The Blue Eyes

"Don't you have any friends?" He asked the other person in the room.

The other person was currently sitting on the floor while staring seriously at a laptop on top of the coffee table.

"Do I need to have a friend, Uncle?"

Kris rolled his eyes at the response. Blue sometimes was still so apathetic that he wasn't able to tolerate it. Kevin often told him that Blue had changed to be a better person, but Kris knew that Blue only changed when she was with her own family. Outside the home, Blue was still the same.

The girl was still not letting other people enter her heart. The girl's previous answer proved that his assumption was right. Kris didn't have any clue about how to persuade the girl to be more open when she was outside the barrier.

The uncle-niece pair were in the orphanage now. They were lazing around in the living room. Kris was lying on the sofa, while Blue was sitting on the floor and busy with her laptop. Oh, Blue was not lazing around. She was searching for a mining company on the internet.

Kevin dropped Kris in the orphanage before he went to Derek Dawson's mansion. Kris initially forced Kevin to bring him to the mansion, but his lover still insisted on going alone.

Kris didn't know his lover's plan, but he trusted him wholeheartedly. Yeah, even though he was still a bit upset about yesterday's incident when Kevin ruled him out of his plan, but he was finally able to accept his lover's decision.

"You need to open your heart to other people, Blue. It's not enough to only having me, Kevin, and also Jack. We are not always around you, and you need other people as well."

Speaking of Jack, the tattooed man was nowhere to be seen. The man went out in the morning and hadn't come back yet. It was already noon, but there was still no news from the blonde man. Perhaps Jack was enjoying the sunny day out there.

"Having only you and Brother Kevin is enough for me, Uncle," the young girl replied.

Kris was a bit puzzled because Blue didn't include Jack's name on the list. He thought Blue and Jack were close enough, so he was surprised because Blue left the man's name behind.

"Do you love Kevin so much, Blue?"

The unexpected question from Kris halted Blue's movement. She then turned around and frowned at his uncle, who was lying on the sofa behind her. "Why did you ask that all of a sudden, Uncle?" She asked curiously.

Kris was in doubt for a moment. Jack's story about Blue flashed in his mind like fragments on a movie, and he couldn't help but feel the insecurity.

He shifted his gaze away from his niece, and his hooded eyes seemed unfocused while staring at the dull wall. Blue noticed the strange gesture, and her frown got deeper.

"Are you jealous, Uncle?"

Now, it was Kris's turn to be shocked by the sudden question coming from his beautiful niece. He looked back at Blue as his eyes widened. Did Blue just read his mind?

"Blue," Kris called out the girl's name as he brought his big body to sit. He hesitated for a moment before continued, "Do you know the relationship between me and Kevin?"

Blue was no longer frowning and now she was smirking. "Brother Kevin had told me about your relationship," she answered calmly. "And even if none of you told me about that, I would surely know because you two are so obvious."

Kris seemed nervous as he drew his gaze away from the younger girl and scratched his head randomly.

Blue just shrugged and went back to her laptop. "You didn't jealous of me, did you, Uncle?" She asked again without looking at her uncle.

Kris's eyes widened, and he gulped nervously. "W-why should I be jealous of you, Blue?" He stuttered for a bit when he asked back.

"It's good if you're not jealous, Uncle," Blue replied. "I only love Brother Kevin as my older brother. I swear that I don't have any romantic feeling toward him."

Kris felt guilty now. Seeing how casual Blue was when they were talking about Kevin, he knew for sure that Blue didn't harbor any romantic feelings toward the scientist. He felt bad for acting cold toward the young girl when he just came back from the island. It was all Jack's fault. He would confront Jack later.

"I'm sorry, Blue."

Blue's fingers movement on the laptop keyboard paused upon hearing her uncle apologized. "It's okay, Uncle," she replied without turning back. "I know that you love Brother Kevin so much. It's normal for you to feel jealous. I've been with Brother Kevin for so many years, after all."

Kris felt silent, and he felt more guilty after hearing Blue's words. The girl was so mature and wise. How could he get angry with the innocent girl before? He should've trusted his niece and never doubted her. Blue was a nice niece, and he was so lucky to have her as his only relative now.

"But, Uncle," Blue suddenly broke the silence again. "Did you fall in love with Brother Kevin at the first sight? I noticed your loving gaze toward him since day one."

Again, Kris's eyes widened in surprise. His face felt hot, and he was blushing now.

"You noticed my loving gaze since day one, but you still accused me of having malicious intent toward him?" The older man asked to neutralize his nervousness.

The girl was not turning her body to him, but he could hear she was giggling now. "It was fun to tease you, Uncle," she replied. "That was not really a tease, but more like a test. I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't break my brother's heart. I knew that my brother was also attracted to you since day one."

Their conversations were getting interesting, and Kris's eyes sparkled after he heard Blue's sentence. "Kevin was attracted to me since day one?" He asked enthusiastically. "But he was annoyed by me back then. He always glared at me and scolded me. I thought he hated me at first."

Blue rolled her eyes and rested her chin on her palm. "You're too naive, Uncle," she casually replied. "If Brother Kevin wasn't attracted to you from the start, then he wouldn't trust you wholeheartedly. He really trusted you back then, even scolded me and shouted at me when I wronged you. Perhaps he himself didn't realize his feeling, but I could sense it from the start."

Kris stared at Blue in awe. She was not only smart but also very sensitive. It looked like he got a jackpot by having Blue as his niece.

"You are amazing, Blue," the man praised his niece. "It will be fun if I tease Kevin with this material. He surely will blush hard, and that will be so adorable."

Blue just rolled her eyes and didn't respond anymore. She went back to the search engine and solemnly looked for more information related to the abandoned mine. She clicked one of the results and read it seriously.

"The mine was under Blacoal Company. It's a medium-sized company in the city and doesn't really have a good reputation. They are known as a non-environment friendly company that only cares about money. It has a rival company, but looking at the profits, they always lost to their rival."

The pieces of information got Kris's full attention as he bent down his body to look at Blue's laptop. "That's why they left the mine without backfilling it after they ousted the resources," he commented.

"That's right. Some environmental communities had filed a lawsuit, but the company won the case. It seems like there's someone powerful behind the company."

Kris nodded in understanding after he heard the young girl's explanation. The company seemed to be dangerous.

"The director of the company is Fredy Lowell. He's already seventy, but he's still active in the company. Apart from being a director in this company, Mr. Lowell had participated in the legislative elections but didn't make it. After he failed in politics, he went back to focus on his business."

This case seemed to be very interesting. It was not only about business but also politics. Kris was sure that this case was far from simple.

Kris was about to ask something, but the girl suddenly froze as her eyes gazed at the monitor in horror. She wasn't really staring at it, though. She just blankly stared at the monitor as her mind wandered.

Kris noticed the sudden change, and he started to panic. He was afraid if Blue was controlled by her power again. He immediately got down from the sofa and kneeled beside the girl. He shook the girl's body slightly. "Are you okay, Blue?" He asked in a panic.

The girl then turned her head stiffly at Kris. "Don't you realize it, Uncle?" She asked in a whisper. It made Kris frown, so she continued, "Lowell is Brother Kevin's foster parents' last name."