As Ray leaned in, half-intending to shove the boy in jest, the momentum backfired. His own weight carried him forward, and the two of them toppled together onto the thick, brick-red carpet.
"Thud!"
But instead of jumping up with his usual curses, Ray froze. His eyes locked with the boy' s.
Dark irises shimmered in the firelight—glossy, like rain pooling on glass. They struck him with a shock so sharp it stole the breath from his chest. It was the same glint he had once seen in Kirit' s gaze, on the day they first met.
Ray' s pulse spiked, hammering wildly. His lips parted, dry from the heat and the cold. He hadn' t thought—hadn' t planned anything. Instinct, or maybe hunger, pulled him downward. It wasn' t logic. It wasn' t choice. It was simply that desperate, aching gravity that had gnawed at him for the past year, dragging him toward the boy beneath him.
"…"
Their breath mingled in the warm air, and before Ray could stop himself, his lips brushed Aivan' s. Soft. Startlingly soft. Too tender for him to jerk away in time. It was just like the first kiss he' d stolen from Kirit—reckless, senseless, impossible to explain.
Time stilled. The fire popped and crackled, but all Ray could hear was his own pounding heartbeat. His mouth hovered against the boy' s, their breaths colliding in ragged bursts. It was so familiar it scared him, like standing on the edge of a memory he had no right to return to.
Aivan' s eyes searched his, steady but trembling at the edges, reflecting the flames. It was enough to make Ray' s chest cave in.
"Ray…" The boy' s whisper blended with the crackle of burning logs. "You… don' t have a girlfriend?"
The words hit him harder than a fist. Ray' s hands, which had been cradling the back of the boy' s head, slackened. His mind went blank, white noise flooding his skull. Kirit' s face surged up from memory, sharp and merciless.
He swallowed hard, throat tight.
"I… I do. I already have someone."
Aivan' s eyes didn' t waver.
"Then why did you kiss me?"
The question cleaved him open. It was a verdict, a noose tightening around his neck. Because nothing about Aivan was Kirit—different lips, different features—yet everything about that moment had felt the same. The way the kiss pulled heat straight from his chest, the way his body knew the shape of it before his mind did.
Ray didn' t answer. Couldn' t. His usual sharp retorts, his practiced bravado—none of it came. Silence fell heavy between them until it stretched all the way into morning.
"Ray. Ray!" The boy' s voice tugged him back from the edge of sleep. He startled, realizing he' d been standing by the door, about to flee the cabin altogether.
"W-What?" Ray stammered, sounding more like a thief caught red-handed than the smooth-talking charmer he fancied himself to be.
"Where are you going?" Aivan' s tall figure stood in the doorway, bundled in layers until he looked rounder than usual.
Ray held up his camera like a shield. "Out. To, uh… take pictures."
"Pictures where?"
"A-around here," he blurted, voice cracking like a guilty schoolboy. It wasn' t his style. He was supposed to be cool, untouchable. But right now, he' d take any excuse not to face the boy whose lips still burned on his own.
"You hired a guide, didn' t you?" Aivan tilted his head.
Ray scratched at his temple nervously. "Y-yeah, but it' s fine. I' ll go by myself today."
"You want a refund?" Aivan' s grin tilted sly.
"N-No! No, not at all. I just—uh—I' ll go first." Ray stumbled through his words, retreating fast.
"Don' t wander too far. You' ll get lost."
"I know, I know," Ray shot back, too quickly, ears burning red.
Damn it. What the hell' s wrong with me?
He never used to get flustered. Back in his youth, even staring straight at someone he liked, he' d never stammered like this. But this boy—this snow-swept kid who lived alone on a mountain—was unraveling him, thread by thread.
The place was too empty. A single cabin on the slope, no neighbors in sight. Alone? How was that possible? How could someone survive out here, smiling as if the cold meant nothing? Ray barely managed, and yet Aivan seemed untouched.
His thoughts carried him too far. Far enough that he realized he was lost—actually lost. No phone. No food. Nothing but his camera and this stupid heart of his, pounding too hard for its own good.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. Snow gave way under his boots as his stomach growled loud enough to echo in his chest.
"I' m starving…" Ray groaned, breath pluming white into the icy air. "What the hell' s wrong with me? Me—the guy who' s always been called cool, handsome, irresistible—now babbling like some lovesick idiot, just because of one stupid kiss!"
He slumped onto a drift, scooping up handfuls of snow and tossing them skyward, letting the flakes sting his skin. He laughed, half-mad, half-tearful.
"Cold! Hungry! Damn it all!"
The wind carried his curses back at him like mocking laughter. He kicked at the snow like a sulky child, a ridiculous mix of rage and longing twisting inside him.
Or maybe… maybe I really have stopped loving Kirit. Maybe I betrayed him the second I let myself feel this way about a snow-sweeper kid.
Ray pressed a hand over his burning face. "Pathetic. Goddamn pathetic."
Exhaustion tugged at him, the sleepless night catching up. Maybe I should just lie here. Let it all end…
But his mind betrayed him, whispering names in the dark.
Inspector Kirit. My prince R…
…Aivan.
The thought startled him.
I miss you.
Whump! Snow crashed down from a branch above, shaking the ground around him.
"Shit! Avalanche!" Ray flailed, arms and legs splayed out in the drift. His attempt at a snow angel looked more like a man drowning.
And then—laughter. A quiet, teasing laugh.
"Heh… You' re insane. How can you sleep out here? It' s freezing."
Ray jolted upright, eyes wide. "How the hell—?!"
Aivan stood a few steps away, arms folded, eyes bright against the snow. "I' ve been following you. Just keeping my distance."
Relief washed over Ray so hard he nearly collapsed. "Oh, thank God. I' m saved."
The snowfall thickened, blanketing everything in white. The cold bit sharper, wind whipping at their faces.
"Let' s go back," Aivan said, calm but firm.
"Wait…" Ray lifted a hand, suddenly urgent.
"What now? If you stay out here, you' ll really die."
Ray blinked, swallowed, and then blurted with complete seriousness:
"Do you have fried chicken?"
Aivan frowned. "…What?"
Ray' s face lit up at the smallest nod.
"You' re telling me you carry fried chicken in the middle of a snowstorm? What' s it even taste like out here?"
Aivan sighed. "Didn' t you ask when you booked? If the lodge served fried chicken?"
"Exactly! I chose this place because the others said no—you had to order extra, pay more. But here? It comes included." Ray smirked triumphantly, as if he' d just cracked a great mystery.
"You' re just cheap," Aivan muttered.
"No…" Ray stepped closer, eyes glinting. "It' s because this place has fried chicken."
The snow crunched underfoot as he closed the gap.
Grab! Ray' s arm shot around the boy' s waist, yanking him forward until their chests collided.
"Caught you," he murmured near Aivan' s ear, voice low and teasing, like a child claiming a prize.
Aivan stiffened, eyes widening. Their breath mingled, warm against the sting of snow. Ray' s heart thundered, almost breaking free of his ribs.
"W-What are you doing?" The boy' s voice wavered, but his feet didn' t move.
Ray held him tighter. He wasn' t hugging a stranger—he was clutching someone he' d been chasing all year. Someone his body recognized even if his mind refused to.
He leaned close, eyes blazing with hunger. "The necklace you asked about… the one with the R. Were you trying to drop hints? Or test me, huh… Prince R?"
The name sliced the air open. Aivan' s lips parted, but no sound came. His silence said more than words.
Ray pressed on, harsher now, his voice rough. "That phone number—it' s the unlock code for Kirit' s computer. The license plate I told Pyramid to use. The code for my own phone. My favorite number. Don' t think I didn' t notice."