Adagio Apparthotel
Saint Etienne, France
October 2015
“Hi love, how are you doing?”
Mathieu smiled at the semi-grainy image of Aether, the figure on the screen barely able to contain a yawn. It was one in the morning back in the United States compared to France’s seven; it explained why his girlfriend was feigning off sleepiness. “I’m alright. We’re flying back tomorrow.”
“I’m glad…things are getting pretty lonely around here,” she admitted. Mathieu frowned slightly. Aether must have noticed because she quickly added, “but I’m doing okay, aside from that. I’m a big girl. I can handle myself,” she reassured him with a faint smile. He gave a hesitant nod. “How’s Jin-ho? You told me that he’s been swamped with all these business meetings lately,” she told with a wry smile. Mathieu gave his own smile back, yet felt a guilty tug in his chest.
“Jin-ho’s alright. Sleeping though.” Mathieu angled his laptop to show Jin-ho’s hotel bed, where the other was sleeping soundly. Aether managed to hold in a laugh and Mathieu readjusted the laptop back to himself. “He’s tired. Don’t know how, but he suddenly got way more than he expected.”
“Are you going to extend…?”
“I don’t think so.” she perked up a little at that, “He wants to come back as soon as possible. And so do I,” he added quietly. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” Mathieu reached out towards the screen and rested a thumb on the image of her cheek. Aether caught the action and she smiled sadly, watching from her own phone screen thousands of miles away. “Bring me something?”
“Of course.” the redhead grinned at the sight of the blooming excitement on her face, “What do you want, sweetheart?” Aether started to tell him about these different makeup products and he noted them down on a fresh document, patiently listening to her until he noticed her eyes growing heavy. Aether’s voice fell lower and her eyes kept closing, snapping herself awake once she realized what was happening.
It was endearing at first to watch her struggle to wake up, but after the first few times, he realized that he was keeping her away from her sleep. “Aether,” he spoke gently. This woke her up, the dark-haired lady looking terribly sleepy yet pushing herself to stay awake for him. His chest gave yet another pang. “Love…come on. You should get some sleep. Please?”
“But I miss you,” she mumbled, and he bit his lip. Tried to keep himself from extending the call even further. “I want to keep talking to you.”
“So do I, baby…but you need to rest too, okay? I’m coming back tomorrow with your makeup.” he shot her a wink and she gave a tired smile. “I’ll be back before you know it. Okay?”
She finally gave. “Okay…” He watched as the screen orientation shifted and gave him a sideways view of her face. Aether was probably lying down at that point, and Mathieu did the same think as much earlier; thumbed over her cheek. “You sleep?”
“Like a child,” he assured her. Never mind that his dreams had been plagued with the same memories. If it helped her sleep better, then he’d assure her all he could. “But it doesn’t feel the same.”
A sleepier, thicker voice halfway between dreams and reality. “Why not…?”
“You’re not there to sleep with me, sweetheart.” in the dim light of their bedroom back at home, he managed to see the slight color in her cheeks, the way her lips turned up to smile as tired as she was.
“Dork,” she mumbled.
“You love it.”
“I do.” A yawn, “And I love you.”
“I love you too. Sleep well, okay?” A mumble from her side, and she finally closed her eyes, not bothering to end the call. Mathieu watched her for a few minutes, watched how her breathing slowly turned deeper, slower. By the time he was finally sure that she was deep in sleep, Mathieu ended the call and stretched, groaning quietly and stretching as much as he could.
The male eventually got off the chair and idly picked up the menu from the table, sitting back on the edge of the bed and opening it to the breakfast section. Jin-ho would be too lazy to go down and eat, and Mathieu wasn’t up to do any breakfast runs for either of them. The most practical solution, of course, was to have room service deliver (overpriced) breakfast.
Just as he was glancing at the different assortment of coffees, Jin-ho’s low and groggy voice ran through the air in form of a groan. Mathieu cracked a smile. “Up already?”
“I should be asking you the same thing,” the Korean grumbled. “But thank God all the meetings are over. Fuck that shit. I came here for, what, less than three and suddenly I have five more than expected. Not going out today. Nope.”
“And I thought you were the extrovert,” Mathieu retorted dryly. “Pancakes sound good to you?”
“And a large mug of coffee. All the creamer.” Jin-ho watched as Mathieu went to the phone to dial and sunk back into his sheets. The Frenchman conversed quietly with the person on the other line, ordering food for five minutes until setting the phone down. “Will I get my coffee?”
“You always get your coffee. Or you threaten with a lawsuit.”
“That was one time.” Muffled from the pillow. Mathieu sat back on his bed, taking his phone from his pocket and browsing idly. Another period of silence. “…did you sleep well?” Jin-ho asked.
“Like a child. Why?”
“Nothing, nothing. Thought I heard something, but then again I also dreamt of some pretty weird shit. Anyway,” Jin-ho yawned and stayed in his own bed, “Dibs on the bathroom. After I get out of bed. You?”
“I think I’ll sleep again.”
“I’ll eat your pancakes,” Jin-ho joked, getting out of bed just as Mathieu began to climb back into his own. “And drink your coffee.” Upon no receiving no banter back, Jin-ho stifted yet another yawn and made his way to the bathroom, soon closing the door as he went. Locked it and stared a good five seconds at the mirror. “Sleeping like a baby my ass,” he muttered as he picked up the orange toothbrush, “I could hear you last night, fucker.”
He did.
Mathieu’s dreams tended to be recurring. Jin-ho knew this very well; there were times wherein the man woke up with the same expression: wide-eyed and shaking, the color drained from his face. When he would try and coax the other into talking, Mathieu would always reply one singular thing—
A groan.
Jin-ho stilled, toothbrush left in his mouth.
He was very sure that he heard something. A groan. Coming from the room he and Mathieu shared. He was damn sure it wasn’t from any of the neighbors down the hall. (If it were, he’d be complaining.)
And it sounded so, so familiar—
Jin-ho spat the contents into the sink (toothbrush included) and busted out of the bathroom, slamming the door on the way out and running to Mathieu’s bed. “You better not be having another,” he muttered angrily (mostly to himself because he had to be grounded when Mathieu’s pesky nightmares came back), stopping when the man in his bed was shuddering, shaking.
His voice cracked, strained. It took Jin-ho a couple of tries until he heard, understood, and proceeded to try and wake the other man up. "I should have come with you yesterday," he scolded both Mathieu and himself, tottering close to desperation as the other man refused to snap out of it.
Je suis désolé, mère, je suis désolé—
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