the day builds like a tower from an unstable foundation ( bad morning, bad day ) teetering on the edge of crashing to the ground by the time night falls. the last day he had off was a week ago. the last time he had relaxed? too long to recall, if he’s honest. unless you can count turning boneless in his office chair with the bridge of his nose pinched between his fingers and his glasses hanging limply in his free hand as he nursed a headache that even magic couldn’t vanish away. but he pauses in his office because, something reverberates in his skill that he’s making a mistake. what was he forgetting? he was about to apparate to grab liquor and some food, go home and pass out for the next━ oh, that’s right... he freezes halfway through his wand swipe intending to take off and he casts a thoughtful frown at the ground.
a long, mildly beleaguered sigh before something clicks. like stones clanking together to set a spark in his mind. but there’s nothing serendipity about his gently acknowledging that it isn’t so bad. of all the mandatory on his schedule at the moment, this one thing doesn’t even make the list of those that bother. because she had been staying at his apartment, too large for him before and now it felt smaller. but oddly, not too small, merely, full. like there had been just space enough for another presence and rather than crowded it felt balanced. he blinks long and slow, picks up his phone in the same instance. consideration and bright, tentative nervousness causing him a frown that she can’t see through the receiver pressed to his ear.
☎ → ( 7:38pm ) [ 품절녀🐱 ] // … @minheemm .
click ! hey... i’m off the clock. i haven’t eaten today but, i’ll bring home jamaejip. would you like me to bring you something ?
he holds the phone to his jaw, stashes his wand to walk and talk to her. the sound of her voice over the receiver requires a quiet moment of adjustment for him. he rarely even answered her calls and texts on a good day ( here he was calling her first and that might be even stranger ) was she stretched out on the couch ? wandering the kitchen ? a person in his home without his being there ( he was rarely there ) someone he barely knew yet... there was both an imperative and a vague interest, feeding into each other. a promise that he would do better, the tension of these months he had been all but ignoring her presence ( he needed to remind himself that this isn’t really a business relationship, though it feels like it sometimes )
he makes small talk, and it’s odd but not uncomfortable for him.
are you at t━ our apartment? i can come to you if you aren’t. lately i haven’t been home until you were already asleep. and i know i leave before you wake up as well... that isn’t...on purpose. my schedule is an issue, i don’t know if our parents decided to tell you that marrying me is like marrying all of ymmc... probably not since that isn’t exactly a selling point for a bachelor, huh? ( he laughs, quietly, awkwardly. )