behind closed doors || shen ricky

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

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He was sitting on the rooftop, letting the cold spring breeze hit his face. It didn't feel nice to be back. He didn't have anything against Seoul, it just felt good to be away from it for a little. Away from the worries, troubles and real life. 

Ricky came to the rooftop of the dorm often. It was on top of a hill which made it the perfect spot to look down on the neighbourhood. It wasn't a rich neighbourhood or anything, but it was still pretty to look at. 

There was always a family that went on a walk at 7pm, two sisters that went to the convenience store at 7:20pm and sat there till 8pm, a student that returned home from school at 9pm, Matthew who ran through the streets from 9:15pm until 9:45pm as his evening workout. Every evening was the same here.

"Seems like you could use a drink" 

Ricky turned his head and saw Hao standing there, holding two beers. The boy smiled and took one out of his hand.

"It's almost your birthday" the older one said, taking a sip from the cold beverage. "Are you okay?"

"With turning 20?" he nodded his head.

"I don't mean that" 

Ricky looked at Hao. He sighed and then looked back a the peaceful neighbourhood. He leaned his arms on the reeling and opened the beer. 

"They invited us as always. You, me, Yujin and Gyuvin"

"I won't go" 

"You haven't seen them since.." Hao stopped, almost crossing a line. "To find closure, you should-"

"I found closure, okay?" Ricky took a lot of sips from the beer, almost getting a headache. 

"Just saying, he wouldn't want this" 

He squeezed his almost empty beer can. Hao saw it and didn't dare to say anything again. It was always the same story, every year. A sensitive topic that couldn't be discussed with him. 

"Jiwoong put your dinner aside. Eat it before you sleep" 

Ricky ignored his friends words. Hao gave him one last look before walking downstairs. When he opened the door of their dorm, Gyuvin and Yujin were standing in the living room. They ran to Hao the second he walked in.

"And?" they asked in sync.

Hao shook his head. "Same as always"

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After weeks of not going, Jiah finally went to school again. None of her classmates really noticed that she was gone, but her teachers sure did miss their top student. They only start filming the variety show tomorrow which gave her some time to catch up on two tests today. 

She did well as always. She was school smart so doing her assignments was about enough to give her a full mark on any test. 

"So tell me" Yoona turned to Jiah. "How was Japan"

The girls were sitting at their local coffeeshop. They often went there if Yoona and Jiah had morning classes and they were done early. Yujun would always order ahead and wait for her friends to arrive. It was their usual routine. 

"Nothing too interesting. We went to the mountains"

"Yeah, Yujun told me. Are you okay?"

She sighed. "It's fine. It wasn't too scary. I had my phone"

Yujun patted Jiah on her shoulder and handed her her daily iced americano. "I don't understand how you can drink these things"

"Says the one who drinks alcohol almost every night" Jiah mumbled.