The big, dark brown eyes of Ricky widened, his heart clenched inside his chest and a lump built itself inside his throat. Nervously, did he try to gulp to get rid of it in order for him to let out reply.

It had been a year since he last heard from his parents and that was when they disowned him and sent him to his grandmother in Busan. Instead of being devastated and heart-broken, he had been relieved and felt... happy, almost. Because that meant that he no longer had to live with fear that the loan sharks would find him. Not even his parents knew that he was here, with his grandmother for they had cut the only connection with her the day when she no longer sent them money anymore.

“Changhyun-ah”, his mother said, her voice slightly shaky. “Please... say something”.

“Oh”, Ricky said, obliged to answer his mother. “What... what happened?”.
“Your father... gathered all our things; the apartment included and sold it for a very large amount of money; enough to free ourselves from the loan sharks”, she said, her calm voice turning hysteric at the end of that sentence. “Your father went to give them back their money, but as he did, the leader decided that it was too late for us to repay, and beat him down”.
Ricky swallowed and felt his heart tighten and the beat of it increased as the seconds passed. The thought of his funny, not at all old father getting beaten down didn't made any sense inside his head. He was always kind and had tried his very best not to shut his wife's mother out of their lives. Even though he had an obsession for gambling, he was still a great and terrific father. He was also the greatest man that Ricky knew. And he knew that he wasn't the only one with that opinion.

“How... h-how is he?”, Ricky asked, his voice shaking like a leaf.

Even though he couldn't see his mother, he knew that she was crying. The sounds of her sobbing brought tears to his eyes as the final puzzle piece fell in place inside of his head. No words needed to be said in that moment as the two cried in silence.

“Eo-eo-eomma”, Ricky finally stuttered, earning a loud sob from his mother who sneezed. “What... can I help you with?”.
“I... I'm staying at your father's parents for now, till I get back on my feet. I-I-I... I just wanted to hear your voice and know that you are okay”, she said and took a deep breath. “Could you... please tell halmeoni to give me a call?”.
“Ofcourse. I will do it the second I get back home”, Ricky promised, earning a halfheartedly chuckle from the woman on the other line.
“Ah, are you out with your friends? Are you having fun?”.
Ricky was just going to say that yes, he did, but was stopped when a pair of arms s around his waist and pulled him in for a tight back-hug.
“Babe, you're going to catch a cold if you stand outside. Come inside”, L.Joe whispered with a funny, girly voice and kissed his neck. “Who are you talking to?”.
“I'll... call you later. Yeah, you too take care. Bye”, Ricky quickly said and hung up. Somehow, he didn't want his boyfriend to know about his situation or his current one. He turned around and smiled widely at L.Joe.

“My grandma”, he lied and left a soft peck on the boy's lips. “She shopped too much and needed my help with the heavy bags”.
He pouted but nodded. “Arasso. We'll leave now”.
“Ani-ya!”, Ricky quickly said and held out his both hands in the air. “I'll do it by myself. You have fun with the others”.
“But... it won't be fun if you're not there...”.
“L.Joe-yah”, Ricky whined and wiggled his arms. “Don't be like that. Have fun and make sure that Baekhyunnie does too, okay?”.
The pout that formed the blonde's lips, was absolutely adorable. To the point where Ricky almost forgot his phone call with his mother, the second earlier. But just almost.

“Tsk... my princess is bossing around... fine. Call me when you're done, so I can walk you home”, L.Joe sighed, but turned all serious when he talked about Ricky walking home from his grandmother. Because he figured that his boyfriend would take the opportunity and hang out with his grandmother; which he respected and adored. He somehow felt happy that Ricky cared for his family.
Ricky nodded. “Ofcourse. See you later then”.

He did feel a little guilty for lying to L.Joe, but he couldn't tell him. Not yet, at least. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to do so either. It wasn't that Ricky lied without a purpose, he just tried his best to hide his past and continue on living his life as a normal teenager.

He walked down the street to the bus stop. With his hands inside his pockets and his eyes with an empty glimpse. The corners of them were slightly red and a battle between the tears and his pride took place there. He didn't want to cry, the less did he want to do it in public. He hated how it made him look weak and small; which wasn't far from what he really was.
The bus rolled up to the bus stop and he climbed on it. Without smiling did he pay for his ticket and walked up to the first, empty seat he saw. Usually, he wouldn't mind sitting next to a stranger. He was a social being and would rather talk to someone than sitting forever alone. But at that moment, Ricky just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. And he knew people would feel annoyed if someone with that attitude approached them.

The sound of a vibrating phone reached his ears and he took out the phone from his pocket and took the call with a dull “Yoboseyo”.
“It's eomma again. I tried to call grandmother, but she wouldn't take my call. So, I'm going to turn to you, my beautiful son”, the desperate voice of his mother made him swallow. He knew his mother better than to fall for her acting, he knew that she only cared about herself and that the only reason she would call him after the two years they'd been apart, was if she needed money.

He cleared his throat and straightened his back. “What is it, Mrs. Yoo?”.

“I... need money. I have to prepare a funeral for your father, and I don't have enough to do so. Your father was a great man and he deserves the best”, his mother replied with a heart-broken voice.
It pained Ricky to hear his mother talk like that, but he also knew the great experience she had in acting. She was an extraordinary liar; heck when she went out to meet other men, his father had believed her without even blink. Ricky however didn't. He could tell whenever she lied and when she told the truth. There was something about her voice that just sounded differently.

“I don't have any money. I haven't gotten myself a job yet”, Ricky said honestly with an annoyed sigh. “Sorry, can't-”.
“But that rich boyfriend of yours has”, his mother quickly snapped making Ricky widen his eyes in both surprise and shock. How did she know? Who had told her?

“Mwo?”, Ricky gasped and felt how every muscle inside his body tensed up. “H-h-how did you know?”.
A sigh was heard on the other line and then a feminine, beyond pretty chuckle. “Please. You can't hide anything from me, “Ricky” or whatever it is you're called. I'm your mother, sadly enough. I knew you went to Busan and goes to school there. You can even tell grandma I was in the neighborhood”.
Ricky swallowed and felt the steady, and calm pace of his heart quicken. She wasn't suppose to know things like these. The whole plan was for him to go to a place where they wouldn't find him. Or well, a place where he didn't have to worry that they would find him.

“What do you want me to do?”, Ricky whispered and unconsciously looked around, afraid someone would see or hear him.
“Oh dear”, his mother laughed, a sound that to Ricky was heart-ripping. “You know exactly what to do”.

 

The bus slowed down at the final stop and it had already become dark outside. The lights were on and lit up the soft cover of snow that adorned the streets. A photographer would've loved the scenery of the old houses and the multi-colored lights. Ricky on the other hand, didn't even notice it when he stumbled out of the bus. He had tilted his head slightly to the side and walked down the street to the house where his grandmother lived. The apartments built around the area were specifically made for elders, as they only had 4 floors.
Even Ricky who had been here billions of times thought it seemed like a good, quiet neighborhood. And it was. It gave you the feeling of being too good. Almost too good to be true. With a bittersweet smile plastered on his lips, did Ricky walk past the building where his mother lived and walked further down the street to a neighborhood that was the complete opposite. It was supposed to be a friendly and something like the neighborhood his grandmother lived with, only this one was made for big families. The buildings themselves had street paintings on them and every here and there you could find cracks and chewing gum in the gray concrete.
The further down he went, the bigger did a lump inside his throat grow. It wasn't like he hadn't done things like these before; he had. Many, many times before.

When he had arrived to the area he had looked for, he squinted his eyes shut and swallowed, in a fail attempt to wish himself far, far away. As he opened them, he met with the half-ruined, old night-club. The neon plate on the door of the club hadn't been on for ages, Ricky could tell. The windows were broken and the whole building had been forgotten a long time ago; yet, voices inside could be heard, much to anyone's surprise.
He grabbed the doorknob and gave the door a little push and walked inside. A strong aroma of cigarettes and alcohol flew by Ricky and left him with a wrinkled nose and a change of heart. He shouldn't do this. It was wrong.

“Yah”. And too late. “Who are you?”.
The sound of a husky, manly voice roared and brought uncomfortable chills to run up his spine. He bowed, an attempt to seem polite and looked around the place to see where the voice had come from. But the sound of a chuckle made him stare down on the floor instead.

“I know you”, another voice of a considerably younger boy said, Ricky guessed it was someone of his own age and maybe half the age of the man that had asked who he was.
The fact that that boy knew who he was, scared him. “I... n-need mo-money. I've... got s-some things th-that I'm selling f-for a d-d-decent pri-prize. A-are you i-interested?”. He knew that they weren't at all interested in buying things, but he figured he had to try.

“This kid's got guts”, the older of the two boys said, grinning in a mocking way. He walked up to Ricky, and very warily, did Ricky squint up at the man.
The second he did, he wanted to let out a gasp. That face and that voice, did match very well, he thought. The face of the guy scared Ricky, as the expression over it was dead serious and a slight tint of... danger. His eyes were pinched black, just like the wife beater he wore on top of his muscular body. Even when he tried to find a soft and gentle side with the guy, he couldn't.

“What's your name?”, he asked and tilted his head to the side, showing off a swan-like neck and a collarbone beyond perfection.
“R-R-Ricky”, Ricky stuttered in reply and cursed himself for his weakness. “You can call me Ricky”.
“Do you... have any idea who we are?”, the guy whispered and folded his arms over his broad chest, looking even more buff than what he already did.
Shakily, Ricky nodded his head. The other guy jogged up to them and gaped at the very sight of Ricky. He would've done the same if he the second before that hadn't bit his teeth together. Standing in front of him was C.A.P.

“Then you must know that we couldn't care less about things you want to sell”, the buff guy snorted and glanced down at C.A.P who immediately straightened his back and cleared his throat.
“Yeah... what he just said”, he muttered. “Hyung, let me teach this punk a lesson, will ya?”.
Ricky froze where he stood; was C.A.P going to beat him up? No... he wouldn't do that, he... he was L.Joe's best friend, or at least a very close one.
But the older guy just shook his head, and drew his eyes onto Ricky's, making him gulp. “He didn't do anything wrong. Let's hear this guy out first”.

PPL, FEEL FREE TO GUESS ON WHO THE BADASS BAD GUY IS! I will hand out cookies to the ones that guess right! ;)
my attempt on making you forget about the really short chapter. *cough*