Before Jinki can even part his lips to speak, Jonghyun is frowning at him with his hand raised in front of his face to silence him.

“No, don’t speak. You can’t, hyung, remember? You’re on strict voice rest.” Jonghyun shakes his head as he passes Jinki his phone, “If you need something, type it down and show it to me.”

Jinki sighs and slumps further into the sofa. It’s been weeks since his throat surgery and he has long past the two weeks of strict voice rest. Right now, Jinki is well on his road to recovery but Jonghyun is still overly concerned about his condition. The doctor himself has given Jinki the green light to start using his voice again (albeit slowly) but Jonghyun begs to differ. Jinki thinks it’s because Jonghyun is more affected than he lets on upon seeing how Jinki had suffered through the immediate stage after surgery, and he now regrets letting Jonghyun stay with him during those difficult weeks. Still, that period is long over and Jinki wishes Jonghyun would know he is already feeling well enough to use his voice again.

When Jinki tries to speak once more, Jonghyun presses a finger to his lips and looks pleadingly at him.

“Hyung, please… you’re not allowed to speak. You need to rest your voice.”

Moving Jonghyun’s finger away from his lips, Jinki gives up under Jonghyun’s puppy eyes and ends up typing what he has to say to Jonghyun on his phone.

Jjong, I’m really feeling fine!

Jonghyun takes one look at the screen and shakes his head.

“No. You still shouldn’t be talking.” Jonghyun says while he busies himself with pouring Jinki a glass of water.

Jinki takes his phone back and begins typing furiously.

My voice therapist says I’m allowed to talk, Jjong! I even have a list of vocal exercises to practise every day. If I don’t talk, I can’t strengthen my vocal chords. So how am I supposed to fully recover with you restricting me like this?

Upon reading the message, Jonghyun sighs as he passes Jinki the glass of water and finally settles next to Jinki on the sofa.

“Talk only when you must.” Jonghyun decides, “And right now, you don’t have to. Not with me.”

After taking a sip of water, Jinki places the glass onto the coffee table and returns his attention to his phone.

I want to talk to you.

“I want you to rest.”

Quit worrying about me. I’m feeling so much better than before.

Jonghyun shakes his head, refusing to let Jinki use his voice around him, and makes it clear that there is no room for arguments.

Jinki slides his hand into Jonghyun’s hand and whispers, “Why are you so stubborn?”

Jonghyun widens his eyes, his whole body tensing up, “I told you not to speak, didn’t I? Why, hyung? Why would you still-”

“Jjong, relax.” Ignoring Jonghyun's plea, Jinki continues to speak in a soft voice as he squeezes his boyfriend’s hand reassuringly, “Why are you being like this?”

“Why can’t you understand?” Jonghyun asks, looking both anxious and afraid, “I don’t wanna be left alone.”

“What-”

“In this world. Without you by my side.” Jonghyun continues disjointedly, unable to speak coherently when he thinks about his biggest fear, “I don’t know what I’d do without you, hyung. Please, stay healthy.”

“Jonghyun…”

With Jonghyun looking as if he is about to burst into tears, Jinki gives up and resumes typing on his phone.

You’re thinking too much again. It’s just throat surgery. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m not going anywhere. Besides, I can’t bear to leave you alone. 

“Really?”

Jinki smiles and nods.

“Good.”

Jinki laughs silently, “You’re such a big baby.”

“Hyung!” Jonghyun gasps, “Shhhh!”

Jinki rolls his eyes and pulls Jonghyun in for a kiss.

Since he isn’t allowed to speak, Jinki decides kissing is the best solution to stop himself from talking. And when Jonghyun responds and takes control of the kiss, he knows his boyfriend agrees too.