Syri remained silent as the true blood led him through the palace and onto a secluded breezeway. The night wind rippled through the zeta's pink hair as the true blood came to a stop and released his hold around Syri's wrist. A moment passed where Jae stood with his back to the zeta in silence. The prince lowered his head and closed his eyes as he asked, "Have you been in the palace all this time?"
Syri kept his gaze to the floor and answered, "Ae." The zeta's answer extracted a quick breath from the prince as Jae turned to face him. "Let me guess: the stables?" The zeta nodded in confirmation of the prince's assumption. "So, I wasn't imagining it." The prince pursed his lips together and ran his fingers through this dark hair as he turned back around. "You've been here the whole time."
"Ae," Syri confirmed, his eyes still on the wooden planks beneath his feet.
"Why? Why did you hide from me?" Jae turned to face the zeta once again only to be answered by silence. "Do...do I scare you?" Sadness entered the prince's voice, and he gazed at the zeta through a broken expression.
"No...no, you do not scare me, Prince." Syri was as reasonable and indifferent as he could be when he answered. He could not afford to let his heart be shaken more than it was, and he also did not want to lead the prince on when he knew they could never have a future together.
"Then...do I repulse you?"
"No!" Syri was more adamant with his response than he intended, and it took all his might to keep his head turned to the floor. The zeta calmed his emotions before adding, "No, you do not repulse me, Prince."
"Then, why won't you look at me?" The sadness in Jae's voice broke the zeta, and he fought the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. He hated being so distant toward the prince, but he had no other choice. He would rather cut Jae off then and there than give the prince a hope that could never blossom and would forever remain but a bud frozen in time.
The nearing of the prince preluded a thumb beneath the zeta's chin that turned Syri's face up toward the true blood's. The zeta was prepared to flick his eyes back to the floor when Jae's plea shook his heart. "Don't look away from me, Syri, please."
The zeta's lips parted slightly as he gazed into those dark eyes; he could not bring himself to look away. They held so many emotions: happiness at seeing the zeta again, confusion at the zeta's strange behavior, and sadness at the zeta's intentional distance. "Prince..."
The realization that the zeta had not once called him by his name struck Jae, and he fought the tears that formed in his dark eyes. The true blood's tone was solemn when he spoke. "Why haven't you called me by my name?" Silence filled the air as Syri processed the prince's question. The zeta was content with remaining silent, but Jae needed to know, so he continued, "Is my name nothing to you, now? Is my status as prince all that matters?"
Syri remained silent in response to the true blood's words. It was true that Syri had intentionally been addressing Jae formally and had refrained from using the prince's name. He hoped it would allow him to distance himself from the true blood and did not realize just how much it hurt Jae. The zeta's heart ached, and he could not help but gaze into the prince's emotion-filled eyes deeply.
Oh, how he longed to call Jae by his name and throw away all his attempts at restraint. The zeta longed for nothing more than to fall into the prince's embrace and be enshrouded by his strong, comforting presence. So, he kept silent for fear of his resolve breaking.
Jae saw the conflicted emotions swirling in the zeta's warm eyes and took that chance to try once more, "Call me by my name, Syri. Say my name." The prince was now a breath away from the pink-haired, his eyes frantically searching for the answer he had been longing for, and his voice was deep and low and held his inner-most desires, making his wish evident to the conflicted zeta.
Syri's heart ached at the prince's request, but he could not bring himself to let go of his resolve just yet. "I-I can't."
"Why? Why can't you say my name?" The prince was earnest in his inquiry, and his eyes searched the zeta's for the smallest hint of change in the determination to remain distant.
The zeta fell silent, and he fought to control his aching heart. "If I do...all the struggles I have gone through to get you out of my mind would immediately disappear." The raw truth of the zeta's fear finally surfaced, much to the prince's relief.
Following the zeta's answer, Jae was confident in his next inquiry, and he took a step forward to be virtually skin to skin with the male before him. "And have you succeeded? Had you removed me from your mind?"
The zeta's breath hitched as he gazed up into those dark eyes. Syri never took his eyes from the prince as he contemplated his response. Would he give into his desires and answer truthfully, or would he fight to keep his hard work? Would he allow his heart to take the lead, or would he resign himself to live out his life alone.
No matter how clear the realization that there would be consequences for loving the prince of Crimson Night was seared into Syri's mind, the tiniest hope that Syri could be with Jae filled the zeta's heart. And a spark that had been blown out when Syri made the decision to leave Jae's side was rekindled. This fervent hope led the zeta into falling deeper and deeper into the true blood's gaze, and Syri found himself answering, "No." The single word spurred a landslide of emotions in both the true blood and zeta's hearts.
Syri remained silent as he awaited the true blood's response. He had just revealed that he failed to remove the prince from his heart and mind and had made himself vulnerable to the true blood's next move.
Jae's gaze intensified, and he leaned down to be a hair's distance from the zeta. Jae locked eyes with Syri as he voiced lowly, "Then say my name."
The zeta's eyes glistened as he stared up at the prince. He was captivated by the true blood's ardent gaze, and he could resist the man standing before him no longer. The zeta did not break eye contact with the prince as he breathed, "Jae." As soon as the prince's name left Syri's mouth, Jae's lips crashed against the zeta's.
The true blood's hands held the zeta's hips captive as he trapped the pink-haired in a passionate kiss. The intensity of the prince's kiss extracted a moan from the zeta as Jae opened Syri's lips and claimed the zeta's mouth with his tongue. Syri's hands clenched onto the true blood's shirt when Jae pulled the zeta into his body before moving his hand up to caress the back of the zeta's neck.
The zeta's breath had been spent voicing the true blood's name, so his lungs screamed for air, but he did not want to pull away. Jae's lips on his felt so natural and yet so intoxicating; it was as if he was finally able to grow warm after standing beside a raging fire for years and years on end. The prince's touch spread through the zeta like a wildfire, and Syri found himself craving more. He had given in to his heart and was ready to follow it until the end of his days, so he allowed Jae to claim him with this kiss. He was Jae's, and Jae was his.