When seven becomes eight

In just one day

"Elisa, something happened. Meet me at the rooftop. Got into a small fight."

Before Elisa could answer, the phone call was ended and all she heard was a monotone beep. "Kyung must have got into a fight with his parents again. Hope it's nothing serious.", she sighed as she grabbed her coat. With her coat she grabbed her backpack, some snacks and some cans.

"Mom?! I'm off to Kyung's! See you tonight!"

She slid down the small flight of stairs in front of the door and ran into the cold winter air. It was one of the coldest winters in a long while and Elisa pulled her zipper up further for it to mask half of her face. Wobbling on the slippery roads, she saw an old lady. Quietly she moved her feet one in front of the other. The lady walked across the usually busy street, which was now deserted because of the extreme black ice formation. Elisa looked carefully how the lady, stiff and cold, moved her old bones across that street. Once that street would be too far for her.

Trying not to think too much, Elisa marched on through the deadly silent streets. The building with the rooftop was mere metres away, however, she felt like having walked for hours. She opened the old metal sliding doors, slipped through and closed them behind her. Blowing clouds of smoke, she proceeded up the stairs. She heard noise just a bit above her.

"Kyung?! Are you th...?"

Someone had quickly put his hand over her mouth and was dragging her backwards. She tried to struggle with all the force she had. It didn't matter, the person was way stronger. The person pulled her into a cabinet under a flight of stairs. There he pushed her onto some cushions.

"Stay silent or we're both done for.", the man whispered, while he closed the door. The room became pitch black. Ear deafening steps appeared over them, coming closer and closer. Elisa had wanted to open her mouth and ask what was happening, but remembered the command the man had given her and stayed quiet. For a moment all she heard was her heartbeat and the slightly faster one of the male.

Then she heard a voice, "Seems we lost the fucker, however, we'll find him later. He should know he'll never be safe for even a second in his life again. Now let's get out of this crumbling building."

It seemed like they had moved away, so very carefully Elisa opened her mouth and whispered, "Who are you?"

"It surprises me that you hadn't found out by my voice yet."

"Kyung? Jees, what's happening?"

"You know I got into a fight, right? Seems they followed me to the rooftop."

"Damn it Kyung, I thought it was with your parents again. You shouldn't get into fights, watch yourself for one time in your life."

"You know I can't do anything about my parents and these bastards started it themselves. I have nothing to do with any of it."

"No, violence always just finds you. Kyung, I'm not stupid. If you did exactly nothing, we wouldn't be here sheltering in this broom closet. Your parents are who they are and do cause you misery, but I won't believe that this fight is completely their fault."

"Then you don't. Now let's get out of here, I'm freezing."

He pushed against the door. It wouldn't budge even the slightest. He cursed loudly as soon as he noticed how stupid they had been. Laughs able to shatter glass appeared on the outside. "Never do before thinking. Seems you and your nice girlfriend are gonna enjoy this weather for a while longer. Good luck getting out with about a ton of weight pressing against that door. Bye bye Kyung."

Kyung sat crouched on the ground with his hands in his hair. "Goddamn it, we fell right in. How could we have been so stupid.", he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have said anything."