Early in the morning, the stairs at the basement entrance were the same as always, with last night’s eerie screams having vanished without a trace.
Elijah carefully examined the bloodstains that had fallen on the floor. On top of old, darkened stains, fresh bloodstains had newly appeared.
“Elijah.”
At the voice from above his head, a startled Elijah jumped to his feet. The gray eyes looking down at him flickered coldly for an instant.
“What are you doing here?”
“……I was looking at the bloodstains.”
The eyes that had been staring at him slowly moved downward. Elijah found the sight of Master examining the floor somehow chilling.
“Indeed, it does look similar to bloodstains.”
“If it’s not bloodstains, then what is it?”
“Well, I don’t know either. It’s been there from the beginning.”
For the first time, Elijah distrusted Master. Clearly a different stain had newly appeared from the day before, and Master wouldn’t be unaware of that, which was strange. The face with wrinkles that had increased over the past two seasons showed no emotion whatsoever.
“Are you planning to secretly meet Rose again like last time?”
“……Actually, last night, I came here.”
For Elijah, it was more familiar to speak honestly about things as they were rather than hide something from him.
“Master, I…… have many questions.”
Why was Rose so angry? Why still can’t he come out of the basement? Before the questions circling in his mouth could even form into words, Master sighed and rubbed his wrinkled forehead.
“You must have heard everything.”
“……Yes, I heard everything.”
“Rose is sensitive these days. Since his body is sick, naturally he can’t help but be that way.”
The face that had felt unfamiliar instantly returned to the usual Master. Concern settled in eyes that carried familiar warmth.
“To get healthy as soon as possible, he needs to follow my instructions well, but it’s a big problem that he won’t take his medicine at all.”
It certainly wasn’t good news, but Elijah felt somewhat relieved anyway. If the treatment process was arduous and that was why they had to be so on edge with each other, it was understandable to some degree. The countless doubts and fears that had tormented him last night disappeared.
As the desperately desired relief settled over him, even the bloodstains smeared on the stairs no longer seemed like a big deal. As Master said, they must have been stains that had been there from long ago.
A ray of hope rose over the settled relief.
“Then, Master. Could I possibly meet Rose? If I persuade him……”
“There’s nothing you can do, Elijah.”
The hopeful words were coldly cut off at once. Elijah’s shoulders, which had perked up momentarily, drooped down.
“Rose will get better soon. He’ll become very healthy.”
A gentle hand brushed away the disappointment that had settled on his shoulders.
“So don’t worry, Elijah.”
* * *
It was around the end of autumn. Elijah, who had spent three seasons without Rose, had now learned magic that could suture even shallowly torn wounds, and lessons had resumed, though not for as long as before.
One day when dry fallen leaves piled thickly in the monastery’s backyard.
Elijah was safely reunited with Rose.
The two boys, whose bodies and hearts had grown as much as the time they’d been apart, faced each other with the dry wind between them. Though it was a moment he’d been waiting for so much, Elijah, who hadn’t known it would be now, suspected he might be seeing an illusion.
“Elijah.”
However, the moment he heard Rose’s voice, the moment he saw that familiar posture spreading both arms toward him, his body reacted first.
“Rose!”
Elijah, who had run across the backyard in one breath, pulled him into a tight embrace. The considerably increased height felt somewhat unfamiliar. Rose belatedly bent his waist to match their heights.
Still tightly embracing his neck, Elijah took a deep breath. The familiar body scent seeped into his nostrils, and the anxiety and nervousness that had been filling his heart were finally washed away.
“……I missed you, Elijah.”
The voice brushing past his ear had changed so much it now felt completely unfamiliar. It was an incomparably lower tone than Elijah’s, who had entered puberty since last summer.
“Are you really all better now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m so glad…… I’m really glad.”
I’m glad…… really glad. Elijah repeatedly said the same words over and over while rubbing his cheek against his.
“You’ve completely come back, right? We’ll be together all the time now, right?”
“Yeah.”
Elijah, who cupped the smooth cheeks with both hands, kissed him. Perhaps the contact after so long was awkward, as Rose’s lips stiffened for an instant. Elijah paid no mind and pressed his lips ceaselessly against his cheeks and the corners of his mouth.
“……Elijah, the other kids are watching.”
Rose, who gently pushed him away, smiled faintly as if embarrassed. It seemed he hadn’t cared about others’ gazes before, but his personality must have changed a bit from being locked in the basement the whole time.
Still, it was fine. This awkwardness wouldn’t last long.
“You’ve gotten handsome while I couldn’t see you, Elijah.”
“You too. Why did you grow so tall so fast? It’ll take me a long time to catch up.”
Rose smiled silently. Was it because he hadn’t seen the sun for a while? His face was paler than before. The brown eyes crossed diagonally by autumn sunlight somehow seemed to have deepened with a reddish tint.
Elijah wrapped Rose’s coldly chilled hands. It was pitiful how his hands had become as cold as midwinter ice just from being hit by autumn’s cold wind. Like Rose had done on winter nights when trembling from the cold, Elijah shared his warmth with him.
Just then, someone suddenly entered the backyard. The gazes of the two people who had been facing each other turned toward the red hair.
“……”
Igrit, who made eye contact with Rose, flinched in surprise and stopped walking. Confusion and fear crossed his briefly trembling pupils.
Elijah’s mood soured in advance, wondering what nasty words he might say again. He felt like he’d be upset if he said nasty words, and he’d feel even more disgusted if he offered a half-hearted apology.
However, Igrit couldn’t say anything at all, and instead hesitantly stepped backward. His face looked exactly like he’d seen a ghost. Soon turning his body, he fled the spot as if escaping.
Whatever he would have said would have been the same, but now that there wasn’t even a half-hearted word of apology, it was utterly shameless. Rose caught the cheek of Elijah, who was glaring at the spot he’d left.
“Don’t worry about it. Everything’s fine now.”
The touching nose tips were cold.
“I’m happy just to see you again, Elijah.”
Though it was a warm and gentle voice like before, a chill unsuited to the season dripped from his breath. Elijah hugged Rose tightly, who had grown in build to the point where he couldn’t fit entirely in one embrace.
“Why is your body so cold? Are you really all better?”
“……Yeah.”
“You’ll catch a cold. Let’s go inside quickly.”
The distance he’d subtly felt wasn’t just Elijah’s imagination alone, it seemed. Elijah realized this when night came. Having warmed up the empty spot beside him and waiting only for Rose to come, he felt somewhat puzzled when he heard the sound of the door across from him opening.
“……”
Why isn’t he coming?
Over the past few years, the times Rose had gone into his own room by himself could be counted on one hand. Usually, as if it were completely natural, he slept together in Elijah’s room and woke up together.
It was the first day they could finally be together again after ending their long wait, so he wondered why he wasn’t coming. Elijah, who had been waiting for Rose for a moment, eventually crossed over to his room.
“Rose.”
When he carefully opened the door and looked inside, he saw Rose crouched in the corner of the bed. A red glow briefly crossed his eyes hidden in darkness.
“Why aren’t you coming to my room?”
“……”
Elijah, who had fully entered the room, closed the door behind him. It was always Rose who had come over holding a pillow, but now that role had switched. Rose, who had been staring at him without moving, belatedly answered.
“……The bed is narrow.”
Elijah couldn’t accept his words. Originally their beds had always been narrow, and no one had ever been dissatisfied with that. There were countless nights when they’d squeezed their bodies into a space where one person could barely lie down, sharing body heat and falling asleep.
Sometimes they had often rolled off the bed while embracing each other. That was one of the very secret and special daily routines that only Rose and he could share.
“You said you were scared to sleep alone.”
The beginning of such daily routine had started from Rose. Because he was scared ghosts might appear, or because it was too cold. The reasons he’d attach lost all meaning at some point. Because they were always together whether it was cold or hot.
Rose let out a faint smile with an awkward face.
“We’re past that age now, aren’t we, Elijah?”
“I’m still scared.”
Elijah took a step closer to him.
“Can’t we sleep together?”
A long silence followed. In the red eyes silently staring at him, emotions that were hard to read pooled precariously. The more those gazes layered, the more anxious Elijah became. It was when he took another step closer and opened his mouth.
“We always did before……”
Before he could even perceive the cold chill wrapping around his wrist, Elijah’s body was suddenly pulled. His back touched the bed in the blink of an eye. Before he had time to be surprised, Rose’s body covered his laid-down body. A cold breath poured onto his nape.
“……”
Elijah found the weight of Rose pressing down on his body quite suffocating. The breath wandering down his jawline below his earlobe trembled finely. Strength entered the arms embracing his waist.
“Right…… Elijah.”
“……”
“Let’s sleep together.”
Winter seemed to be starting. A chilling cold swirled from his nape. Elijah, relieved that Rose wasn’t pushing him away, embraced him back.
