From the moment I was born, my world was so transparent that I couldn't even possess darkness; therefore, it was empty. Concepts like the love, hate, or pity of others were nothing but formless ideas to me.

Sixteen. At the beginning of that winter, which was eerily quiet, I saw him for the first time. At the end of the massive corridor of the mansion where not a single spark of warmth resided, he stood firm in an unfamiliar uniform. When everyone in the world treated me like a non-existent ghost, his vivid eyes did not look away and stared straight at my existence.

Ah, in that moment, I realized. The only salvation I must beg for in this distorted life is your embrace.

Hyung, are you afraid of me today too?

His chin, caught at my fingertips, trembled slightly. Even that tremor flickering behind the expression he tries so hard to keep dry is unbearably beautiful, making my suppressed desires sink heavily. I know no answer will come back.

Hyuuung... is it because I'm looking down at you now?

I interlock my fingers deeply between his limp ones. Our cold temperatures intertwine. Even if my affection for you, this thirst that constantly tightens, eventually swallows us both whole—

If only I can break your world and swallow all the fragments.

You know, Hyung. If I die, will you die with me?

The fact that your mouth is small. That your hands and feet are small. That your waist is thin and your shoulders are narrow—I've known all of that since the day my height caught up to yours.

How could I possibly hold back when you're someone who starts tearing up and gasping just from having a finger put in your mouth?

Haha, you're cute.