"Hm..." Mine groaned, opening his eyes.

His body still weighed tons, but as he regained consciousness, his strength gradually returned. He rested his head on something soft, and its fabric was quite comfortable despite its irregular surface. A pillow? A coat? He didn't know what it was, but something in front of him deserved more attention.

Despite his eyes being open, he still saw a shadow before him, as if he were close to a plushie. This huge plushie was strange but very comfortable, warm, and... safe. Looking up, he realized that this "plushie" wasn't really a pillow but a person! But it wasn't just any person. It was a specific person: Addai.

At that exact moment, not only Mine's cheeks burned, but also his entire body when he realized that he was sleeping, hugging that person quite naturally! Between the desire to roll away from there and the desire to stay right there and get more comfortable, Mine had to choose to follow another path: pretend to be sleeping.

Embarrassment? Awkwardness? Shame? In fact, he chose none of these options because he felt something cold touching his back. That cold thing alone wasn't enough to scare him, but rather the noise it made.

Hissing! Snake hisses!

Even though his eyes were closed tightly, Mine felt like he was being watched by something and that something was staring at him while hissing. That alone was enough to make his body tremble with fear. He was recovering from who knows what, and his body was still tender after the fateful Chronos outburst. In other words... he was vulnerable, and his only way out was to fake fainting.

That creature's cold, wet snout approached Mine's face, and he felt like actually fainting. It sniffed his hair and ears two, three, four times, making goose bumps rise. At a certain point, Mine felt the urge to cry.

Apparently, this urge caught the attention of the snake, which hissed somewhat desperately, poking Addai in the back and ended up shaking Mine as well. Mine had never been so scared, and the sadistic creature that lived inside him didn't even show up to protect them! Addai grunted and moved, making it seem like he was half awake and half asleep. His voice was deep and a little hoarse, meaning he also slept as well as Mine.

The snake hissed in one way, and Addai responded in another hissing. This bizarre conversation fried Mine's neurons even more, desperate about his vulnerability, and creating hundreds of new paranoias. One of the hundreds paranoias was the possibility that the person he was holding onto was not exactly Addai but more of a puppet.T his paranoia that had just come out of the oven was enough for Mine's body to tremble again, which only stopped when Addai stroked his shoulders and slid his hand through Mine's unevenly cut hair.

Addai chuckled and leaned closer to Mine’s face. "It's all right. You don't need to shiver nor cry like a baby," he whispered, caressing Mine's head. "The snake is friendly."

But Mine still wasn't convinced. Instead of opening his eyes, he closed them even more and pursed his lips. His despair only increased when he heard the hissing intensify closer to him, which soon moved away with a hiss coming from Addai.

"It's gone now," Addai said, but his voice was more tired. "…Are you… okay…?" He asked, sounding like he was about to pass out.

And indeed, he was going to faint.

When his head was about to hit the ground, Mine caught it and cushioned the fall with his hand before supporting Addai's head on what seemed to be an improvised pillow. This odd "pillow" was comfortable though, but Addai refused it and gave it back to Mine.

Despite his holding-back-the-tears face, Mine was firm despite all the tension as he analyzed his friend, who had one hand covering his naked back. Addai looked terrible. Dark circles and small spots that looked like dirt were on his cheeks and down to his neck. Mine lightly undid a button on his shirt and saw that the stain from his forearms had reached his chest and neck.

Mine frowned and unbuttoned one more button on Addai's shirt, who was too dizzy to care about that. Whatever that was, it had spread very quickly because Mine was out and couldn't equalize Addai, which might have contributed to this rapid spread.

Mine touched the skin, which was still soft. "You should be more careful."

Addai snorted and laughed. "That goes for you too, right?"

Mine frowned and unbuttoned the third button on Addai's blouse. "Be quiet, and don't you dare use miasma again until I'm done," he demanded, placing his palm on Addai's chest.

"Are you… really okay…?" Addai asked, trying to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, don't worry about me," Mine nodded, and his hair shone like gold, as did the scriptures on his body. "And what happened to you?"

"Ah… trivial things like getting poison out of your body," Addai said nonchalantly.

Mine only didn't slap him on the forehead because Addai was already weak enough, but he couldn't help but share some words of "encouragement" (aka lecturing him) so that he wouldn't repeat the dose in the future. A few beautiful lecture sessions later, Addai's ears were already burning, and he seemed to have learned something despite the pouting face and silent lips.

Noises of water drops falling into a puddle caught Mine's attention. It was the crystal-clear lagoon that was not far from them. His eyes paused at the lagoon, and then he scanned the surroundings of that cave, identifying the entrance to two galleries and another that seemed to lead outside. The fire near them was already out, and what illuminated them was that same lake with crystal-clear and luminescent waters! However, there was no sign of the group or the snake.

"Where are we?" Mine asked, seeing that the stain on Addai's chest began to fade.

"We are in a safe place," Addai replied. "The rest of the group are out there trying to relax until we come up with a plan. We're recovering… and… I'll stay on guard… you can rest after you finish."

"Hm…" Mine murmured – without agreeing or denying – and realized that Addai was closer to the world of dreams than reality.

The equalization sessions required the part to be equalized to be minimally awake so that the energies could flow in their body perfectly and without distractions. However, Addai's gaze was cloudier than fog on a cold morning, but Mine had plans to keep him awake.

"Since when do you cosplay as Voldemort? Talking to snakes like that?" Mine teased.

Addai chuckled softly, closed his sleepy eyes, then opened them again to appreciate Mine’s glow. "You know... I'm a person of many talents and wisdom..." he bragged as the spots on his chest retracted onto his forearms again.

"Share two pieces of wisdom with me then," Mine teased again, almost finishing the equalization.

"The water in the lake looks fantastic, but I don't know if I dare to dip my hand in it and..." After a brief pause for Addai to close his eyes and almost lose himself in sleep, he seemed to have remembered to finish what he had started. "I feel so comfortable around you… At first, I was a bit wary and too stupid. It's hard for me to... you know... but... in the end... funny isn't it? Ha ha ha..." he chuckled, almost losing his speech to sleepiness, but he continued the last sentence before he lost the battle. "Am I... too pathetic for loving you even after being so harsh?"

Mine almost used the wrong spell as he flickered like a light bulb when those last words came out of Addai's sleepy mouth. He mentally cursed when he saw that his hair colors were a mess, and probably whoever saw him at that moment would certainly be, at the very least, intrigued or worried.

Between feeling like slapping Addai – passed out from an inexplicable sleep – and crawling into the nearest hole he could find, Mine chose the third way again. He stood there, stiff and paralyzed, trying to digest word by word that Addai blurted out like that.

Mine's cheeks could no longer handle being red alone, so they dispersed the redness all over his body, which made him a little sweaty. The more alert he became, the more he realized that Addai's hand was still on his nude back. Then, he flickered again like a light bulb and felt his hair start floating in the air as if he were underwater.

His thoughts were so jumbled he couldn't think of just one thing and translate it for himself amid that immensity of mixed words.

Mine turned his gaze to Addai, ignoring how fast his heartbeat was. It was as if little tap dancers were dancing frantically inside his ribcage, radiating the beats even to his ears and mouth. Did Addai feel the same? He was sure he heard the same thumping coming from Addai's chest every once in a while.

So, that was how it felt?

It wasn't bad, though.

Mine's mouth moved, opened, and closed until he squeezed something out. "You're not pathetic… You are… cool, and I…" he said, aware that Addai wouldn't hear it.

"Cool" wasn't what he wanted to mean or say, but he didn't bother because he could say something at least. Actually, he wanted to complete that sentence when Addai was wide awake, even though he didn't know how to do it.

Analyzing Addai's sleeping face, Mine approached, and, even though he felt as hot as an oven, he slid his hands on Addai's soft, warm skin. He slowly approached another location and, taking the courage he didn't even know, pressed his lips against Addai's.

It was quick but enough for Mine to turn red like a tomato, and quickly sit. Maintaining the guard pose, he stared into space as if actively on guard despite his foggy mind and vision. His entire body faltered, and he repeated to himself that a horrendous crime happened. But all the sane (and insane) thoughts were emptied when something cold and wet jumped onto his neck.

With so many emotions in that poor little heart of his, Mine finally fainted.

Me-Meow! Umbra looked concerned at a passed-out Mine and her sleeping owner. Beside them, the frog she brought as a gift was jumping happily after freedom.