Suah can’t stand Sehun’s coffee and Sehun gets wrecked by the end of the week trying to adjust waking up an hour earlier than he usually does.

They hate their new regime and quickly shift back to their old schedule without even realizing.

***

The first snow falls on Christmas day, just like that last year in high school.

Suah gets a new limited edition Chanel bag from Sehun, and Sehun gets a painted portrait of himself in a large canvas—all handmade by Suah.

“Thanks, honey,” Suah thanks him like it’s habit and leans over to kiss Sehun’s cheek.

“I love your gift,” Sehun replies without a beat.

***

Suah never wears the bag and Sehun doesn’t hang the painting.

***

“You’ve been talking with Baekhyun, haven’t you?” Sehun accuses, pulling Suah away from the crowded beach, far from Jongin’s wedding venue.

Jongin is getting married to his childhood sweetheart Eunchae, and Sehun is one of his groomsmen.

“What the are you talking about?” Suah pulls her hand out of Sehun’s grip with a betrayed look on her face, and Sehun frowns.

“Don’t swear at me like that. You know exactly what I mean.” Sehun growls.

“Yeah I’ve been talking with him, because our companies are having a collab for that new art gallery I told you about,” Suah makes an excuse that Sehun thinks is ridiculous.

“New art gallery?”

“See? This is why I don’t tell you things, Sehun, because I know you weren’t listening in the first place anyway!”

“Don’t change the ing topic. You know damn well that I hate those art galleries.”

Suah gasps, and Sehun’s eyes widen when he realizes the implication of his words. He opens his mouth to try and undo his statement, but the damage is already done.

“You might as well hate me too because ‘those art galleries’ you’re talking about is my whole ing life,”

“You know I don’t mean—”

“Save it, Sehun. I don’t wanna look at you right now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party I have to get back to.”

Fights like this happen. They would make up at the end of the day and spend the next day skipping work and lazing around enjoying each other’s companies.

This time around, they don’t.

***

Mandatory dinner at Sehun’s family house every last Wednesday of the month forces them to talk to each other. They hold hands and joke like they always do, and talk about high school on the drive back to their house.

“Hey. I love you, you know?” Sehun convinces Suah and wonders why does it feel like he’s convincing himself instead.

“Why that all of the sudden?” Suah replies.

“I don’t know. I just thought that we hadn’t said it to each other a lot lately,” Sehun shrugs.

“I know. I love you too,” Suah says, and they both wonder when did it start to feel this nonchalant saying their “i love you”s.

***

Sehun starts missing dinners with the excuse of unavoidable company dinners, and Suah doesn’t bother to clean up after her dishes when Sehun doesn’t come home for dinner.

***

“Hey, wash the damn dishes next time, we’ve got rotten food everywhere in this goddamn dining table!”

“ off.”

***

They don’t spend dinner together anymore.

Sehun spends weeks overseas and Suah starts hiring a maid to look after the house because she’s never really home anymore anyway—the loneliness kills.

***

“Where the are you?” Sehun yells into the phone.

“Stop ing swearing at me. I’m at work.”

“Yeah? At 11p.m? Right. The sky is green and the grass is blue. Go home this instant or I will rip your newest painting to shreds with my own hands.”

Suah sighs. It is almost enticing to see Sehun actually go through with his empty threat if she doesn’t show up. “I’m coming.”

The house is dark when Suah arrives, Sehun’s shoes recklessly thrown in different directions on the entrance hall. Suah tries not to snap and turns on the lights because she isn’t a caveman that lives in the ing dark.

“Sehun?” Suah calls. She refers with difficulty in saying “Sehun honey”. It’s become a habit.

She turns off the lights in the living room and finds Sehun sitting on the green sofa she’s always hated, staring at the turned-off TV. The TV is new and Suah wonders when the hell did that happen.