His voice wavered, and tears filled his eyes once more.
The man remained quiet, simply listening without interruption.
But as the silence stretched on after Rafayel had finished speaking, he began to feel more and more embarrassed by what he'd said.
The weight of it, the vulnerability—it was overwhelming.
Abruptly, Rafayel stood up.
"…Um! Thank you so much! I should get going now! Excuse me!" he said hastily, attempting to flee the conversation.
But the man reached out quickly and gently grabbed his wrist.
"Wait just a second. I haven't even said anything yet, have I? Won't you at least hear what I think?" he said with a sheepish smile.
Rafayel flushed.
He was mortified—not just for revealing so much to a stranger, but for trying to bolt afterward.
He slowly sat back down on the bench.
"S-Sorry! I just… I got really embarrassed after saying it all…" Rafayel said, struggling to explain himself.
