#seraphfae

"that'll be 3 Euros, please."

Kei learned the rhythm of his café by heart.

This hiss of the espresso machine at seven. The regular who asked for less sugar but always forgot. The quiet hour before noon, when Paris slowed just enough for him to breathe. The place thrived, warm and self-sustaining, alive in ways that didn't depend on memory.

"Bonjour mon ami."

One of the regulars greeted with a knowing with a smile. Kei returned it easily as he prepared the order without having to ask: a black americano and a blueberry muffin to wash down the nic that rested at the back of his tongued.

"merci."

Everything was perfect. At least, from the outside.

Three years was a long time to convince himself he was fine. Long enough to rebuild a life in a language that wasn't his first, to stop expecting your name to light up his phone. Long enough to believe that his thoughts eventually learned how to stay quiet.

Time flashed and Euijoo already made his appearance.

The bell above the door chimed, and euijoo made his entrance right on time.

"Breathe on my window again and you'll clean it up next time." Kei said, wiping the last table on the far corner.

Euijoo slipped inside anyway, grin playful, "bare with me, its freezing out there."

The cafe closed early, an unspoken agreement between kei and the staff. When the last of them left, the space settled into a familiar stillness. The same song played every night he closed alone.

Euijoo tilted his head slightly, smile fading just slightly. "This song," he said, "you play it too often."

Kei barely looked up. He shrugged, muttering that he liked it better than the others. Euijoo knew better. He always had.

"you're still hung up on her."

Not a question. A statement, final, unkind only in its accuracy. Kei felt it immediately, the way his shoulders tensed, the way his jaw set.

"its just a song." Kei replied, already turning away, carrying the cleaning supplies toward the back.

He knew euijoo was right.

That's why he lingered longer than necessary, picked up the furniture spray only to put it back down, pretending he still had something left to finish. Anything to delay the moment he'd have to leave the space he could control.

When he stepped back out, his coat was draped neatly over his shoulders, sleek, onyx. Glasses slipped into place, the world softening at the edges the way it always did at night.

They didn't head home right away.

Euijoo zipped his jacket up to his chin, breath fogging faintly in the air. "you always do this," he said, glancing sideways. "You know i hate shopping at night, i need my sleep."

Kei checked the café door once more out of habit, tugged at the handle before turning away. "No one forced you to tag along."

A few blocks down, the street brightened without warning. Strings of lights crisscrossed overhead, pulled low between buildings, drawing people in. Sound bled into the night, uneven and alive,

Euijoo let out a low whistle. "Let's get some dinner."

"Nah thanks, already ate. But you can so long." Kei said, already slowing to check the color-coordinated bell peppers.

They drifted in separate ways, shoulders brushing strangers, warmth replacing the chill. The air smelled sweet and sharp, caramelized sugar, smoke and citrus oil. The occasional bump on the shoulder and a muttered apology in passing. Kei loved it.

"Large, please. With extra cheese." Euijoo said over to the stall clerk, already stepping aside to make room for the next customer. His receipt melting in his hands, as he sat at a nearby bench, unfolding the morning's newspaper with ease.

Kei remained standing a few stalls away, hands tucked into his coat pockets, gaze drifting without focus. He didn't trust his appetite right now. Instead, he let himself watch--absorbing the humility that surrounded him. Smiles never wavered, even as prices were negotiated down, even as fatigue settled into their bones.

Strawberry-scented, vanilla, honey and hibiscus--candles line the table in neat rows at his usual stall, their soft glow cutting through the noise of the market.

"Anything new for me?" he asked.

Celeste turned around. Middle-aged, kind-eyed, the candle maker he'd supported since the café first opened. Budget worries had carved themselves gently into the lines around her eyes, but she smiled anyway.

"Barely," she said. "Hibiscus is just as new though."

"i think i'll stick with vanilla," kei replied.

"ten euros."

"heyy--come on, celeste," he half-whined, head tipping back slightly. "You know me. I practically buy here every day. Five."

She shook her head, hands waving him off. "I need to live too, you know."

"Alright," he said lightly, arms folding. "If you take five today, i'll buy three extra at the end of the month."

She hesitated. Considered it. Almost gave in at the bargain. "Tais-tois," she snapped, slipping the candle into a paper bag and pressing it into his hands--for less than five euros.

"Merci," He chirped, smiling as he turned away.

And then he stopped. Smile falling from his face, unanchored. The noise rushed back in all at once--too loud, too close.

You stood there. Hair longer, curtained around your face.

______________________________________________________________

The kitchen was spotless, every surface wiped down to a dull shine. The lounge followed by the same careful logic. Sofas aligned just so, cushions undisturbed, the space curated into something calm and controlled. Cozy, but intentional. Like nothing here had ever been allowed to linger than necessary.

Your coat hung neatly on the hook by the door. Shoes already off. You sat on the stool, waiting, hands wrapped loosely around nothing at all, as if the cup of tea he had offered earlier might materialize if you stayed still enough.

The kettle clicked softly from the kitchen.

"how-"

Kei's voice broke the silence. He stood a few feet away, back facing you but his eyes wide in a way that felt almost foreign to him, like a man caught off-guard in his own home.

"How have you been?" he swallowed. tried again. and finally turned around.

"I've been...good." you said after a beat, voice steady. Casual. Like this wasn't the first time you'd stood in his apartment, like three years hadn't passed in the space between his question and your answer. "work's hectic."

Kei nodded too quickly. "yeah?" he said, a little too eager. "tell me all about it."

The words were out before he could temper them. He leaned against the armrest of the couch, posture loose in a way he hadn't meant to follow, eyes already back to on you.

you smile, amused. "there isn't much to tell."

"there always is," he replied easily, too easily.

He didn't realize it then and neither did you. How his attention narrowed, how the room seemed to rearrange itself around the sound of you voice. How at ease he'd become, breath evening out, as if this where the most natural thing in the world. As if listening to you had always been his default.

He learned more about your work and its demands. About the city you'd been in before Paris, the way time slipped through your hands there. Ordinary things. Small frustrations. Observations in passing. He tracked every word anyway, eyes flicking to your mouth, to your hands when they moved as if to punctuate a thought.

He hummed at the right moments. Smiled when you did.

You paused mid-sentence, eyes lifting to his.

"Are you even listening," you asked, a small smile tugging at your mouth, "or are you just nodding because you like the sound of my voice?"

He blinked, caught.

"I--" He laughed softly rubbing at the back of his neck. "Sorry. I just--" he trailed off, then shook his head. "You haven't changed one bit."

"mm," you said, amused.

You hadn't changed. Still remained the piece of shit who broke his heart three years ago. And then show up like nothing happened? Kei knew that, that was a dangerous thing to say.

"You always call me out without making it a whole thing." He added.

That's because he was too...nice. He was easy. The right excuses at the right time. He lent his ear when you needed it, gave you a warm bed when your veins ran cold. He was always there. Kei was the perfect guy.

The room settle again, hot in a way that felt unfair. Kei leaned back against the backrest, stretching off the remnants of the day. He looked heavenly, the way he watched you from that position. its been a while, you thought.

"what?" he asked, eyes still on you. You shrugged, unashamed and honest, "just taking in that handsome face of yours."

His tongue clicked, turning his face away to hide his flushed cheeks.

"you're so easy," you chuckle. amused at how, he too, hadn't changed a bit. But he did seem a little different. He was more patient this time around. He was a gentleman.

"so..." you started, toying with your thumb. "anyone keeping you busy?"

Kei stilled, then sitting up straight, adjusting in his seat without realizing how close he'd gotten.

"Busy?" he echoed. "Yeah. The café. Staff schedules. Suppliers who never answer their emails."

You snorted softly. "You know what i mean."

He did.

"No," he said, after a beat. Not rushed. Not defensive. Just true. "Not really."

You nodded, like the answer fit neatly into a place you'd already made for it. "Figures."

"Does it?"

Something is his chest tightened--not because your silence hurt, but because you still knew him. Because you only observed, rather than accused

"What about you?' he asked, careful now, almost tentative. Terrified, in a way he didn't show, as he watched your face for any crack, any hint of what had happened in the years apart. You stalled. Throat tight at the thought of your wedding in a month. Your stomach twisted.

"i'm..." you pursed your lips, choosing your words like knives hidden in velvet "...just me."

Kei's smile came easily, unguarded, bright. "just you," he echoed, and there was something in the way he said it--relief, admiration, a quiet warmth--that made your chest tighten. Oblivious to the secret behind your vague response. To the promises you'd made, the compromises you'd agreed to, the life you were already bound to.

A pang shot through you. Not guilt--exactly--but sharp, like cold water to the skin. You hated yourself a little for putting him in this position, for letting him be this happy, for letting him hope even in the smallest ways.

Because you knew, the way only you could, that the truth would break him if it ever came out. And so you kept it tight behind your calm smile, letting him lean into the quiet, letting him fall again--for now, for this moment.

______________________________________________________________

The clock struck terrifying digits: 23:38. You'd been there for over four hours--typical for a visit with kei.

He lay asleep on the sofa, the rise and fall of his chest slow and steady. Something about your presence always seemed soporific, lulling him into an ease he rarely allowed himself. He looked beautiful like that--as though Aphrodite herself had sculpted him in a moment of quiet perfection.

You watched him. The soft pucker of his lips, as if the world were misunderstanding him even in his sleep. The faint twitch of his brow. the subtle heave of his chest.

then your phone buzzed:

~Jakey: just arrived in Cali, can't wait to see you when you land on Monday.

~Jakey: i miss you so much it hurts.

~Jakey: Love you babe.

the messages felt like a hammer. Your cue. your signal to leave. To return to reality. To return to Jake.

You rose, moving toward the door. Yes, that was the right thing to do. To just leave.

But his hand shot out before you could fully reach it, warm and heavy on your wrist.

"Do you have to go?" Kei murmured, still half-asleep. The light whimper in his voice--soft, pained--always struck something deep inside you. A love-hate rhythm: it warmed you, yet stripped away every thread of continence you had left.

"Ke--"

His grip tightened. He lifted his head slowly, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. His lower lip quivered. "P-please, y/n..."

A single tear fell down his cheek, catching the dim light.

You felt the weight of the moment as he anchored you closer to him--the gravity of the moment and everything else unsaid between you, the ache he carried as he broke down at your center. The hope in hands carried heavy in the way his hands caressed your sides.

He was a wreck, tears dampening the mid-section of your dress. You knew better than to gave in. To give him what he wanted now could undo all the careful boundaries you'd held onto. Still, you owed it to him: a measure of closure, a fragment of comfort, the truth that he deserved even if it wasn't yours to give in the way he wished.

Your hand brushed his hair briefly, just to let him know he wasn't abandoned entirely. You anchored his face upward, thumbs brushing away the warms tears that burned his skin. He was loud, eyes pleading.

Your lips were soft on his. His breath stuttered, it was sudden in the way you took his breath away. He gulped and quivered, tongue sticking out sloppily to catch yours. You broke the kiss, a string of saliva stretching in between.

"your tears taste sweet," you said softly, fingers in his scalp. He whimpered, he groaned, in your arms--like always--he was lost for words.

until he spoke.

"Even though you bring me pain..." he shivered, eyes sparkling. "its with love that i hurt for you."

He asked to have you like this. nude from the waist down. Half his.

"can i?" his breath turns ragged between your thighs. You release a small whimper against his touch. His finger seethed into you, warm and moist he almost cried again.

He loved the sound you made when he curled inwards, your arousal imbruing the shaft of his lengthy fingers. In and out. At an agonizing pace.

"i want to..." he whimpers, laying his head on your groin, finger buried inside you still. You cared less of what dripped down your leg, his tears or your cum, it didn't matter. But your skin turned molten with guilt. Jake.

"i wont stop you," you choked. Clenching around his fingers. Working his magic to draw you closer. He's gentle with eagerness to see you finish. Arching into his face that lay on your waist.

"kei--" your body responded for you. Your mouth hung agape, your ribs contracted as you oozed half your soul round his finger, onto his sofa.

You were on top of him now. His pleading eyes waiting for your approval to enter. He shouldn't be asking, he should just take what he wants, you thought. cause you're just a shallow girl, deep enough to dive in right? But he doesn't let up, like always.

"use me...p-please," he begged. You nodded, dragging your fingers along his hard cock, sassy pink tip leaking with precum. It was painful. The way you sheathed him into you with graceful force.

He didn't buck his hip like you wanted him to, he simply caved in. Head tipped back while you rode him like rollercoaster on start mode.

You tut, wanting to be touched. You guided his hands to squeeze your ass. Kei dug crescent marks into your flesh. The butterflies in his gut blue-toothed into your soaked cunt.

"fuck-" he groaned, letting you bounce up and down on his member. Skin slapped, moist overwhelmed his sofa. but he cared not. for this was the last. He knew it. He felt it, in the way you could barely look at him.

he takes your hand, kissing down your wrist and pressed your thumb down his tongue. His eyes rolled back, he was close. You rocked, and rocked until his cum suffused deep down in your canal. Flushed tip french kissing your sweet spot for the last time.

His fingers remained engraved in your ass. His smile soft and thankful, but his heart yearned for a forever he could never have. That forever you avoided giving him, all because he was too safe.

"should i show you out?" his voiced cracked. You wanted to accept, but it wouldn't be right. Guilt surged through you. you had jake on your mind the entire time, but Kei in your heart, buried deep inside you.

You shut the door behind you. The final click snapped you back into reality. That in four days time, you'd say the words "i do." At this point betrayal was your middle name. A jerk for playing with his heart like that. And for the rest of your life--you'll be forced to be good to Jake.

How on Earth did you get here?

______________________________________________________________

kei's phone buzzed:

~EJ: So you left me? me?

~EJ: I heard you through the door, slut.

~EJ: YOU'RE TELLING ME ALL ABOUT IT TOMORROW RIGHT?