Between Worlds and Words

Ch. 3 : Yohem / Finn

Yohem

There he is . I smile as I spot a familiar postman through my window . And it does not take me too long to speed downstairs from my room , take a cap and put it on my head and head outside .
Finn usually arrives with the mail at my house in the late morning , around 12 AM .
Summer mornings are always the hottest . And given that I'm pale as a ghost I can't help but wonder if at some point I'll get a serious sunburn while standing outside like this almost every day .
I close the door of my house behind me just as Finn opened my mailbox . I start to walk towards him slowly , not to look too eager . But I suppose he already knows after all this time that the fact that everytime I am outside at the exact hour he arrives here is not just coincidential .
"Hey there ." I flash a smile at him . The same way I do with everyone I know or meet because I want to come off as friendly . I also need to be in good relations with every human I know so no suspicion of my identity is involved . But each time when I smiled at him it was genuine "What a hot morning , right ?"
Finn looks again at me like everytime with an alarmed expression . He is wearing a blue cap , slightly shadowing his face . He's dressed in his usual postman uniform and has a large leather messanger bag in his hand . He always wears those spiky looking bracelets on both his wrists , which honestly do not suit his uniform . But who am I to judge someone's fashion sense when I either dress like a middle-aged billionaire or like a middle school boy .
Finn slowly nodds , avoiding my gaze . He carefully stashes the mail into the mailbox .
I cross my arms "I heard that postmen have a six hour shift per day . Isn't it tiring to walk around daily in this heat ?" I'm actually curious about this . I totally could not resist even a single day to do what he does . I rather get my house raided by some vengeful shifters and have to fight them all by myself rather than get burned outside for six hours .
He shruggs , still not looking me in the eye . He slowly locks the mailbox back and puts his bag across his shoulder , buckling it closed .
Finn then seems to be hesitating for a moment , not yet speeding away like usual . Does he want to say something ? The thought crossed my mind almost immediatly . I remain unmoving , arms still crossed , waiting for him to do really anything .
He starts to walk away . But this time he waves goodbye at me , a smile cracking his usual expressionless face .
"Bye !" I wave and smile back at him .
I watch as he strolls down on the street , smiling to myself . Well that was a new one .

***

Finn

Marvelous , maybe next time I'll even manage to say something . I think as I quickly leave the mail to another house . I can not help but feel sort of proud with myself . And nervous . As in my heart was beating out of my chest . This might be the first step to finally achieve an actual conversation . But just why am I panicking so badly ? I shut the mailbox and move down on the street again to the next house , still caught deep in my thoughts . Maybe because it is Yohem I'm attempting to talk to ?
Ever since I met Yohem Galj in the first year of high school I felt a sense of envy towards him . I envied the way he was so popular everywhere he went , I envied that he had so many friends all around himself and most importantly , I envied that he spoke so freely everytime he had the chance .
He was so... likeable that it was intoxicating . Intoxicating to the point where I wondered if I wanted to be him or be with him .
...Well surprise , I am gay . And the only person I am out to is -as you expected- Beth . And she's gay too . And she's out to only her closer friends and -of course- me .
None of us ever came out to our parents . They are probably homophobic and will never accept it . The only thing they accept is perfection after all .
When I said that Beth has moved away after she finished college I never mentioned she moved in with somebody , right ? And that somebody is her girlfriend , an androgynous girl named Scarlet Vokh . They both met at Harvard , so you can make out that Scarlet is very smart too .
I never got to know much about Scarlet . But I know how she looks like from some video calls I had with Beth . And one thing that I surely observed in those video calls was that they seemed to be Beth's complement . Their calm and calculated demeanor seemed to compliment my sister's energetic and impulsive behaviour . I am seriously happy for these two . I wish I will at some point find someone like that honestly .