Stray Kids Drabbles

We'll keep this love in a photograph

You're dating I.N, but after taking a new job opportunity, things between the two of you crumble.

A/N: Right person, wrong time angst.

꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎ ꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎ ꘎♡━━━━━♡꘎

How did it end up like this?

You asked yourself that question over and over again while you flipped through the photo album I.N gave you for your second anniversary. The honeymoon phase caused you to take photos of every little moment the two of you shared.

Selfies with the two of you making funny faces. Teeth bared, wide eyes, with your hands frozen in fake claws. Tongues out with peace signs. Selfies with stolen kisses and bunny ears. Selfies where the two of you posed with your favorite snacks from the convenience store. Every date you had, you took, at least, five photos.

The sunset picnic, the zoo, the movie theater, a fancy restaurant you never went to until I.N showed you. As you flipped through the book of photographs, every photo reminded you of a certain time period. The two of you were glued to each other's side whenever you could be.

At least, at one point in time, you were. That honeymoon phase faded away eventually. You knew it was a possibility, but you never expected it to turn into this. The skinship slowly became less and less. The hour long phone calls turned into a half hour and then drifted into fifteen before they stopped all together.

Frantic text messages filled with bad pick-up lines, emojis, awful jokes, and reminders of admiration disappeared. It was nobody's fault, really. Unfortunately, life seemed to pull the two of you in separate directions.

You started a new job six months ago. A job opportunity you had been raving about for months. Every time it popped up, you hesitated to take it until I.N talked you into it. You were always passionate about your line of work and career driven. The only thing stopping you from applying to the job was Jeongin.

While he worked all day, you'd be sleeping at home. When he came home, you would be getting ready to leave for work. By the time you'd get home, he'd be getting up and around for work. The clashing of schedules meant time away from your boyfriend and you didn't want that.

You dreamed of that job deep down, but you didn't want to sabotage the relationship that brought you so much joy. Jeongin knew how much you wanted this job and how much you hated your old one. After you broke down crying one day after being screamed at by your old boss, he insisted the next time the job offer came around, you had to apply.

And so you did. You spent nearly an hour perfecting your resume and another hour creating a cover letter and a reliable list of references. You had more than enough experience in the field, so it wasn't a surprise when you were called in for an interview.

One interview turned into a follow-up. The follow-up led to a job offer. There wasn't any time to hesitate and you accepted it immediately. While beaming, you were wrapped in a hug by Jeongin and he congratulated you with your favorite bouquet of flowers.

It was all working out at first. Sure, you didn't see each other much, but you did what you could to make it work. You planned your dates for the weekends. It worked out perfectly until it was announced his band was going on another world tour.

You were thrilled for him. He put his blood, sweat, and tears into his work. He loved seeing his fans and he shined brightly on stage. You were happy for him, thrilled even. It was a hard good-bye, but you knew he'd be okay.

He was gone for nearly three months and when he got back, things between the two of you were different. You lived together and you saw each other, but there was a large rift. Both of you were pretending it wasn't there, but it was.