Beep, beep, beep.

As the sound of the front door passcode being pressed reached his ears, Do-un reflexively looked up. The phone screen he had been looking at until a moment ago was already off, and he rose from the sofa.

The door opened and his spouse entered the house.

Do-un's gaze naturally moved toward their face.

An expression not much different from usual.

That alone made the tension in his shoulders relax slightly.

"You're home?"

At the cautiously offered greeting, his spouse only gave a short nod. As they put down the bag they were holding and took off their shoes, Do-un quickly approached.

"Do you want to eat dinner? I can set it out right away."

Instead of answering, his spouse took off their jacket and handed it over. Do-un took it habitually and hung it on a hanger.

A moment later, his spouse flopped down on the living room sofa and reached out a hand.

"Water."

Do-un immediately headed to the kitchen.

He took a water bottle out of the refrigerator, poured it into a cup, and handed it over carefully.

His spouse took a sip and then furrowed their brow.

"It's cold."

Do-un flinched at the short remark.

"Ah... sorry."

He immediately took the cup back and headed to the kitchen again. While pouring new water at a moderate temperature, his heart beat a little faster for no reason.

Fortunately, there was no comment this time.

After drinking the water, his spouse leaned back against the sofa and closed their eyes.

Do-un stood beside them for a moment before asking cautiously.

"Was today hard?"

The answer didn't come right away.

A short silence followed, and Do-un pointlessly fiddled with his fingertips.

Then, his spouse let out a low sigh and opened their eyes.

"It's noisy, so just be quiet for a moment."

"...Okay."

Do-un immediately shut his mouth.

And he sat quietly across from his spouse.

There was no TV sound or music in the living room.

Only the faint sound of the two of them breathing passed between them.

Do-un sat with his hands neatly gathered on his knees and stole a glance at his spouse.

They came home.

Just that one fact made him feel strangely at ease.