Elias and Kael's has already been married for more than a year now.
Elias had admired him even before they got married, he was really happy when his parents told him about the marriage.
At the wedding night Kael told Elias that he has no interest in him and so not to expect anything from him but then he spoked again and said that he would help him during his heat as it can't be helped.
Elias said nothing and nodded his chest throbbed but he still smile gently at Kael, then he thought to himself that no matter what he would win his heart slowly.
But that believe broked within seconds.
It was just like everyday I was going upstairs to deliver the coffee.
The coffee was still warm and when Elias reached for the door.
He stared at it for a small moment before going in and giving him the Coffee like everyday, Elias had made it a routine in the morning he would bring coffee for him and then make breakfast tor him before he goes to work.
Which felt like it was the most important thing in his life, before reaching for the door he was smiling thinking that how he would pretend not to care but would take the coffee anyway.
It wasn't much.
But it was how he loved.
The door was slightly open.
Elias lifted his hand to knock… then paused.
"…I'm serious," Kael's voice came from inside, low and careless in a way Elias had never heard before. "It's getting annoying."
Elias froze.
Another voice laughed softly. "Annoying? I thought you liked him."
A short silence.
Then Kael sighed.
"What are you talking about, he is really annoying and during his heat, he gets unbearably too clingy. It's suffocating."
The cup trembled in Elias hand.
"I can't even focus. He's always there, always needing something. It's exhausting."
The words didn't sound cruel.
That was what made them hurt more.
He sounded… honest to honest.
Like something Kael had been meaning to say for a long time. Elias stood there, unmoving, as if the world had quietly slipped out from under his feet.
Clingy.
Suffocating.
Exhausting.
He repeated the words in his mind, trying to understand how something so soft—his need for comfort, his trust—had become something so unbearable.
Inside the room, the conversation continued, but Elias couldn't hear it anymore.
A faint ringing filled his ears. Slowly, carefully, he lowered his hand. The knock never came.
The coffee… he placed it down beside the door. Not too close. Not too far. Just enough that it would be seen. Just enough that it wouldn't feel like he had been there. For a second, he almost reached for the handle again.
Almost. But then Kael's voice echoed in his head—suffocating. Elias stepped back. One step. Then another.
And then he turned, walking down the hallway as quietly as he had come. No sound. No tears.
Just a hollow ache settling deep in his chest.
By the time Kael opened the door hours later, the hallway was empty.
Only a cold cup of coffee remained.
He knew maybe that Elias that heard his conversation but he didn't care as he thought he would come back anyway.
But he didn't knew that he would regret it soon.