"Did you hear me?" Beyr asked.
Yunho rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry, no... Can you repeat what you said?"
"I asked if you really don't mind people speaking to you so informally."
"Oh, that? I really don't mind it. In fact, it's more comfortable that way. All the honorifics and formalities can be a little suffocating," Yunho replied. That was truly his honest answer. Being called Young Master all the time just made Yunho feel even more like an imposter.
Because Yunho wasn't the one they were calling for.
All these words that were now given to him were meant for Iris. But honestly, Yunho wasn't even sure where Iris ended and he began.
Yunho chuckled.
"Is it weird?" Yunho could feel his act as Iris having more cracks lately. From the very beginning, Yunho was taking some liberties in life and even planning to make the most of things and live out the life he didn't get to have. But the more people that entered into Yunho's life, the less sure he got.
The more complicated his feelings became, the more dishonest he felt...
"No, I think it's amazing."
Beyr's response pulled Yunho out of his spiral. The red-headed man continued, "Ignoring societal norms to live life more comfortably... I think we all need to do that."
It seemed like a lot of praise for simply not liking to be talked to very formally, but Beyr seemed to be deep in thought. He was fiddling with the necklace around his neck: a silver chain with a small green gem. Yunho looked at the sky, already orange. Like fruit at the peak of ripeness.
Yunho followed Beyr's line of sight again and found it on the same subject as last time. He wasn't a good person to give advice, but so were most people. Who said words of wisdom have to come from the wise?
"I think the main point of life is to live."
Beyr raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"I mean, I hope. It would suck if the main point was to die."
Yunho chuckled. He had died and ended up here, so who knows what death truly held?
"Would it?"
Beyr paused and smiled.
"Let's go back before we wander off any further."
Beyr walked back towards the group, and Yunho followed.
Everyone seemed significantly tipsy, and most were now lying in the grass or lounging around.
"Yeah, we're never getting back to the game," Yunho thought.
But as he looked around, Yunho realized that Drelle wasn't there anymore.
"I guess he took off already. I should go, too. It's almost evening anyway," Yunho inwardly remarked and started to walk away.
But he paused for a moment as he noticed Beyr taking a seat next to the now inebriated Quince. It was a pretty unremarkable sight except for the fact that Yunho caught a glint of something reflecting light near Quince's ear. Yunho focused his eyes and spotted the shining object: an earring on Quince's ear.
A small crawler-style earring with silver wiring and a green gem at the earhole.
"Oh..."
Yunho turned away and kept walking.
He had never had anything against same-sex couples. He had been raised in the typical traditional family. But he, himself, always had a "not-my-business" view on things like that.
But the feeling that he was feeling right now... was different. It wasn't disgust or indifference. It was like something was scratching at Yunho's brain and heart. And Yunho had no idea why...
Or did he?
Yunho shook all the thoughts away.
Mind blank. Mind blank. No thoughts. No thoughts. Stop thinking." Yunho quietly chanted to himself. The crowd for the training place game night had thinned out, so Yunho didn't have to worry about stepping on people's hands and could keep mindlessly marching his way out.
"Iris, wait!"
Yunho recognized the voice and whipped his head around. Sure enough, it was Drelle, rushing towards him.
The man stood right in front of Yunho, taking a moment to catch his breath.
"Before you leave... I have something I want to ask you," Drelle said.
"Oh, okay," Yunho said. He checked the sky again; red was seeping into the orange canvas.
"I was thinking about this for a bit... Do you want to hang out by ourselves after this? The game night's coming to the end, but can I teach you some more card games back in my room? You looked really happy while playing," Drelle proposed.
Before Yunho could say anything, Drelle continued.
"It's just that you're nice to be around, and if I were to talk to a person here outside of the base, I think it'd be you. And I wanted to know if you'd want to stay by my side," Drelle said.
Yunho paused.
There was nothing exactly unusual about Drelle's words, but Yunho could feel an undercurrent of something else, hiding underneath them.
Yunho had never been in a relationship before, maybe the occasional fleeting crush because it was the "normal thing to do" but not anything serious.
His original life had ended at just nineteen years old, and he was sick too often to go on dates and engage in puppy love.
But even then, Yunho's heart felt like it was being squeezed. A strange feeling washed over him.
This felt like a confession.
And it also felt like he didn't reciprocate.
But it wasn't that that Yunho found strange...
Neither was it the fact that Drelle was also a man.
"I definitely don't like Drelle as anything more than an acquaintance. But... Why do I feel like there's someone who I would like to hear those words from?" Yunho thought. He placed a hand on his head.
He couldn't keep playing dumb with himself anymore.
Somehow, he had come to like the Grand Duke.
Yunho chuckled to himself, but it came out more like a scoff.
"Even in the face of another person's confession, I'm thinking of him," Yunho inwardly remarked.
"Well, okay, I like the Grand Duke. I wasn't as straight as I thought. Whatever. That doesn't mean I have to do anything about it! There's no reason for a side villain and a side hero to get together. I'm just allowing myself to have a crush... It'll pass... Wait, this isn't the time to contemplate. Drelle is waiting for an answer," Yunho rambled in his mind.
Yunho steeled himself and sighed, opening his mouth to give his reply.
"Sorry, I'm afraid I have something to do tonight. But, sure, we can be friends outside the base," Yunho answered.
A smile crept onto Drelle's face, yet his eyes were shadowed by his eyelids. There was a cold complexity on his face, similar to when Yunho had given him the salve. The man shrugged.
"No worries. I had a feeling you'd say something like that. Have a good rest of the day." Drelle said before walking past Yunho and leaving.
Yunho turned around and watched Drelle leave.
"The expression Drelle made just now..." Yunho said to himself, trailing off, uncertain.
He shook the feeling off, but his eyes lingered on Drelle's departing figure.
There wasn't any time for Yunho to dwell on it though, because the sky had already turned a completely bruised color: a signal that nighttime was coming soon.
Yunho decided to not waste time and quickly left, hurrying back to Building 4.
But as Yunho approached the building, he noticed the figure waiting for him by the entrance.
Subconsciously, Yunho's chest started to feel tighter as he drew near the familiar man.
"Good evening, Your Grace."
Dorian smiled, tilting his head slightly down to look at Yunho.
"Good evening."
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End of Chapter 42