Their conversation about the previous night never happened. At first, they tried to reason a few things and ended up bickering. Then, when the subject was finally spoken, they stopped talking. Blushing, they both avoided the topic and simply bowed, claiming all was fine.

Despite the awkwardness, they enjoyed a decent breakfast. Eye contact was rare—especially after Mine's thoughts slipped out.

Unable to stand such an awkward atmosphere, Mine started plotting ways to flee from that situation.

While Addai did the dishes, Mine glanced at the “out of bounds” backyard, recalling how Addai had stopped him from approaching a shrine the morning before. When his mind was about to wander away into plotting schemes to go there, Addai touched Mine’s hand and caught his attention.

“I’ll look for Umbra. I need to give her vitamins so...”

Mine, noticing the hesitation in Addai’s voice, sketched a faint smile on his lips and nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll tidy up the things in the bedroom.” It was also a nice excuse to explore the house and the backyard.

Addai slightly frowned, a bit annoyed. “You’re my guest. There’s no need to do anything besides resting.”

Mine frowned as well. His pride was on the line, and so was his curiosity about the backyard. “I’m already feeling like a burden, so let me do this at least,” he huffed.

Addai sighed, scratched his head, then nodded. “Alright, just make sure to rest right after. I have some books in the living room and I think you’d like to read them,” he looked away, not too convincing in hiding his slightly peach-colored cheeks.

“I hope they’re not as boring as your classes,” Mine teased.

Addai bit the bait and left, huffing. Umbra was nowhere to be found, and she was surely hiding to not take her daily vitamins, so Mine had some time to explore the house and fulfill his plans.

Everything that is forbidden holds an allure that feels almost irresistible. For Mine, the thought of exploring what lay hidden behind the boundaries was like an itch begging to be scratched.

Mine tiptoed toward the back door, every creak of the floorboard echoing louder than it should have. He picked up the pair of shoes he had found on the doorstep and, before wearing them, he noticed they were oversized, of course—they were Addai’s.

He will notice that his shoes went missing... Mine hesitated. He undressed the shoes and placed them exactly the same way they were before.

Not that he minded walking barefoot, but he didn’t want to dirty the flooring when he came back into the house. But there was no chance to pick up his own shoes at the front door, then go back to the backyard. He couldn’t waste any more time!

When his bare feet touched the grass, he was struck by an immediate sense of contrast. The garden radiated a gentle, calming energy—like stepping into a sunlit pool of warm water, the sunlight dancing in ripples across his legs.

Mine pressed the toes into the grass, interlacing them... but he couldn't enjoy such synesthesia for long because he still had to satisfy his curiosity. His plan needed to keep going.

While he recollected the shards of his photographic memory, he heard Umbra’s loud hissing and Addai’s shout. Maybe the fussing cat was refusing to have her vitamins, startling and scratching her poor owner. It meant that Mine had less time than he expected because if Umbra fled from Addai and jumped into the backyard, Mine was screwed.

Quickening his steps, Mine followed a stone path among the grass until he found its end. It was a mesmerizing sanctuary.

Gasping for air, Mine located the fish in the same small pond he had seen the previous day. The koi swam gently and lazily while the sunlight shone on the water’s surface. A little ahead of them, the stone sanctuary stood.

As Mine approached the stones, his feet felt the coldness around the beauty in front of him. Scrambling through the nearest bushes, he found a small, yellow flower. He picked it up and bowed at the sanctuary. Although the letters engraved in the stone were fading, Mine could sense a presence lingering—an undeniable feeling that someone remained among the rocks, dirt, and beauty.

Mine placed the flower on the top of the stone shrine and bowed. Straightening his body, he faintly smiled before bowing again.

“Hi! I’m Mine Karawaga, and I hope you’re resting well! Sorry to disturb you!” he hurriedly said, his cheeks burning.

“It’s my family’s Sanctuary,” a deep voice said from behind.

“@#$%!” Mine almost cursed, but incomprehensible words came out instead.

A ghost?! No! It was his friend with an incense stick in his hands.

Addai crouched in front of the shrine and lit an incense, placing it on the burner next to the shrine. A flowery and sweet scent filled the air. Some could say it had musky dots or even acidic touches, but Mine only felt flowery and sweet.

When the burning blush in his cheeks gradually faded while the incense burned instead, Mine felt a slight pressure on his back. The pressure then slid from his back to his left arm, then to his hand. Addai held his left hand and placed it on his right cheek before guiding Mine to touch the shrine’s cold stone.

“If you’re curious, go ahead and feel it,” Addai said, his voice tinted in blue tones.

“I... You don’t need to let me do whatever I want,” Mine hesitated, recoiling his hand a bit.

Addai nodded negatively and placed Mine’s hand on the stone again. “I’m doing this because I want you to meet them too.”

Mine looked at Addai, then looked back at the shrine. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Excuse me.

Sorrow, happiness, and nostalgia, that place and Addai's essence were intriguing. Mine couldn't touch the grass to feel its energies because it was too full of life, which would interfere with his searching, so his friend was a conductor, sorting the right energy he wanted to explore.

Soon, the thin veil appeared on Mine's back, and so did his glowing hair, but he was still himself, just dazing at the shrine and letting all the mana flow in him. But he wasn't only enjoying it because something in his friend intrigued him: an already recorded energy among all the essences he had seen.

His dazing turned into gazing. Addai’s eyes were closed, but Mine could see a nostalgic essence surrounding him. When he was about to touch the essence’s strings, he felt a headache kick in.

"Ugh..." Mine whined.

Breaking the hand-holding connection, Mine touched a spot between Addai’s eyebrows and whispered something. The warm wave of essences soon vanished from them and was redirected back to their place.

The shift in the air snapped him awake. Addai’s eyes flew open, and before thought could reach him, his hands seized Mine’s, still warm against his face.

"Are you ok?" Addai hurried.

"Yes..." Mine shook the headache off. "It's beautiful, all of this. Thank you for letting me feel it," he smiled, and the veil vanished like the rest of his Chronos' features.

Mine’s skin gradually turned back to its usual tone, and his eyes regained that calm and soft rose color. His fingers became less cold as well, warmth reclaiming its right place, and, in the end, the delicate veil turned into mana specks falling on both.

Addai gazed at Mine and, for an instant, he forgot how to talk.

“What?” Mine asked.

“You’re... beautiful,” Addai reached for a falling cherry blossom flower and placed it on Mine’s hair.

"That's gross," Mine grumbled, flustered, only to end up laughing.

“What?” Addai asked, tilting his head to the side.

“You… what do I do with you?” Mine chuckled. "Ah! Give me an incense to light.”

He lit the incense, and his green hair faintly glowed, as did his eyes and fingertips. The moment he placed the incense on the burner, it made a bell noise, and a misty wind blew both boys' bodies and nearby leaves.

“I wished them serenity,” Mine grinned happily.

Once vivid, Addai's gaze slowly turned blue. Somehow, he was and wasn't there at the same time. It felt like his soul wandered somewhere else while the incense burned.

“Who liked this exquisite scent?” Mine asked with a smile on his face, and, fortunately, Addai hadn't wandered too far away.

“My grandmother did,” Addai smiled bashfully, memories flooding his mind and coloring his eyes. “She said she would plant a field of jasmines herself to smell it all day,” he chuckled, remembering his old granny saying it all smiley.

Still, Addai seemed distant as he dazed the shrine, and Mine looked at him, waiting for an answer.

“My grandmother liked the blossoms just as… my mother,” Addai muttered.

Mine hesitated for a moment, then asked. "How… was she like?”

“Ah… she was amazing,” Addai faintly smiled. “She was the gentlest woman I’ve ever seen… the most caring and…” he started wiping something off his face, but it stubbornly kept disturbing his view. "I would die to see her again…”

In front of Mine, his friend was reduced to a lost child.

It was a shocking view. He had never seen Addai cry. Well, Mine was sure he was the crybaby one, not Addai, and seeing his friend losing his dignity in those terrible sobs was… heartbreaking.

Deep inside, Mine felt bad because he touched a sensitive subject. He didn’t even imagine it was that… hurtful.

Mine didn't wait anymore—he tightly hugged Addai.

“She died... because of me,” Addai said, voice cracking mid-sob.

“Then I was left alone — tossed into an orphanage, because God dammit, it was the last place my father trusted before he died in front of me.”

Mine felt the heaviness of those sentences and how tense Addai's back became. Still, he hugged him even tighter, and Addai did the same, hungrily hugging him back.

"All those years... trying to survive the frequent exorcising attempts…” Addai darkly chuckled, grabbing Mine’s shirt. “In the end, I’m only a fucking cursed child,” he gritted his teeth.

Mine felt his hair tips turning darker, reacting to Addai’s emotions, but said nothing.

“God knows how much I prayed to leave with my parents, but…" Addai breathed. "My bloodline is a tough mess. Who could guess I survived every single time?" he chuckled miserably, gripping Mine's shirt more. "Every time I remember her… I feel troubled… I-I’m sorry to behave this way… I’m truly sorry…”

Mine felt a knot in his throat, but he gathered enough strength to cup his friend’s soaked face and lift it.

“Don’t apologize! You… you’re not all those terrible things you told me…” Mine started, ignoring his own eyes swelling in tears. “You told me to go easy on myself… can I ask you the same?”

Addai fell silent for a few seconds before answering.

“My sins are far too wide for me to be that indulgent,” Addai gritted his teeth, a pair of fangs bruising his lips.

“Share them with me,” Mine insisted. “It’s ok if it hurts. Let it bleed. Let it hurt. Let yourself feel it, but please…" he wiped off some tears that insisted on rolling down his friend’s cheeks, “… don’t lose yourself in the sea of sorrow.”

“C-can you help me?” Addai took some air, and his chin trembled a little. “P-please?”

Mine held his own tears and nodded. You’ve carried the ocean in your chest all this time, Addai.