stressed - knj

Trigger warning: mature language

Dina

Meaning: divine

___

Today must have been the most annoying day in Dina's life. Nothing worked out for her, from coming late to work to losing a case due to her assistant misplacing the evidence. She was frustrated and the only thing that got her through the day was the thought of going home and binge-watching Game of Thrones.

"I'm home, honey." She announced as she slipped the high heels off her manicured feet, the rich aroma coming from the kitchen made her mouth water, she closed her eyes, breathing in the smell, trying to decipher what was for dinner tonight.

"I'm in the kitchen." the deep voice of her husband echoed through their penthouse. The barely used kitchen was located next to the living room, dividing the two spaces by a wooden dining table. Knowing that her husband is a destructive cooker, Dina rushed to the kitchen praying that he didn't break her favourite teacups.

She stopped in her tracks as her eyes scanned her surroundings. The sight was unbelievable, shocking even. Dina clearly remembered leaving the kitchen spotless the night before, she looked away, then looked back to see if it was still there. It was.

Used tomato and noodle packages were scattered on the counter, unrinsed dishes filled the sink. The dried sauce was splattered across the marble tiles and the stove was covered by three pots, hinting his previous failed attempts.

In contrast to her horror-filled face, her husband was standing with a proud smile on his face and an apron hugging his waist. His peach-coloured hair was covered with a bandanna and there was evidence of him tasting the sauce on the corner of his mouth. His eyes lit up as he saw her approaching him, he wiped his hands on the apron and grinned, satisfaction written all over his face.

"Surprise!" he said cheerfully. "I wanted to make you something fancy, but you know how I suck at cooking, so I thought pasta would be a good choice," he said while rubbing his neck.

He didn't notice Dina clenching her fists, trying to swallow the anger running through her veins, which was threating to explode any second. She couldn't believe that he was proud. Thinking about all the time it would take to clean everything made her lose her appetite.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he moved closer wanting to hug Dina, but she pushed his arms away softly.

"Namjoon, who asked you to do this?" she whispered through gritted teeth. He just chuckled and wrapped his strong arms around her, leaving a soft smooch on her forehead.

"I wanted to reward my wife who was working hard the whole week."

"But the kitchen is a mess now" she tried to reason "look at the dishes in the sink, I have to soak them in water in order to get those stains off. And the floor, it looks like someone dropped a bomb here."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. I'll do it later, relax." Dina ran her hands through her short curly hair, untangling herself from his hold. She closed her eyes for mere seconds, enough to tame the beast ready to lunge any minute.

Namjoon glanced at his wife analyzing her expression, her brown eyebrows were furrowed and her normally plump lips were pressed into a thin line, she lifted her head glaring at him with no hint of softness in them. Namjoon cleared his throat, sensing her anger.

"Come on, let's not ruin the night because of some dishes. I made dinner for us let's sit down and eat, okay? The cleaning can wait." His voice assuring as he pulled her to one of the wooden chairs around the dining table.

"Ugh, my day was bad enough, now I have to deal with this crap." she scoffed quietly but it was loud enough for Namjoon's ears to pick up.

Namjoon's face fell at her words, his lips were slightly parted, and his eyes were filled with rage and disappointment. The silence that hung in the air was like the suspended moment before a falling glass shattered on the ground.

"What did you just say?" his rough voice cut through the silence like a knife, his expression turned hard, anger evident on his face.

Dina's sat still, she knew that if she apologized, blamed it on her stressed self, everything would be fine, but rage clouded her mind.

"You heard me" she provoked.

"Wow, I never expected you to go all crazy on me because of a small mess, and here I thought we could spend some quality time together, but no you must ruin everything with your nasty temper." Namjoon laughed bitterly.

"What a pity that you got married to a woman with a nasty temper, right? Sorry to be such a nuisance." You said angrily.

Namjoon rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Is it that bad to have made a small mess in the kitchen? If the kitchen is the problem, then I'll just hire a cleaning company and this kitchen will sparkle by tomorrow." he continued.

"Nobody asked you to go out of your way and make dinner, okay? You brought this on yourself!" Dina mocked angrily.

"You know what? I'm done arguing with you. Enjoy your fucking pasta" He spat while grabbing his coat.

"Where are you going?" she questioned, struggling to keep her voice stable, she feared the possibility of him leaving, forever.

He ignored her question and he left the apartment with a loud thud.

She let out a shaky breath rubbing her tired face, looking at the decorated dining table, the pasta he made turned soggy and cold from being neglected.

She dragged her tired self to their shared bedroom and changed into her fluffy pyjamas and plopped on the bed. The walls of their room were filled with pictures of them smiling happily. Regret washed over her fragile body as tears rolled down her cheeks. How she longed to go back in time and not say a thing.

Imagining the covers as the comforting arms of her husband sent her into a slumber.

She heard faint noises coming from the kitchen, but she struggled to open her eyes as exhaustion washed over her making her drift back to sleep. After a while, she felt the bed dip next to her and the pillow she was hugging taken away.

Dina opened her eyes slowly, meeting the exhausted form of her husband getting ready to sleep. Seeing him like that, she guessed that the noise from before was him cleaning the kitchen. Her heart dropped as she felt ashamed of herself. She scooted closer to him and rested her cheeks on his tense back. Namjoon didn't move so she assumed that he was still angry.

"I'm sorry for what I said, you were just trying to cheer me up, but I was too cranky about it. I had a really bad day and I took it out on you. I'm sorry" the words leaving her mouth like a hurricane.

She heard him sigh, he then turned his body facing her and lowered himself to meet her teary eyes.

"I'm sorry too, I know how you detest it when the kitchen is a mess " he whispered apologetically.

"Are we good now? " you asked with pleading eyes. He nodded as his dimples appeared below twinkling eyes.

"Yeah, we're good, but you owe me a huge ass meal, cleaning the kitchen made me break a sweat," Namjoon demanded with teasing eyes.

The night was filled with the sound of their laughs and hushed voices. The tensed argument was long forgotten as they talked through the night content with each other's presence that they didn't notice the sun welcoming another day.

[Edited: 17/10/2019]