Yuki's steps felt as if they were no longer his own.
The stranger's words had planted a restlessness in his soul that he couldn't resist.
He moved toward Lane with slow, heavy steps.
Lane sat there still, his large eyes fixed on Yuki, that same sweet smile lingering on his lips.
"Bhaiya?" Lane called out innocently, seemingly unaware of the turmoil in Yuki's mind.
Yuki knelt beside him, his heart hammering against his ribs.
Keeping his voice as calm as possible, he asked, "Lane... can I touch your face?"
Lane's smile deepened.
He tilted his head slightly and said easily, "Yes, Bhaiya, you can."
With trembling hands, Yuki touched Lane's cheeks.
Lane remained still.
Then, Yuki's fingers traced his forehead and the corners of his lips, but Lane offered no resistance.
He sat there with his eyes closed, like an obedient child.
But as Yuki's fingers moved toward the outer corners of Lane's eyes, the atmosphere shifted.
Yuki narrowed his eyes to look closer—there was indeed something there.
Very fine, faint, and blurry... patterns like tiny stars.
They were so subtle that seeing them without being incredibly close was impossible.
The moment Yuki pressed his finger there to get a better look, Lane's entire body went rigid as stone.
In the blink of an eye, Lane jerked Yuki's hand away and scrambled backward.
That innocent smile had vanished.
There was a strange, terrifying glint in his eyes.
"Please... don't touch that spot. I don't like it," Lane's voice was no longer soft.
It carried a harshness that chilled Yuki to the bone.
Lane gave him a firm shove, distancing himself as if guarding his deepest secret.
Lane was panting as he backed away, a strange tremor in his voice.
"It... it hurts when you touch me there, Yuki Bhaiya," he whispered, but his eyes now held a warning instead of innocence.
Yuki felt as if some obsession had taken over him.
The stranger's words were hammering in his mind.
"I won't do anything, Lane," Yuki said, almost in a trance, as he stepped forward again.
"I just want to see. It won't hurt, I promise."
Lane's retreating steps stopped, but his body went as rigid as a taut bow.
"I don't like it... anyone touching my eyes, I don't like it at all," he said again, his voice deeper and heavier this time.
But Yuki ignored the warning.
He reached out quickly and pressed his fingers firmly against the corners of Lane's eyes.
The next moment, the air in the cell seemed to freeze.
The soft blue of Lane's eyes vanished.
His pupils expanded until they filled the entire eye, turning them completely black—like an absolute, dense, and terrifying abyss.
It was a darkness so deep it seemed to swallow the light, a sight that could make one's soul tremble.
"I told you..." Lane's voice was no longer a child's.
It was echoing and horrific.
"I don't like it."
Yuki's hand froze like stone.
The stranger's words began to scream in his ears—'Warning bell', 'Most terrifying energy', 'Not an ordinary child'.
Yuki couldn't find his voice.
In a trembling whisper, he could only ask, "Lane... who... who are you?"
Yuki felt as if he weren't looking at an innocent child, but at the very darkness itself that the boy had warned him about.
Hearing Yuki's trembling voice, Lane tilted his head slightly.
Those dense black eyes seemed to pierce through Yuki's very soul.
Lane's voice was now as frozen as ice.
"What is it you want to know from me, Yuki?" Lane asked in a flat, chilling tone.
Yuki gathered his courage and repeated himself, "Who... who are you, really?"
No expression crossed Lane's face.
"I have no interest in answering your questions," he said in a low, heavy voice.
"The fact that I haven't harmed you yet doesn't mean I can't."
Just as he said that, the hardness on Lane's face suddenly melted away.
The old sweetness and innocence returned to his voice as if by magic.
He looked like a lovely child again and said with great affection, "Because I like you, Yuki Bhaiya!"
The words were honey-sweet, but to Yuki, it felt as though a honey-dipped sword had been pressed against his throat.
Yuki's entire body began to shake.
He stuttered, "Are you... a spirit? Or a ghost, inside this child's body?"
Lane laughed softly at this.
He placed his small palm over his mouth and giggled, "No Bhaiya, I'm not a ghost. And... I'm not a human either."
Yuki's breath hitched.
"Then is this body... not a human body?"
Lane's laughter stopped abruptly.
"No, the body is human," he replied, and then his voice turned icy once more, "Just never get this close to me again. Otherwise, I'm not so kind that I would leave anyone alive."
A moment later, Lane began to smile again, covering his face and saying sweetly, "Oh Yuki Bhaiya, I was just joking! You got so scared!"
The golden hue was trying to return to Lane's eyes, but that pitch blackness remained, like a shadow lurking in the depths.
Not for a single second during their talk did that terrifying ink fade from his eyes.
Yuki's breath was still ragged.
He barely managed to gather enough courage to speak.
"But Lane... you said you wouldn't answer my questions, yet you just told me everything?"
Lane tilted his head slightly, the deep blackness in his eyes still swallowing the light.
"It depends on my will, Bhaiya," he said in a flat, cold tone, "whom I choose to answer and whom I do not."
Then suddenly, a terrifying tenderness returned to Lane's face.
He leaned forward and gently gripped the edge of Yuki's shirt with his tiny fingers.
"Shall I tell you something? Yuki Bhaiya... please lean down a bit."
Yuki felt as if he were under a hypnotic spell.
His mind screamed no, but his body obeyed, lowering itself automatically.
When his ear reached close to Lane's lips, Lane whispered in a slow, silky voice.
"Stop interfering in my business. I don't like being touched. Remember that... okay, Bhaiya?"
The words sounded as sweet as honey, but they seeped into Yuki's body like venom.
He felt an icy chill within him that was colder than the bitterest night in these dungeons.
His entire body went numb.
Before Yuki could say anything else, the horrific blackness in Lane's eyes snapped away in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the familiar golden hue returned.
But the very next second, Lane stumbled violently and fell to the floor.
The thud of his fall echoed through the cell.
"Ah... Bhaiya!" Lane groaned, trying to push himself back up.
Yuki remained there on his knees, paralyzed.
He couldn't even move.
When Lane finally looked up and saw Yuki in that state, his eyes filled with that same old innocence and concern.
"Bhaiya? Why are you sitting like that?" Lane asked in wonder, as if he had no memory of the last few minutes.
"Did something happen? Are you hurt?"
Yuki didn't answer.
He just stared into Lane's golden eyes, wondering if what just happened was a nightmare or a terrifying warning.
Yuki's breath was still ragged.
He barely managed to gather enough courage to speak.
"But Lane... you said you wouldn't answer my questions, yet you just told me everything?"
Lane tilted his head slightly, the deep blackness in his eyes still swallowing the light.
"It depends on my will, Bhaiya," he said in a flat, cold tone, "whom I choose to answer and whom I do not."
Then suddenly, a terrifying tenderness returned to Lane's face.
He leaned forward and gently gripped the edge of Yuki's shirt with his tiny fingers.
"Shall I tell you something? Yuki Bhaiya... please lean down a bit."
Yuki felt as if he were under a hypnotic spell.
His mind screamed no, but his body obeyed, lowering itself automatically.
When his ear reached close to Lane's lips, Lane whispered in a slow, silky voice.
"Stop interfering in my business. I don't like being touched. Remember that... okay, Bhaiya?"
The words sounded as sweet as honey, but they seeped into Yuki's body like venom.
He felt an icy chill within him that was colder than the bitterest night in these dungeons.
His entire body went numb.
Before Yuki could say anything else, the horrific blackness in Lane's eyes snapped away in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the familiar golden hue returned.
But the very next second, Lane stumbled violently and fell to the floor.
The thud of his fall echoed through the cell.
"Ah... Bhaiya!" Lane groaned, trying to push himself back up.
Yuki remained there on his knees, paralyzed.
He couldn't even move.
When Lane finally looked up and saw Yuki in that state, his eyes filled with that same old innocence and concern.
"Bhaiya? Why are you sitting like that?" Lane asked in wonder, as if he had no memory of the last few minutes.
"Did something happen? Are you hurt?"
Yuki didn't answer.
He just stared into Lane's golden eyes, wondering if what just happened was a nightmare or a terrifying warning.