“I can’t read his thoughts. Is this a hallucination?”
At Haimar’s questioning tilt of the head, Ben vigorously shook his head.
Deciding to try anything, he mouthed each word loudly and clearly so Haimar could read his lips as well as possible.
“I- am- your- Gui- de!”
He accompanied the words with body language, repeatedly pointing at himself and then at Haimar.
He followed this by mouthing “Roilnia,” “kidnap,” and “must- rescue.”
He focused on just the core words, figuring that longer sentences would be harder to understand, but Haimar’s reaction was distinctly unimpressed.
While two heads are better than one, the other head was completely uninterested.
Ben felt increasingly awkward, his struggle a silent scream in the void.
“Why should I listen to your nonsense?”
‘Right, this is exactly the reaction I expect from Haimar’s personality.’
He’d be lucky if he wasn’t simply thrown out as a trickster.
From Haimar’s perspective, he was perfectly justified in doubting some unknown man suddenly appearing and claiming to be his Guide when he had no recollection of him.
Ben sighed silently.
He then recalled the words Penka had spoken when he entered the dream.
‘A dream is not a space for verbal communication. Just convey your true self, Ben.’
‘My true self.’
So, how exactly does one convey that ‘true self’?
As Ben fell into deep contemplation, the firefly hovering nearby flew toward Haimar.
Haimar didn’t seem to see it, as the small but distinct light of the firefly approached and hovered near his lips without him noticing.
The tiny firefly, presumably Penka, enthusiastically moved left and right around Haimar’s mouth.
Curious, Ben just watched the firefly’s actions.
As he watched silently, it seemed to be subtly emphasizing Haimar’s lips.
Ben suddenly disliked himself for realizing what the firefly was trying to convey.
All he could think of was a kiss.
And there was a high probability that he was right.
There was simply no other logical deduction based on that action.
He wondered why “conveying your true self” translated to a kiss or a peck, and if that was the meaning, why had she phrased it so abstractly?
It wouldn’t have been strange for Penka to just say, “Go on and kiss him!” in her usual style.
Although this was not the time to be fastidious, it was normal for anyone to feel offended if a stranger abruptly tried to kiss them.
He would deserve to be reported.
And being reported would be the least of his worries; Haimar was the type of person who would eliminate the threat before reporting it, so Ben had to worry about his safety for a moment.
The fact that an ordinary action between lovers had suddenly turned into a matter of concern because they were strangers in this dream world was ridiculous.
A feeling of resentment welled up in Ben toward Haimar.
Even if it’s just a dream, how high is his mental wall that he can’t recognize the person he loves?
I’ll make sure to tease him about this for at least two years once we get back.
Ben glared at the firefly frantically circling near Haimar’s lips.
He had a lot to say to Penka about the unhelpful dream guidance, but since Haimar’s mood was visibly deteriorating in real-time, he needed to quickly get this over with before things got worse.
“Where are you looking—”
With a composed face, Ben stared intently at Haimar’s lips, where the firefly was flickering, and lunged.
And…
He felt nothing.
“…”
…I feel so pathetic, truly.
He bent his waist to grandly press his lips against the seated Haimar, but it felt like passing through empty air.
From Haimar’s perspective, it must have been a rare and unsightly scene of a man with puckered lips passing through his body.
Couldn’t the dream have properly materialized his body just for this one moment, since he was doing as instructed?
Ben straightened up and clutched his head in embarrassment.
Although the dream world didn’t register pain, he could feel his face burning vividly.
The firefly, which scurried back toward Ben, blinked its tiny light, oblivious to Ben’s inner turmoil.
It hovered anxiously in front of his eyes, but Ben was in no mood to deal with it right now.
Mitigating this catastrophe was more important.
First, he should apologize for the embarrassing sight.
He should also ask Haimar to forget it, although he doubted Haimar would.
When Ben took his hand away from his face to apologize, the firefly tried to draw his attention more fiercely and persistently.
Its desperate flickering and fading light seemed to signal that something was imminent.
As the light weakened as if it might go out at any moment, Ben instinctively felt the end of the dream was near.
The attempt to smooth over the situation flew cleanly out of his mind.
He could see his body becoming more transparent with every passing second.
‘No, I can’t go back having achieved nothing… wait?’
“Huh?”
Ben’s flustered arm was suddenly seized by Haimar.
‘Wasn’t I transparent just a moment ago?’
Before he could process the confusion, Ben’s body was pulled forward, and his lips met Haimar’s, which were slightly cool.
It wasn’t just a simple brush of the lips; a tongue immediately invaded the space between Ben’s lips.
Ben gladly embraced him, wrapping his arms around his neck, and opened his mouth to receive him.
It was a hurried kiss, uncharacteristic of Haimar.
It wasn’t the usual Haimar who took his time to provoke and completely dominate Ben’s weak spots, but a fast-paced kiss, busy savoring the taste within a limited time.
Haimar explored every corner of his small mouth, licking the neat teeth, the deep inner cheek, and reaching for the base of his tongue.
In that thirsty, seeking kiss, Ben slowly opened the eyes he had closed and saw Haimar’s two transparent, blue eyes staring back at him.
‘Ah.’
It’s okay now.
From Haimar’s gaze, Ben gained an unshakeable certainty that he would be able to find him.
“Ben—.”
Ben’s body, which had been briefly materialized, became progressively more transparent. As his form rapidly vanished, their lips naturally parted.
Haimar reached out to grasp the fading traces of Ben, who had been vividly real just seconds ago, but his hand passed through Ben’s body in vain.
It was only his hand passing through empty air, but Haimar felt as though he had lost something substantial.
An uncontrollable unpleasantness surged up.
Haimar didn’t even realize that the name of a man he didn’t know the face of had come out of his mouth.
All his actions came before he could think.
His act of grasping Ben had been entirely instinctive from the start.
He had felt strangely familiar from the first moment he saw him.
It was a face he had definitely never seen, yet his very existence felt intimate.
He was instantly captivated by the neat impression created by the brown hair that fluttered whenever he moved and the large, startled green eyes.
That wasn’t all. Even after realizing he couldn’t read his thoughts, he managed to let him be.
Normally, the moment he realized an entity visible only to him, like a ghost, was present, he would have already taken action in some way.
But Haimar didn’t do that.
Or rather, the correct way to put it was that he couldn’t.
For some bizarre reason, he felt no inclination to do anything to the man who had burst into his world and was stirring things up.
His actions were concise and proper rather than frivolous.
His expression changed rapidly, from delight to embarrassment, making him interesting to watch.
The lips that tried to clearly speak to him were perfectly thin and plump, a shade of pink, making it strangely impossible to look away.
There was nothing outwardly special, yet he kept drawing attention, which was intriguing.
When the man used the word “Guide,” Haimar’s persistently dirty mood improved to the point where he even entertained the thought that it wouldn’t be so bad if this man were his Guide.
‘Is he hurt?’
His scrutinizing gaze caught the bloodstain on his thigh and the various cuts on his body.
A corner of Haimar’s mind rattled for no reason at that fact.
No one could play tricks on his mind, yet this man prompted a response that bypassed reason and went straight to instinct.
He was unreasonably annoyed when the warm-colored green eyes, which had been watching only him, were no longer looking at him because he was distracted.
That’s why he grabbed him. The kiss was an impulse.
As the warm body temperature seeped into him, Haimar was convinced that this man was his.
It was an absolute truth, regardless of any pretext or evidence.
Ben, who was transparently disappearing, smiled shyly and pressed a small kiss to Haimar’s cheek.
The voice he hadn’t heard before vaguely echoed.
[I’ll be waiting.]
It was a voice he couldn’t possibly forget.
The reason why he had been so familiar.
The reason why his every action was etched into his sight.
Everything became clear, as if by magic.
It was impossible for him to simply forget him.
If Haimar had forgotten him, Ben would not have been able to enter his consciousness so smoothly.
If the Rea Blam twins had properly navigated the dream route, Haimar wouldn’t have forgotten Ben, but the mixing of other people’s memories and consciousness had caused a temporary confusion.
Haimar, who had instantly unraveled the tangled thread, looked at Ben, whose form had almost completely scattered into a light mist.
