I was roused by the heat. I felt beside me; he was hugging me tightly from behind. Even if I didn’t fix my position to see who it was, I knew exactly the touch, the scent, the care: it was Johann.

He’s late again, I thought. But I was used to it anyway.

I rearranged my position to glimpse his delightful appearance. I wanted to observe my beloved and note that, “I love you, Johann.” I mutter it, in grieving and tormenting feelings.

Noticing by my eyes, even if it’s a gloomy night, he seems like he has just taken a shower before he arrives, “Where have you been, to be this late at night?” I arose my hand to his gentle angelic alike face and remarked meekly, “It doesn’t matter, at least you’re in my brace and that’s the matter.”

With that action of mine, I make a disturbance in his tranquil sleep, “Dale?” he mumbles in a sleepy voice. Without dubious, I rashly shut my eyes so he could not see if I was sleepless, “Are you asleep, my love?”

Dale is in a situation whether he must decide whether to answer his husband or not, knowing the fact that he still has grievances against his partner for not arriving at the New Year's celebration with him. He still hates him — and yet he can’t because of the softer heart he has for the boy.

“Dale? I know you can hear me… Dale? I love you,” Johann whispered in a soft heavenly tone, a voice that anyone can be deceived after they heed, “My vows to you will never change, Dale, I swore to heaven and hell until death do us part.”

Thereafter, Johann repositioned himself at the top of Dale, where he could subdue and hug his little dove — a dove with a pure heart that had been wing-clipped by its cruel owner. The owner kissed the dove on top of its head, claiming possession of the innocent, fragile pet.

Dale, who is still pretending to be asleep, seems not to disavow Johann’s action; his delusional happy ending is like an illusion that continues to deceive him into believing in lies.

“Me too, Johann,” he murmured saliently to the boy, who was sleeping peacefully, “Until death do us part, until my heart can’t feel the agony — until my blindness over you finally torn me apart.”

When Dale’s sorrowful words faded into silence, he bent toward his sleeping husband and asked in a voice meant only for him, “Do you remember the day we met?”

After the exquisite and embarrassing moments of Dale, the class ended that day. But the relentless, shameful mortification was continuously playfully mocking him. But despite being unwell, Dale still cannot contain his glamorous happiness because he was noticed by the thief of his heart.

The pure, virtuous boy whom now sits quietly at his desk, is now imagining his crush's foresight on his earlier. For the inaugural time in Dale’s life, in this chapter of his existence, he felt the surge and the sense of importance that he didn’t receive from his own family.

Even though he called him an ‘acquaintance,’ it’s not a big matter for Dale. Notwithstanding, there is an impact, but the damage it causes is not significant. On the other hand, Dale still didn’t leave the classroom; regardless, he wasn’t apathetic whether he was alone inside. He simply rested his face on the desk and dreamed of his own rewritten story in his head.

 But eventually, a sudden, unprecedented presence emerged, as though it had been foreseen at his back, “Dale Muller, am I right?” the voice initiated at the back. Dale, who was peacefully resting, was in such shock when he perceived that voice.

Abruptly, without a split second, the boy aloft his head faster than the speed of light, “H-Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked in an awkward, skeptical way. Dale's mind was still in a deep process; somehow, he managed to handle things in a professional way, where Johann didn’t suspect him of being eccentric.

Those eyes again… He thought, how many times do I fall for that again? 8^th time…? — 8^th time of daydreaming for him.

In some way, Johann senses that Dale is aghast at his sudden appearance, so he instantaneously cast him out with an apologetic expression, “Pardon me, did I interrupt?” he questioned worriedly.

Dale, on the other side, promptly changes his character and answers the man of his life, “Not at all, not at all… You didn’t interrupt, don’t worry,” he uttered in a well-trained professionalism, a very natural — yet neutral feeling. With his talents, he can conceal his feelings for Johann Schneider for eternity.  

Thenceforth, Johann inhaled with relief upon hearing Dale's word, “I-is that so? That’s good to hear.” The sense of solace slowed the boy’s heartbeat back to its normal state. And by that, Johann directed his question at his so-called acquaintance: “By the way, why are you still here…?”

Therefore, Dale didn’t temporize, answering Johann, and he said, “Just passing my time here perhaps? Plus, I don’t like noise anyway, I’m into peace,” with Dale’s short reply; you can observe his very calm and well-mannered response. Showing an erudite act by Dale is undoubtedly astonishing.

The curious boy felt stupefaction when he heard that from Dale, but then again, asked a question as if he was gathering intel nor digging info from someone, he didn’t even close with, “Oh, is that so? But don’t you have friends to talk with? Besides, the class has already ended.”                                     

Dale didn’t bother to answer at all, and he said, “As I said, I don’t like noise, so fundamentally speaking, I’m also not into friends.” He retorted. Likewise, Dale's inner expression was that he just wanted this day not to end — but God knows it’s impossible, his prayer was beyond delusional to happen in real life. But he was in deep prayer, hoping to find light in the darkest path he took.

Johann stared at him with intensifying pity, not being perplexed, but the mercy he felt from the sinless boy was ineffable. “In that case… Want to be friends with me?” he asked in a carefree tone.

The bright sparks in Dale’s ash-gray eyes illuminated; he never envisaged that this day would come, and he thought that his fantasy was far beyond reality. It was tremendously surreal for him when Johann himself asked him to be his friend. 

With the gaze of Johann, he maneuvered his dark pupils to Dale, the lad whom have a crush on him. Unable to hide his deepest secret of happiness plaguing him, so with a casual smile, he questioned Johann Schneider, “Why me?”

Johann Schneider, on the other hand, easily gave him an answer and said, “Why not? Maybe, I like… I like your personality.”

“Have you ever remembered that? That's how we started as friends, and every time I play it on my head, it simultaneously tortures me, deeply and hurtfully.”