Formo let out a sigh of relief and twitched the corners of his lips. Even Serdin, who had always acted so skillfully, said it was his first time. It was very pleasant news.
“We should wash up now, Pipi.”
Serdin said as he removed his hand from Formo’s cheek. Formo nodded and turned around to take off his nightgown. It was too embarrassing to blatantly undress in front of Serdin. Though they had frequently seen each other’s naked bodies until now, their relationship was completely different from then now, so it was doubly more embarrassing.
And above all, the size difference between Serdin’s and his was so clearly evident that he didn’t particularly want to show it.
Serdin, who was taking in the sight of Formo turning away from him and taking off his nightgown, burst into quiet laughter. No matter how quietly he laughed, there was no way the sharp-eared Formo wouldn’t have heard. Perhaps because he was embarrassed, Formo didn’t demand to know why he was laughing and just headed into the bath with only his ears reddened.
Serdin also casually took off the loosely worn nightgown and followed behind Formo.
Serdin, who had entered the large bath, looked for timing to talk to Formo, but conversation didn’t happen because Formo kept avoiding his gaze with a subtly flushed face. Thanks to that, the bath ended much faster than usual.
Formo, who came out of the bath, quickly headed to the bedroom before Serdin could catch him. Because he left in such a rush, Formo hadn’t properly tied the strings of his nightgown. So, every time he moved his steps, the nightgown billowed and revealed not only his chest but even his abdomen.
“Pipi, you need to fasten your clothes properly.”
Of course, Formo had no idea about this fact until Serdin, who had chased after him, spoke in a displeased voice.
“……Ah.”
Formo, who realized what his outfit was like, belatedly fastened his gown, but Serdin’s eyes had already sunk deeply.
“There was no need to rush, Pipi.”
“Yeah. That’s true, but……”
That said, there was no need for Serdin to come without fastening his clothes either, was there? To chase after him while brazenly exposing that monstrous thing. Formo looked up at Serdin with absurd eyes.
“What.”
“You’re no different from me either.”
At Formo’s grumbling, Serdin raised one corner of his lips and smiled. It was a small smile, but thanks to that smile, Serdin’s expression looked all the more mischievous. What on earth was this wretched jaguar planning to say with that smile on his face?
Since it was Serdin who always said nonsense that went beyond expectations, Formo narrowed his eyes and waited for the words to follow.
“I had a reason, Pipi.”
“A reason?”
“Yeah.”
“What reason did you have?”
Formo looked at Serdin with suspicious eyes. Serdin himself was grinning as if enjoying that gaze, so he had to quickly avert his eyes.
“Because you seemed curious, Pipi.”
“……What?”
“You seemed curious about mine, so I came without fastening it to show you.”
“Wh-what? Why would I be curious about yours?”
“You’re not? I thought you were curious since Pipi was looking at mine with passionate eyes in the large bath.”
Formo stared at Serdin in dismay as he spouted crazy talk with shameless behavior, then his face flushed bright red. This wretched jaguar must have gone completely insane. Otherwise, how could he spout such nonsense?
Formo’s shoulders, thoroughly irritated, trembled.
“……Are you joking with me right now? I have no reason to be curious about yours!”
Formo shouted with an angry face and jumped up and down in place.
“And when did I look at yours with passionate eyes? I just looked for a moment because it was kind of big, but how is that……”
Formo, who had been continuing his words up to there, suddenly turned pale and blocked his own mouth. Formo’s pupils, staring at the floor, shook left and right. Silence flowed in the bedroom. Formo swallowed dry saliva, then slowly raised his gaze.
Then Serdin, who was staring at him with gleaming eyes, came into view.
“Pipi.”
“……”
“What did you just say?”
Formo’s eyelids trembled, then squeezed shut. This sharp-eared and cunning jaguar wouldn’t miss this opportunity. He had stupidly dug his own grave.
* * *
After finishing their late lunch, Formo and Serdin decided to rest in the glass greenhouse. Serdin had no intention of showing his face at the banquet hall for the time being. They had just shared their hearts, so what need was there for such a banquet? The banquet would roll along fine on its own whether he was there or not anyway.
The two sat facing each other at the table. He rested his chin on his hand and quietly observed Formo opening the book he had brought tucked under his arm. The book Formo had chosen had the very absurd title <Confession of a Good Sparrow>.
What wind could have possibly blown for Formo, who had torn to shreds the cloth book <Baby Sparrow>, to be reading a book with an even more explicit title?
Regardless, Formo was reading the book with a highly concentrated face.
“Pipi, what’s that book?”
“Yeah. It’s the story of a sparrow named Cherenika apologizing for arbitrarily carrying around and spreading other animals’ stories.”
“Really?”
It didn’t seem like a particularly interesting subject, but Formo seemed to think differently. He read the book carefully with a rather serious expression. He occasionally recited impressive passages aloud, and that appearance looked quite bright.
“The good sparrow Cherenika said, ‘I swear to the divine that I only carried the stories, I never added my own opinion.’ This was a clear fact without a trace of falsehood……”
Serdin felt disappointed in Formo, who was only focused on the book even though they had come to the glass greenhouse together after a long while. Of course, he thought that Formo must have felt similar emotions when he went to the banquet, but still, his insides twisted at just letting him stare at the book.
“Pipi.”
“……Yeah.”
“Is it fun?”
Formo answered by nodding his head slightly.
“More than playing with me?”
“Mm……”
Even if it was a reply without soul in it, it was the first moment that Formo’s answers, which had never lost their faithfulness, were cut off. At the same time, Serdin’s brow also wrinkled. He couldn’t understand Formo hesitating over an answer between himself and that trivial book with no nutritional value whatsoever.
Was that all? He even felt betrayed.
“Pipi, are you hesitating right now?”
“It’s not that……”
“How can you hesitate over an answer between your lover and some book?”
“Wh-what? Lo-lover?”
Formo, who had been focused on reading even while the conversation continued, was startled at those words and dropped the book. Formo stared at Serdin with stunned eyes as he unhesitatingly uttered the embarrassing word ‘lover’.
“What do you think it would be like if I hesitated between Pipi and catnip on the same level, Pipi? Hm?”
“……That’s.”
Formo pursed his lips with a flustered expression.
“Don’t tell me you can’t answer this either?”
“It’s just, you’re suddenly asking something like that……”
“Pipi, I’m hurt by you.”
“What? Why!”
Formo asked back with wide eyes. Suddenly hurt. Since Serdin, who looked like he would absolutely never be hurt, was saying that much, his heart sank. He thought, would he really be hurt by something like this, but at the same time he thought it might be possible because it was Serdin.
And as if driving in the final nail, Serdin uncharacteristically lowered the corners of his eyes and showed a very sorrowful expression. It was a face he would absolutely never show normally. Innocent Formo, who couldn’t think that Serdin had fabricated that expression, asked again in an anxious voice.
“Are you really hurt? Really……?”
“Yeah.”
“F-for real?”
“Yeah.”
“Then…… what should I do?”
“What to do. You have to coax me well.”
Serdin, who spoke indifferently as if talking about someone else’s business, turned his head sharply.
“How should I coax you? I don’t know this kind of thing well……”
“I taught you before, Pipi.”
“……Before?”
Formo blinked slowly. Had Serdin sulked before too? Even when he quietly ruminated on the past, there was no memory that particularly came to mind. However, there was one thing he could guess. Precisely the time when Serdin had thrust his cheek forward asking for a kiss if he was sorry.
When he said he had taught him before, he thought it was probably referring to that time. A kiss wasn’t difficult or anything, but…… would Serdin’s mood really be soothed by that? Formo couldn’t be certain.
Formo, who had been worrying, stood up from his seat. Formo approached Serdin, who was turning away from him, and grasped his cheeks with both hands. Serdin’s cheeks were very warm and soft. They seemed to be a bit firmer than his own skin. It was only for a moment that he was surprised by the sensation that was completely different from what he had thought. Formo brought his lips to his smooth cheeks.
However, at the same time, Serdin turned his face, so Formo’s lips landed on his lips instead of his cheek. At the soft sensation he suddenly felt, Formo’s eyes widened. He belatedly realized where his lips had touched and hurriedly straightened his upper body.
The two lips that had touched unintentionally were briefly pressed together then separated.
“Uh, um……”
Formo looked down at Serdin with bewildered eyes. Serdin also had a stiffened expression as if quite startled. Somehow it seemed his mood had gotten worse rather than being soothed.
“……Should I do it again?”
“Again?”
“Yeah. On the cheek.”
Serdin burst into a hollow laugh. Formo occasionally showed a bold side. Just like right now.
“You don’t want to? Then……”
Formo, who had been reading Serdin’s expression, let out a groaning breath, then offered a different opinion.
“O-on the lips, should I do it again?”
What should he do with this long-tailed tit who acted cheekily with an innocent face? Serdin couldn’t help but burst into a hollow laugh again.
