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Mingi felt his heart break as he watched you stumble down the stairs, smiling weakly in his direction as you made your way to the sofa. He quickly stood up, grabbing a blanket, and moving some of the cushions to make a bit of space for you.
Your voice was barely audible as you thanked him for making the space for you, laying yourself across the full length of the sofa, letting go of a sigh of relief.
"You were asleep for hours," he sighed, taking a seat on the floor beside the top of your head, "I'm beginning to worry Y/N, this really doesn't feel like something good is happening."
You'd been working hard recently as work got busy with deadlines for you to reach, no matter how much they took out of you, it was too important for you to give up on. All of the time you spent on work had a severe knock-on effect on your life at home too, you barely had any time for Mingi, and when you did, you usually spent it fast asleep on the sofa or tucked up in bed.
"I didn't think I was asleep for long, but I didn't really get much sleep last night," you informed him, tucking your hand underneath the cushion.
"You've not slept in weeks, I thought you were fine, but I'm beginning to worry Y/N."
You knew Mingi worried about you, your health hadn't always been in the best condition since you met him, which was something he often struggled with. He tried hard to trust in you and leave you to understand your own body but at times like this, he couldn't sit back and watch.
"Maybe we need to have a chat with work about what's going on," he suggested, but you quickly shook your head. "You're overworking yourself to a point where you have no life aside from work anymore Y/N."
Your eyes closed at the sound of his voice bellowing beside you. "It won't be forever, in a few weeks then all of this will be done, and there'll be no reason to worry."
"And what if it's a few weeks too late?" He challenged, refusing to let the topic drop. "Your body is exhausted, it's not in the best condition anyway. At what point do you decide that enough is enough and you need to put the focus back on yourself?"
You pressed the cushion tighter against your head, trying to push aside the pain that you were beginning to feel in your head, made worse by the sound of Mingi right by your side.
As much as you knew he cared, you knew at what point you needed to stop. A couple of weeks of exhaustion and stress were something you could deal with if it meant you didn't face the pressure and anger from everyone at work towards you.
"It's breaking my heart seeing you struggle Y/N, and don't even try to convince me that you're fine. I've known you for long enough now to know when you're far from fine."
"What can I do?" You asked him, opening your eyes back up. "I'm stuck in the middle of making myself ill and potentially getting the sack from work, how can I choose between the two?"
His head shook gently, "you choose your health every time, no matter what. If work gives you the sack, I'll look after you, but I'd rather look after you here than in hospital at your bedside."
His words were tough, but they came from a place of love. You were unaware of a tear rolling down your cheek as Mingi reached across to wipe under your eye, quickly removing it.
"I'm not prepared to sit back and watch you waste away once again."
The first time he watched you fall apart was easily the toughest time of his life, there was no way that Mingi could stand back and watch it happen again, it was hard on you, but it was hard on him too.
"I appreciate how important work is to you Y/N, but how can you work if you can't even stand on your own two feet for a few minutes before collapsing onto a chair again?"
"I'd make it work, like I always have to."
"You don't have to," he quickly clarified, "there's always a choice, and I'm begging with you to make the right one before it's too late. You just have to trust me on this."
Your head and your heart pulled you in two different directions. You weren't blind to the fact you were beginning to fall apart, but you were also very aware just how important everything at work was for you to do too.
"I won't let this drop Y/N," he added as you fell silent, "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that you're alright, I can't let this happen to you again."
"What if it already is happening? What if it's too late?"
He sighed softly, moving closer towards you. "It's not too late," he said in a much softer tone, "there's always a chance to turn things around, you can't possibly think like that."
"That's the thing, I'm not thinking," you groaned, pressing your exposed hand to the top of your head, "I've not been able to think for weeks, work fills up my mind."
"Then let me help you change that, it's what you have to do."
Your eyes met his, noticing the sincerity from the very start. "What am I supposed to do Mingi? Maybe I do feel like I'm overworking and falling apart, but where do I go from here?"
As you finally began to admit that you were struggling, his whole body relaxed. One of his arms wrapped over your waist, whilst the other pressed over yours on the top of your head, recognizing straight away why it was there.
"Let me handle things, and you just focus on yourself. I've always told you that I'll care for you no matter what, and that's not going to change now."
"Thank you," you whispered, squeezing gently against his hand. "I don't know what I'd do sometimes if I didn't have you here with me."
You'd spent a long time fighting all by yourself, which often left you stubborn to help. Mingi knew that if he worked hard enough, he could break you down, it was just about finding that weak spot that would make you recognize how much help you needed.
"How about I start with getting you some pain relief for that headache and then we can think of something?" He suggested standing up from the floor to head into the kitchen.
"What are we going to do?" You asked as he came back a few moments later with a glass of water and a packet of tablets in hand.
His shoulders shrugged innocently, "I don't know where we are going right now, but if we sit down and take a moment to relax, we'll come up with something."
"What do I do about work? What if they get rid of me?"
"I've already told you; I'll look after you. Whatever happens, your health comes first, and then we can think about the future after that."
"You really want to be the one that looks after me?"
