Either way, Qiong Xing had already thought that he couldn't leave such a young Cari to bathe alone, so they went in together.
He washed Cari's hair and scrubbed his back for him.
After they finished washing, Cari said that this time he wanted to wash Qiong Xing, so Qiong Xing happily agreed and let him do it.
"…If you try peeking again, I will kick you out of the room."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
The two adult men bowing their heads deeply to the floor.
They had begged to join them in the bath, but Qiong Xing firmly refused and when he thought they had given up, they ended up peeking from the bath entrance instead.
How pathetic. Did they really want to see his naked body that badly?
After telling the two of them to go take their own baths, Qiong Xing put Cari and the egg to bed.
The clanking noises and angry voices could be heard from far away, so they were probably bathing properly, even if they were arguing the whole time.
Cari happily said it felt fluffy and when Qiong Xing placed the egg beside him, Cari hugged it tightly as if he were protecting it.
"Then please take care of your little brother, big brother."
"Yeah!"
After saying good night and gently patting his head, Cari fell asleep without much delay.
He must have been very tired after all.
With his stomach full and his body warm from the bath, Cari slept with a peaceful and satisfied expression on his face.
...
All he can see was red.
Everything around Qiong Xing was dyed deep red and it slowly crept closer as if it were spreading and consuming everything.
It's so scary and disgusting.
His trembling body had nothing to support it and there was no sign of the shaking stopping.
No.
No, no.
As he desperately looked around for something, that was when he felt something lightly hit his toes with a clatter.
Wondering what it was, he looked down at his feet.
"Hii!?"
A human head was rolling there.
And not just one.
When he looked around, they were everywhere.
No matter where he looked, there were heads with no bodies attached.
Their eyes were empty as if their souls had left them, yet they were still fixed firmly on Qiong Xing.
"No… no…"
He didn't even know what exactly he didn't want.
But he didn't want it, those words came out before he could think.
What should he do? What should he do?
His mind was in chaos and even though he knew he had to do something, nothing came to him.
"No, no, the blood… help me… help me, Leander. Help me, Elias… the blood…"
He couldn't even wipe away the tears streaming down his face and he remembered the reliable backs that had always stayed close to him.
"Qiong...!"
"Hey...!"
He thought he heard voices.
The voices he knew.
"...Qiong...!"
"Qiong Xing!"
"Qiong Xing!"
"Qiong..!"
"Ugh!?"
His eyes flew open in shock, but perhaps because he had been crying, everything was blurred with tears and he couldn't tell what was what.
His body was still shaking in confusion, but it was soon wrapped from both sides by something warm.
"It's okay. It's okay, Qiong Xing."
"There's nothing scary. It's okay, Qiong Xing."
"It was all a bad dream. It's okay."
As they repeated that everything was okay, Leander gently rubbed his back from the front, while Elias stroked his head from behind, telling him it was alright.
Being held quietly within the thick and strong arms of the two of them, his confused thoughts gradually began to calm down.
"...Thank you very much."
The painful and bursting palpitations finally settled down and the tears he had been unable to stop on his own had already been wiped away by Leander without him even noticing.
The warmth of the two of them felt pleasant against his thoroughly chilled body and he found himself wanting to stay like this forever.
"…I'm sorry. I caused you trouble, didn't I?"
"You remembered what happened during the day, right? It's okay. It's already over, isn't it? Everyone's here."
It seemed that after putting Cari to sleep, while waiting for the two of them, Qiong Xing had dozed off on the sofa.
When the two of them came out of the bath while still bickering, they're looked toward the sofa and there was Qiong Xing with his whole body trembling, crying, and calling out for help.
Leander who knew about what had happened during the day, must have sensed something and tried to hold him and calm him down and it seemed that Elias had helped as well.
He thought he had been trying not to think about that completely red scene, but somewhere in his heart, it had still been stuck there.
Because he had fallen asleep on the sofa with a sense of relief after finally calming down, the emotions he had been suppressing spilled over.
It wasn't the first time he had seen injured people.
It wasn't the first time he had seen dead bodies either.
But he had never seen something like that… a sea of blood stretching everywhere.
The arms that was torn off mercilessly, the leg bones that should never be visible jutting out, the internal organs spilling from wide-open abdomens, and the rolling heads with no bodies attached.
Perhaps because they had screamed, their mouths were still gaping wide and their empty eyes that was devoid of light as if their souls had left were still burned into Qiong Xing's mind and refused to fade.
"At this rate, I really fail as Cari's mom, don't I?"
"Then that would mean we fail as dads for not noticing sooner."
Trying to lighten the mood even a little with a joke, he said it half in jest and Elias played along.
Qiong Xing leaned back against Elias behind him and pulling Leander who was in front of him closer.
He was glad that the two of them were here.