"My life was far from pretty. My family was poor. I was hungry, angry, desperate. So I stole. Anything, from anyone. Just to survive."
He lowered his head briefly, then looked at his friends again. "It was wrong, I know. But back then, it felt like the world gave me no choice."
A pause.
"One afternoon," he continued, "I was about to steal again. But Kaivan stopped me. He didn't report me. Didn't punish me. He talked. He believed in me. His hand was open… and I chose to trust it. From that day, I stopped."
The rooftop grew heavy with quiet warmth. The moon seemed to listen, city lights flickering in rhythm. Kaivan only smiled faintly, not claiming credit, just offering a proud glance.
The bottle spun once more. The night wind brushed past softly. When it stopped, its neck pointed toward Felicia.
Radit's gaze fixed on her, not to challenge, but to wait, for the honesty hidden beneath her perfume and cool smile.
He asked quietly, his voice weighty, shaking the silent night. "Why were you with Julian?"
Felicia's eyes grew distant, lost in corridors of the past. Shadows of bitter memories crept across her face. The starlight dimmed in her eyes as she lowered her gaze.
"My father…" Her voice was faint, nearly breaking. "He cheated often. My mother was sick. And then… he left us."
Silence fell again, her words hanging like dust that refused to settle. She clutched the coffee cup in front of her, grounding herself in its fragile warmth.
"Since then, I believed… women must obey. Must submit, or be abandoned. I lived in fear, that if I resisted, I'd be discarded, like my mother."
The rooftop was rigid. No one spoke. The night itself seemed to lean in and listen.
"Then Julian came," she whispered. "He was the first to reach out. I obeyed him. I thought it was love, to give everything without question."
She sipped her coffee, now lukewarm. It tasted dull, but it anchored her.
"I endured. For years. Not out of love, but fear. Until… Kaivan appeared."
The word hung in the air. She lowered her head, gathering fragments of broken memories.
"He promised…"
Radit leaned closer. "Promised what?"
Felicia gave no answer. Her eyes drifted away. Suddenly, her hand seized the bottle at the center of the table, spinning it fast. The scrape of glass on wood drowned out the question, sealing away a wound that had nearly been exposed.
They fell silent. The bottle spun slowly, slicing through the tension. Every gaze clung to its motion, as if fate itself balanced on the tip of its rotation. Finally, it stopped, pointing directly at Thivi.
Thivi lifted her eyes to the moon, its silver light framing her calm face. Felicia, still caught in the undertow of her own emotions, turned to her. Her voice softened, like a blanket gently brushing against an open wound. "So, what was your life like before this?"
The night breeze stirred, becoming the music behind the story waiting to be told. Thivi's gaze stretched beyond the rooftop, reaching for a distant village in her memory.
"Simple," she said quietly. "I grew up in a small village. Quiet days, no pressure, just family, friends, and an old motorbike."
A faint smile touched her lips. But behind it, something deeper waited.
"I almost fell into a ravine once. My bike slipped out of control. I thought that was the end. But then he came, Kaivan. He pulled me back from death, held me, saved me."
Silence cloaked them. Each imagined that moment, wind, cliff, and the courage to act.