through the mirror

PART VI | freya's in love

PART VI | freya’s in love

The year is almost over and the first snow has fallen. Freya and Yoongi had become closer than ever. They’ve grown past their mistakes, mentioning, how one brought a woman to his room and how the other mistakenly left her unit unlocked. They have learned to accept each other’s shortcomings and even celebrated birthdays together. It's safe to say they're no longer just mere acquaintances but friends— good friends.

“Yoongi!” The twenty-seven year old guy falls from his bed when he hears a strong slam of a book and a familiar shrill coming from none other than his unexpected roommate.

He grunts, winces in pain, as his hand finds the back of his head. “I’m older than you and you treat me like this.” Yoongi kicks the duvet that fell with him and slowly stood up, brushing the nonexistent dust from his buttocks.

Yoongi rubs his eyes as he approaches an ever cheerful twenty-three year old woman standing before him. “What are you so happy about? It’s fucking—“ he scans his watch”— 8 a.m.” His voice is low and groggy, the usual octave his voice at when he’s freshly woken up.

“I’ve got a good news!” She jumps, leaning towards the mirror. Yoongi moves his head away as they almost — not almost, not ever— touch nose. “What  news is so good if it’s in the morning?” His monotonous voice make Freya laugh so much that she clutches her stomach.

“What is it??” He drags the words, obviously not having it. “Come on, just say it so I can return to my sleep.”

“I’m dating Jungkook!” She yelps right after. Freya looks more like a kid than her original age, Yoongi thought, but other than that, it makes him feel like his lungs are squeezed together. Maybe morning heartburn, he settled with that thought, not even sure if something like that actually exists.

Yoongi yawns, but it’s the kind of yawn that is forced, the kind of yawn that’s trying to escape such kind of news.

“That’s it? That’s your news?”

He turns and climbs back to the bed, ignoring Freya’s protest. It feels like it’s safer if he’d stay all day under the sheets, safe away from her excited noises, her pages-like stories about the said boy, her questions about dealing with dating, safe away from what makes his chest tighter and his heart aching. Yoongi did stay like that for the rest of the day, half-awake.

• • •

It's night before Christmas. Snow has filled the roads, making it hard for cars to pass by. There is an expected snowstorm coming in a few days. It’s less than six degrees outside. The heater in Yoongi’s place is on it’s full capacity but his nose is still red. Yoongi is now in front of the mirror, wrapped in a blue padded jacket, waiting for the arrival of Freya. She went out to get some groceries. The poor girl couldn’t go home to her hometown because there’s no more bus around this time. The company she’s working for didn’t let their employees loose until they reach their December targets. It left Freya no choice but to stay and spend her very first Christmas away from home and alone.

The door slams loudly and he flicks his eyes towards the right side, catching Freya wrapped in a red scarf, covering her mouth. She strides towards Yoongi, grinning ear to ear, he could tell, even if he doesn’t see. His smile is just as the same, but his lips are quivering. Freya notices this once she’s right in front of him.

“It’s really cold there?” Yoongi nods, wearing his gloves as he does.

“Don’t forget to bring some hot packs with you.” He nods again, opening his bag to really check if he had put it in already. Which he already did, when he was packing up his toothbrush and underwear.

“Will you be okay alone here this Christmas?” Yoongi pushes himself to ask the words. Concern fills his voice and his face expresses it too. His eyebrows curve upwards and he’s looking right into the eyes of Freya. He waits and he wishes. Just ask me to stay.

She nods, beaming a smile towards the fainthearted man. “Jungkook’s going to spend Christmas with me.”

“Oh.” Yoongi presses his lips in a thin line. Of course. It should. He should. That’s what a good boyfriend does.

“Isn’t he somewhere else?” He recalls, asking, despite of the annoying tremble in his chest. His fingers reach out to zip the bag close and swings it around his shoulder, ready to go, ready to dip away, sooner than he planned. Something about the conversation makes him want to just bolt out.

“He’s in Seattle, but he promised that he’ll be coming this Christmas day.” She continues to smile that makes Yoongi wonder if her lips will ever get tire of smiling. “I’ll wait for him in the airport.” She giggles.

Yoongi had observed Freya in so long that he knows how much of a love sick fool she is. He didn’t know exactly when she started taking a liking towards the landlord’s son. He doesn’t even know when they met the first time. It just one day, she came and started blabbering about a guy who is flirting with her, and then a few weeks later, they’re dating. Yoongi couldn’t comprehend but he settled with the idea that maybe dating runs that way in her universe.

“By the way,” she mumbles, disappearing out of sight, taking something from under the mirror. He heard a ruffle of plastic bag.

“What’s that?” Yoongi squints his eyes, finding a small box wrapped in a Snowman wrapper.

“My Christmas gift!”
“Ah what?”
“From me to you!”
“Thank you …?”

What am I supposed to do with a gift I can’t even touch? Yoongi thought to himself.

“I’ll open it for you once you get back.” Freya puts it back inside her bag before Yoongi could take a better look on it. She stands straight and meets Yoongi eye to eye. This makes him feel uneasy, in some way. His fingers make it to the back of his ear, scratching it. Freya giggles when he does.

“I didn’t get you anything.” The crimson color on his nose spreads to his cheeks.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I’d get it anyway.” She replies.

Yoongi left that night wondering what she meant and what her gift meant. How his gift won’t matter to hers because she couldn’t have it, when she’s giving him a gift and it’s pretty much just the same thing ...