“You like me too, don’t you? You’re not going to leave me, right? You’ll stay by my side, won’t you?”
That cold, trembling voice slipped out through clenched teeth like a child clinging desperately for reassurance, and Blaine burst into more tears, letting out a weak laugh. After all that, he dares to ask me this? He wanted to yell at Hurel for being so shameless, but the real problem was… he just couldn’t get angry.
“I can’t help it… I don’t want my wings cut off.”
He muttered with a feeble smile, and the spider, who had momentarily paused, suddenly gripped the back of his head and kissed him hard. Blaine parted his lips obediently, and each time Hurel’s soft tongue swept over the roof of his mouth, he let out a moan deep in his throat. His vision blurred from the overwhelming pleasure.
It was absurd, really. Even if all of this was a lie, it didn’t matter anymore. No matter how skilled a liar he might be, no one could fake the kind of raw longing that filled Hurel’s eyes. When he said he liked him, that much had to be real. And stupidly enough… that was all Blaine needed.
“Haa… But still, from now on… don’t hide things from me.”
The bee pouted, lips damp and trembling, begging softly for the truth, and Hurel felt a dizzying wave of affection rise in his chest.
“How is this possible…?”
“Wh-what is?”
“You’re just… too beautiful.”
Seriously? He’s lying again? Blaine shot him a tearful glare.
“You really need to be locked up. What if someone else sees how delicious you look and tries to snatch you away?”
“That’s not gonna—”
Sure, maybe some predator might look at him and think he looks tasty, but it was pretty clear Hurel wasn’t talking about that kind of appetite. Still… all this talk about locking him up… he’s joking, right? Blaine tried to convince himself as cold sweat ran down his back. It’s a joke. Definitely just a joke…
…Right?
“I’m going to treat you better from now on. Bee-Bee, don’t go anywhere. Stay by my side.”
“Ah… jeez…”
Blaine fell for it again—sweet words whispered against his jaw by warm, plush lips, sharp against a finely chiseled face. Somewhere deep inside his brain, an instinct had been screaming that its master was dangerous, but even that voice had gone quiet now, having resigned itself. I did my part. Don’t blame me later.
“…I don’t really have anywhere else to go anyway.”
What tormented Blaine more than the despair of not being able to restore his stinger, more than the betrayal of Hurel keeping that fact from him, was something else entirely. Maybe he’d fixated on other reasons just to avoid facing that truth.
But it wasn’t something he could ever bring himself to say out loud. It felt too petty, too small-minded, too selfish.
“…? But… what’s with the apples?”
Blaine, who’d been lying half-upright from all of Hurel’s endless kisses, finally noticed something odd about the room. It was spotless—white, clean, with only one bed—but scattered all over the floor were smashed apples and bits of pulp.
There’s no way someone had thrown an apple party in a patient’s room—and even if, hypothetically, three visitors had dropped by to share a fruit snack, there were far too many remains for that to be the case. Juice had splattered across the walls, seeds and chunks littered the floor in all directions.
Noticing an empty basket on the nightstand—clearly once full of apples—Blaine came up with a likely explanation: Hurel, unable to contain his fury while Blaine was unconscious, had taken his anger out on the apples.
Seriously… his temper.
“You shouldn’t waste food like that.”
“You did it.”
……
“…Huh?”
“Don’t remember?”
Blaine stared dumbly, lips parted in confusion. I did? What trick was this spider pulling now? He glared up with narrowed eyes, but Hurel just sighed.
“A few hours ago, you suddenly woke up. I got excited, asked if you were okay… and you shoved me off and had a full-on breakdown. You threw all the apples, screamed like the world was ending…”
“…What?”
“You didn’t even recognize me. You howled so loud it shook the whole room, then collapsed again. I was terrified. I thought you were going to die for real this time.”
No way. Was that why Hurel had asked him if he remembered what happened when he first woke up?
“You kept yelling about how you had nowhere to go anymore, that you’d given everything up… and a bunch of other stuff, but most of it I couldn’t catch because you were sobbing so loud.”
And Blaine’s face turned redder than the apples. He… really said that? The one thing he’d sworn he’d never admit?
Back when Shane had coldly told him his stinger couldn’t be repaired—and worse, revealed Hurel had been hiding that from him all along—what had devastated Blaine more than anything was fear.
What if Hurel didn’t actually care about me? What if all those sweet words were just bait, just a trick to use me and throw me away?
I gave up everything. I can’t go back anymore. If Hurel’s not here… I don’t think I can keep going. What do I do now?
That miserable, pitiful thought… he’d actually blurted it all out loud. Without shame. Blaine wanted to crawl into a hole. Or better yet, turn to dust and vanish.
“…Liar…”
“You call that a lie after all the chaos you caused? Good thing I’m a spider—if I were a cockroach, you’d have killed me.”
Hurel’s voice was teasing, even playful, as he leaned in and gently cupped Blaine’s cheek, their eyes meeting tenderly. Seeing the bee’s bright red face, he carefully laid him back down and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.
“You’re exhausted, aren’t you? Rest some more.”
Thankfully, it seemed the spider wasn’t planning to dig any further into the subject. Blaine decided to leave it buried too. Now that he thought about it… he might’ve had a strange dream. Something frightening… or maybe something good?
It felt like that dream had meant something important—but Blaine brushed it off. If he couldn’t remember even a single detail, it probably wasn’t worth worrying about. And anyway, he was far too tired.
Hurel checked the bandages around his neck one more time and gently pushed a round, opaque pill—about the size of a thumb—into his mouth. Then, he kissed his lips, the tip of his nose, his eyelids, and lastly, his forehead before stepping toward the door.
“Are… are you going?”
“I have to ask Shane something. Want me to stay until you fall asleep?”
Blaine hesitated. Hurel smiled warmly and walked back to the bed, sitting down and laying a hand on Blaine’s forehead. The warmth made Blaine instinctively nuzzle into the touch like a needy puppy, making a soft, whimpering sound—and then startled himself.
Maybe it was because he looked so adorable and helpless, but Hurel didn’t tease him. He just kept one hand gently stroking Blaine’s cheek and used the other to pat his chest, lulling him like a child.
Still, Blaine didn’t look entirely satisfied. With a sulky expression, he suddenly grabbed Hurel’s pale wrist.
“What more do you need?”
“……”
Hurel had asked honestly, genuinely confused—but Blaine, misinterpreting it as more teasing, pouted in frustration. And considering everything Hurel had done so far, he couldn’t exactly claim to be innocent.
“…Hurel…”
Murmuring with a slight whine, Blaine tugged on Hurel’s sleeve like a child asking to be picked up. The spider bent forward obediently, bringing their faces closer. Blaine rolled his eyes side to side as if gathering courage—then abruptly grabbed Hurel’s hand.
And placed it over his groin.
“…?”
“This.”
It was the aftermath of Hurel’s earlier kisses. Blaine’s face flushed with heat at the sheer embarrassment of it, but he tried his best not to show it, keeping up a front of calm. Meanwhile, what sat beneath the blanket was something no one would believe belonged to a mere worker bee. Thick and proud, it had risen skyward, throbbing boldly in the air.
