Khal’s fever had completely gone down by the next day as though he had never had one in the first place.

"Are you sure, you’re okay?" Devion asked, face filled with concern. "Why don’t you rest for now?"

Unexpectedly, Khal agreed with his suggestion.

Ayen and Devion were very surprised at that; Khal laughed, seeing their expression.

"What’s with the face?"

Ayen and Devion exchanged glances; the two did not expect Khal to agree at all. Khal’s lips curved seeing their gazes.

"Wait, let me check if you still have a fever." Devion was not convinced and touched Khal’s forehead.

Khal let him go with a soft smile, not making a fuss. In the first place. He was not the one to do that. Ayen watched him; for some reason, Khal seemed a little different.

Khal’s gaze landed on him, and their eyes met. The smile on Khal’s lips widened slightly. Ayen was a bit taken aback. He almost forgot to respond to the smile.

At that, Khal chuckled, seemingly amused.

"What’s with you?" Devion confused. He shifted his gaze to Ayen, who was also bewildered by Khal’s behavior.

Instead of answering, Khal only laughed lightly. He put his arm around Devion’s shoulder and also pulled Ayen closer around his waist.

"I just had an interesting dream."

"Dream?"

"What kind of dream?"

Khal’s lips hooked up, his grin becoming weird.

Devion frowned, and Ayen was no better. If they had not known any better, they would think Khal was still being delirious.

"It’s a very long dream." Khal smiled meaningfully. "Let’s eat first. I’ll tell you later. Sounds good? He shifted his gaze to both of them.

Ayen and Devion exchanged glances and eventually nodded.

No matter what, as long as Khal was now fine, then they could ignore his odd behavior. Probably still an effect of such a high fever.

They went into the kitchen. This time, both Ayen and Devion were cooking for Khal. He was sitting like a princess at the counter, watching the two with that meaningful smile of his.

At first, the two ignored it; Khal was only watching them anyway. However, Devion could not concentrate; Ayenb was the same.

Khal was grinning with a heated gaze, watching every action they made.

Devion sighed and put down his knife, looking at Khal.

"Can you stop that?" He pointed at the grin.

"What?" Khal pretended not to know, propping his chin in his clasped hands.

"That... that smile. You look like a pervert."

Khal only chuckled at that.

"Maybe, I am?"

Devion rolled his eyes and looked at Ayen.

"Do you think... his fever damaged his brain?"

That fever was no joke. Ayen also had a high fever before, but Khal’s was twice as high at that or even more.

Ayen’s backlash symptoms had stopped. He returned to his usual, but his expressions could be read easily. Obviously, he was agreeing with Devion.

Khal did not even care or look offended. Instead, his gaze turned more heated. Devion nearly had chills at that.

"You... can you stay in the living room?"

Khal was distracting him.

"I don’t want to."

Now, he was refusing.

In the end, Devion decided to stop looking at him; even if he could sense his gaze, he focused on what he was doing. Ayen was doing his best to do the same.

Once his gaze met Khal’s, there was like an odd but electrifying sensation that ran through his spine. It was not there before.

The way Khal looked at him... changed.

They still managed to cook their breakfast even after Khal distracted them the whole time.

Devion could not help but touch Khal’s head again.

"Are you sure... you’re feeling okay?" He had to ask him again.

"Really. I’m fine, Devion."

This time, Devion was finally convinced. Also, the smile was only distracting because... Devion could not stop looking at it. Devion wanted to bite those lips so bad.

At the dining table, they began eating and started their conversation.

Khal did not immediately tell them about his dream.

"Are you fine now, Ayen? About your symptoms."

Ayen looked at him and nodded. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I don’t feel tired. I’ll guide you later."

Of course, Devion had to be guided, too, even if he was not being cleansed; as long as he was connected to both, the backlash would not occur.

Khal stared at him and, seeing he was telling the truth, dropped the issue.

"Okay," he agreed.

The atmosphere was a bit strange, but not uncomfortable. Devion and Ayen were merely bewildered by Khal’s demeanor. There was not a slight cold emanating from him.

"So, what about your dream?" Devion eventually inquired, bringing them back to the topic.

"It’s a dream that wants to make me choose."

"Choose?" Ayen’s voice sounded, feeling familiar.

Khal’s gaze went to him.

"Yes. Choose. Between saving you or killing Devion."

Ayen and Devion fell silent. Khal knew that what he said might ruin the mood, but he did not hide it. There was no reason to do so.

"Do you want to know what I chose?"

Devion was nervous, and so was Ayen. Both for different reasons.

Still, they nodded. As Khal thought so, in this relationship, there was no need to hide this fact if they wanted this to work.

A relationship between two people was hard already; what was more, between three people? It was complicated, but simple at the same time.

Truly confusing.

"I killed Devion."

Khal’s expression did not change; his tone was stable. Unlike in a dream, where he cried silently as he strangled Devion, his expression was so soft.

Completely unlike what he just said.

Ayen and Devion remained silent, not interrupting.

"I didn’t save Ayen either. I let him die."

Khal put down his fork. "You wanna know why? Because they are not real."

This was the real one.

"You won’t make me choose. So I didn’t."

Simple but complicated, Khal let himself drown in the sea of blood. The guilt... went, but he woke up and listened to their conversation.

Khal’s expression seemed to be softer but also determined.

"Did I do the right thing?" His lips cracked into a smile that reached his eyes.

There was a sense of oddity in them. But Ayen’s and Devion’s hearts skipped a beat. Both nodded and slowly rose in their seats.

Khal laughed and let the two embrace him.