By Zephyria 
“Is this all? It’s not much?”
Grayson asked, glancing at the few items Dane was holding. Dane replied indifferently, “What?”
“Most of it is here anyway…”
“Right!”
Dane was about to say more when Grayson abruptly cut him off. To Dane, who had stopped in surprise, he continued excitedly,
“Look, Dane. I replaced the bed and all the furniture with new ones!”
“What?”
Upon checking belatedly, it was true. Was that the reason for the unfamiliarity he felt earlier? To Dane, who felt bewildered, Grayson continued,
“This is the window remote, this is the TV remote, this is the curtain remote, this is the speaker remote…”
Grayson, who kept presenting items in the room one by one, suddenly tiptoed over to Dane’s bed.
“Ta-da!”
He excitedly held up pajamas. As Dane stared in bewilderment at the soft silk gleaming, Grayson continued,
“I bought a few gifts to celebrate you living at my place. Of course, they’re all pairs.”
“…Pairs.”
Dane repeated his words a beat late, and Grayson nodded enthusiastically.
“I bought them in the same design for both of us. These are for sleeping. These are also pairs, and these slippers are pairs too. And…”
Grayson, who kept pulling out various items, went towards the living room and held up something from the table.
“Mug cups!”
For a moment, Dane’s entire body froze. Unaware of his reaction, with cold sweat breaking out on his back, Grayson excitedly returned to Dane, holding a cup in each hand.
“Look, I had our names put on them. Yours is Grayson, and mine is Dane. If we switch and drink from each other’s cups, it’ll feel like a French kiss, right? I love it! Spit in here when you drink coffee. Then it’ll really be a kiss. What do you think? Good idea, right? Amazing, isn’t it? Huh?”
Grayson kept asking him, but Dane couldn’t think of anything to say. The cups Grayson held were incomparable to anything he owned at first glance. The black-glazed ceramic had gold lettering for the names, and even to Dane, who didn’t know much about fonts or materials, it was obvious they were incredibly expensive. Of course, considering the store Grayson frequented, it was an expected outcome. Still, Dane couldn’t help but ask.
“…How much are these?”
“Huh? Well, how much are they?”
Naturally, Grayson didn’t know. Of course, he wouldn’t ask about the price when buying things. Because of that, Dane rephrased his question.
“Where did you buy them?”
The answer was a famous luxury brand that even Dane had heard of. Dane was speechless, and Grayson continued cluelessly,
“Tell me if there’s anything you want. Oh, should we go together next time? We have a lot to buy if we’re going on a cruise trip. Right! Let’s buy swimsuits for the cruise as a pair too. Everyone will know we’re a couple, right? That’s great! That’s it!”
Grayson chattered on excitedly, making his own plans. Dane vaguely responded with “Yeah,” “Uh-huh,” and other perfunctory replies while subtly hiding the paper bag with the mug cups behind his back.
Damn it, I knew this would happen.
That night, Dane, who had finally found himself alone, quickly searched for the cups Grayson bought on his mobile phone and then buried his head in his hands. The price listed on the website was a staggering 12,300 dollars. He almost swore out loud. At least engraving the names was free, but it offered no comfort at all. For that price, they should have done it for free. Dane clenched his fist, grinding his teeth. On the table, the cup still sat proudly, radiating its brilliance. Compared to it, his own 27-dollar mug cup looked so, so pathetic.
Damn it, I should have bought that 52-dollar one earlier.
Dane regretted it, but it was too late. Buying that mug cup now wouldn’t change the situation. He needed something else. Not a mug cup, but something more expensive.
“Ugh.”
He couldn’t help but groan, clutching his head. Regret washed over him.
I shouldn’t have suggested we live together.
If Grayson knew he was thinking this way just because of a gift, he would probably throw the expensive mug cup to the floor and shatter it into pieces. After all, Grayson had made an effort in his own way because he was happy and wanted to celebrate. Dane didn’t want to disappoint Grayson.
“Haa.”
He let out a deep sigh and changed his mind. This was precisely the time he needed his friends’ help. And the person he would ask for advice was obvious.
“Dane, welcome!”
“How have you been? You look healthy, thank goodness.”
“What’s going on? Did you just stop by on your way? It’s good to see you! Come in and sit down.”
“What do you want to drink? Shall I get you something?”
As soon as Dane appeared at the fire station, his former colleagues greeted him with delight. They bustled around, offering drinks and snacks, and seeing them, Dane finally felt at ease. He downed half of the cold carbonated drink in the can in one go, let out a sigh of relief, “Haa,” and only then did he regain his usual composure.
“I just thought of you and stopped by. It looks like you’re all doing well.”
At Dane’s words, they started laughing and chatting from all sides.
“Of course, we’re doing well. We’re relieved to see you’re doing well too.”
“You seemed quite injured when you went to the hospital last time, but are you all better now? Are you fully recovered?”
“We were all surprised when you suddenly quit. Are you never coming back? What are you doing now?”
Dane vaguely brushed off the expected questions with, “What?”
“I’m using the money I saved and thinking slowly. I think I need to rest for a while anyway.”
“Yeah, that’s true. You were always excessively diligent.”
As one of them nodded, the others chimed in agreement.
“You don’t have any family to support, so you can do that. It would be good to go on a trip this time.”
“Take your time thinking about what to do next, there’s no rush.”
Dane replied briefly with “Thanks” to his old colleagues who patted him on the shoulder in encouragement. Seeing him, DeAndre tilted his head in confusion.
“You’ve changed a bit.”
“Me? How?”
As Dane asked, the others also turned their gaze to DeAndre. He scratched his head, flustered by the sudden attention.
“Well, it’s hard to pinpoint… should I say you’ve become softer? Or more relaxed…?”
He babbled incoherently, unable to give a proper explanation, but the others who heard him seemed to understand. Exchanging glances, they began to speak one by one.
“That’s right, I felt it too. You were always relaxed, but it’s somehow different.”
“You’ve become gentler.”
“Yeah, you used to be a bit sharp sometimes, but that’s gone.”
“Did you realize something after almost dying a few times? Or did you go somewhere beyond that river?”
One of them asked jokingly. Immediately, others joined in with laughter.
“They say you can’t come back once you cross that river. And actually, they say you see some kind of light.”
“Yeah, I read in a book that light envelops the body. They say people who survived were bounced back from there.”
“What happened? Did you see it too? Really?”
The jokes turned into curiosity. Dane let out a wry smile seeing his old colleagues spewing the same nonsensical talk as before.