“Fine,” he whispered to the ceiling. “We do this the hard way.”
He applied the menthol rub first—not just under his nose, but in a thick, reckless smear across his entire upper lip, his cheekbones, and accidentally, a little on his eyebrow. His eyes watered. He felt like a bear that had just stuck its face into a glacier. The left nostril gave a half-hearted flutter, then closed again. open blocked nose
Leo looked at his reflection. His eyes were red. His upper lip was shiny with menthol. There was a single noodle from the soup clinging to his shirt. He had never felt more defeated. “Fine,” he whispered to the ceiling
He shuffled back to bed, lay on his side, and closed his eyes. The water-stain face on the ceiling seemed less disapproving now. Almost proud. He felt like a bear that had just