Minae's POV:

Staring into the mirror, I tucked a few strands of loose hair behind my ear and took a deep breath. Silently raising my fist into the air, I cheered myself on and then turned to face the door. Biting my lower lip, I walked out of the bathroom and began heading back towards the counter, noticing Kai's absence.

As I looked at the empty cup in the place he had been sitting, Sehun came up behind me, leaning over my shoulder to see what I was looking at.

"He left by the way. Not a single word. Not even a tip."

I rolled my eyes and shoved his chest away from my face.

"We don't work for the tips oppa."

He grinned.

"I know. But you wouldn't complain if you got any, am I right?"

Sighing, I unconsciously nodded as my thoughts drifted off to Kai again, wondering how he had felt and why he had smirked. Surely I hadn't done something to amuse him.

It was that time of the day again as I flipped the sign on the front window to "closed." After wiping down the tables, I waved goodbye to Sehun and went towards the sink to wash the remainder of the dishes that had been left behind. Humming a random tune, I finished up as quickly as I could. Grabbing my jacket, I pulled the keys out of my pocket, turned the lights off, and locked up the cafe.

"Minae."

Surprised by the sound of a voice coming out of nowhere, I turned to my side and noticed someone leaning against the wall of the building. Taking a step closer, my vision cleared out and I saw that the figure had been Kai.

He took a few steps closer to me, wobbling around a little. On his third step, his knee gave out and he nearly collapsed onto the ground, not until I quickly ran over to sling one of his arms over my shoulder. Sure enough, he was just as heavy as I had expected, but now was not the time to be noticing such things.

He leaned his face in close to mine and let out a boyish grin. Wincing at the smell coming from his mouth, I crinkled my nose and turned away.

Kai was drunk. Very drunk.

Struggling to unlock the cafe again, I quickly turned the lock and opened the door. Just managing to get him onto a seat, I sat him down. Not really knowing what to do, I simply took the seat across of him and stared at him while sighing. I had never had a drink in my life, and this kind of experience was also a first for me.

Thinking about getting him a glass of water, I got up but only to hear him calling out to me again.

"Minae."

I met his gaze and for some reason, his smile seemed so sad. He gestured for me to sit down, and so I did as I was told. I eyed him as he scooted his chair closer to mine, leaning towards my face.

When he reached out to grab my hand, he played around with my fingers, causing me to freeze for a moment. The instant I snapped back into reality, I pulled away and heard him sigh.

"What do I seem like to you?"

"You?"

I thought about it for a while, contemplating on my word choice. But all at once, the thought came to me.

"You're like my getaway. You're the one that breaks me out of my normal routine, the one that shows me a side of life I've never seen. I've never dealt with a drunk guy before, and I've sure as hell never dealt with a guy as popular as you. It's thrilling, but it's also a little burdensome."

"Burdensome? Why am I burdensome?"

I sighed.

"Listen Kai. Knowing you, you've probably hung out with the most amazing people - beautiful girls, guys as rich as you, top-notch dance studios that are seeking for your attention. But me? I'm nothing compared to them. It makes me feel so plain and bland when I'm around you. I get worried sometimes, thinking that I'm too boring for you. I honestly can't even tell if you're hanging around me because you purely enjoy it, because you think I'm pitiful, or because you made me your next target."

His eyes shot open at my last words and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Target? What do you mean by that?"

Biting my lip, I gnawed at it, trying to word my answer in the nicest way possibly.

"Kai... I've heard a lot about you. In fact, I even saw you and some other girl when I came to visit you at the dance studio and - "

He slammed a fist onto the table, making my jump out of fright. Noticing my reaction, his eyes immediately softened and he looked out the window, sighing.

"So is that all I am to you too?"

"What?"

"A man-. Is that what you really see me as?"

"No, that's not it - "

"But it is. And that's okay. You're not the only one. Those beautiful girls you mentioned? They only come to me for their ual desires. I just submit to their wishes because for the few seconds they have all of their attention on me, I actually feel loved. Those rich guys? They do it because I help them get those girls. And those dance studios? It's all a part of connection. They think getting me will get them sponsors and funders. They don't even take a look at my skill."

Feeling my heart wrenching at the way he spoke to softly, I slowly reached out to him and grabbed his arm. He turned to look at me and then pulled away from my grasp.

"I don't need your pity Minae. I just wanted a friend - someone who knew what it was like to love something so much that you would do anything in its name. Dancing is my euphoria, and I notice that in you when you're brewing your coffee. I really thought you would be the one true friend that I needed to piece my life together. A friend was all I wanted."

The last sentence came out as a soft whisper, but I heard it loud and clear.

"Kai, I - "

"Forget it, Minae. I understand."

My eyes following his every move, I remained silent as he suddenly stood up, scraping the chair against the floor. He began to take steps towards the door, causing me to run after him and place a hand on his shoulder.

"Kai, you're still drunk. You should - "

He shook my hand off and turned to give me one last look. I felt as though his gaze could melt me on the spot.

"I'll be fine. If there was anything beneficial that came out of this, it was that I'm probably wide awake by now. Sorry for being such a burden."

After saying his last words, he walked out the door, not even giving me enough time to digest what had just happened.