You stared blankly at your food, trying to fight the tears of exhaustion building up around the corners of your eyes. Your body felt as heavy as lead – a weight pressing down on every part of you. Everything had gone wrong today. The day that had started with such promise had turned out to be an unmitigated disaster, and you were struggling to contain the flood of emotions rising up inside you. All you could do was stare blankly at your food, hoping the tears would stop.

You knew you hadn’t done anything wrong, but your boss still took his frustration out on you. He had yelled at you in front of all your coworkers, and despite knowing that it wasn’t really your fault, you felt embarrassed at being singled out for his anger. You wanted to go home and hide under the covers where everything would get better, but you knew you still had to finish the day and try to act like everything was fine.

Your boss had even threatened to fire you despite knowing how important this job was to you. You couldn’t understand why he would act like this. Since day one, you had worked hard and done your best, but he treated you like dirt. You felt like there was nothing you could do to please him and that, eventually, he would just get rid of you. You felt powerless and helpless. The world seemed unfair, and you felt like you were alone in facing these hardships.

You had been struggling with mental fatigue for a while now, but you couldn’t tell anyone, as society frowned upon those who complained. So, you just keep bottling everything up and acting like it was all okay, even though it wasn’t. This had been going on for so long that you felt like your mind was drowning in negative thoughts and emotions. You felt like you were on the verge of a breakdown, but you didn’t want anyone to think that you were weak.

Then there were people who were just waiting to prey on the weak or manipulate or use them, so that added to your fears of revealing your true feelings to anyone, including people who you considered your friends. You couldn’t know who you could trust, and the thought of letting anyone know the state of your mental health made you feel even more afraid. You became increasingly isolated, fearful, and suspicious of those around you. It felt impossible to break out of this vicious cycle.

Quickly wiping your tears, you slowly looked around to see if anyone had noticed you crying. Fortunately, there were only a few customers in the restaurant, and they were all busy chatting with one another. You took a deep breath and tried to compose yourself, but you still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that someone would find out you weren’t okay.

Forcing yourself up, you walked out of the restaurant area, keeping your head low so no one could see the tears in your eyes. You didn’t know where you were going, but you needed to escape. Your feet continued until you came to a staircase. You walked up the stairs and sat on one of the steps, trying to hide away from the world for a little while.

As you sat on the stairs, you buried your face in your knees and kept your mouth covered so you could cry without making too many sounds. The tears streamed down your face uncontrollably, and you felt numb and empty inside. When was the last time you felt happy? It was all just a blur of sadness and exhaustion. You didn’t know how much longer you could keep going like this.

Unknown to you, Rico had been watching you in the restaurant when you were sitting at your table. He had seen you a few times before but never spoke to you. However, the cast member had noticed how you were struggling to hold back tears, and it made him feel bad for you. Rico wondered if there was anything he could do to help, so he asked Gui to cover his shift for a bit and rushed out to find you.

Rico stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at you empathetically. His life had not been easy, so it was easy for him to notice the weight you carried. He knew what it was like to feel the weight of the world on your shoulders and for all that weight to be too much to handle. Hence, Rico felt compelled to do something, anything, to try and lighten your burden.

The red-haired man was hesitant to approach you but took a deep breath and made his way up the stairs. He placed his hand on your back but was shaking slightly. When you felt the warmth of a hand through your clothes, you were startled. But as soon as you looked at him with your red and swollen eyes, Rico raised his hands in defense to show you that he didn’t mean any harm.

“Hi.” His voice was barely above a whisper, but he looked at you with such compassion that it tugged at your heartstrings. You wanted to say something back to him and tried to wipe away your tears, but they wouldn’t stop falling.

“I have seen you in Starless before but never got a chance to speak to you,” Rico said in a soft and gentle voice. “This is a stupid question because I already know the answer, but are you okay?”

He chuckled awkwardly and corrected himself, “Actually, I should ask why are you sad?”

Then he became quiet as if he wanted to give you a chance to speak if you wanted to. His gesture of kindness caught you off guard. Even though you didn’t know him, he offered you an opportunity to vent and speak your mind without judgment.

“My boss,” you whispered with a raspy voice but couldn’t find the strength to continue.

He noticed the pain in your voice and didn’t want to force you to speak. Sighing, he looked down at his hands. “Haseyama is the same way. He’s the owner of this place. Dealing with evil bosses is the worst; you can’t even retaliate or stand up for yourself. There’s just no way to even the playing field, and your soul is slowly sucked dry.”

Hearing Rico’s words, tears started to well up in your eyes again, and Rico panicked a little. He put his hand back on your back and patted it gently. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to remind you of what your boss did. Um…would a hug help you?”

As soon as he held his arms out, you immediately leaned against him and allowed yourself to let out your emotions. You buried your face in his chest and let the tears fall freely on his shirt. However, he didn’t mind the moisture on his clothes and stayed silent as he held you close.

Once your tears slowed, Rico broke the silence in a quiet, soft voice. “My shift is almost over. Do you want to go to a cafe with me? We can badmouth our bosses while indulging in sugar.”

If you had been in a better mood, you would have been shocked that Rico asked you to go to the cafe with him. But, at the moment, the mention of sugar was enough to perk you up, and you quickly nodded in agreement. It was a way to escape the harsh situation you seemed to be in while focusing on something pleasant with someone you had been fond of for a while. It was also a nice feeling to know how kind Rico was.

He offered you his hand, and you immediately accepted his offer to help you get on your feet. Meeting his gaze, you warmly smiled, “Thank you, Rico.”

He flashed a charming smile back. Though you were still visibly tired and exhausted from your day, the interaction had lifted some of the heaviness and anxiety you had been carrying. The compassion and understanding he offered made you feel cared for and valued for once.