Chapter 7: People like him get attached
1299 Words
The café was nearly empty.
Soft jazz played quietly overhead while rain slid down the windows in blurred streaks of city light. A tired barista wiped tables near the counter, barely glancing at them when they entered.
Kai liked places like this.
Quiet.
No cameras.
No screaming crowds demanding pieces of him.
Just warmth.
Eli sat across from him stiffly, fingers curled lightly around a paper cup he hadn’t touched yet.
Kai noticed immediately.
“Nervous?”
Eli looked up.
“A little.”
The honesty made Kai smile faintly.
Cute again.
Dangerous thought.
He stirred his drink quietly instead.
For several minutes neither spoke much. Oddly, the silence didn’t feel uncomfortable.
Kai found himself relaxing slowly for the first time in weeks.
No managers.
No stylists.
No expectations.
Just rain and warm coffee and someone looking at him like he was human.
Eli broke the silence first.
“Did your wrist bruise badly?”
Kai blinked.
Right.
That.
“It’s fine.”
Eli’s expression darkened slightly.
“You always say that.”
Kai froze.
Always.
Such an intimate word for someone he barely knew.
But somehow Eli said it naturally, like he’d been observing Kai for much longer than Kai realized.
The thought should’ve frightened him.
Instead, it made his chest ache strangely.
Kai looked down at his drink.
“I’m used to it.”
Silence.
Then:
“You shouldn’t be.”
Kai’s fingers tightened slightly around the cup.
Nobody ever said things like that to him.
Not anymore.
Back when he debuted, people cared when he looked tired.
Managers praised him gently. Staff worried if he skipped meals.
Now?
Now they only cared whether he could still smile on camera.
Kai laughed softly beneath his breath.
“You really hate him, huh?”
Eli’s eyes lifted immediately.
“Manager Lee?”
Kai nodded.
The café suddenly felt quieter somehow.
Eli leaned back slowly in his seat.
“I hate people who hurt you.”
The words settled heavily between them.
Too intense.
Too honest.
Kai’s heartbeat stumbled unexpectedly
Before he could answer, his phone buzzed loudly against the table.
Kai’s shoulders immediately stiffened.
Eli noticed.
Of course he noticed.
“You don’t have to answer.”
“I do.”
Kai grabbed the phone quickly and stood from his seat. “I’ll be back.”
He walked toward the hallway near the restrooms before finally answering.
“What?”
No greeting.
Bad sign already.
Manager Lee’s voice came sharp through the speaker.
“Where are you?”
“At the dorm.”
A dangerous pause.
“Really?”
Kai’s stomach dropped.
“I—”
“Who’s the man you’re with?”
Cold panic flooded through him instantly.
Kai slowly turned toward the café windows.
Across the street, a familiar black company vehicle sat parked beneath neon reflections and rain.
His blood ran cold.
Manager Lee continued speaking calmly.
“Did you think nobody would notice?”
Kai couldn’t breathe properly.
How long had he been watching?
“Come outside,” the older man ordered softly. “Now.”
The call ended.
Kai stood frozen for several seconds staring at the rain beyond the glass.
----
Rain continued pouring outside the café windows.
Kai stood frozen near the entrance, phone still clutched tightly in his hand while the black company vehicle waited silently across the street.
Watching.
His stomach twisted painfully.
Eli remained beside the hallway, eyes fixed outside now.
Dangerously quiet.
Kai suddenly regretted letting him see any of this.
Manager Lee had a talent for ruining things people cared about.
And for some reason, the thought of that ugliness touching Eli too made guilt settle heavily inside Kai’s chest.
“My manager’s waiting,” Kai said softly.
Eli didn’t answer immediately.
Rain reflected faintly across his face while passing headlights flickered through the café windows.
Then quietly:
“I know.”
Kai swallowed.
There was something unsettling about how calm Eli sounded.
Not peaceful calm.
Contained calm.
Like anger carefully folded into something quieter.
Kai looked toward the vehicle again.
Manager Lee sat inside smoking calmly.
Waiting patiently.
As if he already knew Kai would come.
His phone buzzed.
Outside. Now.
Kai’s shoulders visibly tensed.
Eli noticed instantly.
Of course he did.
“You don’t have to go,” Eli murmured.
The words almost made Kai laugh.
Didn’t have to?
People like Kai always had to.
Schedules. Managers. Investors. Public image.
His life stopped belonging to him years ago.
“It’ll get worse if I ignore him.”
Eli’s jaw tightened slightly.
That tiny reaction alone told Kai enough.
He’s angry.
The realization came suddenly.
Not irritated.
Not annoyed.
Genuinely angry.
And strangely—
Kai found himself wanting to calm him down.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Kai grabbed his hoodie quietly. “I should go.”
For a second, Eli looked like he wanted to stop him.
The feeling passed quickly.
Instead, he simply nodded once.
“Text me when you get home.”
The softness of that sentence made Kai’s chest ache unexpectedly.
Nobody waited for his messages anymore.
Nobody cared whether he got home safely.
“Okay,” Kai whispered.
Then he left.
Cold rain immediately soaked through his clothes as he crossed the street toward the waiting vehicle.
From inside the café, Eli watched silently through the glass.
Kai looked small beneath the storm somehow.
Fragile.
Manager Lee stepped out of the vehicle before Kai reached him.
Even from this distance, Eli noticed everything:
the way Kai lowered his gaze immediately
the tension in his shoulders
the nervous smile
the subtle flinch when Manager Lee touched his arm
Rage spread slowly through Eli’s chest.
Hot.
Sharp.
Unfamiliar.
Inside the car, Kai avoided looking directly at his manager.
“You lied to me,” Manager Lee said calmly while driving.
Kai stared out the rain-covered window quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Who is he?”
“A friend.”
Manager Lee laughed softly.
“That type of person doesn’t become friends with idols, Kai.”
The comment made Kai uncomfortable immediately.
“What does that mean?”
“It means people like him get attached.” His manager glanced at him briefly. “Obsessed.”
Kai’s chest tightened.
Outside, city lights blurred endlessly beneath the rain.
For some reason, he suddenly pictured Eli sitting alone back in the café.
Waiting.
The image lingered strangely in his mind.
Manager Lee continued speaking.
“You need to be careful. One scandal and your career disappears.”
Kai stayed silent.
Then—
“You looked happier with him.”
Kai froze.
The observation hit too close.
Manager Lee smiled faintly at his reaction.
“That’s dangerous too.”
—
Meanwhile, inside the café—
Eli still hadn’t moved from the window.
The vehicle disappeared slowly into the rain-soaked traffic while his untouched coffee sat cold beside him.
His reflection stared back faintly against the glass.
Expressionless.
But beneath that calm exterior, something ugly twisted quietly inside him.
Jealousy.
Not because Kai left.
No.
Kai had no choice.
Eli understood that.
What he hated was the way Kai shrank around that man.
The fake smiles. The lowered gaze. The fear.
Eli’s fingers tightened slowly around his phone.
Then finally—
a message appeared.
From Kai.
Message
I'm home now.
Eli stared at the screen for several long seconds.
Then his expression softened instantly.
Like the anger never existed.
Message
Good. Sleep early tonight.
Another typing bubble appeared almost immediately.
Message
thank you… for waiting earlier.
Eli read the message twice.
Three times.
Something warm spread quietly through his chest.
And somewhere deep beneath that warmth—
the anger returned sharper than before.
Because now he knew something for certain:
Kai felt safer with him.
Which meant eventually—
he’d have to remove everything that made Kai afraid.
- Writer
