As she grabbed the icy metal handle of the café door, the heel of Haera’s left boot broke. She gasped, falling forward from the momentum of her run and the unexpected dip. Her hands clapped around her face and she screwed her eyes shut in preparation for the pain. 

Hands grabbed her arms and Haera’s fingers touched what wasn’t the hard floor but a soft cloth. Something wide and cold dug into her forehead and the smell of coffee mixed with an unrecognizable sharp tinge in her nose.  The mild burning in her chest subsided by the time she pulled back. 

“How many times have I told you,” Jongin said as he removed strands of her hair from his sweater. “When you fall you bring your arms out and prevent directly hitting the floor – not cover your face." 

Removing her hands, Haera rubbed her eyes. “It’s called instinct.” 

“Uh, no,” said Chanyeol, coming up as Jongin turned his back to her. “The word is ‘reflex’, but in your case, ‘stupidity’.” Haera narrowed her eyes at her brother as he moved to stand beside her. Jongin walked to their table with a hunched back and slumped shoulders. Haera sighed when Jongin slid into the maroon sofa seat. 

 “How bad is it?” 

“Pretty bad.” Chanyeol took a step closer. “He won’t talk about it.” 

Pursing her lips, Haera nodded.  Chanyeol put an arm around her as she walked toward the table with big steps. Her legs wobbled and her right ankle ached but she managed to keep a straight face. The single clicking of her heel didn’t grab Jongin's attention; unblinking, he continued to look out the window. Haera turned to Chanyeol who, without a word, pointed for her to settle down opposite Jongin before moving in after her. The Park siblings sat in silence as they stared at the boy in front of them. 

Other than the rise and fall of his chest, Jongin remained still. 

Haera took off her jacket and placed it next to her legs as she took measured breaths. Pulling up her sleeves, she rubbed her left thumb over the dry skin of her hand. 

“Jongin,” she called, exchanging glances with her brother. “What’s wrong?” 

Jongin didn’t move. Haera looked to Chanyeol again, but the older could only shrug. Haera rubbed her thumb some more. 

“Jong—” 

“Excuse me, miss?”  

Haera and Chanyeol looked up at the same time. Bright orange was the first and only thing Haera saw for the first few seconds until the waitress cleared .  Her gaze went from the girl’s hair to the green contacts in her eyes, only this time, Haera didn’t stare. The forced smile on the girls face grew wider. 

“You dropped this,” said the waitress, placing a black rectangular block on their table with a thud. Chanyeol flinched at the sound as Haera inspected the object.   

“Oh!” Haera picked it up, recognizing the hairline scratches around it. The jagged edges of her broken heel fell onto her lap as she traced her index finger over the damaged area. “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot about this.” 

The area around the girl’s eyes crinkled. “No problem,” she said, sounding a little too happy. “Just be sure to pick up your items next time; a customer almost fell to their face tripping over that.” 

Chanyeol looked around the almost empty café with furrowed brows before looking to his sister.

Haera's lips parted in shock. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful next time,” she said, furrowing her brows. 

Chanyeol leaned forward. "We're the only ones he—"  

“Hopefully!” The waitress giggled and turned to leave. 

“Excuse me,” Jongin said, and the waitress stopped. Haera almost dropped the heel as she turned at his voice. With slightly squinted eyes and a creased forehead, Jongin said: “What’s your name?” 

Chanyeol glanced from Jongin to the waitress, but Haera only looked at Jongin. The waitress shot a brief glance toward Chanyeol but then turned to Jongin with the same smile she had given Haera. 

“Kaira,” she said. 

“Kaira,” Jongin repeated with a nod. A small smile broke on Haera's face and she ducked her head. 

“Tell me, Kaira,” Jongin said, “is being passive aggressive a new employee policy here or is it just you?” 

Kaira’s smile fell an inch and she cast her gaze to Haera before turning to Jongin again. 

“I'm guessing just you,” he said after Kaira's silence. He gave her a small smile. “One Alfredo pasta, please.” He turned to Chanyeol. Chanyeol blinked, giving him the questioning raise of his brows before catching on and placing his order as Kaira scrambled to get the tiny yellow notebook out of her back pocket. 

“Haera?” Chanyeol nudged but his sister shook her head.  

“I’m not hung—” 

“One Spaghetti Marinara,” Jongin said, leaning back in his seat. “Chicken instead of fish, please. That’d be all.” 

Kaira left with their orders without asking about drinks.  

Before Jongin could turn to the window again, Haera leaned over. "What's wrong?" She placed her free hand on the table as the other gripped the heel.  

Jongin pursed his lips and glanced at Chanyeol and then to his best friend. He took a deep breath and held it. "I inked Soojung," he confessed after a moment and let out a long huff. 

Chanyeol's eyes widened and his mouth opened like a fish.  Haera shook her head – maybe she didn't hear him right. "What?" 

Jongin took another deep breath, scratching his forehead as he did so. "Remember when I said I had an extra Marketing class?" Haera nodded. "Mr. Lim combined his sections so he wouldn't have to teach the same thing twice in one day," Jongin continued. "It was a little crowded and that was fine. But then- then this really familiar head sat in the seat ahead of mine and—" 

"It was Soojung?" Chanyeol said.  

Jongin nodded. "She didn't even notice me, thankfully. At the end of the class we had to write down our names on the attendance sheet and Soojung didn't have a pen." Jongin paused for a moment, his stare at his odd colored knuckles. "So I gave her mine." 

Blinking, Haera tilted her head. "But you never carry pens..." 

"I forgot I never carry pens," Jongin said, tracing circles onto the wooden table. Blue color laced the lines of his nails and fingers. "I gave it in a spur of moment and I didn't realize what it was until it was too late." 

Jongin fell quiet, but before Haera could urge him to continue, her brother choked. 

"You gave Soojung the fountain pen?!" 

Jongin, closing his eyes tight, slowly nodded. Chanyeol's hands flew to cover his mouth, his eyes going wide enough to hide his brows behind his bangs. "I warned you!" 

"I forgot!" 

"Hey!" Haera raised her hands. She glanced to the side where Kaira was shaking her head behind the counter. "Quiet down," she said, lowering her voice. "What fountain pen?" 

Chanyeol grabbed the front of his hair and propped his elbow on the table. "Minseok gave me a fountain pen that squirts blue ink from the opposite end once you put pressure on the nib. Jongin thought it was pretty cool so I gave it to him." Chanyeol sent Jongin a pointed glare. "With a clear warning." 

Haera's brows furrowed. "How come no one told me?" 

"Because I wanted to try it on you," Jongin said as his fingers stopped moving. "Soojung must've pressed it too hard because the whole thing malfunctioned and the ink just wouldn't stop." Raising his hands, Jongin shook his head. "Her pink sweater turned blue. Her brown hair turned blue. Her face, her hands... all blue." 

A faded shade of blue still covered the back of Jongin's hands and palms. Streaks of his hair were painted blue with droplets scattered around his neck behind his zipped up sweater. Haera's thumb pressed onto the grainy edges of her broken heel. 

"I was out of her league as it was, and now I've humiliated her in front of so many people." Jongin shook his head. "There's no way she'd even look at me now." 

Haera reached out her hand. "Come on now, Jongin. Don't be like this." 

Jongin shook his head. "They were laughing at her and it was all my fault." 

"I'm sure she understands you didn't do it on purpose," Chanyeol said, throwing a glance at his sister. "You apologized, didn't you?" 

"I felt so stupid; how could I not apologize? I helped her clean up the mess and apologized the entire time." 

"Did she say something?" Haera asked, ducking her head a little to see Jongin's face. 

"She didn't say anything to me; but when Mr. Lim asked she covered for me so I wouldn't get detention." Jongin slid downward in his seat as his hands went to cover his face. "It just made me feel more terrible." 

"Jongin," Haera called. "It wasn't your fault." 

Chanyeol nudged his sister. The greying sky behind him cast a shadow on her brother's face as he mouthed, 'It was.' 

'Shut up,' Haera mouthed back. The silver lamp over their heads lit up, making the blotches on Jongin more obvious.  His tan skin looked darker and his lower lip was a deep shade of red. 

"She had tears in her eyes," Jongin said, his hands sliding down his face. "You can't make me feel better about that." 

They fell into silence during which the noise of their surrounding took over. Droplets hit their window and the entrance bell rang as people huddled inside. The noise of the traffic humbled under the rumbling clouds. The group of four that had entered the restaurant had taken their seat under the framed retro magazine covers. Kaira attended to them with the same attitude but a different tone. 

"I wonder when we'll get our food," Chanyeol said, as Kaira clicked her pen and kept it in her pocket. "You must be hungry, Jongin – you came straight from class." 

Jongin could only lift a corner of his lip at Chanyeol's wide smile. As he looked at his hands again, Haera elbowed her brother and found his eyes swimming in concern. Loud sizzling approached them accompanied by the delicious smell of butter and tomatoes. Jongin looked past Haera's shoulder and dug into his pockets. 

"What are you doing?" Haera moved to the edge of her seat. "Jongin?" 

He pulled out a brown MCM wallet. "I'm not hungry anymore," he said, pulling out a pair of bills and placing them on the table just as Kaira arrived with their food. 

"Please give my order to that boy over there." Jongin pointed behind him toward a young boy. Kaira looked in the said direction and nodded. Jongin smiled. "Thank you and have a good day." 

"Jongin." Haera grabbed his sleeve as he started to walk away.  

"I'm sorry, Haera," Jongin said, sighing. "I just want to go home right now." 

Jongin's brows dipped and his subtle frown made Haera's stomach clench. The sparkle that always graced his eyes was gone and Haera didn’t know what to do about it. 

"I'll be fine tomorrow," Jongin spoke in his softest tone and it tied a knot in Haera's throat. 

Goosebumps raised on her arms and she moved her jaw to the side. "At least pull up your hood." 

Doing as she told, Jongin gave her a tiny lopsided smile. Haera's grip lingered on his woolen sweater for a moment before she let her hand drop. Shoving his hands into the pocket of his jeans, Jongin made his way out of the café. 

Haera stared, for a moment, where Jongin had stood until Kaira cleared her throat. "Who's that kid?" She pointed to the table Jongin had mentioned. The stranger on the seat was blowing into his gloveless hands and rubbed his arms. The wounded corners of his chapped purple lips were making him hiss in pain and the aggressive rashes on his pale face made it look like he'd been slapped. In front of him was a small glass of lime water – the cheapest beverage on the menu. 

"He's a friend," Haera said, looking to Chanyeol. 

Raising her brows, Kaira closed her eyes and mumbled, "None of my business," before distributing the remaining orders. When she left for the boy's table, Haera spoke, "I don't think he can shake this off easily." 

"I don’t think so, either," Chanyeol said, picking up a table knife. "But, Hae, what can we do? He messed up and he's apologetic and all but we also need to keep Soojung in mind. The poor girl became a laughing stock." Chanyeol stabbed his fork into the meat and started cutting. "And to be honest, if I had been pining over a girl for three years and I did that to her, I'd want to dig a hole and die." 

"But he does want to dig a hole and die," Haera said, her frown deepening as she recalled the look on Jongin's face. 

Chewing on his bite, Chanyeol looked out into the rain. "The most we can do if be there for him, Hae. And make absolutely sure he throws that damned pen out." 

Haera sniffed and her coat and she draped it over her shoulders. Her gaze moved from her plate to the boy on the last table who was stabbing the pasta piece after piece and shoving the giant bite into his mouth in one go. 

Chanyeol jumped as a sudden burst of hailstones attacked the window. "Crap," he said, through a mouthful. "I hope Jongin made it to the bus stop." 

Haera bit her lip, turning to the smiling boy who looked a little less pale. 

The skin around her knuckles slit as her grip around her broken heel tightened – Jongin didn’t deserve this.