“Uh-oh,” Hongbin says, way too cheerfully, “you just got dumped.”

“Can you give me a glass of that… sweet stuff?” Sanghyuk asks and then promptly collapses on top of the counter, burying his face into his arms.

“Drowning your sorrows in sugar won’t do much good,” Hongbin replies from somewhere above him.

The coffee machine starts whirring and silverware clinks against glass, but Sanghyuk doesn’t look up, lets grief take over him as he sits on the barstool, regretting every single word he uttered half an hour before at Jaehwan's place.

“If that makes you feel any better,” Hongbin says and Sanghyuk lifts his head, sipping at his drink sadly, “you’re not the first one.”

“Did he dump you, too?” Sanghyuk inquires gloomily.

“Not me,” Hongbin shakes his head, leaning on the counter. “A friend of mine, Wonshik. That poor boy was head over heels in love with Jaehwan—he became an utter fool for him. He’s not the literary type like you are, but he did see Jaehwan here a few times. I once saw him trying to kiss Jaehwan… well, suffice it to say Wonshik left in tears.”

“How is that supposed to make me feel any better?” Sanghyuk grumbles.

“I’m not sure,” Hongbin muses, shrugging. “But you’re the first one I’ve seen Jaehwan be so unreserved with. I kind of believed you could break the ice. What happened exactly?”

Sanghyuk tells Hongbin about everything, drinking big gulps of his ‘bookworm’ in the meantime, still feeling wounded from Jaehwan's rejection. He doesn’t think the confession was inappropriate; it might have been, if Jaehwan hadn’t shown him all those signs—then again, he might have got too ahead of himself.

“Okay, listen,” Hongbin says, “one of the things I managed to learn about Jaehwan since he’s been coming here is that you don’t outright tell him your thoughts. It must do with his analytical mind-set or whatever, but he likes to figure out things on his own, just like he does whenever he reads something. He loves cliffhangers and you need to let him realize what’s going on instead of giving him the answer. That said, you blew this one, buddy.”

“I blew it?” Sanghyuk asks pitifully.

“Well, a little,” Hongbin twists his mouth. “Unless he really is smitten with you, and I do think he might be.”

“What am I supposed to do now, then?”

Hongbin sighs.

“If only I knew, man. I got a headache from being so eloquent.”

Hongbin pats his shoulder and walks away to take an order.