His whole body ached as if he’d been beaten, stiff and miserable. His lower half tingled, almost numb, refusing to move properly. Though it was early summer, an icy wind skimmed over his body, and the honeybee—shivering uncontrollably—finally woke, unable to endure the pain and cold any longer.
“Ugh, it hurts.”
Every part of him hurt, but his arms throbbed the worst, as if they might tear off. He blinked several times, clearing the haze from his eyes, and finally understood the reason.
His arms were lifted above him, bound tightly from wrist to elbow, and the thread connecting them was wrapped all the way around a tree stump. Because of that, his chest was pushed forward, exposed, and someone had draped an outer garment—saturated with a cool, earthy wood scent—over his naked body.
“Mmnn…”
His nose stung as if he might burst into tears again. Biting his lip, the honeybee forced himself not to cry, wriggling carefully so he wouldn’t make noise as he tried to free his bound arms. He knew full well it was pointless, but the idea of sitting still and letting himself be dragged into the spider’s home was unbearable.
“Mmgh.”
He sniffled, eyes teary as he looked at the spider sleeping soundly with his cheek nuzzled against Blaine’s bare thigh. What on earth had yesterday been? He didn’t even want to remember—it had been terrifying and agonizing. That Hurel had felt like a completely different being from the one he knew. Almost like another creature entirely.
He wanted to talk things out calmly again. If he’d done something wrong, he wanted to apologize. If not, he wanted to resolve the misunderstanding. But he feared it wouldn’t go smoothly. What if, the moment that spider opened his eyes, he did something terrible again like yesterday? Even if he didn’t, would he refuse to listen and just bind him tight like this and drag him off anyway?
He needed to regain his physical freedom first. If not, he’d be helpless prey to the spider again—obviously. With a desperate heart he worked his fingers, but the threads only tangled further, tightening and complicating the restraint. Despair washed over him.
Don’t cry. Even if the sky falls, there’s always a way out. You’ve lived through that yourself.
Repeating the words softly to himself, Blaine exhaled a breath dragged up from deep in his chest. After a few rounds of steady breathing, his mind grew calmer; his head felt a little clearer.
Spider silk. Unless soaked in water, it was like steel—nothing could cut through it. Scraping it against the uneven bark of the stump wouldn’t even come close. Stones lying around? Obviously useless.
Only one thing could snap something tougher than wire and more elastic than rubber as easily as a blade of grass: the spider’s own body. He remembered how Hurel had sliced through threads without effort using those short, deceptively gentle-looking nails.
But right now his own hands were bound overhead with his back pressed to a tree, while that detestable spider was off in dreamland, using Blaine’s thigh as a pillow. Those pale, elegant hands rested peacefully near his knees. How was he supposed to overcome this? The situation felt hopeless.
“Uugh…”
Using the only part of himself that was free, he waved his leg and nudged the spider’s body with his foot. He felt a pang of guilt for rubbing his foot all over that smooth, pale torso, but he shook it off. Groaning, he tried to maneuver the spider’s body up toward him somehow—but it wasn’t easy.
“Ah!”
His thigh muscle cramped from exertion, his foot slipped, and the spider collapsed onto him with a heavy thump. Blaine’s blood ran cold; he couldn’t breathe for several seconds. It took a long while before he thawed enough to swallow.
Rolling his eyes anxiously, trying to check whether Hurel had woken, he furrowed his brow hard.
“You say you don’t sleep well… but even a bulldozer could roar beside you and you wouldn’t wake up.”
The sense of betrayal stung deeply. For a moment Blaine considered smearing and stomping on that annoyingly beautiful face with his foot. But as he raised his leg, fuming, he sighed and abandoned the plan. No matter how mad he was, that was too far. How could he do that to such a pretty face?
And then—he actually heard a bulldozer-like sound behind him. Blaine jolted, eyes going wide. If he hadn’t been tied, he probably would’ve jumped into the air. Instead, his body lifted slightly against his will.
Crack—crack—crack—
…What’s happening?
Standing upright before he even realized it, the garment slipping precariously off one shoulder, Blaine needed several moments to understand the situation. By then, his bound arms had become free—and a familiar, towering figure, drenched in sweat, stood blocking his view.
“…General?”
“Huff—hah… Blaine, are you okay? I’m sorry, I’m so late!”
“No, the timing was perfect.”
He was still half out of his mind from shock, but one thing was certain: he was free again. Tugging the garment up to roughly cover himself, Blaine looked over the rhinoceros beetle panting heavily.
“I tried to get here earlier, but that spider kicked me out on patrol and I ended up running into a swarm of wasps…!”
“Gen, are you okay? You’re not hurt, right?”
“Thankfully nothing happened. Wasps usually don’t bother rhinoceros beetles.”
Smirking confidently, the beetle suddenly widened his eyes as if remembering something urgent and grabbed Blaine’s wrist. Blaine stumbled, almost falling from the sudden pull, and was forced to run without understanding what was going on.
“W-wait, Gen, why all of a sudden—”
“Shh! Less talking, more running!”
The beetle spread his wings, taking to the sky while still gripping Blaine’s arm, forcing Blaine to spread his own wings so he wouldn’t fall.
“General, what’s happening?”
Only when they ascended high into the sky did the beetle sigh, as if finally feeling somewhat safe.
“What do you mean what—”
“What do you mean what?! We have to escape before that deranged psychopath spider wakes up!”
Blaine was struck speechless. And yet… wasn’t he right? Not even minutes ago Blaine had desperately tried to free himself. Why was he so shocked at the idea of running now? He couldn’t understand himself.
“Anyway, he’s finally shown his true colors. I’m sorry, Blaine. I should’ve warned you beforehand…”
“…True colors…?”
“I don’t know his reasons, but he was at least trying to look good in front of you. I never imagined he’d unleash such brutal violence on you! Predators are all like that, but that one’s especially vicious…! Ugh, horrible!”
“V-violen—”
No, General, you’re misunderstanding. He’s never beaten me senseless. He only tied me up tight and groped my chest and butt and shoved his cock into my hole and tormented me—that’s all. Actually, that’s not what I meant—
Of course he couldn’t explain any of that.
“B-but—oh! Right, the wasps! You said a swarm was spotted nearby! What if something dangerous happens?!”
Blaine grabbed onto the excuse like a drowning man, eyes sparkling with forced urgency, trying to mask his messy emotions. The beetle shot him a look full of pity and exasperation before shaking his head firmly.
“Blaine, listen. The world isn’t that kind. My life is hard enough without having to worry about my friend’s problems, so why waste concern on a vicious, psychopathic predator like him? Instead of that, flap your wings harder.”
“B-but still…”
Seeing Blaine’s hesitant, sluggish wingbeats, the beetle sighed heavily—then looked as though he’d made a grave decision.
“Blaine, I wasn’t going to say this because I thought it’d hurt your feelings…”
“…?”
