“It’s been a week,” Eun Sung whispered harshly, glancing at the official before the whiteboard hastily before turning to the  brunette.

    “So?” shrugging off her roommate’s comments, Rose continued to stare blankly at the notes scrawled across the board.

    Eunnie pressed on, “Shouldn’t the two of you just make up-”

    “Apparently not,” her voice had become a bitter sheet of ice, and her face held no expression of any kind.

Groaning, the blonde sunk lower in her seat, “You’re hopeless…”

“I don’t really care anymore,” Rose mumbled, yet even with that tiny lie, her stomach squirmed into tight, uncomfortable knots.

“Sure,” rolling her eyes, Eunnie frowned as her gaze followed the words sliding across the board.

A sigh escaped , “It’s not that I don’t want to make up with him-”

“Then just do it!” Eunnie whirled around.

“But,” Rose added hastily, “Every time I’ve tried, he pushes me away. I’m done chasing his tail. Until he apologizes to me, there’s no way I’m going to try and apologize to him again.”

Grumbling, Eun Sung turned back to the front of the room wearing an expression of pure annoyance and disappointment, “Hopeless…”

In the span of one week, she had gone from the most despised person to the most avoided in the entirety of the camp grounds. She was no longer known as the girl Jimin had chosen as a friend, and she was no longer seen as the small, naive girl from America. No one talked to her. No one touched her. No one met her eye. Because she chose those words against her past friend, everyone treated her as if her heart was made of ice. Maybe it was.

“Miss Winters,” the thin woman in white turned away from the board to hold out the thick pen of black ink, “Please answer this question.”

Rising out of her seat to bow, her face held no expression of any kind, “Yes, Ms. Park.” The numbers and letters bore into her mind as she quickly scribbled an answer beneath the recent equation. If it had been science, humiliation was almost as certain as the burning of wood against flame. Though she didn’t care for algebra- or any sort of math for that matter- she happened to find it quite… simple.

“Oh look,” of voice whispered near the back of the room, and Rose had to strain her ears to hear the rest, “The ice queen has a brain-”

Gritting her teeth, she blocked out the distant laughters masked beneath silence as she set the pen back down before returning to her seat. How she longed to taste the fresh air outside the prison’s wall and watch the sun in a different light. Each breath taken seemed more suffocating than the last, and each attempt to bundle up against the cold only left her more frozen than before.  

    “Rose-” Eunnie whispered again only to be cut off once more.

    “Don’t,” gripping her pencil, the brunette continued to scribble down countless answers in her textbook.

    “But-”

    “Miss Kim,” the official at the front spoke sharply, “Must I remind you to keep quiet?”

    Sinking into the discomfort of her chair, Eun Sung shook her head in disdain, “No, Ms. Park,” she answered quietly.

    “The front. Now,” the woman in white dragged the dreaded chair before the class as the blonde slipped out of her seat reluctantly.

    Sighing, Eunnie trudged to the front of the room while her feet dragged behind her. She winced slightly as the sight of a sickly familiar, leather strap made a reappearance in the official’s hands. As much as she had grown used to it, that didn’t numb the fact of its pain.

“Up. Now.”

“Yes, Ms. Park,” Eunnie replied quietly.

Rose’s mouth parted in disbelief. Had she answered more carefully, had she agreed to talk to Jimin once more, her friend wouldn’t be standing upon the chair waiting for the lashes to come across her ankles. Maybe her heart was made of ice. Maybe she had grown too blind to see any other reflection except her own. Yet just when she shifted in her seat to rise, the door flew open.

“Well, well,” the scoffing figure of a sickly familiar man blocked the cool air leaking from the doorway.

Straightening her lab coat, Ms. Park pushed Eun Sung off the chair and behind her, “What do you want, Sampson?”

“That’s not a way to greet the new deputy of punishment,” he drawled, examining his disgustingly clean nails as a loose lock of greasy black hair hung between his dark eyes.

Astonishment flickered across the teacher’s face before she a mask of nonchalance reappeared upon her lips, “So you came to boast?” slipping back into her chair, she shoved a thick marker into Eun Sung’s hand, “If you don’t mind, I have a class to teach. Miss Kim, please answer this next question-”

He clucked his tongue in disapproval, “What a shame…” a smirk slid across his cracked lips as he leaned against the door frame, “I bet you’re feeling pretty guilty at this point, Ma Ri.”

Pursing her lips, she continued to straighten the stacks of papers strewn across her desk, “For what? Turning you down? The pleasure was mine.”

“I’ll let you know,” he sighed, moving away from the door frame, “You’re not up to my standards anymore. I’m on a whole new level-”

“Of dilution,” she muttered under her breath.

Glaring at her, he continued on, “I didn’t come here to boast. Just to fetch the two brats responsible for my promotion.”

    Rose’s mouth parted in slightly in surprise as the raw nails of dread scraped down her frozen back. In that moment, she heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing. Only bare realization. Swallowing hard, she stared at the wiry man leering before her and rested her folded hands upon her lap to keep them from shaking.

    “Park Jimin,” Sampson drawled lazily, “Winters Rose, follow me.” With that, the official turned to slip out the door once more.

    Huffing, the orange haired boy stuffed his fists the pockets of his blazer as he kicked his chair aside, “Whatever, old man,” he muttered under his breath. He shuffled forward with a yawn, casting a glance back at the brunette frozen in her seat, “Come on, Rose.”

    Flinching slightly, she slipped out of her seat to follow him out the door. As much as her heart hammered against the cage wrapped about her chest, and as much as she wished to melt through the floor, she couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit… happy. Just those few words had been the first directed towards since their fight. Though she didn’t know it perhaps a few seconds before, oh how she missed them. If she had to apologize again and again just to hear him speak, as petty and twisted as that seemed, she would do it.

    She grit her teeth, balling her fists in the fabric of her skirt, and set her shoulders back as the looming figure of the official lead the two away from the comfort of their classroom. “It’s going to be okay…” whispering under her breath, her face remained stoic and apathetic, “It’s going to be okay… you’ll make it through this… it’s going to be-”

    “Here we are,” Sampson stopped abruptly, allowing the two behind him to run into each other, and pulled out set of rusty keys. Hastily unlocking the narrow, white door before them, he sent a chilling smile to the both of them, “You two wanted to be together, is that correct?”

    “U-um…” Rose glanced at Jimin anxiously.

    “Does that matter?” Jimin replied stiffly.

    “Of course, of course,” swinging the door open, Sampson beckoned them inside, “Since you seem to love each other so much, you’ll be spending who knows how long in here without food or water.”

    Freezing, Rose spun around just as the door snapped shut and the jangling of keys signaled the locking of the door once more. “But-” swallowing hard, she turned slowly to examine the dimly lit room. Only a couple items lay in the far corner, tucked away from sight, and a single, narrow window remained the source of light. The walls, floor, ceiling were that of grey cement, and the frigid upcoming winter air filled the entire chamber with no presence of warmth whatsoever. Wrapping her arms more tightly about herself, she shuffled over to the tiny pile of items in the corner. A single chamber pot, a dying flashlight, and a thin, wool blanket. Sighing, she straightened up, unfolding the blanket carefully. She bit her lip, staring at Jimin who had seated himself in the corner opposite to her, “Um… do you mind-”

    “Use it,” he mumbled, eyes closed.

    Pursing her lips, she sunk to the floor and tucked the blanket about her shivering body. There he was again. The Jimin that ignored her. A small part of her wondered if it would have been just a tad bit better if she had been left alone in the room. Though she was grateful for his company… she had never felt more alone. Maybe it was the lack of light, or maybe it was the lack of heat, but the sudden lull of drowsiness tugged on the corners of her mind as her eyes fluttered shut. Too much. It was all too much.

***

    Rose woke with a start. How long she had been asleep, she had lost track. Squinting against the dark, she d around for the flashlight beside her. Her fingers wrapped mindlessly about the freezing metal and flicked the switch on as the flickering light suddenly sent out a weak beam. Scrambling to her feet, she peered outside the tiny window, straining her neck to catch a glimpse of the moon hidden behind the trees. A sigh escaped as she turned away from the window. Even there the moon seemed trapped.

    A sudden cough mixed with a violent shiver echoed throughout the entire cell. Snapping the beam of light towards the sound’s direction, she shuffled forward quietly. “Jimin?” her voice shook as she whispered against the darkness, “Jimin, are you alright?”

    There was a pause of silence before he mumbled, “I’m fine.”

    “Are you cold?”

    “I’m fine-” he froze as her figure slid next to him, wrapping the blanket about their bodies, “What-”

    “Shush,” she leaned against his shoulder, whispering sleepily, “I read that penguins keep close to each other for warmth.”

    “We’re not penguins.”

    “I never said we were,” yawning, she buried her face in his shoulder, “It’s a proven fact that people will stay warmer if they’re together.”

    “Are you sure you didn’t just want a pillow?”

    “Well… that too,” laughing lightly, she looked at him carefully.

    “So that’s what I am. Just a pillow,” he scoffed, yet a tiny smile formed across his numb lips.

    “No,” she replied quietly, “Just a friend.”

    “Rose,” he frowned, staring down at her figure curled against him, “We’re not friends-”

    “Yes, we are,” she snapped.

    “Rose-”

    “I don’t care if I’m not on your level, or I don’t understand, or I’m not up to your expectations. If I have to reach that level to be your friend, I’ll pass it. If I have to understand to empathize with you, I’ll learn. If I’m not up to your expectations in order for you to want to be seen with me, I’ll pass them. I’m not giving you up, Jimin, so don’t you dare do the same to me.”

    A harsh laugh escaped his dry throat, “You annoy me, you know that?”

    “Sorry-”

    He shook his head, pressing on, “You’re so… good. It drives me insane, and yet I can’t help but love that about you.”

    She looked up suddenly, “So you forgive me?”

    “I forgave you the moment I walked out of the cafeteria,” sighing, he tilted his head slightly, “Call me a coward, but I was to afraid to tell you that.”

    “But all those times I apologized to you-”

    “Just reminded me how much of a fool I am,” a yawn escaped his parted lips, “Believe me, it isn’t a great feeling.”

    “You’re not a fool,” a yawn escaped her parched lips, and the weight of the world seemed to tug on the ends of her eyelids.

    After a moment, Jimin’s voice rang throughout the chamber once more in a hushed whisper, “Rose?” Yet his question still hung in the air as there was no answer. A slight smile formed across his lips as he sunk lower into the stillness of her unconscious body. “I love you,” was all he managed to whisper before the pull of drowsiness finally dragged his mind into darkness.

***

    The gentle rays of gold reached out their palms to capture the wake of every flower, every bird, every being that grew upon its ground. Dew clung to the ragged blades of the overgrown grasses scattered about the field. The hum of bees and warm scent of baked pollen glided amongst the slight breeze sweeping the ground.

    His hair hung between his eyes as he just stood before the field beyond the wall of white surrounding his home. All he ever knew was inside the safety of the wall, never past it. Yet, he couldn’t help but find himself staring at the field beyond the wall in curiosity. The place he could never touch, smell, taste, experience became the very place he wanted to be.

    “Jimin?” a voice whispered behind him suddenly.

    Turning slightly, a smile formed across his lips as the small figure of a girl standing before the doorway shuffled forward slowly, “Eunbi!”

    “You called?” she avoided his gaze as pink tinted her pale cheeks.

    Nodding, he cocked his head to the side in amusement, “Will you go on a walk with me?”

    “Jimin-”

    “Please?” he took her small hands in his, pressing them to his lips.

    Biting her lip anxiously, she glanced back at the door, “What if someone sees us-”

    “They won’t.”

    A sigh escaped her lips as she nodded hesitantly, “Fine, fine,” she slipped her hands out of his grasp as she added hastily, “But I have to be back at the maid headquarters by nine-”

    “I know!” grabbing her arm, he pulled her along the empty corridor with a grin plastered across his face.

    “Jimin?”

    Opening his eyes slightly, he turned his head to meet her brown eyes, “Yeah?”

    She dropped her gaze, shifting uncomfortably against the peach tree the couple was leaning against, “What are you going to do?”

    “About what,” his voice became tight as he already knew the answer to his question.

    “Are you… are you really going to get married?” she mumbled uneasily.

    “You know I love you,” he wrapped his arms about her small figure, resting his chin atop her head.

    “But the arranged marriage-”

    “I know.”

    “We can’t stay like this forever, Jimin,” she pulled away from his grasp, avoiding his eyes, “When you get married… I’m not going to the one you cheat on with your wife. I can’t-”

    “Who said I’m getting married?”

     parted in confusion, “But your father-”

    Taking her face in his hands, he forced her to meet his eyes, “Run away with me?”

    Her eyes widened, “Jimin, I can’t-”

    Shaking his head, he added anxiously, “We could live together somewhere else. We could start a family. We could make it, Eunbi-”

    “I can’t do that, Jimin. I have a life here-”

    “As a maid,” his eyebrows scrunched together, “Please, Eunbi, I can change that-”

    “I- I’ll have to think about it…” rising to her feet suddenly, she spun on her heel to hurry back inside the house, “It’s getting late…” With that, her figure disappeared behind doors of white once more.

    A huff of frustration escaped his lips as he sunk lower to the roots of the peach tree. The sun had begun to set against the hues of pink and orange clouds, and the distant singing of nightingales and crickets slipped about the evening breeze. It seemed as if even the ants beneath the soil had someone to share their pain with… everyone but him.

    “W-what do you mean?” it was the day of the wedding, and there he was. Frozen in his spot. Unable to comprehend the words said before him.

    Eunbi’s unrelenting gaze bore nonchalantly into his own as those despicable words left once more, “I never loved you.”

    “That’s- that’s not possible,” he shook his head, “You’re lying. You-”

    “Get married, Jimin,” turning away, Eunbi laughed bitterly before exiting the room, “Get married to her, to someone who loves you, because I don’t.”

    He collapsed against the floor, shaking as strangled sobs escaped his throat, “I’m alone… I’m really alone…”

    In that moment, he was gone. Over the wall, past the field, and into the forest without looking back. Why would he? There was nothing to look back at. Nothing at all.

***

    “Jimin?” Rose frowned, examining his resting  face as trails of tears stained his pale cheeks, “Jimin? What’s wrong-”

    “Rose,” sitting up suddenly, he shook his head, wiping the tears off his face, “I- what time is it.”

    “I don’t know,” she pursed her lips, “Are you alright?”

    Pausing, he nodded, “I’m fine.”

    “Are you sure?”

    “Positive.”

    In such a dark place behind a wall of stone, lies became the truth, and the truth became forgotten. There was no need for comfort, for feelings, for life. It was suffocating, yet after time, many forgot how to breathe. Much was lost behind that wall of stone, behind the shadow of a thousand lies.