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Baekhyun began to feel guilty for enjoying a quiet life while his husband labored to give him that type of lifestyle. Contemplating about other alternatives, Baekhyun came to one possible solution to the problem.

“Chanyeol, maybe you should get an apartment in the city,” Baekhyun gently suggested at the dinner table one night. When he raised his eyes to his husband, he saw tired eyes looking back at him.

“You want me to get a what?” Chanyeol said, sounding like he was in disbelief.

Sighing, Baekhyun gave him a concerned look. “I don’t like seeing you this way anymore, Yeol. Every day you go to work looking like you’re half dead. Then when you come back, you end up looking worse. You spend two hours just going back and forth. That could be time that you’d be using to get more sleep…”

In a bad mood, Chanyeol rubbed the corner of his eyes. “Baek, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not!” Baekhyun argued. “Listen, an apartment could mean—”

“I said I’m fine, Baek,” Chanyeol repeated sharply. “Quit worrying, damn it.”

Baekhyun grew irritated at Chanyeol’s indifference. Setting down his utensils, Baekhyun stood up from the table. “Well, is it wrong to worry about you!?” he cried in a strained voice.

Unlike Baekhyun, Chanyeol kept himself in his seat. “Baek, sit down.”

With closed fists, Baekhyun glowered. “No. Chanyeol, you’re not hearing me out. I just want to help you.”

“Help me?” Chanyeol snapped. “No, Baek. To me, having you try and case the idea of me getting a separate place to live makes it seem like you want me gone.” The lack of sleep and the fact that he had been overworking himself did no good other than make him more irritable.

Taken aback, Baekhyun looked shocked. “That is not what I want!”

“Keep your voice down, Baek,” Chanyeol growled. “You’re being too loud.”

Frustrated, Baekhyun harshly pushed his chair in. “I don’t want you gone! You’re such a frustrating man, but damn it, I love you! So it hurts watching you add two more hours of stress onto your day just travelling back and forth.” Baekhyun bit his lips. “It hurts so bad, Yeol, but you don’t see it because the moment you step into this house, you fall asleep. You don’t even look at me anymore because you’re that tired.”

For a moment, Baekhyun waited for a response, but Chanyeol remained static. Then he said, “You’re being overdramatic,” he muttered.

Baekhyun felt as if he was just struck. It was obvious that there was no reaching Chanyeol. His husband refused to listen to him and even had the outlandish audacity to call him out for being “overdramatic” when in fact, he was just expressing his concerns. Shaking, he turned and left the table before Chanyeol could see the bitter tears forming in his eyes.

When Chanyeol’s mind was finally in full clarity, he reevaluated Baekhyun’s proposal the night before. He admitted his fault in not allowing Baekhyun the chance to present his case, but ultimately blamed the lack of sleep for causing his sour and disagreeable mood that night. Finally willing to hear out his husband, Chanyeol knocked on Baekhyun’s closed and locked office door.

“Baek, I know you’re in there. Open up.” As a minute passed by, Chanyeol knocked again. “Baekhyun, open the door. We need to talk and you letting me just stand out here is wasting time.”

It wasn’t long until Chanyeol heard Baekhyun unlock the door. Letting himself in, Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun turned his back to him to sit back down at his desk. Chanyeol wasn’t amused at Baekhyun’s decision to give him the cold shoulder, but he rationed that he probably deserved it. Neither of them spoke for the longest time until Chanyeol set his hands on the back of Baekhyun’s chair, leaning over him.