Wheels Have Each Other

23. New technique

"Did you hear about that virus in China?"

Silence.

"It's killing thousands of people there!!"

Silence.

"Apparently our country recorded the first case here a couple of days ago!!"

Silence.

"It sounds so dangerous!! I'm scared!!"

Silence.

"Hyung!! I'm talking to YOU, just in case you thought I was talking to the neighbour in the middle of the night."

Of course, silence.

"Hyung, are you meditating or something?" 

The sounds of fingers hitting the keys on a laptop keyboard became louder than before.

"You can just nicely say 'No, Tae, I'm working,' with your mouth instead of letting your fingers do your mouth's job, you know?"

More silence.

"Did something happen to your vocal cords after crying so long the day before yesterday night?"

Of course, there was no reply, except for a violent sound of the thumb smashing the spacebar. 

"Hyung, come on, I gave you a whole day to recover from it, you still can't be mad at me, right? Say something!!" 

True. Taehyung had left Jeongguk alone the whole Sunday knowing Jeongguk wouldn't talk to him anyway. He just busied himself with cleaning the bedroom, where Jeongguk had broken five whiskey bottles (Taehyung supposed his husband had them in his closet). It was as if Jeongguk had broken them just to stop himself from drinking them instead. 

He thought things would go back to normal in the morning on Monday, but by the time he woke up, the house was empty already and there was ordered food on the table. 

He thought he would try his luck at seven in the evening when Jeongguk normally returned home, but to his utter dismay, Jeongguk returned stealthily at half-past twelve, as if he was hoping Taehyung would be asleep by the time he came back home. 

It just showed Taehyung how much his husband still had to learn about him. He wasn't the type to give up easily, of course. He almost laughed out loud at the way Jeongguk froze and his shoulders slumped when he realized that Taehyung was very much awake and waiting for him even when it was so late in the night. 

Without sparing a glance at Taehyung, Jeongguk threw his bag on the couch and took his suit off, draping it over the back of the couch. He untucked his shirt and loosened his tie and unbuckled his belt and plopped down on the couch with his head resting against the back of it and his eyes closed. 

His state made Taehyung feel bad. His poor husband must have overworked himself just to avoid him. 

Feeling guilty, he fetched him a glass of water and placed it on the teapoy in front of Jeongguk and then proceeded to go behind him to massage his temples a little, but the second his fingers touched Jeongguk's skin, the latter jerked away from his touch with a nasty glare and sat up straight. He downed the glass of water in front of him and then silently took his laptop out of his bag and ever since then, he had been working and Taehyung had been trying to get him to talk to him instead of both of them just going to sleep like they were supposed to. 

"Hyung, we talked about this. If you are mad at me, just yell at me or scold me. Don't give me this kind of silent treatment. Please," Taehyung tried once again from the other couch, where he was sitting cross-legged, but once again, he received no reply. However, he did notice Jeongguk clenching his jaw hard.