“What did you just say?!”

“You heard me,” Kihyun shot back, and you slung your hands onto your hips.

“Humour me and repeat yourself.”

“Now, why should I do that? You’re already well aware that I called you ridiculous. Should I keep calling you that?”

You nodded rapidly, walking towards your boyfriend and started to laugh hollowly. “You’re right. I am ridiculous.”

“I’m glad you can acknowledge it!”

“For liking someone as ridiculous as you are.”

Kihyun pointed at himself. “So I’m ridiculous now?”

“Takes one to know one.”

“God. Once again we’re fighting, and it’s about the most ridiculous bull!”

“Ridiculous seems to be the word of the evening, darling,” you seethed, a fake smile spreading across your lips. “Though I think I’m done listening to all this nonsense.”

“Walk away from me, I dare you!” Kihyun called after your sudden departure, not bothering to follow you as he had in the past. You reached for your bag in the hallway and slipped on your shoes, heading out of your apartment with a slam to the front door.

It was always like this.

As you texted your friend Ashley asking if you could stay the night, your anger dispersed into sorrow. Why did you and Kihyun always have to argue so easily? It drove you mad. After a year and a half of dating the man, you could no longer count how many times you had fought with one another. You had even broken up three times, moving out of the shared apartment on the last attempt.

However, you only lasted two weeks at the longest stretch before finding yourself pressed against a wall out his name, the passion of making up overwhelming you both.

You hated how much you were in love with Yoo Kihyun.

When Ashley opened the front door, however, she was less than enthused by your appearance. “Seriously, why do you allow yourself to be treated like this?”

“Because I’m a fool for that man.”

“I like Kihyun as a friend, he’s amazing. But what you two have isn’t healthy, Y/N.”

You buried yourself into the throw cushion you held to your chest, letting the tears fall again. Your heart hurt too much right now to know how to truly feel. You knew logically that fighting as much as you and Kihyun did wasn’t right. Yet, there was something about the man that you couldn’t give up on either.

It seemed he couldn’t give up on you either. Ashley had taken your phone earlier in the night when Kihyun had started apologising, knowing you didn’t have the strength to hold out for long.

And once you knew your friend was deep asleep, you quietly took the device from her desk drawer and tip-toed out to the living area of her apartment.

Kihyun answered on the second ring. “Baby?”

“You’re still awake?”

“How could I fall asleep without you by my side?” he asked, and you pouted dramatically, blinking back the tears. “Are you crying? Don’t cry anymore. I’m sorry. I was a jerk.”

“I wasn’t any nicer.”

“Do you want me to come and pick you up tomorrow morning?” he asked, and you shook your head despite your boyfriend not being able to see it.

“Can you come now?”

“I’ll be there in fifteen.”

You wrote Ashley a note of your early departure, even if she was used to this happening. It wasn’t the first time that after some hours apart you had a desperate need to see Kihyun before the sunrise again. All the same, you thanked her for her endless support, and then quietly departed the apartment, waiting outside the complex for Kihyun’s car. When you saw the headlights up ahead, you dashed forward, barely waiting for the vehicle to come to a stop before you jumped into the passenger seat.

Kihyun reached out for your cheek and tenderly caressed it. “I missed you.”

“Not as much as I did you.”

“Let’s try harder not to fight so much, hm?”

You nodded earnestly before crossing the distance between you, kissing your partner with passion. Once satiated temporarily, Kihyun drove you both home, before he drove you into a that felt as if it shook the bedroom walls.

You had to admit, even if you hated fighting, the make-up was some of the best you ever had.

And as you laid within Kihyun’s arms, content with how you both felt, you weren’t consciously aware of how the toxic cycle between you had restarted.

Or perhaps, you were hoping to fool yourself a little longer that things could change. Deep down, though, you knew it wouldn’t be long until your next fight.

Until then though, you would cherish the happy moments, the genuine adoration you shared for one another and hope that the ticking bomb between you would somehow diffuse amicably this time.