In the Rented Apartment,
Morning had long descended on Moscow. The birds were chirping, and the air still held the remnants of the coldness from the rain. Raindrops were slowly falling from the leaves of trees, plants, and flowers. Coldness enveloped the winds, making people who go to work wear warmer clothes.
Eric was still sleeping in his bedroom. Even though his normal routine was to wake up at night, his little walk in the middle of the night had made him return home at 3:30 a.m.
His sleep was suddenly disturbed by Ruby, who had long since awoken, made breakfast, and finished cleaning the living room.
Seeing that Eric was still sleeping—which wasn't like him, even though he was unemployed at the moment—it had not been long since he and his friend had left the army. Their marriage hadn't been for that long either, and they were still learning to adapt to each other.
Ruby, who had entered the bedroom, pushed Eric back and forth. He was sleeping on his left side, and soon Eric opened his eyes and turned to look at Ruby. His eyes were droopy, indicating that he was still sleepy, but he immediately got up after staring at her for a few seconds, looked down (since she was much shorter than he was), and opened his mouth to speak.
"Good morning."
His voice was hoarse and deep in the morning.
He got out of the bedroom without saying anything else and headed to the bathroom, where he took a hot shower. He put his bangs back into a ponytail; his whole face could be seen now. His face was no longer dirty but way clearer now and more handsome, his heterochromatic pink eyes giving him a uniqueness like no one else. He picked up some strands of white silk string and used them to make a beautiful, small braid on the lower side of his neck.
He then headed to the bedroom, took out a black vest, a white shirt, and black trousers, and wore them. From the second drawer, he took out a silver watch and put it on his left wrist. After doing all this, he looked in the mirror of the dressing table. He still couldn't see his own reflection, but if anyone else were to describe his looks, they would say that he looked simple and neat.
Eric turned to the door and was about to push it open when Ruby walked in. She was clearly angry from her expression; her brows were furrowed, and her lips were pursed together. She stared at his face for a few seconds, then turned around and sat on the stool in front of the dressing table. She looked at her face and took out some moisturizer as she stared at Eric's reflection in the mirror while he looked at her in a daze.
Eric, who didn't usually show much emotion or expression, was aware of the reason for his wife's anger, but before he could say anything, she spoke in a very angry tone.
"You bought so many sweets again! You spoil him too much! And when did you even buy them?"
Eric walked toward her, took a comb from the dressing table, and lifted her kelly green hair.
He reached for his pocket, took out a silver necklace, and placed it around her neck, and bent his back to put his face beside hers. He looked in the mirror—even though he couldn't see his reflection, he didn't show any abnormal reaction, as it was a very normal thing for him at this point.
Immediately, all of Ruby's anger vanished, and she started smiling and thanked him for the gift.
"It's okay, you don't have to buy something for me every time you buy sweets. I'm not a materialistic person."
Eric replied as he kissed her cheek. "But you sure are happy to get it. It was very expensive," he said, showing a pained expression with closed eyes.
Eric straightened his back, and Ruby stood up too. The heavy air around her was gone as she touched the silver necklace, looked at Eric, and said, "Let's have breakfast."
Eric and Ruby headed out of the bedroom. Eric sat at the dining table while Ruby went to the kitchen, placed his breakfast in front of him (he thanked her), and sat in the opposite seat.
Eric ate the omelet and the few slices of toasted bread with butter smeared on them. He was silently enjoying his breakfast when suddenly a thud! Came from room 002, the room next to theirs.
Some muffled screaming sounds could be heard even through the thick brick-and-cement wall. The muffled screaming was followed by the sounds of things dropping. The noises soon stopped. All of this caught Ruby's attention; she looked right and stared as the sounds reached her ears. Eric, meanwhile, simply focused on his breakfast.
Soon after the sounds stopped, the sound of a door opening reached their ears, followed by footsteps, and finally a knocking on their door. Neither Eric, who was having his breakfast, nor Ruby, who was staring at the door, stood up. The door opened slowly, and a tall, handsome man could be seen standing on their doorstep.
The man was very tall—as tall as Eric—but he wasn't as thin as him. His body was muscular, but not to the point where people would be amazed and shocked, staring and wondering how strong the man was or if he took steroids. He was still on the lean side.
The man had a handsome face with thin lips and thin, sharp eyes with thick eyelashes that were mesmerizing and almost hypnotizing, giving his handsome face a refined beauty. He was at least 6'4", the same height as Eric; however, his chin was sharper and more chiseled.
His eyes were purple. His hair was dark purple, except for a lump of pure white on the right side that made him look unique. He waved his hands at them with a big smile and asked sheepishly in an awkward manner, "Hello, good morning, Eric! Ruby, uh... haha, c-can I join you both?"
Eric kicked a chair on the right side of the dining table, pushing it backward to indicate that Max could sit.
Max immediately understood the sign, ran to the chair, and sat down. Ruby heaved a heavy sigh, got up, and gave him five full sets of breakfast. This had happened way too many times before. Ruby had become accustomed to it by now.
After five minutes of silently eating and chewing, Eric was done with his breakfast. He looked at this grown man who—even though he was just eating bread with butter and omelets—looked like a child who had finally been allowed to eat his favorite sweets after a long time of wailing and crying.
Then a pained groan came from the main door, and Max suddenly stiffened, straightened his back, and almost choked on the bread.
From the door entered a woman with long orange hair and hyper-orange eyes. She had a beautiful face—neither inferior nor superior to Ruby's. However, unlike Ruby, she exuded a very angry and terrifying vibe. Her brows were furrowed, her gaze expressing her annoyance.
Her back was hunched as she massaged it while groaning in pain. She slowly walked to the dining table, pushed her back with both hands to make an arc, and with a final groan straightened up. From her expression, it was clear she was still in pain.
Ruby looked out from the kitchen and asked the woman in a very familiar and friendly tone, "Zoe, what happened?"
Zoe looked at her with an annoyed glare, then at Max, who was frozen in place as if that would make him invisible. She said in a very angry and annoyed tone while pointing at Max, "This bastard used me as a body pillow the whole night! I'm in pain because he hugged me so hard in his sleep."
She hissed again as her back hurt, put her left hand on it, and bent over.
Max looked back with an apologetic smile, a drop of sweat flowing down his cheek, and apologized, saying that she was too soft and squishy and he just couldn't hold himself back.
Zoe didn't say anything. She used the dining table for support, walked to the other side, and sat down.
The empty plates in front of Eric and Max were taken by Ruby; she put them in the sink to wash later.
Eric looked at all of them one by one and then opened his mouth to speak in a slow and calm tone. His voice was cold, but the familiarity and warmth in it could be clearly felt.
"We are going to leave Moscow the day after tomorrow. I got an email last night offering me a job as a police officer in Paris. I discussed it with them, and they said Max can also join because a recently hired police officer vanished suddenly. We have already spent some time in Moscow and have been unable to find any jobs. The money we saved from our last job is going to run out completely. So if you have anyone to say goodbye to or any souvenirs to get, you'd better do it fast."
His tone was commanding, as if he wouldn't entertain any questions, buts, or ifs, and his explanation was detailed enough that no questions appeared in the minds of the three people in front of him.
Max raised his arms, stood up, walked toward Zoe, and lifted her from the chair. Zoe realized what he was going to do; her eyes widened, and she tried to stop him, but in the end, she was too weak. Max hugged his wife tightly and spun her around while screaming in happiness that they were going to a new place. Zoe could feel her spine breaking as her consciousness slowly started to leave her.
She was only saved after Eric told Max there were sweets for him in the fridge. Max gently threw Zoe onto the sofa in front of the 42-inch TV and ran to the kitchen to get the sweets from the fridge.
Eric sipped his tea that Ruby had brewed for him while Max ate the sweets, pastries, and breads happily. Zoe lay on the sofa with her back aching and her eyes half-closed as she fainted in a daze.