Spirit
↠ Asked: ❝hihi could u write mingyu and his s/o getting into a serious fight? the way it ends is up to u❞
↠ Members: Mingyu x reader
↠ Genre: Angst
↠ Word count: 1100+
His heart burned wood. It needed to be fueled. It needed things to run off of, to devour for itself so it could brighten its flame. The more fuel you gave him, the brighter he burned. Sometimes so blindingly that you could not bear to be near him. That was when the fuel would run low, when you left and he found himself alone, with only his mind and his heart to argue with each other.
Arguing was nothing new to him. In fact, it was what most often caused him to burn bright. He loved that kind of fuel, it caught fire like gasoline rather than the basic wood or coal you provided him so often. Gasoline wouldn’t leave ashes behind. It was something that really got him going, and he always loved a rush.
You two were having an at-home dinner date, complete with roses and candles with golden holders and so much food that you could burst. Sure, it was takeout, but that didn’t matter too much. Neither of you necessarily felt like cooking after the long day you both had. You were at work all day, and although he had a day off and stayed home, he was busy running errands and flooding your phone with texts and calls.
He would message you or call you until you replied, whether it was a kinder “what is it, Mingyu?” or the harsher “I’m at work, stop calling me” from later on in the day. Either way, it fueled him. No matter the kind of attention he got from you, it fueled him.
He took the time he now had, sitting down with you, to tell you about a work party he was invited to. “It’s this Friday and it’ll go a little later than work parties normally go... They said it’s employees only but I was wondering if you wanted to come?” You sigh.
“Mingyu, like I said every time you’ve asked me to a work party, if they say it’s employees only then it’s employees only. You shouldn’t keep wanting to break that rule, even if it’s a small-” he interrupts you.
“You really want to go saying that again? Y/n I’m only asking you to come because I want you to be included. You always ask about my work, so I thought you could get to at least know the people there. Why do you make such a big deal out of everything?”
You sigh again and drop your fork onto your plate, leaving it to make a small clink as it hit the ceramic surface. You place your hands on the tabletop and look at him in the dim light, staying calm because you know that fury only encourages him. And out of nowhere, something encourages you to say something you have wanted to say for a while.
“I am not making a big deal out of anything, Mingyu. The only one making ‘big deals’ out of small things is you.” You backtrack a little. “I always ask about your work because you never tell me, Mingyu. You never tell me about your work, you never tell me what you do on days off, you never tell me what friends you go to see, or where you go with them for that matter, you never tell me anything. Anything. It’s like... It’s like I’m in a relationship with some kind of ghost.
“You’re never really there. You come and go, you float around our house but never make a sound.” You chuckle nervously. “You are always hovering over me when I don’t need you, then when I look for you, you disappear. You’re gone. But whenever you’re around, you knock things down. You make such a mess.”
You stop talking. Nerves have taken over your body without you even noticing, up to this point. Your hands were shaking on the table and your eyes were turning red and watery.
“You’ve turned me into a mess,” you finish in a bare whisper.
He clenches his jaw tightly, feeling the fuel. But it’s much less than usual. You were quiet this time. He was used to running off of more volume. You didn’t give that to him.
He bit his lip before talking. “Well, maybe if you weren’t always so busy with things other than me, that wouldn’t be the case. You’re always working, y/n. You take so much time to get home. I know you try to stay busy just so you don’t have to get here so soon. You want to delay it for some reason. I don’t get it, but I don’t like it. I just want to spend time with you.” He finishes in a surprisingly quiet tone as well, for once, but that didn’t satisfy you in the least.
“Did you not hear anything I just said?” You look up at him in disbelief. You wait for him to answer, but he rips his gaze away from you and stays silent. For once, there’s no flame burning inside of him. He doesn’t know what to do. It’s like any sign of fire was watered down by you, and all that was left inside was a pile of damp, rotten twigs and logs soaking in a dirty puddle.
“Did you?” you repeat. He turns his head to the side and blinks harshly before looking back at you.
“I did,” he says. You wait again, hoping to hear more. You just wanted to hear him say something.
“And I’m sorry,” he starts. It takes a minute for him to continue. “I know we have problems. I know. I just never realized I’ve hurt you so much.” His voice disappears as he finishes that sentence, as if it hurts him to say it. The water that dampened the possibility of a flame found its way from his heart to his eyes. He was tearing up too, now.
You find his words genuine. He has apologized to you before, but it never felt the way it did now. And, he has never cried in the presence of you before. You could tell that, somewhere inside, there was a spark of desire for change. He was sorry. He truly realized he hurt you, the person that he loved most.
“Mingyu...” you reach out to hold his hand. His touch is more gentle than ever before. “We can work on it, okay? We can work through this. We really just need to talk it out. That’s how we’ll start, and then we take it from there.”
He nods along to your words, showing that he is willing to at least try. He knew something had to change. He wouldn’t be a ghost any more, hovering over you and disappearing when he’s needed. He wouldn’t want to burn bright any more, sucking the energy of you and using it for himself. He wouldn’t want to be anything else but yours.