MTM 14

The next morning. The weather was clearer than ever. Even though winter was approaching, the air was crisp, and the bright sunlight shone through the forest, warming the rain-soaked ground.

“……”

Zed, who had risen early, quietly packed his belongings. When he turned his head, Harto was lying on his side on the sofa, asleep. He looked as if he was sleeping, but he had not slept at all.

‘What should I do… it really looks like Zed is leaving….’

Zed could leave just like that, but Harto could not even open his eyes and was struggling alone.

He had already decided. He had already prepared himself for separation. If that was the case, he should have seen Zed off properly with a goodbye.

But….

Harto wanted to avoid that farewell if he could.

“Harto, wake up. It’s morning.”

Then, ignoring his wish, Zed spoke to him. He shook his shoulder, and Harto could no longer pretend to be asleep. In the end, he sat up as if he had just woken.

“Haaam… uh… Zed, you’re up early…?”

“Yes. I’ve packed everything.”

“Uh… I see….”

Harto looked around the cabin. He noticed that Zed had taken his coat, his leather bag, and even the axe he took from the hunter. There were not many things to carry, but with them gone, the cabin looked empty.

“…So, have you thought about it?”

Zed asked, wanting to hear the answer from yesterday.

“Huh? Uh….”

Harto looked away and hesitated. He could not bring himself to meet Zed’s eyes.

“What are you going to do?”

Zed urged him as Harto hesitated.

“I…”

Harto began to recall, one by one, the things he had gone through with Zed.

The moment he found the wounded Zed in the cave by chance and brought him to the cabin. The nights when he asked about his affiliation and age. The time when he ate the ber, got sick, and fell asleep on Zed’s back. The first time Zed called his name, and the meal when they filled their stomachs with rabbit meat. The day Zed rescued him from the hunters and healed his wounds with mysterious power. The day they stopped the rain from leaking through the roof together, dug a small drain, drank elm bark tea, and the night when Harto fell asleep warmly snuggled against Zed’s chest.

When he remembered all of that, Harto felt tears rise.

“Zed… I….”

Harto’s small hand trembled, and he closed his eyes.

“I can’t go….”

In the end, Harto told Zed goodbye.

For a long time, neither of them said anything. Silence filled the cabin. It was a stillness that had never existed while they were together.

And when even the sound of each other’s breath could no longer be heard.

“…Alright.”

Zed gave a short answer and walked toward the door.

“I’m leaving. Thank you for everything. Take care.”

“I… me too… be, be careful… Zed….”

Harto turned his head awkwardly toward Zed and said goodbye.

“Yes.”

Zed replied without hesitation and walked out of the cabin.

Clack. The door closed with a loud sound.

“……”

Harto sat for a while. It was strange. He was alone again, just like before, but it felt as though there was a hole in his chest.

After a while, Harto moved toward the dying fire. He had made a plan. He would clean the fireplace and spend the day somehow. When he picked up the poker, he felt warmth on the handle. Zed must have used it just before.

“Hup….”

Harto held back the sob that tried to escape. He turned his eyes toward the stack of firewood beside him, and something shining caught his eye.

He thought it was nothing, but when he pushed the logs aside, he froze in disbelief. It was the ruby necklace Zed always wore around his neck.

“Ah…!”

Startled, Harto picked up the ruby necklace.

He could not believe it. Zed, who cherished it so much, had dropped it here…!

Thinking he had to return it before Zed left completely, Harto ran out of the cabin.

“Zed!”

Harto shouted loudly into the forest, calling Zed’s name. But no one answered. He had left only a short while ago, so he had to be nearby, but Zed was nowhere to be seen.

Harto grew anxious because even though Zed was tall and his hair was golden enough to stand out, he could not sense any presence at all. He had no choice but to run blindly.

“Zed…!”

He pushed through bushes that reached his height and crossed a damp swamp. He stopped halfway up the mountain path, thinking that maybe he could see something if he climbed higher.

Zed might have gone down to the village. Or maybe to the river. Or perhaps toward the cave. Maybe he had realized he lost his necklace and was returning to the cabin.

“What should I do….”

Harto did not know where to go. With a nervous heart, he looked down at the ruby necklace in his hand. He wished that the beautiful red jewel could show him where Zed was.

…Flap!

Then something happened. He heard the sound of birds flapping their wings somewhere in the forest. Without hesitation, Harto ran in that direction.

His foot hit a root, and he nearly tripped over a stone, but he did not slow down. He ran only with the thought that he had to find Zed.

“Ha, Haa… huff, this is….”

Zed was indifferently standing by the riverbank.

“Zed!”

When Harto shouted loudly, Zed turned around, with a surprised expression.

“This, this! Ha, you, left it…!”

Harto ran to him and held out the ruby necklace.

“Ah….”

Zed took the necklace without much surprise and hung it around his neck. He looked calm.

“No matter… how, haa, how much of a hurry you were, still….”

He wanted to scold him for leaving something so precious, but he was too out of breath to speak properly.

“Catch your breath first. Here, water.”

“Uh, yeah….”

Zed handed him the waterskin from his chest. Harto drank it in gulps and took a moment to calm down.

“Better now?”

“Yes, thank you. But… this water’s really good!”

“I took it from the river. Maybe because the weather’s nice today, it tastes even better.”

“Yes. If we boil elm bark tea with this, it’ll taste amazing.”

Zed felt his heart ache as he watched Harto say “elm tea” correctly instead of “naelleum tea.”

It had not been long, but Harto had changed a lot since the beginning. His brightness came from his nature, but he now felt much stronger too.

Even so….

Zed reached out his hand toward Harto as he drank the water. When his fingers touched the sweat-dampened cheek instead of his hair, Harto flinched.

“So you really came only to return the necklace?”

“Uh… that…”

When their eyes met, with Zed’s calm dark gaze fixed on him, Harto’s nose stung. He almost cried out. He wanted to look away, but the large hand holding him still made that impossible.

And he did not want to avoid Zed.

…Plop.

“Harto?”

Tears finally flowed from his large eyes. When the clear drops soaked his flushed cheeks, Zed looked at him with a pitiful expression and brushed them away gently with his thumb.

“Hic, Zed…! I, I, sniff, waaah!”

Harto called Zed’s name and cried bitterly. His face quickly crumpled, and he wept like a child.

Zed said nothing and wrapped his arms around Harto tightly. Inside his embrace, Harto sobbed as if the whole world were leaving him. Then he lifted his head slightly.

“Sniff, hic… Ze… Zed! My, my name… sniff, my name….”

“Yes. Your name.”

“Ha, Har, tiros and, sniff… my, name… isn’t it, too similar… sniff, don’t you think?”

“You mean your name and Hartiros’s are similar?”

“Uh, sniff, yes, yes…!”

Harto nodded while hiccupping. Fear and hope mixed in his tear-filled blue eyes.

“What’s that about?”

Zed did not avoid that gaze, and faint smile lifted the corner of his mouth.

“They’re not similar at all.”

“R-really?”

“Yes, you’re not Hartiros, you’re Harto.”

Zed spoke with certainty, and tears streamed again from Harto’s eyes. His chest trembled so much he could barely bear it. It felt like Zed was telling him they were two completely different beings, not just two names.

“You really are a crybaby.”

“Sniff, hic, sniff… Z, Zed….”

Harto barely held back his tears, and as if he had made up his mind, he grabbed Zed’s collar with his small hand and said,

“I, I, sniff, want to go with you, Zed….”