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It was already the third day. Zeal spotted that person sitting by the flowerbed again, head lowered, reading something—like he was waiting for someone.
But Zeal had never been interested in things like that. He toyed with the ring on his finger, more amused than curious. It was just... that person looked far too out of place. Summer is coming, yet he was still dressed in a stiff shirt layered under a wool sweater.
--There was probably even a shirt clip under all that.
The next second, Zeal had already walked over—before he even realized it, he was standing right in front of him.
A shadow fell across the page. Kaelix looked up.
The boy stood with the light behind him, his expression unreadable in the shade. Kae swallowed nervously, trying to focus his eyes on his face. …Too good-looking. Ridiculously so. He even wore eyeliner. No way the teachers would allow that.
“Hey. What’s your name?”
…
The tension in the air made Kaelix freeze. He didn’t respond right away—just clutched the pages of his book, where scattered notes were scribbled between the lines.
“…Huh?” Zeal didn’t even realize his voice had turned impatient. He leaned in a little. As the distance between them shrank, the chain on his coat jingled softly. A cross pendant swung forward, landing right on Kaelix’s book with an unmistakable sense of intrusion.
“Kaelix. I’m… Kaelix Debonair.”
As soon as he spoke, he looked away, as if flustered. But his fingers stayed tight on the page.
“Oh. I’m Zeal.”
Like some awkward online meetup, Zeal mocked himself silently. He leaned back a bit and sat down next to the boy, like they were already familiar. Without even glancing at him, he started fiddling with his ring again.
“I… I’m waiting for my neighbor. We usually go home together.”
“Oh.”
Zeal answered offhandedly, like he didn’t care one way or the other.
“Um… your face…”
Zeal felt more irritated than he expected. More than when someone had tried to pick a fight with him earlier.
“Got into a fight. I figured you saw it.”
His voice dropped low, edged with thorns.
“I—I wasn’t looking. I just saw people fighting… I was reading.”
Kaelix had never found it so hard to string words together. Without realizing it, he closed his book, eyes drifting toward the face beside him—maybe staring too intently. By the time Zeal finished putting his ring back on, wiping the blood off his cheek, and taking off his necklace to toss it into Kaelix’s lap—
“Hold this for me.”
—There was no room for refusal. Zeal had already begun fixing his hair.
Kaelix looked at the nape of his neck, surprised to find no tattoo there. In his mind, he had imagined something elaborate, stretching down to his lower back.
He didn’t even notice when Zeal took the pendant back from his hands.
“Don’t you think you’re wearing too much?”
Kaelix, dazed, nodded.
Zeal chuckled at his reaction, tone softening without him realizing. “Your face is kinda red. You look overheated.”
Kaelix reached up, flustered, to touch his cheek—but the boy had already stood up and walked away.
…
When Kaelix got home, his palms were still slightly damp. His fingertips seemed to retain the cool touch of that silver cross.
He stood in the entryway for a long time before slowly taking off his shoes, placing his bag on a chair, and sitting down on the edge of his bed, hugging his stuffed toy.
—He said, “Hey.” He said, “What’s your name?”
Kaelix buried his face in the toy, staying like that for a long while before exhaling a muffled sigh.
—Today, he told his first lie in his entire life.
There was never a neighbor waiting to walk home with him.
…
By the time he noticed the faint trace of cologne on that boy, he had already said his name.