Kang Residence
Atlanta, GA
United States of America
November 2015
“Does it freak you out?”
“What?” Jin-ho looked in the direction of
the master bedroom’s bathroom where another male was inside. “What the fuck are
you talking about?”
“I’m asking if it freaks you out.” Mathieu
poked his head out the doorframe, watching as the older Korean male removed the
cufflinks and set them aside. Mathieu watched him with a half-gaze of blue and
artificial brown, eventually slipping back inside the bathroom. Removing his
second skin was just as hard as putting it on. “Because, you know. You were
sort of freaked out inside the car.”
“I was freaked out for the right reasons.”
He heard Jin-ho huff. Restraining a smirk, Mathieu looked into the mirror and
worked on getting the contact lens in his right eye off. “You’re fucking scary
as Leroux. You have no idea.”
“Oh.” Mathieu got the contact lens off and
put it back inside its proper containing, staying quiet. He didn’t notice
Jin-ho coming to the bathroom and merely started to wash his face, taking
little notice as the other man came to watch him this time around. “It’s a skin
that’s hard to get off.”
Jin-ho said nothing. Mathieu took a nearby
towel and used it to wipe his face before looking into the mirror and seeing
Jin-ho behind. “…is it really starting to freak you out that much?”
“Things like these always take time to get
used to,” he defended, and Mathieu allowed himself a small smile.
“Mhm. If you say so.”
Jin-ho
could have sworn that there was a true look of malicious and murderous intent
in the eyes of the man in front of him, gun trained on another man who had been
knocked down to the ground. Spluttering and coughing, the other man had tried
to get up but this brown-haired male merely came forward and stepped harshly on
the other’s chest, burying the bloodstained sole into his beat up chest and
cracked ribs. A pained cry resonated; Jin-ho flinched but his companion didn’t.
A
gaze of dry anger lit up the brunet’s face. “I already told you,” he muttered,
tone sharp and cold and dangerous all at once. “But you stupid fucks don’t
really fucking listen, do you?”
The
Korean tried to ignore the continuing pained noises. Buried deep within those
noises were pleas for mercy. He knew, though, that mercy wasn’t on Mathieu’s
checklist. It never was there most of the time when he had to revert to his
darker, more primal side.
He
swallowed. Mathieu barely looked at him, still staring at the poor soul down on
the ground, bleeding out and begging for his life. Jin-ho found himself torn
between two versions of the same person and suddenly regretted introducing this
introducing this being – this monster – to the world.
(He
regretted pulling the monster out of Mathieu, too.)
Jin-ho
had grown accustomed to the sound of guns. Running a top-notch business as well
as being part of the family who owned the business meant much danger all
around. In fact, he had learned how to shoot a gun; the sound of them firing
wasn’t supposed to bring him much surprise at all.
Despite
that, he still jumped when the shot was fired.
Mathieu
merely stared, unflinching, until he turned his head and told Jin-ho in a
clipped voice, “We have to go.” Held on tightly to the gun and refused to turn
the safety off. His stomach lurched; in fear of throwing up, the dark-haired
Korean could only swallow nervously and stumble as he followed Mathieu out.
“–telling you that you don’t have to
continue with this anymore.” Mathieu blinked and looked up; Jin-ho was there
with two teacups in his hands. Handing one to him, Jin-ho sat down across and
took a light sip before going on. “You don’t have to do this anymore, Mathieu.
There are more things at risk now.”
“You think I can’t handle myself?”
“I’m telling you that we’re not the only
ones dealing with this anymore.” Mathieu fell silent and Jin-ho allowed himself
a momentary feeling of smugness. “You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?”
The other merely stayed silent, downing his
drink in one go.
“I know you want to protect her, Mathieu.”
Jin-ho dropped the smug act and exhaled, setting his cup down and rubbing his
eyes. In an instant, the self-assured and cunning businessman reverted back to
his original sense of self – someone tired, vulnerable, and plainly wanted to
get some rest. “I know that. I’ve met her. She’s a wonderful person and I can
see why you want her out of this mess as much as possible.”
“…I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“But you’re going to have to do your part,
too.”
* *
* * *
Home.
Mathieu exhaled as he stretched on the
couch – a light frown traced his lips as he noticed that she was looking at
him. Sort of. She wasn’t looking at him; rather, she was looking all over him
and silently breathing in the sight of him fucked up, injured, the like.
“You’re all banged up.”
“Not in the way I want, but it could be
worse,” Mathieu laughed, flashing a wink her way in an attempt at soothing her.
Aether rolled her eyes whilst blushing and left to grab an ice pack. Upon returning
home, Mathieu was immediately greeted with a tight hug and a kiss to his cheek.
A little surprised by the onslaught of affection, it took him a while until he
grinned himself and hugged Aether back just as tightly. “You getting me an ice
pack, baby?”
“God knows you need it,” she sighed.
Mathieu waited patiently on the couch, the smile still on his face, and she
eventually came back with it. Settling beside him, she pressed it to the
different areas on his face until he snickered and took it from her, tending to
his wounds, bumps, and bruises himself. Mathieu’s gaze fell on the television
and he idly commented on what they were watching, his words falling less and
less amusing as he took in her half-hearted answers.
As the commercial break came, he pressed
the mute button and turned towards her, frowning a little bit this time. The
smile had faded. “…what’s wrong?”
Aether shrugged guiltily and looked away.
“Your bruises are coming back.”
“Oh.” He attempted to shrug it off, “You
know this is nothing, sweetheart. I’m always banged up like this. Jin-ho’s a
weird fucker who needs protection all the time,” the male reassured her.
Despite that, Aether still didn’t look convinced.
“…I worry that what you’re doing’s going to
end up hurting you.”
“I’ve been through worse ordeals,
sweetheart. Trust me. It takes a lot for me to get out of the picture.” Aether
still didn’t respond and Mathieu eventually sighed, wrapping an arm around the
dark-haired lady slowly. “What’s eating you?”
“It’s nothing – just – just your safety. I
know you always tell me that you know what you’re doing, but…it’s scary to have
you come home with all of this and asking for a checkup from me. I know HQ
taught me how to work with injuries, but I’m not a doctor. Or a nurse.”
His brow furrowed. “So you’re bothered by
me asking for health tips?”
“What – no,” she shook her head and buried
her face into his chest; Mathieu blinked and instinctively held her tighter,
mind reeling. “No…I just don’t like it when you come home like this,” she
mumbled. “Hurt and all. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fucking hell.
He didn’t say anything for a moment,
something slithering uncomfortably in him. It wrapped around his spine and he
felt cold, even with her body on his and the amount of attention and love she
was giving at that moment. Despite that, his external details gave her the
impression that he wanted her to continue talking about whatever was in her
mind. So she did.
“And I – I know that it’s stupid for me to
ask you for assurances like these when I can barely keep myself injury-free,
considering I work for HQ. But…I just wanted to let you know, I suppose, that…I
just want you to watch out for yourself out there, too.” She dug her face
tighter into his chest and mumbled something that she thought he wouldn’t be
able to hear.
But he did.
Jin-ho’s words, repeated. A reminder.
Unable to do anything else, Mathieu merely
held onto her even tighter and used his shaky fingers to stroke her hair and calm
her down. Aether eventually fell asleep against his chest, arms loosely wrapped
around him and her eyes so comfortably shut.
Even then were his fingers still trembling.
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