CHAPTER 443: COMFORT [2]

When Zaque walked inside the house, he felt like there was something wrong almost immediately.

Usually, whenever he gets back from work, he would be able to hear Heiren shouting for someone quite enthusiastically over the table, but tonight, it was quiet.

He walked over to the kitchen and looked inside the room, only to find it empty.

There was a pot on top of the magical stove so he walked over and peered over the transparent lid of the pot to check what Heiren was cooking.

Why is Heiren cooking Coco’s favorite dish..? Zaque wondered and narrowed his eyes.

From what Zaque could remember, Heiren had already planned what he would cook for dinner yesterday and it was not a marinated pork belly.

Ding!

Zaque whipped his head towards the oven, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline in surprise.

He walked over to the magical appliance and crouched down to check what Heiren placed inside, only to blink in confusion when he saw that it was a dish he’s quite unfamiliar with and had never seen before.

There are two ovens inside the kitchen, one for Zaque’s baking endeavours and one for Heiren.

However, Heiren rarely uses the oven.

Speaking of which, where is the chef himself? Why is he not keeping an eye on the food he was cooking?

Zaque stood up and placed the bag he was carrying on the dining table, leaving it there before he exited the room and made his way towards the staircase.

He walked to Heiren’s room, his footsteps light and quiet.

As he got closer, the unsettling feeling he felt when he first got inside the house got worse.

He stopped in front of Heiren’s bedroom and raised a knuckle to knock, but he promptly stopped when he heard a door opening from his left— from Coco’s room.

He turned his head and looked, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw Heiren walking out of Coco’s room.

"What are you doing?" Zaque asked, unable to stop himself from doing so and immediately got upset. "Why are you inside our wife’s room?"

Heiren closed the door behind him and frowned. "Because she wanted me to take some clothes for her to use."

"Coco did?" Zaque raised an eyebrow and faced him.

"Yeah." Heiren answered and walked over to Zaque. "Anyway, welcome home. I didn’t hear you come in.. Did you just arrive?"

Zaque moved out of Heiren’s way as the second husband made his way to his door and swung it open right before he was about to answer, then what he saw inside of Heiren’s room made him freeze on his spot.

Coco was buried under Heiren’s cover, but her head was peeking out from the foot of his bed.

"Heiren! You—" Zaque immediately felt himself seething and fortunately, he stopped as soon as he noticed Coco looking at him. "You.. You lovely mediator! Haha.."

The first husband laughed nervously and invited himself inside of Heiren’s bedroom, not bothering to ask permission if he could come inside the room and stalked his way over to the bed.

Heiren was already kneeling beside Coco at this point and placed the clothes he had in his hands.

"Here you go." The brown haired mediator hummed out and reached out to touch Coco’s head, ruffling her hair with a small smile. "Me and Zaque will be down by the kitchen, okay? Take your time freshening yourself."

"Okay.." Coco mumbled, nodding her head.

Zaque eyed Heiren like he had grown two heads, but he didn’t protest when his friend grabbed him and dragged him out of the room.

"I’ll bring your dinner here." Heiren called before he closed the door. "So you don’t have to come down to the kitchen."

Coco didn’t answer and simply continued laying on the bed lifelessly so Heiren let out a chuckle as he closed the door behind him.

"What was that?" Zaque asked as soon as Heiren dragged him towards the staircase.

"Coco wasn’t feeling well and asked if she could stay in my room." The brown haired mediator stated bluntly, his brown eyes squinting into a glare in Zaque’s way. "You better not make a fuss about her sleeping with me tonight."

Zaque’s eyes went wide and his lips parted.

"Sleeping? She asked you if she can sleep beside you?" Zaque inquired, not believing that Coco would ask the question herself.

He had slept beside Coco a couple of times now, but Coco didn’t ask him if he could sleep beside her— it was always a gut feeling, and each time that he did sleep beside her, Coco didn’t comment on it.

"Just because she asked me first, doesn’t mean that she can’t do it." Heiren huffed and rolled his eyes.

"That’s not what I mean.." Zaque murmured, frowning.

"I know, but from the tone you used on me.. It sounded like you don’t believe me, nor Coco to be honest." Heiren retorted and glared at Zaque.

Zaque sighed and shook his head. "No.. I’m sorry."

Heiren huffed and crossed his arms. "Apology accepted, but again, she doesn’t feel well so it would be best if we don’t let others bother her for the rest of the night."

"Is she sick?" Zaque tilted his head, his nose scrunching up in wonder.

"No.. But she cried earlier.. And I consider that as her having a bad day so in short, she’s unwell." Heiren rebutted, flashing Zaque a smile that looked a little too smug for Zaque’s liking.

Zaque rolled his eyes and moved to descend the stairs. "Whatever, I’ll just go ahead and bake something good to lift her spirit up."

"I love how we both thought of feeding her something that she would like to offer her some comfort." Heiren chuckled and followed suit, his own footsteps quiet against the stair steps.

"Maybe a hot chocolate would be good, too?" Zaque wondered aloud, humming.

"Let’s just give everything she likes and let her choose what she wants." Heiren stated, leaving no room for argument nor refusal.