A New Era
Yohan woke before dawn.
Hailey was gone. She must have slipped back to her own room.
Smacking his lips against the dry taste in his mouth, he wandered out to the kitchen for a glass of water—and found Caroline still up.
"Aunt Caroline? You're still awake? It's… one in the morning."
"I was working. Heading to bed now. Why aren't you asleep?"
"Just grabbing some water, then I'm going right back."
"Yeah? How's the inside of your mouth?"
"Sorry?"
Why on earth was she asking about his mouth—and specifically the inside of it?
He tilted his head in confusion, then his eyes went wide at what she said next.
"Hailey drooled into your mouth."
"What?"
"She was asleep on top of you, drooling straight into your mouth. I went over to check on you two and happened to see it."
"…She did…?"
"Weren't you suffocating? She was practically crushing you."
"I—I wasn't really… I mean…"
"Want to see the photo? It was so funny I took one."
"I—I'll take a look."
"Go ahead. If you don't like it, delete it."
The moment Yohan looked at the phone she handed him, he froze.
There he was, lying on his back with his head turned to the side and his mouth hanging open—and there was Hailey, sprawled right on top of him, cheek pressed hard against his, a thin stream of drool running down as she slept.
The trail of saliva sliding over his cheek, wetting his lips and the inside of his mouth, was captured in perfect, merciless detail. Embarrassment flooded him so hard he squeezed his eyes shut, then forced them open again.
"C-can I delete it?"
"Of course. I shouldn't have taken it without asking in the first place. I'd love to keep it, honestly—but if you want it gone, that's fair."
"…"
"Deleting it?"
The look on Caroline's face was genuinely disappointed.
Yohan's resolve crumbled. He scratched the back of his head and shook it.
"No. You can keep it. It's just a photo."
It wasn't as if they were naked. Just two people with their cheeks pressed together. A little gross, sure—but Caroline was right. It was funny. He decided to let it go.
"Thanks. You hungry? Want me to whip something up?"
"No, I'm going straight back to sleep."
"All right. I'm turning in, then."
"Okay. Good night."
"Mm."
Caroline disappeared into her room. Yohan drained a glass of water in big gulps and was about to head back to bed when a thought snagged him.
Hailey had clearly woken up before he had.
Which meant she must have noticed the drool trail…
Had she cleaned him up? Or had she just fled the scene?
She probably took care of it herself.
It was only a minor curiosity. He shrugged it off and decided not to dwell on it.
Besides… it was Hailey's. That made it fine.
He went back to bed and slept straight through until morning. On his way out of the room he ran into Hailey—and the way her eyes flicked, just for a second, toward the corner of his mouth made him snort with laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Just wanted to ask if you slept well."
"Of course I did. Why? Were you worried I hadn't?"
"No."
"What was that just now?"
"What?"
"That face. Why do you look so smug?"
"If that's how it came across, sorry. But last night—"
"Ugh, shut up. I'm going to work out. Get ready."
A faint flush had risen in Hailey's cheeks.
She was changing the subject on purpose, and she wasn't even trying to hide it. Proof enough that she knew exactly what she'd done.
Yohan gave a slow nod and decided to grant her the mercy of a new topic.
"Since when do you work out in the morning? You never do."
"Says who? I've been going a lot lately."
"I've never seen you jogging or running. You don't even walk. And you don't lift, either…"
"Hey. Is walking and running the only kind of exercise that counts? Is weight training the only real workout? There's swimming, you know."
"Ah… so you were going to swim?"
"Yeah. Swimming's one of the healthiest things you can do. Anyway—get ready and meet me outside."
"Got it."
"And while we're at it, get a new phone. Who still only texts and calls in this day and age?"
The demand came so far out of left field that Yohan blinked twice.
"A phone? This one works fine. It's got roaming."
"That's not what I mean. You could be messaging people in real time with a chat app, but your phone is so ancient it can only do calls and texts."
"Ah… so that's what you meant. But I like this phone."
"You're making real money now. What's the big deal about buying one phone? Want me to get you one?"
"No. Don't. The sisters gave me this one. I don't want to replace it."
"I know it means a lot to you… but what happens when it breaks? You think that thing's going to last forever? Sooner or later the buttons will stop working. Then what?"
"Then I'll buy a new one. I'll have to. But swapping it out while it still works just feels…"
"Come on. The sisters are probably praying you'll get a real phone already. Back then they didn't have the money, and you were always out somewhere, so they gave you whatever they could."
"No. The Mother Superior got a smartphone from the Vatican for accessibility apps, and she gave me the old one she didn't need anymore."
"Exactly. She gave you the leftover one because she worried about not being able to reach you."
"And she can reach me just fine right now."
"That's not—ugh."
Hailey thumped her chest in frustration—then her eyes lit up.
A brilliant idea had just landed.
She slung an arm around Yohan's shoulders the way only the closest of friends would, and pressed on.
"Turtle."
"Yeah."
"When you talk to the sisters, you're usually the one who calls first, right? Because calls from the convent cost them money."
"Right."
"But there have to be plenty of times when they want to reach out to you first."
"True."
"Okay. The Mother Superior has a smartphone, doesn't she?"
"She does."
"Which means she's got chat apps on it too. Right?"
"I don't know… maybe?"
"She definitely does. I'd bet on it. So if you get a new phone, you can message her every single day through the app. Either of you can send the first message. No matter how far apart you are. And it's free."
"Really? Free?"
"I'm telling you it is."
"Oh…"
She felt his ears practically perk up. That was all the confirmation she needed. Hailey gave him a solid thump on the back.
"We'll swim a bit, then go buy one this morning."
"All right."
"Hmm…"
Yohan stared at his brand-new smartphone with the face of a man deep in existential crisis.
Hailey took one look at him and burst out laughing.
The way he jutted his chin forward and carefully tapped the screen with one fingertip was pure elderly man discovering technology for the first time. All he needed was a pair of reading glasses and the picture would have been complete.
She laughed until her sides hurt—then caught the wounded look he was giving her and raised a hand in apology.
"What? What are you stuck on?"
"Nothing… I just don't know how to do any of this, so I was going to ask."
"Even the way you talk sounds like an old man. Put in some effort and learn something new. Read the manual yourself. If you're still lost after that, then ask me."
"I know the basics, obviously."
"Oh, do you?"
"Yeah. So just show me the chat app and how to use it."
Hailey clicked her tongue and sat down right beside him.
She fiddled back and forth between his old phone and the new smartphone for a long while, patiently transferring everything he needed, then finally held the new one out to him.
"There. All your numbers are moved over. Later, in the friend recommendations, you'll see the Mother Superior and the others. Just add them from there."
"Got it."
"For the record—everyone except the Mother Superior and our family costs money to chat with."
"Wait…? You said it was free."
"It's free for up to about ten people. After that, you pay."
"Ah… so that's how it works? Still, ten free slots is pretty generous. So I just pick the ten I want?"
"I already set them up for you. Mother Superior, me, Mom, and a few more from our family—that's ten."
"Huh? I need to talk to my agent too, though."
"Can't you just call him?"
"For quick updates, chatting would be better."
"Fine. Then we'll pay and add one more."
"How much?"
"Three thousand dollars. In euros, call it around twenty-eight hundred, maybe nine hundred euros or so."
"Th-that expensive?"
"You can afford it, can't you?"
"That doesn't mean I throw money around. But yeah… I should probably add the agent. Getting information faster would help…"
Hailey's lower lip was being chewed to pieces, trembling with the effort of holding something in.
Yohan narrowed his eyes.
"…You're lying to me right now, aren't you."
"N-nohik…?"
"Look at that—you're laughing…! Is it that fun, messing with someone who doesn't know anything?"
"Of course it is. Anyway, adding friends is completely free, so just do it yourself."
"Thanks."
"Is there anyone else who'd sit here and teach you this stuff? Everyone else would find it annoying. You know that, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh… you're so naive it worries me. You're going to get scammed the second you go back, aren't you?"
"By who?"
"By anyone. I'm not even joking—I think an elementary schooler could take you."
"Come on… that's going too far."
"I'm worried. Seriously worried."
While Yohan was spending easy, happy days with Hailey and her family, a new manager was appointed in Rome.
Volk Kruger.
A veteran coach who had taken charge of several Bundesliga clubs and collected more than a few trophies along the way. Recently dismissed from Leipzig for poor results, he had then taken over Monaco after their disastrous previous season, steadied the ship, and guided them into the Champions League.
The fans' reaction was warm.
They praised the owner for refusing to insist on an Italian coach and for paying a release fee to bring in a man who, every so often, earned the title of master tactician.
And so Roma stood on the threshold of a new era.
The same was true of Yohan's everyday life.