"I have to go now."

Hearing that sentence coming out from Sohee's mouth caused a big pout to appear on Hoseok's face.

"Let's talk again this Sunday." She tried to console him with a call reschedule, but it only caused that lips of his to be jutted out even further.

"You know I won't be able to call you again 'till the end of the month," he whined.

"See you till the end of the month then." In exchange for his 'intentionally manipulative' moment of cuteness, Sohee curtly stuck out her tongue. Her great immunity to his aegyo really began to annoy him. "I really have to go! I'm going into a tunnel soon."

Finally, with a loud sigh, Hoseok discarded the pout and smiled. He knew how much Sohee hated an unceremoniously cut call. Everything has to end like a neatly tied ribbons. With goodbyes and well timed end button press.

And so he gave in to her wish. He wouldn't be so mean as to confront her with something she's uncomfortable with, right?

"Goodbyee." He said with his hand waved about.

"Byee," she answered his farewell wave with a quick blow of her kiss. "On three okay?"

It was then proceeded by the usual routine for the end of their calls. So usual that by the time the word 'one' spur out from , Sohee's thumb was already hovering atop the glowing green button.

This habit didn't always look so well choreographed. It was really tricky at the beginning, tens of minutes spent fighting over who should hang up first. But over some months and numerous video calls later, Sohee knew that she could trust him, that he wouldn't dare pull something stupid at the end of a call.

Neatly tied bow, that's always been their promise.

"... Two, three, byee."

"Onee, twoo, I love y-."

The window was already closed by the time Sohee heard the tails of Hoseok's last words, which were unceremoniously cut by her thumb hitting the green button who now glowed red and had begun to scorch her conscience like the eye of Sauron would.

"No! Nononononononono!" When the realization dawned on her that she'd cut him in the middle of an important conveyance of his emotion, Sohee frantically tried to reconnect the call by tapping on the call button at the right of her phone screen. So rapidly did she tap on that region it was just a miracle her LCD display didn't crack under such pressure.

"Oh god." her breath came out in a hiss, like a deflated balloon that was her pair of lungs, when she realized she'd entered the tunnel. The windows of the train were so dark it perfectly captured her expression of pure anxiety and handed it back to her like a present.

A neatly tied present.

"I love you too..."

A silent whisper to the stagnant screen of their messages was all she could do. Until the end of the month, that was all she could do. Because she absolutely refused to type in those words.

Because Sohee valued tonal intonations, and the cracks in your voice that was caused by pure giddiness. And how it was fleeting and could only be captured in your auditory loop, depleting in quality with each replay, causing the other party to keep anticipating for the next time when they could hear her say it again. Those words. Those words that he couldn't hear because he was a damn brash man who never think things through.

"I love you."