You're dating Changbin and after a bad day at your job (due to rude customers) Changbin attempts to lighten the mood.
꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎ ꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎ ꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎
By the time you got home from work, you thought you were going to collapse from the weight of the world on your shoulders. It was one thing after the next, after the next, after the next. You woke up late and just barely made it to work on time.
Your job required you to interact with the public. As an introvert, it can be difficult to be around people when you prefer to be alone. It's even worse knowing that you have to deal with strangers. You never know what they want. You never know if they'll be nice to you or if they'll be mean.
Some speak softly and sweet while others huff and puff. They demand your attention the moment they greet you. Some don't even bother with a greeting, they just demand that you help them with things. Sometimes you can't meet their demands and they fly off the handle.
Their voice grows louder as they demand you help them. You try to offer your support and sympathy. You offer to try and help them in another way, but they lose their cool completely. Turning red in the face as their hands jerk and wave in the air.
Belittling you, belittling the company, and causing your stomach to churn uncomfortably. All you can do is keep your voice steady and your tears at bay. Sometimes it's the complete opposite, you just want to scream back. Belittle them and rip them apart as they do to you and storm out the door, but you needed this job. The bills had to be paid somehow.
Maybe someday you'd find a better job, but as of right now, this was the only option. It was the only job that fit your schedule and you didn't have another lined up. Taking a new job was a risky move when this one was stable, even if it made you mentally unstable. You couldn't be picky, there was no other choice.
You kicked off your shoes right inside the door, not bothering to properly put them in the shoe rack. You'd worry about that later. Right now, you wanted to collapse in your bed. Close the curtains and let the tears fall.
You had been screamed at by customers far too much today. Never ending anxious thoughts had swarmed your brain. Every insult by a customer, every sigh, every scoff. Maybe it was the cold and damp weather outside that had made the whole day miserable. Maybe that was why everyone was in such a shitty mood.
You walked into your bedroom, slipped the curtains shut, and flung yourself into the bed. You didn't bother to remove your makeup. You didn't change out of your work clothes. You shut your eyes and let the world go dark.
A few hours later, Changbin arrived at your apartment worried. Usually, you texted him letting him know that you had made it home. You never had to tell him that, but you had started letting him know after he mentioned that he worried about you a lot.
The two of you had been dating for a few months. The moment you talked to each other, something clicked immediately. You had never believed in love at first sight until you met Changbin. The two of you quite literally bumped into each other while out and about, you had been joined at the hip since then.
Although you had started dating, the two of you had your own lives. He traveled a lot for his career and you worked at the same building, in the same town, five days a week. You met up when you could and texted each other whenever you had time.
This week, he had been helping record their latest album. Stray Kids only had a few more months until they had another comeback. 3racha had been spending a lot of time in the studio giving feedback on the rest of the band's vocals. Spending so much time in the studio, he hadn't seen you much.
It was Friday, so he figured it'd be the perfect time to surprise you with a visit. He had been spending the week at the dorm rooms. When you didn't tell him you were home, and you didn't respond to his text messages, he couldn't help, but worry.
He always worried about you. He felt guilty for not always being there. You had always insisted it was fine because his career was important, but he couldn't shake the guilt of it all. Deep down, he was always a little insecure because he thought you deserved better.
You deserved someone who could be there 24/7. Someone who treats you like royalty. Someone who can kiss you every single morning and every evening. Yet at the same time, he loved you, and he wanted you all for himself.
You had to constantly reassure him that you only wanted him and nobody else. You were okay with the distance when he went on tours and did interviews. As long as he was happy, you were content. Sure you missed him a lot, but he was living his dream. It wasn't right for you to destroy that.
When he got inside your front door, he nearly tripped over the shoes you had left out. He picked them up and placed them on the shoe rack with all your other shoes. He kicked off his own shoes and placed them beside yours. He called your name softly as he looked throughout your apartment.
When he finally got to your bedroom door, he paused. The bedroom door was shut tight. He lifted his knuckle and knocked a few times. "Baby, are you in there?" When there wasn't a response, he let out a sigh. "Alright, I'm coming in."
The first thing he noticed when he opened the door was that your room was nearly pitch black. The sun was setting and it was getting dark, but you had purchased black-out curtains a while ago. You insisted that you loved being in the dark. Changbin had always joked that your room was like a little cave.
He stepped inside and glanced at your bed. He barely made out the outline of a pile of blankets. Blindly, he reached out and stepped into the room. He fumbled around until he came to the lamp on your bedside table.
He switched it on and glanced back over at your bed. You were buried beneath multiple blankets. It was clear that you had been crying recently because your makeup had mixed with your tears and created streaks down your cheeks.
His heart crumbled in his chest. A frown etched onto his face. His hand found your shoulder and he gently shook you. "Baby? Baby, wake up."
It took you a few moments before you opened your bloodshot eyes. You could make out the silhouette of your boyfriend through the soft light. He sat down on the edge of your bed to face you.
"What happened? Why were you crying? What's wrong? Do I need to beat someone up?"
You shook your head and closed your eyes again. "It's fine, just a rough day, that's all." You pulled the covers up over yourself further.
"Were people at your job being rude again?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does!" He huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. His lips stuck out in a pout and his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm going to fight every single one of them. I want their names."
"You can't fight every rude customer, Binnie."
"Maybe not, but I can try. I'll show up and give them a little of this. That'll teach them."
You opened your eyes to see him flexing his muscles. Your lips crept up into a small smile. You knew he was just joking, but it did make you feel a bit better.
He swung his fist around beside his head, "why I oughta-"
He was cut off by the sound of your laughter. He dropped his fist down beside him and glanced back down at you. His own smile appeared on his face. Your laughter was like music to his ears.
"You think that's funny, huh? You just wait. One of these days, I'm going to fight every asshole for you. I can take them. I've got the muscles to prove it. I've been learning some boxing from Minho. I can take 'em. I'll give 'em the ole," he jabbed out one fist after the next.
"As much as I love your enthusiasm, I somehow don't think your management would like to deal with the backlash from that. Plus, you wouldn't look good in a prison uniform."
"Are you doubting me? I could pull off any look."
"I don't know about that. The coconut hair was a rough look."
"Yah! We agreed not to bring that up ever again!"
"No," you let out a laugh. "You said you didn't want to bring it up because it was embarrassing, but I never agreed to that. You can't pull off every look and that's okay."
He got up with a huff. "And for my next look, I'm going to dump you, and start dating Hyunjin. He'd look good on my arm, we'd look good together." He nodded like he was sold on the idea.
"Not with that height difference."
His face dropped as he glared down at you. You started laughing again. He shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "I came all the way over here to check on you and now I'm getting bullied. This is very brave coming from you considering that you look like a raccoon right now since your makeup is smeared around your eyes."
You shot him your own glare and he began to laugh. You tried your best to keep a straight face, but it didn't take long before you cracked. There was something so funny about Changbin's laugh. Every time you heard it, you couldn't help, but laugh too.
After a while of giggling, Changbin sucked in a deep breath as his laughter died down. "So how about we get you cleaned up, find something to eat, and we call it a truce?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." You pushed away the blankets and sat up feeling a lot better. "We can call it a truce."
He reached out to grab your hand. You paused for a moment before glancing up at him. "But if you ever leave me for Hyunjin, I'm taking Felix."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a promise."