Shades of the New World

Chapter 189: Ssatsko's mystery partner

Evin wondered what he should say as he walked inside Ssatsko's apartment, after a small greeting to the guard. He knew that Ssatsko's close quarter combat classes happened in the early morning, so as long as he wasn't out, Evin should find him home.

Evin knocked on the door and listened for sounds inside to know whether anyone was inside. Weirdly, Evin didn't hear the usually calm footsteps from inside, but the sounds of stifled panic. Listening closely, Evin could also hear sounds of someone else's footsteps.

'Who's he getting on with in there, anyway,' Evin thought with amusement and waited patiently.

'And what's with me always catching people naked or doing something private? That Cobfolk, the instructor, and now even my own grandfather'

In actuality, Ssatsko wasn't that old. Probably passing his forties, which was similar to a 50s man on Earth. But that didn't mean he was old enough to be completely free from potential relationships. Now that he thought about Ssatsko's relationship, he realized that he never heard about his grandmother from his mother's side. As for Theor's parents, they were already dead, unfortunately.

Half a minute later, Ssatsko came out from behind the door, prim and proper. Perhaps a bit too formal compared to usual. It was pretty obvious the man was hiding someone inside, since normally, he would almost always invite Evin inside.

"Sorry, if I'm interrupting something," Evin said sheepishly.

"No, nothing. At any rate, what brought you here?" Ssatsko asked with a poker face.

"I just got a 10 day break starting tomorrow. Thought I should go back to town with Arza, so I was wondering if you wanted to come along," Evin asked.

"Sure, I'd love to. I'll go ask the headmaster to arrange a replacement for me It should be fine since I've been covering for this other instructor a few times. When are we going?" Ssatsko replied after thinking a bit. Though when he said the word 'going', Evin could see him grimace slightly as his eyes briefly darted into his room.

"Tomorrow morning, at my place Also, could you come over here for a bit," Evin beckoned Ssatsko closer.

"Uh, sure," the old man replied and went out, closing the door behind him.

Evin wanted to grill him about the person inside immediately, but he had something more important to discuss first.

"Uhh, could you not tell mom and dad about how I melted? I'll tell them about the Time Bomb, but not the other stuff" Evin asked.

"Sure, but what about Arza?" Ssatsko asked.

"Shouldn't he not know?" Evin asked back, confused. He thought that the boy was unconscious during all that.

"Ah, I guess you're right Unless Karan told him about it at some point."

"I don't think he would say something like that so to a kid but I'll ask him later to make sure of it," Evin said with a frown.

"Well, if you're finished, I'll see you tomorrow morning," Ssatsko said and tried to go back inside.

'Ah, now I want to tease him a bit What if I insist on getting inside his room?' Evin snickered inside his head, seeing the old man hurry so much.

'Hmm, but I don't really wanna bully him too much And it's a bit of a pain, anyway,' he decided after thinking that playing games like these were a bit of a hassle. But it didn't mean he wasn't interested in the subject.

"By the way, who do you have in your room?" he still asked with a smirk.

Ssatsko paused abruptly and looked back at Evin, seemingly wondering how he should respond. After a brief struggle he sighed with resignation.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you about it my private life, don't you think so?" Ssatsko replied in a surprisingly defensive tone.

"Do you have a teen in there or something? What's going on?" Evin asked, his curiosity rising. He knew that as a man aged their sexual preferences tended to get younger and younger. He just hoped it didn't apply to his grandfather. And even if it did, he hoped his grandfather was rational enough to kill it.

"No-no-no. She's aged enough. Don't worry about it. If something more happens, you'll naturally know about it," Ssatsko said, still defensive.

'Who calls a woman aged enough? Does he mean old enough? If that's so, then it sounds even more suspicious,' Evin thought.

"Well, alright. Tell her that she's welcome to come along," Evin replied and turned back towards the exit. 

"Uh, I will. Goodbye," Ssatsko said awkwardly and hurried back inside.

'Damn, now I really wanna see who it is,' Evin cursed in his head. His old stalking habits were flaring up. There was literally no way for Ssatsko to stop him from spying if he tried hard enough. 

But with some effort, he was able to rein them in and give his grandfather some privacy. Evin reminded himself that he wasn't a spirit anymore, so he couldn't just impose himself upon another person's life without their permission.

Walking back to his mansion, Evin wondered who the woman was.

'Since he's saying stuff like something more happening, then it most likely means that they've been dating for a long enough time and that he's rather serious about it.'

Evin wasn't worried about Ssatsko's partner being a teen or worse, the old man didn't seem to lie about that part. But Evin was pretty confident that the woman was relatively young, perhaps someone around his mother's age. 

'But comparing it to Lora's age is bit weird,' he thought with a frown.

Evin's first guess was that it was someone from Ssatsko's work, perhaps another instructor for children. As for how they ended up...

"Is my grandpa a ladies' man? He is fairly fit and handsome, now that I think about it. Hmm, I mean, him being good with women is fine and all, but why is he so defensive about it all?" Evin murmured as he walked.

Well, in the end, even if there was an age gap, it didn't matter since Ssatsko was healthy enough. Obviously it would be nice if they were the same age, so the woman didn't have to take care of an aging Ssatsko.

However, Evin really wasn't really the right person who could talk about age difference in a relationship. Evin didn't know what kind of romance will he be having, but he was pretty sure that his age and his future lover's age would have a huge difference. It was infinitely more likely that their age would have a three-century gap rather than a few measly decades.

When Evin was reminded of his own love life, he couldn't help but frown slightly. On one hand, he was pretty sure it was going to happen suddenly, while on the other hand, Evin was a goddamn seven year old. 

'Eh, whatever I'll worry about it later,' Evin thought idly.

After he got home, Evin met with Rith, who was idly waiting on his bed.

"Now that you're done studying with Nasst, finally, we can focus on the World of Space," Rith said immediately.

Hearing her serious and serene tone, Evin gathered his stray thoughts and neatly put them away.

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