Sleep fled instantly. His heart pounded at the unexpected words. Naro sat up abruptly from the bed.
“Wh-what are you suddenly talking about?”
“Ever since I met Naro, bad things keep happening around you.”
Ray had been thinking about it the entire time Naro had been asleep in the hospital room after taking the antidote. The first memory that came to mind was the scene where Naro had been attacked by a terrifying beast. At that time, Ray hadn’t yet gained the power to become human, but he clearly remembered it. How anxious Naro had been when he faced that beast.
After that, Anton had ransacked Naro’s medicine shop, and as an extension of that incident, Naro had even been kidnapped. After experiencing such major incidents, not long after, another situation occurred where his life had almost been in danger.
Ray had heard from Garnet and knew roughly how Naro had lived before. That he had cheerfully managed his modest daily life well even on his own. But now with this incident, he didn’t know how many times Naro’s safety had been threatened.
“So you’re saying all the bad things that happened to me were because of you?”
Naro couldn’t understand Ray’s thinking. It was true that major incidents had happened one after another, but there were separate culprits who had caused those incidents. This poisonous plant incident was just bad luck too. But why on earth was Ray trying to blame himself for it?
“Haven’t you thought it was strange, Naro?”
“What about you—what grounds do you have for saying such things?”
“I don’t have any grounds. It’s just a feeling.”
Ray recalled the fragment of memory that had flashed through his mind in an instant when Naro had collapsed yesterday. He didn’t remember well what the situation was, but one thing was certain: at that time, someone had died in his arms without him being able to do anything.
“What kind of reason is that? A feeling. That’s too uncertain of a basis.”
“I’m worried about Naro. If I really am an existence that brings danger to Naro, then I…”
Ray trailed off. Naro clenched his clothes tightly.
“Then what? If you’re such an existence, you’ll leave me?”
“…If there’s really no other choice, I think I’d have to. You saved my life. I can’t let that me make you be in danger.”
Naro clenched his fists tightly.
“Then you’ve been thinking about leaving here without saying anything to me for the past few days? Without even thinking to consult with me?”
Now that he’d voiced it directly, it felt even more frightening. Just the possibility that Ray might disappear from his side was making Naro feel anxious right now.
“It’s not like that.”
Last time when he’d asked if Ray didn’t want to find his fellow kin, Ray had said he didn’t particularly want to. He had felt relieved at that answer, but Naro had resolved to steel his heart, thinking that someday the time might come when Ray would want to find his own life.
But when the words about leaving him actually came out of Ray’s mouth, his heart beat helplessly with anxiety.
“Is it perhaps like I mentioned before—do you want to find your fellow kin? Ray, if you have another purpose, you can leave anytime. Don’t bother using me as an excuse.”
That’s not it. This isn’t what I wanted to say. He had no idea why such pathetic words kept coming out.
Naro slowly raised his head. When he faced Ray’s expression, he unconsciously inhaled sharply. Ray had an extremely sad expression on his face.
“…Let’s stop here. If we talk more, I think we’ll only hurt each other.”
He didn’t understand why Ray had such a sad face when he was the one who had acted like it would be better if he left first. If anything, the one who wanted to cry was himself.
He didn’t want to continue the conversation. He was afraid that the words that he would really leave might come out of Ray’s mouth.
The night where they had scarred each other’s hearts like that didn’t easily pass.
* * *
“Naro-hyung! Where’s Ray-hyung?”
At Paul’s voice looking for Ray, Naro, who had been packaging medicinal herbs to give to Andel, paused.
“Hm? That’s right. Ray’s not visible today.”
“He went to the square to buy groceries. I asked him to.”
“Ah, I see. When I see it like this, it feels strangely unfamiliar.”
“Huh? What does?”
Naro tilted his head as he handed over the medicinal herbs.
“I don’t think I’ve seen Naro and Ray apart like this.”
Andel answered with a small smile. Naro and Ray were always together even when running the medicine shop, and it was the same when going to the square to buy groceries. The sight of the two always stuck together had already become quite natural to the people of Rodelus Village.
Naro hadn’t expected to hear such words, so he just smiled awkwardly. In fact, the person feeling that empty space the most was himself. As Andel said, from waking up in the morning until going to sleep in the evening, if there was nothing special, he had been stuck with Ray the whole time.
However, the two who had recently experienced an unexpected quarrel had entered a state of cold war—or not quite a cold war.
Naro felt hurt by the fact that Ray had been harboring thoughts of leaving without consulting him, on the grounds that he might be dangerous. Conversely, Ray seemed a bit depressed by the words Naro had said at the end and was maintaining a sunken atmosphere in his own way.
“Naro? You don’t look good. Is something wrong? I heard you were sick recently. You’re not feeling unwell, are you?”
Perhaps his gloomy mood showed on the outside, as Andel asked carefully. Naro was about to habitually say it was nothing, but paused.
“Actually, I had a bit of a fight with Ray.”
“Oh my, really? You’re always together so nicely, but you fight too.”
He still didn’t believe the words that bad things kept happening to him because Ray was by his side. Because he thought there was no correlation there. But he thought it wasn’t unreasonable that Ray thought that way. After all, when various things had happened to him recently, the one who had been most shocked was none other than Ray.
But the fact that he had thought because of that, it might be better to leave this place—that was still a bit disappointing. If he hadn’t asked in detail that night, Ray would have continued not to talk about his inner feelings, and the imagination that he might have eventually left without saying anything to him made his heart feel heavy for no reason.
“Still, that’s fortunate. I thought Naro was sick somewhere or something serious had happened.”
“Huh?”
Fortunate that they fought? Naro asked back as he couldn’t immediately understand Andel’s words.
“Fighting and quarreling among family is natural. It’s the same between friends or lovers too.”
“That’s right, hyung. My mom fought with my dad this morning too!”
“Paul, be quiet.”
Andel lightly pinched Paul’s cheek.
“In building a good relationship, there can’t be no fights or quarrels. Think of it all as part of the adjustment process and don’t be too depressed.”
Naro was dazed for a moment. Right, as Andel said, this was just a natural quarrel that comes from a relationship with someone. Ray hadn’t actually left, they had only exchanged words. So there was no need to keep dwelling on that incident, imagining things on his own, thinking about it, and being depressed.
Naro had no family or even common friends in his previous life either, so he was only clumsy in his current relationship with Ray too. That’s why he’d had something like a fight with Ray last time too. This incident was different in nature from that time, but ultimately what he needed to do next wouldn’t be very different.
“Hyung, they say conversation is the shortcut to reconciliation. So hurry up and make up with Ray-hyung. Then you can play with us again.”
“…Yeah, thanks. I’ll definitely make up with him.”
Naro smiled faintly and stroked Paul’s head.
And at that moment when Naro was thanking Andel, Ray was walking through the square.
“Ray! Why are you alone today!”
A person in the square casually tossed out friendly words when they saw Ray.
“Naro is working.”
Even as he answered, Ray’s eyes swept over the empty spot beside him for no reason. There was always Naro with flushed white cheeks smiling brightly, but today it was completely empty.
Ray looked down at the paper Naro had written. It was a list of things to buy at the square. When he recalled the incident from a few days ago, his insides felt stuffy as if someone was tightly gripping his heart. What words could even express this complex emotion? It was amazing that humans lived carrying such emotions all the time in the first place.
Ray knew. That the existence who had saved his dying life and allowed him to set foot in this world was none other than Naro. If it weren’t for Naro, he would certainly be dead by now. So for him, Naro was an irreplaceably precious existence. Precious enough that he wanted to stay together forever.
But that’s why he didn’t want Naro to get hurt or be sick. He didn’t want bad things to happen to Naro. Because of that, when he thought of the possibility that the cause of those incidents might lie with him, his mind became so jumbled that he couldn’t know what to do.
He wanted to be by Naro’s side, but he didn’t want Naro to have a hard time. But it felt like there was something he disliked even more than that, but right now his mind and heart were so dizzy that it was difficult to think clearly.
Meow-.
At the sound of a cat crying nearby, Ray turned his head. Right under the tree next to him, a cat was sitting obediently.
