Kael stared, a little stunned. Thinking it over, there really wasn't anything wrong with sharing a bed, right? His only concern was the other person. He could sleep anywhere, in any space, and in any position, but what about the young mercenary? The bed wasn't exactly wide, and two grown men would make it cramped.
His silence, however, was taken the wrong way.
Eryn leaned forward slightly, a teasing glint in his eyes. "You've never shared a bed with someone before, have you?"
Kael blinked. The words settled in his mind, and after a pause, he gave a slow shake of his head. "I have…" he murmured, remembering the scrawny figure of a boy seven years younger than him, curled up beside him long ago.
With his head lowered, he didn't see the subtle shift in Eryn's expression. The grin faded, and the playfulness was replaced with a grim look.
"Then what's the problem with sleeping next to me? Do I stink or something?"
"What? Of course not!" Kael's head snapped up. He moved closer without realizing it, waving both hands frantically in front of him. "I don't think that at all! I was just worried that you'd be uncomfortable sleeping with someone. In my case… I can sleep in narrow spaces, in any position. So, it doesn't bother me."
When a few minutes passed and Eryn still did not respond, a bead of sweat formed above Kael's brow. He wiped it nervously and begged, "Please don't think that way, Eryn…"
The young mercenary turned his body halfway, facing the other side. Kael's heart thumped with anxiety.
Is he upset? He couldn't help but wonder.
His hand lifted, hovering mid-air, about to touch Eryn's shoulder, when that very shoulder gave a small, sudden tremble. Kael's eyes widened.
Oh, no! Is he crying?! Panic surged in his chest.
He scrambled closer, bracing himself with both hands as he leaned forward in a crawling position, trying to peek over Eryn's shoulder to see his face. But what he caught was the complete opposite of what he feared.
Eryn's hand was loosely covering his mouth, doing a poor job of hiding the wide, goofy grin beneath it. His shoulders trembled not with sorrow, but with suppressed laughter.
Kael let out a long, exasperated sigh. He was relieved that the mercenary wasn't crying, but at the same time, he was bewildered as to why he was laughing. Or was this young man making fun of him?
Eryn's eye slid sideways, casting a glance toward him from the corner. His playful look suddenly stiffened. His gaze moved lower, while his hand fell from his mouth.
Kael froze. Because of the way he was leaning forward to peek, their faces were close…too close. And since he had loosened his sash earlier, his robe had slipped open slightly. His chest was exposed. Worse, because of the angle, his head tilted upward, and the long strands of his loosely braided white hair had fallen away from his neck.
The skin beneath his jaw, normally hidden, was revealed.
Eryn's gaze darkened.
Kael knew instantly what the young man had seen. His scar. It ran from left to right, just beneath the jawline—a deep, unmistakable mark left by prolonged strangulation.
Kael scrambled back, hastily tugging his robe closed as he moved away, his fingers fumbling with the loosened fabric. He could feel the heat rising in his face, not from embarrassment alone, but from the sudden vulnerability of being seen.
On the other hand, Eryn said nothing.
The silence between them stretched for a while. It wasn't heavy, but to Kael it was uncomfortable. Perhaps, he was used to the light atmosphere that always was between them, so now, he couldn't bear the heavy silence.
After a few moments, he cleared his throat, trying to dispel the tension. "Well…since we're sharing the bed anyway, it would be better to use it properly than sleep on the floor," he said, his voice sounding a bit impatient.
Without waiting for a reply, he climbed onto the bed and settled on the left side, placing his basket carefully on the nightstand. He tugged at his sash again, tightening it with quick, nervous fingers.
Eryn followed a moment later, quiet as ever. He took the right side of the bed without a word and lay on his back, arms resting loosely by his sides.
The room went still.
Kael turned slightly, his eyes resting on the wooden ceiling above. The lamp was still lit, but he didn't ask for it to be turned off. He could feel Eryn's presence beside him, their shoulders brushing with the slightest movement, and his sleeve grazing the back of Eryn's gloved hand.
He tried to sleep, but sleep eluded him. So, he just lay there, wide awake, just like the person next to him. After a prolonged silence, he finally spoke again. "It's disturbing, isn't it?"
Eryn shifted. He rolled onto his side to face Kael, resting his head on one arm like a pillow. "Not really."
"But you're clearly bothered by it," Kael said softly. "Should I cover it from now on?"
Eryn didn't respond immediately. He just stared, his gaze quietly tracing the contours of Kael's side profile in the warm, flickering lamplight. Then, in a low, slightly rigid voice, he murmured, "Is it alright to ask?"
"Go ahead," Kael replied without hesitation, as though it didn't trouble him. And truth to be told, it didn't, not really.
So what if he had a scar? It was unsightly, perhaps, but there was nothing remarkable about it. He had never bothered to hide it. Most of the time, it was simple there, sometimes covered by his hair, sometimes exposed when he tilted his head back. To him, it held no real importance. No weight worth remembering.
However, when Eryn saw it earlier, that indifference vanished like smoke in the wind. For the first time, he felt self-conscious—an instinctive urge to cover it up, to hide it from sight. And what baffled him most was why.
Why was it only with Eryn that he suddenly cared?
He had tried to compose himself in the silence that lingered between them earlier, so now, when the moment came, he could say it easily—that it was alright to ask anything.
"How long…were you hanging…in that forest?" Eryn's voice was low, barely a whisper but heavy with gloom. His jaw was clenched in restrained anger, though Kael, who was staring straight ahead, did not notice the rage in his expression.
Kael's breath caught. He turned to Eryn, stumped. He hadn't expected him to piece it together so quickly, and now, he didn't know how to respond. His mouth opened, then closed again. He couldn't form the right words to say.
After swallowing a few times, the only word he managed to whisper was, "How…?"
Eryn couldn't bear the look on Kael's face, so he turned away. "Please, forget I asked," he said quietly. "Just…try to get a few hours of sleep tonight." His voice was filled with guilt, regretting why he even asked. Then he turned over, his back facing Kael.
Relief washed over Kael, quiet and fleeting. He was grateful that Eryn had dropped the question…and yet, something about it left him unsettled. Maybe it was the way Eryn had looked away. Or maybe it was the tone in his voice when he told him to forget it.
Still, since Eryn seemed content to leave it be, Kael did too.
He shifted slightly on the bed, casting one last glance at the young man's back. "...goodnight," he whispered.
There was no reply.
Kael exhaled softly, then closed his eyes, letting the silence wrap around him like a blanket. Sleep didn't come easily, but eventually…it did.