𝐊𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬✨

L.I.E - Penomeco

He was having one of those mornings. He suddenly had no motivation. There was no use in going to the studio, no use in writing songs. There was an endless font of inspiration before him, but he had no use for it.

He hadn't been like this all morning, stuck in a stump. That morning when he had woken up he had been full of inspiration and ready to work. Then he would come home early and make it all up to you. But when he had rolled over and you weren't lying in the bed beside him, that had turned his day upside-down. The rain pouring outside and gloomy clouds seemed to reflect the atmosphere of your shared house these days.

His first instinct had been to call out for you, but when there wasn't your usual reply he had jumped up. Wandering out of your room, you were nowhere to be found. There was nothing. No clue as to where you could have gone.

He thought back to the argument you had got into the night before. You had argued with him about the way he was looking after himself, or the lack of it. He was staying up late in the studio, not eating properly and dodging your calls in favour of work. Always the same excuse, "Bae, I can't make it today."

At first, you had been turning a blind-eye to it all, but he was only getting worse. You had asked him if he knew what he really wanted, but he couldn't answer.

You had a thing about never going to bed angry and wanted to talk it all out with him but he hadn't wanted to deal with it. Turning away and giving you the cold-shoulder, he had fallen asleep straight away. Your side of the bed feeling cold and lonely without his touch.

When his search had come up cold, frantically, he had begun to phone you but there was no answer. The phone went to voicemail, your sweet voice could be heard. The same message; apologising for not being able to take the call and promising to phone back if a message was left.

Dongwook frantically left a voicemail, sitting at your kitchen counter, elbows resting on the cold marble surface. He was apologising into the receiver, "I'm sorry, whatever I did. Please come home."

His hands shook. Had you really gone? Your clothes and belongings were still there but that didn't mean you couldn't be crashing at a friends house, biding your time until he left and you could take all your things out.

Dongwook stood up abruptly, making the chair grate on the floor. That would leave a mark. He paced the living room, his stomach in knots, phoning you again and again. Voicemail each time. He didn't leave a message these times. He would have phoned one of your friends but there was no point. They had your back and would tell him whatever you wanted him to hear.

Finally he tired himself out and sat back at the kitchen counter. He slumped over, head in his hands. He knew he wasn't trying hard enough and that neglecting your feelings would only leave to heartbreak but he didn't expect you to walk away. He knew with compromise and a little work you could go back to the way you once were. He still loved you.

Listlessly, he carded his hand through his bleached hair. You'd moaned about the state of that too, he mused.

Like a faint whisper he heard the jingle of keys in the door. His head shot up to catch you walking into the house, a bag lazily dangling from your fingers. You looked startled to see him sitting there and looking so distressed. He looked dishevelled and sleep-ruffled still, unusual for a man who would usually already be in the studio at this time.

"What's wrong?" You questioned, dropping the bag on the counter next to him, as you held his face in your hands. His lips looks dry and chapped and his lip ring stood out as a bright contrast. His usually rosy and chubby cheeks looked paler than normal and there was a watery look to his eyes.

"I can do better. We can be better." He started, his hands going up to pull you closer.

You tilted his face whilst squishing his cheeks slightly, trying to get the colour back into his face, before you pulled away, "Baby, what are you talking about?" You questioned him, becoming more worried at the frantic look in his eyes and the state he'd seemed to get himself into.

"I thought you'd left me." He whispered, worrying his lip ring as he spoke.

"What?" You mumbled, letting go of him as it suddenly became obvious to you. You hadn't cleared the air between the two of you and the argument you'd had was a bit of an intense one. "You thought I'd left you?" You repeated back.

He nodded, breathing out deeply. "I tried to phone you but you didn't answer, you always answer me." He admonished.

"I wasn't avoiding you." You quickly replied. You didn't mean to but at that moment a snort of laughter escaped, "Dongwook, I left you a note next to the bed that I was going out and that my phone was out of charge. I was angry and upset last night and forgot all about it. I left it here this morning."

You pulled him up and down the hall into your room. There on the bedside table was the note that he had neglected to notice. Your phone next to it, charging.

You picked up your phone, turning it on and seeing multiple missed calls and a voicemail from him. You played it, hearing how scared and stressed he had sounded thinking you had given up on him.

You turned to him, "Please don't do that kind of morning call ever again. I hate it when you're so worried about us and I told you before that I'm not going anywhere."

You went back to the abandoned bag on the counter. Fishing into it, you pulled out a blank notebook. "Here. I bought this as a peace-offering for you. I know you've been stressed lately with work and writing your songs. I thought you might like to be able to write down how you're feeling, I know sometimes you don't want to talk to me about it. That's fine. I just don't want you to bottle all your emotions up." You smiled sadly at him.

His hand reached for yours, curling around it gently, "Thank you. I know I'm not easy to be with and I give you grief but we're a team. If you're ever disappointed in me, let me know. I don't want to lose you." He wanted to be sure that you would always speak truthfully to him. No matter how much you argued, you were real with him. You were real together.

That was all he needed; the reassurance that you weren't going anywhere. That he was safe with you. You were safe with him. You understood him in a way that no one else seemed to.

Nothing about you two was a lie.