two : being concerned.

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"myself k-kihyun, nice to meet you...hyunwoo."

before his heart, which without his knowledge had been pounding hard in his chest, could burst out with strange and overwhelming emotions, he pulled back, a little harsher than he wanted to, making hyunwoo wince. clearing his throat, hyunwoo tried continuing the conversation in order to lessen the awkward air surrounding them.

"nice to meet you too. it's nice to have someone around the sane age as me, wait, how old are you?"

"uh", rubbing off the hesitation lingering within his head, he spoke, "i'm 24."

"oh, i'm 25. that's good to know. well", hyunwoo trailed off knowing that this conversation was not leading to anything,"so i'll see you, sometime, okay?"

awkwardly nodding his head, kihyun pursed his lips, hating himself for the way he had been terribly awkward and had probably scared this man.

hyunwoo stepped back, turning away before smiling softly. kihyun could not realize what had gotten over him at that moment, but somehow, he managed to utter the words he didn't know he still had the strength to say.

"i'm sorry."

a whisper - extremely soft but hyunwoo had managed to catch those words due to the silence around. he swiftly turned to see kihyun, staring down intently with eyebrows furrowed. hyunwoo immediately made his way towards him, not wanting to just ignore the words that had just left his mouth.

"hey hey, what happened? are you alright?", hyunwoo slightly panicked, hesitating whether to hold his shoulders or not. they had just met after all, he didn't want to make things weirder than they already were.

"you probably must be hating me right now...it's all my fault", and after that statement left his lips, kihyun broke down.

it had been really long - kihyun couldn't even recall the last time he had cried his heart out while being encapsulated within someone's warmth. he had been alone for as long as he could remember and so, the current scenario wasn't something he was habitual to.

here he lay on the couch of his apartment with hyunwoo constantly caressing his back in an attempt to calm him down, whispering words of comfort to calm him down.

kihyun found it ironical. how the ones who claim to be friends and make promises of being there forever leave at times when they're needed the most and random strangers who you'd just have seen once would be there to ask you about your well being. it hadn't even been an hour since he had met hyunwoo and he had already let his vulnerability show. maybe, he had been holding it for too long. or maybe, it was just hyunwoo whose presence made him feel safe, made him feel that this man was worthy of trust.

after a couple of minutes, kihyun finally calmed down and parted from hyunwoo, already missing the comfort of his arms.

"kihyun, are you okay now? do you want to talk about it?"

kihyun parted his lips to speak something but no words left his mouth and he simply let out a heavy sigh. hyunwoo, who seemingly noticed the contemplation in kihyun's mind held his hands. he didn't know what he was thinking but something in him told him, he had to be there for this man - this man who looked immensely broken. he was supposed to heal him. and so he did.

"i know we've just met and this is weird for you but kihyun, be assured that, whatever is disturbing you and troubling you, feel free to talk to me about it. i'm here okay?"

those words. how much kihyun wished to hear words like those once in his lifetime and here, he could finally experience it and he felt his eyes well up again. he lifted his head to meet hyunwoo's eyes, laced with concern and he found it absurd. hyunwoo didn't even know him.

"why do you even care?", he blurted out without realizing. and he swore he could see a glimpse of being hurt in hyunwoo's eyes but that was immediately replaced by worry.

"i don't know. but one thing i know for certain is, you don't deserve the pain you're going through. you're worthy of love."

and then, kihyun's heart melted.

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