Ben had experienced many disasters in his life, but nothing, and he meant nothing, had prepared him for the sanity-shattering catastrophe of kissing Park Daniel and getting shoved away like a malfunctioning vending machine.
His heart was still doing backflips. His lips were still tingling. His brain, however, chose pure violence and replayed the kiss on a loop like a broken record.
He staggered into the hallway like a man who had just survived a collision and needed divine intervention.
Instead, his body chose the bathroom.
What?! Don't judge. He was a hormonal, emotionally compromised university student who had just kissed the person he loved and ignited a furnace inside himself that needed urgent… management.
Afterward, slightly less doomed in the body but still catastrophically doomed in the soul, Ben wandered the streets like a ghost who had just been evicted from his afterlife. There was no way he could go back to the dorms when his every breath echoed with soft lips… sweet lips… like an unhinged lullaby.
He walked aimlessly, drowning in guilt and longing, until he somehow found himself standing in front of the same café he had visited two days ago.
Drawn more by muscle memory than conscious thought, he pushed open the door and ordered the first thing on the menu that wasn't a breakdown. He sat in a corner, gripping the warm cup like a life raft, staring blankly into the foam as the café chatter swirled around him.
He was seconds away from sinking into a pit of shame and romantic regret when a familiar voice broke through the noise.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
Ben's heart skidded. He looked up.
Standing a few feet away, hands in his jacket pockets, was Sean.
***
Ben's breath caught. He did not want to run into anyone, not when he was still in the middle of a full emotional breakdown.
And out of all the people he could have encountered, fate had chosen the one person whose behavior had already been confusing him for days.
Trying not to think about any of that, Ben forced out a quiet greeting. "Hey."
Sean took one look at him and squinted. "Why do you look like someone just canceled your life?"
Ben exhaled heavily. "Because death would be easier."
Sean pulled out the chair across from him and sat down with the calm detachment of someone who had grown immune to other people's emotional disasters. "I know Daniel hyung is insufferable, but that is dramatic even for you. What happened? Did he start another rant about dance formations?"
Ben almost smiled. "No. The problem is not him. It is me."
His gaze fell back to his coffee, as if the swirling foam might offer him divine guidance.
Sean tilted his head. "What happened?"
Ben searched for words, but everything felt tangled. Every explanation he considered sounded ridiculous or incriminating, so he settled for the least humiliating version.
"I messed up big time," he muttered. "I might have really hurt hyung, and I do not know how to fix it."
Sean leaned back slightly. "Are you sure he was hurt, or are you assuming the worst again?"
Ben swallowed. "I am not sure, I mean, he ran away."
Sean crossed his arms and studied him with quiet scrutiny. His voice came out low and steady. "Running away is not the same as being hurt."
Ben lifted his head, frustrated. "You say that because you don't know what happened."
Sean did not respond. He simply watched him, unblinking. Ben prayed he would not ask anything else.
Sean finally spoke in a muted murmur. "Is this about your feelings for Daniel hyung?"
Ben's grip tightened around the cup. His voice came out uneven. "Kind of."
Sean lifted a brow, a small shift in his otherwise unreadable expression. Ben immediately looked away. Sean was always too perceptive. Ben knew that if he lingered too long, Sean would connect the dots, drawing out the truth that Ben was not ready to confess.
He was too late.
Sean's next question landed with the weight of a falling brick. "Did you make a move on Daniel hyung? Maybe… kiss him?"
Ben jerked so hard that the cup tilted, and hot coffee splashed onto his fingers.
"Ah—" he hissed and pulled back, shaking his hand as the burn bloomed across his skin.
Before he could fully react, he heard the scrape of a chair and quick footsteps. Sean was suddenly beside him, one hand circling Ben's wrist with unexpected gentleness while the other rummaged through his jacket pocket. He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed the reddening skin. Without a word, he signaled to a passing server and asked for ice cubes.
It all happened so quickly that Ben could only blink in confusion.
A moment later, Sean settled in the chair beside him and wrapped a few ice cubes in the cloth. He pressed the cool fabric carefully to Ben's hand, adjusting the pressure with almost clinical attention. The burn itself barely hurt. What unsettled Ben was the care in every one of Sean's movements. It felt as if Sean believed he might break Ben if he applied too much pressure.
Ben had no idea how he was supposed to react to that or what to say. A strange and heavy silence stretched until Sean spoke.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Ben."
Ben let out a small, humorless sound. "So are you saying you have messed up as badly as I have?"
Sean's hand paused for a moment. His jaw tightened before he murmured, "Worse."
Ben's eyes widened. "You have? What did you do?"
Sean did not answer. His gaze remained fixed on Ben's hand, and the silence he offered made it clear he would not elaborate. Ben chose not to push further. Instead, he asked softly, "Were you able to fix it?"
Sean placed the makeshift ice pack aside and tied his handkerchief around Ben's palm. He did not release Ben's hand even after he was done. His fingers lingered, tracing lightly against Ben's skin that sent a faint jolt up his arm. Sean continued to avoid his eyes as he spoke.
"You should talk to Daniel hyung. Apologize if you need to. Regret does nothing if you refuse to act."
Ben exhaled slowly. Sean had sidestepped the question entirely, yet his advice was sincere. Despite the turmoil swirling inside him, Ben felt his lips lift faintly. "Gomawo, hyung."
Sean finally looked up. Their eyes met, and something unguarded flickered beneath the usual calm. Before Ben could make sense of it, Sean's fingers brushed along his cheek, tracing down to the curve of his smile, dangerously close to his lips.
Ben froze. The gesture was entirely unexpected.
Sean spoke again in his usual colorless voice, yet it carried an honesty that cut straight through Ben.
"I did not notice it before, but you are beautiful."
Ben's mind stuttered. He had been complimented many times, even teased about his looks, but hearing it from Sean felt strangely disarming. It was too sudden, too unfiltered, as if the words had slipped out before Sean could stop them.
Sean seemed to realize this at the same moment. He stood abruptly, grabbed his bag, and straightened with a stiffness that betrayed his composure. His tone remained even, although Ben caught a faint tremor beneath it.
"I tied the handkerchief around your hand. Put ointment on it later. It will help with the redness."
He turned and walked out of the café without looking back as if trying to outrun his own emotions.
Ben remained seated, still processing the sting on his hand and the far more confusing one in his chest.