Chương 43: Names

Ch 43 - Names The Foundation Gala finally drew to a close as midnight approached. Guests gradually dispersed, their vehicles disappearing through the estate gates while aircraft lifted into the night sky. Evan and Reid boarded Carmen's helicopter for the trip back to the academy. Exhausted by the event, Evan barely managed to stay awake before sleep overtook him. His head slowly slumped against Reid's broad shoulder as the rotors droned overhead.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself cradled in someone's arms.

Looking up, he was greeted by the familiar bespectacled face of his father. Another dream? Perhaps because it was the second time he had experienced one of these vivid memories, he was far more aware of his surroundings. His father sat comfortably on a sofa, softly humming to himself while feeding baby Evan a bottle of milk. Reid was nowhere to be seen, nor was their mother. Knock. Knock.

"A guest?" his father murmured. He gently pulled the bottle away and set it on the coffee table, prompting an immediate protest from baby Evan. Chuckling quietly, he gave the infant a reassuring pat on the back before walking over to answer the door. Standing outside was Chairman Choi. Unlike the elderly man Evan had met at the gala, he still retained much of his dark hair, though faint streaks of gray had already begun creeping in around his temples. His stern expression, however, remained exactly the same.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Evan's father asked.

"Is it now forbidden for a father to visit his own son?" Chairman Choi replied evenly.

"I thought it was time I met my second grandson." Without waiting for an invitation, Chairman Choi stepped inside. Evan's father frowned but moved aside, allowing the unexpected guest to enter. After closing the door behind him, the chairman sat across from him. The older man looked around the apartment. His sharp gaze swept over the simple furniture and the various household items filling the small space before finally settling on baby Evan, who had already gone back to happily drinking from his bottle.

"What is his name?" Chairman Choi asked.

"Evan. Evan Whitfield," his father answered. Chairman Choi frowned.

"Again? I had hoped you'd learned your lesson. Are you truly so childish that you're still clinging to this tantrum?"

"Tantrum?" his father repeated.

"I'm simply using the names my wife and I agreed upon. And what's wrong with them taking her surname?"

"You're depriving your children of their birthright," Chairman Choi said.

"Both of them should have been members of the Choi family. Had you allowed it, I would have gladly named my grandsons myself. Instead, you've burdened them with these names."

"I happen to think they're great names," his father replied, a stubborn scowl settling across his face.

"You named your first son Reid despite the boy having nothing but black hair." His father merely shrugged.

"We thought he'd inherit Elena's red hair. By the time we realized otherwise, the name had already stuck. Besides, what's wrong with Reid?"

"His name should have been Choi Hyun-su. And this one should have been Choi In-ho."

"For someone who opposed my marriage to Elena so fiercely, you certainly seem to care an awful lot about her sons."

"They are still my grandsons," Chairman Choi replied.

"Unlike you, who insist on clinging to this childish rebellion and denying them what is rightfully theirs, I am thinking of their future."

"Their future?" His father's expression hardened.

"According to who? You? Enough, Father. I've already made my decision. If you came all this way just to lecture me again, then you should leave."

"Choi Yong-joon," Chairman Choi said, his voice turning cold.

"I am giving you one final opportunity."

"You can keep your opportunity," his father said, turning away. Chairman Choi showed no reaction to the rejection and continued.

"Divorce your wife and return to the family. Your sons can grow up at the family estate, and as for your wife, I don't mind allowing her to return to the Districts. I'll even cover all of her medical expenses, provided she keeps her distance from you." His father let out a humorless laugh.

"And then what? You expect me to go back and marry some woman you've picked out for me?" He shook his head.

"Have you lost your mind? No. I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm not changing it. Please leave, Father." Silence settled over the room as the two men locked eyes. The tension grew heavier with every passing second, so thick that Evan half expected one of them to throw a punch. Then a small voice broke the standoff.

"Father?" Young Reid came downstairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Reid." His father's stern expression softened.

"Did we wake you? How's your mother?"

"Mother's still sleeping."

"Good." His father forced a smile.

"We're just finishing up here. He'll be leaving soon." He shot Chairman Choi a pointed look, and after a long moment, the older man finally rose from his seat. Instead of heading for the door, however, he approached Reid, who looked up at the imposing figure without the slightest hint of fear.

"It's been a while," the chairman said as he lowered himself into a crouch until they were eye level.

"Do you still remember me?" The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Reid glanced toward his father. The man only let out a tired sigh and remained silent, leaving Reid to turn back to the older man.

"Yes, Grandfather." Chairman Choi gave a small nod.

"Would you like to spend more time with your grandfather? I could take you inside the barrier. Aren't you curious what it's like? If you'd like, I can even show you the Tower." Tilting his head, Reid studied him quietly for several long seconds. Evan almost laughed. Did Chairman Choi really think such a flimsy offer would work? It might have swayed an ordinary child, but Reid was the reincarnation of the Legendary Demon Hunter. He had lived for decades and was mentally older than the man crouching before him.

A gentle smile spread across Reid's face.

"No. I want to stay with Father and Mother." For the briefest moment, disappointment flickered across Chairman Choi's face before his familiar stoic mask returned. He reached out and ruffled Reid's hair.

"Very well. But if you ever change your mind, let me know." He then turned and walked out, the front door clicking shut behind him and leaving the house quiet once more. His father released a long, weary sigh before sinking back onto the sofa.

"Father." Reid walked over and looked up at him with concern.

"I'm sorry about that," his father said.

"Did we wake you?"

"No. I woke up on my own." He climbed onto the sofa beside him. Meanwhile, baby Evan remained blissfully oblivious to the tense atmosphere, happily drinking from his bottle as though nothing had happened.

"Father..." Reid hesitated.

"Do you and Grandfather... not get along? Should I stay away from him?" His father shook his head.

"No. This is between him and me. It's an issue between adults." Reid continued studying his father's face.

"But he makes you angry... and sad." His father chuckled softly before patting him on the head.

"You're far too observant for your age." A smile tugged at his lips.

"But like I said, this is something the adults have to sort out on our own. You don't have to keep your distance from him because of me. He's still your grandpa, after all." He paused for a moment before adding, "If he ever offers to take you inside the barrier again, you should go. I think you'd have a good time." Reid only nodded, and finally the dream dissolved.

[Memory Synchronization Progress: 30%] When Evan blinked his eyes open, his mind was still reeling from the flood of memories he'd inherited from his other self. They gave him a much more thorough understanding of the past, though they still hadn't reached the events from ten years ago. His thoughts were soon interrupted when he realized he was lying in his bed at the academy. Hold on... Didn't I fall asleep inside the helicopter? His gaze darted around the room. There was no mistaking it.

He was definitely back in his dorm, not inside the aircraft. Did someone carry me all the way here? A culprit immediately came to mind. Evan buried his face into his pillow and let out a muffled scream. Stupid Reid! That old man kept forgetting Evan was already seventeen, not some helpless child. Being treated like a baby made him want to tear his hair out. Wait… Did Carmen see that? He scrambled for his phone. Sure enough, there were several unread messages from Carmen.

With a growing sense of dread, he opened the chat and found a series of photos waiting for him. [Look at this sleeping beauty.] Attached was a picture of Reid carrying him on his back. At least Reid hadn't been carrying him bridal style, but it was still mortifying for someone his age. [Delete that!] Evan typed back. About a minute later, Carmen replied. [Nope. It's going into my collection of dark histories.] [I'll appear in one of your videos if you delete all of them!] [Ha! You think these photos are that cheap? Maybe I'll delete one for each appearance.] [You said you were my friend!] [Exactly. If I wasn't, I would've uploaded them to ByteChan already. Those guys would've had a field day seeing the great F-rank who defeated an A-rank sleeping like a baby.] Evan growled, clenching his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Damn you, Reid!" he shouted at the heavens. Despite his best efforts, Evan couldn't convince Carmen to delete the photos. In the end, he accepted the inevitable. So what if there was a picture of Reid carrying him around on Carmen's phone? So what if it one day escaped into the wild and spread across the internet? It didn't matter. Dignity was a finite resource, and he'd already spent most of his years ago. As long as he had no shame, there was nothing anyone could use against him.

After successfully reorganizing his thoughts around that philosophy, Evan finally got moving. With the gala taking up all of yesterday and him sleeping in much later than usual, he only had half the day left to enjoy his break. Naturally, he decided to invite Hiroto for another gaming session, but when he asked where the other boy was, the reply caught him completely off guard. [I'm at our usual private training room.] Curious, Evan headed over and found Hiroto already hard at work.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he continued his workout.

"What are you doing?" Evan asked.

"Don't you remember we beat Reika already?" Pausing in the middle of his sit-up set, Hiroto wiped the sweat from his brow before answering.

"I know, but I can't just stop now, can I? Didn't you say I still have plenty of room to improve?"

"I did, but I figured you'd spend the break actually relaxing." Evan tilted his head.

"What's got you in such a hurry?"

"I need to get stronger. Faster." Evan narrowed his eyes. It took only a moment for the pieces to fall into place.

"Is this because of what happened at the beach?" Hiroto nodded.

"Reika was right. Us beating her in that unfair match doesn't really mean much. I still have a long way to go before I can start acting like her big brother." Evan crossed his arms, once again reminded that Hiroto was simply too nice for his own good. If it had been Evan, he would've cut ties with Reika after everything she'd pulled. That said, if wanting to protect his little sister was what pushed Hiroto to improve, it was hard to argue with the results. The only downside was that he'd just lost his gaming buddy.

He could always play on his Orion Deck, but he'd already run out of games that interested him, and nothing else sounded particularly appealing. With a resigned sigh, he lowered himself onto the floor and began stretching.

"You're joining me?" Hiroto's face lit up.

"That's awesome, Evan! We should definitely train together more, especially with the Frontier Field Exercise coming up."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Evan grumbled. The relaxing school festival was over, and the academy would soon be sending them beyond the Tower's protection for the Frontier Field Exercise. Once again, Evan would have to venture outside the safety of the Districts. They weren't just heading to the Outskirts this time. Their destination lay even farther out in the Wildlands. Evan pulled up his System window and stared at the ominous line. The Curse of ■■■■■■ You'd better not act up again.

The System had the audacity to reply: [(^o~)]