#Closeness

A close friend is a singularity that knows your secrets all too well, rendering you incapable of sharing them with anyone else. They evolve your concept of time to fit their schedule, ready to be summoned for any reason. Every birthday is a pop quiz on gift-giving artifice; fail, and the camaraderie turns into a lab experiment gone awry. They boast of sharing your joys and sorrows, yet only deliver the photos to the group chat afterward. A magical being teetering on the edge between ideal and real, but always leaving your wallet mysteriously lighter.

Snuggling is the noble ritual of tickling each other’s emotions in a blind search for warmth. It often carries a scent of self-satisfaction, acting like a measuring line for interpersonal distance. By narrating someone else’s sorrow, one gains the perfect chance to advertise one’s own kindness. Praised as a heartwarming tale, it is in reality a subtle torture that compresses the air and stifles the other. A social deathmatch masquerading as love.