hugs before thugs
In which Jaeyoon cutely misunderstands your tears while cutting onions.
♦ Characters: boyfriend!Jaeyoon x you/reader
♦ Genre: fluff, comedy, slice of life
♦ Words: 1.2k
♦ Warning: -
♦ A/N: Click here to be added to the TAGLIST and to let me know about your fic preferences. 💖
You hated crying, not because you seemed weak when you did so, but because it was different from when you were having a mental breakdown and needed to let it all out. You basically had no reason to cry, and some people did, some people didn’t, but you cried all the time when you were cutting onions, and you couldn’t help it.
You knew the scientific reason behind this phenomena, and you had tried literally everything you could have from wearing goggles to washing the knife with water one more time before cutting the onions, but your search for the perfect method of cutting onions without crying seemed to be in vain.
So you were weeping in the kitchen, head above the cutting board, eyes already a bit teary and vision blurry, when the front door was opened, and Jaeyoon’s honey voice could be heard from afar.
“I’m home,” he singsonged joyfully, his sweet voice making you smile despite the obvious tears running down your face. You shouted back to him that you were in the kitchen, and soon, you heard his footsteps closer and closer to you and you felt two loving arms embracing you from behind in the next moment.
However, Jaeyoon caught sight of your crying face when you turned around to look at him, and he instantly went on full panic mode, his eyes twice as wide as before. His lips turned into a thin line, affection and warmth swimming in his chocolate-brown orbs, and you could literally see all kinds of scenarios running through his head.
“Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Did you hurt yourself?” he exclaimed absolutely in terror, the sight of your crying state usually a rare thing.
Even though you had cried before in front of him, sometimes even because of movies, but it had usually been because of a bad day, some self-doubt or stress because of university or work. You two had been together since your first year of university and it had already been five years, both of you starting work, your families meeting each other multiple times ever since, spending holidays with each other, then moving together, decorating your newly rented house together, going on vacations, attending a friend’s wedding and cousin’s birthdays, and of course, going through the best and the worst times. Together.
Jaeyoon was the best boyfriend you could have asked for. He had the right kind of balance between his joking and caring state, you always knew when he was merely teasing you, and it was a bonus because you could avoid multiple misunderstandings thanks to this level of understanding each other. He was also very attentive, the most attentive person you had ever met before, his beautiful eyes shining with fondness and care every time you were talking, let it be about your annoying neighbour or some of your worries that didn’t let you sleep at night. You felt loved, appreciated and cared for beside him, and he had so much love to give, starting from small surprises such as a breakfast in bed to him finding your favourite kind of chocolate at the store and buying five of it immediately.
With him, it was easy to split up tasks because he didn’t feel superior to you, nor did he feel like just because you were a woman and he was a man, then suddenly you couldn’t change light bulbs and he shouldn’t do the dishes. It was quite the opposite. Both of you had your fair share of housework, you also took care of the garbage and recycling together - one week was yours, the other was Jaeyoon’s -, he always cleaned his dirty dishes when he left for work in the morning, and he helped you out with anything he could from vacuuming to making meals. He was actually a pretty good cook, so you couldn’t complain, but his effort was still the one you appreciated the most, and it couldn’t not be rewarded with a stolen kiss, cooking his favourite dish, lightning his favourite candle or buying sweet little treats for him.
You had a very balanced and healthy relationship, you would say so, and those years behind you were proofs for your tight bond that had become tighter and tighter as time went by. Sometimes he really did overreact certain things and he could be a bit oblivious as well, just like this time, but you couldn’t be angry at him.
“No. It’s just the onion,” you reasoned between two sobs as you pointed at the said ingredient with your knife, and he followed your moves, his eyes settling on the cutting board. You tried to hold back your tears, but they kept flowing, and it didn’t help either that now your nose was also runny.
“Oh, it’s okay. I like yellow onions, too, not just red onions,” he tried to reassure you, and you would have laughed if you hadn’t been looking for a tissue. Your eyes were seriously prickling, making your vision even blurrier.
“No, I don’t mean that,” you counter-attacked him, desperately searching for a tissue that he managed to provide you with, but you made the ever so amateur mistake of not washing your hands beforehand and touching the tissue with it, not easing the pain in your eyes. “Oh gosh!” You mumbled under your nose as you made your way to the kitchen sink, putting down the tissue beside it and running your hands under the water, then washing your eyes.
When you felt like you could speak up after temporarily taking care of your tears and runny nose, you turned to Jaeyoon with a soft chuckle.
“It’s just that I always tear up when I’m cutting onions,” you explained to him gently, watching as his jaw dropped a bit. You remember telling him about it before, but he tended to forget such a fact because he had never cried while cutting onions and because he was a sweetheart for always being beside you when you cried, let it be about something bad or just onions.
“O-okay.” He chuckled to himself as the realization hit him, then walked closer to you and planted a soft kiss on your forehead. “Then, let me take over the rest,” he offered kindly, his chocolate-brown orbs shining with sincerity.
You couldn’t help but smile at his sweet antics. These were the moments that could always melt your heart; no matter how much time you had already spent together, there was just something about Jaeyoon that could always surprise you about his warmth and big heart. Today being yet another example for those.
“Thank you,” you said as you pressed a chaste kiss on his lips before giving you his own apron and watching how he cut the onions, Jaeyoon chuckling to himself all the way while thinking back to his panicky state when he saw you crying.
You chuckled with him, the kitchen soon filled with the sound of wholehearted laughter instead of salty tears and the smell of the onions caramelizing in the pan.