gooey
ireneadv
the tears stop for a second. irene feels like she has control over some part of herself for a second. the fluffiness of house slippers scratch at her toes mercilessly and she wiggles her foot so they fall off.
another drop to the ground, too loud in her ears with his footsteps and water spilling into metal and heat bringing everything to a boil. paper ruffling and ceramic on metal again, and her heart is noisy against white wallpaper.
she thinks she wants to hold his hand and she thinks that she canât so she clasps her own hands together. she thinks she wants to see his face and she thinks that she canât so she lifts her eyes towards him. heâs busy over the counter, and she watches his back. she looks at the material resting over the stretch of his body and she looks at the back of his head. everything is animated, everything movingâslow brush strokes over a messy piece of art trying to be fixed. she watches and she thinks that he is the man she loves and she thinks of the forevers she has to spend without him. the man i love. the man i love. the man i love.
images flash of her walking, back on her chair, walking towards him still, looking at him from where she sits, her hands clasped together over the kitchen counter and the same gentle hand on his backââsorry,â she snaps back, brings them back. âsorry.â
time slows, stops, freezes in itâs tracks and chanyeol is left wondering if heâll ever be able to get it started again. he doesnât want to be this, but more importantly, he doesnât want them to be this.Â
he thinks of picking irenes apology up and pushing it somewhere it belongs because she has nothing to apologize for, âiâm sorry,â he says quietly again, his back tensing and untensing, his focus centering in on the parts of his body he needs to control most. hot water and leaves and the amount of sugar she always gets. he sits the cup in front of her and stares at his feet.Â
âi should...âÂ
chanyeol shuffles his feet, works to push out words that he doesnât want to say.Â
âiâll go, noona, you should... rest.âÂ
because thatâs easier than being here, than dealing with this, and maybe with him away she can sort through her own emotions and not the ones he canât seem to suppress.Â














