"Hello, Brother," Irene said. Her mouth was in a slight smile, like the curve of a melon rind.
Yunho was a little put off by the familiar greeting but decided to reciprocate the tone.
"Oh, hello, sister... Why have you come to visit me?"
Irene chuckled.
"Today, I realized that the two of us have grown past the age of grudges and sibling rivalry."
Yunho couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought it couldn't get crazier, but Irene continued speaking.
"So, I've come to finally lay all of that bad blood to rest and become good siblings and friends."
"..."
Yunho reached up and pinched his arm.
He wasn't dreaming.
"That sounds... nice," Yunho responded tentatively.
Irene's smile grew, and Yunho's attention was drawn to a black box she was holding in her hands.
Irene noticed his gaze and spoke.
"I brought a gift to commemorate this new chapter for us."
Yunho's eyebrows raised. And he looked Irene over, stuck his head out of the hallway, and looked the surroundings over too.
"No weapons. No hitmen. No traps. That I can see at least... I'll let her in," Yunho thought.
Yunho led her further into the room and closed the door. He turned back to her.
"You didn't have to bring a gift or anything. It was me who originally wronged you. I'm just happy you've decided to accept my apology," Yunho said.
Irene paused.
"Yeah, your apology... Iris, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"What made you want to apologize in the first place? It came out of nowhere..." Irene said.
Yunho was surprised. Had Irene been thinking about that all this time?
"I'd been self-reflecting, that's all. Then, I fell ill, and I realized that I wanted to become a better person," Yunho answered.
It was truthful in a way?
Maybe not self-reflection per se. But Yunho did indeed want to live a better life than Iris's destined one.
Irene nodded and looked down at the box in her hands.
She pried open the lid, revealing a soft red cushion lining the box and the beautiful accessory lying on it.
It was a silver bracelet whose band looked like layered thorns from a rose bush. In the middle of the bracelet's band was a tiny sparkly gem. At a quick glance, the gem looked clear, but on a closer look, fragments of many colors could be seen.
A polished mana stone.
The bracelet was obviously a very high-quality item. Yunho couldn't fathom why Irene would be giving it away to him.
"Ah, that's too much. You don't need to give me something so valuable," Yunho exclaimed.
Irene shook her head.
"It's not just jewelry. I took special care to enchant it. Once worn, it becomes a protection charm for the wearer. Since you're now one of my people, I want to ensure your safety," Irene explained.
She handed the box to Yunho. Yunho nodded and gazed at the bracelet inside. There were a few beats of silence in the room.
"So are you not going to put it on?" Irene asked, cutting through the silence.
"Right now?" Yunho replied.
"When else? I want to see how it fits you."
Yunho grabbed the bracelet from the box. He was holding it in his hand when his finger was pricked by one of the silver thorns.
"Ouch!"
Yunho almost dropped the bracelet on instinct, but he managed to keep it in his hands. Yunho looked back down at the gift, and his mouth opened in surprise.
He could see the blood run through the layers of the band like veins and pour into the gem. The mana stone turned a bright red, and all the thorns on the bracelet retracted. Just when Yunho thought it was over, the bracelet opened its back and snapped onto his wrist by itself.
Yunho stared at the bracelet now on his wrist.
"I forgot to mention that. The mana stone's properties have to be unlocked by the wearer's blood. And, since it's a protection item, it can't be taken off by anyone but the enchanter or someone of comparable power," Irene clarified.
Yunho nodded, but he still felt uneasy.
Irene smiled again and spread out her arms.
"Here's to our first day as close family!"
Yunho hesitated but accepted the hug, and after, Irene left his room.
"She didn't look like she had any bad intentions..." Yunho said, talking to himself.
He fiddled with the new bracelet on his wrist.
The silver felt cold against his skin.
Yunho sighed and locked the door.
"I'm so tired. I might as well sleep."
Yunho let himself fall into his bed and quickly fell asleep.
.
.
.
Light from a nearby window pooled into the room.
Yunho slowly woke up, letting his eyes get adjusted to the sunlight.
But then he realized he couldn't recognize the room he was in.
"Huh, where am I?"
The room looked straight out of one of those fancy hotel ads he'd see on TV in the hospital.
Yunho was about to leave the bed when he noticed that his body felt especially cold, and he could feel something heavy and warm wrapped around him.
He looked down to see that indeed he was naked, but that wasn't the part that concerned Yunho the most. The thing he was held up on was the arm that was wrapped around his bare waist.
"What...?" Yunho was interrupted by the sound of rustling behind him. Suddenly the arm around his waist drew him closer, and the person whose arm it was rested their head on Yunho's shoulder.
"Honey, where are you going so early in the morning? Let's rest." Their voice said, still deep from just having woken up.
Yunho slowly turned his head. His eyes met a pair of ruby red ones staring right back at him. The man had messy black hair and an uncharacteristically drowsy grin on his face.
"Dorian?" Yunho mustered.
Dorian smiled and leaned in closer to Yunho's face.
"Yes?"
The distance between them got smaller and smaller until...
.
.
.
Yunho woke up in a panic.
"Who... What... Why?" Yunho groaned.
He quickly scanned the room and then himself. Yunho already knew it was a dream, but he felt like making sure that it really was all fake and that there were no surprise people sharing his bed.
All normal... besides a change in a certain area of his body.
Yunho's face turned a beet red.
"...that's just because I'm young and healthy! The dream is totally unrelated. Weird coincidence." Yunho rambled to himself, like there was an invisible jury judging him.
'Young and healthy' Yunho gave up on his defense, and decided to mentally curse out the Crown Prince instead.
"It's clearly that guy's fault for putting those ideas in the first place."
Yunho wanted to get some fresh air, but he decided to let his body settle down before going anywhere.
---
Finally, Yunho had calmed down, so he went to clean himself up for the day.
After completing his morning routine, Yunho stepped out of the bathhouse, feeling fresh. His outfit was relatively nice, and he felt newly energized.
He would count this as the real start of his day and not whatever had happened when he woke up.
Though the presence of the bracelet Irene gave him the previous day still made him grumble, Yunho had begun to come to terms with the new addition.
Yunho took a deep breath.
"Today's just another day."
---
The next few days passed easily for Yunho. He slipped into a routine of helping out at the canteen as needed and occasionally taking walks around the base. It was a bit boring, but that also meant that it was low stress.
The crown prince hadn't reached out to him since their talk, and Irene only greeted him whenever they crossed paths.
"Ideally, I hope things stay this way," Yunho muttered to himself.
It was still early in the day, so Yunho was freshening up in the bathhouse, which was arguably his favorite place on the base, since it allowed him to just take a break from everyone and everything else outside.
Yunho finished up and was walking back to his room when he noticed that there were more people out and about than usual.
"They're all walking towards the base entrance?" Yunho noted.
He turned to follow the crowd and eventually arrived at the entrance of the base. His heartbeat quickened when he saw that it was opening.
A few whispers from the crowd could be heard talking amongst themselves, but the same two questions seemed to be voiced countless times.
"They've returned?"
And,
"Did all of them... make it back?"
---
End of Chapter 38