Blaine was on the verge of tears, wracked with confusion over what the hell was happening to him every night. Just having his butt—or between his cheeks—touched a little had his whole body flaring with heat. Especially… there—the part between his ass and the thing on his chest—both were hot and tingly in the most unbearable way. His breathing would grow ragged. What was happening to him? Was he sick?
“…Damn.”
On the other hand, Hurel didn’t look any less troubled. He was biting his lips hard, face twisted in discomfort and hesitation. Finally, he let out a long sigh, shaking his head slightly. As if to say—it wasn’t the right time yet.
“Come on, get up and eat. I made cricket stew tonight.”
Since Blaine was no longer allowed to hunt, their meals had alternated between mosquitoes and crickets. That was likely the limit of what a butterfly like Hurel could gather. You’d think he’d be sick of it by now, but for some reason, Blaine never grew tired of the meals. Probably because Hurel’s cooking was that good. Honestly, it was so delicious that Blaine tended to overeat. He liked it even more than the delicacies he used to crave—grilled centipede or mantis…
Centipedes. Mantis.
Now that he thought about it… this meat in the stew—it didn’t quite taste like cricket. It was something else… Something…
“…Something’s off.”
“What’s wrong, Bee-Bee? You don’t like it?”
That sweet, worried voice snapped Blaine out of his spiraling thoughts. Hurel wore an adorably pitiful face, his eyebrows drooping with concern.
Blaine quickly turned his gaze away, brushing off the nagging sense of unease.
“No, it’s so good. Can I have another bowl?”
“Of course! Eat as much as you like. There’s plenty.”
The butterfly’s face bloomed with a bright, sunny smile, holding up Blaine’s empty bowl with both hands. That smile was like fresh dew on a blade of grass—so vivid and beautiful, it was almost flower-like. Even Blaine, his mind tangled and troubled, couldn’t help smiling back.
And just like that, he ignored the last little knot of unease that had been quietly tugging at his chest all along.
***
It had already been several months since Hurel started living with him. At this point, Blaine practically thought of him as family.
But that was only how Blaine felt. The truth was—he didn’t know a thing about the butterfly who had somehow ended up living in his home.
Where Hurel had lived before, how he ended up in Blaine’s territory, whether he had any relatives, what his childhood was like, where he went to school—nothing.
Blaine had grown so accustomed to the butterfly’s gentle tone when asking about his day, those soft hands, and the delicious food, that he never thought to dig deeper into their relationship. It wasn’t until Panthiana brought it up that he even realized something might be wrong.
“Blaine, what does your housemate like?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, he helps with the chores, right? You’re my childhood friend, so I should meet the guy at least once and thank him properly.”
Well, it wasn’t just helping with chores—Hurel handled pretty much everything in the household. Not just chores either; the butterfly managed both inside and outside the house. Come to think of it, wasn’t he the one freeloading here instead?
“He’s a butterfly, right? Can’t cook meat, so maybe I should bake a cake or pie to bring over?”
“……”
“You don’t know what fruits or food he likes?”
Panthiana narrowed her eyes, clearly unimpressed. Blaine, unable to say a word in his defense, was left stammering under her sharp gaze before dragging himself home, feeling utterly ashamed.
“Bee-Bee, you’re home late.”
“I met up with Pansy.”
Blaine blurted it out quickly, hoping to avoid getting scolded for staying out too long. Usually, Hurel went a little easier on him when he mentioned Panthiana—relatively easier.
“You’re hungry, right? You should be home in time for dinner.”
“Oh, is it that late already…”
“The food’s getting cold. Come on.”
Still smiling, the butterfly gently tugged Blaine by the wrist.
During the meal, Blaine studied Hurel closely. He was trying to figure out what kind of food Hurel liked, or how he reacted to eating something delicious.
But nothing stood out.
The butterfly, always sweet and smiling, had a surprisingly unreadable face. He was a lot harder to read than Blaine had expected.
And so, as always, Blaine overate again despite vowing not to. Rubbing his full belly, he glanced over at Hurel, who was busy cleaning up. Blaine really wanted to help—he felt bad just sitting there—but Hurel always refused, and firmly too.
Today, with Panthiana’s words lingering in the back of his mind, Blaine felt especially guilty.
“Hurel, put that down for a sec… I need to talk to you.”
At Blaine’s serious tone, Hurel tilted his head, curious.
After a moment of fumbling, Blaine finally managed to speak.
“It’s just… I realized I don’t actually know anything about you. I want to learn more, Hurel.”
Hurel blinked, round eyes widening as if he’d just heard something completely unexpected. For a few seconds, his silvery irises shifted slowly, like little orbs, as if searching for the deeper meaning behind Blaine’s words.
“What kind of food do you like? What don’t you like? Where’s your hometown? Who are your closest friends? What about your family?”
Blaine rattled off the questions, barely pausing for breath—then froze. Hurel looked startled.
Shit. Did I go too far? Maybe that was way too personal. Everyone has things they don’t want to talk about, right? Blaine, as usual, cursed his own insensitivity.
“S-sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay—really.”
“…I didn’t know Bee-Bee cared this much about me.”
“Gasp!”
Still wide-eyed, Hurel didn’t even flinch—just let the tears roll down his cheeks. Big, shining droplets fell silently, gliding down his face like glass beads.
Blaine could swear he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.
“I thought… it was enough just to stay by your side and be of even the smallest help to you. I never imagined Bee-Bee would actually ask about me…”
“I’m sorry, Hurel—don’t cry…!”
God, why did it matter so much? If Blaine had known this would make him so emotional, he’d have asked way earlier! Blaine berated himself mercilessly for being so clueless.
Seeing those tears fall from those silvery eyes stabbed straight into his heart like tiny shards of glass.
That precious little thing—crying like that—made Blaine’s chest ache.
“I thought… Bee-Bee found me annoying.”
“Why the hell would I think that?!”
“Well, you never really showed interest. You barely talk to me…”
“That was my fault! I was the asshole! I’ll never do that again—I’m so sorry. Please, don’t cry anymore!”
If he could, Blaine would’ve loved to beat up whatever bastard hurt that sweet little creature.
Too bad that bastard… was him.
Wearing a miserable expression, the spider pulled the butterfly into a warm hug.
Soothing him gently, he didn’t even notice when Hurel, still sniffling, began rubbing his cheek against Blaine’s warm neck—nor when a sneaky hand began fondling his thick chest.
He just held him quietly in his big, broad arms.
From that day on, Blaine started bombarding Hurel with question after question about every little thing.
It wasn’t hard. Since Hurel had basically banned him from going outside 90% of the time, Blaine had nothing else to do.
The real problem was—he was starting to run out of material.
Still, neither of them would tolerate lazy, half-hearted questions.
Today, as he lazed on the bed, popping one of Hurel’s lovingly made finger foods into his mouth, a random memory from primary school suddenly popped into Blaine’s head.
“Come to think of it, Hurel—”
“Yes? Do you need something?”
