Mine was finally home, but...

Was he really at home?

In fact, that house wasn't his.

“Where are we?” Mine looked at Addai, who closed the cab door.

Addai took a keychain from his pockets with a cat pendant and approached the entrance door. “It’s my house,” he said and turned the key to open the door. “I thought bringing you here would be good for a change in the background.”

Mine was still confused, but somehow, he found the idea interesting and, who knows, it could be beneficial for him... who was still wearing borrowed clothes.

“Come inside,” Addai said, taking Mine’s hand.

Placing the keys on a black cat key holder made of clay, Addai waved with his hands, activating the house's lights and making the shadows incorporate into his own as if they were originally his. Mine entered right after, putting his shoes on the entrance's hard mat.

His friend’s house was, indeed, elegant and seemed pricey.

The decorations resembled the modern Chinese style from a few popular magazines Mine had read once while looking for a style for his place. Still, it had a few features that showed Addai's special touches, like the wood flooring and Asian-designed door divisions.

A beautiful flowery garden called Mine's attention the most due to its vivid vibe at night.

Pink, yellow, green, white…

There were so many colors on that canvas...

He was mesmerized.

Placing his bag somewhere in the living room – and not paying attention to what his friend was saying – Mine walked towards the backyard. There, he felt the soft, cold grass tickling his feet and a cold wind blowing him.

Looking to the side, he found a short, stoned path leading to a bright stone shrine right in front of a tall, blooming cherry blossom tree.

Mine bowed respectfully towards the small shrine before noticing a small pond nearby with a few healthy, bright-colored fishes lazily swimming.

“Hey,” Addai called, startling Mine. “It's cold outside.”

“Ah,” Mine looked at Addai. “Okay, I’ll-”

“There’s a tub in the upstairs bathroom,” Addai covered Mine with a fresh towel, interrupting his speech. “I’ll show you the way. Follow me.”

Silent, Mine followed him through the cold, lifeless flooring and corridors of that spacious house. Despite being very well decorated and furnished with chic furniture, it was cold and dark.

The hallways were wide, and many rooms were empty or closed. In others, there were cardboard boxes and materials that Mine could not identify. The staircase that led to the top floor was modest, but modern and with lights on the floor with sensors – Mine particularly thought it was very chic. Addai surely worked as a pure hobby since that house certainly cost more than ten times his hard-earned teaching salary.

Upstairs was even colder. Some frames with arabesques and minute details were covered by fabric or were missing photos, which Mine found very strange but decided not to talk about.

Mine’s steps slowed as they passed Addai’s private library.

It was massive—so large, it had its own staircase and two full floors of books and materials.

But with Addai guiding him, exploring it was impossible.

For now.

Mine looked at the boy in front of him and stopped when he stopped.

“Here,” Addai voiced and opened a door. “I sorted my smallest clothes for you to wear,” as he explained, a few shadows inside the bathroom twirled and moved some pieces of furniture, items, and even the soap.

Mine almost paid no attention to what Addai was saying, but he paid full attention to those shadows. One of them even waved at him.

What were those?

“Mine, you heard what I said?” Addai asked.

Mine briefly startled and looked at Addai. “Yes, I… thank you,” he nodded and entered the bathroom. When he was about to close the door, Addai’s hand touched him.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me,” Addai said.

Mine looked at him and nodded, a faint smile sketching his tired face. “All right,” he closed the door.

When the door’s lock turned, Mine sat on the floor.

He didn't have the strength to think or the willpower to fight for anything.

He was reduced to ashes after a wildfire.

All he wanted was to rest, but to be able to rest, he needed to shower.

He was too tired, but the tub was perfectly done as well as the clothes sorted and many fancy branded items like a body splash, he recently saw on the internet, deodorant, body moisturizer… but Mine’s eyes lay on the perfume right on the sink. He reached for it but hesitated.

He needed to take a shower.

After relaxing in the tub with bubbles and warm water, he put on his new clothes. It was a miracle the shirt was big enough to cover his legs a little bit because the pants were impossible to fit.

Mine was a bit embarrassed, but he didn't know what to say to Addai, so he covered his legs as much as he could with the blouse, as if it were a nightgown. Fortunately, his boxer’s underwear wasn’t too shady nor too weird.

When he was about to open the door and exit the bathroom after using everything his friend had sorted for him, he glanced at the perfume on the sink again. He bit his lower lips and approached the item. He took the round-shaped bottle in his hands and read its label before opening the lid.

He took a sniff and gasped softly. I was the perfume he always felt around Addai.

With a silly, faint smile sketched on his face, Mine put it back in its place. His heart fluttered, but he paid no mind to that cozy feeling.

Finally finished, Mine peeked outside and…

Where was Addai?

The corridors were as empty as before, but Mine knew the way to the living room, so he started walking barefoot around the cold floors and hallways. In his way, a room caught his attention.

It was wide with several paintings, canvas, and many painting utensils. Mine couldn’t decline his curiosity now that he was alone, so he entered the room.

Inside it, he found himself in the most beautiful private art gallery ever.

There were delicate flower paintings from many different species. A specific painting caught his attention: a mural composition of five frames resembling a star shape. It was, unfortunately, unfinished, and the details were too sketchy. Only two frames from below were filled with the most delicate flowers he had ever seen…

“Wow…” Mine couldn’t help but sigh, amazed.

“What are you doing here?” a deep voice startled him. There was subtle urgency in it.

“The paintings… they are…” Mine tried to speak.

“Terrible,” the voice hissed.

“I disagree.” Mine approached a painting with a mysterious woman with black hair and white roses around her. “They have… a soul. They have life. They have beauty,” as he spoke, his hair color changed, matching each painting he touched. “They have you, Addai,” he smiled, even though his tired face made it look quite miserable.

Addai fell silent, and Mine could see, under the dim lights, how reddish his cheeks were. “Let's go, I made your bed,” he said.

“I want to stay here for a while,” Mine replied, sliding his hand on a painting’s frame. “It’s so beautiful I don’t want to leave,” he chuckled, and his hair turned a harmonic pink shade, just like his eyes.

“You’re sputtering nonsense,” Addai tried to grab Mine, but the boy dodged and chuckled.

“It’s wide, a bit cold, and full of still life,” Mine started walking around the room, not caring if his feet were dirtied with the dust on the flooring, nor how much Addai tried to grab him. “I loved it here,” he touched one more painting's frame, and when he took one more step, all his previous footprints glowed, forming his erratic path among the paintings.

Mine let his hair glow and flow in the air, enjoying the place's distinguishing energy. He felt sorrow, happiness, innocence, hate, joy… so many emotions in one place… they were so intriguing and deep... until he felt warmth around him.

“Rest,” Addai said, taking him in his arms.

Addai finally caught him.

Mine lazily blinked and rested his head on Addai’s chest. He felt the exhaustion consuming him, so he let the sleepy wave take his eyesight.

“You’re so… silly,” Mine muttered, almost in a soft chuckle.

“I’ll be here tonight to watch over you,” Addai said softly.

Mine jolted awake, startled.

He blinked up at Addai, utterly confused.

Had they teleported to the bedroom?

Wait—bed?!

Did he actually fall asleep?

Addai tucked the fuzzy sheets around him, trying not to laugh at the baffled expression scrunching up Mine’s face.

Mine looked around and realized—he was lying on a wide-ass bed.

A fancy one.

It was so ridiculously comfortable, he immediately wished his body wouldn’t get used to it. The mattress, the pillows, the quilts—everything was perfect and smelled annoyingly amazing.

How the hell was he supposed to go back to his cheap mattress after this??

Was it a feeble guest room? It couldn't be! The bed was way too luxurious to be in a feeble guest room!

Under the soft, dim light, something in Addai’s arms caught Mine’s eye more than the fancy bed. They were linear, like slashes, and far different from a cat’s scarring… Umbra couldn’t have done them.

Were those always there?

He blinked, then looked again. And again. His gaze kept drifting back, drawn to those strange marks.

When Addai lay down beside him, Mine gently took his arm and looked closer.

“…Scars?” he murmured, brows furrowing as he traced them lightly with his fingers.

Had he really never seen them before?

Or had he just… never looked closely enough?

“Ah, these…” Addai muttered, but soon his tone changed for a cocky one. “I was a warrior in a past life," he said seriously but then chuckled at Mine's frowning.

“Really? Is that serious?” Mine grumbled and released Addai’s arm.

“Really. I was a strong and bold warrior,” Addai made a proud pose, and Mine chuckled. “Many people used to adore me for that, and all of them smiled at my doings, just as you're doing,” he arched an eyebrow, and Mine wheezed.

“No, stop! That was horrible!" Mine laughed out loud.

The dark clouds around Mine had successfully vanished, and it was Addai's turn to make the sun bright again. Well, a warrior must be a hero!

Addai stood and mimicked a warrior stance, eventually using a ruler – he got from God knows where – as a sword. Mine used the pillow as a shield, both acting as if Addai was the warrior of a lost city, and Mine, his sidekick, who did his best to support the so-called hero.

The bedroom has now turned into the stage.

A chair? A mountain!

The wardrobe? A portal array!

The rug? The sea!

Everything turned into something else for their play.

Addai purposely fell on the floor, and Mine made a help stand. He conjured a few light mana rabbits to “aid” them and do the sidekick role even better. The rabbits “cured” Addai's “wounds,” nibbling his skin – and damn... it was ticklish, but he perfectly ignored the ticklishness, not spoiling his role. Meanwhile, Mine was making an emotional speech about the Hero’s doings and how he would be remembered for so many years.

Then, Addai conjured a smoke-like dragon that tried to take him by the legs and rip them apart, giving him some more (fake) scars. Mine took the Hero's sword and pointed to the dragon, glowing his hair in light green and so the palm of his hands, full of scripts; he mimicked Addai's earlier “hero posing” and stabbed the dragon, dissipating it in the air while the bunnies turned into light orbs, illuminating the dim room.

“Oh no, the hero is still on the floor!” Mine gasped dramatically, taking Addai’s hand.

“Cough, cough, tell my fans… cough I did my best…” Addai dramatically closed his eyes, and Mine couldn't hold his laughter. “Hey, you need to act better.”

“I can't anymore!” Mine laughed.

“You’ll perish!” Addai started tickling Mine.

Ah, the tickle attack! A vile move!

Mine's clouds were now kilometers away as he laughed out loud, avoiding more and more tickling, but he failed every time Addai took him by surprise. He needed to raise the white flag!

“I'm sorry, oh, great hero! Spare this feeble soul,” Mine pleaded, acting innocent. But then a mischievous smile crossed his face, and the back of his hand glowed. “Or perish!!” he summoned the light mana bunnies to tickle Addai back.

“Hahahaha! No! That's a foul move!” Addai laughed out loud.

Addai's laugh was wide, and it was possible to see his teeth, a teethy and warm smile. Mine, gazing at him, felt the dancer in his heart miss a few steps. His friend's smile was bright, and the dimples were there after a long time he hadn't seen them.

That smile really suited him.

Mine wished that person’s smile never faded…

… even if he could hate him someday.