since seventeen | rirae ✔

02

"Ricky?!" Taerae exclaimed, stunned to see the younger standing in front of his house at midnight with a cake in his hands.

"Happy birthday, hyung!"

Taerae's parents loved their son but an important business meeting couldn't be avoided, even if it was their son's birthday. He was mature enough to understand their situation. He accepted that he would have to spend his 20th birthday all alone.

But there was Ricky, standing in front of him with the biggest smile on his face.

"I baked you a cake." Ricky spoke with so much enthusiasm. Taerae stared at him, eyes glossy. He nodded and managed to put on a magnificent smile, thanking the latter.

Ricky got inside, they cut the cake and fed each other.

"You made me so happy, really." Taerae confessed. He was smiling so hard the entire time. How could he not? He felt blessed to have such a brother-like friend by his side, someone who always remained his most adored one.

Ricky engulfed him in a loving embrace. Taerae giggled when the blonde gave him multiple pats on his head, passively flexing his height.

And when they pulled apart, Taerae felt something cold on his cheek. His eyes enlarged when Ricky smiled mischievously. The cake frosting. Taerae immediately scooped some of the frosting from the cake and Ricky was long gone from his spot. They chased each other and Taerae won in the end. He had Ricky in a headlock and smudged the other's whole face with frosting.

That's how close they were.

Until the playful acts and heartfelt smiles turned into tearful hugs and words of false hope.

Taerae was moving to Seoul for university and Ricky wasn't. They had to be seperated as the elder finally got into his dream uni.

Taerae was afraid, afraid of letting Ricky know, afraid that the younger would beg him to stay and he would end up staying. His heart hurt when they hugged for the last time before his departure. He was getting seperated from his family and other friends. But why did the tears in Ricky's eyes pain him the most?

"Call me everyday, okay?" Taerae nodded. Ricky wasted no time to hug him once again. They could text, call but it would never be the same, where they could sit in silence, mind their own business and crack a joke or two once in a whole.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." Ricky whispered. Tears painted his face, his makeup smudged in places as he wiped the hot liquid with his sleeves. Taerae wasn't any different. He did not cry, not through his eyes. His heart cried, his chest ached with a pinching pain when Ricky's voice broke.

Taerae told him the night before his departure day. The younger couldn't believe his ears at first. He blinked twice and exclaimed that Taerae was just pulling a prank on him. But his playful smile faltered upon realizing his favourite hyung was indeed parting from him the next morning.

Ricky stared as Taerae got into a taxi and smiled at him one last time, a bittersweet one.

And the taxi started. It gradually got smaller and smaller. Ricky watched with a blurry vision till the vehicle was out of sight. It hit him only then that Taerae had actually set off for Seoul, leaving Ricky alone in melancholy.