junko often tells her boyfriend that if neither the baseball or music scene work out, he could easily become a model. she's especially reminded of this when she runs her gaze along his jaw, tight skin defaced only with the marks of an eighth, ninth inning. he has dimples when he smiles, small dips she could ease herself into, any day.
"bug, are you serious? if you're not gonna watch your dumb chickflick, lemme put on the game." when his girlfriend doesn't stop him from changing the channel, he quirks a brow and turns to face her. "you've been staring at me for the past hour. what's up with you?" he asks but in all honesty he digs the attention. leon runs his hands over her smooth legs draped over his lap.
highschool sweethearts. a couple of six years. they still go out at night, still fuck in small broom closets but there are times, in the peaceful fragments of the day where they just sit. sit on their swedish couch that they fought over two or three times during the course of it's construction; and just soak in eachother's presence till their fingers prune. breathing in the other as if they were the last molecules of oxygen in a gas chamber.
"is it wrong to find you especially cute today?" junko coos, reaching with her hands to cup his face and pull him down to where her lips, glossed with cherry pink, await his. when they kiss, two worlds, populated by the deteriorating chaos within themselves, meet at the summit to end the coldest of wars. it produces enough electricity to power cities. "you're cute everyday." he whispers against the crook of her neck.
she smiles for him in a way that no camera has seen, and he wishes he could take a picture right then to tuck away into his back pocket where he knows he'll always find her when they're separated by work. by oceans. by bedroom walls.
they fall asleep on the couch until leon gently nudges her awake. friday night; a party on the other side of town. he kisses her forehead when she buttons him up. she waits for him at the door while he makes a call.
"yo, naegi. we're on our way."
"you're late and everyone's already waiting. don't forget the--"
"i've got it, don't worry!"
junko may have been a model but she finds leon beautiful even when he takes up the entire bed, or puts too much sugar in her coffee or when he refuses to wear pants on sundays. in every moment, she swoons.
but she screams when she sees headlights on the wrong side of the highway. he swerves but not in time.
the last thing she remembers, past the shards of glass in her gut, ignoring the blood, their blood, dripping onto the road, is leon leaning over to kiss her for the last time.
when the paramedics sort through the wreckage, they find that the only thing left unscathed was the ring inside a small box in his pocket.
