As Raizen stood dazed, staring at the two of them, his gaze drifted to Sean.
Dressed in black, having reclaimed his true colors as Sean Kreveta, he looked striking.
The sight snapped Raizen out of his daze.
He turned inward and asked that quiet voice in his mind:
‘Run? Why?’
‘This is exactly the moment I’ve been waiting for.’
∗ ∗ ∗
Dreams and reality blurred endlessly.
He met the young Sean in dreams, only to awaken to the Sean of the present.
Though the dreams of the child Sean had lasted for years, Raizen hadn’t given much thought to the gap between those two versions of him.
How the sharp, catlike Sean had become the person standing before him now—Raizen hadn’t concerned himself with that.
What mattered to him was this Sean, here and now.
But something shifted the moment he saw young Sean with a reddened cheek, struck by his parents.
“You mean… how was Korea?”
The unexpected question made Sean blink in surprise.
“Huh? That’s sudden.”
His puzzled response made Raizen feel a little awkward.
Even he could tell that it was long overdue to ask such a thing.
Still, curiosity was growing too strong to ignore.
Raizen studied Sean quietly, his eyes urging him to answer.
“Well… um…”
Sean scratched the back of his neck, struggling to speak.
“Honestly, I didn’t do so well. I guess… that place really wasn’t meant for me. I looked the same—except for my current hair and eye color—but…”
“……”
“I felt like a foreign object.”
Sean said it so plainly, defining his past self without emotion.
It wasn’t self-pity—just resignation.
A deep, heavy kind of surrender.
Resignation.
Raizen instinctively understood: ‘That’s why the Sean in front of me became who he is now.’
“……”
Maybe… he shouldn’t have asked.
Even though he got an answer to a question he’d been wondering about, it left him feeling oddly hollow.
‘A foreign object.’
He hadn’t expected Sean to think of his younger self like that.
He had to say something.
‘Anything.’
He wanted Sean to know that wasn’t true.
That he wasn’t something that didn’t belong.
Even if it was all in dreams…
Raizen knew how the man in those dreams had felt toward the young Sean.
Choosing his words carefully, Raizen finally spoke, softly:
“To someone… you must have felt like a gift.”
At least to that man in the dream, he was.
The boy who appeared one day in his life had been nothing short of a gift.
From the beginning, he’d felt drawn to him inexplicably, and when they were together, the strange voices only he could hear would fall silent.
He felt guilty for using the boy’s presence as comfort—but also grateful.
And eventually… he grew to love him.
‘That man wanted to stay by your side forever.’
From Raizen’s perspective, those feelings weren’t quite love—they were something more selfish, more raw.
At first, he had found the man’s patience frustrating and incomprehensible.
But at some point, he realized even that patience was a way of earning the young Sean’s attention.
Just like how he, Raizen, would do whatever Sean wanted if it meant keeping him by his side.
Of course, his own methods were much more shameful.
At least the man in the dream had done it out of a desire to stay by Sean’s side forever.
Raizen… hadn’t.
‘I… you…’
He was still forming the words in his mind when Sean spoke.
“How did you… know that?”
His expression had gone beyond startled.
He looked almost frightened.
Sean lowered his gaze for a moment before speaking cautiously.
“Hyung… you didn’t, by any chance…”
Raizen waited for him to finish the thought, but Sean only shook his head.
“No, never mind.”
Then he smiled—softly, a bit sheepishly.
It was the little habit Sean had when he wanted to change the subject, his own kind of charm.
And the fact that he didn’t even realize he did it made it all the more endearing.
So Raizen let it go.
With a warm heart, he nodded.
Sean beamed again, fiddling with his fingers.
“But… it makes me kind of happy… that you’re curious about me.”
“…Happy?”
Had he really been that indifferent toward Sean?
He’d always had a vague sense of things, but hearing it directly from Sean somehow hit differently.
“Yeah. It makes me happy. That you want to know more about me.”
“……”
“Maybe… it’s because I like you.”
It had been a long time since he’d heard something like that.
Come to think of it, when they were younger, Sean had always come up to him without hesitation, saying things like, “I like you,” or “You’re the only one I have.”
What Sean just said was similar to those old words—yet different.
No, very different.
Back then, it felt like an innocent act, a survival tactic wrapped in a child’s brightness.
But now… it was more like he was borrowing that childish tone to soften the weight of a very real emotion.
“……!”
At that moment, Raizen’s heart began to pound—hard.
“Sei… do you like me?”
His mind came up with something appropriate to say, a response to this situation.
He already knew Sean liked him, but it never hurt to hear it again.
Still… Raizen couldn’t speak.
It felt like if he opened his mouth, something completely unexpected might slip out.
And that was strange.
All Sean had done was say something Raizen already knew.
So why… did his heart feel like it was completely out of control?
“They say… when you like someone, even the little things about them become interesting.”
“……”
“Just… putting it out there. Haha.”
As he finished, Sean suddenly stood up.
“Okay, rest well, hyung!”
He ran off.
And even though Raizen knew that’s what was happening, he didn’t stop him.
Because honestly… if Sean hadn’t left first, he might’ve been the one to run away.
∗ ∗ ∗
The party hosted by the House of Duke Pantheon was just a week away.
It was to celebrate the successful subjugation of the monster wave.
The Emperor, Crown Prince, and most of the empire’s central nobility were expected to attend.
All eyes were on the grand social event to be held not in the capital, but in the western Duchy of Pantheon.
Rumors even spread in whispers that the heir of the duchy would announce his engagement at the party.
Everyone in the ducal household was overwhelmed with preparations, barely finding time to breathe. Raizen and Sean were no exception.
As the party drew nearer, even catching a glimpse of each other became difficult.
Raizen personally patrolled from the mansion to the outskirts, preparing for any surprise attacks or accidents.
Sean was constantly out with the Duchess, handling the detailed arrangements.
They finally reunited when only four days remained until the party.
Raizen handed Sean a bracelet filled with his own magic.
The deep crimson magic now glowed like a polished gem, denser and brighter than before.
Sean looked down at the bracelet resting on Raizen’s palm, then smiled shyly and offered his arm.
His exposed neck had flushed red.
Swallowing back a rising smile, Raizen fastened the bracelet around Sean’s wrist.
“Sorry, hyung. I’ve been a hassle.”
“It’s fine.”
Not a hassle at all.
In fact, he was glad—he could infuse the bracelet with his now-stronger magic, improving its performance even further.
“Thinking of how to get back at Karon Luavis for this has been kind of fun, too.”
Raizen fully intended to make him pay—sooner or later.
When Sean had first brought him the drained bracelet, he hadn’t pressed for details, because Sean clearly hadn’t wanted to talk about it.
But the moment Raizen saw the bracelet, it reminded him of the chilling sensation he’d felt during the monster wave.
The only one who’d met with Sean during that time… was Karon Luavis.
Raizen had investigated on his own, worried that if he heard the story directly from Sean, he wouldn’t be able to hold back his rage.
While he couldn’t uncover the exact details, one thing was clear: after going out with Karon Luavis, Sean had come back looking shaken, like he’d been running from something.
Just thinking about Karon made Raizen unconsciously clench his teeth.
What snapped him out of it was Sean’s voice.
“It’s kind of weird, getting this bracelet from you now, of all times.”
His voice was both shy and tinged with a certain resolve.
Raizen’s thoughts cleared, and his eyes drifted from the bracelet around Sean’s wrist to his face.
The moment their eyes met—blue locking with blue—Raizen felt his breath catch.
He had a strong feeling.
The next words out of Sean’s mouth would be important.
And he…
“I won’t be able to handle it.”
Raizen stood up. Not yet. Not now…
“I like you.”
“……”
“I like you… that way. A lot.”
