TOPWL 111

“Khalid…”

Yudit looked at him with unfamiliar eyes, as though in a dream. It was hard to believe he was really standing in front of him. Without thinking, Yudit reached out a hand toward Khalid. He wanted to brush his cheek, but since Khalid was still on horseback, his fingers only grazed somewhere near the man’s waist. At that moment, Khalid leaned down, and Yudit’s fingertips met his cheek. The roughness of his skin made Yudit feel like he might cry.

“Seems our young prince missed me quite a bit.”

Though his tone was teasing, Yudit couldn’t deny it. Yes, he had missed him.

“Yes. I missed you.”

As soon as Yudit spoke honestly, it was Khalid who looked flustered. Straightening up, he turned his face slightly toward the sun. The tips of his ears were tinged with red—perhaps from the sunlight.

Only then did Yudit realize he was still holding the crocheted bouquet. He held it out to Khalid and said the words he had prepared.

“Welcome back.”

Khalid looked from Yudit to the flowers and then accepted them. He examined the colorful crochet blooms and asked,

“Did you make this yourself?”

Yudit nodded. Khalid studied them with a thoughtful expression, then brought them closer to his face and sniffed, intrigued.

“I sprayed a bit of perfume.”

A smile tugged at Khalid’s lips as he tilted his head toward the bouquet, clearly pleased.

“You picked this scent, didn’t you?”

“I did. How did you know?”

“It smells just like you.”

Khalid stepped down and came to stand in front of him. He gave the horse a pat, sending it trotting off after the rest of the company, its hooves clicking against the ground. Yudit watched the riderless horse go with quiet fascination.

“Shall we walk a bit?”

Khalid asked, smiling handsomely with the bouquet still in hand. Yudit hesitated, then asked,

“This is a welcome celebration for the subjugation force—are you sure it’s okay?”

“The others will enjoy it enough for me, don’t worry.”

The two of them began walking through the crowd. Yudit’s eyes remained on the mountain-like pile of Dire-bears and monsters in the square.

“That’s why they wanted the welcome to be grand.”

“Right. We brought back seven Dire-bears. This place will be bustling for a while.”

For a while, perhaps. Or even for years—or decades. Some monster hunters spend ten years chasing a single Dire-bear, and here there were seven. This village would surely be safe from monsters now. Maybe even livelier than when the mines first opened. Yudit’s heart began to race.

“How did you manage to catch them?”

“I’ll tell you if you give me a kiss.”

At Khalid’s playful remark, Yudit’s face flushed with embarrassment. Even if the crowd was focused on the knights, they were still at the center of everything. Kissing in such a public place—it was something he couldn’t do even if he died and came back.

“N-not here!”

“You had no trouble fondling my face earlier.”

At that, Yudit glanced away, recalling what he’d done just moments before.

“I… I didn’t fondle. I just wanted to make sure you were real.”

Khalid blinked, then asked,

“You thought I might be dead?”

Yudit shook his head.

“No. But I thought you might have been in danger. A few days ago, we heard a monster’s cry all the way from the village.”

He shivered at the memory.

“Ah… That sound nearly tore our ears apart.”

“What happened?”

“We found a den of Dire-bears in hibernation. Took a small team to avoid waking them. We approached carefully and pierced their brains through the eyes with ice spears. But when we were taking down the fifth one, it woke up and let out a roar. It died right after, but that woke the last two. We were prepared, so no one died, but quite a few were injured.”

Yudit’s face clouded at the word “injured,” and Khalid chuckled.

“It’s alright. No one was hurt badly enough to be in danger. They were all grinning, even with blood pouring from their heads, boasting that they helped take down a Dire-bear. Said it wouldn’t be a proper victory without some scars.”

Yudit thought he might never understand men like that. Then again, what about Khalid? He too had been knighted at fourteen and spent most of his life on the battlefield. More a warrior than a knight, really. Could he ever understand someone like that?

As he watched Khalid—standing out like a sewing awl in the middle of a crowd—Yudit wondered.

“Are you hungry? Should I buy you something to eat?”

Yudit spoke to Khalid as he eyed the food from a street vendor. A grand feast was waiting at the village chief’s house, but Yudit doubted Khalid would skip a proper meal just because he’d had a bite or two of street food. At Yudit’s words, Khalid let out a short laugh.

“You’re going to buy something for me?”

“I have money too, you know. I could probably buy out the whole stall if I wanted.”

Yudit pulled out his plump coin purse with a haughty little expression. Khalid looked down at him and bit back a grin.

“Then I’ll have this.”

What he picked was a bag of herb candies. Afraid Khalid might try to pay for it himself, Yudit hurried ahead to the stall and held out a coin.

“One bag of candy, please.”

“Well, if it isn’t our young prince. Welcome, Your Highness!”

The candy vendor beamed as he offered a round tin filled with sweets.

“No need for payment.”

“I insist.”

“It’s thanks to Your Highness that we’ve been eating well lately. I absolutely refuse!”

“And I absolutely—”

Before the squabble could continue, Khalid tossed a silver coin from his own pocket. Then, grabbing the candy bag in one hand and Yudit’s wrist in the other, he broke into a run. Even through the crowd, the moment Khalid began to move, people seemed to part before him as if clearing the way was second nature.

He didn’t stop until they reached a quiet alleyway. Only then did he let go of Yudit’s hand. Yudit caught his breath and glanced around. Though empty of people, the alley wasn’t dreary—the sunlight spilled into it softly.

“I could’ve paid,” Yudit mumbled.

“I know. I just didn’t want to waste time.”

Khalid spoke as he plucked a candy from the tin and popped it into his mouth.

“And besides, a silver coin for a bag of candy is—mmph.”

He didn’t get to finish. Khalid kissed him.

His tongue, warm and bold, slipped past parted lips, the candy still resting inside. Startled, Yudit reached to press against his chest, but his hand slipped on the smooth surface of the steel armor. Khalid tossed off his gauntlet and laced their fingers together. His skin burned with heat, enough to melt even the thickest snow.

“Mm…”

Khalid’s tongue explored every corner of Yudit’s mouth, and now and then, the candy clinked against teeth. The hot slickness of his tongue mixed with the crisp coolness of the candy, and the kiss made Yudit’s head spin. Just as his knees began to buckle, Khalid wrapped an arm around his waist, holding him steady.

Unlike in the past, when Yudit had always been passive, this time he responded. He opened his mouth and now and then gently ventured into Khalid’s. Surprised, Khalid parted his lips further to welcome him in.

Yudit discovered that the inside of Khalid’s mouth was warmer, wetter, and softer than he’d imagined.

So this is what a kiss is—offering such a vulnerable part of yourself and becoming one.

Realizing that made his cheeks burn, as though he were doing something obscene. But he didn’t want to stop. Rising on tiptoe, Yudit wrapped his arms around Khalid. He could feel the cold of the armor even through his clothes.

“Haah… Yudit…”

Yudit stroked his cheek and the back of his head over and over, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to strip the armor off and run his hands over that firm body. Press his ear to his chest and listen to the beat of his heart. As he suckled Khalid’s lower lip like he might a candy, Yudit whispered,

“I want to touch you… more.”

The confession startled even him. He hadn’t known such desire lay hidden inside. At those words, a crease appeared between Khalid’s brows. Was he angry?

“If you don’t want to get taken right here, don’t say things like that. It’s hard to hold back.”

He sounded almost pained.

Was he feeling the same as I am? Yudit looked up at him and carefully asked,

“…Do you feel it too, Khalid?”

Khalid gave him a dry, incredulous look.

“If you could read my heart, you’d turn and run without looking back.”

“I wouldn’t run.”

“…”

“Because… I think our hearts feel the same.”

Khalid bit his nose lightly, as if Yudit were being naive. When Yudit rubbed his tingling nose, Khalid gave him a faint smile and murmured,

“You really have no idea. Just how much I…”

Yudit tilted his head and looked up at him. Khalid stared back, eyes heavy with thirst, and once more closed the distance between them.