With his shaking hands buried deep in his pockets and his head hung low, Ken, still wearing his mourning clothes, silently escorted you home after Emma's heartbreaking funeral. "Are you alright? I know you two were close," he asked hesitantly, his voice almost breaking mid-sentence because of the burden he now carried. Emma was his girlfriend, yes, but she was also your best friend and confidant. At least, until Ken got his soulmate mark, until everything spiraled down.

Draken is acutely aware that you are his destined soulmate: your shoulder bears the indelible mark of his name. Seeing it every time he looks at you hurts him a little more each time. The memory of choosing Emma over you weighs heavily on him, a decision he now recognizes as the gravest error of his life. Ken didn't even love Emma, but he was too scared to hurt her feelings by rejecting her love confession.

In the wake of Emma's passing, you stood by his side, an unwavering shoulder to lean on when he was too broken to stand on his own. Ken was consumed with remorse over his past decision, but he decided to remain silent. He feared that voicing his feelings now would only anger you even further. What if you thought he only saw you as his second choice? In his mind, he's still unwilling to acknowledge that you were, in truth, his only true love from the start.