[Trigger Warning: suggestive scars and innuendo]

I told you he's the devil. Look at his eyes!

Exorcise him once again, Head Nun!

Because of you, your parents are dead!

Go ahead, stupid demon kid.

*Clanking sounds of metal hitting the floor*

Just do it.

“Ah!” Addai sat down with a jolt. He was sweaty from head to toe, trembling as he caught his breath.

It wasn’t the first time he had had those kinds of dreams. Also, it had been a long time since his arm itched, specifically his wrists. Yes, in that same place that Mine touched with such kindness, innocence, and naivety earlier.

It itched, just the way it itched years ago.

He rubbed his face and wiped away the sweat and itchiness, still panting and breathing quickly. Looking to the side, Mine was sleeping so well that it was a sin to wake him up with anything, so Addai got up and stepped onto the cold floor of the room that was once warm and welcoming.

However, Addai had committed one more sin.

“...Hm...?” Mine muttered, turning towards Addai.

His face was swollen from crying earlier, and he was a little sniffy. With his eyes barely open and his head heavy with sleep, he made a great effort to stay awake.

Feeling his arm itching again, Addai inhaled deeply and turned to Mine.

“It’s nothing,” Addai reached for his friend's warm hand. “Go back to sleep,” he said, and Mine lay down again, muttering something inaudible.

After gently brushing back Mine’s hair and tucking a few strands behind his ear, Addai sighed, his heart tons lighter.

How could someone, just by sleeping, have such an effect on him?

The itch in his arm faded, and the tension in his shoulders melted away.

He was brushing Mine’s hair with his fingers when he heard Umbra approaching with a soft meow.

Addai looked at his cat. “Umbra, weren’t you hunting-”

“Meow meow,” Umbra made that silly face again.

Addai took off his sock and threw it on the cat, who perfectly avoided it and went away with her fuzzy tail raised.

His cat was weird, but what could he do besides sighing?

Well, he wasn’t sleepy anymore—and since he didn’t want to disturb Mine’s peaceful rest, he quietly covered him with the fuzzy sheets and slipped out of the room.

Addai entered a room – his private studio.

The doors were ornate, which didn’t match the house’s overall design, but it was charming anyway. It matched the vibe of a lonely artist with countless unfinished paintings hanging on the wall, dusty and forgotten.

The room smelled of oil paint, turpentine, alcohol, and new canvases. Thanks to the large glass windows that overlooked the landscape of the leafy, well-kept garden, the room didn't smell so strong.

The first thing Addai did was open those large windows, letting the cold dawn breeze blow his distress away. After fixing the curtains so they wouldn’t sway too much with the wind, Addai took a napkin and cleaned the nearest unused canvas.

Next to him, in the left corner of the room, a small aluminum table was cramped with a glass paint palette, some glasses with brushes of varying thickness, a tablecloth painted in different colors and lines, and some papers with very messy sketches. Behind it, an aluminum cabinet held boxes with new, old, and used paints and more utensils such as spatulas, sponges, pencils, charcoal... everything that the artist used in his most varied works, hanging, leaning against, and forgotten.

Addai approached the small table and ran his hand over the paint palette. It was already dusty, as were the brushes and the smudged drawings from his fingers.

Well, Addai had to clean them too, but he needed to check one thing first.

He walked a little further and uncovered a large painting that seemed to have taken a long time due to its rich detail. It was the painting of that same black-haired girl that Mine saw earlier.

He ran his finger across its uneven surface, the paint already dry for an unknown amount of time. He felt their textures, imperfections, and perfections.

The face drawn and painted was delicate and innocent, but very smiling and with lightness and richness of soul. The model was having fun by herself, dancing through the shower of pink, yellow, and orange petals that surrounded her. Her surroundings were uncertain, but as beautiful as the flowers drawn on the main layer.

Addai briefly smiled as he put the painting back where it belonged.

He walked a little further to see his old works hanging there and ended up finding old receipts from past sales on the floor. It had been a long time since he’d sold any of his paintings.

The larger composition still craved attention, and he ignored it.

He walked a little further into that spacious gallery and found Mine's footprints on the floor. His toes were perfectly stamped into the fine dust on the smooth brown porcelain floor.

Without realizing it, he ended up recreating Mine's steps and arrived at his unwanted composition, his ugly duckling. He looked at it and grumbled, covering it with a long, white fabric, and with the help of one of the shadows that accompanied him there.

Addai took his wooden stool and placed it in front of the easel that hadn't been used for a long time. He then took an ordinary, blank canvas and put it on the easel, brushing off possible dirt and dust.

With a piece of used charcoal in hand, he aimed at the screen and started translating what his mind wanted to see in person. He let the black mix with the white, creating gray and its shades and shapes. He just let his soul talk to him, face to face, in that dim, cold room.

He missed the feeling, the passion, and the weightlessness.

Addai was so absorbed in the painting that he only heard Umbra meowing at him when she brushed her fuzzy tail against his legs and touched his leg with her paw.

"What's up, Umbra?" Addai placed the charcoal on the easel. “What brought you here?” he asked, cuddling her chin, and she purred, walking past him.

Umbra sat right on top of one of Mine's footprints and meowed again. Her owner sighed and approached her.

As he bent down to caress her ears, he realized that Mine's footprints reflected an indescribable lightness and that, who knows, he could have left a sketch of how to dance there.

“What? You know I’m a terrible dancer,” Addai glared at Umbra, who curled on a footprint.

"Meow meow…" she meowed mockingly, and her owner fell for the teasing.

Addai tried following the steps again and realized that nothing would change. Who knows, maybe it was just his head playing tricks on him... until one of Mine's footprints started to glow.

I love it here. Addai remembered Mine’s words. 

He felt invisible butterflies swarm around him, and they tickled him a lot.

Yeah...

He was bewitched, but it felt incredibly good and fuzzy.

With a curious Umbra watching him with a soft gaze, he decided that he'd try learning how to impress Mine with his steps. So, he started with the sketch on the flooring right in front of him.

Stepping on the first footmark and soon following the next ones, it was as if Mine was guiding him like he always did when they rarely danced together. Well… they could dance more, who knows?

It was… fun.

The steps were light, and you should follow them calmly… but without a guide, it was difficult. But just as Addai was about to give up, one of the footprints glowed, and he felt a hand holding him, guiding him through simple new steps. One step this way, a long step there, turns a little, releases the hand, and comes together. Addai could feel and hear the laughter that Mine gave when he saw and guided his crooked steps.

“Tsk tsk... until when will the Great Addai fall for those cheap illusions?” Addai heard, and Mine was really standing in front of him!

“@$%&,” Addai attempted to talk, but only gibberish came out.

“I wondered why you were taking so long,” Mine chuckled, and his eyes glowed golden, as well as the marks on his hand and arms. “So… I see you enjoyed my steps…”

“T-That’s not it-”

“Then, follow me now!” Mine beamed and grabbed Addai’s hand.

They twirled, but not in silence, once Mine made some mana illusions to play music. The music was ethereal, matching the dim room with only the moon as the light source.

Was it a dream? Addai was sure Mine was sleeping soundly! But… if it was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up.

So, they danced a sweet, mellow waltz...

… but the chapter doesn't end here.

Not yet.

Somehow, Mine's eyes were sorrowful as their dance progressed, and the music slowly turned blue and low, like an old, damaged record. The once warm and ethereal environment slowly became colder... and colder… and colder.

Something was wrong.

“What’s up?” Addai asked, slowly interrupting their waltz.

Mine blinked, looking to the side, “It’s nothing… I just… sorry to spoil this moment,” he released Addai’s hand.

Addai watched his friend's contradictory actions and brushed his hair. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Mine looked at Addai and bit his bottom lip. “C-can we talk about something else?” he averted his eyes again, but Addai grabbed his wrist.

“Have I done something?” Addai asked, and his eyes were somehow conveying uneasiness.

“No... Addai, you didn't...” Mine looked at him again.

He took a deep breath and – maybe he wasn't ready to speak – but the reason why he couldn't sleep after Addai left the room was that thing stuck in his throat. That vile thing, that… vile thought that made him follow Addai using his Chronos illusions so he to not notice him. That… ugly thing made him sneak into the room and plot countless ways to find the "right" one to come up with such a conversation.

“It’s just… ah…” Mine exhaled. He needed to say it. He must. “You’re just so sweet, so… you,” he vaguely explained, not eyeing Addai's expressions once he averted his eyes again. “You… are too good with me… I preferred it when you were rude with me when you annoyed me and cursed me… but now… damn Addai, what do I do with such sweetness?” his hands glowed more.

The footprints on the floor vanished, as well as all the illusions in that room, like the moon, Umbra, and even a few paintings Addai hadn't painted – well, Addai was pretty sure Umbra agreed to take part in Mine's plans, and act like an illusion, but still.

Only Mine and he were there, as well as the paintings.

“What do I do with you?” Mine said, his voice shaking. “What do I do if… if…” he got tangled in his own words as the ugly thing crept inside his throat, ready to be vomited.

“What, Mine?”

“What do I do if you hate me?!” Mine shouted, and the glow in his hands, once yellow, turned red. “You shouldn’t think so highly of me. You shouldn't care for me, you just… You could throw me away!” he rubbed his face, maybe trying to rub his anger towards himself or rub the sore tears that started dripping. “Bury this feeling, so you won't be disappointed-”

But Mine didn't expect Addai to approach and yank him towards him.

Everything happened too fast and brute, like stomping on fragile flowers.

Mine's eyes were wide open like two glass, glossy marbles. Warm hands were on his cheeks, and soft, warm lips were pressed against his. A tooth here, a tooth there on the lips was used for Mine to open his mouth and make it possible for the most forbidden feeling to sprout.

He felt the roots of that evil taking over his body, arms, and melting mind. It was Eve’s apple, a sin.

Mine knew that. He truly knew, but still... 

... he took a bite from that apple.

Soon, his body started warming up, and he slowly became breathless as if Addai sucked his oxygen away from his lungs as they lay on the once cold floor. The warmth and saliva exchanges were intense and hungry in an almost desperate way, and as Mine felt his lips bruised by Addai's fangs, he tried to uselessly fight, but Addai tied them together.

“Let me be the judge of that,” Addai whispered in a growl, next to Mine's lips before he could face the boy beneath him, catching his breath. “How could I fucking hate you?”