* * *
“…Uh, I was just here.”
Even as he speaks, Sean blinks several more times.
Raizen’s gaze deepens at the unfamiliar sight.
Is he flustered?
Or is he trying to hide something?
But if it’s the latter, Sean has never acted like this when lying before.
‘What is it?’
Raizen thinks, then smiles softly.
“You were just here? Alone?”
If not for the gardener’s consistent upkeep, this cabin wouldn’t be a good place to spend time alone—unless there was a reason.
Glancing around the cabin, Raizen asks, making Sean clear his throat lightly.
On top of that, it’s midwinter.
While there’s a small magic stone heater inside, its insulation isn’t great.
Raizen, who rarely feels cold, only now realizes this.
He checks Sean’s outfit.
He is wearing a coat, but it’s not enough. Raizen takes off his own coat and drapes it over Sean’s shoulders.
The moment his fingertips brush against Sean’s body, he feels his pheromones burst like fireworks.
At the same time, Sean flinches slightly.
When Raizen looks at him, his neck is flushed red.
“Sei?”
Sensing something off, he calls Sean’s name.
The problem is that their bodies are still close.
As Raizen exhales softly, his breath brushes against Sean’s neck.
“Ugh—Ack…!”
In that instant, Sean makes a strange noise and quickly stumbles backward, covering his neck with one hand.
“If you get that close and do that…!”
His face, already red, looks like it’s about to explode.
“I mean, why would you bend down while putting a coat on me?!”
“…Sorry.”
Raizen isn’t sure what’s happening, but seeing Sean’s reaction, he assumes he did something wrong and apologizes sincerely.
That, however, only stuns Sean further.
He stares at Raizen with wide blue eyes before abruptly lowering his head.
“No, I mean… I phrased that wrong. Haa…”
Today, Sean is acting strange.
At the slightest thing, he jumps like a startled rabbit.
His ever-changing pheromones only add to it.
It’s the first time.
The first time he’s seen Sean like this.
The first time his pheromones have reacted like this.
And it stirs something new inside Raizen.
His fingertips tingle, his head feels light, and—he wants to hide Sean away.
No, that’s not quite right.
He just wants to hold him in his arms and never let go.
Raizen’s lips twitch as he chews on the sensations spreading inside him.
His normally composed smile wavers for the first time, lifting awkwardly.
Then, he finds himself smiling with a squint, as if his facial muscles have escaped his control.
He doesn’t know what expression he’s making, but the thought of covering his face crosses his mind—yet he doesn’t act on it.
Instead, he presses a fist to his lips and lets out a quiet chuckle.
‘Ah, this is fun.’
So this is what people mean by joy.
Until now, he thought pleasure came from having things go his way, from a satisfying level of excitement.
But now, he understands the difference.
Joy is when nothing goes as planned, yet you still find yourself laughing.
That’s what joy is.
Finally stifling his laughter, Raizen strides into the cabin and sits down on a chair.
Then, he pats the chair beside him.
“Come here, Sei.”
At his call, Sean scurries over and sits down.
Raizen can feel his nervous glances.
Feigning disinterest, Raizen looks away before shifting his gaze back to Sean.
As he does, Sean’s blue eyes dart downward in a hurry.
His eyelids are thin, his lashes long, fanning downward over his now-hidden blue eyes.
Raizen suddenly remembers the first time he saw Sean.
His dazzling silver hair, his jewel-like sky-blue eyes.
No matter his appearance, Sean was always Sean, but—strangely, he wants to see that look again.
‘Do I look like them?’
‘Tell me the truth.’
Back then, in the Valencia club room, standing next to a photo of his parents, Sean had asked that question so earnestly.
It’s been on Raizen’s mind ever since.
“Sei.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re using a magical artifact to alter your appearance right now.”
“…Yeah.”
“Want to try deactivating it for a moment?”
Sean’s eyes widen.
“Is that even possible? Can I… do that?”
No. Sean can’t.
The artifact was prepared by his parents to hide him, requiring a significant amount of magic power to toggle on or off.
“But I can.”
Raizen can do it now.
“What do you think? Want to give it a try?”
Sean fell silent, as if lost in thought.
After a moment, he nodded.
Raizen gave a brief smile.
“Alright.”
Raizen reached out to Sean, carefully channeling his magic toward the engraved mark on his back.
The enchanted artifact, embedded in the form of an intricate sigil, resisted his magic at first, pushing back against his influence.
But it didn’t last long.
Soon, the artifact’s function was completely disabled.
Even after sensing this, Raizen first turned his gaze to Sean before speaking.
Sean had his eyes tightly shut, as if afraid of something.
His usual dark hair was now a brilliant silver, cascading over his pale forehead.
It gleamed as if absorbing every sliver of dim light that seeped into the cabin.
Raizen unconsciously held his breath.
He took in the sight of Sean’s shimmering hair for a moment before finally speaking.
“Sei, you can open your eyes now.”
They were too close. Raizen spoke while holding his breath as much as possible—he had no desire to repeat what had happened earlier.
Sean gave a faint nod.
Slowly, his eyelids lifted.
The sky-colored eyes that were finally revealed were piercingly blue, yet they held a distinct warmth.
The moment their gazes met, Raizen instinctively pulled back.
It wasn’t a conscious action.
Because of that, he now took in the full sight of Sean.
Inside the worn-down cabin, where there was nothing particularly pleasant to look at, Sean alone seemed to shine.
“Hyung?”
Sean’s voice pulled Raizen back to his senses.
With a wave of his hand, Raizen summoned a mirror.
Sean took it and stared at his reflection in silence for a long time.
“…Is this really me?”
It sounded like he was talking to himself, but at the same time, it felt like he was asking Raizen.
“Yeah. This is you.”
Sean tore his gaze away from the mirror and looked at Raizen.
Then, he let out a small, bashful smile, his eyes folding at the corners.
“I see… so this is me.”
“You look just like them, don’t you?”
Back in Valencia’s clubroom, Sean had found it especially difficult to take his eyes off his parents.
He had stared intently, tilting his head as if trying to decipher something.
At times, he would suddenly turn to the mirror and study his own reflection.
To Raizen, the resemblance was almost uncanny.
Yet, for some reason, Sean seemed unable to fully believe it.
“You’re right… I really do look like them.”
Only then did Sean finally seem at ease.
Yes, Sean had always been anxious.
He acted like someone who wasn’t standing on solid ground but floating alone in midair.
He was constantly wary of his surroundings yet suppressed his own emotions, not because he intended to—but because that was simply how he had always lived.
‘He’s always been this way.’
The realization settled over Raizen like the final piece of a puzzle.
Even with Sean right in front of him, he’d always felt as if the other might disappear at any moment.
Raizen suddenly found himself wondering about Sean’s past—the time he hadn’t witnessed.
Though he had seen glimpses of Sean in his dreams, his focus had always been elsewhere.
A man whose face Sean leaned on for support.
Whenever Raizen saw him, a sickening irritation twisted in his gut, making it impossible to think about anything else.
‘If that was Sean’s past…’
In the dream, Sean had been like a stray cat—distrustful of everything given to him, his wariness laid bare for all to see.
How had that boy become the Sean standing before him now?
* * *
