Elijah ran straight toward where the voice was coming from. Inside the wide cavity, empty syringes and unidentifiable medical tools were scattered everywhere. And beyond the half-open iron bars, there was another space.
“Elijah, how did you get here?”
Rose’s voice came from inside the iron bars. Even though he was right there, it was too dark to see him clearly. Still, Elijah felt greatly relieved.
At least he had confirmed that Rose was alive.
“Rose, are you okay?”
“Hic…, mmph…… Don’t come, Elijah.”
Elijah’s steps toward the iron bars came to an abrupt halt.
“Just…, just stay there. I’m fine.”
It was an unexpected rejection.
This was really strange. Both Master, who had desperately prevented him from seeing Rose, and Rose, who was stopping him from approaching even though he’d gone to such lengths to find him.
“Rose, ……why are you like this?”
Why won’t you let me approach? Didn’t you want to see me? Why won’t you even let me look……
“I’m really fine, Elijah.”
Only the sound of their conversation echoed hollowly in the dark underground.
“But……, my body hasn’t fully healed yet.”
“Does it hurt a lot? Rose, it’s already spring outside.”
“……”
“When will you be fully healed? I was worried something happened to you.”
“I’ll get better soon. Really, soon……”
Elijah took out what he had carefully kept in his chest. Five or six wildflowers of various colors were held in his hand.
“I hope you get better quickly. So we can walk together……, and look at flowers together.”
He carefully placed the flowers inside the iron bars. A moment later, a pale hand slowly emerged and took the flowers.
“……Thank you.”
It was a clean hand without a single scratch. Before he could even grab that hand, Rose hid back into the darkness.
“……They’re really pretty.”
His voice, seemingly forced into calmness, wavered precariously. The relief was brief, and Elijah became anxious again at Rose’s strange behavior.
“Rose, can I see your face?”
“……”
“Why won’t you let me see? Did you get a scar or something? Even if you did, I don’t care. I just want to see you……”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then?”
“……Looking is fine. It’s fine, but, ……just don’t come close.”
The more he heard, the stranger the situation became. He felt frustrated not knowing the reason at all. Elijah weakly conjured a magical light.
Finally, Rose’s white face was revealed. Rose’s appearance, curled up in a corner against the wall, wasn’t much different from before.
……No, it was exactly the same. There wasn’t a single trace of his split lips or the burn marks that had covered his shoulders.
“Elijah, I missed you too.”
Except for looking a bit paler than before, nothing had really changed.
“Your wounds are all healed?”
“Yeah…… They’re all healed.”
“Then why do you keep staying here?”
When Elijah took one step forward, Rose, startled, pressed his body tightly against the wall and curled up. His fingertips clutching his knees trembled. He only looked fine on the outside; his condition didn’t seem very good.
“Rose, where does it hurt? ……Where and how does it hurt. Can you get better soon?”
Elijah felt like he was going to cry from fear. Igrit’s cruel words that Rose wouldn’t live long kept coming to mind.
“It doesn’t hurt. I’m really fine, ……Elijah, I’m sorry but could you move back a little?”
Elijah obediently moved back and knelt down in that spot, matching his eye level with Rose.
“Why won’t you let me come close? Are you angry at me about something? Tell me, Rose. Did I make you feel hurt or……”
“No. There’s no problem with you, Elijah.”
“Then why on earth are you like this?”
“……It’s just, my problem.”
“What’s your problem? Is it because you look terrible? No, Rose. You don’t look terrible at all…… In my eyes, you’re always pretty.”
No matter how much he racked his brain, that was all he could think of. If it wasn’t for a reason like that, then why on earth wouldn’t he let him come close?
“……Because I might hurt you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just go, Elijah.”
“No.”
“……”
“Didn’t you want to see me?”
“I did want to see you……”
The human heart is truly cunning. He thought he’d be satisfied if he could just see him from afar even for a moment, but now that he’d seen him, he wanted to get closer and touch him. Elijah crawled on his knees, very carefully closing the distance.
“D-don’t come……”
“It’s okay, Rose. It’ll be okay. I want to confirm that you’re really safe.”
“……”
His frightened eyes trembled left and right. Elijah carefully reached out his hand toward him.
“Hic.”
As his fingertips touched Rose’s knee, Rose flinched in shock and convulsed. Elijah quickly grabbed his hand. Perhaps because of the contact after so long, the magic flowing from Elijah touched Rose’s arm. The mark Elijah had engraved long ago glowed faintly.
Rose was still his, and he was still Rose’s.
“See, it’s fine.”
“……”
“Can I come a little closer?”
Though it was phrased as asking for permission, it was actually a notification. Elijah continued to close the distance with him. Finally, he was close enough to embrace him if he spread his arms.
“You’re only pretty even when I look at you up close.”
Elijah smiled faintly and joked. He wanted to make Rose smile even if it meant doing this. Rose was trembling in fear as if he might stop breathing at any moment.
“I really missed you, Rose. I can’t even sleep without you by my side.”
“……”
Elijah carefully pulled his trembling body into an embrace. Rose’s heartbeat was transmitted through their touching chests.
You’re alive.
Only then did complete relief settle over him. Even though it was just an embrace with arms lightly wrapped around him, not even daring to hold tightly in case it hurt.
Until Elijah released his arms, Rose couldn’t move and only blinked his eyes. He also looked like he was holding his breath. Elijah, who had been observing him carefully, said.
“Your hair has grown a little.”
The length of his hair, now covering his nape, made him newly feel the passage of time. No matter how sick he’d been, they’d never been unable to see each other for this long.
“……Later, when I get out.”
Rose finally opened his mouth.
“You cut it for me.”
A smile finally formed on Elijah’s lips.
“Yeah, I’ll cut it for you.”
Though still frightened, Rose’s face looked less precarious than before. Elijah approached him and kissed him first. Only Elijah’s breath quietly wandered between their lips that pressed together firmly then parted.
“I should go now.”
Rose nodded silently.
“We can meet again soon, right?”
“……”
“I’ll pray that you get healthy quickly.”
This time too, he only nodded. It was an ambiguous answer without any particular words, but Elijah was satisfied with just that.
He was glad he came even if it was behind Master’s back. Now it seemed he could wait for Rose a little better.
* * *
Elijah couldn’t see Rose throughout the entire summer. It was because he had been severely scolded by Master for being caught sneaking down after breaking the chains.
The underground would be even harder to endure in the sweltering summer…… The underground he saw last spring was an environment that seemed like it would create illnesses even if you didn’t have any. It’s not that he didn’t trust Master, but he was somewhat doubtful about why Rose had to be confined in such an environment.
The time when the children all returned to their rooms to sleep alone. Elijah discovered Master going down to the underground while he was climbing the stairs.
In his hand was a bucket that Elijah had seen several times before. The contents sloshing inside the bucket slowly spilled out. The sound of the thin liquid dripping onto the floor echoed softly in the quiet darkness.
At that moment, for some reason, the bloodstains on the stairs leading down to the underground came to mind.
“……”
Elijah immediately turned around and went down. If Master caught him, he’d be scolded more severely than before, but he wanted to at least hear Rose’s voice from afar.
He went down to the underground making as little sound as possible. A fishy smell rose on the midsummer night’s humidity. He couldn’t tell if it was rising from the moisture pooled on the floor or blowing in from outside.
‘It smells just like blood.’
Elijah arrived at the underground having such thoughts absently. He heard shouting from inside.
—……I said!
It was Rose’s voice. During the two seasons that had passed, his voice had become even lower.
—It’s disgusting!
—Do you want to starve to death!
—You should have just let me die!
The shouting exchange was content Elijah had never imagined. One was Rose’s and one was Master’s, and their conversation was very strange.
Soon after, a metallic bucket rolled noisily and something seemed to spill with a squelching sound.
—Aaaaah! Aaah! Damn it, get away! Don’t touch me! Take away that disgusting syringe! Aaaaaaaah!
Rose’s screams continued at length. As if possessed by a demon, Rose shrieked and raged madly. It was a desperate and chilling scream that made his hair stand on end.
—The sooner you get healthy, the sooner you can see your friends again, Rose.
—I’ll curse you. When I get better, ……I won’t let you off first!
Clank, clatter. The sound of chains dragging and a loud explosion rang out. Elijah reflexively stepped toward the inside.
—Think about who you have to thank for being alive like this. No matter how much you hate it, surviving to the end is the path for both of us.
—Go to hell! Damn old hag! Aaaah! Disgusting bastard! Uaaaah! I’ll kill you!
His running steps stopped. It was language that shocked Elijah. The cursing that sounded like Rose’s voice was quite unfamiliar. He didn’t understand how he could say such terrible insults to none other than Master.
The abuse was one-sided, and Master’s tone and voice were exactly as Elijah usually knew them. From the talk about syringes, it seemed like treatment was going on……
What on earth was happening for Rose to say such shocking things?
However, Elijah ultimately couldn’t resolve his questions. It was because he heard the presence of Master opening the iron bars and coming out. Elijah, who hurriedly ran up the stairs, had his heart pounding as if it would burst.
He couldn’t understand what on earth was happening to Rose.
That night, Elijah couldn’t fall asleep even for a single moment.
