Don't Text Me | Taesan X Woonhak

31: Argument

⋮ ⌗ ┆Trigger warning ! ゛ and long chapter ⸝⸝.ᐟ⋆

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Dongmin was currently occupying the couch. He was scrolling through a barrage of mindless Instagram reels that Donghyun had dumped into their chat, but none of them were hitting the mark. He was bored.

The house was empty. Jihoon had packed his bags earlier and dragged himself to the library to cram for his entrance exams, leaving Dongmin alone with his thoughts, which were currently 95% composed of irritation.

Woonhak hadn't texted since their dry conversation the previous evening. The silence from his end was a physical presence in the room.

Needing a distraction, Dongmin opened his chat with Donghyun to initiate their daily ritual of mutual harassment.

Dongmin: The reels you sent are terrible. My algorithm is now permanently damaged. I hope you're happy.

Donghyun: your face is terrible. those are top-tier comedy. you just lack a sense of humor because your soul is currently trapped in a dark void.

Dongmin: My soul is perfectly fine. I don't enjoy brainrot like you.

Dongmin: And for the record, I am completely indifferent to the silence. It's peaceful. The air quality in my room has actually improved.

Donghyun: bro, stop lying to yourself, it's giving me second-hand embarrassment.

Donghyun: did the kid not text you yet or what?

Dongmin: No. And I don't care.

Dongmin: It's just... whatever. He's probably just busy cleaning another dusty surface or whatever his family forces him to do.

Donghyun: wow, look at you being understanding. who are you and what have you done to my toxic best friend?

Donghyun: but seriously, stop overthinking it. he's probably just grounded and under surveillance. it's not like he suddenly hates you. you're still his favorite 'Taesan-hyung.'

Dongmin: I'm not overthinking. I'm just observing.

Dongmin: Whatever. It doesn't matter.

Donghyun: hey. don't get all depressed on me now.

Donghyun: if you're that bored, come over. i'll let you play league and we can yell at teenagers on the internet. it'll cure your sadness.

Dongmin: I'm not sad. I'm just tired.

Dongmin: I'm going to watch something, bye.

Dongmin closed the app, feeling a small, heavy knot of genuine sadness settle in his chest. He didn't want to play games. He didn't want to go out either.

He opened YouTube and blindly scrolled through his feed until he stumbled upon a video essay about street fashion, the exact kind of visual stuff that Woonhak used to spam him about. Without thinking, his thumb moved to the share button. He copied the link and pasted it into Woonhak's chat.

Then, he rolled over on the couch, pulled a throw pillow over his face, and took a nap to escape his own brain.

When he woke up an hour later, the living room was darker, the afternoon sun dipping below the horizon. He blinked against the dim light and reached for his phone,

There was a notification.
He unlocked it. Woonhak had left a simple, 👍 emoji reaction on the YouTube link. Underneath it was a single text.

Woonhak: cool!