Secrets Behind a Smile ( 234 )

Hazuki's eyes snapped open.

He blinked.

Then sat up immediately, hair wild, shirt wrinkled, and a faint line of drool still clinging to the edge of his mouth.

Across from him—an unfamiliar elder, neatly dressed, poised, sitting with one leg crossed and a bottle of elegant-looking liquor on the table between them.

Hazuki stared at him.

The elder stared back, calm and smiling.

Hazuki let out a long yawn, scratching the back of his head.

"…Who are you?" 

The man gave a slight nod.

"Me? I'm Hansim. I was invited in by this orphanage's caretaker."

Hazuki blinked again, rubbing his eye.

"Oh…"

Then his gaze dropped to the bottle on the table.

A faint glimmer returned to his still-sleepy eyes.

He sniffed once.

"…That plum?" he asked.

Hansim gave a polite chuckle.

"Plumfire. Thirty years aged."

Hazuki leaned forward slightly.