Dear. My Darling | Gongfourz / Taehan

Chapter 42

The days following their conversation in the car passed slowly, the tension between Taesan and Leehan gradually easing, but neither of them was truly at ease.

They found small moments of comfort in each other's presence, their words coming with more thoughtfulness, their gestures more meaningful. Yet, something had shifted. Something neither of them could name or fully grasp yet.

Leehan noticed the change in Taesan first.

It was subtle at first-a flicker of hesitation in Taesan's eyes when he looked at him, the brief pauses in their conversations, the way he would distance himself physically, as if unconsciously creating space between them.

He didn't know what to make of it. He wanted to brush it off as something minor, as the natural ebb and flow of life, but it didn't feel like that. Not when he could feel Taesan's presence growing colder, like the distance between them was no longer just emotional but something tangible.

They had decided to go to the beach one afternoon. It had been Leehan's suggestion-a way to spend time together, to reconnect without the weight of their past misunderstandings hanging over them.

The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the water, and Leehan had hoped the peacefulness of it all would help them. But even as they sat together on the sand, their shoulders brushing occasionally, Taesan had seemed distracted, his gaze always shifting, his answers curt.

It wasn't like him. He was usually warm, always present, always engaged.

Now, back in Leehan's apartment later that night, the silence felt unbearable. Taesan sat on the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him, his phone in his hand, scrolling mindlessly through the screen.

Leehan sat opposite him, his eyes fixed on Taesan, trying to read him, trying to understand what had happened. What had changed?

"Are you okay?" Leehan asked quietly, the question slipping out before he could stop it. It was one he had been meaning to ask for days, but the timing never felt right. Now, with the weight of the silence between them, he couldn't hold it back.

Taesan's gaze flickered up from his phone, his expression blank. For a moment, he didn't answer, as if weighing whether to speak the truth or to pretend everything was fine.

He leaned back, exhaling slowly, before muttering, "Yeah. I'm fine."

Leehan's stomach twisted at the nonchalant way Taesan spoke, the way he seemed to pull away even more. "You don't seem fine. You've been... different lately."

Taesan didn't respond. He didn't even look at him. His fingers drummed absentmindedly on his phone, the sound harsh in the quiet room.

Leehan wanted to reach out, to close the distance between them, but the space Taesan had put between them felt like a wall, and he didn't know how to break it.

"I just need some time," Taesan finally said, his voice low, his eyes not meeting Leehan's.

There was something in the way he said it, something unspoken, and it made Leehan's chest tighten. Time? Time for what? Time for him to disappear again? He thought they'll fix this?

Leehan swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to ignore the hurt that was slowly creeping up inside him. He wanted to press, to demand an explanation, but something told him it wasn't the right moment. He wasn't sure if there would ever be a right moment.

So, instead, he nodded, his lips pressed together in a tight line. "Okay."

But as the days went on, Taesan continued to pull away. He became more withdrawn, more distant. His answers to Leehan's questions grew shorter.

He started staying out late, saying he had things to take care of, but never explaining what those things were. Leehan could feel the gap widening between them, and the uncertainty gnawed at him.

One evening, when they were supposed to meet for dinner, Taesan texted him at the last minute, saying he couldn't make it. Something came up, he said. Again.

Leehan stared at the screen for a long time, his heart sinking with each passing second. He didn't know what to feel anymore.

Confusion. Frustration. Fear.

It was all there, swirling together in a storm he couldn't navigate. Was this really happening? Were they really slipping apart again, this time for good?

He tried calling Taesan, but the call went unanswered. Taesan was avoiding him, and Leehan knew it. It wasn't just the silence-it was the way Taesan had stopped trying.

It was the way his eyes had lost the warmth they once held when they looked at Leehan. It was the way Taesan seemed to be running away from something, but what?

As the night wore on, Leehan found himself sitting in his apartment alone, the weight of his thoughts pressing down on him.

He needed answers, but every time he tried to approach Taesan, he found himself met with a cold, distant version of the person he once knew so well.

He hated it.

He hated how easy it had become for Taesan to slip away, to hide behind the excuse of needing space.

But Leehan wasn't stupid. He could see it now. There was something more to Taesan's behavior than just needing a break. Something was wrong. Something that Taesan wasn't telling him.

And that thought lingered like a shadow, dark and ominous.