Ye Mu is sitting in the living room warmed by the fireplace with a cup of warm, unknown liquid in hands. The white liquid has the texture of milk, but the taste of coffee; it revigorates his tired and cold body after the endless journey without rest. He tries to ignore as best as he can the piercing stare of his alleged wife brimming with tears. The silence doesn't bother him at all, however, he still tries to remain polite.
"The coffee is pretty good."
He is answered with weird looks from his claimed family members. His brother looks at him deeply, clearly trying to gauge him out, while his mother wears a lost expression, searching her brain to understand his words.
"What is coffee?"
His father, recovered from the suddenness of seeing his son alive again, earnestly asks him full of honesty and purity.
Ye Mu isn't sure what he should say. The face of his so-called father makes him a bit uncomfortable and the gauging expression of his "brother" creeps him out.
"I don't know."
At that, even his brother looks at him like he's crazy. He feels slightly embarrassed but chooses to ignore it. He takes another sip to hide his face behind the mug for a second of composure.
"Where have you been all those years?"
He looks at the woman sitting next to him. She has black hair and black eyes, her skin is pale and smooth. She clenches a handkerchief while staring at him anxiously. Her hair is tied with a white hair stick covered in black swirling ink. He looks at this beautiful woman and is lost in thought for a moment. The girl misunderstands and starts to grow excited, but he closes his eyes and faces down.
"I woke up in a pile of dead bodies in the middle of a jungle. I don't remember anything."
He tells the half-lie so smoothly and naturally that the others sitting around cannot help but believe him. The only one still feeling suspicious is the older brother. He always feels that there is something wrong with his younger brother. Ever since he saw him again for the first time, it feels like a different person.
There isn't much left to say; the family gathers around him and excitingly recounts things from the past. The women eventually leave for the kitchen, and they all end up around a large table crowded with delicious food. The Ye house stays alight and doesn't stop the joyous clamouring until midnight. The entire time, Erutan tested him to try and get something out of him. But neither of them are quite sure what it is he was looking for. He is shown to his room and left to rest.
Before Eurielle leaves, she takes one last look at her husband. She feels conflicted inside; she can now throw away all the grey clothes she had to wear as a widow; she can now move back into their old house again; she can now start hoping for a family, children, grandchildren.
But why...
Ye Mu silently nods at Eurielle before she leaves, trying not to mind the expectant look she gives him. The room looks used and untouched. It is still clean after staying empty for several years. Ye Mu doesn't care to explore it and opens a wooden door carved in runic language that reads: shower.
He goes inside and sees an enormous bathtub made entirely of red marble. He stops in his tracks for a moment and takes in the immensity of the room. It seems to have multiple doors adjoining other rooms. The crystal chandelier hanging off the high ceiling sheds a warm light tone on the place. He approaches the bath and tries to find how to run water.
He looks everywhere but cannot find a single button, handle or anything of the sort. Could it be that he has to go outside to get water from the pond? He looks out the window and sees the dark empty village stuck in an eternal winter. He doesn't expect any unfrozen water outside. How do people shower here? With such a big bathtub, they probably have access to running water somehow. He looks at the opposite door leading to another room and wonders if it would be appropriate to bother someone for help. No one should be asleep yet.
However, as soon as that thought fleets into his head, he remembers the weirded-out faces of the family members at the mention of coffee. He opts out of it and tries again to look for something that may trigger a flow of water.
After a while of pointless looking, he realizes that this is a waste of time and turns around to leave. It's not like he minds sleeping dirty, he just didn't want to dirty the bedsheets and give unnecessary trouble to the people of this house.
Abruptly, a weird feeling creeps inside of him. He brings his hand to his chest where his heart is pounding wildly. He realizes that the lines of his hands are shining light blue. He brings them closer for inspection and finds that he feels very comforted by it. The wonderful feeling makes him yearn for more as he lets himself fall deeply into the trance-like state.
He suddenly sees a snow-white thing fly before his eyes. The thing strangely stays stuck near his forehead and flies across his eyes. Annoyed, he tries to grab it but ends up pulling his hair and hurting his scalp. Only then does he realize that his hair has turned completely white.
"You want water."
An androgynous voice makes itself heard inside his head and takes him by surprise.
"What?"
The sound of water interrupts him as he turns back around and sees the tub now filled to the brim with smoking, clear water.
Behind the bath stands his brother. His arms are crossed and his expression isn't so good. Scrutinizing him as one would a suspicious object.
"Who are you?"