from august to december

chapter one

section 1, august

the weather was weird today. one second it could be raining, the other i could be so hot eden would have to take off his shirt.
but right now, it was something in between.
a little breeze ruffled eden's black hair and creeped through his clothes.

he was standing on his balcony. his arms crossed in front of his chest and his head slightly tilted to look at the skyline in front of him.
thank god he lived that far up in the apartment complex, the thirteenth floor to be exact.

because he loved looking at the setting sun, seeing the strong and warm colors reflect through the big glass windows of his own apartment and all the other windows in the city.

there was something peaceful about just standing there and listening to nothing but the wind.

but there was a knock at his door the next second when he had finally managed to calm himself down.
quickly he shook his head to shift back into reality and walked up to his front door with smooth steps.

everything about eden rosea was graceful, from the way his feet touched the dark marble floor to his glossy and porcelain skin that hugged his body so perfectly without a single imperfection.

from the way he lifted his slender hand to press down the door handle to his gentle smile and the soft breath out of his nose when he saw his friend standing in the hallway.

it was park shino, still in his black suit from work and his yellowish blond dyed hair slicked back to look somewhat elegant.
but he could pull it off so perfectly, the strong and cold scent of his cologne filled the air together with his neutral aura.

"hi, i brought you some food," shino greeted and let his gaze wander around behind eden's shoulders to look into his apartment.
it was neat, as usual. the grey couch in the middle was illuminated by the golden sunlight where a few soft pillows were laying around.

eden loved his plants, and they were also everywhere in his home, a few hanging from the ceiling and a few standing quietly on the floor, to shino it felt like they were almost watching him.

"that's so sweet of you! come on in! leo just left a few hours ago," eden answered and his black hair bounced as he jumped in excitement, gesturing his older friend to enter while holding the door open a little more.

he turned around. "but please, take off your shoes."
shino nodded with a little grin on his face and slid through the door into eden's apartment.

then he suddenly froze in his spot.
wait.
die he just say leo left a few hours ago?

now, shino knew that eden was batshit crazy when it came to his old friends.
and he also knew that he didn't believe leo had died.
or that val had died.
or anyone, for that matter.

but he couldn't help but feel his heart shatter in his chest when he heard his younger talk about them as if they were still alive.

and he had let it slide everytime eden had brought it up because of his rough past or him not being ready to talk everything out with him and also because he didn't really have the qualifications to do so.

not this time.

"leo's dead. eden," he replied, his voice hostile and stern as if he feared that if his tone wasn't put out properly, eden wouldn't take it seriously.
however, no matter how the sentence;
leo is dead, eden.
was emphasized, eden didn't believe a single syllable and he just felt like everyone was playing this silly game with him to paint him out to be the bad guy.

that's why he got really defensive, clenched his jaw and furrowed his brows.
"he isn't. stop saying that. we've talked about this."

shino held onto the plastic bag in his hand tighter and walked up to the black haired.

"wanna know how he died, then?"
"you're a liar."

eden yelled his lungs out, his voice was so high pitched it rang in the older's ears for a very long time after the words were spoken.

"he killed himself. and you know who's also dead?" he said in a sarcastic tone to try to hide the pain rising in his bones and tearing his insides apart.

it was his job to keep them all together, and he failed because of his old habit to trust.
he didn't do that anymore, he didn't trust people anymore.

"val. and you were there when he died."

eden was now shaking, his petite shoulders were trembling as he looked into the others eyes.
he gulped. "you're a liar," and he stressed every word for an extra long time.

"i'm a liar? you wanna see his grave?" shino responded, coming even closer to eden so that he could point exactly at his chest.
"you're too fragile to see it. you're too weak to be able to see the truth. you can't bring people back with your imagination."

eden swallowed the thick knot in his throat.
yes, shino was right when he said that he was fragile. but he wasn't fragile for a long time. it was only his first response to heavy emotional pain.

and when he got to the second stage, he'd be cold.

and now he was.

"okay," he mumbled under his breath and stared shino dead in the eye.
his feelings were gone, his mind felt blank in those seconds.
but there were still tears streaming down his face.

"go ahead, play that little game of yours, i will no longer participate," eden continued with a voice as sharp as a knife.

"because i know what the fuck i see and what i believe, i don't need to be babied by you. you're not my mom."

shino scoffed.
"funny that you say that to me now when i was the only one that fed you every day."

shino wasn't a bad person. in situation like these, he was led by his emotions.
but the words had no effect on eden, he was now on stage three of dealing with the pain.

it was revenge.

"funny how you forgot to mention your own dad never cared for you."

his voice was still so sharp.
he breathed out through his mouth.

"maybe that's why you're like this."
"like what?"
"so fucking cold hearted."

shino backed off finally, hiding his hands in his pockets and looking down.
he took three breaths through his nose.

"eden. this isn't a game. death is not something to mess around with."

and eden laughed. he just laughed a little because the situation was so weird, shino trying to give him comfort after messing it up again.