One of the things the members truly enjoyed amidst their busy schedules was the shooting of music shows. These events were the highlights in their hectic days, where they had the opportunity to meet other groups, most of whom had been only their role models just a few weeks ago but were now their colleagues.
This was one of those days. The boys were scheduled to attend a show and perform. Excitement and a touch of nervousness filled the air as they prepared for their performance. The stage went off without a hitch, and afterward, they had the pleasure of spending a little leisure time there. As the day drew to a close, after enjoying some time talking with their senior colleagues and filming a few Tik Tok challenges, it was time for them to head home.
With their group divided into two cars, Zhang Hao led the first group, including Yujin, Gyuvin, Gunwook and Taerae, while Matthew got caught up in an enthusiastic conversation with his new Canadian friends, Mark, Kevin and Jacob. This left Hanbin and Jiwoong, who were now looking for Ricky, since the blonde was conspicuously nowhere to be found. They tried calling him, but their attempts were fruitless as they discovered that he had left his cell phone with their manager.
Hanbin, though slightly stressed, tried to stay calm. Jiwoong, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves, almost going crazy and pacing the place incessantly in search of the younger. Matthew, after bidding farewell to his friends, just followed Jiwoong, his frown deepening as he urged both of his Hyungs to calm down, believing Ricky would be back in no time, as he had probably just gone to the bathroom. But the bathroom was, obviously, the first place Jiwoong had searched, and it yielded no results.
A little over 20 minutes later, Matthew spotted a shock of blonde hair walking into the room, oblivious to all the commotion. It was Ricky, with a shy smirk on his face, closely followed by one of the seniors they had met at the show. The other guy was smiling, his lips slightly swollen, and a few strands of jet black hair out of place. Also, Ricky's usually impeccable shirt bore a few wrinkles on its fabric.
Matthew eagerly tugged on Jiwoong's sleeve to let him know their missing bandmate had been found, but soon regretted it. Because as soon as the older saw Ricky, he stormed off in his direction and pulled him away by the wrist, dragging him into an empty, small room, not even sparing a second glance at their sunbae, who had been observing the unfolding scene and was left baffled by the sudden outburst.
Once inside the room, Jiwoong forcefully pushed Ricky against the wall with a thud, holding him by the shoulders and angrily yelled at his face, "What the fuck were you doing, Shen Ricky?"
Ricky's eyes widened in surprise, and he could not formulate any coherent sentence, so he just weakly asked, "What?"
Jiwoong continued his barrage of questions, his frustration palpable as he too struggled to find the right words as he slammed his palm in the wall just beside Ricky's head. "Where the hell were you? Do you know how worried I was? Answer me!"
The younger blinked a few times, before speaking with a hoarse voice, "...why?"
"Ricky, we were all worried sick about you. I thought something bad might have happened, and you come back with... him?" His anger simmered beneath the surface as he gestured vaguely toward the door, indicating the presence of Ricky's companion, who had quietly entered the room to see what was going on.
Ricky's eyes darted toward their senior, who was watching the scene unfold with a mix of amusement and curiosity. The blonde cleared his throat and softly pushed Jiwoong by the chest, walking away from the wall and towards the other boy, attempting to explain. "Look, I just needed some fresh air, and-"
