Kaito Minami had always believed he was a simple man.
He liked quiet places, steady routines, warm rice bowls, and rain tapping lightly against his window. He liked reading manuscripts, pointing out errors with a red pen, watching deadlines approach and pass with small, controlled panic. He liked going home alone and waking up alone. His life was boring, predictable, clean.
So why—
why was one person enough to unravel twenty-three years of stability?
Why Ren Arisawa, of all people?
Maybe that was why he ended up answering the call of Aoi, his dear childhood friend and the only one who can digest his anger, fear and sorrow, a true blossom friend.
He needed someone who knew him before all this chaos started—before Ren's voice started lingering in his head, before the nightmares, before the instinctive pull that made no sense.
The bar Aoi chose was a dim-lit place under a bridge, warm and noisy, smelling faintly of beer foam and citrus peels. People were chatting in groups, laughter mixing with the clinking of glasses. It was the kind of place Kaito usually avoided—but today, he needed noise to drown out thoughts.
Aoi spotted him instantly, waving like he always did.
"Kai! Here!"
Kaito slid into the booth across from him, exhaling with unusual heaviness.
"You look like you aged ten years," Aoi teased.
Kaito didn't respond. That alone made Aoi fall silent.
"Is it your author?" Aoi asked.
Kaito hesitated, then nodded.
"Tell me."
For the first time, Kaito spoke honestly.
"I cannot… resist him," he confessed. "From the first meet. I don't understand it. I've never… felt anything for anyone. Not in school. Not in college. Not even once."
He stared into his glass. "But the moment I saw him, I wanted to know him. Get close. Touch. Breathe near him. It's ridiculous. I feel like—like I've lost control of myself."
Aoi leaned back, crossing his arms.
"So… you like him."
Kaito shook his head immediately.
"I don't know if it's love. Maybe it's just… desire."
"Difference?" Aoi raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know," Kaito admitted, almost frustrated. "I desire him. But love… I've never felt anything that could be defined as love."
Aoi sighed dramatically, picking up a peanut from the plate.
"Okay, listen carefully, Kai. Imagine you have a beloved pet—like a tiny rabbit or something. It wants freedom. It wants to hop away. But you cage it, hold it tight every time it tries to run."
"That's not love," Aoi continued. "That's possession. Desire."
Kaito felt something in his chest throb.
"But," Aoi said softly, "if you love someone, you care. You respect. Even if it hurts, you let them choose."
Kaito swallowed hard.
Aoi smirked. "Man, if you like spending time with him and you think you'll get rejected—so what? Just confess. Don't turn into a scared cat."
Kaito didn't respond.
Aoi's eyes narrowed. "There's more, right?"
Kaito forced himself to say it.
"I've been seeing nightmares."
Aoi blinked, surprised. "Nightmares?"
"Ren was sleeping once. He… called a name. Auren."
The memory made his chest tighten.
"That name pulled me into a nightmare. I saw a man… no, a tyrant. A god. Carrying another man's corpse. Saying he owned him. That they were bound even in their next life."
Aoi stared.
"And the whole scene looked exactly like Ren's manga," Kaito whispered. "Exactly. The words, the grief, the walls of fire. Everything."
Aoi let out a long breath, then flicked Kaito's forehead lightly.
"Ow—!"
"Kai," Aoi said firmly, "even if you think those characters are real, you're not them. You're you. Why are you being possessed by your own imagination?"
Kaito stared blankly.
Aoi sighed. "You're scared because you think loving him means following that tragedy. But life isn't a manga panel. If you like him, you like him. If you don't, you don't. Why are you building a whole reincarnation arc inside your head?"
Kaito almost laughed.
Almost.
They drank for another hour. Then another.
Aoi kept talking nonsense. Kaito kept listening.
And slowly—very slowly—his chest loosened.
Until he accidentally pressed a number on his phone.
He didn't even remember doing it.
But it rang.
And when a familiar voice answered—
"Kaito? Are you okay?"
Kaito realized he had called… Ren.
---
Ren arrived at the bar ten minutes later. He had barely stepped into the neon light when he spotted Kaito slumped on Aoi's shoulder, cheeks flushed.
"Kai! Your editor came," Aoi said.
Ren rushed forward. "Kaito, what happened? Are you sick? Why are you—"
Kaito suddenly leaned forward like gravity itself pulled him toward Ren.
His nose brushed against Ren's neck.
"…you smell so nice."
Ren froze.
His heart did something strange—like skipping, then stumbling.
"K-Kaito—?"
But Kaito only pressed closer, inhaling Ren's scent like a starved wolf.
"I like this smell," he murmured. "I like you."
Ren felt heat rush to his ears. His entire body stiffened.
"Kaito, you're drunk—"
"Do you not want me anymore?" Kaito whispered, sounding heartbreakingly small. "Do you not want me to touch you?"
"Kai!" Ren almost jumped, pushing him away slightly. "You don't know what you're saying!"
But Kaito only blinked up at him, eyes warm and unfocused.
"Hm…? If I'm saying nonsense… then why does your heartbeat… feel so fast…?"
Ren looked away immediately, face red.
Aoi burst into laughter. "Man, this is your problem now. I'm leaving."
Ren wanted to kill him.
It took all his strength to carry Kaito home. The man clung to him the entire way, head resting on Ren's shoulder.
"You're warm…" Kaito murmured.
"You're beautiful…"
"Don't go away…"
Ren nearly dropped him.
Once home, Ren placed Kaito on his bed and tried to step away—
But Kaito grabbed his sleeve.
"Stay…"
"I'll sleep on the couch," Ren whispered.
But Kaito didn't let go.
"You always run away…"
His voice cracked.
"…Zephyxion."
Ren's heart stopped.
For a full second, he couldn't breathe.
Then he gently pried Kaito's fingers off, tucked him into the blanket, and escaped to the sofa.
But in the middle of the night—
soft footsteps approached.
A warm body slid against him.
Kaito curled beside him like a loyal dog searching for comfort.
Ren didn't push him away.
He couldn't.
---
Pain. Light. Heat.
Kaito blinked awake and instantly regretted it.
His head felt like it was splitting in half. And someone was—
…someone was breathing beside him.
He turned—
And saw Ren Arisawa.
Ren was sleeping beside him, legs tangled with his, hair messy, shirt slightly slipped from one shoulder. His exposed collarbone caught the morning light like something forbidden.
Kaito's entire body turned hot.
What—what did I do?
He touched his own clothes—they were disheveled.
Ren's hand rested lightly on Kaito's arm, like he had fallen asleep trying to comfort him.
Kaito's pulse went wild.
Ren stirred, eyelashes fluttering.
When his eyes opened, the first thing he asked—
"Were yesterday's words… still true?"
Kaito's breath stopped.
The room felt too bright.
Too intimate.
Too dangerous.
Ren's voice trembled slightly.
"Do you… like me?"
Kaito didn't know whether it was love, desire, instinct, reincarnation, madness, fate—or all of them tangled together like invisible threads.
But he knew one thing.
His heart beat too violently whenever Ren was near.
He opened his mouth—