Sechan bites down on his bottom lip and tries to keep his expression as neutral as possible. Frankly, he’s tired of no one decent ever wanting him. As important love is to him, it doesn’t just ruin things for him on that front. He can’t even make any male friends because he always ends up trying to befriend some asshole that tries to shove their hand down his pants a few days after meeting. Sometimes he thinks he must have an aura that attracts assholes, then he feels stupid because that’s exactly what he has. The way people talk about him doesn’t help. He presses his teeth harder down and it hurts but it only makes him want to press harder. Pain in another location is supposed to relieve the other, initial pain. He feels nauseous and as silly as it sounds, he swears his heart is aching.
It’s a sappy thought but as much of an asshole as Nate can be, in the end he’s always good to him. He always takes care of him. Despite the fact that he’s insisting it’s not Sechan and that he deserves better - more - Sechan doesn’t even feel like he deserves Nate or what he’s telling him right now. If he didn’t have all of these creeps hanging after him Nate wouldn’t have to get into all these fights and he wouldn’t have to get riled up so often. Sechan thinks it must be hard for Nate to avoid drama when Sechan keeps shoving it in his face. Normally, Sechan goes ahead and tells Nate their names, what building he can find them in, their dorm room, their phone number, anything he wants, but today it feels hopeless. He beats this guy up and then what, nothing happens? It doesn’t feel worth it anymore and he doesn’t want to be a bother.
“It’s fine,” he says quietly and looks down, unable to meet Nate’s eyes.
Nate furrows his eyebrows deeper and steps closer to Sechan until he’s right in front of him. “Hey, look at me.” He says, voice deep. He wants Sechan to believe what he tells him. He knows how hard it is to get through to people when they reach a certain point, and he doesn’t want Sechan to get there. He knows right now and so far he’s had at least some power and influence over Sechan’s thoughts, he doesn’t want to loose it and let Sechan’s thoughts drown in negativity.
When he doesn’t look up, Nate repeats himself louder and and in a more demanding tone, only waiting for a few seconds for Sechan to respond before he brings up one hand and firmly places it under Sechan’s chin, forcing him to look at him in a way that could’ve been gentler. “It’s not fine.” He says in a slow and clear voice. “You recognized it’s not your fault, don’t you?” He asks, the serious expression not leaving his face. “I won’t let it go and I won’t let you accept bad treatment, so tell me who he is.” He says in a tone more harsh and demanding than he means to make it sound.