“Are you sure?” You nodded. “I’ll go him up.”

 

“No, no, just wait for me back at home. I’ll let you know if you need to pick me up.”

 

You and Nina sat in your shared car in a parking spot a few stores down from Minseok’s coffee shop. It was past closing time but he had told you he’d leave the front doors open. Nina looked you over once, concern clearly in her eyes. She pursed her lips and sighed before responding.

 

“Alright,” her right hand went to the keys as you opened your door. “Let me know if anyone needs to be ed up, though. I’ll ‘em up,” she said in all seriousness. You gave her a small smile, grateful for her protectiveness.

 

You weren’t sure if a Tuesday night was the really the best night for a confrontation like this. It just didn’t feel special enough. This definitely should’ve been a Thursday night thing. But you realized that you were just scared as you approached the coffee shop a little too quickly. You reached the front and placed your hand on the handle before looking inside. He was there, head down resting on his arms, sitting behind the front counter. You thought that maybe you should’ve felt sadder for him. But in all honestly, you’ve only known him for such a short time. And in that time too much had happened. Things that directly impacted your livelihood. It was literally just a crush at this point. And one that you weren’t sure you wanted to pursue anymore. You took a deep breath and limped inside.

 

He lifted his head as soon as the door opened. You couldn’t tell if he was relieved or not to see you. As you walked closer he got up and pulled out a chair for you at one of the tables nearest the counter. You sat down without saying anything. He didn’t try to say anything at first either. Instead, he went behind the counter and began to make your cup. It was a while before he finally sat down across from you, placing your cup in front of you and holding his in his hands. You took a sip from your drink. It was hot but not enough to burn your tongue. And it was heavy, almost like you were drinking melted coffee beans. But it ran smooth and comforting down your throat and settled softly in your stomach. It was almost like he was trying to apologize all at once in this one sip.

 

“There are some things I need to explain,” he started, looking directly at you. “But first, I’m going to apologize.” He waited until you took another sip before continuing.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m so terribly sorry for everything that’s happened.” His eyes and voice had the utmost sincerity. Looking down at your drink, you wrapped your hands around your cup and simply nodded. He reached his hand toward you but stopped half way. “I mean it, Tylar. I’m sorry.” Now he was pleading. You looked up and met his eyes that were watering.

 

“I know,” you whispered; it was all you could manage. He took his hand back and nodded to himself. Minseok took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders.

 

“Charlotte means a lot to me.” He paused to study your face. When your expression remained the same, he continued: “When I was five, my parents divorced. My father left and I haven’t seen him since. My mother had to pick up more work than she could handle. I don’t have siblings so I was by myself for some time, mostly until I could go to school. Luhan moved in down the hall when I was in the second grade. We instantly became friends. My mom loved it because I wasn’t so lonely any more. But it put a strain on Luhan’s mother. She didn’t really like me always in her apartment; she felt like she was raising another child when she had her own to worry about. I don’t blame her but, when we were in the fifth grade, she confronted my mother one night. It escalated pretty badly. So much so that I wasn’t allowed to be in his home anymore.

 

“It felt awful to be so close and not be able to see him. But that was the year we met Junmyeon and Chanyeol. I would go over to their homes as much as I could. But the same thing kept happening. I understood. No one wants to take care of someone else’s kid. But my mom worked, came home to sleep and leave me money for food. By the end of my sixth grade year, our group had pretty much formed and it felt like I had a second family... But I was still really on my own.”

 

He paused to take a deep breath and blinked tears out of his eyes.

 

“My mother died when I was fourteen.” He let a few tears fall before trying to clear the lump that had formed in his throat. “It was really hard. I kind of shut everyone out….except Charlotte.

 

“She was the one I leaned on the most… and I said some pretty awful things to her last week...” He whispered the last part almost to himself. “She became my best friend during that time. I could tell her anything and she would listen, no judgement, no questions. But as I started to heal, I let my other friends back in.... I rebuilt my family.....

 

“But I think that I might have been too much for her. In retrospect, I could see why her crush formed in the first place. And, in all honesty I lead her on by keeping her so close… Obviously I hit college before she did. I was growing up and only then did I see that things were getting out of hand. Every girl I would ask out would always end up cancelling on me. I thought it was really weird until, thought something was wrong with me. Until Luhan found her one day telling off a girl I liked. It was only then did I try to show her that nothing was going to happen between us.

 

“But honestly I didn’t think she was gone this far. I knew she was hurt when I told her about you. I knew she was would be upset and retaliate in some way. I got the feeling that you would be strong enough to handle her words. But I never thought she would go as far as physically hurt you….

 

“Everything is all my fault. I let Charlotte become this way. And I brought you into her line of sight. I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…”

 

.

 

When he finished he wiped the tears from his face and took a shaky breath. You understood the way things turned out better. You almost didn’t want to ask but you had to know.

 

“What did you tell her?” You asked as softly and as kindly as you could. He looked around the room before looking, down at his drink. He stared at it as he answered you.

 

“...I told her to stop talking to me, to not see me anymore…”  

 

“Oh, Minseok,” you whispered. You didn’t really know what to say next but you opened your mouth hoping that your emotions could say something.

 

“She’s one of your best friends,” you started quietly. “This isn’t all your fault though. You are not responsible for her actions. She’s a grown adult. What she did to me . I’ve been out of work for more than a week now. With business already slow as it is, Nina and I have been struggling. But that doesn’t mean I won’t get better, Minseok. I’ll be fine in a few more days. With this time off, I’ve even made plans to start some new projects at work...

 

“I think you made the right call in essentially breaking up with her. I think what the two of you need is some time apart. However, I don’t think it’s the right time for me to be here, either...” He looked at you but his expression was unreadable. You continued before he could say anything.

 

“You need time to heal, Minseok.” You reach across the table and held his wrist. You gave a gentle squeeze. His expression softened at your touch. He nodded and made no move to touch you back. You could tell that this could possibly be the end of your relationship. You weren’t exactly sure how to handle being the catalyst for another relationship. But it didn’t really matter then. You let go of his hand and grabbed your cup that was still mostly full.

 

You stood up with the cup. He looked at your curiously.

 

“Imma take this,” you said, giving a comforting smile, “as a loan. You’ll get back eventually but it depends on you when.” He scoffed but a small smile appeared. He stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

 

“Take care of yourself, Minseok,” you added seriously. He nodded.

 

“You too,” he said. You nodded back and quietly left the shop.

 

.

 

Once outside, you took a deep breath and looked around. To your surprise, calling Nina would be unnecessary. She was sitting in the driver’s seat with the door wide open, seat reclined all the way back, feet in the open window, and music playing softly. You walked over to her only to find that she was asleep.

 

“Ya!” you called, hitting her leg. She woke up with a start and sat up.

 

“Oh! Hey,” she rubbed her eyes. “Are you done?” She looked up at you trying to see if you were hurt. You took a drink and looked back to the shop just as the lights turned off inside.

“Yeah, we’re done.”