Work Text:
I don't have enough of Reo.
I come to this realization after lying down on my back on a sofa and staring at the ceiling of my room for a good 15 minutes. The thing is, I suffered a minor injury in the last game and was ordered to take a month off. The timing of my injury was bad, I couldn't heal in time for the start of a new season. That's why I was left here in Japan, while Reo and other team members are playing in a league in France.
By minor injury, I mean a sprained ankle. It's mostly healed now, but I need another week of rest to be safe before I can fly over and join the team.
I've been feeling restless for a while, but it's only now I realize that I'm Reo-deprived. Reo Deficiency Disease or RDD I would call it.
Ugh what a pain. Why do I have to have emotions?
Reo and I, we've been texting each other sparsely throughout the day (Reo is busy, of course, and I'm not really that responsive). Given what I'm feeling right now, texting therapy is not effective.
Huh, to relieve the symptoms, I guess I will check Reo's Instagram account.
I unlock my phone and tap the (rarely if ever used) app icon. Reo's posts immediately appear in my feed. That's because I follow, like, 3 accounts in total. One of them is Instagram official account.
Reo has a lot of fans, so he updates his Instagram account regularly. Once a day, it seems to me, having scrolled through what he's posted. How diligent. So, posting on social media is also part of his work, according to Reo's principle of professionalism.
I keep scrolling.
Food... scenery... group photos... morning coffee and things related to soccer.
"...."
I close it down and open a chat application instead.
‘can u update ur ig more?’
‘like 3 posts a day or sth’
Then I remember that the time difference is a thing. But luckily, I catch him at a good time because his reply comes back just 2 minutes later.
‘care to explain why I should do that?’
I type back. ‘I don’t know what ur doing’ and ‘you should post more’.
‘if that’s what you want I can send you photos or maybe update you here without posting them on ig?’, Reo suggests.
I consider his suggestion for a moment. I’m not quite sure why but it doesn’t sound very appealing. ‘ig is better. somehow idk’
‘how’, Reo, too, seems confused but not for long.
His next texts follow.
‘wait forget it’
‘I think I know why you think that’
‘because you don’t have to make any responses if I post them on my ig’
Oooh…as expected from Reo. He knows me better than I know myself. So, the reason I feel like IG post is the better option is because I can see what he’s up to without having to bother with a reply.
I send him a sticker. It’s an alien making an impressed face. I can see Reo rolling his eyes from France all the way here to Japan. Deal with it. This is how I, your boyfriend, operate.
Then the chat goes silent for a minute. As I begin to wonder if I have upset Reo, he starts typing again.
‘alright’
‘I’m not posting any more than I do now btw’ Reo explains. ‘it takes too much time interacting with comments each time I post and it’s not like I can post without thinking’
‘I will send you pics here with some context maybe and you don’t have to reply’
I blink. Sure, it doesn’t matter which app I use to see how he is doing but isn’t it a bit cruel to have Reo keep sending photos he takes several times a day with me going radio silent in a chat room with just the two of us?
While I’m thinking of scraping the whole idea and resigning myself to living with the symptoms for one more week, Reo sends another batch of texts.
‘but in exchange’
‘just take a photo of whatever you’re doing and send it to me once a day’
‘I want to see what you’re up to too :P’
What a bother. I have gained myself one more daily mission I need to complete. But still, Reo is also interested in what I’m doing. My chest feels a bit warmer knowing my feelings are not one-sided.
Instead of voicing my first thought because now I'm a little bit smarter than back then when we were in Blue Lock, I reply to him with ‘I hole myself up in my room all day’, and ‘I can offer u pics of my floor and walls :P’.
‘if that’s what you see then sure’, Reo answers without missing a beat. ‘want to see what you see’.
Now my heart does a funny little squeeze. Though I doubt anyone but me would know because none of it shows on my face.
‘you said it’ I send a reply. ‘just one pic? A bad deal for u’
I’m not good at making deals or negotiating, but Reo is really gifted with a business mind. He can see the value of things through all the bullshit and can single-handedly determine how much should be paid for them. What we have just agreed is that Reo will send me 3-4 photos a day instead of posting them on IG. But he asks me for only one in return. Obviously, by the numbers, I’m at an advantage here, overwhelmingly. Even someone like me knows that.
But Reo’s replies go against my opinion.
‘it’s the other way around Nagi’
‘I got myself a good deal if anything’
“…..”
Sigh.
Leave it to Reo to express his love so clearly and effortlessly. I could never dream to be half as good.
And to think that I used to think texting treatment could relieve the symptoms. Reo just shoved it in my face that it only makes it worse. I could only let out one of the biggest sighs of my life.
Then a notification pops up on my screen. It’s Reo. He’s sent me a photo already.
I tap on the notification. It’s a selfie of Reo holding a ball in his hand.
‘you have no idea how much I miss passing a ball to you. Hurry up and heal my dummy’, says the text underneath. That’s cheesy. But hey, Reo,
You also have no idea how much I miss running on the pitch, anticipating your passes I know for sure you’d make. You also have no idea how much I miss you. How much I want to hold you in my arms. How much I want to kiss you.
Wait, did I just think that? That’s hella cheesy.
It dawns on me that my RDD (it’s Reo Deficiency Disease, in case you forget) is in its terminal stage. An extreme measure must be taken before I succumb to the disease.
I tap open my browser app and type www.skyscanner.com.