𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 | 𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐮𝐭𝐚

| chapter 15 |

rika tossed and turned in her bed that night. overlapping thoughts clouded her mind, preventing her from getting any sleep. a loud sigh left her mouth as she switched her position to lay on her back for the hundredth time. the lass knew she wasn't going to get any rest that night.

succumbing to her sleepless fate, she pulls the now crinkled sheets off of her body and makes her way to the balcony. sliding the glass door open, she steps outside and lets the cool breeze of the late hours run through her.

wrapping her arms around herself for some sort of warmth, she leans on the balustrade and gazed at the view in front of her.

she wished she could just disappear in the darkness of night and never be seen again. a feeling of regret came over her. it wasn't just about the recent events that have happened but of her past too.

maybe this was a bad idea. i shouldn't have done this. i'm so stupid. these phrases circled around her mind as she let out another sigh.

she moves her gaze down below her and her brows furrow. a person's figure is seen just outside the gate of her house. she grips on her railing of the balcony and clenches her jaw, suddenly thinking it might be changkyun here to finally end things.

however, her grip loosens when her sigh focuses on the figure's face. it was yuta. he was staring up right at her with an expression she couldn't read. her jaw still clenched and brows still scrunched, she rushes downstairs down to where the man stood.

the two stared at each other for god knows how long. trying to read each other but just couldn't figure it out. though they were sure about one emotion that they were both feeling despite not being able to see it in their faces. that was hopelessness.

"what are you doing here?" rika broke the silence between the two.

"just wanted to check on you," he simply responded.

"go home, it's late," was all the lass said before she turned around to go back inside.

"wait," yuta called out, making rika stop in her tracks. "im sorry."

she turns to look at him again. instead of the unreadable expression he had earlier, he now had a longing and hopeless one.

for a moment she felt some sympathy for the man, but she didn't show it.

"i'm sorry. i shouldn't have made you come with me on that getaway. i shouldn't have kissed you. i fucked up rika, and you're being affected by it a lot. i didn't want this to happen," he said.

rika only stood there and stared at him, her breathing was heavy and she felt a lump in her throat. yuta bit his lip, nervous about her silence.

yuta wanted to call out to her but he couldn't find his voice anymore. all he could do was watch through the bars of the gate helplessly as she walked away from him.

a nod was all she gave before she walked back into her house, quietly shutting and locking the door. a tear rolled down her cheek. then another. and then another. eventually more followed and it just didn't stop. she desperately wiped them all away but she just couldn't wipe away all the pain she was feeling.

"we have no leads on where he is. we've sent many search parties all over the city. tried tracking him down but still nothing," yuta explained over the phone.

"same here, nothing at all. if i'm being honest yuta, i don't think we're gonna get anywhere," seongcheol said.

"i know," yuta could only close his eyes and hold his face in his hand, frustrated and stressed.

"i think it's best if we just prepare. he still has many men working in his headquarters along with the rest of monsta x. they could strike any moment so we better be prepared cuz at this point, we don't know anything," yuta nodded at seongcheol's words before hanging up.