Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 103. Unwrapped Gifts

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Misha couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh. His face was as pale as a ghost, with big dark bags hanging under his eyes—even his lips appeared colorless, and his hair was nothing more than a bird's nest. If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought it was a corpse reflected in the mirror, not him. Before today, Misha had never known that lack of sleep could destroy someone's look to this degree, and he had countless sleepless nights before.

"I look awful," Misha sighed before splashing cold water on his face, trying to wake himself up.

Last night, he talked with Gabriel until the small hours. He told him the key points of the first timeline, including how he had never known about his fake relationship with Masha. When it was time to talk about his sister's suicide, he described the event fast, not wanting to go too deep into that memory. The same could be said for his father's abuse. He decided to keep some details on the down-low, revealing just enough so that Gabriel could understand the gist of what had happened.

Of course, they both tacitly avoided the subject of "Misha" liking Gabriel. Whenever he thought about it, Misha felt like strangling his other self. What the hell was he thinking?! There were things better left unsaid!

Meanwhile, Gabriel knew Misha's reaction tended to be on the violent side whenever he was embarrassed, meaning that Gabriel would surely suffer from a few bruises if he dared to tease him about his blunder. Yep. It was better to wait a bit before bringing up that subject.

All in all, they didn't sleep much. So when Masha came to wake them up, telling them that it was time to open their Christmas presents, they were both unwilling to get out of bed. Still, they had to, as Gabriel was supposed to leave before noon, and Mrs. Brown wanted her daughter's boyfriend to be with them as they opened the presents. She had prepared some for Gabriel too, and she wanted to give them to him before he left.

After washing his face, Misha dragged his body downstairs, lifelessly sitting on the sofa beside his sister. Not long after, Gabriel joined them, and Misha couldn't help but glare at the man, whose handsome face looked the same as usual, without any blemish whatsoever, as if he had rested very well last night. It made Misha scoff. How come he was the only one who looked like a goddamn ghost?! Gabriel slept even less than him! So why the hell did it seem like his skin was glowing...?

While Misha was busy inwardly cussing out Gabriel, Gulnas started distributing the presents, playing Mrs. Claus with great enthusiasm.

Honestly, Misha was somewhat curious about the gifts. He had never opened them up in his previous life. In fact, no one had the courage to open the presents Mrs. Brown had prepared just before her death. Whenever Misha tried to, telling himself that it had already been years since she had left this world, he found himself trembling and unable to unwrap the gifts. So he'd always put them back in the closet, mumbling something about doing it later—which he never did.

But now, Misha carefully unwrapped the presents one after another, smiling gently every time he laid eyes on their content. It mainly was toys for little boys, and almost everything was dinosaur-themed. Even when he opened the last present, it was still linked to dinosaurs. The handmade sweater was mostly dark red with a few touches of white, and in its center, there was a T-Rex wearing a Santa hat. His mother loved to knit, and for as long as he could remember, she would give her children and husband a Christmas sweater she had made herself every year. It was a weird tradition in the family, but at that moment, Misha realized just how much he had missed it.

Almost tearing up, Misha took the sweater in his arms, hugging it tightly against his chest. He thought it was stupid, but somehow, he felt all his mother's love for him through this simple gift. He could imagine her sitting in her bed, knitting his sweater with a gentle smile on her lips. Maybe, she was humming, wondering if her baby son would like her gift, even though she knew a boy of his age probably wouldn't like it very much. But nevertheless, she wanted to make something for him with her own two hands, and all she could do was knit him a sweater.