Chapter Text
“ How long have you encountered these symptoms?”
“4 months ago.”
The doctor lets out a long sigh, her eyes glance down the diagnosed paper on the table, then silently passes it to Freminet.
“I’m sorry to announce that you only have 2 months left to live.”
Freminet’s brows furrow, he carefully reads the paper, one time, two times and three times. Couldn’t believe his eyes, his grip tightens as thousands of thoughts run in his mind, drowning out the sounds of the doctor calling.
Waves of emotion crash into his organs, panicking, his own thoughts eating his brain as he rapidly stands up, quickly walking to the clinic’s door despite the doctor calling out for him.
Just until this morning, he was still a professional diver, living with his two step-siblings with 2 cats in the house. Just until this morning, he was still a young man who was drowned in his girlfriend’s love for him. Just until this morning, he assumed that he’s a luckiest man alive to receive such love from people around him.
and now, Freminet only has 2 months to live.
Archons must be kidding him when they gave him the love that he had longing since forever and took it away in one night. Is this what people call “fate ”? If that’s so, his seemingly small happiness in everyday life is easily left behind in nostalgia for the mortal world, in the so-called fate.
He looks up to the sky, it is not the clear blue as normal, but the blue without hope in his eyes was no longer immense. The sadness and anger in his heart became overwhelming, unable to settle down.
A wind blows past, blowing through his blonde bangs, revealing the teary ocean eyes. That wind burned in his chest, also making him understand clearly that he was not dreaming, he is going to die soon.
“Wasn’t death what you desire, Fremi?”
A voice speaks up in his head, reminding him about the past days full of pain. Freminet recalled the feelings that he had drifted back to a past that is buried with sorrows and hatred, when the window of his bedroom was always closed, when his arms were always full of scratches and blood, when he was longing for those beautiful magic tricks to save him to the endlessly darkness.
He used to desire for death, to take him out of this ugly world. But not now, not when he has found himself a reason to live. But despite everything, it’s still his fault. Cheapening his own life blindly in the past and now Archon has given him a chance to die. After all, it was his story. Silence. Uniform in time and constant in dissonance, it fills in the chasmic limitlessness that continues on - forever. It serves the pendulous cords behind his eyes, slicing into the azure wires with dull scissors; they are diluted like the observant overhead sent.
“Ring..ring..”
The vibrance from his phone awakened him from thoughts, flickering on the screen was the name of his lover calling, Charlotte. His grip tightened, lips pursed as he pressed the answer button. On the other side, a warm voice welcomes him.
“Fremi, the dinner will turn cold if you don’t get home quickly.”
“O-Oh..I’m sorry, I didn’t notice the time.”
Charlotte chuckles, he can feel her warmth, even when they are separated by a screen.
“Mhm..I’ll wait for you, be careful.”
He quickly ends the call, walking long steps with tears trailing down his cheeks, hoping for the road to be shorter. How could he forget there is still a person waiting for him, longing for him to come home. His savior, his light.
for a short moment, he almost forgot that he is about to die soon.
-
The sound of the wooden door being pulled announces to Charlotte that her boyfriend is home. Putting the spoon down, she rushes to the door with the apron on.
“Welcome home, Freminet.”
He looks up to her, his eyes still swollen from crying, his lips moving but no words exit his throats.
“Freminet?”
Charlotte calls out, through her soft voice, his name is spilled over her pink lips like a dose of opium. Everytime she calls out his name, Freminet feels like he’s falling. And each time, the helplessness and pain overflowed from his chest, cutting into his throat and he cried like a child.
Charlotte panics when her beloved suddenly bursts into tears. Her urge to soothe his sadness grows bigger as she hugs him into her embrace.
“What happened?”
She gently askes, with a small volume and her hand slowly approaches his cheeks, as if she’s scared that he will be torn apart. Freminet sobs, sitting in her embrace, somehow, his aching heart feels ease, feels like a ray of sunshine just shines through. His arms open, holding her and they stay in that position for a few minutes until he stops his sobbing.
“I..I’m just thinking. How can a person like me be worthy of your heart?”
Freminet murmurs, enough for Charlotte to hear. She cupped his reddened cheeks in her palm, forcing him to look directly into her shining eyes.
“Don’t ever think of yourself like that. Love is worth it or not, it's my free will and you should just be yourself, no matter how much time passes, I'm confident enough to affirm that I love you. I love you so much that my heart still hurts every time you cry.”
Her face moves closer to his until their foreheads touch. Until she stares directly into his gaze.
“Freminet, I don’t want to see you sad. There are challenges you need to overcome on your own. Because everyone's life has their own problems, and sometimes it's not necessary to tell them all to the other person.”
She stops talking for a second as her thumb caresses his face, breathing hot air onto his nose tip.
“I'm not by your side to protect you from everything in this world, I'm by your side to accompany you and proudly kiss you in the late afternoons, on tired days that can't knock us down.”
His heart skips a beat, each word she says is burning on his cheeks, his eyes and his heart. He closes his eyes, savoring the moment.
A sharp pain flashes through his heart, how’d Charlotte react when she finds out that her lover is going to die soon?
Freminet stays silent, he doesn’t know, nor can he know. But right now, he only responds to her hug, fervently praying that she won't accidentally abandon his warmth, leave behind the bunch of flowers he gave her, let it withered before being kissed on her cheeks.
“Let’s have dinner, I cooked your favorite dish today.”
-
Charlotte looks at Freminet. From the balcony, she can see her lover washing the dishes, the wind blowing by messing up her hair. She hums a random melody, a sad one. She knows something has happened, Freminet coming home with tears and negative thoughts in his mind, how could she not be worried?
As she’s still drowning in her thoughts, Freminet has walked to her, gently wraps his coat on her. He didn’t say anything, but it’s enough to make her heart soften. He hands her a cup of warm milk,
Oh, her habit of drinking warm milk at night that she introduced into his life is still taken seriously by him. She thought.
Grabbing his cold hand, she looks up to him. His ears are red, trembling slightly as he holds her hand.
Today's latte taste is probably much, much sweeter than usual. Because both her soul and her heart are now intoxicatingly sweet.
It was so sweet that she had to wait until the latte turned cold so she could drink it. Because it was so sweet, it made her cheeks turn red like she had a fever.
“Freminet.”
“Mhm?” He looks at her without blinking, his hand is still tightly holding hers, not having any intention in letting go of it.
“Freminet, I love you so much.”
Freminet’s eyes are a bit cloudy, the light of a car passing through his eyes was as light as her breath right now. He didn’t answer her, he just pulled up the hood of his shirt, and under that wide brim, the taste of hot milk filled his nose, Charlotte’s eyes only had time to see his eyelids close very quickly, hiding all the confusion in his eyes, give it all to the breath on her lips.
The kiss ends quickly, just like how it started. Beside the smell of his warm breath is still lingering on her lips. Charlotte feels her shoulders burning from the heat.
“Let’s get inside. You will catch a cold if we keep standing like this.”
Charlotte nods, letting Freminet lead her to the bedroom. The tension between the young couple is so strong that they forget about everything around them. Freminet hugs her until she drifts apart peacefully next to him. After making sure she is deep asleep, Freminet reaches out the wooden drawer, grabbing his phone. The sudden light from the screen causing him to furrowed his brows, it was from Lyney.
10 new messages
8 missed calls
“Freminet, the doctor just called me. Answer the phone.”
"We're having a talk about your health tomorrow."