The river cutting through the woods was calm. And although from time to time leaves swayed in a breeze of wind and the sound of birds and insects could be heard, the boy and the young man standing by the riverside were silent.

The boy had the appearance of an ordinary human, but the young man did not. Four horns emerged from the mess of his wavy gray-brown hair, and both his arms were sharp, like weapons, making even approaching him seem dangerous. Those arms held a small box. At the bottom of this empty box there still remained a tiny bit of something that seemed like bone ash, but soon it was swept away by the wind. The young man stared absent-mindedly into the box, then lay it on the ground. He looked at the boy standing by his side.

With his dark brown, almost-black hair, and his slightly droopy eyes gazing straight ahead, he had an appearance similar to that of the young man. Since the boy was one head shorter, judging by appearances one would assume him to be the young man's little brother.

"Where will you go now?"

The young man opened his mouth first. He spoke in a respectful tone to the boy who looked younger than himself.

"I'll go back. To where I was before."

The boy knelt on the riverbank and reached forward. The water, less cold where the sunlight touched it, curled and twisted around his fingers. Vacantly gazing at the river, the boy scooped up some water and lifted it to his mouth with an unreadable smile on his lips. His expression seemed to harden for a moment at the smell of moss and water plants, but he drank the water without any hesitation and sloppily wiped some spilled water with his sleeve.

"With this, it's done."

The young man tried to say something, but the boy silenced him with a wave of his hand. Stretching his arms, the boy turned away from the man. Starting with saying 'I don't care anymore,' he went on and on about the scenery being nice, the sky being clear, the water tasting good, and other trivial matters.

Gazing at the boy's back, the young man reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. After a moment of hesitation, he offered the handkerchief over the boy's shoulder. The boy stopped his meaningless rambling.

"If you're going back, feel free to think of this as the last time and cry."

At the young man's words, the boy bit his lip and lowered his head. Since it didn't seem like he would take the handkerchief, the young man stepped closer.

This close, he saw the boy was lightly shaking. Even though he couldn't see his expression since his head was lowered, the young man knew that the boy was just barely stopping himself from bursting into tears. If it's so painful, it would be better to take the earrings off. In an impulse of worry, the young man reached for the boy's ear, but he slapped the man's hand away and took a step back.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I just..."

The young man's voice was shaking. Through the blur of his teary eyes, the boy noticed the terror written all over the young man's face.

"You're scared despite being in a state of dampened emotions. It seems I was a bit harsh on you."

The boy lowered his head again, wiping his falling tears with his sleeve.

"But I won't apogize for that. I still hate you. If not for you, she could have lived much longer."

"...."

There was nothing but silence for a while. Realizing that the words he said could be very hurtful, the boy glanced up at the man's face, but his expression had not changed. Although he was stiff with fear, he didn't seem particularly hurt by what he had said. Dampened emotions were very convenient. The boy turned his head toward the river with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Well, I know that to you, your actions were meant to show that you were caring for me. If I took these earrings off, I could alleviate my suffering. But..."

The boy paused for a moment. A gust of wind rustled by, scattering leaves between them.

"All these emotions I can feel with the earrings will remain as nothing but a memory to me."

The young man could not say anything to refute his words, so he kept silent and lowered his gaze. And then, the boy slowly turned his head to look at him.

"Kasak. Even if there is only pain, I want to continue feeling this a little longer... feeling your mother with all my heart."

Even though the boy's voice was trembling, he was smiling. At least on the outside, he was.

To be continued.