Will buckled up in the grandma-mobile, ready for work, and then the long drive to Maria to get Mozhgan's stuff back from the Lyons's haunted-house apartment.
"You could have stayed in bed, Zeph," he yawned, arms outstretched. I replied with a kiss to his arm as it passed my face. Like I was gonna stay in bed rather than eke out every second I had left with him.
"You OK about going back to that creepy apartment?"
"My Mom's paintings are worth it," he smiled.
"Here." I took off my necklace and looped it around Will's neck, popping a little kiss onto the shell before tucking it into his T-shirt. "Keep it until tomorrow night when you get back."
Will began to kiss my palms, my wrists, my knuckles, in a drawn-out goodbye. "Can we sleep in the white room again tomorrow night?" he asked between kisses.
"Sure. Why not every night until I-" We both sat in silence for a heartbeat. There weren't many nights left. My passport would arrive at the Embassy within days. I'd likely be on a flight by the weekend.
"Hey." Will put his forehead to mine. "You're gonna love being home. Musta missed Korea so much."
"I have. Sucks that I'm not gonna be Zephyr anymore. I haven't exactly missed being Jun-su."
Will's forehead crinkled. "Haven't you been Jun-su all this time?"
"No." I tapped my temple. "Jun-su hid."
Will looked even more puzzled, his eyebrows and frown joining in the party. "He hid? In your head?"
"Yeah. Since Sigma got me, Jun-su turned into...like a voice in my head."
"A voice?" Will knocked at my temple with his fingertips. "You in there, Jun-su?"
"He's in there. He doesn't show up much. Only if I'm being dumb, or if I'm being a dick to someone, or gonna fuck something up. He's not the kindest. But he's useful. Sometimes he helps me to be brave, or just tells me that I'm gonna be OK."
"I can't tell if Jun-su is a jerk or a stand-up guy," Will smiled, evidently not perturbed by the fact that I heard voices in my head. "So is Zephyr gonna switch with Jun-su and become the voice in your head when you go back to Korea?"
I'd never thought about Zephyr's fate. Zephyr had only existed for three years while I was in Sigma, and during my short weeks in Santa Elena. "I guess so. Zephyr is way braver than Jun-su. But way dumber. Maybe Zephyr's not the best voice in my head; he's gonna give bad advice. Hopefully he'll disappear completely when I get home."
Will turned to me with those big sad eyes of his. He didn't want Zephyr to die inside my head.
"I didn't mean it like that. They're both me, Will. Nobody's gonna disappear. Besides, Zefissimo showed up since I met you, remember? There's a whole party in here now," I said, knocking at my temple.
Will pulled me into his lap in the driver's seat for a kiss, slow and deep. "I'm so sorry that I was upset last night. But I meant it. I don't expect you to still think about me when you're back home." Fuck. Will was talking the same shit as the night before.
"Don't say that. I'm always gonna think about you."
"Zeph, you're twenty-two. Got your whole life to meet people. People way better than me."
"Stop saying that shit." A sudden rush of tears came. "This has been the best week of my whole life." I knew it. Nothing had been as perfect as the past few days and nights with Will.
"You have a lot more weeks of your life to enjoy," Will said, brushing away my tears. "I'm glad we had these few days."
"If we had only one night together, I'd have still wanted to. But, you know, way better in bed than I actually was on our first night."
YOU ARE READING
The Sigma Asset 🏳️🌈 (bxb)║AMBYS WINNER 2022
Mystery / Thriller**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city...
