It’s cold.

You stare at the ceiling. A faint, sad, song playing from your phone beside you. Pathetic. You look pathetic right now. Like a high school freshman getting over her first heartbreak but still, you pull the blanket closer to your body and you’re still shivering. 

It’s ing cold.

Frustrating. It’s frustrating, really.

Frustrating that no one is beside you to solace you during this melancholic hour. Frustrating that your pillows and covers offer absolutely no warmth during this cold season. Frustrating that her presence is not here right now so you do what you do best—you try to brush the emptiness aside and close your eyes instead. You shuffle around your bed for a bit, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep but again, it’s cold. 

You wince. 

Why, why does it have to be like this? It’s almost Christmas—an hour away to be exact and yet, you don’t feel it. Important holidays like this, it’s supposed to be spent with your loved ones, not stay in bed, hungry and alone. 

You sharply inhale, and ouch, the too cold of an air hurts your nose a bit. With your phone on your hand now, you finally decide to call someone to ease the pain of your… loneliness.

But who to call?

Let’s see…

You scroll through your contacts. You see your friends’ name but you’re not too sure if you want to bother them right now. If you remember correctly, one of them went far away for a vacation with her girlfriend and her family so obviously you couldn’t call her. Your parents can’t be bothered too since they’re in Japan and you’re not. You remember them texting in your family group chat saying that they miss you already and how they love you so much—of course you tell them that too.

Scrolling through more, your eyes finally landed on her name and suddenly, a wave of memories came rushing in all at once. You feel it again. Thorns are constricting your chest.

Would you, this once, call her back?

Closing your eyes, you let out a shaky exhale. It hurts. Your chest hurts, your head hurts and you feel sick all of a sudden but still, you push through with it. You'd be lying if you say you didn't miss her and her deep, comforting voice. It takes a few ring before she answers the call.

"Hello?" She greets you although she sounds a bit... unsure. Probably because you randomly called her in the middle of the night.

"H—Hey, Yuqi. It's, uh, it's me." You can't help the hesitation in your voice because shouldn't she be ending the call right now? Does she still want to hear your voice after all that happened?

"Soyeon," It's almost amusing to you that you can feel her toothy grin from here. "What made you.. call me? Are you okay?" 

"I..." You pause for a moment. You didn't know what to answer. "Um... I—"

"You don't have t—"

"I missed... you." You say almost immediately. Honest. You want to be honest this time.

Yuqi stammered over the phone, she's probably taken aback with your unsual boldness. "I missed you." You repeat once again but this time, you say it without any more hesitation. You want her to know what you really feel. "I missed you, Yuqi."

A brief silence took over before she lets out a breathy chuckle. "I missed you too." 

"A—Are you... free right now?"

After the phone call with Yuqi, she tells you to meet her on the playground just a couple blocks away from your apartment complex. You remember it being th