Seungkwan and I were sitting in the bustling BBQ store that was Minghao's workplace, watching the Chinese boy hop from table to table serving customers. Despite his language barriers, the boy was polite and hardworking, making him a likable employee. It was clear that the customers liked him as well. 

"I'm so glad we picked his request instead of Jun's. Can you imagine how different two people can think of the same issue, despite being friends? That their thoughts can just diverge to the extent that one wants revenge on the other, when all Minghao wants is just to patch up!" Seungkwan placed a well-cooked piece of mushroom onto my plate, before devouring another piece himself. I shared his sentiments wholeheartedly, but instead of voicing out my agreements, I swallowed my words with large gulps of tea instead. My thoughts ventured elsewhere, thinking about the exchange I had the previous night. Seungkwan placed more food on my plate when he noticed I wasn't eating, unlike my usual gluttonous self. 

"Don't worry too much, Soonbuk. The three of us are an amazing team. If you believe in it, you can do it." 

We waited until closing hours, helping Minghao with his last chores. The owner entrusted him with closing the shop that evening, so we had the space to talk. 

"I need to update you guys about something. I think...I found out why Jun is so resistant to talking over this issue." Minghao seemed apprehensive to break the news to us. Seungkwan and I raised a brow discretely at each other. We were quite sure we already knew. 

"As it turns out, there was a girl that he had the longest crush on at work. I didn't know! He did tell me he had a crush, but I thought it was some history major from his class or something. Do you think there's still hope? Like I must have ruined his image by quitting the job for him..." 

So often people who do things out of good intentions blame themselves for faults that were not their own. I looked at the self-blame and self-deprecation kick in within the boy again, and it seemed to strike a chord in both Seungkwan and myself. 

"You know, it's not all that bad. Help her get the girl back or something. We can help. The last thing we need you to do is to give up. Because if you give up on this friendship too, then we're not in the position to help either. There must be a reason why you treasure him so much." I knew Seungkwan didn't approve of Jun much as a person, especially since none of us doubted Minghao's sincerity. Yet sometimes judging someone else's story from a single moment could strip the story of its essence and beauty. There must have been a reason why Minghao decided to hold on, despite Jun's seeming irrationality. 

The boy stopped in the middle of cleaning the last table and looked up, as if reminiscing a distant memory that he dearly missed. "I was sick very often moving here. You have no idea, studying in a foreign country where you do not know the language of. You are faced with casual discrimination day in day out, you have no one to talk to, and when I cried pretty much only my pillow knew my tears. I missed home, but I didn't want to risk my parents worrying about me if I called too often. Jun was there for me. He would hang out less with his friends, he would take care of me. He was the one who found me this job here, because he reckoned I needed to go out to practice my Korean. He's really done a lot. So I guess I can see why he saw this whole fiasco as a betrayal." 

See? Every painful moment was always