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Quietly he cleaned the dead rose petals from the table top, dusting them into the dustbin. The red flowers had all withered to wrinkled brown but their scent still hung in the air. Emptying the vase, Die replaced the dead flowers with a bouquet of fresh yellow orchids. Smiling at the bright effect it had on the room, the redhead sat down beside the bed and began peeling an orange.

On the bed was his fiancée. His fiancée who had spent the past two years in this bedroom. His fiancée who he was betrothed to by fate. Shinya stared in the space in front of him, seeing the invisible feathers that fluttered around him. It seemed as if he saw nothing else as he sat there, still, as Die carefully put the peeled orange on a saucer.

" Nn, no," Shinya uttered softly, as if in fear as he cringed away from the plate Die placed by the bed for him.

" It’s an orange, Shinya," Die explained even though his heart broke at the sight of Shinya’s terrified face.

Shinya had been like this ever since he was eight when he was trapped in a blazing mansion. Surrounded by fire, he had screamed and screamed till he fainted. By some miracle, he survived with only a small burn on his back. But he had been like this ever since that incident. And Die’s red hair sometimes reminded him of the fiery flames that had threatened to engulf him ten years ago.

Small tears appeared from the corners of Shinya’s eyes as Die brought a piece of the fruit closer to him. "No…please…" he whimpered.

Die was determined to have him eat it… If his bride-to-be would never be able to walk beside him, at least he could eat an orange without dying. Sometimes Die despised his parents, for choosing a wife like this for him. Not only he wasn’t a woman, Shinya was crazy. So many woman would have died to be Die’s bride but fate had left him with this man. Was it really fate?

But sometimes as Die sat quietly beside Shinya, gazing upon the beautiful face, the delicate features and long graceful limbs, Die thought maybe he was the lucky one. Sometimes he would caress Shinya’s face in his sleep and kiss the smooth skin of his cheeks, sometimes he would hold the petite hands in his and wished Shinya would recover…

One of Die’s knees were on the bed as he tried to feed Shinya the orange. But the moment it touched his lips, the young man’s arms shot out, flailing about and hitting him, and he screamed. His screams brought some maids running to his bedroom but Die yelled at them to get lost. His patience ran thin as he force fed Shinya the orange.

Hot tears streamed down Shinya’s face as he swallowed the fruit. He hit Die’s face, his chest, his stomach, screaming hysterically as the older man lifted him off the bed.

" Help!!! Help! Please let me go!!!" Shinya cried as Die carried him past the long corridors, the carpeted flights of stairs, across the marble halls, and into the balcony.

Shinya shut his eyes as the bright sun burned his eyes. He shied away by hiding his face against Die’s neck, slightly aware of the woody smell of his skin. The sun hurt his eyes; it reminded him of the fire raging around him.

"Stop! What are you doing, Die?!" A woman came after him in the balcony; the woman whose crying son he was carrying in his arms.

"I am showing him the garden!" Die seethed through his teeth.

" No, Shinya hates it outside! You must bring him in now!" she said in dismay.

" No," Die replied stubbornly as he collected Shinya up in his arms and ran into the garden with flowing flowers in bloom and trimmed bushes, chiselled fountains and sculptures and into the shady protection of a tall tree.

There, he placed the trembling Shinya down on the grass. Shinya clawed at him when he realized Die had put him down. He covered his face from the sun and shrunk against the rough bark of the old tree. He sobbed, thinking that once again, he was abandoned, left alone to die. He shut his eyes tight and curled himself into a ball.

Die stood up, staring at the miserable figure. A feeling of sadness loomed inside him as his heart slowly thawed at the sight of Shinya. Slowly, he bent down and hugged the man in a warm embrace. He rested a cheek against his back, rocking forward and backwards gently. Shinya smelt nice; he smelt like the innocent bloom of roses, he smelt sweet and pure, Die found himself thinking as he tightened his arms.

Shinya was still sobbing but his tears slowly subsided as he began to feel safe. But he still covered his face.

" Shinya, please don’t be scared…don’t be…" Closing his eyes, Die kissed the back of Shinya’s neck.

" Scared…" Shinya whimpered.

Die covered Shinya’s hands with his palms and slowly peeled them off his face despite his reluctance. "Let me see your face, Shinya," he whispered. Die managed to pry his hands away but he couldn’t open those tightly shut eyes which refused to open up to see the wonderful spring around him.

" Open your eyes."

Shinya shook his head violently. "Scared!" he cried out.

Die smiled softly as he held one of Shinya’s hands and gently grazed their lips together. He could feel the younger man tense up but he squeezed his hand in reassurance as he pressed his lips down upon Shinya’s soft pliant ones. "Open your eyes, Shinya…" He stroked the sides of his face.

Hesitantly, Shinya’s eyelids fluttered open for a second then closed again. As Die kissed those eyelids, they opened and squinted when Die removed his face so that Shinya could see the bright blue sky and the blooming garden. There were no more feathers flying around him but Shinya could not help feeling scared. He reached for Die and hid in the shadow of his chest.

Die laughed at his actions. "It’s beautiful," he said as he held Shinya’s face. "But you can be more beautiful if you look at the beauty around you more often."

Shinya’s eyes took a while to adjust to the light. True, it was beautiful. But he could never believe in himself being beautiful.

"Come on, let’s take a walk," Die got up and offered a hand to Shinya. His fiancée held onto it tightly as he walked behind him.

It was a long time since Die had felt this refreshed so he hummed a soft tune while strolling about the huge garden. Shinya was quiet the whole while. But before they went back into his room, he suddenly surprised the redhead.

" Die?"

Die turned around. Shinya had called his name!!! Die thought Shinya didn’t even realise his existence before but he had called his name now!

" Don’t leave me alone…" he said softly.

Die had smiled and nodded. So that night, he sat by Shinya’s bed, watching him sleep peacefully. But there was a difference that night; Shinya was smiling in his sleep.