Mingyu stormed into the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Wonwoo looked up from his place on the sofa, his confusion morphing into shock when he saw the look of rage in his boyfriend’s eyes. He wasn’t one to get angry, preferring to have a conversation about whatever was troubling him instead of turning to violence, so when Wonwoo saw him storming over to the couch, he shrank back ever so slightly.

“What,” Mingyu practically spat, “the hell is this?”

Wonwoo looked at the piece of paper that was shoved towards him and froze. Held in Mingyu’s hand was a letter addressed to Wonwoo. A letter of acceptance for a job application. A job located in Japan. A job that Wonwoo had never seen nor heard of before in his life.

Realisation hit him when he remembered his boss asking him about a job that was out of the country earlier that month. Wonwoo had firmly refused, of course, but his boss had been persistent saying that it was ‘a great opportunity that shouldn’t be missed’. He must have sent in an application without his consent and now he’d have to explain this mess to both Mingyu and the company that sent him the letter.

“Where did you get that?” Mingyu only seemed to get angrier at the question. He chucked his bag across the room and it landed with a thud in the middle of the floor. His already vicious grip on the letter tightened. Wonwoo shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he watched the paper crumple slightly at the edges.

“Why…why didn’t you tell me?” His voice shook slightly, and it was then that Wonwoo saw through his facade. The way his eyes were slightly dampened and frantic. The way his skin seemed to be paler than usual. The slight tremble of his lower lip. Mingyu was scared.

“I don’t kno-”

“Actually, no.” Mingyu interrupted, turning around and slamming the letter on the dining table violently, making Wonwoo flinch slightly, his gaze shifting to the floor.

“Is this the reason you’ve been distant recently?” His question made Wonwoo look back up at him in confusion. Distant? Mingyu seemed to guess what he was thinking and barked out a laugh.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” When Wonwoo’s expression stayed the same, he laughed again. Dry and humourless.

“So you haven’t noticed that you’ve been coming home later from usual recently? You’re working way more overtime than necessary when I know for certain that you hate it. You’ve had increasingly less time to spend at home and even when you do manage to spare a moment, you never stay here. You’re either at Soonyoung’s or hanging out with Junhui and Minghao.” Mingyu kept talking, barely giving himself a chance to breathe between sentences. Wonwoo watched him ramble as he slid from his seat on the sofa to the floor, hands folded in his lap, eyes filling with tears at the accusations. Had it really been this bad? He knew that he’d been working more recently, but he didn’t think that it was affecting Mingyu this much. He’d only been trying to save up for this month’s rent as they’d been tight on money, especially recently and since Mingyu was still in uni, Wonwoo was the one mainly paying for it.

“Are you tired of me? Is that it? Don’t you want to be with me anymore? You could have just told me instead of trying to escape to another country!” His voice got louder with each word and by the end of his rant, he was practically shouting. Not noticing the tears beginning to escape Wonwoo’s eyes Mingyu continued, quieter this time.

“I’m going to Jeonghan’s for the night. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

Marching towards the door, he reached out to grab his coat when a small voice behind him stopped him in his tracks, forcing him to turn back around.

“Please-“

Mingyu’s eyes widened at the sight of his boyfriend hunched over on the floor in front of him, tears streaming down his face, sobs wracking his body. Never, in their three years of dating, had he seen Wonwoo break down like this before. Not even when his bullies from their uni days had reappeared from nowhere and made their life hell for at least three months. Any anger he had felt previously disappeared when he watched helplessly as another heart wrenching sob escaped Wonwoo’s lips.

“Please don’t leave.” Wonwoo choked out, falling forwards as another tear made its way onto the tiled floor beneath him. Mingyu snapped out of his shock and immediately ran forwards, catching him. His hands shook slightly with the realisation that he had done this. He wrapped his arms around Wonwoo’s shoulders and pulled him closer when he felt his shirt becoming damp from his tears.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Mingyu started, his voice catching in his throat. “I’m right here, ok? I’m right here.”

Wonwoo just tightened his grip on Mingyu’s shirt as if it was the only way to make him stay and buried his face in his chest, crying harder when he tried to explain the situation. Mingyu hushed him, pulling them onto the sofa, Wonwoo in his lap. He began rocking them slightly, as though he was trying to put a baby to sleep.

After half an hour of hushed whispers from Mingyu, trying to calm him down, Wonwoo was almost asleep on his shoulder. He brushed a stray piece of hair away from his eyes and watched as his tear stained face began to relax as fatigue took over him. Mingyu guessed that he had cried himself into a state of exhaustion and felt a stab of guilt at the thought. He started to shift him in his arms so he could carry him to their room but stopped when he heard Wonwoo murmur something.

“I didn’t apply.” Mingyu froze at those words. He no longer felt angry at Wonwoo, but that didn’t stop a hint of annoyance making its way onto his features.

“It wasn’t me; I promise.” Wonwoo watched through tired eyes as Mingyu turned to face him.

“Well if it wasn’t you then who was it?” He asked, confused. Sighing, Wonwoo shut his eyes and buried his head further into Mingyu’s shoulder. He was absolutely exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but he knew that if he didn’t explain this whole mess to Mingyu now then it could lead to a situation worse than the one they had just been in. Plus, he didn’t really want to argue with the younger for longer than absolutely necessary.

“Was my boss.” Wonwoo muttered, trying his best to stay awake. “Did it without me knowing. Only found out when you showed me the letter.”

If Mingyu hadn’t already felt bad about shouting at Wonwoo, he definitely did now. He had just yelled at him for something that wasn’t even his fault. Something he didn’t even know about until after Mingyu himself.

“Wonwoo, I-“ Mingyu halted when he heard a soft snore come from the boy resting in his arms. A gentle smile tugged at his lips as he looked down at Wonwoo’s sleeping face. Carefully, he stood up from the sofa, holding Wonwoo bridal style as he made his way to their shared room, being extra cautious not to trip over his bag which now lay in the middle of their living room. He winced slightly as he remembered how he had acted earlier. Maybe he had overreacted slightly.

After gently placing Wonwoo down on the bed, Mingyu flicked the light switch off and climbed in next to him. Now that he was laying here, an arm wrapped around Wonwoo’s waist, the latter’s head resting against his chest, he realised how irrationally he had behaved earlier. Instead of asking about the letter, he had become caught up in the whirlwind of emotions he had felt in that moment, not talking a moment to think about how Wonwoo might have felt about the situation.

Mingyu felt drowsiness begin to take over him, the warmth of the blankets and the body next to him lulling him into a peaceful sleep. They could always talk about it properly in the morning, but for now just being in each other’s arms was enough. A reassurance that no one was going to leave anytime soon.