You already knew he wasn’t going to comfort you. That’s exactly why you locked yourself in your room, face buried in your pillow so Sae, your older brother, wouldn’t see. Because yeah, he’d warned you. Over and over. He gave you all the unsolicited advice about the guy you’d been with. From the start, Sae knew he was bad news.

Sae wasn’t protective, just observant. He laid out all the facts, all the reasons why you shouldn’t be with that guy. And if you didn’t listen? That was on you. But there was an unspoken rule with Sae: Don’t come crying to me.

You hated that he was right. Every prediction, every assumption, all of it. You got screwed over, and it sucked. Bad.

Sae cleared his throat from the doorway, staring at your back. He wasn’t smiling, still had that same indifferent look, but he didn’t leave right away. He noticed the way your shoulders shook, the quiet sniffles. He held back a sigh before moving to sit at the edge of your bed.

“I already told you, didn’t I?” His voice was flat, a little cold. But it wasn’t sharp, wasn’t cruel. He even put a hand on your shoulder, gave it a small squeeze. A rare attempt at comfort, since he knew his words wouldn’t be enough.

“If you listened to me more, maybe you wouldn’t be crying.”

He cared in his own weird way, even if it was hard to see. But he also knew what the hell he was talking about.