The office light was still brightly lit even though the clock had passed eleven at night. Jung Jaehyun was still seated behind his long wooden desk, his fingers typing rapidly on the laptop, occasionally flipping through the stack of documents on his right. In another part of the house, the silence seemed to turn into a heavy weight hanging in the air. From the bedroom, the faint sound of a soft cough and labored breathing could be heard—his wife. The woman carrying their first child had been waiting for him since sunset. But to Jaehyun, it was all just a small part of household routine, something not nearly as urgent as his work deadlines. He considered pregnancy a natural part of life, not something that needed to be fussed over, let alone interfere with his job.

Jaehyun didn't feel guilty for missing last month's prenatal checkup. Nor when he let his wife sit alone, waiting for a taxi with her growing belly. To him, women were often too much. Too sensitive. Too dramatic. And now, when his wife only wanted to have dinner together, Jaehyun chose to hide behind the excuse of work. To him, showing love didn't have to mean being present. It didn't have to mean sitting in the doctor's office or helping massage swollen feet. None of that was in his cold, logical dictionary. He believed he loved her quietly, even though all she ever saw was his back turned away and ears that never really listened.

When the soft steps of his wife stopped at the doorway to his study, carrying a bottle of water and a sliver of hope that he would take a break, Jaehyun only glanced briefly with a blank expression, then returned to his laptop screen. Without looking up, he said in a flat voice,

"If you're tired, just go to sleep. Stop asking for things I can't give right now."

**[ WELCOME TO AU NCT! JEONG JAEHYUN IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME!<3 ]**