat next to Zach and asked, "Bro, can I have just one request from you?"
Zach furrowed his brow, hearing the seriousness in Torin"s voice. He looked back at him and answered sternly, "Yes. Anything you need. I owe you my life, and I"m really thankful. However, hopefully, that would be the last time you would do such a thing, Torin. I don"t want you to do that ever again. But, thank you, bro..."
Torin did not know how to respond to that. Seeing the sincerity in Zach"s eyes made him want to cry. He looked down and murmured, "Nah, whatever you say, you know I will do the same thing over and over again. You are my brother, and you"ll soon be my brother-in-law."
"Huh? What!?" Zach asked as he stared at Torin in disbelief.
Then he frowned and glared at him, "Who?"
Torin flinched and quickly answered, "Lyra! Lyra, of course! Bro, Rizie is a toddler!"
Then he carefully added when Zach didn"t respond at all and was just looking at him with a frown, "Bro, I know you are in shock, right now, but I"m dead serious. I love Lyra, for quite a while now, and I intend to marry her. I"m serious about her, and I"m willing to do anything for you to accept me as your brother-in-law. Just tell me what I need to do."
Zach heard each and every word, but he was really fl.u.s.tered and was not able to react. He did not expect it. A lot of things must have happened when he was missing.
"Who else knew?" he asked after a few moments. "Mom already knew, and she told me to ask for your permission first…" Torin quickly replied.
"Your Mom? My Mom?" Zach puzzled.
"Bro! Your mom, of course! Why would my mom tell me to ask for your permission first? Oh, yeah, you probably didn"t notice because you"ve been busy with all the things that you have to take care of since you"re back, but I call your mom "Mom" too, now..." Torin answered.
Then there was silence again. Zach"s face was unreadable. Then he suddenly looked at Torin with narrowed eyes and remarked out of nowhere, "You said Rizie is a toddler. Keira and Rizie are of the same age. Are you saying I married a toddler? Or I"m a dirty old man?"
"No, bro! That"s not what I meant. I said it because don"t you think it was obvious that I was talking about Lyra? Gosh, how could it be Rizie? Rizie is an immature lady," complained Torin. He could not believe Zach would even think of him having a romantic relations.h.i.+p with a juvenile like Rizie.
"How would I know who among my sisters? You joked around with both of them, like an immature man!" Zach retorted. He really had no clue whether it was Rizie or Lyra.
After he could finally digest the information, he recalled how Torin loved to troll around and used to prank him, so Zach could not help but want to let his friend taste his own dose of medicine.
"This has been a surprise, Torin. I never expected this. You know that I love you like a brother and I trust you. But I also know what a flirt you could be. Didn"t you also like Lana before? I"m telling you, Torin, if you"re only fooling around with Lyra or if you ever hurt her, then our brotherhood will be put in jeopardy. I don"t have anything against you… However, it doesn"t mean that I will accept you to be my brother-in-law just like that. Let me talk to Lyra first…" Zach said in a solemn voice before he stood up to leave.
"Bro, I said I will marry Lyra… I"m not fooling around with your sister. I have always liked her, I want to marry her, and I will never hurt her. So take back that word "jeopardy"…" Torin a.s.serted because he felt Zach was taking him lightly.
Zach just scoffed while he was trying to hide his grin, and said, "Yeah, I heard you. So I said, let me talk to Lyra first. Then I"ll see what you need to do for me to accept you as my brother-in-law. Honestly, I feel very conflicted about this. Are you sure this is not because you want to be a part of my family badly? I can always adopt you as my brother, Torin. I actually prefer to have you as my brother to brother-in-law."
"Brooooo…" Torin cried of exasperation. "You said I can request anything from you! Well, there"s nothing more that I wanted than to become your brother-in-law!" Torin complained, almost teary-eyed.