Chapter Text
The two of them danced for a while, then stopped when they finished the second song. They sat down on a nearby bench to take a quick rest, when someone else approached them.
“Hello the couple over there! Congratulations!”
Both Akit and Yuder looked at the strange man in confusion, while the latter continued.
“I saw your dance earlier, I can see that you two are so madly in love!”
“No we…”
“That’s why!” He cut off Yuder’s words before he could even respond. “You have been chosen as the last couple to enter our small contest! It’s the main event tonight, you wouldn’t want to miss it!”
They didn’t have time to refuse, and were dragged away by the enthusiastic stranger. The place they were led to was a relatively large open space, as they were guided to get on a stage, with a large crowd of audience below. Three other couples had arrived before them, while Akit and Yuder stood on the furthest of the stage left. They stood out quite a bit, due to their heights.
Their concerns were soon left behind as the man from earlier picked up the voice amplifier tool and spoke into it.
“Alright everyone! Thank you for waiting! It’s time for: Mission! ☆ The Blindfolded Knight Saves The Blindfolded Princess! ☆ to officially—Staaaaart!!!”
What the heck is that ridiculously long and cringy title?
Yuder maintained his stoic expression, however, he was momentarily taken aback by the weird name. He glanced at Akit, who seemed to have the same thoughts as him.
“……”
…Was it the wrong choice to come here, after all? While Yuder was contemplating his rash decision, the audience cheered loudly as soon as the emcee announced the start of the event.
“The rules are simple! We have chosen four couples to participate in the rescue mission, one of them will play the role of the captive princess, and the other will play the role of the shining knight in armor. However—both of them will be blindfolded! So how could the knight save the princess? The princesses are tied with a thread and our knights will choose the right one leading to their happy ending. The pair that get it right will be the winner! Remember—you only have one chance to find your destined partner!”
“…Hmm, so it’s a game based on luck”
Akit whispered beside the omega, his voice sounded somewhat amused after hearing the instructions.
“Then without further ado—let’s get the event started! Each pair please select one person to be the princess and follow the staff for preparation!”
The contestants were given a minute to divide the roles by themselves. The other couples completed the task in no time, leaving only the two of them. Yuder pondered for a few seconds, then he glanced at the other man, declaring his decision.
“I guess…I should be the princess”
“Oh? I was thinking of playing the princess. I’ve always dreamed of being rescued by a beautiful knight with black hair, you know?”
“……”
The alpha was pretending to have a pitiful face yet again, but Yuder didn’t give in this time. He pushed the big man aside and followed the waiting staff, after giving a clear signal that commanded ‘Stay here. Do not move’.
“This way, please”
The staff led the ‘princesses’ behind the big curtain, where some other props were prepared beforehand. There were four wooden poles visibly seen, and Yuder could roughly guess what they were going to be used for.
“We will blindfold you now, please tell us if you feel uncomfortable or the knot is too tight!”
Some other staff brought out a few black cloths and threads. One of them approached Yuder, wrapping the fabric around his eyes over the mask, and darkness immediately covered his vision. He wasn’t surprised by the sudden blindness, but he felt weird for some reason. It wasn’t as dark as the secret passage they had always ventured, since he could still recognize the brightness from the surroundings. The feelings, however, weren’t the same.
Yuder felt the staff tying something onto his wrist next, probably the thread they had explained. Then, he was led to somewhere else.
“It might be uncomfortable, but please bear with us for now. And one more thing, if you have a secondary gender, please refrain from using your scent to give a signal. Cheating will result in your disqualification and a penalty, okay?”
Yuder nodded. The next moment, the omega’s hands were wrapped around a wooden surface, and tied together loosely enough. The hard thing touching his back was probably one of the poles he had noticed previously. Well, his role was to be a ‘captive’ princess, it was expected that he would be restrained in some way or another.
“Alright! It seemed like our princesses had also done their part! Then let’s get started, shall we?”
The voice of the emcee was heard in the distance, followed by the sounds of something being pulled. He could tell that the curtain had been lifted, as the brightness behind his blindfold changed subtly, together with the applause of the crowds.
He faced forwards, even though he was unable to see, his heartbeat quickened at the thought of a certain man standing somewhere out there, blindfolded just like Yuder, waiting for him.
“Knights! Are you ready to gamble with fate? Choose one of the threads here and follow it to where your destiny leads!”
With one sense obstructed, the others were naturally heightened. Amidst the loud cheers of the audience, as soon as the starting signal was given, Yuder felt the thread on his wrist being tugged slightly. He could clearly hear the sounds of footsteps coming from only one direction; and the sounds of his own heart, ringing more loudly in his ears the closer the sounds were, as well as the faint odor of winter breeze in the air.
Finally, the footsteps stopped, right in front of Yuder. A hand gently touched his face and fingers caressed his cheek, but he didn’t avoid it.
“…Yuder”
The voice calling his name was as soft as feathers, fluttering slowly. Then the other hand moved to the back of his head, and his blindfold was removed.
Yuder furrowed slightly due to the sudden brightness; when he opened his eyes, stood there was Akit, who had also removed the cloth around his face, smiling at him ever so softly.
“It looks like we have a winner! It’s the couple no.4!
The crowds made a thunderous cheer for the pair, but neither of them paid attention to the loud noise at that moment.
“Are you okay, Yuder?”
Akit swiftly removed the cloth tying his hands, freeing Yuder, and rubbed his wrists.
“I’m fine. They didn’t tie it that tightly in the first place”
“That’s good”
“How did you find me? It must have been hard, not being able to see anything…”
It was a situation where both parties were blindfolded, and pheromones were prohibited, the chance of getting it right was one-in-four.
“Hmm? I guess it was ‘fate’ that led me to you… Besides, didn’t I tell you I’d definitely come to you, no matter what?”
“……”
’I’ll come to you right away, so wait for me, Yuder’. Those were the words the alpha had whispered into Yuder’s ear the moment right before he left. And he had kept his promise.
Just when he was about to call out the other’s name, the audience cheered again and Yuder was reminded that both of them were still in public.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”
Perhaps having seen their affectionate display, they shouted loudly, demanding the winners to kiss. Yuder, however, looked very much troubled, not because of the embarrassing act, but because of another reason only two people knew.
“Oh my, what to do…”
He glanced at Akit, who looked less bewildered than him, but had also noticed the situation.
’….Should we run away?’
Yuder glanced around restlessly, but they were already surrounded by the crowds, it seemed that everyone would not let them go until they kissed.
“...It can’t be helped, right?”
“...…Huh?”
Yuder flinched when the alpha’s face swooped down in an instant. He reflexively stepped backwards to avoid it, but his waist was firmly held in place by the man’s strong arms, and he couldn’t escape. His pupils shook violently when he saw Akit’s face inching closer and closer.
’Is he really going to do it…!’
In the end, he shut his eyes closely, waiting for the impact to come. However, contrary to his expectations, something solid pressed onto his lips, causing him to open his eyes in surprise.
Using his hand to lift Yuder’s chin, Akit slipped his thumb between their faces. Akit’s red lips, then, overlapped perfectly. He adjusted the angle, making it look like they were actually kissing, but in fact, their lips never touched. After a plausible moment, the alpha moved his face away as he looked at the bewildered omega, and chuckled.
“That should do it, don’t you think, Yuder?”
“……”
The black-haired man couldn’t think of anything. He didn’t know whether the wild thumping of his heart ringing in his ears, or the excited shouts and whistlings of the audience, was louder. He only came back to his senses when he got hit with something cold.
It seemed like the audience got too excited that they started to pour water at them. Soon after that, Yuder was soaked wet. And it wasn’t just him alone, but Akit also shared the same fate.
Noticing Yuder’s gaze, the alpha also looked back at him; both of their faces were dumbfounded, as they were at a loss of words.
“Haha…”
Suddenly, Akit squinted his eyes and laughed heartily. Yuder’s head felt like spinning, since it had yet processed everything that had happened. However, perhaps because he had seen that innocent laugh, or he had sensed the joy in the scent that the corners of his lips unconsciously curved up into a smile.
“Kiss again! Kiss again!”
“Oh dear, it seems like one kiss wasn’t enough” Akit swept back his brown locks, which had gotten darker after gotten wet, and winked at the younger man. “...Shall we run away?”
He grabbed Yuder’s hand and started running away. The latter didn’t have any hesitation in following the man’s lead, as he watched him skillfully slip through the gaps to escape. Behind them were audible gasps of the people demanding to chase after the two of them.
“They’re running away! Let’s catch them!”
The commotion had drawn the passerby’s attention, some of which even joined in the fun and splashed more water at the runaways. Akit and Yuder took a sudden turn and hid themselves in a dark alley, cutting the tail. Only when some time passed and the chaos was no longer heard did the two of them exhaled softly, almost simultaneously. Their gazes naturally drew to each other at that moment, and they chuckled upon the realization that they had been holding their breaths.
“—Haha! In the end, we still got splashed, huh?”
“...Didn’t you say we would be safe if I came with you?”
Even though he couldn’t see the alpha’s expression in the dark, he could tell that he was surprised at Yuder’s words. A moment of silence passed, followed by a small, low laugh.
“...My apologies, it was a miscalculation on my part. I’ll make sure to reflect on it and—to make up for you…” He spoke softly. “......How about I give you a kiss”
Yuder widened his eyes, only then did he realize the situation they were in at that moment.
A pair of strong arms were wrapping around him, and his body leaned closely to the man’s chest. Wet clothes stuck to their skin, and the warmth of flesh pressing against each other could be felt more explicitly, causing heat to rush to his head.
Ba-thump. Ba-thump.
Within that distance, he could hear the rhythm of their heart, beating and resonating as if they were dancing. He tried to move back a bit to make some space, however, his back immediately met the wall, since the alley they had run into in a hurry was narrow.
’This…is dangerous…’
The air around them changed in an instant. He was reminded of the time being on stage, when both of them were in a similar situation. However, unlike then, Yuder was neither restrained nor unable to escape. He now could easily shake the man’s arms off and run away, and he doubted Akit would stop him from doing so either. However, he didn’t move from his spot, or rather, he couldn’t.
A faint ray of moonlight passed by, illuminating the area. Thanks to that, Yuder could clearly see the face of the man before him.
Akit was staring at him with his crimson-tinted umber eyes, which seemed to be holding a desire only for Yuder as they focused on one point. What surprised him even more, however, was the reflection of a black-haired man in those orbs, which didn’t look any different from the former.
If one said Akit’s cheeks were painted with a pinkish hue, then Yuder’s were tinted with the same hue. The soft and affectionate gaze seemed to contain only one person in the whole world, and so was the other’s. And the two scents that were different at birth, but released simultaneously, stroking each other before entwining gently, were carrying the same unidentified emotions—No, Yuder knew, he had always known the names of the feelings haunting his heart.
”Ah...I see, towards this man…I have already…’
Yuder wrapped his arms around the other’s neck, feeling the broad shoulders beneath faintly tensed up, then soon relaxed. The arms around his body tightened slightly, their position shifted, and the heat between two bodies intensified. A rough hand gently wiped away a droplet of water on his cheek, then stroked it. In the dim illumination of the moon, he could see Akit narrowing their distance.
Was this okay? Was this really the right thing to do? Wouldn’t it break the promise to keep the purity until the destined day?
Various thoughts went through his mind as he felt the other’s breath on his skin. Those questions kept echoing in his head, however, deep within his heart, answers had already been found.
“......!”
The brown-haired man blinked, widening his eyes. The atmosphere was good, the pheromones were enticing, and two people seemed to be in deep understanding of each other. At that moment, Akit had leaned in as his instinct told, however, he couldn’t feel the other’s breath with his lips. Yuder had covered the alpha’s mouth with his hands, just right before their faces came into contact.
“...Uh…this…” The omega flustered and rolled his eyes. He lowered his head, his feverish ears peeked out under the silverish veil of the night. “We…We can’t, not yet…”
“……Right, we can’t yet”
He couldn’t utter a full sentence, but both of them knew the meaning without fail. It was weird to be stubborn over something simply made orally only, but at the same time, he didn’t want to break that one simple thing.
“Akit, I—”
In the midst of the awkward silence, he tried to break it by saying something, but soon was cut off when he felt a soft sensation landing on his nose. Heat gathered in the place that had just been touched, and Yuder stared blankly at the man withdrawing.
“…I suppose I should be content with this much, for now”
Akit was chuckling, but his voice sounded somewhat sad and regretful, tugging at the omega’s heart. Just then, a cool breeze flew by, and Yuder felt a slight shiver on his skin; only then did he remember that they both were still soaked wet.
“Oh dear, you’ll get a cold at this rate… It’s also gotten late, shall we head back?”
“……Yes”
Yuder couldn’t remember what happened after that, and before he knew it, they had already arrived in front of Serene Palace. Their time together was coming to an end.
In the veil of the moonlight, the man’s hand extended and kept caressing his cheek, but the latter didn’t move away either, as if both of them were desperately trying to stall time, wishing for the contact, for the embracing scents, for the lingering images reflected in each other’s eyes, to last a little longer.
“…Tomorrow” Yuder was the first one to break the silence. “…tomorrow will be the day I turn eighteenth”
He held his breath.
“And then…”
“……”
Akit stared at the younger man for a while, then smiled softly. He pulled the omega into his arms and embraced him gently; however, Yuder couldn’t see his face since he was hugged from behind. A soft whisper then breathed into his ear.
“…Happy birthday, Yuder”
“…It hasn’t even been midnight yet”
“I know… I just…I’m feeling so happy that I couldn’t hold it in…”
Yuder chuckled softly as if he had heard something strange, coming from the Akit he knew, who had always been clever and composed.
“It’s fine. You can say it again tomorrow”
“Tomorrow…yes, tomorrow…”
Akit turned Yuder around and removed his mask, revealing the eyes as dark as a starless night, yet mysteriously alluring. He stared at them for a long, long time, as if to ingrain the beautiful portrait into his memory.
“…Yuder”
“Yes?”
“Yuder…”
“…Yes”
The alpha kept calling out the omega’s name, as if enchanted. His voice was low and sweet, however, Yuder couldn’t possibly shake off the faint uneasiness in his heart.
“…Yuder, I’ll definitely come back soon…so wait for me, okay?”
It was a strange thing to say when they were going to meet again the next morning, as usual. But before Yuder could question that, Akit had lifted the latter’s hand and kissed the top of it, where a small shabby ring was visible.
“Then…I bid you goodnight, my dear Yuder”
Their intertwined hands inevitably disconnected. Although warmth was still lingering on his skin, Yuder had already missed his touch as he watched the man, who glanced at him for a while, then disappeared into the night.
Yuder stood there and stared into the darkness, his heart beating loudly inside his chest from all the excitement during the festival, their moments together, and from the anticipation of what would come later. He closed his eyes, savoring the fresh scent in the air that had been mixing with his, and yet to fade away.
Then, he returned inside, embracing the emotions.
Those were Yuder Aile’s last memories of the man named Akit from two years ago.