He says talking to me is a chore

Me and my SO were talking about how our relationship feels different lately. I notice he doesn’t respond to my texts or things I send him that much and I asked him what’s up. We talked a lot and then he said “I feel like talking to you is more of a chore than it used to be”. I believe he means he feels forced to talk to me. Why doesn’t he want to talk to me anymore?

We’re on a break rn, we think it’ll help. Do y’all think he just isn’t as interested in me as he says he is? Does your man ever just not feel like talking to you?

Tbh this does hurt a little I mean I feel as if this whole time he’s only texted me out of pity or something. I want to be with someone who actively wants to talk to me. We’ve had this struggle of him not paying attention to me for a while, should we keep working at it?