Fortunately, as a gesture of apology, the honeybees from the Amil Hive shared some of their honey with Blaine. With just one more flower, he’d be able to meet his daily quota. Normally, intruding on another hive’s territory would’ve ended with a brutal beating and being chased off—but today, he’d run into a kind bunch.
“That one looks good.”
As he wandered without a clear direction, a tall sunflower caught Blaine’s eye. Sunflowers were familiar flowers—no need for hesitation.
He gently grasped the flower’s stalk just beneath the blossom. He’d learned from experience that if he squeezed even a little too hard, his grip could snap the stem in two.
Carefully relaxing the tension in his hand, Blaine swept his coarse right palm up the stalk, while his other hand circled behind the bloom, tracing light spirals with his fingertips. He teased the back of the flowerhead with a light scratch from his nail, slowly coaxing a reaction.
“Whew…”
His hands moved faster. Ignoring the rough hairs scraping against his palm, Blaine pumped his right hand rhythmically along the stalk. His left kneaded the flowerhead firmly, but with just enough care not to crush it. The petals trembled; the stalk jumped in his grip—it wouldn’t be long now.
But growing impatient, Blaine leaned in and gave the trembling stamens a quick lick.
SPLASH—
“Augh?!”
Of course, it was a sunflower. Unlike other flowers that built pressure and released it in one concentrated burst, sunflowers didn’t explode their nectar like a geyser. Blaine had forgotten that for a moment.
From within the densely packed disk florets came a sudden, unrelenting spray of honey-like droplets, splattering against Blaine’s face like a burst showerhead. The pale, milky liquid clung mercilessly to his eyebrows, eyelids, cheeks, lips.
“Haaah…”
The sticky, lukewarm fluid dripping down his face didn’t feel particularly pleasant. But work was like that. No creature did it because it was fun—they did it because it had to be done.
He opened the mouth of his honey pouch. The whitish, viscous liquid flowed down his face, slowly clearing into a transparent sheen as it pooled and plopped into the pouch in globs. It wasn’t the most pleasant sensation. But watching the shimmering, sticky nectar steadily fill the pouch brought a quiet sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
The sky had already turned violet. Blaine quickened his pace. The thought of crossing a river and a mountain weighed heavy on him. His outfit was already torn—maybe he should just fly home instead?
He was deep in thought when a voice suddenly pierced the air.
“Is anyone there? Please, help!”
It came from a dense patch of overgrown grass. Desperate. Pleading.
He rounded a large tree and scanned the area. The voice had come from deeper within the darkened forest—so he kept walking, farther, and farther still.
“Gah?!”
Blaine sucked in a breath. A burst of light flared from between the trees, blinding him momentarily. Bertie would’ve laughed, calling it a cliché—an overused description from some dusty old romance novel. But it wasn’t a metaphor. It was literal.
If someone asked Blaine who the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen was, he wouldn’t hesitate to say: their Queen. Beyond that, perhaps Bertie’s way-too-good-for-him girlfriend, the Azure Butterfly Panthiana; the annoyingly popular drone Gemini from Necta Hive; or Perkins, the bumblebee idol beloved by all.
But in that instant, Blaine’s entire ranking shattered. Utterly. Catastrophically.
It was like the world itself had been flipped.
The first thing he saw was a cascade of luminous white strands fluttering in the air. Like silken thread from a cocoon, like snowflakes soaked in starlight, like the soft fuzz clinging to a magnolia petal. No—on closer look, it was hair. Hair dyed at the tips—just a few finger joints in length—with a soft black hue.
Unlike the pure ivory hair, the skin was a sweet, creamy milk color. The cheeks blushed with a soft red, like flower dye had soaked into the flesh. Eyelashes so long they brushed the dark strands of hair. And beneath them—large, silvery-gray eyes, glistening with tears.
“Please… help. I can’t move.”
The voice was as delicate and mournful as the figure’s appearance. Blaine’s expression looked like someone waking from a dream. If this creature hadn’t spoken, he might’ve doubted they were even alive. They were beautiful to the point of being unreal.
“Wh-What happened?!”
His voice cracked down the middle—embarrassingly so. Blaine’s tanned cheeks flushed, and he coughed to cover it up. Fortunately, the other didn’t seem to care if Blaine’s voice cracked, broke, or burst into song.
“I… I might’ve fallen from a tree. My leg hurts badly. I can’t move.”
“A-Are you all right?!”
“Honestly, no. It hurts a lot. I’m scared, too.”
Predators often appeared around here, they added in a soft, trembly voice soaked in dew. It tugged at Blaine’s heart. It’d be cruel to ignore someone like this.
But the sun had almost fully set, and the forest felt dangerous. As the beautiful stranger said, this was the hour when predators came out. Blaine needed to start thinking about his own safety. Getting home would already be a struggle.
Should he really delay any longer?
He hesitated. But he’d seen this with his own two eyes now. No way could he abandon someone in need for the sake of his own convenience. He wasn’t that heartless.
“I’ll help you. Let me take a look at your injury first—”
“But… what if a mantis or centipede shows up?”
“Ah… right. Then let’s move you somewhere safer first. I’ll support you.”
“Thank you… so much.”
As Blaine reached under the stranger’s arm to help lift them, a faint scent wafted up—like wet wood, or morning dew. And faintly, the aroma of fruit. He stiffened, suddenly aware of how close the stranger’s face had gotten due to the angle. He looked away.
“M-My name’s Blaine. I’m a honeybee.”
“Ah, I’m Hurel. But… a honeybee?”
“Y-Yeah, haha… doesn’t look like it, huh?”
“To be honest,” the beauty whispered, cheeks turning pink, a shy smile blooming on their lips.
Blaine nearly dislocated his jaw.
He stumbled, his legs working faster than his brain. What the hell was that?! Was he dreaming? Did a face like that actually exist? How could someone’s eyes, nose, and mouth look like that? And how did they all fit on such a small face?!
“Y-You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? At this late hour! I-I’m from the Necta Hive, past the Akansia River. I was just collecting nectar, and I guess I wandered in too deep… lost track of time—”
“You came all the way out here for honey? That’s impressive.”
“O-Oh, not really…! Ah! Hurel, what were you doing in a place like that…?”
That spot was known for frequent spider sightings. Incredibly dangerous—so much so that even someone living far away, like Blaine, had heard of it. He babbled on to hide his flustered face, then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
Wait… what did I just say?
“S-So… um…”
“What brought you here, Blaine?”
“Me? Uh, I-I was heading back home, and… I heard someone calling for help…”
That area was notorious. Absolutely crawling with spiders. No one would crawl in there this late at night unless they had a damn good reason. Or unless they were completely insane.
“And… w-when I looked…”
“You found me.”
“….”
He turned.
The beauty—white hair shimmering like silk and silvery eyes glowing in the dusk—was smiling sweetly at him.
