Kyungsoo cringed at the sound of Sarang’s fingers cracking. She stretched her arms and flexed her back a little before finally lying on the floor next to the pile of drawing equipments the two were working with.

“This is torture” she sighed.

Kyungsoo smiled. Although Sarang was complaining about the project they were working on together for the architecture course, he knew at the end they’d finish it well.

“We’re doing well” he said.

“Yeah but we’ve been working all day and we’re not even halfway there. We still got a lot to do” she complained. After their classes ended they left together to Kyungsoo’s place to start working on their project.

“We still have time geez don’t panic.”

“Right,” she nodded, “I’m glad we’re taking classes together” she said, “Imagine having to do a project with someone else, they would have thrown all the work on my back.”

“I know, group work but now that we’re doing it together we’re both working hard it will turn out good” he reached for a high five and she hit it.

Sarang sat straight again. She reached for her phone to check what time it was but surprisingly her phone’s battery was dead.

“Aishh it’s off… I should have charged it before I left home but my charger is broken” she sighed.

“Wait I’ll bring you mine.”

“It’s okay no need to,” Sarang stood up and began straightening her clothes, “I should get going it’s already late. I’ll just borrow Chanyeol’s charger when I get home since we have the same phones.”

“Is he… uh- treating you well?” Kyungsoo asked.

When Sarang thought about the previous day warmth crept into her heart. It’s true that it ended badly but it was because of Hwasoo not Chanyeol.

Chanyeol treated her well the whole day, he took her everywhere she wanted to go without even complaining, he really listened to whatever she said and most importantly he shared more about his past with her.

If she had to compare him with what he used to be when they first got married he was now much better.

Sarang smiled, “It’s slowly getting better.”

“He better not hurt you” Kyungsoo frowned, “If he ever did anything wrong you need to tell me, okay? I’m always here for you.”

“Eyy you’re acting like a grown up oppa” Sarang laughed as she pinched Kyungsoo’s squishy cheeks dismissing the seriousness in his tone.

“It’s pretty late, I’ll drive you home” Kyungsoo stated, not really asking for her opinion. He gathered her stuff and carried them to his car while Sarang locked the door and followed him.

~

By the time Sarang and Kyungsoo arrived it was already nine thirty. Technically, it wasn’t that late, but because of the cold and foggy weather the atmosphere felt darker outside.

Sarang reached for her books before opening the door. She turned her head toward her friend, “Thank you for driving me here, Kyungsoo-ya.”

“As if I would let you come alone at this hour” he ruffled her hair lightly.

Sarang got out first and Kyungsoo immediately followed. Since she was already holding heavy books he decided to carry her bag for her. It was filled with drawing and architecture equipment.

“Ahh thank you” she thanked again when they reached the front door, “have a good night” she wished.

After smiling at her, Kyungsoo his heel to leave but paused. He looked over his shoulder at Sarang before he spoke hesitantly.

“If you ever needed anything… like, any-thing” he stressed on each syllable, “I’m here” he finished.

His voice sounded as soft and calming as ever. It warmed Sarang’s heart to know she had a caring and nice friend like Kyungsoo.

“Hmm” she firmly nodded with a grateful smile before waving goodbye.

The house was quiet inside. As she stepped in there was no other sound but hers softly humming a song.

She bent down to place her stuff neatly by the living room’s door deciding that she’d arrange them later, but when she stood back up and turned around she let out a short screech before she bumped into the man standing right behind her with his hands crossed over his chest.

“You scared me Chanyeol dammit!” Sarang yelled, still feeling short of breath.

She took a step back feeling Chanyeol’s dark eyes on her. He still hadn’t uttered a word but the expression on his face was enough to tell he was angry.

“W-What’s wrong?” she asked cautiously.

“Where have you been?” he finally asked with his deep and low voice.

“Uh-“ Sarang scratched her ear awkwardly, “I was with Kyungsoo.”

Chanyeol nodded, but his jaw was working under his skin. He was trying to suppress the anger.

“Do you know how many times I called you? I couldn’t reach you. You could have at least told me you were going to be late!”

“Well… I didn’t think you’d care” she murmured, but the real reason why she hadn’t answered her phone or even called was because her phone had died. Still, she really didn’t think he’d care.

“The fact that I didn’t care never stopped you before. You still gave me your detailed schedules that I never asked for.”

“Exactly! You never asked for them, you never wanted me to let you know if I were going to be late or if I was even coming back home. You never cared, so why are you making it sound like a big deal now?”

“I was worried about you!” his tone came out loud. “Because I didn’t know where you were or if anything bad had happened to you and I couldn’t reach you so I got worried! All the times I came back home and didn’t find you it was okay because you had already told me where you were but today you haven’t and I got worried!”

Sarang was stunned with what he just said.

“I thought you never even listened to anything I said…”

Chanyeol let out a frustrated breath. “I thought so too…” he said almost inaudibly.

He also thought he never cared and that he never listened to whatever she said when she called and informed him about her plans and whether she was going to be late or not. He used to answer with “Yeah whatever” or “I don’t care” to literally anything she said.

But now that he came back home and didn’t find her, neither found a text message or a call from her worried him. It drove him even crazier that she hadn’t picked up her phone.

He didn’t know what to expect. Did something bad happen to her? Was she okay? Was it possible that she decided to leave? He was worried about her.

All those thoughts drove him mad, but when he saw that she was back home with no slight concern he got angrier. She had him worried for hours while she was so relaxed about it.

“It’s not like you were worried I’d leave” she walked away to the window, “Isn’t that what you always wanted anyway?”

“You think I want you to leave?” Chanyeol’s voice came out softer.

“You don’t?”

Chanyeol broke the eye-contact, he went and plopped on the couch wordlessly. Did he still want her to leave? Even he didn’t know the answer anymore.

Sarang walked over to Chanyeol and sat next to him. The serious look on her face changed slowly as she broke into a mischievous smile.

“What?” he snapped.

“Hubby was worried about me” her smile widened uncontrollably, “You don’t hate me as much as you pretend to do” she stuck her tongue.

Chanyeol tried to maintain a straight face.

“Hubby you’re so nice, right? Right?” she poked his chest with her finger making him smile this time no matter how hard he tried to suppress it.

“Aish what a troublemaker” he complained.

“Look I haven’t called because my phone died but my phone died because my charger is broke which is why I need to borrow your charger temporarily until I buy a new one since our phones are the same.”

Chanyeol made a face, “F