Of course I can!

Missing

 “Honey~ I’m home” a man’s voice echoed inside an apartment.

“Welcome back! Give me your coat and bag please” said a woman’s voice to answer that man while holding her palms out.

Choi (Lee) Taemin. Choi Minho. They have been a married couple for a year, seemingly happy with each other with less arguments happened. Except for this one particular calm and happy day.

 

That day (night precisely), after they have bath, eat and ready for bed, they decided to cuddle and talk before dozing off to sleep, ready for the next day. It is a sudden movement, that suddenly, Minho pulled his wife close, wrapping his arms around her and starts talking about his days back then.

“Taemin-ah, you know, I used to cook grilled meat when I lived alone during my university days.” Minho said, in a proud tone, though the fact is, he never cooked a grilled meat. Let alone touched a pan except pot or kettle to boil water for instant noodles.

“Eh? Seriously? What a fancy apartment you have, Minho” she said, amused.

“Well, come on~ What do you expect? Your husband is a great cook too, look at my fingers, they are expert cook’s hands and fingers,” he answered, wiggling his fingers in front of his wife’s face.

“Is there any other woman who has ate your cooking before?” Taemin said, holding his palm on her lap while her mind wondering off, imagining what kind of girl has taste her husband’s cooking before.

“Well… No… You do know right that I never had girlfriend in my 25 years old life?” He answered, a mused expression drawn on his face. So cute.

“Whatever. So, since you know how to cook, then you can manage without me right?” Taemin then tilted her head up, staring right into her husband’s eyes.

“Of course I can! It’s not like I would die without you! I could even clean the house well, you know?” Minho said, grinning with a tone higher than before, that it came like I-don’t-need-my-wife tone, which made Taemin’s heart clenched.

“Oh…”

“So how’s—“ before Minho could finish his sentence, Taemin cut him off.

“I’m sleeping now. Good night.” Taemin said, slipping off of her husband’s arms and slips inside the blanket.

“Hmm? Taemin-ah? What’s wrong?” Minho said, confused. He then shakes his wife’s body slightly, but the only thing he received was a shrug and a body inching away from him.

What is wrong?

 

The next day, when Minho came home and calls out for his wife, he received no reply, at all.

“Hello? Taemin~ Where are you?” Minho calls out again.

No answer.

Suddenly, the phone rang and he immediately runs to the phone.

“Taemin-ah?!”

“Ah? Hello? Minho hyung?”

“Oh… Hi Taehyun…”

“Minho hyung! Hi! Is Taemin noona there?”

“No, why?”

A silence fell over before Taehyun said “I knew it” with a sigh.

“What do you mean by you ‘knew’ it, Taehyun?” he frowns. The heck is happening?

“She did said that it has to do with cramped place. Then sometimes the situation is not very satisfying. So, yeah.”

The frown on Minho’s forehead softened, and it is replaced by worried and shocked expression.

‘She… ran away?’

“Minho hyung? Are you there?”

Without replying Taehyun, Minho takes his coat and dashed out from the door.

 

After walking for 2 hours non-stop, Minho then stops at a park that he and Taemin used to date, and sits on a bench, leaning back his broad back and sighed. A memory flashed in his mind.
 

“Of course I can! It’s not like I would die without you!”
 

Sacks of curses began flowing inside Minho’s head. How much he regrets saying those words right on his wife’s face. He knows that he always makes Taemin mad at him for teasing her too much (maybe sometimes not being able to satisfy her too much), but not until this point that Taemin would even run away… from him.

I miss you, Taemin-ah.

 

Meanwhile, Taemin who is currently at her parents’ old apartment, is helping Mr. Lee, her dad to pack some things inside a box to be taken away to the new home. The door to the apartment then swung open to reveal a Taehyun, grinning while carrying some boxes more.

“Yo sis!”

“Hi Taehyun.” Taemin answered, smiling at her little brother. This guy never changed a bit.

“Dad, here’s the boxes you want~” He then looks around, giggling to himself.

“No wonder this place is getting cramped. You pet too much cats here! The situation is not so satisfying too then right?”

Taehyun turned to his sister, patting her shoulder. “Oh noona, I told Minho hyung already that you’re not coming home tonight.”

“Thanks, Taehyun. You did tell him the exact way I asked you to tell him right?”

“Of course, believe this little brother of yours already, noona~” Taehyun then turned his heel back, smirking so evilly to himself.

 

Back to the Choi’s apartment, sizzling sound of meat being grilled was heard and a smell of a burned meat was smelled.

“It burned…” Minho mumbled.

“Of course I can! It’s not like I would die without you!”

Without any choice, he still served the burnt meat after cutting it in pieces (it’s more like he scissored the meat actually). After putting one on his tasting organ, he spits the meat out and sighed.

“If only Taemin-ah is here…” He sighed. He missed her dearly. “If she’s the one who cooked, this would taste nice… And it’s because she is always in front of me when I eat that I feel happy eating the food… It’s because of her too that I feel happy whenever I wake up every morning and when I sleep because I know she would be beside me…”

And on that night, the very first tear of a Choi Minho fell down because a woman. A woman that he loved and the woman who steals and never returning back his heart.

 

Somehow, on a very early morning, the door to the Choi’s apartment opened and it revealed a Choi Taemin, a worried expression painted on her face. Uneasy feeling was engulfing her too.

As soon as her foot step inside, she saw clothes scattered around on the floor, and the sink is full with unwashed kitchen appliances and dishes.

‘What is happening? Did a typhoon attacked my home?’ Taemin thought, as she chuckled. Her eyes then travelled to the south-east of the room and found a certain sleeping Choi Minho, sniffing, eyes swollen, with still his work-clothes on while mumbling out her name. She couldn’t help but to giggle and went sitting beside the sleeping figure, shaking the body softly.

“Minho-ah, wake up~ You would catch a cold like this. See? You don’t even sleep with a blanket on.”

She then giggled, leaning over and kissed her husband’s cheek.

‘I know you can’t do some things without me. We need each other to be a complete pair.’

 

“Mum and dad are moving out?” Minho said, after waking up fully.

“Yeah, the place is also nearer to dad’s workplace and nearer to our place too.” Taemin answered, walking to the kitchen and starts making Minho’s morning tea. Minho then stands up, walking behind his wife and hugs her back tightly, sniffing slightly.

“I miss you… I thought you were going to leave me… And I’m so so sorry for my words few nights back… Well... Yesterday actually... I didn’t mean it! And even truthfully, I never touched a pan before!” He whimpered.

Silence fell over for awhile until Minho heard the angelic giggle of his wife.

“It’s okay, honey. I love you okay? And I thought Taehyunnie told you that I went to mum and dad’s place?” Taemin then kiss her husband’s cheek, putting his tea aside and began moving to the kitchen with a certain Minho still clinging to her back.

“T-Taehyun didn’t tell me anything…” He pause, sacks of cursing began making their way in his head, before he continues taking his wife’s delicate hands away from the dishes while spinning her around to see her face. “Let me clean the house today. You rest.”

Taemin then starred at Minho, before leaning over and kissed his lips.

“Thank you.”

"Love you too."


inspired by this x) took this long because I was busy /deep sigh/ T3T

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babyshinee
#1
Chapter 1: Awww.. This is really cute! And Taemin's brother sure is a meanie for pulling a prank like that to Minho. But I'm really glad that Minho learned his lesson well, and realized even more that life wouldn't be that as happy as it used to be without his wife Taemin <3 :)