Work Text:
The first thing that Beomgyu noticed when he woke up was that the other side of the bed was empty. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, listening for sounds of movement outside the bedroom. By the time he padded into the living room and saw a pair of slippers at the entrance, he realised Kai had already gone. His mind flickered back to the previous night and he remembered.
‘That’s right. We had a fight.’
Beomgyu figured it wasn’t just a little one, then. He remembered the way they kept arguing, back and forth, until they were both too tired to argue anymore. Kai had gone to bed with his back turned to Beomgyu, and now, for the first time since they moved in together, he hadn’t woken Beomgyu up to say “Have a good day” and kiss him goodbye.
Beomgyu frowned and walked into the kitchen. He supposed Kai didn’t deserve a kiss anyway. Not after the way he disregarded Beomgyu’s feelings and refused to try and understand. He raised an eyebrow as he picked up a note left on the kitchen bench.
Made you a salad. Make sure you eat it.
Beomgyu scoffed, immediately scrunched up the note, and threw it in the recycling bin. He wondered why Kai even bothered if they were fighting, but decided dwelling on it wasn’t worth his time. Beomgyu spent the rest of the day at his desk, typing away at his manuscript. (And of course, he did eat the salad for lunch, trying to ignore the fact that it had all of Beomgyu’s favourite ingredients.)
He’d been working so hard in his mini ‘office’ that he hadn’t even realised Kai had come home. Usually, Kai would make his presence known, after all. The fact that he didn’t say anything only made Beomgyu grumpier. If Kai wasn’t going to make the first move to apologise, he wouldn’t either. He microwaved some leftovers and took it to his room without even looking at Kai.
After a few hours, Beomgyu stretched his arms and got out of his chair, muscles stiff from sitting for so long. He made his way to the bathroom, vaguely wondering what Kai was up to, and if he had enough to eat for dinner. When he returned, there was a hot steaming mug of jasmine pear tea on his desk. His favourite for when he needs to de-stress. Curse his husband for knowing him so well.
It could have been a way of apologising, but Beomgyu knew Kai would rather say it personally. This was just him being nice, for whatever reason. Maybe he did feel bad about it, but Beomgyu wouldn’t know unless Kai said something.
Once he was satisfied with his progress for the day, he got up to put his mug in the sink. From there, he could see that Kai was watching some show on the TV. He sighed and went to their bedroom before returning to the couch with a blanket, draping it over Kai’s lap and his without saying a word.
He fixed his eyes on the television, too stubborn to say anything or pay Kai any attention. It wasn’t even that he was still seething mad, he was just waiting to see if Kai would do anything first. He heard a (definitely fake) cough and as he turned to Kai, there was a packet of chips being offered to him. He took a handful and they kept watching, in silence. It felt weirdly comfortable, though.
The next day, Beomgyu woke up yet again to an empty and cold side of the bed. He sighed and got up, making his way to the kitchen to make breakfast. On the bench there lay another note:
Made too much breakfast. Omelette and bacon in the microwave.
Beomgyu couldn’t help but laugh endearingly.
“Oh. Thought you would have slept more.”
Beomgyu turned to see Kai, all suited up with his blazer and tie. Beomgyu shook his head and walked over to Kai, fixing his crooked tie with a smile. He was sure Kai was blushing.
As Kai was putting his shoes on, Beomgyu waited by the entrance. He stood up and they shared a moment of silence. Beomgyu put his hands on Kai’s shoulders and leaned up to kiss him briefly, whispering, “You got this.” Kai nodded and kissed his forehead with a quiet, “Thank you.”
Honestly, Beomgyu had forgotten about Kai’s big meeting until he saw his blazer and tie. Kai’s job as a journalist didn’t usually require him to dress formally, but this was a special occasion. He decided to prepare something nice for Kai, and luckily his husband texted him to say he was leaving work. It was the first message exchange they’d had since a few days ago, but Beomgyu wasn’t worried anymore.
40 minutes later, Kai arrived home with the sound of rustling plastic.
“What took you so long?” Beomgyu asked. (It usually only took 20 minutes for him to get home.)
“Sorry. Picked up dinner on the way.” Kai said, placing the bags on the dining table.
“Oh. Thanks.” Beomgyu smiled nervously.
Beomgyu felt stupid. How did he not think that Kai would want to eat dinner first? How would he explain the bathroom situation? Maybe he should go to the bathroom and put it all away after all.
“Gyu? What’s wrong?” Kai frowned.
“N-Nothing.” Beomgyu replied.
“You’re hiding something.” Kai raised an eyebrow curiously.
“No, I’m not.” Beomgyu blushed.
“Mmm… sure.” Kai chuckled and made his way to the bathroom.
“W-Wait, why are you going to the bathroom?” Beomgyu panicked.
“To wash my hands.” Kai kept walking.
Beomgyu power walked to stop Kai, but he’d already opened the bathroom door. It was too late. Kai gasped at the sight before him. Candles were lit around the bathroom and the bathtub was full of water, although it lost all the soapy bubbles since the water got cold.
“I’ll fix it up later. We can eat first.” Beomgyu said apologetically.
“No, I’ll use it now.” Kai said and turned around, smiling fondly. “Thank you.”
After Kai’s bath, they ate dinner together at the table. Kai had gotten all of Beomgyu’s favourites and his heart melted at the warm gesture. Although they still didn’t talk very much, they exchanged shy smiles and soft giggles, and that was enough for Beomgyu.
Later, when Kai was scrolling on his phone in the living room, Beomgyu approached with his towel in hand.
“Sit on the floor.”
Kai nodded as Beomgyu sat on the couch, a leg on each side of Kai as he dried his hair gently. Kai relaxed into his touch, humming a song cheerfully.
When it was time for them to go to sleep, Kai was the first one in bed, scrolling his phone as he waited for Beomgyu. He stretched an arm out for Beomgyu and the other gratefully rested his head on it.
He’d missed this warmth more than he realised. The past few nights, he went to sleep cold and feeling anything but happy. Now, as he shyly snuggled closer to Kai and felt the arm holding him close, he smiled.
The next morning brought him soft sunlight, highlighting his husband’s smiling face. Kai kissed him sweetly, allowing Beomgyu to relish in the familiar warmth and taste of Kai.
“I missed this.” He said softly.
“I’m sorry.” Kai frowned, stroking Beomgyu’s hair gently. “I should’ve just gone to the book release party with you.”
“No, it wasn’t fair of me either. I lashed out at you and tried to pressure you into coming, even though you were stressed.” Beomgyu shook his head, cupping Kai’s cheek.
“But you really wanted to go, and I ruined that for you.”
“It was nothing, Kai. I was just being stupidly stubborn. You were absolutely right and I should’ve gone by myself.”
“But I know you hate that. And I should have understood how you were feeling, too.” Kai kissed the palm of his hand tenderly.
“You know what? It’s in the past, jagiya.” Beomgyu laughed, pressing his forehead against Kai’s. “It’s not even that important. It was a colleague, not my best friend. You’re more important to me and I wish I’d told you that night.”
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. You can show me off as much as you want at the next party.” Kai giggled.
“You know, I did think about what outfits we could coordinate together.” Beomgyu grinned.
“Sounds amazing, darling.” Kai smiled and hugged Beomgyu tight.
I swear, always, I’ll care