#niki angst
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HEART DEFENDER──────
౨ৎ⸻niki x fem!reader
⸻ synopsis, Nishimura Riki was truly and honestly, your sworn enemy, and everyone knew. You two shared lots of things, a friend group, academic rivalry, and most importantly school popularity. Receiving tons of confessions and notes on the daily from your fanboys and fangirls was nothing new. So you can't help but be shocked when he asks you to be his fake girlfriend for that same reason.
genre: enemies to lovers, fluff, highschool au
pairing: popular-footballplayer!niki x popular-fem!reader
wordcount: 11.5k !
tags: underage drinking, foul language/swearing, niki is an asshole, own characters included, y/n and niki are unrealistically popular but bare with me pls, jay is called a pervert😭, kissing
authors note! this was written for my beautiful babygirl , and it was also her idea so props to my pookie yall!!!😛 also no proof read so sorry for any errors!!
A GENTLE HEAT falls onto the silk bed sheets, as a flickering blue light washes over the room, a sound waking you up from the dreamy state. You still had a hard time settling into the new reality that eloped you just a few days back. The summer was over, and so we’re all the exciting things you hadn’t been able to do.
Although you didn’t mind, it brought you comfort to keep your body and mind active. You don’t like to mull over the fact that something is over, because that never brought it back, choosing to focus on every minute that was yet to come.
Maybe that was exactly the reason you’ve become so popular amongst the male population of Alpine High-school, students swooning over your exquisite beauty, tall, well proportioned figure and beautiful mind. Some looks were only hungry for popularity and full of lust, but amongst all, you also found people who truly wanted to know you, and find out what was underneath the pretty shell.
Some would call it cliche, to only stick around people who held the same status as you, or shared a similar popularity rank, but you truly never intended for that. Having two of the most popular students in one team, automatically makes the entirety of the group more desirable and unattainable. You never had control over any of these things, but you’d also be lying if you said it didn’t make you feel even more special.
Your phone vibrates, Song Eunseok’s name displayed on the screen, messages filling up your home screen every second. You smile lightly and press one of them to shoot him a quick reply, preventing him from spamming you with keyboard smashes.
Song Eunseok was one of your best-friends. He was there when others weren’t, and he was always the one to help you endure any pain in life. He was like a bandaid, keeping you safe from any infectious disease but also helping ease the pain, even if it didn’t feel like it at first. The affection in his tone, his words glowing with secrecy and honesty every time he spoke to you, that’s exactly what made him so notable to your heart.
Kim Hana was also one of those people to you. Eunseok was good to you, but he’d never be able to substitute for a girl best-friend. You never treated Hana as a second option though. She wasn’t even a month older than you, but wiser than most. Hana always knew what to say or do, she was like a compass to you. You knew you could never lose her, or else you wouldn’t know which direction to walk towards. Still, behind the smart and intellectual facade, was a joyful and bright girl, who had the most infectious laugh you knew. Her smile was adorable and words of affection- comforting.
Park Sunghoon was also a member of your clique, recruited by Jake who swam alongside him on the school’s swimming team. You’ve never been really close to him, he was more of a friend to you when others were around. That didn’t mean you didn’t care for him though. Sunghoon was different, he was very secretive and smart. He didn’t ever try, but always succeeded. He wasn’t flashy about it either, keeping most of his success to himself.
Jake, who recruited Sunghoon, used to be your best-friend. You grew up with him, just like in every childhood best-friends movie, the two of you did everything together. Just like you, he moved out of his home country in his early years, which was one of the many things you had in common and could empathize about. You decided to go to the same highschool, following the promise you made in 4th grade; that you’ll always stick together. The reciprocation brought you a feeling of comfort and safety, at first you didn’t mind when he started getting closer with Nishimura Riki because you trusted him. You trusted him enough, and turned a blind eye enough until your once best friend wasn’t yours anymore.
You tried to ignore the low pain it gave you, small weebs formed in your mind as you tried to justify Jake’s behavior, arguing that he still speaks to you so kindly. You were still in the same group together, spending most of your days together and laughing sweetly at the smallest things. But instead of calling you, he’d call Niki, instead of hanging out with you on the weekends, he’d hang out with Niki and instead of inviting you as his plus one to events, he’d invite Niki.
That’s exactly why you hated Nishimura Riki, the last member of the seemingly ‘popular kid’ clique you formed.
Niki was equally attractive and popular as you. He embodied a typical, bookish bad-boy character, the smitten look on his face winning girls hearts over every time. He was also a member of the football team, already earning a full ride scholarship for his sports successes. He was already an intelligent boy, but a free entry to college was nothing he’d deny. He was vastly athletic, but always dreamed of going to university. Niki may not have looked the part, but he truly was much more ambitious than many would guess.
He didn’t have many reasons to hate you, but the sole fact that you were unbeatable, the first rank in school always alongside your name. He always stood proudly next to you on class president election day, but always ended up getting hurt when once again, you were chosen. Everyone loved you and even though he had his fair share of fans, he could never compare.
So the satisfaction that taking away your best-friend from you brought him, was enough to console his damaged pride. It was enough to compensate for his stolen spotlight.
You both had reasons to hate each other, and never even considered talking it out, even if you shared a friend group. Passive aggressive comments, and sarcastic remarks were enough to satisfy yours and Niki’s mind.
___________
Niki, with his fair share of popularity, couldn’t get away from constant love letters clogging up his locker, or girls' heartfelt love confessions. With the face of an angel and skills of a child prodigy, it was inevitable in some way. Those same girls were the reason for his incredibly and annoyingly large ego.
“Niki!” the brunette caught his attention with her squeaky and high pitched voice.
He turned around to catch a glimpse at her, only to find her with a pink glittery box in hand. Niki could sense another thought out, insanely touching confession coming his way.
“Do I know you?” he asked, trying his best to not make a rude face at the girl. At the end of the day he was the it-boy at his high-school, and had an image to upkeep.
“You could get to know me. We have chemistry together!” she replied happily, completely neglecting the fact that his reply itself was a bit rude to begin with.
“Is that supposed to be some sort of pickup line?” Niki chuckled, running a hand through his hair as his shoulder fell to his right. He leaned on the lockers trying to remember the girl he was speaking to.
She pulls at the fabric of his blazer, a frisky look on her face “It could be if you want it to be”
He felt his body tensing up, a wave of uncomfort speeding through his veins. He was used to girls shoving themselves onto him, but why couldn’t he be viewed as an equal to them? Just because he has stolen many women's hearts, didn’t mean he didn’t want to be treated with dignity and respect.
He could feel a bead of sweat trickle down his spine as the unknown girl pushed her body closer and closer. His white shirt started to suffocate him, feeling the box she had in her hands press against his stomach.
He could barely read the name Oh Jia off the girl's name tag, before backing away, making her stumble a little bit.
“Don’t you think you’re getting a little too comfortable, Jia?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. She thinks of the many nights she’d seen the boy infront of her standing proudly with a confident smile as he pulls her closer to his body. She is taken aback by the difference, wondering how she could've gotten so easily deceived by her own head to fall for such a fabricated version of Nishimura Riki, She had swooned over the cover, just like many girls before and after her.
This was one of the many daily confessions the boy would receive. Some happened to be much more friendly and cute, even making Niki’s heart a little warmer. Some students just liked to test his limits, see how easy he can actually be. He hated that. He hated not being treated like a human being but rather a school attraction they all got to take turns trying out.
Although you were sworn enemies, the similarity between yours and Niki’s experience love wise, was undeniable.
“What is my pretty girl doing all alone? Where did all your friends go?” Hyunsik, a member of the student council, asked with a flirtatious tone stopping you from getting to your history class.
“Yours?” you questioned with a calm voice, having an idea of who Hyunsik was.
He smiled, wondering why you always played so hard to get. He was gorgeous, so what was your problem to just give into his warm embrace?
“Don’t be like that” he answered, using his hand to push a strand of loose hair behind your ear.
You felt so incredibly uncomfortable. You had known Hyunsik for some time now, as the class president you did have to consult on important issues with him.
“What do you mean, Hyunsik?” you asked, a wonky smile on your face as you tried to give the boy a sign that you weren't interested in him.
“You know what I mean. C'mon Y/n, you don’t have to play so hard to get. We could have fun, I’d make you feel so good and happy” he confessed, his stance radiating confidence which was unbreakable.
He was attractive, but his personality and ego completely erased any chances of scoring a date with you or many other girls.
“I’m interested in someone else” you answered, backing away from him.
“You always say that, yet you're still single” he said, offended by your relectuance.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business though, Hyunsik. I have to go now” you said, not letting him say anything else.
This wasn't the first time boy’s just assumed you’d be easy like that. Just like Niki, you hated it. You didn't mind the confessions, as long as they were kept cute and respectful. You hated being mean, and these situations just forced it out of you.
__________
“Why don’t we call Minjun over here, you’ve been hanging out with him a lot, right?” Hana asked, turning to you. She shuffles to grab her phone, but you stop her.
Niki rolled his eyes at her words, not in the mood to stubbornly try to keep a civil conversation with Minjun. Kim Minjun was a member of the football team, and the number two placeholder in school. He really was handsome- slim face and a defined jawline, dark thick hair, eyebrows not touched once but seemingly shaped by Aphrodite herself, captivating siren eyes that made you fear eye contact, and lastly plump cherry lips. You could go on about Minjun’s beauty for days and not get bored of the topic.
He notoriously fought with Niki for the team captain position, and although never achieved it, still managed to be disliked by Niki. They had a visible rivalry. While Niki tried to beat Minjun for second place, Minjun tried to beat Niki for the team captain spot. The passive aggressive remarks only made it worse, but for the sake of the team they kept, or at least tried to keep it civil.
It reminded you of your friend group. You always tried your best to hide your deep rooted hatred for Niki around everyone, for the sake of their peace. The difference was that Niki never tried. He couldn’t bear a minute without making a sneaky and rude comment towards you. In some way it made you feel better about yourself, knowing that you're mature enough to not bother your friends with your private issues.
“He’s probably with the team” you answered, and she pouted at your response.
“He wouldn’t want to sit with Miss Perfect here, anyways” Niki snickered, poking at his lunch uninterested in what he saw on the metal tray. The pork cutlet seemed awfully indigestible today.
“I think you’re more so the problem” Hana defended, knowing you wouldn’t probably respond to him.
“It’s not like Minjun is perfect, c'mon. He’s an annoying, selfious fuckboy” Jake said, in an attempt to clear Niki’s name.
But why couldn’t he defend you? Did he really dislike you that much?
“He really isn’t though” you responded, and Jake seemed taken aback by your change in demeanor.
It almost looked like he felt entitled to say anything, but you had no right to respond to him unless you weren’t agreeing with him. Maybe that was what was left after your friendship of 10 years, the entitlement.
“Of course you’d say that, because you probably want him like all his other fangirls” Niki smirked, and pushed away his tray.
“Dude, leave it. Can we just have a peaceful lunch period for once?” Sunghoon spoke up, looking up from his English notes.
He usually never said anything whenever these tense situations happened. Sunghoon kept quiet, listening in on the meaningless words leaving your mouths.
“I’m gonna go” you rose from your chair, and picked up all your things. Hana tried to stop you, but her attempts were useless, as you gave her a small smile and left the table.
“Well, I will too then” Niki announced trailing right after you.
He walked towards you, a stupid look displayed on his face. You hated that you didn’t have any power over him, letting him treat you like this for no good reason.
“If you want to continue telling me how awful Minjun is, I really suggest you leave it, cause I’m not going to change my mind” you turned to him, as he stopped next to you by the lockers.
“I just want to get some books from my locker, can’t I?” he tilted his head, and smirked evilly when he saw your annoyed look.
Another thing you hated was having a locker right next to his. Whoever assigned them, must truly despise you. Or potentially pray for your downfall.
He just scoffed at your lack of interest, and started to rummage through his pocket for the small key to his locker.
As soon as both of your locker doors opened, a swarm of notes and pink, red or purple little envelopes fell out. Some were cutely decorated, with adorable glittery stickers, some just a simple paper ripped out of the author's notebook.
You two looked at each other confused. You knew Niki was popular, and Niki knew you were popular, but not to this extent.
It wasn’t an issue, for a long time, but as comical as it sounded this was starting to get annoying pretty quickly. Sometimes the both of you wondered what made you so special, what made you stand out so much. Was it the academic success that no other student seemed to achieve yet? Maybe it was the physical tasks that you conquered without breaking a sweat? Or was it just your appearance that was unique among all?
His mind was rushing, but one idea came out on top of the bubble of thoughts.
______
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Niki” you laughed at his absurd idea, wondering if Jake is somewhere recording this secretly.
Niki can’t yet tell if you’ll buy it or not. The silence sinks into his skin, as the imprisoning walls surrounding you seem to close on him. Did he really just say that out loud?
“Listen, we can just pretend to un-hate each other or something, and then date. It’s all fake, obviously. Do you think I’d want someone like you to be my girlfriend?” he responds. “We can’t tell anyone though”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea” you mumble, and he chuckles.
“Oh please don’t tell me this is about Minjun?”
You look at him annoyed. Why does he suddenly care so much about your relationship with Kim Minjun?
“And what if it is?” you roll your eyes, turning away from his tall figure.
“He doesn’t care about you, Y/n. Can’t you just agree, we both get something out of it” he says, exasperated.
He reaches for your small shoulder, turning your body in his direction. He holds you while silence embraces the both of you. The sun subtly shines through the small window of the equipment room, illuminating his face, a sparkle in his eyes as he looks at you.
“What is in it for me?” you ask quietly, the moment between the two of you, making your heart beat faster.
Niki softens at the concern in your tone.
He knew you liked Minjun, everyone did, but this much? Did you really care for that douchebag? Did you lay on your bed at night, your thoughts always coming back to Kim Minjun? What did he do to steal your cold heart so easily?
“An empty locker, that’s for sure” he lets go of you “And assholes like Hyunsik won’t annoy you anymore, isn’t that enough?” he adds, his tone laced with confidence.
“You know about Hyunsik?” you ask curiously.
He stifles a sharp inhale, realization hitting him.
Did you think he cares? He doesn’t. He couldn’t care less.
He tries to calm his unsteady nerves, preventing himself from saying anything that could damage his uninterested approach to your person even more.
“Eunseok told me,” he answered quickly, his gaze turning to the small window.
You never told Eunseok.
You never told anyone cause this wasn’t something abnormal. Yes, maybe Hyunsik was a bit forward about it, pushing himself onto you, but you just forgot about it after some time.
“Alright’ you clear your throat “Let’s do it”
Niki feels an unfamiliar warmth in his heart, trying to stifle the excitement that took over his body when he heard your words.
“But what about our friends, Niki? Do you seriously think Sunghoon or Jake are that stupid?” you ask
It floods him again; the comfort of his name passing your lips, and he doesn’t know why. He’s never felt this way.
“Hana is a hopeless romantic, she’ll believe anything if you slap a ‘boyfriend’ label on it. Eunseok and Sunghoon don't care anyway, and Jake? I’ll figure it out” he answers, his voice so calm “Everyone else will just believe it as long as we make it believable” he proceeds cautiously, putting emphasis on the ‘we’.
“I don’t get not telling our friends, honestly” you murmured, looking around the room.
He sighed “No offense to Hana, but she’s the biggest blabbermouth I know” he confesses.
You agree internally, not wanting to admit it, too proud of your friendship with the girl.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow” he says after a moment of tranquility, leaving the room after he finishes his sentence.
You watch him step out and leave you alone with all the thoughts and worries.
______
And so he did pick you up.
You wondered if Niki had cleaned up his car for you, remembering the mess last time you were in it. Probably not though.
“Let’s go,” he said, keeping the door open for you.
He grabbed your hand tightly, pulling through the crowd of students gathered in front of the building. Some had a stupid look on their face, wondering how the two of you could ever be dating, some didn’t even budge.
Your chest swells with a torment of emotions, as you feel his warm, wrought hand grip yours. Pride, confusion, determination swarm through your veins, making a mess of your head. You press your knuckles to the warmth of your cheek, flustered by the looks you were receiving.
Your eyes scan the whole building, trying to find Minjun, worried what he’d say when he finds out. You never wanted him to think you were just playing with him, and by the looks of it, that’s exactly what he was thinking when his eyes spotted yours.
A sad look of disappointment decorated his face, as you passed by, holding Nishimura Riki’s hand so tightly.
You screw your eyes shut, chest rising and falling rapidly. You want to tell him everything, you know you could. But there was a boundary you promised to not cross, for yours and Niki’s peace.
“This is bullshit” Sunghoon raises his eyebrows, as the two of you appear in front of all your friends.
“The assignment you wrote for my physics class was bullshit, and I didn’t say anything. This-” he says pointing to your intertwined hands “This is for real, the real deal” he adds proudly.
How long has he been acting?
“When did all of this happen?” Hana asks excitedly.
You didn’t like agreeing with Niki, and even though it was sad to a degree, Hana really was gullible.
You smile “We just started talking, I guess. It really happened naturally”
How long have you been acting?
“But weren’t you just fighting last week? And I thought you had a thing for Minjun?” Eunseok asked. He wasn’t supposed to care.
“No, no, Minjun is just a friend” you answer after a moment.
Niki was surprised at your lack of hesitation, no signs of nervousness.
“Well congrats then. I’m happy for you guys” Jake smiled, and his acknowledgment meant the world to you.
You couldn’t not care for him after all this time spent together. You wished you didn’t care about what he thought, what he was up to, because it was no longer your place to ask or wonder.
“I hope Minjun doesn’t feel sad” Hana ponders, her soft heart melting for the boy.
You laugh at her kindness, but deep down you know she’s right “I doubt. I think I made it clear to him that I’m not interested” you reply in an attempt to calm her nerves.
“I hope so, he’s really a good guy” she mumbles, a look of frustration on her face.
You wonder why.
“He isn’t but whatever” Niki professes, a disgusted tone lacing his voice.
Eunseok laughs “One day anniversary and he’s already jealous”
You never expected them to be so gullible, to fall for such a fabricated lie, but here they were laughing and making jokes about the two of you. It was hard to lie to your friends, especially Eunseok and Hana, but something in your head kept convincing you that this was indeed a good idea.
“You should’ve made a big reveal at the game” Hana acknowledges, a sweet smile on her face as she imagines herself in your position. “Our school would win, everyone cheering you on and then boom- you run up to Y/nnie and kiss her” she tells, a twinkle to her eyes.
Niki laughs, and this time it seems genuine. He likes the thought of that, but can’t quite figure out why. Air is taken out of his lungs as he imagines carefully taking your jaw in one hand, and pressing a sweet kiss to your soft lips, as everyone cheers him on for leading the team to yet another victory.
He can’t be thinking straight.
“That’s a little bizarre don’t you think?” Sunghoon asks Hana, remembering watching something similar with the girl.
Hana shakes her head, and he just chuckles at her persistence “I’m just giving him ideas, subtly”
“Very subtle” Niki answers, and she winks at him.
“Are we still on for the after party at yours?” Eunseok asks, turning his head towards Jake who seems to be totally out of it, as he hurriedly copies Sunghoon's chemistry homework.
“Yeah, yeah. No matter if we win” he mumbles, devoted to a completely different world at the moment.
A small smile forms on your face. You would definitely hold Niki tight, making sure no girl pulls him out of your grasp for a quick seven minutes in heaven. It’s all fake, though. Nothing more than just a pact between two sworn enemies who want a little more peace in their life.
“Even if we lose, we still need to celebrate a good game” Niki smiles, and Eunseok smiles at his attitude.
“With a captain like you my guy, we ain’t never losing” Eunseok winks at Niki, receiving a small laugh and bow from the boy.
You felt guilty. This was the first time in a while when everything felt so gratifying and free amongst your friend group. With the constant fighting and teasing you never seemed to notice the charming dynamic between everyone. It felt like all along the both of you were the problem, and maybe your friends accepted this suspicious relationship so quickly, because it meant they got to experience moments like this once again.
“What do these fucking hieroglifs say, I can’t decipher this shit” Jake grunts with frustration, as he pulls the notebook closer.
Sunghoon laughs and tries to carefully explain every line of text to Jake.
Maybe you were too focused on your own problems with Niki to notice that this is what could’ve been of your friend group.
____
You and Niki seemed to get closer as time passed.
The both of you didn’t even notice it, the barrier between you passing by like a breeze. It came all so naturally, and you never knew you’d have so much in common with the boy you swore you hated.
You would accustom him to his practice sometimes, and he’d proudly show you off to all his teammates. The lines between faking it and being truthful have faded by now, confusing your heart a little. But just a little. Because at the end of the day it was fake.
“I think it’s time you pay me back,” Niki said, a mischievous smile decorating his face.
You looked at him with a confused expression “For what exactly?”
He smiles, and brings his backpack to his chest, rummaging through it to find the key item.
Niki was smart, very smart. He didn’t earn the number three rank for no reason, proudly representing the school on the pitch and in numerous academic competitions. Yet his mind couldn’t quite understand anything written in his physics textbook. He passed by fine, but it never satisfied him to cheat on his tests, and pay Sunghoon to do his homework for him.
“Tutoring? Seriously? And what did you do to deserve it?” you asked, raising your eyebrow.
He smiles widely “Well I haven’t seen any sappy men bothering you, so I think you owe me this one”
“I haven’t seen any sappy girls bothering you either, so I thought we were even” you answer, not giving into his request just yet.
You knew you’d do it. You did everything he asked you to do.
“C’mon Y/n! I need your help, just this one time, please?” he pleaded, a pout on his face “I won’t be able to play in the game this week if I don’t get a good grade on this test” he adds in an attempt to convince you.
You laugh at his desperation, and nod your head “Fine, but you owe me one”
He nods hurriedly, and pulls out all the things you’ll need to give him the greatest tutoring session ever.
“Imagine you’re driving a car” you said sketching a simple diagram “When you hit the brakes, what happens?”
Niki furrowed his eyebrows, and you wondered how he couldn’t comprehend such a simple concept as Newton's laws. It was cute in a way.
“Well I slow down, but that’s too obvious. This is probably a much more complex answer, isn’t it?” he pondered the question.
“No Niki, it’s that simple” you laugh “That’s Newton's first law in action. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an external force. When you hit the brakes, you apply force to the car, causing it to decelerate”
His eyes lit up in understatement, as he tried to solve another question you threw at him.
“Was it really that hard?” you asked him with a small smile, and he hesitated at first.
His eyes glazed through the notebook, but soon enough he answered “Not really. It was much better when you explained it rather than Ms. Lee”
“I’m glad” you answered “If it’s really that bad, you can ask me for help”
“It really isn’t that bad though” Niki answered, with a chuckle.
“Oh c’mon you don’t even understand Newton's laws, it is bad” you reply.
“Okay you geek, I get it. But I thought I have to deserve your tutoring?” he questioned, a small smirk on his face.
“You gotta help out a dumb bitch once in a while” he pretends to be offended at your words.
Not so long ago, he’d probably blow up at you for those words. He’d probably make a scene, resulting in everyone being uncomfortable for a good two days. This time was different. You were different.
“The way you talk to me- it’s unlike you” you inquire suddenly, after a moment of calming silence.
“How come?” Niki asks, not raising his gaze from the workbook.
“Your voice is softer” you smile, and he can’t help but reciprocate.
It brings him a weird comfort. The words passing by your lips, make his heart warmer, a trickling yet pleasing feeling in his spine. He can’t quite pinpoint the moment you touched his mind so intimately, erasing any barrier between you and him. Being with you felt so easy. It feels so easy, that he even forgets why he hated you in the first place.
“Are you coming to my game?” he asked, a new found passion for physics coursing through his veins as he solves yet another problem with ease.
You looked at him adoringly “Obviously”
He chuckled “I’m glad” he looked up at you “But I thought you hated football”
Well you did. You hated it because Niki played it. But even if he didn't ask you, you’d come.
“I just don't understand it, that’s all” you gave him a half smile, looking through his textbook for any more challenging questions for Niki to solve.
“You don't have to be there if you don't want to, Y/n”
You seem to enjoy the way your name slips his lips so delicately.
“No no, I want to be there for you, and I think It’d be sus if I didn't show up. Plus, Hana has some new crush and wants to see him play” you chuckle, and so does Niki, noting that the girl falls in love with anyone and everybody.
“Is it Jay? I’ve seen them mingling before” he questions and you shake your head.
“Jay was last month, old news. I think his name is Sungchan? Or Seunghan, I don't know” you ponder the question, going back to that one conversation you had with the girl about her new love interest.
The possibility that he’s also not the guy she likes now is very high-her heart swooning for any man that gives her the time of day.
Hana was gorgeous and incredibly sweet. No wonder she had a new talking stage every week, no boy being able to handle her.
“Sungchan. He’s a good guy. I can approve of him, definitely better than Jay” he recalls many situations including Jay, where the boy proved himself to be absolutely useless and weird.
Maybe it was his team captain complex, but Niki seemed to notice many things that others didn't. His duty was to take care of his teammates, so catching onto the tiniest things was inevitable.
“What’s wrong with Jay?” you question, and he laughs wondering if the words will even peer out of his mouth.
“He’s like, fucking perverted” he laughs “Well maybe not that badly, but still, he’s just proper dodgy”
You're shocked at his admission, and internally glad your best-friend got over him so quickly.
Your conversation with Niki seemed to flow so easily. You never had to try hard, something always slipping off your tongue, his personality making it so easy. You never thought you’d have so much in common with Niki, so much to talk to him about. You were so fixated on something that was beyond his control, instead of pissing Jake off for being a horrible friend.
____
“I need to go to the bathroom quickly before the game starts” Hana said hurriedly, her small figure rushing towards the bathroom, making you smile to yourself.
You blush. You remember the brief mention Hana made, expressing the want for a more romantic expose of the relationship between you and Niki. You wonder if Niki remembers too.
Usually you never cared for the highschool football games, skipping in order to study more or spend time with your best-friend. This time was different, you felt like a trophy to your oh-so-fake boyfriend, excited to see what comes after he scores a winning touchdown.
“Can we talk?” Minjun’s voice takes you by surprise, making you stop in a halt.
“Uh, sure” you reply, taken aback by the sudden serious tone and demeanor, knowing him from the bubbly personality and sweet voice.
“I know you’re faking it” your heart sinks “Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to yourself? Seriously, Niki?” he asks, and you go completely silent, trying to figure out a reasonable answer to his accusations.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Minjun,” you say after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
A frown tugs at the corners of his mouth. He didn’t expect that reply. He doesn’t know what he really expected in the first place.
“For whatever reason you are doing this, you could’ve just asked me. Why didn’t you ask me? I would’ve helped you, no matter how stupid it is” he kept going, and it felt like you were digging yourself deeper into this lie.
He remembers standing in this same place, your hand hitting his arm playfully, your eyes lighting up at anything he said. In some way, he feels just as barren and vulnerable in your silence as he had that day.
“Minjun, I think you should go join the rest of the team. They’re probably looking for you” you answered, wondering why Hana hasn’t come to save you by now.
“I really liked you Y/n. Like really fucking liked you. I don’t know why you're doing this, especially why you’re helping out that asshole Niki” he added quietly, as Hana came up to the two of you.
“Minjun!” she smiled at him, and he forced one himself “Fighting Minjunnie! I’m rooting for you! We both are!” she cheered.
“Surely” he said, leaving the two of you.
Hana turned to you confused with Minjun's sudden ignorance “Did you two fight or something?” she asked.
“It’s nothing. I think he’s just stressed out” you replied calmly, leading the girl out to the bleachers.
You tried to focus. You tried to be the perfect (fake) girlfriend for Niki, as he played one of his most important games, but Minjun’s words sunk so deep. They were all you could think about.
You couldn't quite figure out why you didn't just admit it. Why didn't just tell him everything and end the bet with Niki? You wanted to so badly before.
“Sungchan is playing like a bitch right now” Eunseok commented, disappointed with his friends performance.
“Don't say that, Eunseok!” Hana slaps his forearm and he laughs at her anger.
At least you knew she was still crushing on him, instead of Jay.
“No seriously, what is going on with that man” Sunghoon said, squinting slightly, his eyes trailing behind Sungchans figure.
Hana kept hushing them, begging for her friends to not speak so badly about her soon-to-be husband. You found it adorable, noting to ask Niki to set her up with him.
“Our boy is doing so well though. Maybe he actually needed a girl in his life” Eunseok smiled at you.
You felt a heat rush to your cheeks at his words, wondering if he actually performed any better this time.
Maybe he was trying to show off in front of you? Or make you proud?
“He’s been training like crazy” you say, and they keep hyping him up.
“Jakey, are you okay?” Hana asked the boy sitting next to you, concerned when she noticed his tired face.
He smiled “I’m fine, Hana. Don’t worry” he said fondly “Look Sungchan is waving at you” he pointed, the girl immediately turning her figure towards him to wave back.
“Did you just see that? He waved at me! Sungchan waved at me!” Hana gleamed excitedly, Eunseok looking at her with disgust.
“I can’t believe you like his bitchass” he half-smiled, shaking his head in a playful act of disbelief.
“Aren't you two friends? Oh I’m so telling him about this” she replied, and he put his hands up.
“Maybe your fantasy will come true” you inquire, and Hana’s mind races back to the moment she imagined a dreamy kiss on the field.
“With the way he’s playing, I doubt there will be anything to celebrate” Jake said, and Hana hummed tiredly.
“Can you guys leave him alone? He’s tired, okay?” she mused, and everyone nodded, done with teasing the girl.
You can’t help but stare at Niki. Even with the heavy gear, he still manages to look good. When did he get so attractive? How come you’ve never noticed the pretty little mole on his chin, his gorgeous lips that begged for your touch, and eyes that grew whenever he talked about something he loves. He was right in front of you this whole time.
You practically begged for Minjun’s attention just a couple weeks back, yet now you felt yourself fading away from the feelings for him. You can’t bring yourself to come up with any conclusion, or to bother with distractions, but why? Why was it so hard to just accept the truth as it was: you wanted Niki to want you.
The game was nearing the end, and Niki could already smell the victory coming his way. He wanted to make you proud, he wanted to see your smile while you ran up to him, praises spewing from your mouth as he hugs you tightly. He hated that it was all fake, the realization dawning upon him; he wants you to want him.
But he knows deep down that it’ll never be the two of you.
A loud horn breaks your trail of thoughts, the audience screaming happily as Niki scores the winning touchdown. It was just like how you imagined, wondering if he’ll actually kiss you now. You know you wanted him to.
He took off his helmet, his hair ruffled, beads of sweat falling down his face, but a wide smile when he spots you with a wide grin striding towards him. It’s just like he imagined.
He doesn’t know what to do. Everyone is looking, and this is the moment he could victoriously hold you. It would make his ego grow, the perfect highschool popular kid image never dwindling, but what would you think of it? God what if you pushed him off of you in front of everyone.
As much as he could prevent things from happening or predict anything, he couldn’t have known that you would be the one to initiate his deep rooted fantasy. He couldn’t have prepared himself for your pretty lips that pressed against him in a chaste, sweet kiss. You felt so good against him, and he couldn’t find himself pulling away. He never expected himself to enjoy such a fucking cliche moment- but here he was, wanting more and more.
He wants to tell you everything in that moment- how he wanted this too, how he’d imagined your lips against his, and how he wants to kiss you everywhere. He knows he could. He’d even blame it on the slip of his unruly tongue. Yet there was a boundary he’d have to walk upon, a fear of losing you prevailing his selfishness. He knows he won’t.
“Wh-” he tries, and fails to still his breathing. Niki hopes you can’t hear the tremble in his voice “How was it?” he asks, his voice unsteady. He doesn’t care though.
“Your game or the kiss” you smile, and he wonders how you can be so calm about this.
He smiles shyly “Both”
“Stop” you laugh and he feels himself float above his body “You did great”
“All for you” his response is amorous.
Niki can’t help but laugh at your silence, watching you replay those words in your head. He pats your head, and throws his arm over your shoulder.
How could any of this possibly be fake?
“Good fucking game dude” Eunseok exclaimed, with a bright smile on his face, as everyone else decided to join you by Niki’s side.
You looked around, a giddy and gleeful Hana, hugging a tired and sweaty Sungchan, as he smiled at her affection. Everyone had happily come down to congratulate the team, but Minjun was nowhere to be seen. Maybe you never intended to hurt him, but you so obviously did.
“Jake you better fucking continue this energy at your disgustingly rich mansion” Sunghoon warned, and Jake smiled at his words.
“You don’t have to worry about that” he replied contentedly, and you were glad to see him like this.
Jake was rich. Like really fucking rich. To the point that he was offended when ‘eat the rich’ was trending, defending that he didn’t choose this life. His mansion in the hills was the go to spot for summer and any other party.
But then again, it’s not like he didn’t have people to clean up after everything goes silent.
_____
“Y/n!” you turned, your eyes meeting Wonbin’s, as you entered the kitchen you knew better than anyone present.
You smiled, as the boy moved in your direction holding a red solo cup.
Wonbin was your designated drink mixer and party buddy for whatever event hosted by whoever. You wouldn't call him a close friend, rather a person you’d talk to only on a special occasion.
“Where your boyfriend at?” he asked with a grin, making you chuckle.
The word didn't make your heart feel weird anymore. It felt so natural, normal, and sometimes you’d even forget it was all fake. For the past couple of weeks you’ve learned to forget easily, not wanting to pick apart Niki’s actions to maybe notice a pattern. You didn’t want to accidentally misinterpret.
“Probably playing some stupid game in the living room” you sighed, hoping to get a little more out of him this time.
You knew that the fake relationship was coming to an end, it already had gone on for way too long.
“Mhm” Wonbin hummed, resting his body on the kitchen counter “It’s fake isn’t it?” he asked, taking you by surprise.
You had absolutely no idea what to say. Wonbin really wasn't a part of any friend group you knew or were in, so what was the shame in telling him the truth? But it’d hurt your pride too much to say the truth out loud.
You avoided eye contact, not knowing what reply would secure your safety and not damage your pride. Your silence made Wonbin laugh “C’mon, you can tell me”
“It’s so embarrassing” you admit, and he shakes his head.
“Not really. There’s plenty of girls who dream of this whole fake dating type of shit” he defended, and it made you smile lightly.
He was right. There were girls out there who fantasized about a fake relationship, and there definitely were also girls who dream about a relationship with Nishimura Riki.
Even though you initially hated his guts, maybe you were lucky after all?
“I just can't comprehend the fact you chose Niki out of all people to be your fake boyfriend” he chuckled, and took a sip of his own drink.
“It was his idea, I promise” you replied, and Wonbin mouthed a ‘no fucking way’, unable to imagine Niki, the person who swore he hated everything about you, ask you to be his fake girlfriend.
“People can be really annoying, and I guess we just had some things in common after all” you added, and he nodded, still trying to visualize the situation you described.
In a way it felt good to tell someone. You had been hiding it for so long, the lies eating you alive.
It had been so long that you didn't even know what had become of this initially fake relationship. The line had already been blurred a long time ago, and it was hard to move along it at this point. He had done so many things, in private, that you didn't know where you stood anymore.
“I can tell you actually like him” Wonbin admitted, once again taking you by surprise “The way you talk about him, it’s different”
“You act so smart and psychological, it’s so annoying” you huffed, and turned away from him, chugging the drink he had previously made for you.
He laughed “The truth hurts, doesn't it?”
“I don’t like Niki” you said, trying to sound as confident as you could, but Wonbin saw right through you anyway.
He didn't want to continue the topic, knowing he had already exhausted your limits. You also knew that no matter what, admitting something like that out loud wouldn't be easy either.
The built up hatred and anger you had for Niki, couldn't have just disappeared so easily after a couple conversations and hangouts. But it did. And it frustrated you so much.
“You guys playing spin the bottle in the living room with us?” a red faced Hana asked, peeking her head into the kitchen slightly.
“With us, meaning?” Wonbin asked, making Hana slightly stumble into the kitchen.
She started putting down her fingers “Well me, obviously” she smiled “Sungchannie, thank god” she let out a steady, thankful breath “Some girls, Oh Jia, Lee Chae, I don’t really recognize the rest. Oh, and Eunseok, Yang Jungwon, Minjunnie and some others” she went on, her drunken state making the explanation much longer than it should've been.
“No, no, no! Niki too! Y/n you need to come!” she exclaimed, eyes wide. She took your hand and pulled you with her.
You looked at Wonbin pleadingly, and with a small smile he trailed right behind the two of you. He always claimed to be ‘too old’ for those type of games, but always ended up staying till the end of any.
Park Wonbin was truly full of shit.
Your eyes met Niki’s as he sat in the circle, his back pressed against the couch. You looked at him, mouthing ‘what are you doing’ and he pointed to Oh Jia sitting across from him.
You knew she liked him, and it definitely didn't make you happy.
“I can see some couples here, yall into shit like this?” Jungwon asked, eyeing not only you and Niki, but Hana and Sungchan who seemed to have already made the news that went around school.
You chuckled quietly and shook your head “It’s nothing that serious, just a stupid game”
“It will be serious for you soon” Jia mumbled, her friend turning to her with a shit eating grin.
Oh if they only knew how absolutely out of it they looked. What the fuck were they even talking about anyway.
“I don’t think we should be playing this” you whispered to Niki, who previously patted down a seat for you next to himself.
“Look how many people are playing, doubt me or you will get chosen” he smiled, and you nodded.
Still, isn't the sole fact you are even agreeing to participate weird? Shouldn’t you be mingling in a closet somewhere deep inside the house? God what was he thinking. This was so unbelievable, and you weren't surprised that Wonbin had caught on.
“Me first!” Hana cheered excitedly, as Eunseok had finally brought a bottle to play with.
You looked over at Sungchan, who had a sad expression on his face. You could see his eyes praying on the bottle to land on him, his hands trembling with each spin. It was cute.
The Gods above must have heard his prayers, the bottle landing on him with no doubt.
He smiled and leaned into your bestfriend to plant a quick kiss on her lips. She pouted and grabbing his head, pushed for more. Maybe she was drunk, but you knew she’d remember this well. Although a witness, you’d hear about it for a long long time.
“I’m guessing you don’t want to spin, Sungchan?” Eunseok chuckled, and the boy holding onto Hana, shook his head no.
“Two players down so quickly” a boy with black hair, who you didn't recognize, commented.
While Jungwon went in to spin, your eyes caught Minjun’s. You couldn't read him, his expression stone cold. He was either mad at you or didn't care. That’s the thing, you didn't know.
“Stop looking at him” Niki whispered, cutting your moment with Minjun short.
“I think he’s mad at me” you said, and Niki furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
“Why?” he asked, eyeing Minjun down.
“He figured it out, you know, figured us out” you replied, putting emphasis on the word ‘us’ “I didn't admit, obviously, and that’s why I think he’s mad. He’s convinced I played him on purpose” you added, and Niki’s gaze softened.
“I’m sorry” he said quietly, his eyes falling onto his lap.
You looked at him confused, “What are you talking about?”
He finally looked over at you, his face displaying a half smile, that felt cold to you “I ruined your chances with Minjun. I guess I was only thinking about myself back then, so I’m saying sorry. I can talk to him when this is over” he answered, and you felt your heart break.
He didn't like Minjun, you knew it very well. Minjun knew it too. But somehow he felt bad for the both of you. If only he knew how much you didn't care about Kim Minjun at this moment. How much you actually cared about the boy next to you. Maybe if he knew he wouldn't feel so sorry, you thought.
“You don't have to be sorry, Niki. We both wanted this” you smiled, and squeezed his hand.
“I can tell Niki really wants to go now” Sunghoon exclaimed, and hurried Niki to spin the bottle.
The boy hesitated, looking over at you. You nodded for him to go ahead with a smile. God was this weird? You agreeing to your (fake) boyfriend playing fucking spin the bottle. Not only that , but playing with him. This was so stupid.
He took the small soju bottle, and spinned it lightly. He prayed it would fall on you.
Or one of his bros, no homo of course.
The music was blaring, and you hoped that bottle could feel your intense stare, successfully landing on you.
As much as luck was on Sungchan’s side today, he seemingly took all of it with him earlier. The bottle pointed straight at Oh Jia, the girl who was known for her little obsession with Niki.
She looked at you with a disgusting smile, and moved her body towards Niki. He looked at you, and you didn't even know what to say. You couldn't tell him no, he wasn't yours after all.
“Sorry, Y/n” she muttered, and you felt your blood boil at her annoying, high pitched voice.
She moved even closer, but her actions were stopped with Niki moving the bottle's nozzle to point at you.
He didn't even let you or Jia speak, eagerly going in to kiss your lips he missed so much. It hasn't even been 3 hours since you initiated the first one, but his lips starved for your touch. You could feel it. You could feel the desperation in his movements. The taste of his chapstick mixing in with the saliva, it was much more passionate than last time.
“Payback for last time” he mumbled, pulling away, his voice unsteady.
You looked at him dumbfounded. What the fuck did he just do? Was this another stunt to show off his cool, popular boy persona, cause it seemed just like that. But you couldn't blame him either, you started it.
No matter what, it felt good, and you wondered how to get yourself to stop.
“That’s cheating!” Jia’s friend exclaimed, crossing her arms.
“The bottle is clearly on her, I don't know what you're talking about” Wonbin defended, and you smiled at him.
Jia huffed, leaving the game along with her friend.
“We’ll leave too” you said, watching them go upstairs.
Jungwon sighed “I’m forced to kiss the boys now”
You looked around, not a single woman in the circle that was initially full.
You pulled Niki’s hand, taking him to an empty room. He felt confident at that moment, rehearsing his confession in his head. He was going to tell you. He was going to tell you, and it was going to be amazing. You’d listen to him in awe, and then agree to be his actual girlfriend.
“I have something to tell you” he said, as you closed the door behind yourself.
He sat down on the bed, and you stood in front of him “Me too”
“You go first” he smiled, and you looked out the window, the words lingering at the tip of your tongue.
You wanted to tell him how you actually felt. But you knew you couldn't. You were enemies, nothing more.
“We should end this,” you said after a moment of silence.
_____
Things had gone back to normal.
You didn’t expect much from Niki, guessing he’d either be overly nice to you, expressing his thankfulness for helping him get rid of annoying fangirls, or go back to being annoying himself.
But he was neither. He didn’t say anything. Just like he didn’t say anything that day, he had gone completely quiet ever since. Instead of teasing you, he ignored you.
He ate lunch with the football team, and it hurt you to see him laugh purely with them. It even seemed like he had gotten along with Minjun, which confused you even further. They hated each other, but now? It seemed like they were just laughing at your misery, getting high off of seeing you like this. Was this just a huge plan to get you looking like a complete loser?
Maybe he should’ve been sorry that day, not only did you lose Minjun, but everyone of your fanboys at this school. That sounded awful, but it was partially true.
You two had only revealed the 'breakup' to your closest friends, not exactly reaching any agreement regarding the rest of the students.
You could pretend to be mad at him in front of your friends, but it hurt you so much. It hurt to see him behave like this towards you, knowing you did nothing wrong. You two were never real, so why was he so different so suddenly. You just hoped that it was a performance for your friends to make it more believable, but as days went by, you started to doubt it.
“This is a sign that I shouldn’t regret not dating Hana,” Sunghoon chuckled, looking over at the table Niki was seemingly having more fun at. He never laughed like this with all of you.
Was it all for show?
“Fuck off” you mumbled, looking down at your lunch, which was vastly unappetising today.
“It’s not your fault, Y/n, don’t worry. For all I know, it was probably his fault anyways” Jake said, which made you suddenly look up from your food for the first time in a while.
“You defending me?” you chuckled, and he shrugged.
You looked over at Niki once again, attempting to catch him looking at you too.
But he can’t. He can’t bear to look at you. He can only think about the dark heat of that room, your words ringing in his ears. Resisting the searing force that wanted, more than anything, to try and tell you again.
“God, this is so annoying!” Hana exclaimed “Y/nnie didn’t do anything, and he’s acting like a pussy all of a sudden”
She pouted, a weird vibe circulating all of you today. It felt like you were mourning him in some way.
You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket, a text message from Minjun lighting up your homescreen. It was ironic, a picture of you and Niki on your lock screen, a message from Minjun decorating it.
Minjun: Can we talk?
You thought about replying, the scenarios of him playing a stupid prank on you along with Niki replaying in your mind. Nevertheless, you texted back a short confirmation, and locked your phone.
You could feel his eyes on you, as you set your phone down on the table.
…
“What did you want to talk about?” you asked, your voice unsure of the situation.
It felt familiar, meeting in the equipment room, but this time instead of Niki who had the prettiest face out there, it was Kim Minjun.
“I knew it was fake” he said, and you felt a heat rise to your cheeks.
You looked away from him, your eyes landing on the window. The sky was gray, the sun no longer shining in through it.
“I don’t want to talk about this again, Minjun,” you sighed, tired of the topic already. Especially tired of talking about it with him.
“No that’s not the point” he stopped you from leaving, you turned towards him once again.
“Then what is it Minjun? Did Niki tell you all about it? Did he tell you how stupid I was to fall for him, even though it was all fake? Did you get me to come here only so you could make fun of me for being so naive? Is that what it is?” you blurted out. You had suddenly lost control over your words, your response coming out much harsher than you intended.
“What are you talking about? Do you seriously think I’m plotting behind your back with Niki?” he asked hurriedly.
Now that he said it, out loud, it sounded so stupid. You knew Niki long enough to know he hates Minjun more than he has ever hated you, and would never ever make any deal with him.
“Maybe” you huffed, turning from him “I don’t know Minjun. Can you just say it already?”
He sat down on the chair in the far right corner, his hand signaling for you to come closer, patting down the chair next to him.
“I guess I did sort of figure it out, the fact that what you and Niki had was fake. But he told me about it himself recently. He also said you didn’t intend to hurt me, and that he forced you to do this whole fake dating thing” Minjun relayed the message, and you didn’t know Niki would remember your conversation during that stupid game.
Niki was evidently mad at you for ending things with him, but encouraging Minjun to try with you once again? That was what pissed you off the most, you couldn’t figure him out in any possible way. One day you can’t figure out the actual intention behind his words, exchanging sweet words and kisses, and the other, going back to complete strangers. Not even enemies, strangers.
“He really said that?” you asked, and Minjun nodded “I really didn’t want to hurt you Minjun. I’m sorry for leading you on, in some way. I should’ve never agreed to it in the first place” you add, avoiding eye contact with the boy.
You hear him chuckle, and with a furrow to your eyebrows you look up at him.
He smiles “It’s not your fault I already know that much. I shouldn’t have blown up on you before the match like that anyways. It truly is none of my business who you hang out with” he assured, and it made you feel a little better.
“I know, but I just hope you can still speak to me comfortably after this” you gave him a small smile, still unsure of your situation with him.
“I’m not going to try and get with you again though, don't worry” he said calmly, and although you knew it, it still felt weird to hear.
You chuckled “Not to sound selfish, but why? Am I not cute anymore?” you pouted sarcastically, and he laughed.
“I can see you like him, like a lot. I even felt stupid for saying those things to you, cause you made it so believable at the party. The way you look at him, the way you speak to him, that’s not fake. All of it is real, and I wouldn’t want to stand in the middle of that” he answered, and you felt your heart skip a beat.
And you thought you were good at hiding it.
“Niki doesn’t feel the same though” you gave him a sad smile, fiddling with the material of your sweater.
“You think so?” he asks, but it doesn't necessarily sound like a question.
You hum in agreement, and he chuckles lightly “The same goes for him. Trust me it’s real. I can see it, hear it and feel it. The way his voice was so sad yet hopeful when he spoke to me about you, I know he likes you. Niki is just really stubborn, and he’d rather live in misery and not tell anyone instead of just admitting his feelings to you, or honestly anyone else” he explains, and you feel your heart start to beat faster.
Was he right? Did Niki like you? Or did Minjun have a terrible judge of character and all this way a complete bullshit.
“What should I do then? Gosh this is so annoying” you sighed, combing your fingers through your hair.
“Tell him? What else is there to do? If I’m wrong, which I’m not” he smiled proudly “-and he doesn’t like you, I owe you big time” he offered.
“I don’t know if I should take that risk, though” you said, and he rolled his eyes playfully.
“Do you really want it to be like this for the rest of highschool? God, if he doesn’t like you, you’ll just find someone better”
Easier said than done.
But maybe he was right. At the end of the day you had nothing to lose, so why not just tell him?
“Fine” you grumble, and he laughs, taking your hand to pull you out of the room, before any teacher finds you.
_____
You had left a note in his locker the next day, too scared to face him yourself.
You waited, hiding your body behind the huge column, peeking to see if he had come to grab something from his locker already.
You felt like one of his fangirls. Giggling to yourself, as you awaited the arrival of your mighty savior, Nishimura Riki, hoping you are the one he picks. Hoping that he reads your note, and whispers an ‘I like you too’ rosy cheeked, hot breath and all.
How did you get like this? You curse yourself for letting something so seemingly small, so innocent, writhe under your skin and possess your mind.
You didn’t catch it, lost in your mind, envisioning the numerous scenarios that could occur after he receives your note.
He sighs with annoyance, a note filling his locker, it had been so long since he received one, it felt unfamiliar. Niki was frustrated, hoping that the notes weren’t making a sudden comeback.
He opens it, curious as to what it may be. He couldn’t help it, wanting to remind himself of the feeling reading confessions like this brought him. But what he didn’t expect was to see your name written on it.
He thought it may have been a prank, a stupid way to get you back together made up by your dear friends, but it wasn’t. This was your handwriting, the same one that wrote all his physics notes and study guides.
‘Niki, it’s Y/n. This is weird isn’t it? Like me writing notes to you. I hope you don’t see the pink envelope, and throw it out like you always do. But I’ll know if you do, anyways. Well first of all I wanted to apologize. I don’t even know what for, so this may be stupid, but I feel like I should. You looked so sad, and I know it’s because of me. So I’m sorry, Niki. If I did something wrong, something to hurt you, please tell me! Anyways, I wanted to tell you something. I like you Nishimura Riki. I’ve liked you for a long, long time now, but I myself didn’t know it just yet. But I’m saying it now, and I'm very much sure of it. I guess it took some stupid physics tutoring, geeky Wonbin and finally Minjun whom you hate so much for me to realize. God, maybe I shouldn’t talk about him in a note where I confess to you? Forget it. I didn’t kiss you that day to show off, I kissed you because I really freaking wanted to. And it felt so good when I did. So please don’t think I ended things with you that day because you kissed me, no, not at all. I guess I just couldn’t stand this relationship being fake, because to me, all the things I did were real. You don’t have to reciprocate, or even say anything, I just wanted you to know. And I would hope you feel the same, but it’s okay if you don’t’
His mouth runs dry.
It explodes in his chest all at once; how bad he wants to grab a fistfull of your blazer, stroke his fingers against your ivory jaw, and kiss you senseless. He would rub his thumb against your swollen lips, and tell you how much he likes you.
He looks around, spotting your shoe slightly peeking out from behind the column a little ahead of the lockers.
“Baek Y/n!” he shouts, and you're suddenly brought back to reality.
Your mind had been rushing for so long, you didn’t even notice Niki walking up to his locker, and managing to even read the whole note.
You slightly peek your head out, and catch his eyes already looking at you. He strides towards you quickly, and you can’t tell if he’s mad or happy. He holds the note in his hand tightly as he stands in front of you.
“What is this?” he smirks, and you still can’t tell if he’s about to make fun of you or return your feelings.
You shrug, looking away from him.
“It’s cute. You even put those stickers we bought at the stationery store on it” he points out, chuckling, and grabs your hand so you can face him again. “What do you think I’ll say now?” he tilts his head, and you find it incredibly attractive.
“I don’t know” you murmured, unsure of the situation you have gotten yourself into.
“Let’s see” he scans the note again “I think I like you too” he smiles, and you don’t know if he’s fucking with you or not.
“You think?” you ask, copying his action by tilting your head slightly.
He laughs “Are you really going to make me say it?”
You nod with a smile “Mmm”
“Yes Y/n, I like you. I don’t think I like you, I definitely like you. I’ve also liked you for a long time, but I didn’t want to admit it because I knew you probably didn’t. And that day, when you ended things, I wanted to tell you. But I’m glad you did it, even if I had to wait a little longer. That fake relationship was fucking with my head big time” he answers, and you feel stupid for not letting him speak first that day. You could’ve avoided this whole misunderstanding.
But things happen for a reason.
“Are you being for real?” you ask, and he chuckles.
He grabs your shoulders “Very real”
You pull him closer, tightly embracing his body. He smiles, the familiar scent hitting his nose. Niki’s cheeks are glowing red, and he can’t hide his toothy smile.
“So would you want to be my girlfriend, like my real girlfriend” he asks, his voice muffled by the material of your sweater.
You laugh lightly at his tone “I don’t know…. You tell me” you tease, and he pulls away to look at you with a small pout.
“Cmon, just tell me” he pleads.
“Yes Niki, I want to be your real girlfriend” you answer, emphasizing the word ‘real’.
Now you could finally enjoy him, and by the way your heart beat, this time you were certain it was real.
#enhypen imagines#enhypen#enhypen x reader#niki angst#nishimura niki#niki scenarios#niki fluff#niki x reader#niki imagines#enhypen niki#niki#riki x you#riki angst#riki imagines#riki scenarios#riki#riki fluff#nishimura riki#riki x reader#enhypen riki#enhypen angst#enhypen fluff#enhypen scenarios
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୨୧ KISS IT BETTER — n. riki
pairing. badboy!nishimura riki x f!reader w.c. 0.8k tw/cw. mentions of fighting, nicknames, kissing genre. highschool au, non idol au, fluff feedbacks and reblogs are always appreciated!
sru's note! niki my cutest boy >.<
m.list ⏐ requests are open! ⏐ navi
the youngster winces at the cool sensation of ice against the fresh bruise, blooming red and blue under his skin.
but what's hurting him even more than the burning bruise on his left cheek, are the eyes of the girl pressing an ice pack to it. your reddening hurt eyes, brimming with tears which are threatening to spill onto your flushed cheeks, a result of crying earlier.
but the reason? nishimura riki, your boyfriend, showing up with bruises and cuts all over for the third time this week at your favourite rendezvous point— behind the small cozy bungalow of the old 'cat lady' in town, who almost never came out.
"you promised riki", your voice shakes, the delicate heart of yours no longer being able to withstand the sight of your lover's wounds and gloomy expression, "then why?"
"ya won't get it princess", riki breathes out the nickname for you so smoothly, utterly believing at the complete vanishing of your subdued anger.
but instead a gasp leaves riki's mouth at the sudden absence of the cool, relaxing and alleviating sensation from the sore bruise. riki's frown deepens and a cute pout forms on his tough face when he lifts his head to look at you.
"i won't get it? i won't get it?!", you scoff at his words and abruptly remove the ice pack from his bruise, "how do you expect me to not get it when the bruises are basically 'cause of me!"
"don't you blame yourself now!", riki's fast to get protective, even if it means to protect you from yourself.
however, you weren't entirely wrong, as everyone who mocked or insulted you for any reason was forced to smile and greet you after riki entered your life-frame. their change, while good, was involuntary on their part. nishimura riki was the main change brought in.
he'd often get his knuckles bruised and crimson, not hesitating to land punches on faces you didn't like. riki was known around the school campus for being reckless as heck, he knew it too, so doubtlessly he didn't mind adding the point, "protecting my girlfriend", to his list of becoming even more reckless.
but he forgets that he's getting punched back, getting wounded up too just to make his girl sweat.
"riki", the way his name slips out of your kissable lips and the way it sounds so dulcet, but it repels your glossy eyes and a frown full of worry.
and riki's heart aches again.
"y'know i hate seeing you like this! y'know i don't like you getting hurt," the ice pack falls on your lap with a sigh leaving your mouth.
"it's only for your good, love. don't like those people near you—"
"they've stopped hurting me riki!", you sigh again, placing your hand ever so softly on his cheek, "you've done enough for me."
"hmmm", riki hums in relaxation and melts into your touch, tilting his head onto your hands, secretly wishing your touch would linger around forever.
"it still kinda burns", riki pouts, pointing towards his bruise on his cheek still crimson and puffy, "kiss it better?"
despite of dating the boy for nearly a year now, he's always catching you off guard, even with his immense love for you. like right now, when he decides to sacrifice his already worn out school trousers to the dusty earth covered by dry birches leaves, without hesitation. riki makes you sit above it though, upon a makeshift chair out of an unfinished wooden rack in the backyard.
it was moments like this when a genuine smile played on your lips, and you know riki's the one.
with a shy smile and coloured cheeks, you lean down to your boyfriend sitting on the ground, to press a feathery kiss to his bruise and heal in some magical way for him.
you pull away quickly worried that if you press your lips any harder, it may hurt him.
"now this one?", riki smirks, pointing to another bruise painting his skin purple. this one dangerously close to his lips, lying on the corners.
"you cheeky!", it's refreshing for riki to see you giggle again, the dry tear-stricken cheeks of yours elevating to laugh.
you lean down, this time cupping his soft face and bringing it closer to you. and just when your plump lips brush against the corner of his, riki moves his face in a way that his lips meet yours. into a sudden, yet endearing kiss.
your eyes widen after the kiss, shocked eyes meeting riki's proud and smug ones.
"promise me", you whisper as your eyes travel around the recent and previous marks and cuts on rikis face, "you'll never fight again."
"can't promise something like that angel," riki scoffs, taking your hands in his, and softly pressing his lips against your knuckles.
"hey riki—!"
"but that's alright, you'll kiss it better every time, yeah?"
© bywons, 2024. do not copy, translate or upload any of my works without my permission.
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#enhypen x reader#enhypen soft hours#enha fluff#enhypen imagines#enhypen soft thoughts#enhypen scenarios#enhypen#enhypen smau#niki angst#enhypen niki#niki x reader#niki#niki fluff#niki smau#enha imagines#enha x reader#enha sunoo#heeseung enhypen#heeseung x reader#enha scenarios#enhypen headcanons#jungwon x reader#jay x reader#sunghoon x reader#sunghoon#sunghoon fluff#sunghoon smau#enha smau#enha soft hours
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OK HEAR ME OUT!! RIKI X READER WITH THIS PROMPT: "I know it was a dream, but I felt you here."
A/N: AAA THANK U FOR THE REQUEST SORRY FOR THE WAIT HERE IT IS!! (i made this before the fate tour ended so just imagine 😁)
synopsis warnings: niki is exhausted and misses you, crying, sobbing, sad, comfort, fluff
word count: 708
niki slowly awoke to see you only inches away from his face with a faint smile as you admired him, “good morning” you said as you kissed him on his forehead. he backed away quickly, his widened eyes in shock, “w-what are you doing here y/n?” you laugh at his question like it was a silly thing to ask. “niki what are you talking about?” his eyebrows tightened, “but y-you’re at home? you’re not here with me...” his eyes became watery as his confusion shifted into sadness. he was aware you weren’t actually with him. “i- i miss you so much y/n” he said as he pulled you into a hug, tightly wrapping his arms around you as he began to sob. “i want to go home but i cant. you’re home”
niki awoke in his hotel bed with dried tears in his eyes. that dream was too real, too cruel.
-
niki’s day went on and finally ended after another draining concert. exhausted, he sat on the hotel bed resting his head against the headboard, he sighs deeply as he restrained himself from crying. it was all crashing down, all the feelings he pushed aside towards the dream he had this morning all coming back to him.
unwillingly tears trickled down his face, he couldn’t handle it anymore. his heart ached, he was so physically and mentally exhausted and you. you weren’t here to make it better. he missed your touch, your kisses and cuddles.
he thinks that ultimately it could be worse. you do call and text after every concert but— its not the same.
shit. you always call after a concert.
his phone next to him lit up as the words on the screen illuminated “incoming facetime from y/n <3”
he quickly wiped his tears before answering and made sure his face wasn’t showing on screen to prevent you from seeing his puffy eyes.
he only showed the ceiling of the room as he picked up. “h-hey y/n.” he stuttered and his voice came out shaky. you look at your screen took aback, it was obvious something was wrong. you softly asked, “niki, is something wrong?” you could hear faint sniffing coming through your end of the phone as he responded, “no nothing.. i just— really miss you y/n” his voice sounded dejected, it broke your heart to hear. “me too.. i miss you too niki” he slowly showed his face to the camera, the room was darkly lit with only the lamp on, his cheeks a pink hue and had tears streaming down his face. “but- it’s different, i- i cant do this without you.”
you sighed as you quickly adapted to the situation you have to be strong for him and for you, but being honest seeing your boyfriend in this state made you want to cry as well. be strong. you have to find out what happened for his emotions change so significantly in only a days time. “‘ki- what caused this, i swear you you fine yesterday? did something bad happen?” he shook his head, “no, nothing bad happened..” “is that really true niki.” his lips turned into a slight pout, “its just i ..i had a dream last night that you were here. it felt so real and i knew it was fake. i knew it was a dream but i felt you here. it was such a cruel dream.”
trying your best to shift his mood you put on a smile, “i know its been hard for us but we can push though it, we have before yeah?” he nods his head to that, “yeah we did.” you giggle, “and we will again.” he wipes his tears, sighing dramatically as he rolls his eyes, “i do miss your kisses though” you laugh, “ill make sure to give you tons of kisses when you get home” he moves the phone extremely close to his face, “you better, i’ve been deprived enough” you suddenly come up with an idea, “niki get closer to the camera” he lowly chuckles, “uhh okay” as he approaches to get closer you rush to quickly kiss the camera “there a kiss” he lets out a surprised laugh before saying, “wait i didn’t get to kiss you back”
#enhypen niki#niki fluff#nishimura niki#nishimura riki#niki x reader#niki imagines#niki nishimura#riki nishimura x reader#ni ki enhypen#niki x oc#niki x you#niki x y/n#enhypen nishimura riki#enha niki#niki angst#niki au#enha riki#riki enhypen#riki x y/n#riki x you#riki x reader#gender neutral reader#niki x gn reader
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𝔹𝕠𝕪𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕?
✧warnings: fluff, slut shaming, kissing
♡synopsis: The bad boy Riki, has fallen for a rather girly girl, the kind of girl that many girls wouldn't expect guys to fall for. Y/n in her stylish outfits which were always admired by all, had the attention of Riki, and that seemed tick certain girls off.
✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧
Riki groaned as he saw you walk down the hallway. One would assume it's because of how much you dress up just to go to school, or the supermarket. That's not the reason. Fuck he loves it, your style, your creative, the fact that half your accessories, or very pretty clothes were made by you. He loves that you're like a fresh wave of energy that suddenly brings a dry, dead, withering flowers, to life again. Sometimes, though, the boys love your outfits, for all the wrong reasons.
"Y/n for fucksake pull your skirt down!" Riki said, audible enough for just you to hear, he pulled you to himself. His eyes scanning the pink, delicate shimmer on your eyelids, Pretty, spikey eyelashes that were perfectly stuck on, Oh and how could he forget those glossy, kissable lips? a few, tiny iridescent hearts evident. Pink bows decorating your braided hair. "but why? it looks cute when it's short" she said, it's not like she was ever going to need to bend, she can't anyway, not with the 5 inch heels her feet carry around all day.
"You want to know what your outfit is missing? a nice leather jacket. Here have mine." He said, as he dressed you in his large leather jacket, ignoring your protests. You looked adorable in such a big jacket. You had no problem with leather jackets either, but this one specific Riki jacket made you look ridiculous. But there were people who had a bigger problem with it. Hwang Mihi.
Hwang Mihi would be described as a conventionally attractive, powder faced bitch. From her ridiculously rolled up short skirt, cakey makeup, and extremely bitchy personality. The girl had a problem with everyone and everything, specifically you. She's heard more people praise you than they praise her, you have more followers than her, and overall, you have the man she wants. Nishimura Riki.
"Rikiiii please~ it'll look good on you I swear!" you whined as Riki frowned. "I'm not wearing lipstick!" the man whined as you whined again "It's not a lipstick! it's a lip gloss stick it's not like you'll turn in to barbie with one swipe, idols wear this you know?" you reasoned as he sighed, leaning into you face. With a smile, you carefully applied the creamy, lip gloss stick, his eyes locked on your focused face, the close proximity making his heart beat faster than Usain Bolt ever ran. It fucking pissed Mihi off.
"How the fuck does a pink barbie carbon copy like you have MY man?!" She yelled, yanking at your braided hair, her tug so tight you had to bite her wrist to get out of her hold. "UGH U PASTE FACED FUCKER- U RUINED MY BRAID!" you yelled as suddenly a different person slapped the shit out of you. You could've sworn your brain left your body then entered it again. your head hit the wall behind you painfully hard, but as you pulled away to even process the first slap, you were painfully pushed up against the wall, and there before you was a much bigger male.
"You're such a pussy! you can't fight me yourself so you're using some guy who's dick you sucked?!!!" she asked, clearly knowing the man was one of the seniors that she used to be fwb with. Just for that, the male slapped her again, chocking her. "It's that fucking tongue isn't it?! If I rip it out you'll stop talking right?" Mihi asked as you frowned. "I have another way to silence her..." the male said with a smirk, his grip on your throat tightening as he tried to place his lips on hers.
Before his lips could even reach her lips, The male fell back, some of his teeth knocked out, his mouth bloody. "The fuck are you doing to my girlfriend?!!!" Riki asked as y/n stared at him in shock, heck even the girls were shook, they were fucking scared, never has Mihi ever seen her crush so pissed off, it was fucking scary. "J-just uh..." "Just what?! beating my future wife?! do u want to be scalped and dipped into lemon juice?!!!" He asked cracking his knuckles as the girl stuttered and ran off with her minions.
Riki didn't even get the chance to check on you, as your horrified scream filled the hallways. "Fuck y/n how bad did he hurt you?" he asked, kneeling down before you as you stared at your forehand in horror "MY NAIL SNAPPED! SO LONG OF HARD WORK BROKE JUST LIKE THAT." she exclaimed as Riki stood up, sighing. "I'll take that as a yes" he mumbled.
"Girlfriend? Future wife? what was that about?" you asked staring up at him as he smiled "I guess you called call it my confession..." he said as you frowned "Try again" you said as Riki snickerred "Y/n... I love you, and I want to fucking show you that everyday, so give me a chance baby" he said as you blinked. She felt her own blush, he's perfect, everything she needed, but never did she think your dream man would love you.
"Hmm but what if I don't want to?" you teased. as Riki helped you up "My sister knows a great nail tech, she's expensive but worth the price, how bout you treat your pretty hands for some prettier nails, and I'll pay all the expenses?" he asked as the girl pouted. "You don't need to bribe me like that... let me do it instead." You said, then kissed his lips, his eyes widening in shock as you smiled. "Lets skip school im gonna treat you to the best shopping spree you'd ever experience." He said as his arm snaked around your waist.
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#enhypen x reader#enhypen soft hours#enha fluff#enhypen imagines#enhypen soft thoughts#enhypen scenarios#enhypen#enhypen smau#niki angst#enhypen niki#niki x reader#niki#niki fluff#niki smau#enha imagines#enha x reader#enha sunoo#heeseung enhypen#heeseung x reader#enha scenarios#enhypen headcanons#jungwon x reader#jay x reader#sunghoon x reader#sunghoon#sunghoon fluff#sunghoon smau#enha smau#enha soft hours#nishimura riki
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you got me looking for attention
PAIRING riki x reader GENRE highschool AU, best friends to lovers, she fell first but he fell harder type of dynamic, fluff WARNINGS none i think? not my best work LOLLL not proofread WC 0.6k ANNOUNCEMENT the nwjns series will be updated daily since i literally have nothing to do durinf summer break
❕series masterlist
September 30, 1998
"i like you, riki"
your head was rested against his forearm, with the voice of your homeroom teacher muffled in the background. there they go again niki chuckled to himself, finding your words strangely amusing
in a seemingly endless loop, you poured out your heart, to niki time and time again. at his house, on your (platonic!) walks at night and now in class. each time, he responded with a laugh, a sparkle in his eyes, and a lighthearted remark that danced in the air. with each passing moment spent together, your infatuation for him grew, intensifying the butterflies that fluttered wildly in your stomach.
at first, you found comfort in his laughter, feeling proud of yourself for being the reason of his momentary happiness.
but as the confessions persisted, doubts began to sneak in. "am I bothering him?" you wondered , guilt and doubt creeping into you.
days turned into weeks, and you found yourself growing even more weary of pouring your heart out to someone who seemed uninterested. with a heavy heart, you resolved to stop with the confessions, fearing you were only annoying niki, a playful game that he enjoyed. you longed for a connection that went beyond friendship, but jeopardizing what you both had right now is far from what you wanted
eyes wide you picked up what the hell does he want at 2 am? not that youre complaining of course, you would sacrifice your favorite snacks just to hear his voice.
"hello?"
"ah, yn" you heard him whisper from the other side, his voice deep and raspy "i didnt think you'd pick up"
"whats so important that you have to call me so late at night, mr ' i-am-an athlete-and-need-my-beauty-sleep' ?" you joked, knowing that the boy will scold you for keeping him up so late later at school
"shut up" a smiled etched on your face and light laughter tickled your ear "i know its not the best thing to do over call but its about your confessions" your heart raced. is this it? is he going to reject you like you've always dreaded?
"You know... all those times you confessed, I laughed it off not because I wasn't interested," he confessed, his voice laced with a mix of nervousness and sincerity "but because I couldn't believe someone like you could ever like me. i mean, you are you and i am me"
silence filled the air
"ah.... im sorry for calling, but i've been tossing and turning thinking about.. you. youre a real headache y'know"
your eyes widened, unable to process what niki said. your heart leaped with a mix of surprise, relief, and a newfound hope. this is it. this is it.
"youre such a jerk" you laugh playfully, the past doubt and insecurities washing away at his words "you got me looking for attention while leaving me question everything"
in that moment, nikis laughter transformed into something deeper, his confession reaching across the wall that had kept them apart.
and with a smile illuminating both of your faces, you bid your goodbyes, promising that you will talk at school the following morning and knowing that from that day forward, your laughter would ring with a newfound meaning.
two souls, once blind and in denial to each other's affections, now found comfort in the affection they shared.
#3/7 of enhypen as newjeans songs!#k labels#kflixnet#hyfenet#enhypen headcanons#enhypen fluff#enhypen imagines#enhypen scenarios#enhypen x reader#niki x reader#niki fluff#niki enha#niki imagines#enhypen niki#niki angst#nishimura niki#enhypen
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𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 (𝐘𝐄𝐓) 𝐈𝐈𝐈
PAIRING ▸ nishimura riki x female feader
WORD COUNT ▸ 4.4k
GENRE ▸ high school au, brother’s best friend au, fluff, angst
SYNOPSIS ▸ After spending the better part of your adolescent life crushing on your brother’s best friend, you finally decide to call it quits on your unrequited feelings when you come to the conclusion that’s all they will ever be—unrequited. The only problem is that getting rid of these feelings that have been lurking in your heart is much more difficult than you anticipated. Especially because the object of your affections keeps making it hard for you to move on.
Or the one where everyone ends up with emotional turmoil.
WARNINGS ▸ reader as sunoo’s twin sister, riki as sunoo’s bestie, feat. some of the newjeans members, misunderstandings, pining, slow burn, hurt feelings, mentions of claustrophobia, reader has a panic attack, hoonie is kind of mean in this one (sorry lol)
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Nishimura Riki was many things, but an unhelpful jerk was not one of them. Those close to him knew that he could never ignore a person in need. Every time he was asked for help, he would do just about anything in his power to do just that. It was near impossible for him to say no, and the situation he suddenly found himself in was no exception.
“Please?”
Song Yura’s clasped hands were resting under her chin prettily, her pleading eyes shining brilliantly like she was holding back tears. Riki’s expression softened because like most guys in his school, he couldn’t bear to say no to one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. And while he didn’t immediately agree to her request, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t being swayed.
Okay, so the favor she needed was borderline unreasonable and downright toxic, but a large part of Riki didn’t care because it directly involved messing with Lee Heeseung.
“Can’t you just tell that idiot how you feel?” Riki’s tone was slightly rough. “Using me to make him jealous isn’t going to make him want you.”
Yura scowled at him. “How do you know? Jealousy is a powerful emotion.”
Riki’s jaw ticked. He knew that her stupid plan had a 95% chance of failing because anyone with eyes could tell that Heeseung was down bad for you. And as much as it killed him to witness it, he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.
“Whatever you say.” Riki scoffed. “I still think this is a terrible idea.”
His friend only blinked at him before a victorious smirk slowly spread on her lips. She didn’t hear a no. “But you’ll help me, right?”
Riki’s tongue poked the corner of his lips, narrowed eyes glaring at the shorter girl with resignation. Maybe he would come to regret his decision, but if he could help his friend while getting that jerk away from you, then so be it.
“Yeah. I will.”
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Sunghoon was usually not one to pay attention to rumors, but even he couldn’t avoid hearing that Nishimura Riki and Song Yura were talking. It’s not a rumor that particularly interested him since he didn’t really care about his cousin’s love life. However, it did break his heart for you. In spite of what you wanted him to believe, he knew you never really got over your crush on Riki.
That’s why he disregards reason and goes out to look for you when he heard some of his classmates talking about the new hot couple of the school. Maybe it was foolish of him to do so because he was the one to walk away from you in the first place, yet he couldn’t care about any of that. He just needed to be there should you be in need of comfort.
Except when he made it outside and saw you just a few feet away from the school’s entrance, he belatedly realized that you had already found a source of comfort in the form of Lee Heeseung.
The sight made Sunghoon feel sick. You seemed oblivious to the way the taller boy was staring at you with a stupid look on his face. It made his stomach turn with bitter jealousy. From the looks of it, he could tell that your involvement with Heeseung went beyond a simple friendship. It killed him to see just how brightly you smiled at Lee Heeseung. You claimed to not have any feelings for him, but maybe you were just in denial.
And now, Sunghoon could only watch with a crestfallen face as Heeseung handed you a cute little box. Your eyes lit up brightly to the point that it looked like they were nearly sparkling. It killed him to see how prettily you smiled when you opened the box and pulled out a star necklace.
Heeseung smiled softly. “Do you like it?”
“It’s so pretty.” You couldn’t keep the excitement out of your voice.
You gently place the necklace back in its box before throwing your arms around your friend. When he said he’d get you a prize for finally beating him in a match, you thought he was just going to treat you to a meal or something. “Thanks, Hee.”
Sunghoon refused to watch any further, turning on his heel and walking away from the sight that made him feel like someone punched him in the gut. Right then he decided that he was going to get to the bottom of your relationship with Lee Heeseung even if it was the last thing he did.
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You were going to kill Minji.
When you told her she could invite people to join you for karaoke, you didn’t think she would be stupid enough to invite Jungwon. It’s not like you had anything against him, but anywhere he went, your brother and Riki followed. This wouldn’t have been such a big problem had you not been avoiding Riki and if you hadn’t invited Heeseung to come along with you.
And to make matters worse, Heeseung brought along his friends which included resident puppy boy, Jake Sim. Much like Jungwon, you had nothing against Jake, but he happened to bring along your insufferable ex and his lovely cousin who he was apparently very close to.
“Should we get something to eat first?” Danielle wondered, trying to ease the obvious tension and discomfort that surrounded the group.
“There’s a chicken restaurant by the karaoke place.” Sunoo said cheerfully. “Let’s go there.”
A chorus of agreements paired with Jay and Jake’s enthusiastic cheers broke some of the lingering animosity, but not completely. As everyone walked in the direction of the restaurant, you quickly pulled Heeseung aside. Your eyes were wide with anger, and it wasn’t just because of the fact that Sunghoon kept staring at you.
“What the fuck, Heeseung?” You hissed, slapping your friend’s arm. “Why would you let Jake bring him?”
“Why did you let Minji bring Nishimura?” Heeseung countered, feeling like he was about to pop a vein.
“I didn’t know she invited them! I don’t want to see him with Yura any more than you do.”
It wasn’t like they were making out in front of you or anything, but they were giggling and whispering to each other like they were in their own little world. Also, Riki had casually slung one of his long arms across Yura’s shoulders, keeping her close to him as they walked. Just seeing them all hugged up was enough for you to consider ending your night early.
“I’m sorry.” Heeseung sighed, knowing that now you were not only forced to see your crush with someone else, but also forced to tolerate your idiot of an ex. “You think they’ll notice if we leave?”
Hearing you laugh was a relief. Maybe the night could be salvaged after all.
“I told you your plan wouldn’t work.” Riki whispered through gritted teeth. “Your little boyfriend could care less that you’re here.”
Yura pouted, chancing a glance back to where she could hear the sound of a cute laugh. It was true. Heeseung was so engrossed with watching you giggle that he didn’t seem to notice how close her and Riki had gotten. Not that she could blame him. You were especially pretty when you laughed.
With a huff, Yura looked straight ahead. “Whatever. The night isn’t over yet.”
Riki looked back. His eyes landed on a sullen Sunghoon who hadn’t taken his eyes off of you since he and Yura arrived. It’s not like Riki felt bad for him or anything. He saw firsthand how devastating your breakup with him had been. However, in that moment Riki almost felt like he understood exactly how Sunghoon was feeling.
Seeing you laugh happily with Lee Heeseung made Riki physically sick. Especially after you sent him a text asking him to just let it go this once since you technically couldn’t avoid Heeseung at this point. It made him more upset than he thought was possible.
Dinner went by in a forgettable blur which you were grateful for. So far, you and Heeseung had done a decent job at hiding how devastating it was to see Yura and Riki together. It wasn’t until the group was going into the karaoke place that your night started to sour.
“Y/N.” Sunghoon’s voice was soft as he gently pulled on the sleeve of your jacket. “Can we talk?”
Unfortunately, Heeseung was the first one inside since he was eager to out-sing everyone which meant you would have to deal with Sunghoon alone. You let the group go ahead, giving Danielle and Minji a small nod so they wouldn’t feel bad about leaving you alone.
A frown lined your lips as you faced Sunghoon. “What do you want?”
Your voice was cold and distant, and Sunghoon felt himself deflate. “I want us to go back to the way we used to be. Before… everything, we used to be friends. Now, you can barely even look at me, and I hate it.”
His unreasonable request made you scoff. You’re not sure why he thought you two could ever be friends or anything close to that again. There was a building tightness in your throat as you tried not to unleash all of your stifled emotions.
“That’s not going to happen. I got over what happened between us, but that doesn’t mean I want you around.”
“Why?” Sunghoon demanded. “Because of Heeseung?”
He was overstepping, but you somehow managed to keep your emotions in check long enough to answer him. “So what if it is?”
“Does he know how you feel about Riki?” It was a low blow, but Sunghoon was too upset to take his words back.
Your icy gaze got colder, and it was taking everything in you not to hit Sunghoon like you wanted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Now it was Sunghoon who scoffed. “Yeah, right. You’ve always liked him. Even when we were together, you had feelings for him. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
You swallowed thickly. While his words were not untrue, Sunghoon didn’t realize he was the only guy who had ever moved your heart to the point where you started to forget about Riki. Not that it mattered anymore.
“What do you care who I do or don’t like? Just mind your own business.”
“I may not be friends with Heeseung anymore, but he doesn’t deserve only half of your heart.” Sunghoon’s voice trembled, and he knew that once everything was said and done he was going to regret his harsh words. But right now he could only vent his sadness and anger on you even though you didn’t deserve it. “It’s not right for you to make him your back burner just because Riki doesn’t like you.”
The second he spoke those harsh words, he regretted it. Your face crumbled, steely gaze twisting into one of hurt and shock. The sight alone made Sunghoon feel like someone struck him in the chest. “Y/N, I—”
“You don’t know anything.” You told him through gritted teeth, barely holding back angry tears. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Heeseung and I aren’t like that.”
Sunghoon grew indignant again. “Oh yeah? Then why did he give you that necklace you’re wearing?”
You were at a breaking point, but you weren’t willing to let him of all people see you at your worst. So you didn’t answer, but your silence didn’t deter him.
“That’s what I thought.” Sunghoon frowned, not liking the turn the conversation took. “You have to be honest with him so he doesn’t get hurt—”
“Why do you care so much about us, anyway?” You snapped, sick of him acting like he knew what was going on. “Stop acting like you’re doing this because of Heeseung when all you care about is hurting me.”
Us? The word had Sunghoon clenching his jaw. Had he been right all along? Did you and Heeseung have something more than just a simple friendship? “I don’t want to hurt you. Believe it or not, that’s something I never wanted to do.”
You let out a breath that sounded like a mixture of a scoff and a laugh, knowing you had to get ahold of yourself before going inside. But the hurtful emotions wouldn’t stop growing. They only got worse with each passing moment. “That’s funny because that’s all you do, Sunghoon.”
“Y/N.”
You looked back to see Riki glaring at Sunghoon. At that moment you felt your heart drop into your stomach. How long had he been listening? Riki’s angry stare didn’t falter even as he walked over to where you were. He grabbed your wrist and pulled you away from your ex.
“Come on.” Riki finally took his glaring eyes off of Sunghoon, only to look at you softly. “The others are waiting.”
Normally, you would avoid being dragged anywhere by your crush, but Riki’s appearance came like a blessing to you. The last thing you wanted was to spend another minute with the boy who only insisted on adding to your misery. So you followed him, hoping with all your might that he didn’t know about your feelings for him.
Sunghoon watched with a raised eyebrow as Riki guided you away from him. Interesting. He had doubted that the thing with his cousin and Riki was real, and by the looks of it, he was right. The gag of it all was that your little unrequited crush didn’t seem to be so unrequited after all.
“Did you hear everything?” You wondered quietly as Riki guided you to the room everyone was in.
He looked over at you, frowning when he saw how embarrassed you looked. In all honesty, he’d only heard the last part where you said all Sunghoon did was hurt you. But since it seemed like you were completely mortified, he decided to lie a little. “No. I just know you didn’t want to be out there with him so I came and got you.”
You visibly relaxed. “Thanks, Riki.”
It was easier than expected to pretend like you hadn’t just been through the emotional ringer. The rest of the night proceeded without any further incident, and you thought it would end smoothly with you putting it behind you. As always, you weren’t so fortunate.
You went outside to see Heeseung staring at the street, or rather, the two people by it. Riki and Yura were standing closely, talking and laughing like they had been doing all night. His gaze became colder the longer he looked at them. If jealousy could be personified, you imagined that it would look something like Heeseung did at the moment.
“Don’t be a masochist.” You tried to keep your tone light, but it sounded resigned and miserable. “Giving them the evil eye won’t change anything.”
Heeseung let out a sigh as he followed you into the street, doing his best to keep his eyes off of his crush and the guy he hated more than anyone.
“Are you guys leaving?”
Yura’s friendly question was tempting to ignore, but you couldn’t. After all, she couldn’t be blamed for Riki’s lack of attraction toward you.
“Yeah.” You gave her what you hoped looked like a genuine smile. “See you guys later.”
With that, you and Heeseung left the pair behind, not realizing that you dropped the necklace your friend had given you.
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Just because you were avoiding Riki, it didn’t mean you were extending that same treatment to his family. Over the years, you had grown close to his little sister. You were really fond of her, and since her birthday was coming up, you decided to go to the mall to pick out her present. It was supposed to be a quick thing, but that all changed when you ran into Heeseung.
The unexpected run in wasn’t unpleasant since he was your friend after all, but there was something off about his demeanor. His expression wasn’t as cheerful, and you could see that there was this muted anger in his expression that wouldn’t go away. You decided not to comment on it since he clearly didn’t want to walk about what was bothering him.
Everything took a turn for the worse when Heeseung asked you to follow him. There was a moment where you thought following your perturbed friend would only lead to trouble, but it was fleeting. He was probably ready to leave and so were you since she hadn’t found the shoes Riki’s sister mentioned that she wanted. Even as you two ended up where the elevators were, you didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary.
Until he guided you toward the shutting elevator, that is.
Heeseung surprised you by sticking his hand out to prevent it from closing. You could only stare with wide eyes, unable to understand why he felt the need to act so irrationally when there were plenty of other elevators you could take. Your shocked confusion didn’t last long. The doors opened fully to reveal none other than Riki and Song Yura.
They seemed as surprised as you felt.
The entire situation would’ve been comedic had it not been for the animosity that was quickly closing in. You spent half a second contemplating on running in the opposite direction until something caught your attention. Your gaze settled on the cute little shopping bag in Riki’s grasp. It was a bag from his sister’s favorite clothing store. Your heart jerked painfully when you realized what was going on.
Ever since you got close to Riki, he had enlisted your help to buy his sisters (his younger one in particular) the perfect gifts. It was practically a tradition at this point. Seeing that he had asked for Yura’s help instead of yours felt like the equivalent of someone punching you in the chest.
You didn’t get any time to focus on your hurt feelings because from the looks that were exchanged between the two boys, you knew that you had just been dropped in the middle of a crossfire.
Heeseung grabbed you and pulled you inside the elevator without any hesitation. You gave him an incredulous glare. It was obvious that he had some poorly-crafted plan to wedge himself between Riki and Yura, but you didn’t understand why he felt the need to involve you. At this point, all you wanted to do was run back home and have a good cry.
“Hey!” Riki’s death stare was piercing he looked at Heeseung. “What the hell do you think you're doing?”
“What about you?” Heeseung countered. “What are you doing?”
During this brief exchange, you made eye contact with Yura. Her eyes drifted down to where Heeseung was still holding onto your wrist. The disillusion on her face probably resembled the look on your own face. Although, you were too busy trying to process the crazy turn of events to make sense of Yura’s disappointed expression.
“Hee.” You whispered the plea while attempting to free yourself from his hold. “Let’s get off.”
Using all your strength, you managed to get to the edge of the elevator (right between the doors), but Heeseung’s iron-like grip prevented you from leaving. Riki pressed one of the buttons to keep the door from closing without taking his glaring eyes off of Heeseung. By now, your heartbeat seemed to be ringing in your ears as the two boys kept exchanging words you couldn’t make out. You were vaguely aware that they kept pushing the buttons sporadically, but only came back to reality when the door jammed and nearly crushed you.
With a startled yelp, you were pulled back into the elevator by Heeseung—who was now questioning Yura on what she was doing shopping with Riki. The words spoken still sounded muffled and indistinguishable.
You could feel your heartbeat skip a beat when the elevator came to a sluggish stop. Immediately, you became aware of the fact that you were now trapped. No. No no no no no, no. Not here. Not now. Trying to stop yourself from panicking was futile. Your hands began to clam up and you could feel your chest tighten with anxiety. The tremors always started out faint, but it never took long for them to worsen. The shortness of breath always followed, and you only hoped the others wouldn’t notice.
Shutting your eyes never helped, but you did it every time. The back of your eyelids were painted with horrible thoughts of being trapped in a confined space. You had been working through your phobia slowly, and you naively thought that you had finally made some real progress. None of that seemed to be true now that you could feel yourself trembling like a leaf.
“Y/N! Kim Y/N!”
Your eyes flew open. At some point, you had lost the feeling in your legs and fallen to the floor. Riki was crouched down in front of you, eyes full of panic and worry. His hands gently cradled your face as he delicately wiped the tears you didn’t realize were falling from your eyes. “Y/N, look at me. It’s okay. Breathe. Just breathe.”
Sunoo had told Riki all about his twin’s claustrophobia. He was vague when he said it was because of something traumatic that had happened to you as a child, but he mentioned that you would get horrible panic attacks because of it. That’s why you didn’t like taking taxis or even buses. Riki couldn’t stand seeing the horrified look on your face. The sheer terror in your eyes killed him.
“Wh-What’s wrong with her?” Yura asked, feeling her own heart start to race.
“She’s having a panic attack.” Heeseung said, the raw emotion in his voice peeking through. He didn’t try to hide the horror on his face. This was all his fault.
“R-Riki.” You wheezed out. “I-I can’t– I can’t bre—”
You couldn’t even finish your sentence, the tightness in your chest hindering you from going on. Everything seemed to be closing in, and you didn’t know what to do. All you wanted was your brother.
“You can do it.” Riki reassured you. “It’s going to be okay. Count with me.”
And you did. Slowly and feebly, but you did it. Your breathing was nearly back to normal when the doors of the elevator were pulled open. The four of you looked up at the point of escape, wanting nothing more than to get out. With all your rational thoughts pushed to the side, you recoiled from Riki’s touch.
“Y/N—!”
You ignored Riki’s heartbroken voice and quickly scrambled out of the elevator, feeling more mortified than ever.
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Riki stood outside of your house, awkwardly shifting on his feet. In all the years he had been friends with you and Sunoo, he never hesitated to knock on your door (even when he came by unannounced). But this was time different. After the way you ran off at the mall, he wasn’t so sure that you wanted to see him.
Even so, he needed to know that you were okay.
Just as he walked up your driveway, the front door opened. Riki’s eyes narrowed instinctively when he saw a familiar face come through the door. “What are you doing here?”
Heeseung blinked once, clearly irritated. “I came to make sure Y/N is okay.”
Riki clenched his jaw. He had no right to be as angry as he was since seeing the boy you liked would no doubt make you feel better, but he couldn’t stand Lee Heeseung assuming a role that wasn’t meant for him.
“That’s funny considering you’re the reason she wasn’t fine.” Riki spat, not caring that he sounded harsh.
Heeseung was very conscious that he was (partially) at fault, but he didn’t need to hear that from Nishimura Riki of all people. “You’re one to talk. Aren’t you too busy with Song Yura to care about what’s going on with Y/N?”
It’s weird that he brought up Yura, and it was even more strange that he was bringing up the fact that you two haven’t been as close lately. Now he knows for sure Heeseung was the reason you seemed to want nothing to do with him anymore. But he still couldn’t figure out how Yura played a part in all this. Had her crazy plan actually worked?
“What happens between Yura and I has nothing to do with Y/N.” Riki’s steely gaze slowly morphed into an amused one. “And it has nothing to do with you either.”
Based on the way Heeseung’s face scrunched up in anger, Riki could tell there was definitely something there. It made his stomach turn with disgust because how could he be stringing you along while also feeling something for Yura?
“You can keep following Yura like a lost puppy, but don’t bring Y/N into it. I won’t let you mess with her feelings."
Heeseung raised his eyebrow with a loud scoff. “I’m not the one who’s messing with her feelings.”
His brazen attitude made Riki explode just a tiny bit. “Don’t act fucking stupid. I can tell you like Yura, so why the hell do you keep hanging around Y/N and acting like you like her?”
“The only one who’s acting that way is you.”
Heeseung words were biting, and for the first time in a long time, Riki was at a loss for words. The statement itself was so absurd that he nearly choked on his own spit after hearing that moron say those words. Riki wanted to tell him that the only thing he was acting like was a good friend. For some reason the words couldn’t come out.
“I know where I stand with my feelings.” Heeseung said in a way that sounded like he was accusing his former friend of something. “Do you?”
Riki didn’t say anything even when Heeseung walked away from him. Those asinine words were bouncing back and forth in his mind until he really digested them and the implications they came with. His heart was pounding as he stared at the Kim household. Could that idiot be right? Was it possible that these protective feelings stemmed from something more intense that he wasn’t ready to acknowledge?
No. It was impossible. There was no way he would ever betray his best friend by liking his sister.
Although, the longer he thought about it, the bigger the discomfort in his chest grew.
#hooniblr.doc#niki x reader#enhypen x reader#enha x reader#niki fanfic#enhypen x you#enha angst#niki x you#enhypen angst#niki imagines#enhypen fanfiction#enha au#enha imagines#enhypen fic#niki angst#enha scenarios#enhypen au
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A COMPLETE GUIDE TO DANCE (AND DEFINITELY NOT LOVE) — NISHIMURA RIKI
SYNOPSIS: Niki felt his world crumble after hearing his doctor’s words—he wouldn’t be able to compete in his biggest dance competition. After an incident that left him injured with the need of 4 months to recover, life was considered terrible. When he receives the news that you, a newcomer, would be taking his spot he knew he had lots to teach you. Starting with putting you in your place.
PAIRING: dancer!niki x dancer-fem!reader (ft. enhypen, soobin from txt, jisung from nct dream, dino (chan) and wonwoo from seventeen, sunwoo from tbz, and mentions of many more).
GENRES: highschool au, dance au, (kinda) enemies to lovers, unrequited love, romance, some angst, and lots of humour.
WARNINGS: crying, a lot of insulting (they hate each other at the start), injuries, mentions of blood (nothing rlly serious), eating, kissing, mentions of overthinking, lmk if i missed anything!
PLAYLIST: here!!
NOTE: special thanks to @soov and @hanniluvi for helping me write parts i struggled on ☝️☝️ but here is the final product!! i was determined to finish this so It took me about a week. very happy! title is also from @sunoksunny and it literally fits the fic so well which makes it even better. ty to @amakumos for proofreading as well🤗
WORDCOUNT: 15604 words
TAGLIST: @soov @redm4ri @ox1-lovesick @urszn @feeeli @taejays @hanniluvi @dakkisz @dimplewonie @ddeonudepressions @xiaoderrrr @ja4hyvn @mmaplepastries @essmarye @w3bqrl @jennaissantes @yenqa @yeokii @yyunari @wvnkoi @flwrshee @starz4hyunz @eulris @alicesolengg @ohmylix @txtbrainrot @miyaheartsjortega @eneiyri
STEP 1.
Dance was Riki’s most prized possession. Growing up he was told he had impeccable talent in dancing which only made him love it even more. He loved the compliments he got and took them in as motivation to continue improving his talent to wow others even more.
As a child, he always peeked inside his parents dance studio when classes were happening. He learned a few tips and new moves that he made a mental note for to practice once he returned home in front of his mirror.
The dance studio was like a second home to him. Although his parents were the ones who owned the studio, he was spotted there way more than they were.
If you couldn’t find him in his room playing video games, he was most likely in the dance studio with dimmed lights and dancing flawlessly in front of the mirror.
It ended up becoming a habit of his; rushing to the dance studio once school ended and staying there until dinner was served. His uniform drenched in sweat, tie loose, his shoes squeaking once harshly pressed against the polished floor with music playing to back it up.
Nothing—besides video games—but dancing with friends or alone could bring him the joy he needed to survive.
But for it to all crumble away after hearing a few words made it feel like everything meant nothing to him.
“What?” He didn’t want to believe what his doctor said was the truth. “I said you’ve severely injured your ankle. It must’ve gotten worse since you continuously danced on it and ignored the pain until it became unbearable.” Wonwoo spoke while pushing away from his desk causing his chair to roll over to Riki.
“Therefore, you won’t be able to partake in any practices and competitions for 4 months.” He said in a disappointed tone. Riki’s eyes widened. Suddenly it became harder to breathe upon hearing those words. Words that he never wanted to hear.
He felt like he was suffocating. Body becoming immobile with the throbbing in his ankle not making it any better. It made him irritated and frustrated. He wanted to cry there and then but fought back the tears until his appointment was over.
His opportunity to attend the biggest dance competition he ever had that could practically predict his future career was gone in a mere second. It was 3 months away but he would still need an extra month to heal. There’s no way he’d heal in time.
“Here, you seem like you need it.” Wonwoo’s voice pulled him out of his suffocating thoughts as he looked up in confusion but the single droplet that fell from his lash line was enough to answer his unsaid question.
He was crying and he hadn’t even noticed it. The grip he had on the edge of the chair tightened as he harshly bit his bottom lip—hard enough to draw small droplets of blood. Wonwoo felt terrible. He knew how much dancing meant to Riki.
Ever since Riki was a little kid, he always had something new to say about dancing every time he visited Wonwoo’s office. It was something that never changed. So breaking the terrible news to Riki was already hard enough but seeing his reaction made it even more difficult.
“Dr. Wonwoo, please come to the main office.” The nurse said on the intercoms. “I have to go, stay healthy. Don’t knock yourself out because of this, it won’t be that bad. Mum, please monitor how he is for the next 4 months and come back monthly for a checkup. Call if you have any worries.” He smiled at her, she smiled at him, and then he was gone.
“Riki, let’s go. It’s best if you start resting now.” His mother said as she reached for the crutches left by Wonwoo but he didn’t move an inch. He was still trying to process the sudden heartbreaking news.
He wasn’t able to dance nor partake in the competition that was in 3 months. The one he had been training for his whole life only for it to be swept away before his eyes. How else was he supposed to react?
During the drive home he didn’t bat an eye at the studio. Looking at it then at his ankle would only make what was supposed to be reality be reality. It had been an hour since they left the doctor's appointment. An hour for Riki to take in everything that had happened. And he did, sadly.
Slowly, one by one, tears began flowing from his eyes in silence. It wasn’t a bad cry but more of a silent cry. It began to progress into something even worse causing his shoulders to shake to his sobs and sniffles.
It was a terrible sight to see which only made his mother feel even worse. She knew it wasn’t her fault but seeing her own son react in this way made it seem like it.
Rolling into the driveway didn’t stop Riki’s sobs. Nothing did. Not even the so-called comforting hugs from his sisters and parents. Once it was time to sleep, his eyes were dry and puffy. It was like he cried out every salty tear he had within him.
“Riki?” His mother called from his doorway. She sighed at the silence and walked over to his bed. His body shuddered at the sudden cold feeling of the ice pack on his injury.
“Lift your leg, if you can.” She whispered as he followed through. Gently, his mother placed a soft object, most likely a pillow, motioning him to relax his leg once again. She covered him with a medium weighted blanket and smiled at his drowsy state.
“Sleep well.” Her voice sounded distant and close to a mumble as he felt himself slowly falling asleep by the minute. With the little amount of energy he had left, he thanked her, causing her to stop in her tracks for a moment and smile even brighter.
It was like the moment his door clicked shut, it felt as if a switch labeled 'SLEEP" was activated, swiftly transporting him to dreamland. 99.9% of him was hoping whatever had happened earlier was a part of his dream. The other 0.1% knew it most likely wasn’t.
Waking up the next day with the same throbbing pain from yesterday proved his hope was useless. In return, he can never dance again no matter how hard he tries or prays.
STEP 2.
It had been a week since the doctor’s appointment. He was doing quite better than before. The news finally sunk in, leaving him to cry less but it wasn’t as bad as he expected.
Once he found out the more he rested the faster he could heal, fighting the urge to dance wasn’t that hard. He even switched to singing to distract himself—but spoiler alert, it’s definitely not his thing. At least he still had video games and friends to keep him occupied for the time being.
He took his seat on the bus already tired from using his crutches to get to the bus stop. “Woah, what happened to you!” His friend Jake exclaimed from the seat across from him. He turned around to face the boy and sighed.
“Long story.” He was tired of explaining it to everyone who had asked before. Jake hummed in response, grabbed his backpack and fled to the empty seat behind Riki.
“So, how’s the dance for your competition coming along?” His question made Riki freeze. Although he was getting better, that didn’t mean the thought of the competition didn’t hurt him. “Wait, are you not competing?” Jake asked.
“Apparently, my ankle will heal in 4-5 months. Maybe even 3 and a half if I’m lucky.”
“So you’re not participating?”
“Only if my injury doesn’t heal before the performances,” he explained. “But you’re still going to be behind, right? Soobin might have a replacement for you instead.” Riki looked directly at Jake with daggers.
“Just saying, that’s what happens during our choir performances, especially the solos.” He backed away, hands in the air for his defense and took his seat.
He wasn’t completely wrong and that’s what Riki hated.
He didn’t like the thought of being replaced after working so hard to get to where he was. If he were to get replaced, he hoped it would be someone with enough talent and skill like him, for example, Chan or Jisung, his close friends on the team.
The bus stopped at another spot, picking up new passengers. Riki adjusted his crutches to make an easier walkway and leaned his head on the window.
He really didn’t want Jake to be right.
Monday mornings always had a scheduled 7:15 AM dance practice before attending classes followed by one during lunch but Riki's condition made him limited to many things and waking up early wasn’t one of them.
The dark circles showcased under his eyes proved his point. The constant throbbing pain he felt throughout the night made sleeping a struggle. He definitely would be napping the moment he got home.
As he walked with his crutches under his armpits, heads turned at the sound in shock. The boy who boasted about dancing 24/7 was now incapable of doing so.
“Dude? What's up with you?” Chan came running over to Riki in a hurry. “April Fools is a month away, are you perhaps doing it earlier?” He inquired. Riki looked at the boy in confusion. “Are you being for real? Chan, I seriously injured my ankle.” Chan’s eyes widened at his words.
“Impossible! What about your competition, the one you’ve been training for since forever?”
“Can’t,” Riki exhaled, “I can’t participate in it anymore.” They stood in front of his locker with a crutch laying on Chan’s.
“You’re lying.” He spoke in disbelief.
“I’m not, but I wish I was.” Riki pulled out his notebooks, slipping them into the opened pouch of his backpack.
“And this isn’t bothering you? Come on, it’s the biggest event of your life!” He exclaimed. Riki looked at Chan while shutting his locker shut with a loud slam.
“Of course I was sad—very sad. But still, why are you offended by this more than I am?” Riki truly was unsure of how and why Chan felt like this but the way Chan walked away in annoyance was not a good enough answer.
“Okay then…” He mumbled, swinging his backpack on then grabbing his crutch. All he had to do was walk to his next class which was located upstairs. Hopping up the stairs on one foot would definitely drain his energy.
Usually, he and Chan would walk to History together but that wasn’t the case for them today. He was long gone—nowhere to be seen, and that only took him 5 minutes to get there. It was like he was teasing Riki but really wasn’t.
The bell rang the moment he stepped foot in class, shocking everyone especially his teacher, Mr. Junhui, meaning he would have to go through another explanation process.
“What happened, Riki?” Mr. Junhui questioned as he sighed, opening his mouth to speak whatever flew out but someone beat him to it.
“He hurt his ankle and can’t participate in the upcoming competition.” Chan said, anger visible in his voice.
All heads turned to look at Chan, including Riki’s. “Really? Is that true?” A classmate asked. Riki cleared his throat and nodded. “Sadly, yeah.” He said as the classmate gasped.
“How did you feel when you heard the news?” She asked once more. “Heartbroken. I cried a bit, which is quite embarrassing to admit, but it’s not like you can choose what happens in your life.” He took his seat, beside Chan, while placing his crutches at the side of his desk.
He slouched over his desk, letting out a deep sigh. Once Mr. Junhui began teaching, Riki looked over to Chan in curiosity. “Stop,” Chan mumbled and looked away from his curious gaze.
“What am I doing wrong?” Silence. “Come on, are you really mad?” Silence, again.
“Chan—”
“Are you really going to throw away the competition just like that?” He whisper-shouted, startling Riki with his sad but slightly annoyed tone. “Look, I really don’t have a choice. For the most part…” Riki hesitated.
“You or Jisung could replace my spot. That’s an even better opportunity for you both.” As much as he didn’t want to say those words, there was still a high chance of them being his replacements.
Chan tucked his bottom lip underneath his teeth at the thought. They promised each other to pursue a career in dance together. This competition being the only one that could decide whether or not it was possible just had to take place at the wrong time.
“No thanks. There’s no way I’d take such a big opportunity like that away from you over a silly injury.” Chan said dryly but nicer than before. His attention was then brought back to focusing on Mr. Junhui’s teaching. Riki smiled to himself with the urge to tease him even more.
“Hey, can I have a pencil?” He asked, gaining his attention again but his eyes still on their teacher. “Get your own, you probably have one somewhere in your backpack.” He’d emphasize.
“Chill, I organized it the other day. I had nothing else better to do.” Riki said while reaching for his own backpack as Chan hummed in amusement. He pulled out a pencil he kept for this exact occasion. “Perfect,” he mumbled in satisfaction and began writing on the assigned worksheet from a while ago.
Chan glanced at the boy then did a double take at his pencil. “What the hell is that?” He asked. “A pencil, what else?” Riki said, stating the obvious with a chuckle. “Riki, that’s at least 5 centimeters. Is this your way of making me give you a pencil instead?” The said boy looked over at Chan offended.
“Hey! Is that what you think of me?” Riki questioned as Chan nodded. “Well then, you know me so well!” He whispered with a smile, opening his hands for a new pencil. Chan scoffed at the action but still handed him a pencil either way.
It was way better than the one he was previously using. “Thank you,” he said, smiling growing even more. Chan looked at Riki’s happy state as he wrote the date and his name on the blank worksheet, a smile slowly growing on his own features.
There’s no possible way for him to stay mad at a boy like Riki.
Riki was starving. A slice of toast wouldn’t easily fill him up for the whole morning. Once he arrived in the empty gym, he took a seat on the edge of the stage and placed his backpack on his lap.
His crutches leaned on the edge of the stage as he waited for the rest of the dance team to arrive for practice. It was silly that they were having practice in a gym where competitive team sports members trained all day long instead of a studio like usual.
But after the incident during one of their practices that caused what looked like a distinguishable fire to take place, left many more damages than they all had expected. Lesson learned at the time; don’t leave a fireworks machine near inflammable objects near a group of teenagers.
The sound of the heavy metal doors opening echoed through the silent gymnasium revealing his dance team. “Well you’re here early.” The coach of their team, Soobin said. “I have nothing else to do,” Riki joked while pointing at the obvious cast on his foot.
“You hurt yourself? How?” Soobin asked,shocked and confused. “Riki injured himself?” Jisung said, appearing from behind Soobin. “Fouettes,” he started, “I must’ve injured myself the day we were practicing them.” His words elicited a few reactions from the crowd of students.
“I thought the pain was from me practicing a lot which should go away eventually but the more I kept practicing, the more painful it became. Almost unbearable.” Riki said before taking a bite of his sandwich. “Then my mother took me to the doctors, and guess what. That’s when this came in,” he pointed to his covered ankle and crutches.
“Did it hurt?” Yunjin, another member, asked. “Eh, not as much as before since I stopped putting pressure on it. But when receiving the news, yes. It’s going to take at least 4 or 5 months to heal.” He said, gaining Soobin’s attention.
“That means you can’t participate in the final competition.” Soobin seemed worried about Riki's condition and the final competition. His slender fingers delicately weaved through the strands, messily fixing up his hair obviously stressed at the thought of having to change the final lineup. The real question is: who would match his dance style the most?
He’d let out a deep sigh with a shake of his head. “Everyone, let’s start with stretching.” He said as they placed down their belongings and claimed a free spot in the gymnasium. Riki watched in amusement as they all went about with doing their own different stretches.
“So this is what we look like…” He mumbled, stifling a laugh at the same time. It wasn’t because they looked weird but more so silly. He was glad he didn’t have to partake in the stretching session.
“I’m here! I’m sorry that I was late,” a voice exclaimed from the entrance of the gym doors. All heads turned to look at the exhausted figure. Soobin’s eyes seemed to have lit up at the sight of you as he approached you with a huge grin.
Why aren’t you angry… You thought at the sight of Soobin’s expression not changing. “Ah, Y/N, just the person I was looking for.” He said as you raised an eyebrow at his words. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
STEP 3.
“What?” You questioned, confusion evident in your features. “I’ll tell you in a bit, first join the group of stretchers.” He instructed as you hesitatingly nodded, cautiously dropping your bag to the ground and heading off to join the crowd.
Soobin smiled to himself, satisfied with his mind. Since Riki was incapable of participating in the final competition, you could cover for him. Your dance styles were very similar and were both passionate in the things you did. Determined to complete it flawlessly no matter what the consequences were.
It was as if you two were the same person placed in different bodies. Quite creepy.
You weren’t able to forget about Soobin’s words from a moment ago. Curiosity crept up your body with an even bigger urge to find out what he was talking about. In silence, you stretched your limbs as the others partnered up to assist each other with specific stretches.
It was awkward. You had only recently joined the team, around a month or two ago, and seeing everyone in friend groups and so on made you feel like an outsider. In your time alone, you were able to learn the names and faces of some members on the team.
For example, Yunjin who hung out with another group of girls; Karina, Chaeryeong, Jiwoo, and another face you couldn’t place a name to. Then there was a group of both males and females consisting of Haewon, Changmin, Haerin, and Jaemin. And once again another face you couldn’t place a name to.
Although you knew most of their names and faces, that didn’t mean you had spoken to them one on one. There were many times when you’d coincidentally eavesdrop on their conversations whenever you were nearby and eventually picked up their names.
As well as those times when Soobin would call them over or say their names during group sessions. It helped a lot with matching their names to their faces.
Riki packed away his container into his backpack, unaware of Soobin’s tall figure approaching him. “Riki!” He called from a few steps away from him. He looked up at the sound of his voice, flinching once he noticed Soobin standing right in front of him.
“Yes, coach?” He asked. “So, I understand you won’t be able to participate in the final competition…” Soobin started as Riki’s eyes lit up. “Oh, about that. My doctor informed me that if I rest a lot my ankle may heal in 3 and a half months instead.” He said, causing Soobin to ‘ah’ in understanding.
“But either way would you be ready in time?” He asked the boy who sat before. Riki pondered for a moment. He wanted to say yes but if he was being honest, he didn’t want to perform.
With his injury holding him back, all his team members would improve their dancing to perfection while his would look sloppier than ever. He would be behind.
“I wouldn’t,” he said with a frown. Soobin gave him a tight-lipped smile in return. The way he felt was understandable. Once known as one of the team’s best dancers and ended up as the ‘worst’ in a blink.
“That’s okay.” Soobin reassured him, feeling even more terrible. He wasn’t sure if he should still tell him about the news or keep it to himself. “But enough of that. What is it that you wanted to say?” He asked as Soobin hesitated.
“I mean, you seemed like you had something to tell me when you first arrived in front of me.” Riki said as Soobin shook his head. “Well, since you’re incapable of performing…I was thinking of having someone take your spot,” he started as Riki nodded. “Yeah I was thinking that was going to happen. I was thinking of someone like—”
“Y/N.”
“—Chan or Jisung—what?!” He exclaimed at his words. It’s not like he didn’t know who you were, it was only because of how long you’ve been on the team.
“Why her? There’s way more capable people on our team who have been here way longer than she has. Are you even sure she has enough potential and is prepared?” He asked, leaving Soobin quite offended by his choice of words.
“First off, be nice. Second, you guys are practically the same people. Your talents are similar and your desires to complete tasks perfectly are the exact same.” He said, Riki’s face contorted in discomfort.
“Although she’s only been on our team for a month or two, she was still able to show her true skills and determination, which is why I think she deserves to be qualified for something like this.” Soobin finished his sentence. What nonsense was he even talking about?
Riki couldn’t argue back. Soobin was his coach and whatever he had ready to say back wasn’t anything nice. “Okay,” he mumbled, “Go ahead, it doesn’t bother me.” He said in a convincing unbothered tone.
That was a lie.
It bothered him a lot. It felt like he wasn't being appreciated for his skills. Yes, he was jealous. How could he not be after losing his biggest opportunity to someone he wasn’t even acquainted with?
If it was given to someone he knew or had incredible talent that he had seen before, that wouldn’t have bothered him as much as you did.
Soobin smiled and nodded while clasping his hands together. His actions infuriated Riki even more but he held back his anger and watched Soobin walk off to gather the group of dancers in silence.
“So, as you all may know, one of our dancers is terribly injured and won’t be able to participate in the final performance.” Soobin said as they all nodded with frowns displayed on their faces. “No worries! Riki and I had come to an agreement that someone else will replace his spot in the competition. Y/N, congrats!” He cheered while clapping, alone.
Everyone gasped, eyes wide as they hastily looked over at Riki who seemed more furious than ever. You, on the other hand, stood in confusion. Who was Riki and why were you chosen to take his spot?
Suddenly all eyes were on you, some shocked, scared, and confused but one face in particular caught your attention. He didn’t show a physical reaction to Soobin’s words. Instead his eyes showed it all. It carried many emotions, specifically sadness, jealousy, and most of all, anger.
What trouble did Soobin put you through now?
STEP 4.
You filled up your water bottle using the water fountain that was located outside of the gymnasium. The wind blew the trees as they swayed in sync. Nature reminds you a lot about dancing. There were many aspects that were similar to the things used in dance which made you fall in love with nature as well.
Photography was also something you enjoyed. Combining it with nature only meant perfection. It was even prettier than alone.
You’d place the cap back onto your water bottle after taking a short sip, sighing in satisfaction. It had only been 10 minutes since practice ended. You noticed everyone was gone from the gymnasium when you peeked into the windows.
Walking around the corridor that led you to another building of the school—Drama class, you sighed at the thought of your group presentations that were due today. Everything was finished and ready to be shared but you still felt slightly nervous. You continued your walk to the building before being brought to an abrupt stop.
“What the—”
“Listen, I don’t care about teaching you the 4 dances I choreographed myself, but just because you replaced my spot in the big competition after joining our team only a month ago doesn’t mean you’re better than me.” He said while staring daggers into your narrowed eyes.
You were genuinely very confused. Who was he and why was he talking about the incident from a few minutes ago? Why the hell did he look like he was about 2 feet away from you?
In your peripheral vision, you located a blurry silver-grey item that caged you in his little compartment. You turned your head to get a better view of the item which appeared to be a crutch.
You looked back at the boy who stood in front of you then down to his feet. He stood on one foot somehow maintaining his balance. Connecting the dots in your head, you were finally able to figure out who he was.
“Oh, you must be Riki.” You said, slightly unphased by his approach. He definitely wasn’t what you were expecting him to be like. At the sound of his name and reactions from everyone in the room, he seemed to be very admirable. You were quite excited to meet him but he turned out to be nothing of that sort.
“Are you really trying to intimidate me with your crutches?” You said in disbelief. He stiffened in his spot. Clearly his plan didn’t work. You bursted out in laughter. That’s definitely a new way to approach someone.
“Whatever, keep my words in mind. Meet me today after school in the gymnasium. We can start practicing there,” he said as your laughter came to a halt. “Yeah, no thanks. I’m not free today.” You explained as his brows furrowed, unsatisfied with your response. “Let’s just start tomorrow,” you said and began walking away.
He was speechless. For someone who's quiet during all practices you sure knew how to run that mouth of yours. He hated it and slowly began to hate you as well. It was safe to say the feelings were mutual.
Riki kissed his teeth in frustration while raising up his crutch at your now far away figure to only drop it by accident. He sighed at the sight of it on the grassy ground and reached down to pick it while maintaining his balance on one foot.
It would’ve been a lie if he told you he didn’t have time tomorrow to start your practices because he did. His injury made him unavailable for many extracurriculars nowadays.
He took a seat in the same place from yesterday’s practice during lunch, the edge of the stage. He awaited your arrival, watching time pass by on his phone, timing you. It was 3 minutes past 3:00. Only 3 minutes ever since the bell rang. Yesterday’s practice showed your habit of being late and he hated it.
The opening of the gym doors echoed through his thoughts as he looked up from his phone, spotting you in the distance. “You’re late,” he said in a stern and annoyed tone as you walked over to him. “Why should I be on time for someone like you?” You said while rolling your eyes leaving him to scoff at your words.
He ignored your previous sentence and watched you place your backpack down on the polished wood floors. Even the way you placed your backpack down ticked him off. Who throws it so carelessly as if there’s nothing delicate inside?
You began stretching on your own as an unsettling silence fell between you two until his irritating voice had to break it. “Do you have anything prepared to showcase your skills?” He asked as you stopped in your stretching position.
“What?” You asked, genuinely confused. You were never informed of this. “Like a premade dance… Have you never attended auditions or something?” He asked as you shook your head. “I only dance for fun, why should I compete to win?” For some reason, your answer irritated him.
Should he really let you take his opportunity at this rate? You both had different mindsets when it came to dancing. Your responses left him unsatisfied and frustrated which was never a good sign.
He took a deep breath to calm himself down before proceeding with asking questions. “So you have nothing to show?” He asked as you thought for a moment. “Well, there’s one thing,” you started while walking over to your backpack to get your phone.
“So unprepared…” He whispered but with the shallowness of the gymnasium, his words echoed over to where you stood. You rolled your eyes while mocking his annoying voice in return. On your phone you pulled up a song you normally enjoyed on a daily basis and walked over to where he sat.
“It’s nothing long, so don’t get your hopes up,” you warned as he laughed. “I wasn’t going to anyway.” Once again, you rolled your eyes at his words and waited for the song to play while getting in position.
As the first beat sounded, your position switched. You proceeded with the choreography you had practiced for most of your teen years. Riki didn’t know what he was witnessing or whether to be traumatized, amazed or both.
He had always been too focused on his own movements and never noticed yours. You practiced at the back end of the gymnasium while he practiced in the area near the doors. That was definitely something different about you two.
Your movements were sharp and clean, similar to how he viewed himself. It was impressive how similar your dance styles were. Maybe Soobin wasn’t saying nonsense like he thought he was.
He watched in amusement as you went along with the dance. It’s been a few minutes since you’ve started the dance. He wasn’t sure how long it was supposed to be but he truly wanted to see more.
“Okay… You can stop staring at me now,” You said in an awkward tone. “I was not!” He exclaimed with slightly wide eyes. You nodded with a hum as he rolled his eyes.
“Anyways, I could do way better than that.” He insulted you as you scoffed. “In those crutches? Yeah, please.” You retorted with narrowed eyes. He cleared his throat in embarrassment as you stifled a laugh. “That’s what I thought,” you mumbled.
“So, we have only 3 months, meaning you’ll have to practice a lot. There are 4 dances; 2 solos, a duo, and a group dance. Are you sure you could do them all?” He explained as you nodded. “Yeah, right.” he mumbled and you raised your hand in a punching motion.
“Whatever!” You exclaimed and walked over to your backpack for a sip of water. Thinking back to his words before, you were curious as to who the second person included in the duo was.
“You said there’s a duo dance, right? Who’s included?” You asked, eyes filled with genuine curiosity. Mostly everyone on the dance team didn’t take a liking to you. A few would start up short and quick conversations with you but nothing else.
Judging by yesterday’s incident, their perspective on you had gotten a lot worse even if you hadn’t done anything.
“It’s Chan, my friend.” He said while searching through his phone for previous dance practices to show. “He’s a great dancer and quite closed off. It’ll be hard to build a relationship with him, so don’t try to.” He warned.
After witnessing Chan’s anger once he found out Riki injured his ankle, he was worried about how he felt after finding out about the news. He would’ve been 100% against that fact.
You had no clue who Chan was. There wasn’t a face you could match his name to but didn’t bother asking for an in-depth explanation of who he is.
“What about the group dance?” You asked. “Right. It consists of most of our team members; Jisung, Changmin, Yunjin, Haerin, Jaemin, and Chaeryeong.” He lists as you nod. Finally, people you knew.
The lineups weren’t bad at all. You’ve watched their dances many times and admired how they moved in their own ways.
“Here,” he said while handing you his phone. “Don’t do anything silly with it.” He warned with narrowed eyes as you took the device from him. “Wasn’t planning on it.” you looked at the screen.
It showed him in what seemed to be a dance studio. The lights were dimmed but his face was still visible. The subtle shine on his forehead showcasing the sweat from his hard work that caused a few strands to stick against it.
You began to play the video, revealing the first solo dance. By the looks of it, the dance seemed to be intermediate level which wasn’t bad for you. But the more you watched the choreography in his other 4 dances, it became harder.
During the duo performance, he and Chan moved very fast. It was almost impossible to distinguish what moves they used. You weren’t sure if you’ve seen Chan’s face in person yet. The video didn’t show his as well as it showed Riki’s aggravating one.
“Okay. Like I said before, there’s only 3 months to learn those 4 dances. In the group dance, there’s not many solo moments but more duo moments. I’m not sure if they’re going to tune the dance to fit everything again, but yeah. Goodluck.” He smiled and took his phone back from you.
These 3 months will definitely be the worst moments of your life.
STEP 5.
Although it's only been a few days since your first practice with Riki, you hated it. You returned home with sore limbs at least everyday. Your mind was occupied by learning these dances before the deadline that you even forgot about the semester switch.
Semester 1 was finally over while semester 2 rolled in meaning there would be new classes, new assignments, and new classmates. You were usually excited to see who your classmates would be but today wasn’t the case.
“What are you doing here?” You asked in annoyance. “I was going to ask you the same thing.” He said. Biology, previously known as your favourite class, was now your most hated timeslot on your schedule. You looked around the room, looking for any other empty seats but there was nothing.
The only empty seat happened to be beside Riki, your new lab partner. He held a cocky smile across his lips as you grimaced at the sight. “What are you planning, weirdo?” You insulted and took your seat beside him.
“What makes you think I’m planning something?” He asked while twirling his pencil between his fingers. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, don’t bother asking me. I’d rather be the one walking in crutches than do anything for you.” He looked at you, smile faltering. “Well, that’s insulting.” He mumbled.
At least you only had to share one class with him in the morning.
Or so you thought. Walking into all 4 of your classes being greeted by an unpleasant sight, Riki. And to make things worse, the only free seat was always beside him. How bad must your luck be?
“Can I have a pencil?” He asked but you ignored him. “Hello? I’m talking to you.” He said while lightly poking you in the shoulder. He acted like a child who wanted attention from their parents.
“Hello—”
“Take it.” You harshly placed the pencil in his hand and searched through your pencil case for a new one. “Thanks,” he said. You sighed, thinking that was the last of his troubles but no, it was only the beginning.
As class progressed, he only bothered you even more. Asking for an eraser, highlighter, for you to get him a new sheet of paper. You would’ve declined all his requests and forced him to do everything on his own but he always found a way to use his injury as an excuse.
“It’s literally two steps away?” You said in disbelief. “Two steps I can’t take. Hello, did you forget?” He pointed at his cast as you rolled your eyes in return and followed through.
After this, every turn you took whether or not you were in class, he was there. His back and injured ankle was pressed against the brick wall with his crutches under his armpits. You quickly turned on your pivot foot and immediately began to walk the other way.
All you wanted was a peaceful lunch but he just had to ruin it. There was no dance practice too, it was perfect.
The sound of his crutches tapping the concrete floor quickened from chasing after you as hope began to drain from your body.
Each tap showed his determination and strength, showing that he wasn’t letting an injury stop him from doing what he wants. He created a distinct rhythm that echoed through the surroundings, making you want to walk even faster.
Each step, the intensity grew, finding a way to overcome the physical obstacles you put him through. He just wouldn’t stop–his determination was killing you. You trying to tire him out only fueled his passion to catch up, wanting to annoy you even more.
Finally giving up, you turned around with a very annoyed look as he staggered on his feet, trying to maintain his balance from the sudden stop.
“What do you need now?” You asked, the annoyed tone still lingering in your voice. “Why do you always suspect that I have a reason?” He asked back, causing you to narrow your eyes. “So, you did that for no reason?” The annoyed look on your face never left and only deepened at the sound of his laughter.
“Of course not,” his laughter died down, “... Um, what was I here for again?” He looked up from his shoes and was met with your irritated face. “Hurry up or I’m leaving.” You warned as his eyes grew in size.
“I just remembered,” no he didn’t—he didn’t have a reason to talk with you but still wanted to do so, “Mr. Sunwoo said he wanted to see you.” He explained. “That’s all you had to say? And what does he need to see me for?” You asked as he stiffened. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as the thought of an excuse. “All he said was that he needed to see you. I don’t know the rest,” he said.
You looked him up and down and walked away. His hesitation was skeptical but you still went to the teacher’s faculty office either way. The walk over wasn’t that bad but with the humidity from the sun, it only felt worse.
Once you opened the office door, you were greeted by the sound of banging. You were concerned and confused at what it could’ve been but shrugged it off and continued your walk over to Mr. Sunwoo’s desk.
But to your dismay, the closer you got to his desk, the louder the unpleasant sound became. You stood at the opposite end of his desk, his back facing you. “Mr. Sunwoo,” you called but there was no response.
“Oh, hi sweetheart,” he said as a female teacher walked past his desk. He was known to be a flirt amongst many of his colleagues but the more you got to know him, you were able to see how nice he was. “The printer isn’t working at the moment…” He pointed at the said object and banged on it even harder.
You swore you heard a crack in response. He clears his throat at the sound and stands up tall, “Lovely day, isn’t it?” She hesitatingly nodded as he laughed awkwardly. “Fancy a coffee later? If you’re free, of course!” His voice raised in volume as she quickly walked away from him, shaking her head frequently.
He sighed as she disappeared into thin air and looked down at his now broken printer. “Mr. Sunwoo,” you called, startling the poor man. “Oh, Y/N! Hey,” he greeted with a slight smile. You smiled back as your eyes flicked over to his printer. He followed your gaze and sighed once more.
“Printy—I mean, my printer broke just now. I think I printed too many things at once…” He says, staring at the huge crack displayed on the printer’s surface. “I can tell…” You mumbled while looking directly at it. “Anyways, what brings you here?” He asks while grabbing his half filled coffee mug that sat near his computer.
“Riki said you needed to see me?” You said with an unsure tone. He didn’t seem like he needed to tell you anything. Did Riki lie to waste your time? “Uh… I don’t recall telling him anything about that?” He said also confused.
He definitely did lie.
“Oh, then that’s okay! I’ll see you tomorrow in English.” You waved goodbye as he did the same and went in for a sip of his now cold coffee. Today was just not his day.
STEP 6.
Riki sat on the bench, still dressed in his P.E. uniform. “What’s the point of wearing the uniform if you can’t even participate?” You teased as he rolled his eyes. “At least I still get marks for wearing it.” He retorted as you flipped him off and walked away.
You returned to the court, ready to play. Dodgeball was always a competitive game. Always having to dodge the balls that were thrown at you while trying to get others out added to the thrill of it all.
Your team members, Jake, Haerin, Sunoo, and Hyunjae and the opposing team members, Changmin, Chan, Eunchae, Heeseung, and Chaewon all stood on opposite sides of the court as everyone else stood on the perimeter of the court.
You all awaited for the blow of the whistle that commenced the game. As it blew, everyone ran to the middle, grasping a ball immediately. Some were thrown there and then while others ran back to their side of the court.
Riki watched from his spot on the bench in boredom. He focused more on the opposing team than he did with yours, finding theirs more amusing to watch. There were a few moments when he’d glance over at your team but it never lasted long.
You grinned in satisfaction at the sight of someone being hit by the ball you had thrown a second ago. He looked over at your team, catching a glimpse of your smile. He rarely saw you smile. Whenever he was around, you scowled.
However, something about this particular instance felt different. It was as if he saw you in a different light, finally seeing you without that angry face you’d make at him all the time. Seeing such a brief moment of your smile, made him feel…wait, what is he saying?
Side tracked from his thoughts, he notices Chan sitting beside him, a clear sign he had been eliminated from the game. “Why are you looking at her like that?” He asked as Riki immediately averted his eyes to the floor.
“Who?” Riki asked in an attempt to act clueless. He was clearly flustered that Chan had caught him looking at you, who would’ve thought. “You were staring at Y/N with a weird gaze,” he explained as Riki laughed nervously.
“Actually, I was staring at a bug that happened to be flying around her.” Riki explained in return, hoping Chan would buy it.
“Where is it?” Chan said in disgust. They both hated insects anyway. “Well, um, it flew away. Yeah…” He said as Chan nodded. Maybe he was seeing things.
“So, how is the training going?” Chan asked while looking at Riki. “It’s not bad, really, I think you two will be ready to practice with each other by next week.” He said as Chan grimaced. Right, the duo dance.
Before he could respond, you appeared before them. You stared at them with a blank look, you were spaced out. The boy who sat beside Riki looked quite familiar but you weren’t able to pinpoint where you had seen him.
“I’ll see you later,” Chan said to Riki while rising from his seat. “Is class over?” He asked you as you nodded to leave, not sparing you a glance. “Who was that?” You asked as he looked at you in disbelief. “That’s Chan, the boy you’ll be working with.” He explained as you nodded in realization.
Now you were able to pinpoint where you had seen him; during the big news at practice. He was the boy who looked at you with many emotions through one single glare.
He didn’t seem to like you at all. How were you supposed to do a duo dance with him if you two couldn’t even get along? You sighed and walked off to the changing rooms to prepare for your next class.
Riki, on the other hand, still questioned what happened earlier. What was he thinking about after he saw your smile? Why did that happen?
“You haven’t changed yet?” Your voice echoed through the silent gym as he looked over at you, startled. “Oh yeah, let me go do that. For now, start practicing? I don’t know.” and rushed over to the boys’ change rooms to change.
You watched as he hopped away in confusion. He was acting more differently than before but you weren’t sure why.
Instead of thinking even longer, you decided to go start with your stretching routines so you were ready before he returned.
While finishing up with your final stretch, the sound of crutches approached you, causing you to look up.
“Okay, let’s work on the last solo dance today and practice the first one.” He said while walking right past you. He didn’t even spare you a glance. You nodded at his words as he took a seat in the same spot as usual and got straight to work.
As you danced, he evaluated your moves. Your phone was set below his feet against the stage’s foundation, recording your moves.
During this moment, he took time to steal a few glances at you while using the excuse of evaluating you.
He was impressed. It had only been a few days, almost 2 weeks since you guys started practicing the first solo and you already got it down during that time being.
Once you were done, you walked over to your phone and crouched down to stop the video recording. He didn’t realize it until you stood back up that you were really close.
You watched the video with a slight smile on your face, not moving from where you were which only made Riki’s heart race even more.
But why?
STEP 7.
It hasn’t been long since Riki claimed that he hated your guts. During his moments of bothering you, he felt joy. But he was unsure why. Was it because he got the chance to annoy you or to speak with you? It confused him.
As time went on, the two of you began bickering less. It hadn’t come to a full stop but occurred ever so often. During those quiet moments, he was able to see more of your personality, even from afar.
You weren’t that bad of a person he thought you were. Forget about those times where he had insulted your skills and capability of participating in the competition. You were way more prepared than other team members and he was sure of it.
It’s not that he didn’t feel bad for his previous remarks, yet there was still a lingering feeling where he wondered why he uttered such hateful comments.
“Mr. Crutches, stay focused.” You said while tapping his worksheet with your pencil. “I get that you may not want to be paired up with me because I don’t either but we still need to pass this class.” You flipped through the stapled pages while releasing a hefty sigh.
His eyes looked at you then down to the booklet in front of him titled in bolded letters, “ROMEO AND JULIET (THE SCRIPT)”. Mr. Sunwoo seemed to be a sucker for romance. He was always speaking about plays even if they had a teeny tiny bit of romance.
You glanced at Riki who looked down at his script. Your desks were situated in front of each other which only made things even more awkward. Holding eye contact was not his best forte. You’d be lying if you said he wasn’t attractive at all. If only he kept his mouth shut, maybe you would’ve developed a crush on him a long time ago.
The longer you stared at him, you were able to notice more of his features. His lashes weren’t long but if you looked at them for a while, you could pick up on the separated lashes. His nose bridge was proportioned almost perfectly as well as his lips.
“Why are you staring at my lips?” He asked as you looked into his eyes in shock. “What are you talking about?” You asked instead of answering him. “If you like them that bad, just say that. I get that almost everything about me is perfect. For example, my dancing, mindset, friendliness, confidence, me looking great everyday—”
“Okay. Can we focus again?” You asked, interrupting his non stop complimenting. “I wasn’t finished though.” He frowned, leaving you to roll your eyes. “Save that for another time. We have to present this section to the class and attend practice right after.” You explained, avoiding eye contact with the boy.
“It’s a team practice and with your history of being late, I’m sure Soobin wouldn’t care.” You raised your hand in a punching motion at his words. “If we weren’t in class right now, I would’ve actually done it.” You said as he chuckled.
“Sure.” He teased. In return, you harshly flipped to the next page in your booklet, startling him in return. You were quite the scary type.
Unlike Riki’s words from English class, you arrived to practice on time. The only thing that was different from the usual setting was the quiet and dark atmosphere. At first, you thought you were late but that turned out to not be the case.
As your eyes adjusted to the dark gymnasium, you were finally able to spot something in the distance. “Where is everybody?” You asked the figure that stood far away from you. Their back faced you as they shrugged at your question.
In any horror movie, the main character would be cautious in situations like this but you weren’t. You were genuinely curious as to where everyone was and with the urge to find out, you approached the figure.
“Are we too early?” You asked. It was a quick assumption to think they were on the dance team and not something else, for example, the Badminton team. You were now standing behind them as they began to turn around. “I doubt—”
“What the hell are you doing here?” His sudden harsh and annoyed tone caught you off guard as the lights suddenly flicked on. “Amazing timing!” A voice exclaimed from the entrance. You both looked over at the boy in crutches with a confused but annoyed face—for two different reasons.
Of course, you were both confused on why the lights were off in the first place but Chan was annoyed with the fact that you were standing right in front of him while you were annoyed by the sight of the boy walking towards you two.
“Where is everyone?” Chan asked while pushing past you. You looked at him in shock but he still didn’t apologize. “Enough questions, we have work to do.” Riki said while hopping over to the stage.
“Work? What work?” Chan asked as you both looked over to Riki. “The duo dance… Did you really forget?” Riki reminded Chan, causing his brows to furrow. “You mean I have to do the duo dance with… her?” He pointed at you and whispered the last part but it clearly wasn’t quiet enough.
“Hello? I’m literally standing right here.” You said as he waved his hand in your direction as a way to shrug you off. “Enough of that. You expect me to dance with her? Why not Chaeryeong or Haerin? I’ll accept anything else at this rate.” You scoffed at his words and walked over to the sidelines.
“You’re like Riki but worse.” You insulted while slipping off your backpack. Riki whipped his head in your direction in confusion. “As if you’re any better,” Chan mumbled. Your words didn’t have an effect on him like you thought they would. He would love to be compared to his best friend.
Although he knew how Riki could be towards others, it didn’t bother him. “Moving on…” Riki said in an attempt to clear the awkward air. Something you didn’t understand about Chan was why he had something against you even though the two of you never spoke.
Only a few days ago, you found out about his name. You share P.E. with him and Riki this semester but even then you weren’t able to figure out his name until now.
“Listen, if you two are going to argue like this, clearly practicing won’t work. So… I have an even better idea!” He cheered while grabbing his crutches once again. The little amount of movement he did made you both realize he had never sat down in the first place. “That’s why I’m leaving you two to practice on your own. If Y/N and I could do it then you can too.” He said, ready to walk (more so hop) away using his crutches.
“Aren’t you the same person who told me not to build a relationship with Chan?” You asked the boy who froze in his spot. “Forget about that and just focus on the dance please. There’s only 2 months left.” He explained. “But where are you going?” Chan asked Riki.
“Monthly doctor’s appointment. Wish me luck,” he mumbled and left. There you were, both you and Chan looking at each other with a present scowl on each of your faces. He looked like he didn’t want to be near you at all and you were glad you could say the same.
It was like the situation with Riki all over again. Although the two of you were slightly starting to get along now (a few insults were still thrown into the conversations between you two but other than that it wasn’t so bad), it took a lot of bickering and eyerolls to get there.
“As much as I don’t want to dance with you, we have 2 weeks to practice. Don’t fall behind,” he said while walking over to his phone then back to you. You mimicked his words to yourself as he pulled up the dance video from his perspective.
You were now able to see his face more clearly than the video taken on Riki’s phone. Once the video ended, he pulled his phone back while placing it on the ground. “Sadly, I have to teach you this dance, alone.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweats.
You rolled your eyes. “Let’s just get this over with.” You said while walking away to begin your stretching. “Till this day I wonder how Riki tolerated you while practicing.” He mumbled and walked away to begin his own stretches.
Real question was, how were you supposed to tolerate each other for 2-3 weeks?
STEP 8.
Forget what you said earlier about Biology becoming your most hated subject. It was like your teacher, Mrs. Jihyo knew what you loved most—nature. Her announcement gained many different reactions from the students around you, especially Riki.
His jaw dropped with a very disgusted expression present across his features. The thought of being out in nature for longer than 10 minutes gave him chills.
“What’s wrong with you?” You asked the stiffened boy beside you. “What? Nothing.” He said, shaking off the jitters from earlier. There’s no way he’d make it obvious that he was afraid of insects to you.
You hummed teasingly as he softly nudged you in the shoulder. “You’re way scarier than nature anyway.” He insulted you, making you glare directly at him. Suddenly, your gaze softened as your eyes lit up at the memory. “Oh right, I just remembered. Why did you tell me that Mr. Sunwoo wanted to see me although he never said that?” You asked as his brows furrowed.
Trying to recall the moment, he tilted his head side to side. “I don’t recall doing so?” He lied. What was he supposed to say if he didn’t know why he did that in the first place? “Oh, okay. I was just wondering.” You said and directed your attention back to Mrs. Jihyo.
Why did he feel guilty? You didn’t seem to be hurt by his comment but still it felt terrible lying. He’s done it before in other situations but this one made him feel most guilty for what reason? Whatever he felt when he was around you was a feeling he hated.
It was almost like he went to sleep with a burning hatred for you and woke up with…feelings? As much as he wanted to refuse this thought, there was still a possibility.
“Riki and Y/N? You two will be partners for the walk. Y/N, stay with him so he doesn’t fall behind, no offense, Riki.” Mrs. Jihyo said, pulling Riki from his thoughts. His eyes slightly widened after taking in her words. The two of you would most likely be alone for the next hour in nature. Could his situation get any worse?
You stifled a laugh at Mrs. Jihyo's unintentional insult. “Alright everyone, let’s get moving!” She exclaimed with a bright smile as everyone followed through. “Dude, pay attention.” You shook his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. “Oh right.” He mumbled and grabbed his crutches as you began walking away.
He inhaled deeply in preparation for what torture he would have to go through.
One step outside was already enough to tell Riki that this trip would be terrible. It was humid and slightly muddy from the previous rain storm a few days ago.
The group of students were quite far from you both. You had a silly smile on your face as you looked around, examining every detail of the scenery. Riki, on the other hand, struggle with dodging any crawling insects that approached his shoes.
He held back the multiple screams he needed to release so badly but refrained from doing so. It would’ve been embarrassing.
“I love nature.” You said with a relaxed sigh. “You what?” His voice was slightly shaky as he continued swatting at mosquitoes that flew within his vicinity. “It’s a relaxing place to be. It helps clear my head whenever I’m worried or stressed about something.” You explained as he stopped moving in disbelief.
“So you’re telling me, you find an environment invested with feces and disgusting insects relaxing?” You turned around at his voice and nodded your head. “It’s not that bad.” You defended. “How?” He asked while catching up to your spot away from him. You two walked alongside each other, him hopping on his crutches but still managed to stay neck-and-neck with you.
“It’s similar to dancing—well, that’s how I view it.” You started, a smile slowly making its way on your face. He looked at you, intrigued by what else you had to say. “For example, the trees. When it’s really windy outside, they sway in sync, right?” You used your hands to emphasize your words as he nodded.
“That’s similar to, I don’t know, dancing as a group?” You said as he nodded once more. From his perspective, you looked like a child explaining their favourite game or toy. The corner of his lips turned up slightly which he was unaware of.
Your smile was contagious. Eventually the subtle upturned smile he wore before grew into an even bigger one. You continuously boasted about your love for nature and how similar it was to dancing while he watched with a gaze everyone but him could specify.
Next thing he knew, you both were standing in front of the group of students led by Mrs. Jihyo. His smile dropped the moment his eyes landed on the familiar faces as a light shade of pink covered the tips of his ears. Hopefully, nobody caught him smiling like a dork.
STEP 9.
It’s been a few days—almost a week since you and Chan began practicing with each other. At the start, you despised each other, and with every meeting, your hatred for him grew stronger. He would continuously belittle every move you made during practice with him, making his presence unbearable. He was even worse than Riki, whether you wanted to believe it or not. But now, that anger is fading away, and he seems a bit more likable.
It was 7:20 AM, 30 minutes before the team practice. You and Chan both came to an agreement to meet an hour to a few minutes earlier to perfect what parts needed perfecting.
“Let’s take 5. By that, I mean let’s rewatch the practice video.” He suggested as he walked over to stop the phone from recording while you went to grab more water.
“Here,” you handed him his water bottle as he accepted it with a smile. Out of breath and tired, you both took a seat on the cold polished gymnasium floors. The lights were dimmed with the cloudy sky darkening the room even more.
The two of you pointed out little details that could be changed or worked on, taking turns each time.
Riki didn’t know what to do. He was very early for practice and doubted that the doors would be unlocked anyway. Hopping over to the doors, he tested if the door was unlocked by pulling the knob lightly. There was no jammed noise and instead it clicked open quietly.
About to walk in and head over to his designated spot, he paused. His eyes squinted in an attempt to make out the figures— you and Chan.
It was understandable since you were both practicing for the competition anyway but the way Chan looked at you as you spoke and the way you laughed at whatever words he said made his heart pang from what could possibly be jealousy. His best friend who originally hated your guts because he felt as though you robbed him of his biggest opportunity now smiling while staring directly into your eyes? How else was he supposed to feel?
Instead of walking further inside he left. He shut the doors softly and took a seat on the nearest park bench and thought of the quickest excuse to tell Soobin once he arrived.
The only thing that made whatever he felt feel worse was his confusion. He still was unsure why he felt this away around you and what he felt when he was around you. And the question that bothered him most, did you feel the same way around him?
“Riki? I didn’t know you were here this early! What happened to you not being able to wake up around times like this?” A familiar voice spoke a few steps away from him. He looked up from his fiddling fingers and was met with a sight he went head over heels for.
You were smiling at him, shocked but happy. “Oh hey.” He greeted, putting on his most convincing smile. “Chan’s here as well if you wanted to say hi. I mean, you’re best friends after all right?” You teased and walked towards the water fountain. You filled up your empty bottle, still on your break time as Riki watched.
You were so concentrated on filling up your empty bottle without creating any spills, yet you looked so beautiful, causing a small swarm of butterflies to form within him. Seriously, what was this feeling?
“You should come watch us practice.” You suggested, breaking the silence between you two. “I’m practically done learning the dance, it’s been at least a week. There was a lot of dedication.” You explained as he hummed. He found you very impressive and he meant it everytime.
“So,” you turned around with a full water bottle in your hand, “Are you coming? Team practice is in a few anyway.” You said. He pondered for a moment but eventually gave in. He trailed behind you as you held the door open for him to enter. Chan turned around at the sound of your return, eyes landing on Riki. “Riki, hey!” Chan cheered while rising from his spot on the ground and walking over to you both.
“Practice starts in about 10 minutes. Spare us 4 minutes to show you the dance?” Chan asked as you nudged his arm. “He already agreed to watch. There’s no time to waste.” You said while setting up the music.
Riki sat in silence while watching you both perform the dance he and Chan choreographed together. If he was being honest, you and Chan danced great together. There was definitely chemistry between you two. He was jealous but still watched with open eyes to spot any subtle mistakes.
He couldn’t help but keep his gaze set on you. He glanced at Chan whenever he got the chance but they never lasted long. Seeing you two slightly smile at each other, compliment each other’s dancing, and do so many more things that he and Chan were supposed to do only fueled his jealousy even more.
But what was he jealous about? The fact that Chan had gotten close to you and shared smiles with you or the fact that you got the chance to dance with Chan on one of the biggest stages to the dance that they both choreographed together? It was confusing.
The doors opened as all your heads turned to face the entrance. “Oh, you guys are early.” Soobin said while placing his bag on the ground. “Chan and Y/N, did you finish learning the duo dance?” Soobin asked the two as you nodded in sync.
“Okay that’s great. Rest for a week or perfect your previous dances, anything works. After that, we will work on the group dance. The final project before we put everything together.” Soobin explained as everyone nodded. “1 month left,” Jisung muttered to Chan who stood beside him.
“It felt like we just found out about Riki’s replacement just yesterday.” Chan said as Jisung agreed. “You guys are so extra,” Changmin said with a sigh. “Goodluck on practice, I’m heading to the store nearby. I haven’t eaten anything and I’m starving.” Changmin said while grabbing backpack and leaving the gymnasium.
Jisung and Chan chuckled at his sudden appearance and walked over to Riki who sat on the edge of the stage as always.
“So…? When are you getting your cast removed?” Jisung asked, gaining Riki’s attention. “Not sure. He hasn’t given me a date yet,” He responded dryly. “You know, Y/N isn’t that bad of a person. I guess I was just being selfish.” He said while smiling softly at the memories from the past few days.
“Really? I figured.” Riki said while reaching for his water bottle in his backpack. He was acting drier than usual but Chan and Jisung didn’t bother asking why. Instead, they shared a confused look to each other and shrugged it off.
“Oh! Also, you know about the group dance? Who will be my partner now since it’s quite different from before.” Jisung asked while leaning on the edge of the stage. “Most likely Y/N. She’s replacing Riki’s spot anyway.” Chan responded as Riki nodded. “Either that or Soobin may change the setup.” Riki said, then took a sip from his water bottle.
“Ah, okay. I’ll see you guys later. I’m going to practice my parts.” He explained as he pushed himself up from the ledge. “Goodluck, don’t injure yourself like this guy.” Chan teased while pointing at Riki who glared at him as Jisung laughed. “Promised.” He said and began his stretches.
“I’m going to head to class,” Riki said while grabbing his backpack and crutches. “What? The bell doesn’t go till’ 15 minutes.” Chan said in confusion. “I have unfinished homework to complete.” He said and left the gymnasium without letting Chan respond. Weird.
He had no homework to complete but he couldn’t last in that gym any longer. It felt like the moment at the doctor’s office all over again and he hated it. He hated the suffocating feeling of jealousy but couldn’t say anything about it. Why? Because he didn’t want to lose his best friend.
STEP 10.
“What’s wrong?” His older sister said as she took a seat beside him. The comfort of the couch engulfed her figure as she held back a relieved sigh. “What do you mean?” He asked Konon as she scoffed. “You’ve been looking down ever since you arrived home. Is it because of the competition next month? I thought you accepted the truth last month…” She said as a frown appeared on her face.
“It’s not that.” He said while placing a pillow on top of his legs. “Then what is it?” She asked and turned to face him completely. He hesitated. “Riki, what is it? If it’s not something you want to tell me then that’s okay.” She reassured him as he sighed. “What does it feel like to have feelings for someone? Or a better way of putting this—What do I if I think I have feelings for someone?” He asked in embarrassment.
“You like someone?!” She exclaimed, shocked. “Shh, why are we yelling?!” He whisper-shouted and searched the living room for anybody but there was nothing. “Okay, maybe I do, but I’m not sure! That’s why I’m asking you for help.” He explained as she nodded in understanding.
“Okay… Let’s get straight to the point, was there ever a moment when you wanted to, you know, kiss her the moment you laid eyes on—” She asked as Riki rushed to cover her mouth. His head dropped low as his skin flushed a dark shade of red, earning a muffled laugh from his older sister.
“So it really happened. I was only kidding, Riki.” She teased as he removed his hand from her mouth. “Can’t believe my younger brother is in love…before me…” She said in disbelief. “Who’s the lucky person? Tell me more!” She sat up straight, more intrigued than ever.
“It’s someone on my dance team. She’s the one who replaced my spot in the competition so I’ve been teaching her the dances recently. But, we hated each other at the start.” He explained, leaving Konon to nod. “So, enemies to lovers basically?” She asked as he shrugged. “I guess, I don’t know. But ever since then, I mean you could say I fell for her? Believe what you want.” He said as Konon laughed.
“Okay… What’s holding you back from confessing?” She asked.
“My best friend.”
“Oh, well that’s new…” She awkwardly rubbed the nape of her neck unsure of what to say next. “Why’s that?” He looked at her then down at his hands. “I think he likes her? I’m not even sure if she likes me back in the first place. They seem way closer than we do.” He said a slight frown present on his face.
“Worst thing of it all, I don’t want to do anything that’ll make me lose my friend, you know?” He said and looked over at Konon. “No, I understand you completely.” She took his hands in hers. “I say… Confess. You never know how wrong that can go.” She suggested as Riki shook his head.
“It won’t end well, trust me. It’s fine, I’ll just push down these feelings until they’re gone.” He said while getting up from his seat. Konon grabbed his hand, pulling him back down into his seat. “How would you know that if you wouldn’t bother trying it out?” She asked as Riki looked at her in annoyance.
“It just won’t go well.” He said. “At least try?” She pleaded as he stared into her eyes. “No promises,” he said and grabbed his crutches to leave. At least she tried.
“Alright, the lineup is quite uneven.” Soobin said while pacing down the line of dancers. “Jisung, who was your partner previously?” Soobin questioned as Jisung pointed at Haerin. “Okay… Who doesn’t have a solo performance in this competition?” He asked. Yunjin raised up her hand, gaining his attention.
“Since the numbers are uneven, you can have a solo part in this. Technically you’ll be leading the group, kinda?” He shrugged as Yunjin smiled. She’d be noticed for a bit at least. “Then we’re all set!” He cheered with a clap. “Jisung and Y/N, you two can be partners. The rest stay the same.” Soobin instructed and walked over to the stereo, playing the song associated with this dance.
“Let’s get to work!” Soobin said as everyone nodded.
Jisung hasn’t seen you dance up-close before. Observing from afar, he noticed how Riki and Chan hated you at the beginning but now it was different. You all seemed like friends and to be honest he wanted to join in on the small group too but was too shy to communicate with you.
So, after hearing that he had a chance of being paired up with you he was thrilled. This could be his chance to finally communicate with you after chickening out everytime he built up the courage to.
You could say, he looked up to you a lot.
“Is this right?” You asked, bringing him back to reality. “Is what right?” He asked with a confused expression. You showed him your attempt of doing a certain move in the choreography. “Oh, yes that’s correct. If you can, you can try extending your arms a little more just for a bigger effect. Can I adjust one of them?” He asked, seeking permission first.
You nodded as he reached for your left arm, extending further. “There, much better.” He complimented. “Now try putting it all together.” He said and you did as told. He hummed in satisfaction and gave you a smile. “Here, take a break for now. You seem a little tired.” He suggested as you nodded. “Okay, tell me when you’re ready to continue.” Then you walked away to your backpack.
First of all, you were a very nice person. Very determined as well. This might be one of his favourite performances yet.
Riki sat on the floor, legs outstretched due to his cast. Watching you and Jisung train together only reminded him of the conversation with his older sister yesterday. Should he really tell you how he felt and face the chance of rejection or keep everything to himself and most likely watch you end up with Chan? He didn’t know which one to choose, they all sounded like terrible options and the outcomes didn’t make them any better.
To distract his mind, he pulled out unfinished work that he had to complete before his morning classes. It was a perfect distraction in his opinion. Chan was absent from school today which made his day survivable. Not that he didn’t like Chan anymore, he just couldn’t stand the sight of you and him smiling at each other left and right.
Reflecting on the conversation from yesterday, Riki was definitely jealous and definitely had feelings for you. There was no other way he didn’t. All the signs were obvious and explained why he felt like that whenever you were around him. Did it really take him that long to figure it out?
The snapping of his pencil pulled him out of his thoughts. The previously sharpened tip now shattered and jagged made him sigh. He didn’t have any spare ones on him nor did he have a pencil. Maybe finishing unfinished work wasn’t the best idea.
There was one month before the final competition and eventually that month became 2 weeks. He didn’t know how to feel. He was over the whole situation but he still felt worried. Worried for you and your performances. Were they going to go well or would they be a complete disaster?
He ran his fingers through his hair while letting out a heavy sigh. Maybe he should confess to get rid of part of his stressful thoughts, right?
“A penny for your thoughts?” Your voice suddenly came from out of nowhere as you took a seat beside him. He fought back the heat that rushed up to his face and dropped his hand into his lap.
“I’m fine,” He said, lying straight through his teeth. “Really? You looked like you were stressed out over something.” You brought your knees up to your chest with your arms. “Are you really, really, really sure?” You said while peering over at him.
“I’m fine, don’t worry. What about you?” He asked and looked at you. The two of you made eye contact for a few moments before you looked away and sighed. His gaze was too intense for you. During those few seconds, you could sense the sincerity behind his question.
You were really worried about your performances but tried to take your mind off of them many times. It was a big opportunity and you didn’t want to disappoint anyone.
“I’m just worried about the performances. Like, I don’t want to disappoint anyone especially you since, you know, you choreographed everything. It was also originally your spot which only makes me feel even worse if I mess it up.” You ranted as he listened.
“Don’t worry about me. You’re not upsetting anyone if you make one tiny mistake on stage. It’s the same as practicing. Is this your first performance?” He asked and you nodded. “Then don’t worry too much about it. Take it in as an experience.” He said, looking at you as you did the same.
“Break is over, let’s get back on track!” Soobin exclaimed as he walked back into the gymnasium—no one noticing that he left in the first place. You two stared in each other’s eyes for a brief moment before he ushered you to head back to the centre.
“Goodluck, I’ll be here if you need anything.” He said while giving you a slight smile. You smiled back at him and jogged over to the forming group of dancers.
It felt like he was forgetting something after you had left. It wasn’t until you began practicing with Jisung again when he remembered what he was supposed to say. His confession. He was so caught up in reassuring you that everything would be fine that he even forgot about the most important thing.
Seems like it’ll just have to wait.
He began packing up his belongings as you walked over to him. “It’s finally over. But there’s still rehearsals.” You whined and grabbed your backpack. You were tired of practicing to the same 4 songs for the past 3 months. You could most likely guess every single one of them by the first 0.1 second.
“You know what, let’s go somewhere.” You suggested as Riki looked up at you confused. “Like where?” He asked but you shrugged, unsure of where to go too. “Let’s just walk—or hop… and see whenever it takes us.” You said as he sent you a glare, causing you to laugh. “I didn’t mean it that way, I swear.” You defended.
You both followed random paths, majority of the time hoping you wouldn’t get lost. “Are you sure this is trustworthy?” He asked as you stopped in your tracks. “Honestly, I’ve never been down here but it’s cool.” You said while looking at the small river nearby. “Look!” You pointed at the stream of water.
“Doesn’t it have a nice flow?” You asked as you both walked over to it. “Yeah, I guess.” His disgust for nature was slowly going away the more you forced him outside. You looked over at him as he looked back in confusion. You seemed like you had something to say but judging by the scenery he already knew what it was.
“It reminds you of dancing, doesn’t it?” He asked, causing you to crack a smile and nod. “You know me so well,” you stood up from your spot on the grassy floor and dusted off your pants for any excess grass.
“Okay. What now?” You asked the boy behind you. He shrugged, “I don’t know.” He said. “Yeah, I don’t have anything either. What time is it?” You asked and he shrugged once more. “My phone’s dead in my backpack.” He said. “Yeah, mine too…Okay, let’s pray that we get home safely.” You said, all hope gone from your body.
You walked past him as he fought back the urge to stop you but failed miserably. “Wait,” he called, hand holding your wrist. “What?” You asked as he avoided eye contact with you. Silence fell between you both as he hesitated uttering the words he’s been waiting to say for the past week only to have to wait longer once they didn’t come out.
“Nevermind, it’s nothing.” He said while softly letting go of your wrist. “Oh okay, then let’s go.” You mumbled, trying to clear the awkward atmosphere. Half of you wished what he stopped you for was what you thought it was—a confession. But to your dismay, it ended up being nothing.
The walk back wasn’t any better. It was filled with silence as you both thought back to the supposed conversation from earlier. His thoughts were filled with him confessing while your’s were filled with different thoughts. If he confessed, would anything good happen? And did he even like you the same way you liked him?
STEP 11.
Today was the day you’ve been worried about. It was finally D-Day. To be honest, it felt like you and Riki hated each other’s guts a day ago but now that you got along you weren’t sure how to feel. One thing you were sure about were your feelings for him.
You always tried to make it less obvious in case he didn’t feel the same way to save yourself the embarrassment and always covered it up with silly remarks. Ones that you didn’t mean after your so-called enemies arc.
You wiped your sweaty hands on your pants out of nervousness. The crowd was huge, that’s for sure. One peek through those curtains was enough to spot around 400 people.
“You’ll be fine, I swear.” Riki said while using his crutches to get to you. “There’s so many people out there, are you sure we’re seeing the same venue?” You said anxiously while reaching for the dark red curtains once more. “Yes but looking outside will only make things even more nerve wracking.” He said while using one hand to close the curtains before you could fully open them.
“I don’t get how you’ve done this many times.” You said as he laughed at your words. “I’m not sure either.” He said, laughter dying down. “Here,” he let go of his crutches and placed both of his hands on your shoulders to direct you to the nearest chair. “Take a seat for now to calm down. You’ll do perfect during your first two solo performances. The other two are with other team members so you’re not alone.” He reassured you.
He struggled to balance on his non-injured foot and you took notice of it. “Don’t let go of your crutches before you end up falling to your death,” you scolded while picking them up off the ground and heading them to him. “Right,” he said, taking note of your words.
He looked at the time on the clock that hung above you. “You’re on in 5 minutes. I’ll be backstage in the meantime cheering you on, okay?” He asked as you nodded. The thought of having to go on stage under 5 minutes was terrible. You watched Riki exit the stage, heading through the doors that led backstage and exhaled a shaky breath.
“Are you nervous?” The voice from the boy in front of you asked. “Pretty much yeah.” You bounced your leg anxiously as Chan chuckled. “You’ll be fine. I overheard your’s and Riki’s conversation a bit and he’s right. You’ll do great during your solo performances.” He said and you smiled slightly.
“Thank you, I—”
“On call, the first performance starts in 3 minutes.” A member of the stage crew said. “That’s you,” he said and gave you a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll see you for our performance, goodluck.” He waved goodbye and you did the same.
Everything went well during rehearsals but you were still nervous. You were now performing to a way bigger group of people than before. There being recruiters who would evaluate your performances as well only added to your nervousness.
You sat there overthinking for too long judging by how fast those 3 minutes went by. Next thing you know, you were standing on stage as everyone in the crowd awaited the start of your performance.
All you had to do was leave everyone satisfied and impressed. And so you did. Although it wasn’t as good as other contestants, you were still glad you were placed on the podium for solo dances.
You were thankful for the silver medal that hung around your neck. You ran over to backstage, 30 minutes left to spare before the duo dances began. Riki sat on one of the seats near the monitor that showcased all the dances on stage. He had a dorky smile on his face. One that you mirrored as you ran over to him in joy and pulled him into a hug immediately.
Once you let go of him, you held the medal higher for him to get a closer look. “I saw it, I watched the whole thing.” He said with a proud smile. Although you had only 3 months to learn all of the dance moves to these 4 songs, you learned them perfectly. There wasn’t one mistake he could spot on the monitor when watching you. Were you always this good at everything?
Seeing you in the medal that he previously claimed to be his while showcasing your beautiful smile was enough to set him off the edge. But this time, there wasn’t a feeling of anger nor jealousy. He’s not sure what came over him and made him feel any of these feelings but next thing you know, you felt his lips on yours, leaving you both in shock.
You both pulled away from each other, eyes wide. “Wait, I’m sorry for that.” He apologized immediately, embarrassment fueling his body. You cupped his face or cheeks with your hands as he looked back up at you.
You searched his eyes for any signs of regret from his previous action but there was nothing. Instead, his eyes glanced down at your lips for a brief moment yet you still caught it and smiled. With no more time to waste, you immediately pressed your lips against his once more.
If this was what he’s been imagining for everytime he saw you, he sure didn’t blame himself. Although there was no verbal confession between you two, the act of a kiss spoke more than you two ever could.
But not for all.
Too focused on what was going on between the two of you made you both unaware of the boy who stood at the entrance. All he wanted was to tell you congratulations on the medal you had earned, not you earning your first kiss with his best friend—the boy you probably had feelings for.
With 20 minutes left to spare before his performance with you, he walked away from the doors, heading towards the nearest window for fresh air. All he had to do was pull himself together to be able to face you again. That wouldn’t be so hard on his part. Although he felt terrible from what he’s seen, he knew there was never a chance of you liking him back.
For most of his time knowing you, he was mean and ignorant. You two only became ‘friends’ recently but he still doesn’t know why he fell for you so fast. It was odd. But still, he’s happy for his friend. From the looks of it, he seemed to be head over heels for you since that day in P.E. class.
It was quite obvious but he only played along instead of embarrassing him further.
You and Riki pulled away from each other silly smiles plastered on both of your faces. “You know… Do I still have to verbally confess my feelings to you even after that?” He asked as you laughed. “I guess not unless you really want to. But also, you should really start a habit of using some sort of lip balm or something.” You teased as his hand flew up to his lips in a haste.
You let out a laugh at his reaction and let go of the sides of his face. “I was only kidding, don’t worry.” You said as he rolled his eyes. “I was going to do a silly pickup line on you but I don’t think you deserve that anymore.” He said while taking a seat on the nearest chair.
“Wait, now I’m curious. What was it?” You asked but he shook his head and refused to respond. “No, honestly. I was only kidding, I swear!” You pleaded as he sighed. “I guess you deserve to hear it,” he started as you became intrigued.
He pointed at your medal as you looked down at it then back at him in confusion. “Notice how you got a 2nd place medal? That’s because I’m the one for you.” He said and you looked at him in disgust.
That’s what you begged for? He stared back at you, no embarrassment shown. How was that even possible after saying an atrocious sentence like that one?
“If you just asked me out I hope you know I’m planning on saying no.” You said as terror appeared on his face. “Oh come on, that was a good pickup line! I thought about it once you received your medal, see I’m a really creative person.” He complimented himself, causing you to fake gag.
“Creative where? That was traumatizing. Never do that again please.” You said as he scoffed. “As if you could do any better,” he said while crossing his arms. “Let’s not go back to that arc, it wasn’t our best one to be honest.” You suggested with a tight-lipped smile.
“Oh right. I forgot all about that.” He said and laughed awkwardly. “Anyways, I’m sure you have to go soon, right? At least 15 minutes passed with us talking, and well, you know.” He said, becoming slightly embarrassed and flustered at the memory. “You’re cute and yet so childish,” you teased with a smile.
“Am not?!” He argued.
“You quite literally are…Did you not hear the ‘pickup’ line you told me a few moments ago?” You said in disbelief.
“Hey, in my defense I warned you before I even said it.” He said as you nodded in a teasing way. “Yeah, yeah, okay.” You patted him on the shoulder, showing him that you ‘believed’ him even if he did warn you. Teasing him was quite fun.
“On call, duo performances start in 5.” The same member in the stage crew from earlier said. “Oh well, I’ll see you later.” You told him and waved goodbye. He smiled and wished you good luck while waving goodbye all at the same time.
Although it took quite a while, it was all worth confirming his feelings in the end. If there was something he learned during these three months, it was definitely these new feelings and his love for you and only you.
© haknom 2023 - do not copy, translate, or plagiarize my work on other platforms!
#k-labels#acgtdadnl — 🩰!#kpop x reader#kpop imagines#kpop scenarios#kpop fluff#enhypen x reader#enhypen#enhypen niki#niki enhypen#niki x reader#niki#enhypen fluff#enhypen angst#kpop#kpop angst#niki fluff#niki angst#ni ki enhypen#enha niki#niki enha#enha x reader#enha fluff#enha angst#enha#nishimura riki#nishimura riki x reader#riki x reader#enha riki#enhypen riki
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REPORT RIKI SMUT
Please please please report ANY smut you see on here or anywhere abt Riki since it's literally the sexualization of a MINOR (legal age in Korea is 19) a main acc making smut of him is @inkysocker please report them and do NOT interact with their works. Idc if they try to say some middle school ass typa shit as a comeback. Riki has been one of the most sexualized idols since he was 14. People failing to see that and and contributing to the sexualization of a CHILD shows how fucking disgusting you guys are. I said it before and ill say it again, idc if you're younger than him or older, be a decent person and treat him like a normal fucking human being. And if you bring up any of the other members to excuse sexualizing him then you're just as bad as the smut writers. Also, please report any accs you see liking or reblogging any posts sexualizing him and if u dont then I hope you sleep well at night knowing youre disregarding the sexualization of a minor thats been going through this since he was a freshly turned teenager (sorry if there's any typos i js got my nails done and it's hella hard to type)
#enhypen#kpop#enhypen niki#nishimura riki#protectniki#enhypen smut#enhypen tarot#enha scenarios#niki imagines#niki reactions#niki angst#niki scenarios#niki fluff#niki#niki x reader#enhypen scenarios#enha reactions#enhypen angst#enhypen imagines#riki x reader#enhypen riki#riki fluff#protection#serious post
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night secrets
sypnosis — in which the two of you reveal your deepest secrets to the other in the middle of the night.
warnings — profanity, hurt/comfort, angst, crying, mentions of bruises/injuries, lmk if theres more!
pairing — spiderman!niki x gn!reader
wordcount — 1590
a/n — happy bday niki!! sunghoon work coming soon guys i swear
The shine of the moon peers through your window, lightly illuminating Riki’s soft expression looking at you. You two are tangled together on your bed, facing each other.
His hair is slightly ruffled, and you can tell he’s tired just by his eyes. The room is silent, the only noise being the infinite white noise of the fan tucked onto your bedside table.
You can feel a chunk of your hair lifted, being felt by Riki’s gentle hand, he softly combs through it—untangling each knot that you had made while laying down.
He treats each strand as if he’s strumming a guitar, replaying the same chord over and over again until moving to the next.
It almost feels surreal, you’ve been hopelessly in love with this man for years and now you’re lying next to him. You lift your hand to his cheek, brushing it slightly—making sure that he isn’t some illusion your mind made up.
You let out a breathy smile on your face, admiring his sharp features that make your boyfriend.
Fate had a play in your lives. If that attack hadn’t happened during your first year of highschool you wouldn’t have been next to Niki right now, three or four years later.
Though fate had also made you trip over yourself in the hallway yesterday, fate has also placed Niki beside you to catch you. Fate was a scary thing to think of, how is it that everything happens for a reason? As crazy as it is, you would have wished for your life to go any other way.
It’s quiet in your room, but not an awkward silence. In Fact you enjoy it—but something inside you compels you to voice your thoughts to him.
Staring at his face, you try to imagine how he’d react to your thoughts, a few hours ago—when you were both wide awake he would’ve laughed and made some corny joke about it. But it’s different now. The moon’s out and the darkened sky makes you more vulnerable than ever.
“Is there something on your mind?” He asks, pausing his hair combing.
You’re not even sure your voice works after keeping silent for what felt like a couple centuries, but you answer anyways, “It’s nothing, keep brushing my hair, please?”
He chuckles quietly and you can feel the slight vibration in his chest, “Nothing? You’ve been staring at me weird for the past minute.”
“Promise you won’t judge me?” You hold up your pinky finger, though you can barely see it, you feel his arm shuffle to interlock with yours.
“Okay um—this sounds really corny but I’ve liked you since forever. I know I told you I started liking you last year because of that one time that villain came to our school and you protected me then went to help others but—I’ve liked you since seventh grade, and It feels so—so crazy that I’m laying in bed next to you right now, y’know?”
Everything you say sounds so rushed out in your world, but in Riki’s it feels like time is slowed, seventh grade? Even when he was a total loser who wore neon shorts to school? Even though he comes to school—or even to your home with bruises and injuries everywhere that taint his reflection in the mirror?
“You’re being so quiet—Why are you being so quiet?” Your voice is barely above a whisper, and Niki can’t help but showcase a big grin.
“I didn’t know you were so in love with me” His hand moves to teasingly pinch your cheek, ignoring the scowl on your face.
Ah. This was the reaction you should’ve expected.
Annoyed, you turn your body around to face the wall, but he grabs your waist, turning you around to face him once again.
“I love you too, Y/n. Sometimes I feel as if I don’t deserve you with everything I’ve done.”
You squint at him, trying to make out whatever flaw he thinks he has, “What do you mean “everything I’ve done”? If being the perfect boyfriend is everything then I think that you’re perfectly up to standard?”
His mouth opens slightly, as if he has a secret that’s dying to come out, one that seems to fight his way to his thoughts.
“Y/n, I have a secret for you too.”
Shuffling in your position, you look up at him with curious eyes. “What is it? I won’t laugh or tease you I promise.”
He sits up, and you follow. He ruffles his hair slightly, as if trying to get rid of his nerves. You grab his hand softly, playing with it to calm whatever nerves he has.
A sigh leaves his mouth, “I am uh—I’m Spiderman.”
His voice is shaky, as if it was caught in his throat and he had just forced it out. But—you can’t tell if he’s being serious, I mean it’s not like you knew Spiderman personally so you couldn’t really compare and contrast.
Though Niki was always a jokester, you decided that not believing him was the safer option. “Ki—that’s not funny. I thought we were being serious.” You furrow your brows, unable to read his face.
“I’m not joking! Look—”
White webs emerge from Niki’s wrist, shooting straight into your wall. You let out a gasp, tightening your grip on his wrist to find any evidence of a prank. You look at him with your mouth still as he patiently lets you search his arm for any evidence of silly string or something.
“Niki, if you’re joking I swear I’m going to fucking kill you.”
His hands raised in surrender, “I just showed you my webs! I also have my suit in my bag, I carry it everywhere with me.” He points to his duffle bag in the corner of your room which conveniently has a glimpse of red sticking out of it, squinting, you swear you can see the black design.
“And that night when that super villain came!” He frantically adds, “I left not to go help other people—but change into my suit so I could get rid of him!”
Your body is frozen, internally clicking the pieces together. All of the sudden, you know why he randomly appears with bruises or injuries or if he leaves in the middle of something important and comes back out of breath.
“Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
Your mind scrapes through everything you thought of him ever, unable to even comprehend that your friendly neighborhood spider man was just a teenage boy. Specifically the one standing right in front of you.
More importantly, you’ve seen the things people have done to spiderman. Publicly shaming him or even just getting tossed around by villains. And instead of getting a thanks from the city and some kind of prize, he’s judged for making a mess while saving your city.
Your mouth lays open slightly, unable to even think of the mistreatment he’s been getting, the amount of help he needs but can’t get without hurting anyone, the amount—
“Can you say something other than are you joking? Or are you serious, please?” His words are similar to yours just a minute ago, there are words you’d want to hear, and words you wouldn’t. There's an obvious decision you make.
Ignoring his plea, you envelope him in a hug, tucking his head in between your head and your shoulder. Letting him sit comfortably for a few seconds. The words barely come out of you, “I’m so proud of you.”
“What?” His words are muffled, he’s confused. But it comes out in a soft tone, almost fragile. You lean back, cupping his face in your hands.
“You’ve gone through so much with no help at all. I mean—you’re just a boy. And you’ve saved the city what—at least five times and you don’t get any credit for it at all. You come home with injuries every day because you’re busy saving everybody's asses—”
He leans back into you, dampness fills your shoulder as his body starts to tremble. You panic, lightly rubbing his back. “Fuck—I’m sorry, please don’t cry. I love you and I’m proud of you—please don’t cry.”
Your words only evoke more cries, until he’s full on sobbing on your shoulder. Every few seconds he sniffles.
Unsure of what to do, you whisper sweet words into his ears, letting him cry out all his worries as you continue to do your best to console him. Though your shirt will surely have a huge wet spot on your shoulder, you have hundreds of more to wear.
You couldn’t ever imagine what it would be like to be Spiderman. Having to be responsible for saving the city at least every week, having to come home limping and not being able to tell anyone why or even getting the appropriate help. Having to lie to your loved ones to protect them.
You couldn’t imagine ever having to go through the suffering he goes through, just to have to do it again the next week.
So, you continue to stay still. He cries until he runs out of tears, you softly lift his face to face yours, placing a soft kiss on his lips before tucking him into bed, whispering a soft “I love you, and I’m so proud of you, Niki.” you lay down next to him, intertwining your fingers and succumbing to your own drowsiness.
perm taglist : @jwnghyuns @ja4hyvn @trsrina @redm4ri @badmuni @yeokii @enhastolemyheart @softpia @s00buwu @ox1-lovesick @boyfhee @hanniluvi @teddywonss
yenqa © please do not copy, steal or translate.
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behind the net!┊nishimura riki
SYNOPSIS ! expecting a suspension at most after punching your friend’s bully, you found yourself being assigned as the new boys soccer team manager. not only did you know absolutely nothing about sports, but you now had to deal with nishimura riki, the team’s star winger, absolutely hating your guts. you’d never believe someone if they told you you’d soon be enjoying your new role as manager, and dating nishimura riki, all in the same month.
PAIRING ! soccerplayer!nishimura riki x manager!f!reader
WC ! 9.8k
GENRE ! e2l, high school au, fluff, slight angst
WARNINGS ! yn punches someone, you also get punched and knocked out, lmk if there’s more
a/n: hi loves! keep in mind this is my first long lengthed fic, so it may not be perfect. i still had fun with it though, so bare with me as i learn and experiment! i hope you enjoy soccer player niki as he took me lots of time and preparing <3
choi beomgyu talks too much.
you don’t know if you’d consider the puppy-faced boy a friend; the only time you get to see him is near the end of lunch break at his locker which is found right next to yours, yet somehow, he manages to tell you all the gossip around the school in those few minutes of grabbing supplies for next period. today seemed to be no different.
“—i swear i saw them making out in the boy’s bathroom, but you didn’t hear that from me. anyways, did you know that kim jisoo from the grade above us is leaving? i knew her parents were like, having some issues n’ stuff, but apparently..”
sometimes, you just have to tune choi beomgyu out. occasionally, you offer a quick ‘mhm’ or ‘wow’ to ensure him you’re absolutely enthralled by his stories, even though in reality you’d rather be sticking a kazoo up your ear.
“—so yeah, i just feel bad for her. oh,” beomgyu pauses his movements in his locker, strangely focused on something to his right. “looks like chelsea’s messing with byeol again.”
“mhm,” you add absentmindedly, shoving your binder under your arm.
wait, what did choi beomgyu just say?
you snap your head to your locker buddy, frantically walking around him to follow his gaze. “hold on, what?”
byeol has been your best friend since you both met in the school’s photography club. you always had each other’s back, it was known to everyone that the two of you were close by the way you were almost always found together at breaks. however, you couldn’t always be there for byeol. your friend has been getting harassed by this ‘chelsea’ chick for weeks, all because byeol had submitted a photo to the school newspaper where she was in the background, making a rather unattractive face.
no matter how many times byeol apologized for the mistake, chelsea refused to forgive her for ‘ruining her high status’ around school. petty insults in the halls, taking revenge pictures of her in class, pushing disguised as ‘friendly nudges’,and much more were daily occurrences you had to witness your poor friend go through.
“why can’t you just report her?” you had asked one day.
“because y/n. snitches get stitches, everyone knows that.”
well, it definitely seemed like she was going to be getting stitches, snitching or not. you could barely make out byeol’s chestnut brown hair pressed against a locker, chelsea standing menacingly in front of her. other students were slowly forming an audience around the two, some pulling out their phones and whispering to their friends. you quickly readjusted the books in your arms, speed walking over to the girls.
“oh, bye y/n!” beomgyu calls from somewhere in the background, cluelessly unaware of the fuming expression slowly creeping up your face.
by the time you reach your best friend, chelsea has her nailed to the locker, repeatedly pushing her into it. “seriously, you’re so pathetic!” she barks, “can’t even fight back, god.”
your jaw ticks, throwing your stuff to the ground to make your presence known. when byeol notices you, she gasps, frantically throwing her hands up. “y/n! i-i can explain—“ you gently move her to the side, walking up to chelsea, and before you stop to think about the consequences, throw a solid punch to her chin.
gasps and screams circulate the halls as the students watch you glare down at your classmate who has now fallen to the ground from your jab. chelsea lets out a strangled cry, hiding her face and cradling her slowly bruising chin in her hand. “what the hell, y/n! why would you do that?!” byeol yelps to your emotionless face, shaking your shoulder.
satisfied, you grab byeol’s wrist, dragging her next to you to pick up your stuff. you ignore the many recording phones following your steps, focusing on the floor tiles in front of you. “c’mon bee, we have chemistry.”
byeol nearly trips trying to keep up with your pace, gawking at your side profile in utter shock. “h-hey! don’t call me that cute name after you just punched someone! and not just anyone, y/n. that was kim chelsea, you do know that right you crazy idiot!? you might get suspended!”
you finally let out a sigh, looking at the girl blankly as you continue walking to your class as if nothing happened. “what was i supposed to do, byeol? watch my best friend let herself get walked on like every other day?”
“w-well, she had a reason this time. i forgot to buy her lunch.”
you scoff in disbelief, “nice one.”
“no, seriously, y/n! it’s my way of paying back for that awful picture in th—“
“in the newspaper,” you recite with a roll of your eyes, “from like three weeks ago! jesus, bee. nobody fucking cares anymore but her! she has no right to treat you like dogshit even when you’ve apologized a gazillion times now.”
byeol scratches her head nervously, staring down at her neatly strapped shoes. “was that really three weeks ago? aish,” she huffs.
L/N Y/N, PLEASE REPORT TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.
“oh no,” byeol mutters, suddenly reaching over and shaking both of your shoulders aggressively, “y/n you big nincompoop, look what you’ve done! if you get expelled i’m gonna be all alone in this hellhole!”
you giggle slightly, finding yourself a bit too calm even for your standards as you place your own hands on top of hers comfortingly. “don’t worry, i’m a top student, they wouldn’t do that. i’ll probably be back here in like, five minutes okay? there’s no punishment that can bother me.”
add that to the list of famous last words.
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“i never thought i’d see you here, miss l/n.” the principal sighs, watching you settle down in the chair across from her.
“i’m sorry,” you pause for a moment before correcting yourself, “i’m sorry for disappointing you, mrs. lee.”
the woman raises an eyebrow at that, calmly lacing her ring-attired fingers on her desk. “i see. so you’re not sorry to chelsea, who is currently getting treated by the school nurses?”
“no ma’am. i would never harm anybody without a good reason.” you choose your worlds carefully, as it is not your position to be the one to tattle on chelsea, no matter how much your desires tell you to. a picture of byeol flashes through your head. your poor, naive best friend. you think any punishment would be worth helping her.
the principal seems to catch your memo quickly, nodding in understanding. “i believe you, y/n, and i can trust that you understand what you did was wrong. however, a punch is a punch, and your actions have consequences.”
“i understand too, and i’m ready to take whatever it is,” you reply confidently, nodding to the older woman in anticipation.
at your words, mrs. lee reaches next to her and opens up a yellow portfolio, holding it tightly in her hands. “very well. i decided to hold off on a suspension, as luckily enough, there was something else that desperately required someone responsible, organized, and smart like you, dear.” you curiously raise an eyebrow at that, watching as she opens up the portfolio and slides it across the desk to you. “to atone for your incident with chelsea, you will become the new boys soccer team manager.”
you freeze, unable to comprehend what was just said. you were ready to clean the bathrooms for the next few months, have detention every day for the semester, maybe clean up the mess everyday in the cafeteria. there was no way you just heard what you thought you did. in a last ditch prayer, you swallow. “i-i’m sorry, what was that?“
you swear you see the evil woman’s lips quirk a bit in some kind of amusement. “you will be the new boys soccer team manager for the year. the season starts in only three weeks, and it’d be much too difficult for mr. kwang to run the team without any help.”
did she say the year? “but- but ma’am, i don’t know anything about soccer,” you exclaim desperately, examining the papers inside the portfolio. there were all sorts of criteria and things you’d be agreeing to if you signed the contract, including missing full school days to travel with the team and attend games. just the thought of missing class to watch a bunch of sweaty, teenage boys kick balls around made you sick to your stomach. perhaps punching kim chelsea wasn’t worth it after all (sorry byeol).
“you’ll learn quickly just like you do academically, dear. and anyway, you’ll mainly be doing other things like preparing advertisements for the team, organising games and practise dates, assisting the team members, and helping mr kwang with anything else he needs,” she lists off on her fingers, gesturing to the ballpoint pen in front of you as a reminder to get signing, as you didn’t exactly have another option.
organising games? preparing advertisements? and what did assisting the team members even mean? you didn’t want to know, or even hear the words ‘boys soccer team’ ever again. yet you found yourself picking up the pen, reluctantly scribbling down your now permanently inked signature onto the dreaded contract.
what on earth did you get yourself into?
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“you’re the new what?!” you quickly cover byeol’s mouth, hiding her lips from the apple juicebox now being choked in her grasp. the students around the cafeteria glance at the two of you suspiciously, especially curious after the whole chelsea affair.
you remove your hand to reach into your daily bag of animal crackers that you never forget to bring to school, munching away with a glare. “geez, we don’t need the whole school learning my dirty secret that fast.”
“dirty? y/n, don’t you get what this means!?” byeol inquires, looking somewhat envious as she sips her juicebox. you give her a strange look, languidly reaching for your water bottle. “for the whole school year, you get to not only watch, but hang out and talk with the hottest boys in the school! punching chelsea is the best thing you’ve ever done!”
you ponder for a moment, contemplating her words with another handful of crackers. “okay, but it’s not just hot guys, bee. i have to organise and attend every one of their dumb little ball games which also means missing whole school days.” byeol doesn’t seem phased by your response before you add the next part. “and, i probably won’t have time for photography club anymore.”
she deflates at that, reaching her hand into your bag to steal a few crackers for herself. “now that does suck. promise you’ll still try to come to some meetings?”
“no promises.”
her face suddenly brightens again comically, wiggling her eyebrows. “oh and, you have to introduce me to park sunghoon. well actually— introduce me to all of them. but especially park sunghoon!”
you sigh, lazily throwing your now empty cracker bag into the garbage, “you���re too good for those out of control jocks, bee.
byeol quirks her eyebrows to you, pushing her hair back. “we’ll see about that when you end up falling for one of those soccer boys. it’s inescapable being with those handsome faces all year.”
“i’m slightly offended that you think this lowly of me.”
your best friend stands up from the cafeteria bench, giving her juicebox one last, dramatic sip. “fine, but when you do fall in love, remember this conversation!”
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two days after signing your life away to the soccer team would be your first day meeting them. you were to be at the school’s field right after dismissal for practise, 3:15 sharp. your backpack was all ready, prepared with absolutely anything you may need: a water bottle in case mr kwang decides to make you do any sort of physical activity, your animal crackers (obviously), a flashlight since you weren’t exactly sure how late you’d be at practise, your camera to take pictures for photography club, and much more.
this didn’t exactly mean you were ready though. you had absolutely no idea what you were supposed to do, there was no team manager training courses. and not only were you going to be inspected like a piece of meat by a bunch of attractive boys, but you also had to watch them play soccer all afternoon.
with a million thoughts going through your mind, you make your way closer to the soccer field than you’ve ever been in your life, pushing open the black gate surrounding the perimeter. for whatever reason, there were rows and rows of girls in the bleachers watching the boys practise, all giving you angry, disapproving looks as you step onto the field. the grass is fake, you realise, noticing the bits of black tires hidden in the plastic turf. you’re going to love finding those in every crevice of your poor shoes. when you look up, heat rushes to your cheeks as you meet the eyes of practically the entire soccer team on you, probably wondering why on earth some random girl with a backpack bigger than her has just walked onto their home field.
you scan your eyes over the team, finding a few familiar faces. #19 was sim jaehyun, or jake, who was known for being an absolute playboy, yet still managed to pull a new girl each week. he was quite funny though, you could appreciate his jokes even from afar in class.
when #12 turns around, you immediately recognise the handsome profile of park sunghoon. not only did he play soccer, but he was an amazing figure skater, or so you heard. byeol would probably faint at the sight of him now, dripping with sweat despite practise starting only minutes prior.
that’s definitely lee heeseung, you notice his pink hair miles away paired with his #20 jersey. he was amazing at everything, academic wise he was another top student, yet he still somehow made time to be in almost every sports team the school had to offer, also placing as one of the best players. you wouldn’t be surprised if he had a big role on this team as well.
out of the corner of your eye, you notice a pale boy with black, curly hair staring daggers into your side, soccer ball held between his fingers tightly. when you turn your gaze towards him, he stubbornly whips back around. #10, nishimura, his jersey reads.
“ah, right on time as expected, y/n!” at their coaches loud voice, the team gets even more interested, pausing their movements with the balls at their cleats.
“oh no, another chick from the nerd emporium.” you hear park jay mutter with his hands on his hips.
“i don’t mind the journal club girls. they always get flustered so easily, it’s hilarious. and look, at least she’s pretty cute,” jake shrugs back.
you hold in the urge to roll your eyes, grinning as mr. kwang shakes your hand. “it’s nice to finally meet you,” you chirped.
“no, no! the pleasure is all mine. we’re going to have such a fun year together,” he chortles, bringing you right to the middle of the field. the sudden, loud screech of a whistle makes you jump slightly, observing cautiously as the boys run over like a bunch of herded sheep. they messily form in a line, a few of them mischievously bumping each other's shoulders before they notice your presence, slowly looking you up and down. you gulp. one thing byeol was right about was that they were all hot. and very sweaty.
some of the boys offer you little waves, which you softly offer in return. a few of them smile at you or offer a quick nod when your eyes meet, crossing their arms tightly over the school’s purple jerseys. the nishimura boy from earlier though, looks at you with a bored, almost angry frown, finding the turf more interesting than anything you have to offer.
you don’t get a chance to wonder why when mr. kwang suddenly wraps a big arm around your shoulder. “boys, meet the new member of our team!”
it was silent for a moment, the team all exchanging weird looks. “coach, it’s just another journal club article, right?” a shorter boy with bright red hair and cat-like features asks.
“not quite, captain.” at the nickname, you glance at the bright yellow pad on the red haired boy’s arm. it didn’t take a genius to figure out he must be the team’s captain. “this is l/n y/n, our new team manager!”
“what?” nishimura speaks for the first time, his face finally sparking with some emotion, though he didn’t sound too pleased.
“she’s our manager?” jake points to you with an amused giggle.
mr. kwang proudly ruffles your head, promptly destroying your once tidy hairstyle. “you betcha, sim! for the rest of the year too, so get used to her being around. now, i need to get her organised. keep doing those drills!” he blows the whistle around his neck again, watching as all the boys quickly jog back to their positions. though, you can still feel most of their eyes on your back as you walk over to the bench with their coach.
“so, y/n. i know you don’t exactly want to be here.” when he sees you try to speak up in defense, he raises a hand. “it’s okay, my feelings aren’t hurt.” you both laugh, sitting and watching the boys train around the field. “it’s just, i think you might find yourself enjoying this job if you really give them a try.”
you rest your face on your hand, giving his words a thought. “maybe. it’s just, this is all a bit overwhelming, y’know?”
mr kwang pats your shoulder, “of course it is, and that’s okay. but i’m sure with a few weeks, you’ll get the hang of things and find yourself enjoying it out here on the field! just give the team a chance and make the best out of your new family, okay?” you offer a small nod, watching as he pulls a white whistle and a clipboard out of his duffel bag. “consider this my welcome gift to you,” he announces proudly, offering the items to you.
you quickly take them, looking at the man in surprise. “oh, thank you sir! what’s the whistle for?”
“anytime you need to get their attention, of course,” mr kwang winks, gesturing to the boys. “it’s pretty fun watching them run over to you like a bunch of dogs playing fetch, you’ll see for yourself shortly.” suddenly, he gets up, seemingly remembering something important. “oh, and come with me, dear!”
you swiftly get up to follow him into what seems to be the team’s locker room, throwing your new whistle around your neck in the process. it’s not very tidy; random pairs of knee pads and socks are scattered around the room carelessly, and multiple shorts and jerseys almost make a trail leading all the way to the showers nearby. not to mention it reeked of sweat, and well, teenage boys. mr. kwang quickly notices the disgusted crinkles on your face, laughing out an apology on behalf of the mess.
though your expression quickly turns to one of shock when he continues past the locker rooms and through the hall that leads to two black doors. one reading ‘coach kwang’ and the other reading ‘manager’. the inside was just as surprising, gasping as he ushers you into a neatly organised office with multiple, tidy shelves and a big desk. “what the- is this for me?” you mutter in denial, gripping your clipboard tighter.
mr. kwang smiles, offering you a key attached to a purple lanyard. “yes of course! there is going to be quite a lot of work when it comes to organising the team’s events and advertising games, so this is just a private space that can always be available if needed.”
“thank you so much, i’ll use it well!” you bow gratefully. wait until byeol hears about all this, she’s definitely going to want to see for herself.
after mr kwang led you around the rest of the building and fed you helpful advice along the way, the both of you ended up back outside where the boys seemed to be having a water break.
“there they are!” a cute blonde haired boy you recall as sunoo sings, making the rest of the team’s heads turn to see you.
heeseung is the first to walk up to you, offering his sweaty hand out politely. “it’s nice to meet you, manager,” he says smugly, smirking down at you.
you offer him a challenging tilt of your head, shaking his hand firmly. “you too, lee heeseung.” you do your best to keep up a cool exterior, even though you’re slightly freaking out on the inside from all the attention. this was completely different to the feeling of all the eyes after punching chelsea; it felt more like you were being inspected piece by piece, especially by the nishimura boy, who’s sitting cross legged on the ground with his waterbottle. you’re yet to find out his first name, but you had a feeling he had no interest in telling you by the icy glare he throws your way.
what on earth have you ever done to him? you don’t think you even have a single class with the boy, not to mention speaking to him.
“manager,” sim jake calls out your new nickname cockily, pushing his hair back. “out of all of us, who’s the most attractive?”
out of pure instinct, your eyes travel to nishimura for a split second, quickly looking back to jake. damn it, y/n! what was that? out of all the boys, you choose the one that hates you? it was already too late, as the rest of the boys immediately followed your split second glance to their teammate. “niki? seriously manager, i’m way better looking than him,” sunghoon remarks disapprovingly.
you hurriedly raise your hands in defense, “wh-what? i never said i chose him!”
nishimura — or niki — seems almost repulsed by the discussion at hand, still refusing to even look at you as he gives his teammates a disgusted look.
“cute,” jay laughs along with a few others at the growing blush on your cheeks, sipping his water.
suddenly, the red headed captain lets out a sigh, reaching over to pat your shoulder. “you idiots are scaring her, shut up.” he suddenly leans closer to you, warm breath fanning your ear. “welcome to the team. i’m the captain, yang jungwon. i hope we can be friends.” he smirks slightly at the redness of your face before backing up again, and it makes you question if he really feels sympathy for you.
honestly, what was even happening anymore? were you in a drama? a romance webtoon? you originally insisted you were never one to fall for such charms, yet here you were, a flustered mess over a few pretty faces. “uh-“ you gulp, “it’s nice to meet you too— all of you. i’ll do my best to help the team.”
“how’d you become our manager anyway?” heeseung questions, a few of the boys nodding in agreement. at this, niki’s head raises in interest for the first time, awaiting your response carefully.
you swallow nervously, unsure if you should tell them the truth. if they were going to be your ‘family’, you might as well show some honesty. “well uh, no offense, but i’m not here because i want to be. i know nothing about soccer,” you begin.
niki scoffs at that, rolling his eyes, “of course you don’t.” he only glares coldly when jake elbows his side.
“i’m here as a punishment. for-“ you look down, feeling embarrassment about what you did for the first time all because of niki’s scrutiny. “for punching kim chelsea.” sounds of surprise circle the team at your confession, and you watch in worry as niki’s jaw clenches, his fists tightening at his sides as if he’s holding himself back.
do.. niki and chelsea know each other?
“that was you!?” jungwon gasps, nervously checking on his younger, black haired friend. he then walks over to him and whispers something into his ear, soothingly patting his back.
“no way,” jake mutters.
your eyebrows furrow, finally making eye contact with niki for the first time with a sudden urge to defend yourself, “i didn’t do it for fun! i—“
“just be quiet,” niki spits, throwing his blue hoodie and bag over his shoulder before walking off the field, away from the team without another word.
“yah, nishimura! get your ass back here and apologize!” jay barks with no result.
“there’s still twenty minutes of practise, bro!” sunghoon adds.
jungwon only sighs, looking at you pitifully. “sorry about him, it’s.. it’s a long story. i think you two should figure it out alone.”
“i only punched chelsea to defend my friend, who she’s been bullying for weeks straight,” you finish saying what niki didn’t let you, frustratedly pushing your hair back.
the boys seemed flabbergasted by this discovery, exchanging shocked glances. “yeah, you really gotta talk to him,” jake acknowledges.
day one as the soccer team manager, and you think you’d rather be dead.
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the news of your recently gained title spread like wildfire around school by the next morning. not only were random girls asking you for information about the team members all day, but the boys themselves constantly waved or said hi to you in the halls, earning you a handful of jealous glares from said girls.
you nearly choke in confusion when you open your locker to see about twenty letters piled up in a small mountain, some decorated to grab your attention and stand out more than the rest. you cautiously look around for a moment before grabbing one of the letters, opening it up carefully.
dearest y/n (aka the manager),
i know you don’t know me, but i have handwritten this letter in search of desperate help regarding yang jungwon. what is he like with his friends? does he smell good? he’s an amazing captain to his team, right? please, i have to know what i need to do to reach his heart. shall i prepare flowers and a teddy bear? some new cleats? please send advice, i need to get him to notice me.
sincerely, yang rei.
jesus christ. was this seriously what all these letters were for? you’ve only spent a day with the team so far, and this was the result? how were you supposed to know if jungwon preferred flowers or cleats?
“y/n!” as if your morning couldn’t get worse, the biggest yapper himself, choi beomgyu appears out of thin air. “i heard you’ve been assigned the boys soccer team manager after you got in trouble with the principal for punching-“
“hi beomgyu. yep, thanks for the summary.” you cut in, smiling passive aggressively.
the brown haired boy doesn’t get the memo, smiling back enthusiastically while raising a nosy eyebrow at your letter tower. “you sure are popular now, huh? what’s with all the letters?”
none of your business, choi beomgyu. “yeah, i kinda have a fanclub now.” technically, that wasn’t a lie. in your peripheral vision, a familiar nest of black curls walks by, the same blue hoodie from practice thrown over his uniform. nishimura riki. for some strange reason, you feel a sweep of butterflies rush through you at the sight of the boy who would probably rather spend his time with a wet sock than with you.
‘remember this conversation when you fall in love!’ the teasing voice of byeol snaps you out of your trance, slamming your locker shut and rushing to catch up with him.
“bye, y/n!” beomgyu says in the background once again. his dumb voice truly sounds like deja vu, instead you might be the one getting punched this time around with the face niki makes when he sees you walking next to him.
“the hell do you think you’re doing?” he snarls, speeding up his pace in an attempt to lose you.
“listen, i don’t know why you care about chelsea so much,” shit! why did you start with mentioning her of all things? niki immediately growls in annoyance, purposely pushing through groups of people in the halls. you run to catch up to him, apologising to the students you nudge along the way. “but- but you need to let me explain.”
“get away from me. i don’t need to be seen with someone who hurt my friend out of jealousy,” he states firmly.
you freeze, looking at his expressionless side profile. “jealousy? what are you even talking about? just let me tell you my side. please, niki.”
without even considering your offer or sparing a glance, niki enters his classroom, slamming the door right on your face.
“what the fuck!” you curse furiously under your breath. making a fool out of yourself just for some dumb soccer boy’s approval? what’s your pathetic reputation come to?
no. if nishimura riki wants to try and hate you that bad, then so be it. but you’ll never be one to turn down a challenge.
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niki hates the fact that through his whole history class, he’s too busy thinking about l/n y/n to process anything that’s being taught. he has never been so interested in a girl before, definitely not someone like you who he was supposed to hate. for some reason, he didn’t like when you laughed and high fived his teammates in the hallways. he didn’t like how you now sat next to jungwon in maths, and he had to deal with seeing you guys whisper in each others ears for the whole hour. and in the hallways just now? you looked so cute running to catch up to him, so desperate to try and get his attention.
guilt rushes through him for thinking of you in such a way. no! that is not why he’s thinking about you. you’re not cute at all.
but what did you want to explain? why you punched one of his closest friends? he already knew everything, chelsea wouldn’t lie to him, right?
he recalls rushing into the school nursing room when he heard what’d happened, wanting to check on his friend. “geez, it’s bruising bad. did you accidentally bite your lip when it happened?” he had asked worriedly, cupping chelsea’s chin as if she were a fragile vase.
she sniffles, holding his wrist in her grip tightly. “mhm, it hurts so bad, ki.”
niki frowns, biting his lip. in his opinion, his friend’s being in pain was more painful than if it was his own. anger flows through him as he continues to inspect the girl’s wound. “who did this?”
“l/n y/n,” she doesn’t hesitate even a bit, eyes turning to slits, “it-it’s cause she’s jealous of me i guess. she always hated me for my looks, i don’t know.”
and ever since that day, niki had gone on a mission to find l/n y/n.
yet the minute he saw you walk on that field with your dumb, giant backpack, he knew he would never be able to punch you back.
niki groans, ruffling his black locks with his free hand while wondering how on earth to get you out of his head.
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two practises until the season begins and surprisingly, you were getting along with the boys well (apart from a certain someone). you’ve learned a few important things about not only the team members, but also soccer itself: heeseung usually plays a position called striker, which is the highest position on the field and the most common spot for scoring goals. niki and jake were the main left and right wingers, and are usually the ones assisting heeseung in scoring. jungwon explained to you how nobody stays on the field for too long, everyone gets breaks by subbing for each other on and off the bench. you were pretty proud of your growing knowledge of the sport considering you started from nothing, and you were even more excited to show the team what you’d been working on.
ignoring the daily glares of the female spectators on the bleachers, you trail onto the field and over to where the boys are practising. “manager!” jake waves at the sight of you, a big, goofy smile growing on his face. at your nickname, the rest of the boys look up, waving to you as well. niki simply stares at you, rolling his eyes stubbornly.
“hi, y/n!” jungwon greets, kicking the ball at his feet over to you.
you yelp, nearly stumbling over it. “yah, i’m not your teammate!” you awkwardly do your best to boot it back in his general direction, luring an amused chuckle out of the captain. anyone could tell sports were not your thing by that single interaction. “anyways, all of you c’mere.” for the fun of it, you demandingly blow your whistle along the way.
“i think we heard you just fine,” jay teases, watching you set your backpack down on the bench.
sunghoon sighs, crossing his arms. “you know how she gets with the whistle. it’s almost as scary as mr. kwang when someone forgets to turn the showers off.”
“very funny,” you pout, pulling out your clipboard along with a bag of animal crackers.
“so what’re we all here for,” heeseung inquires, “an animal cracker mukbang?” a few snickers are heard around the team as some boys decide to take a seat on the turf.
“geez, you guys are so impatient. here,” you show them the papers you’ve printed, proudly gesturing for jungwon to pass them around.
“what’s this— wait,” jungwon’s eyes widen, scanning the documents over. “y/n, is- aren’t these players from the team we’re going against for our first game?
you smirk, shoving a handful of crackers into your mouth. “yep, spent a few hours researching all about ‘em. their most probable starting lineup, goalie’s weak spots, each players positions and things to watch out for, and more. all on those papers.”
“that’s our manager!” a new voice praises. mr kwang looks pleased as he walks over, placing a hand on your shoulder happily. “very well done, y/n. this will be a big help when planning our strategy.”
“holy shit, this is insane,” jay mutters, flipping through the pages slowly. even niki has nothing to complain about, studying them over his hyung’s shoulder.
“language, and that’s enough. all of you back to your drills! let’s go!” mr. kwang barks, blowing his whistle and winking at you as all the boys practically sprint back to their spots in fear.
the next half an hour you spend writing stats about each of the boys and how they’re playing during practice. every once in a while, one of them will jog over to the bench and you’ll hand them their water bottle, all while stuffing your face with animal crackers (jake stole a few at one point, and you were not pleased).
“water,” a deep voice mumbles. you pause your writing to look up and find niki staring down at you, uniform drenched in sweat and exhaustion.
he looks like an angel, skin glistening beautifully under the sun as he pushes his moist bangs away from his forehead. for a moment, you just admire him, mouth parted slightly. “geez, get a hold of yourself.” he impatiently makes his way behind you to where the water bottles are, chugging down the refreshment obnoxiously. it almost feels like he’s showing off now, purposely throwing his head back and displaying his adam’s apple as it bobs after every sip.
niki catches your spying as he finishes the drink, scoffing in amusement. “why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer.”
you gulp, sheepishly looking back down at your clipboard. “i wasn’t looking at you.”
“mhm. you have crumbs on your lips by the way,” he comments. you lift a hand to try and wipe them off, but to no avail according to the annoyed look niki sends your way. he rolls his eyes, walking over and bending down in front of you.
oh god, this was bad, very bad. why is he so close? his moles are even more endearing up front, and you can feel his breath fan your face as he lifts a hand to your lips, slowly wiping the crumbs off with his thumb. “need me to do everything for you? i thought you’re my manager.” heat rushes to your cheeks, unable to form a reply.
and with that, niki turns around, walking away as if nothing happened.
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the next few days flew by with little difficulty— or at least, in the nishimura riki department. you decided to not confront him about his stunt at last practise, but that wasn’t fully your choice; you’ve been discovering the hard way that trying to balance school and being a team manager was like trying to play two instruments at the same time. first you’d have your classes full of new assignments, then you stay after school to get manager work done, and then you go straight from your office to the library to study, and by the time you get home it’s already dark and dinner is left cold on the counter for you.
byeol was not happy with your newly packed schedule either, especially now that photography club was out of the question. but there was no time to worry about your friend now, practise was starting in five minutes and your precious animal crackers were nowhere to be found. the search to find the snack would be much easier if there weren’t hundreds of letters stuffed in your poor locker daily. you were seriously getting sick of throwing out notes asking what perfume park sunghoon used.
“y/n.” that voice sounded awfully, unpleasantly familiar. you whip around from your locker, locking eyes with a frowning kim chelsea.
your eyebrows furrow, inspecting the bruise on her chin. “chelsea.”
she seems to get even angrier at your nonchalant response, eye twitching as she reaches out to shove you against your open locker, making the letters inside sprinkle to the ground. your right shoulder slams against your locker shelf, making you hiss out in pain. “seriously, you want to do this again?” you snarl, now holding your aching shoulder.
“how the hell did you become their manager?” chelsea barks, throwing punch after punch in your direction. her throwing speed clearly isn’t very promising, as it takes you no effort to dodge out of the way before every strike. “yah, tell me!” she screams, moving back as you try to grab her wrists and calm her down.
what’s with the deja vu? students have formed around the both of you again, pulling out their phones and calling their friends over. you swear you can see beomgyu’s fluffy brown hair in the crowd, but he doesn’t look very excited by the fight. he looks almost.. worried for you.
while you’re distracted, chelsea rips her hand away from your restraint, landing a solid punch to your jaw. ouch. as soon as the contact is made, the room starts spinning. it seems you’ve fallen to the ground by the blurry groups of students looking down at you. for some reason, you can’t hear their screams much, almost like you’re underwater. the lights are extra bright now, and everything just keeps twirling around like a beyblade until it all goes black. wait.. is that byeol? you recognise her chocolate hair even if it’s unclear and fuzzy. and hold on.. wasn’t that niki who was kneeling down next to you..? you’re too lightheaded to know for sure.
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ah, so this is what kim chelsea felt like only a few days prior. your lips were dry and chapped, and you felt like you’ve slept for a week straight. there’s a screaming ache on your right shoulder, and your jaw hurts every time you open your mouth.
oh right, you were shoved. and punched. by kim chelsea.
you smack your lips, pushing yourself up from the school clinic’s bed to find byeol on her phone, kicking her feet in the air like a child next to you. she gasps when she notices your movements, rushing over to your side. “you’re awake! you were out for a whole two hours you big, stupid, idiot.”
you chuckle at her relentless insults, pulling your friend in for a much needed hug. “thanks for staying with me. and what do you mean? this time it was all chelsea.”
“i know, i know, but you always find a way to make me worried! can’t you go just one week without getting in a fight?” byeol complains, reaching down to hold your hand in hers.
“sorry, bee.” shit, realization hits you like lightning. “wait, i missed soccer practise! that was the last practise before our first game this week, and i had so much planned for training and—“
byeol squeezes your hand, laughing at your strange choice of priorities. “y/n, calm down. you literally have injuries all over you, why are you worried about the soccer team? i’m sure they’ll be fine.” byeol suddenly smirks, as if she knows something you don’t. “speaking of, this one black haired boy seemed really worried about you. after he yelled at chelsea for a bit, he piggybacked you all the way here.”
“seriously?” your eyes widen. niki helped you?
byeol nods in confirmation. “i went too, of course! i was like, the most worried about you. just for the record, i was much, much more worried than your boyfriend.” you smack the girl’s arm, making her let out a mischievous snicker. “but yeah. along the way he asked me a bit about what happened, so i told him how chelsea was well- making me buy her lunch and constantly pushing me—“
“bullying you,” you correct sternly.
“yeah,” your friend gulps. “which is why you punched her n’ all that. then he went really quiet. also, he wanted to stay with you but he had practice.”
you sigh. while you made it out with a bruising jaw and sore shoulder, at least niki knows the truth. for some reason, you find yourself beaming at the thought (then proceeding to hiss in pain at the ache in your jaw).
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four days after chelsea (who hasn’t been seen since) punched you was the next time you saw niki. your shoulder had healed completely, while your jaw was still getting there in due time. over the four days, you’ve been putting up the advertisements you and byeol proudly made to bring in more people to the upcoming game, sticking them to the walls all around school.
“y/n!” for the first time since you’ve met him, niki says your name with an adorable smile on his face. though you were a bit confused, your heart can’t help but beat loudly at his cute expression. he jogs over to you, cheekily throwing an arm around your shoulder. “what’re you doing?”
how could this be the same boy who was so cold to you days prior? “oh, so we’re friends now?” you ask, half serious.
niki swallows, turning his gaze away from you. “look. i’m- i’m really sorry for not giving you a chance to tell your side of the story and being well, a dick. i really should’ve heard you out before treating you like that.”
you nod in approval, looking back down to tape another advertisement to the wall. “it’s okay, practises will be much less tense now without you staring holes into the back of my head.” when you don’t get a response, you open your mouth to speak before you're suddenly pushed against the wall, arms caging you on either sides of your head by the taller boy.
he has a small, cocky smirk on his face at your dumbfounded expression when he leans closer. “y/n?”
your swear your chest is going to explode, butterflies running wild at the sight of niki’s face being only inches from yours. thank god the hallway was empty, or the blush on your cheeks would only get much worse. “ye-yeah?”
he tilts his head, looking down at you with an unreadable glint. “out of curiosity, do you still think i’m the hottest on my team?”
seriously? what kind of question is that?! you do your best to stay calm, turning your head away from him nervously. “uh— maybe,” you mumble.
niki doesn’t seem to approve of your answer, bringing a hand to pull your chin back towards him. you swear you see his eyes flicker down to your lips for a second, but they’re back to staring straight into your soul before you can act on it. “maybe?“
you know what he wants to hear. “fine. yes i do, idiot. happy?”
“very. i knew you had a crush on me.”he grins smugly, releasing you from the wall as if nothing happened.
“wh- i didn’t say that!” you blush more realizing that you never denied his claim.
niki seems to catch on to this as well, snickering under his breath. “want some help with those?” he gestures to the posters.
that’s how you ended up spending another thirty minutes running around school with niki, laughing and talking as you put up his game’s advertisements.
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niki tunes out the constant bickering of the boys circulating the changeroom, focusing on tying his cleats. it was finally game day, and he was more than ready to show off in front of you be back on the field with his teammates. it was a home game, so niki had the advantage of being able to start warming up earlier while their opponents were busy driving here. he wondered what you were thinking, probably on the way to the field now. were you excited? did you want to watch him play? were you planning to cheer for him?
suddenly, he’s been smacked on the head with something hard. “ow! what the hell, bro?” he looks down to see the weapon of choice, jake’s knee pad.
“we’ve been trying to get your attention, but you were too busy having your little main character moment.” jay sniggers with a few others, tying on his own cleats.
niki rubs the spot he was hit, cursing. “the fuck are you talking about?”
“don’t try to act all innocent,” sunghoon smirks, pulling off his t-shirt to change into his jersey. “i caught you two lovebirds putting up those posters, giggling and flirting in your own little world~”
niki feels his cheeks heat up slightly, shyly looking back down at his cleats. damn it, how the hell did he not catch sunghoon spying on the both of you? “we weren’t flirting,” he mutters defensively.
“mhm, not even when you pinned her to the wall like in some cringy kdrama?”
jungwon gawks in surprise, “our little niki did what?!”
“with his hands next to her head n’ everything. i’m so proud,” sunghoon laughs teasingly, ruffling the boy’s hair.
niki only groans, hiding his face in his hands shyly. “do you guys ever shut the fuck up?”
“you love us.”
jake wiggles his eyebrows, “true, but he loves y/n more.”
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you cheerily skip over to the soccer field, humming to the song blasting through your earbuds. ‘it’s more than like, L 다음 또 O 다음 난 yeah! you and i, it’s more than like, what’s after like?’ only moments later you end up turning off your music, as it’s overthrown by the sound of screaming and cheering from the bleachers. there was no school today in celebration of the first soccer game of the season, explaining the rows and rows of students holding signs up and taking pictures. some have jerseys that they’ve bought from the concession, and you send a harsh glare to one girl with niki’s name on hers.
“y/n!” you know that voice anywhere, searching the crowd before finding byeol waving to you, holding a sign with your name on it. it has hearts and little stars all around it, messily colored in with shades of pink and red.
classic byeol, you snicker. “yah, what is that? i’m not the one playing!” you yell over the cheers, secretly feeling your heart burst from adoration.
she smirks proudly, blowing a kiss to you. “i know, i’m only here for you though.”
before you can reply, two arms abruptly pull you backwards into a sturdy chest, warm breath heating your earlobe. “should i be worried about her stealing you from me?”
you turn around in the embrace to find niki smirking down at you, dressed in his black shorts and purple jersey. from the bleachers behind, you hear a few surprised gasps and angry whispers. you raise an eyebrow, “and when did i give you permission to own me in the first place?”
niki grows his signature smirk again, pulling you tighter against his body. “when you admitted to having a crush on me.”
“damn, that was good,” you hear byeol say somewhere in the background.
you scoff, pushing him away (mostly because if you stayed that close to him any longer you’d inevitably explode) and dragging him back to his team, who seems to be in the middle of doing a stretch led by heeseung.
“manager!” sunghoon and jay both grin, eyes narrowing down on your hand intertwined with niki’s.
jungwon easily notices too, but doesn’t comment on it, only smiling cutely as usual. “hi y/n!”
“hey, you guys ready to win?” you grin, releasing niki’s hand to pull out your clipboard. the boy pouts at the loss of contact, reluctantly jogging over to his team to continue stretching.
“never been readier.” jake sighs, completely confident and relaxed.
“great, then let’s do attendance.” you click the back of your pen, beginning to call out the names of every player. “heeseung?”
“here,” he quickly replies as you check off his name.
thankfully, every player on the team seemed to be present as you continued down the list. “and lastly, sunoo.”
“here!”
“perfect,” you praise. something felt wrong, though. like.. something or someone was missing despite the flawless attendance.
“hey guys,” heeseung uttered, watching the opposing team make their way onto the field. “the game starts in five minutes and coach kwang still isn’t here.”
at the striker’s words, everyone frantically looks around, realisation hitting. “shit, you’re right! how did we not notice he was missing before?” jay exclaims.
niki looks at you with desperate eyes. “if we don’t have a coach, doesn’t that mean we have to..”
you gulp, nodding in confirmation. “forfeit.”
“what? it’s the first fucking game of the season, we can’t,” jake wails, ruffling his hair anxiously.
luck clearly wasn’t on your side, as the referee begins making his way over, holding his whistle sternly. “we’re ready to begin, where’s the coach?” he asks, closely scanning his eyes over your team.
the boys all look around awkwardly before jungwon steps up as captain. “uh, we’re actually still waiting for him, sir. do you think we can get an extra few minutes?”
the referee sighs, glancing at his watch. “you have five minutes.”
so you waited. one minute became two, two became four, until time was already up. mr. kwang was nowhere to be found, and you were stressed, so stressed that not even your animal crackers could calm you down. niki laid across the bench, head in your lap with his eyes closed. you massage his scalp, playing with his curly locks in an attempt to calm yourself down while the rest of the boys make themselves busy picking at the turf or lazily dribbling a ball around.
the referee starts making his way back over to you, checking his watch once again. “time’s up. do you have a coach, or are you forfeiting?”
as jungwon opens his mouth to announce the team’s surrender, niki shoots up from his spot on your lap. “we have a coach,” he states confidently. everyone whips their heads over to the boy, watching as he points to you with full determination. “she’s our coach.”
jake and sunghoon burst into laughter, while the others exchange mixed expressions. meanwhile, you’re having a mini panic attack, staring daggers into the side of the boy’s skull. niki expects you to pretend to be a coach? being manager was hard enough, you knew absolutely nothing about coaching! mr. kwang, why are you doing this to me?
“ma’am, is this true?” it was clear the referee was a bit unsure and judging you (which was fair considering you looked more like one of the boy’s nerdy little sister if anything), but there wasn’t much he could do without proof.
you glance at niki, instantly giving in when you see his puppy eyes. “y-yes, i’m their coach.”
“alright then, please send your starting lineup onto the field.”
the millisecond the referee has gained enough distance, the team lets out a synchronized sigh of relief. “i hope you guys know what you’re doing, or this is going to be a disaster,” you scold specifically niki, running a stressed hand through your hair.
“don’t worry manager, we got this under control!” jake chirps, happily running onto the field with the rest of the team following close behind.
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you don’t know how you’re going to survive watching soccer games all year. you’re praying it isn’t because the boys are trying to figure out most of the plays and strategies without coach kwang’s guidance, but it was a close tie; 1 to 1 with only five minutes left. jungwon and sunoo were doing an amazing job on defense, but the forwards were having just as much trouble as the other team trying to get anywhere close to the net.
you ran out of animal crackers to soothe your worry, so now you were anxiously clicking the back of your pen, watching as the other team sprinted down the field with the ball. the guy chooses to go down the right side of the field and as he approaches, jungwon leers, watching his feet carefully. “c’mon won, you got this,” you mutter under your breath.
the enemy winger suddenly pretend to go right, and as jungwon swiftly plunges out to match his direction, he swerves and runs left, right towards the goal. “shit, shit!” your foot begins tapping, watching jungwon cuss under his breath in defeat. jay, the goalie, your last hope, quickly bends his knees, his gloved hands out in preparation.
sunoo desperately tries to run in and stop him, but it’s too late as the enemy already takes a shot. it was like slow motion, jungwon and sunoo running to try and block the ball with their body, jay jumping to his right and reaching out for the ball milliseconds before it finds the net. “yes!” you cheer, watching your goalie protectively hold the ball to his chest, releasing a stressed exhale.
two minutes on the clock, it was now or never. jay throws the ball towards sunoo, who then passes it on to niki up on left wing. this was probably their last chance to solve the tie before time ran out. niki sprints down the field, getting past the opponents winger before kicking it over to heeseung. the striker runs faster than ever before, speeding right past the defenseman with a focused expression. you were clicking your pen even faster now, glancing back to the clock. 1 minute and 27 seconds remaining. “heeseung!” niki shouts, raising a hand to signal that he was open for a pass. the pink haired boy obeys, kicking the ball over and giving niki the opportunity to shoot.
“please, please niki, you can do this.” you’ve now left your spot on the bench, hovering closer to the sidelines for a better view of the intense match.
just as a defenceman runs in to check him, niki slams the ball up into the air, aiming straight for the left corner. it was so precise, in fact, that not even the goalie could reach high enough to stop it. the minute the ball hit the goal, screams were heard, spectators probably crying, being much too dramatic for a school soccer game yet here you were, hollering in pure joy as niki gets jumped by his teammates with a big goofy smile on his face. and just like that, the buzzer rings loudly with perfect timing, indicating the end of the game and another symphony of happy shouting and applause surrounds the field.
you were so blissed by relief you barely noticed niki pulling away from his teammates to run over and give you a big, sweaty hug. though due to his height, he ends up lifting you off the ground a bit, shaking you around like a stuffed toy. “that- that was amazing!” you hug him back happily. “you were like, like running so fast, and then that guy tried to stop you but totally failed because you were just that good!! and that shot?! the poor goalie had no ch— mmph!” oh. before you could finish your sentence, nishimura riki was already pushing his lips onto yours. they were soft and plush, molding against your own wonderfully under his cute nose that gently brushed yours. his kisses were a bit (very) messy, but it was really just because he was so overjoyed. scoring the winning goal and kissing you in one day? double whammy if you ask him.
you’re the first to pull away, arms still around his neck as you catch your breath. before you can stop to think, the first thought that comes to your head tumbles out of your mouth. “can we do that again?” you inwardly slap yourself out of embarrassment.
the boy bursts into laughter, throwing his head back teasingly. “wow, you really like me.”
you scowl, “no shit, sherlock. but whatever, i guess i’ll go kiss jungwon instead.”
“hey, why am i a part of this lover’s quarrel?” jungwon magically appears behind you with a raised brow, the rest of the team happily following behind.
“manager,” sunghoon interjects, “rate niki’s kisses from one to ten.”
niki groans, “you guys are so annoying.”
“hmm,” you pretend to think, making niki glare at you in offense. “maybe.. a three?” you smirk.
“wh- a three?!” niki whines. the boys burst into laughter, shoving their teammate back and forth. “and i was gonna ask you out,” he pouts sadly.
you tilt your head, pondering for a moment. “if you buy me some animal crackers, maybe i’ll say yes.”
“animal crackers and bowling, then?” he compensates.
you smile, “deal.”
with that, niki fist bumps the air, screaming a victorious “let’s go!” before running to the changeroom. of course, not before kissing you one last time for the road. you chuckle at his childish antics, touching your lips in an attempt to process what’d just happened.
okay, maybe being the soccer team’s manager wouldn’t be too bad.
you’ve reached the end hurray! if you enjoyed, reblogs n’ comments are always very appreciated and motivating for me to keep writing!
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Soft launching bf riki (but its not really soft launching)
Warnings ☆ profanity and idk, riki says he'll jump
M.recordings : hey pookies, so I dont even know what this is, I got inspo from my dookie @urszn and she encouraged me to do it idk, it's not that funny so don't expect anything 😝😝🙏🙏 I love riki tho
#(ᥕ.ᥕ) ֙ ⋆#enhypen smau#riki smau#niki smau#nishimura riki#riki#ni-ki#ni ki x reader#enhypen fluff#niki fluff#niki texts#niki angst#niki reaction#enhypen niki#niki enha#niki reactions#niki imagines#niki au#niki imagine#niki oneshots#niki headcanons#niki scenarios#niki x reader#niki x y/n#niki nishimura#enhypen#enhypen angst#enhypen au
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──౨ৎ ˙🚬 ̟ cigarettes out the window
엔하이픈 | Enhypen | Nishimura Riki
──Pairing: niki x afab!reader
──Genre: angst, some fluff
──Synopsis: Whenever you're unable to sleep due to your insomnia, you go to your balcony to smoke. Niki decides it might be a good idea to take a drive around the city to get some fresh air, hopefully to help you sleep
──Warnings: smoking, cigarettes, insomnia
──A/N: I have two requests that I'm currently working on. This is just a filler until those are done lol
11:08 p.m. you read on the digital clock on your nightstand. It was another restless night. Your eyes stung from staring at the bright billboard right outside your bedroom window. The advertisement displayed on the billboard would change every 10 or so minutes. You had counted the ad changing at least 8 times since you had laid down to go to sleep with your boyfriend, Niki, who still rested beside you. His arm was still gently draped over your waist. Your insomnia wasn't new news. Usually, you were able to sleep on nights where Niki slept over at your apartment, though. Tonight was different.
Carefully, you lifted Niki's arm by the sleeve, slipping out of his hold and out of bed. You opened the nightstand drawer and grabbed your usual pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter. A light breeze blew through the room as you opened the glass door that led to a small balcony. You took a cigarette and placed it between your lips as you stepped outside. You flicked the lighter a few times before putting the flame up to the end of the cigarette.
Unbeknownst to you, Niki woke up at the feeling of your absence. His eyes fluttered open, squinting at the bright city lights spilling through the glass doors. Through the blinding lights, he could see you standing out on the balcony with a cigarette in between your index fingers. He watched as you leaned backward, elbows on the railing, tilting your head back and exhaling the smoke. You looked stunning in Niki's eyes. He knew you smoked when you couldn't sleep but he had never witnessed it in person.
You watched as people still roamed the city below you. Cars, buses and taxis still filled the streets and many stores were still open to the public. It was lively and bright even in the middle of the night. Your apartment was 7 stories above it all. Your friends and family had warned you about how noisy the city was at night. They had told you to get an apartment further from the noise. Considering your insomnia, moving to Gangnam was not the wisest choice. Most nights were spent lying awake while staring at the obnoxiously bright billboards. Other nights were spent at Niki's house where you could actually sleep in a dark and quiet room. Occasionally, Niki would spend the night at your place and, somehow, on those nights you were able to sleep despite the noise and the light.
After about an hour and a half, you took one last drag from your cigarette before putting it out on the railing and tossing the excess on the floor of your balcony. Trying not to make any noise, you stepped inside and made your way to the bathroom to brush your teeth. Niki watched the bathroom light flick on and then off as you exited. When you were done you slipped back into bed next to Niki, shifting back into his arms. The smell of cigarettes still lingered on your old band t-shirt.
After another 2 hours of trying to sleep, you got back up, sighing in frustration. Niki was fast asleep again so you carefully tiptoed out to the balcony. You leaned your stomach against the railing as you lit up another cigarette between your lips. Then you hear the sliding glass door open and shut, and a familiar hand finds its way around your waist.
"Can't sleep, beautiful?" You hear Niki's deep voice which is groggy from waking up so suddenly. Next to you, you see him rub his eyes before leaning on the balcony with you. "What's going on in that pretty mind of yours, hmm?" He gives you a concerned look as you exhale smoke. You shake your head as you flick some of the cigarette ashes.
"I don't know, Ki. It's never been this bad." You take another drag from your cigarette as you stare anywhere but at your boyfriend. Seeing you like this makes Niki almost want to blame himself. After all, you did move to Gangnam to live closer to him.
"You should stop doing that." He says quietly, pointing at your cigarette.
"I know," you sigh, letting smoke rise into the air. "I'm going to soon. Don't worry about me."
"But I am worried about you and I want to make you feel better no matter what." Niki explains, taking one of your hands in his. He's sincere in every word that he says. Helping you is his life's goal, at this point, and he's determined to get you back onto a normal sleep schedule. "Let's go for a drive, yeah? Maybe it will help calm you down enough to get at least some rest tonight."
"Niki, I don't think that's going to-"
"If it doesn't work, I'll stay here all day until you're able to sleep." He cupped both of your cheeks, pleading you to let him try to help. "Please.." You nodded reluctantly before putting out your cigarette and tossing it with the rest.
You hopped into the passenger seat of Niki's car; a black Ferrari Enzo. You hadn't been in his car at night many times. It was an astounding experience. Niki would always take the streets with barely any cars so he could speed down the asphalt roads. The windows would be rolled all the way down, letting the wind hit your faces. If you weren't close by to any residential areas, he would blast music as well. You were also allowed to smoke in Niki's car, which was not preferred but he allowed it.
Driving with him was so much fun that by the end of the drive you were all tired out. Enough to make you fall asleep as soon as you were home. Niki came over to your side of the car, opening your door for you. He walked you into your apartment and even tucked you into bed. His sweetness warmed your heart. Before leaving, Niki made sure to close the blinds to darken your room. He knew you hated how bright the city was at night.
"Get some sleep, beautiful. You deserve it." He said, wiping stray hairs from your face. He leaned down to place a kiss on your forehead before turning to leave. Not long after Niki left, your eyelids felt heavy. Now you could finally get some sleep.
© strawberrynull, 2024. Do not copy my work. Please DM for permission before translating or reuploading. Thank You
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here for you
contains: bf!Riki x gn!reader | genre: angst with comfort | tw! mention of an argument with parents, crying | wc: 0,6k
Tears started to spill down your cheeks without even realizing it. You stood frozen in both fear and hurt, flinching a little the moment your dad banged the door in anger. Your mind was too busy to even process what just happened, while your heart raced in your chest. Without thinking much about it you quickly went to your room to take your headphones and jacket, in hopes that fresh air would help you calm down.
Just when you stepped out the cold wind hit your face, eyes stinging from salty tears. You started to run aimlessly as if your legs had a mind of their own. With slightly blurry vision you tried to stay on the sidewalk and avoided any bigger crossings, even though thanks to a late hour there was not a soul in sight.
The darkness and uncertainty of what can be hiding in it made you gradually stop, fear re-entering your heart. Looking around you realized that no building around nor the nearby park was familiar, meaning you were completely lost.
You took your phone from your pocket and with shaky hands called the first person that came to your mind.
“Y/n?” Riki said in a sleepy voice. “It’s so late, why are you not…?”
“Please Riki, I’m scared and I have no idea where I am,” you interrupted him and said quickly.
The tone of your voice immediately woke him up completely. You heard on the other side of the line how he started walking around his room and soon after said soothingly: “Hey it’s okay, share your location with me and I’ll be there ASAP.”
“Okay, but please don’t hang up,” you said almost in a whisper, looking around you at every slightest sound.
“I won't. You’re not far away. Stay where you are.” You heard the jiggling of his keys and the sound of the door closing.
You nodded as if he could see you and added a quiet “okay” after realization. The more wind blew the more you started to shake. Once in like half a minute, you asked him if he was still there, for him to reply, panting: “Of course, hang in there.”
Finally, you heard the words you waited for. “I think I see you. Is that my jacket?”
Instead of replying you looked around, trying to spot his familiar silhouette that was running up to you. The closer he was to you the faster your steps got, until you ran straight into his embrace, hiding both from fright and sadness.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” he said, patting your back and leaving soft pecks on top of your head.
He could swear he heard his heart break the moment you started sobbing. He tightened his embrace around your form subconsciously, since that was one of the proven methods to help you calm down. He pulled away a little to cup your cheeks and wipe your hot tears, pursing his lips in thin lines at the sight.
“You argued with him again?” he asked carefully, in response you just nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?” You shook your head. He thought for a moment, wondering what could help you put your heart at ease. His face lit up suddenly. “Wanna come over and maybe… watch Mamma Mia?” he asked, already knowing an answer. He watched how you nodded and your expression brightened right in front of him. He chuckled at your unintentional cuteness and took your hand firmly in his, thumb stroking your skin from time to time.
thank you for reading! back to the masterlist
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bittersweet \\ Nishimura Riki
synopsis: being in a relationship with Nishimura Riki was never easy, but you still made it work.
pairing: idol niki x non idol fem!reader
genre: light angst to fluff
warnings: reader is a bit mean, slight arguing, cursing,?
a/n: a short fic to make up for the lack of updates in “you jealous, nishimura” 😭 this kinda sucks so please don’t be disappointed
wc: roughly 1.4k (NOT PROOF READ)
you awoke to the sounds of knocking on your bedroom window. what the hell..? furrowing your brows as you make your way over to the window. lazily you throw open the curtains and your eyes widen for a second as you process who is waiting outside of your window.
“Riki..? what are you doing here?” you said in disbelief as you stare at the boy who stands beneath your bedroom window with his hands on his knees, hunched over as he tries to catch his breath.
“please just— let me in first—” he says breathlessly. you stare at him for a second before letting out a sigh. hesitantly, you open your window further and lean out just enough for him to grab onto your arms and pull himself up. his eyes light up when you reach to him, he immediately grabs onto your arms and comes tumbling into your room.
theres a moment of silence as you watch him sit on the floor of your bedroom, still trying to catch his breath.
“so… are you gonna tell me why you’re here or are you just gonna sit there?” you cross your arms over your chest, slight annoyance present im your tone. Riki feels his heart clench at your tone, you only ever talked to him like that when you’re angry with him.
“I came to explain myself” you let out a bitter chuckle as you narrow your eyes at him.
for context, you and Riki had a date today. In fact it was supposed to be your first date in a while since Riki’s been quite busy being an idol and all. you both had decided to go to this new restaurant which opened recently, your date was scheduled for 7:30. you had arrived on time but Riki? Riki never came at all. you had messaged him multiple times only to get no reply, hence why you were mad at him. you waited for 2 hours straight and he never showed and now he’s here in your bedroom?
“seriously, Riki? that’s all you came here to do?” he frowns at this, he could tell in your eyes that you’re annoyed and angry with him. I mean who wouldn’t be? he showed up in the middle of the night unannounced.
“I know I should’ve told you—“
“you should have just told me the moment you found out you were going to be busy!” your voice cracked slightly as you inhaled sharply before continuing
“Riki you and I barely get to spend any time together anymore and the one day we actually had plans to see each other, you flaked on me!” you said feeling more hurt than angry, the two barely got to see each other with how busy he was but today he was supposed to be free.
“I know and I’m sorry… I never wanted to flake on you but we had to do some filming today and—“
“Riki I don’t want to hear it, It’s been like this for months. we never get to see each other anymore and whenever we think we might have time you always get busy with something!”
“I know that and I’m sorry for that too but I can’t help it if my schedule changes. I’m an idol, Y/N. It’s my job and sometimes this is what idols have to do. I know I don’t have as much free time as I used to but I have to do these things, they’re important to my career!”
“what about me? am I not important?” both of your eyes widen at this and you saw hurt flash through his eyes. you didn’t mean to say it, you didn’t want to say it, it just slipped out.
“I never said that.” he grits his teeth in annoyance. though he was annoyed he was also hurt. he was hurt that you thought you didn’t matter to him, of course you matter to him, you’re his girlfriend!
“no but you implied it. Riki you never make time for me anymore!” you run your fingers through your hair, feeling frustrated with everything going on.
“god why are you like this? my whole life can’t revolve around you, this is my job Y/N!” he raises his voice slightly. you inhale sharply and you pull your gaze off of him and to the wall behind him.
“I never said it had to revolve around me. all I’m asking for is for you to just make an effort to see me.” you lower your head as you feel your tears betray you and begin well up in your eyes.
please not now. you can’t cry. not now. you think to yourself, digging your nails into your palm.
you had been feeling like this for so long, feeling as if you didn’t matter to him. at the beginning of your relationship, everything was good. you were both happy and saw each other almost everyday. well that was until the group Riki was in began to grow more and more popular. the dates which you used to have daily started to happen less and less. it went from daily, to every other day, to weekly and eventually to none at all.
it started to feel as if you were no longer relevant in his life, like you no longer mattered to him. you were angry and his words only fueled your anger more. you’ve been bottling up these feelings, trying to ignore and hide them as best as you can but its starting to become too much to bare.
“you think I don’t try? I’ve—“ thats it. this was your breaking point. his harsh words finally pushed you to your limit.
“well it doesn’t seem like you fucking try! Riki I can’t take it anymore, can’t you see how draining this is for me?” one by one hot tears began to trickle down your cheeks as you finally let out the feelings you had been keeping in for so long. his eyes immediately soften as all the anger he had towards you dissolved into guilt.
“oh Y/N… I’m so sorry.” he cups your face with his hand, gently wiping your tears as you lean into his touch. how long has he been hurting you for? how long have you felt like this? how can he make it up to you? would you even forgive him? a million questions raced through Riki’s mind as he pulled you into a tight hug, resting his chin atop your head as a few tears escaped his eyes.
“I’m sorry too… its just— i miss seeing you in person. i miss your hugs, I just miss you... i’m tired of seeing you through a screen.” his heart clenches at your words as you mumble into his chest, your breathing uneven from crying.
“I’m sorry, I’ll try to make more time for you i swear. my schedules just been so packed lately, i was supposed to be free today but they needed us to—“
“its okay, you don’t have to explain— just… just stay with me.” you bury your face in his chest, hugging him as if this was the last time you’d ever be able to. your tears betrayed you as they began to drip onto his shirt.
he badly wanted to tell explain what happened and why he was unable to attend your date today but he knew that all you needed right now, was for him to stay. to stay and make up for all of the lost time you two could’ve had together, to stay and comfort you the way he should’ve before and most of all, to stay and show you that he loves you.
“I’ll stay with you as long as you want me to.” you felt your heart sting at his words, but not in a bad way. in more of a “i love you so much but i’m still mad at you” way.
you shut your eyes tightly trying to prevent any more tears from falling. you’re not even fully sure if your tears are happy or sad ones perhaps both?
“I love you..” your voice is quiet but still loud enough to hear as you raise your head from his chest. teary eyes locking with his, Riki’s gaze softens at you as he brings his hand to your cheek caressing it gently.
“I love you too”
its the moments like these which remind you of why you fell in love with Nishimura Riki. with Riki, disagreements dissolve into peaceful silence and all you can feel is the comfort of resting in his embrace, where worries melt away and all that is left is love. it’s moments like these which make you fall in love with him all over again.
you think you’ll forever adore the moments like these, even if they’re bittersweet.
taglist: @rksbae @lizzyyaaaaaa @berry-and-kkami @chaewon-slays @solstramaii @infi0 @beomgyusonlywife @misoxhappy @ramenoil
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4:44 pm PERFECT SACRIFICE
PAIRING idol!niki x reader GENRE fluff, angst/comfort (??) WC 349 words SYNOPSIS niki realizing that despite the hardships, he will alwas have someone by his side, WARNINGS none
In the dimly lit practice room, niki stood alone, his heart heavy with a sadness he couldn't quite put into words. The exhaustion weighed on him, both physically and emotionally, as he reflected on the sacrifices he had made to pursue his dreams.
'Was his family okay? Was his little sister still the same girl as when he left Japan?' he thought, a pained look on his sweaty face.
As the music played softly in the background, memories of missed family gatherings, late nights spent perfecting dance moves, and the relentless pressure to meet expectations flooded his mind. He couldn't help but wonder if it was all worth it.
Suddenly, a soft voice broke through his thoughts, and he looked up to find you standing in the doorway. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but he quickly composed himself, hiding his pain behind a smile.
"You're here," he whispered, his voice barely audible.
You nodded and took a few steps closer, understanding the weight of his unspoken words. Without a word, you reached out and gently touched his hand, offering a silent reminder that he didn't have to face his sadness alone.
In that moment, niki felt a sense of comfort wash over him. He realized that sometimes, the presence of someone who truly cared was enough to ease the burden of a heavy heart. With tears welling up in his eyes, he let himself lean on you, finding solace in the simple act of being understood.
No words were exchanged. Instead, you stayed by his side, offering a quiet strength that he desperately needed. As the music continued to play, niki allowed himself to release the pain he had been holding onto, finding temporary respite in your unwavering support.
In that fleeting moment, with his head resting against your shoulder, niki realized that even amidst the chaos of the idol world, there were pockets of solace to be found. And with you by his side, he knew he had someone who would walk with him through the sadness, reminding him that brighter days were ahead. You were his Perfect Sacrifice
©haew0nz 2023
AUTHORS NOTE not the best plz forgive me 🙏🏻 i was listening to downpour by ioi and started sobbing thinking about all the things niki had to leave behind to pursue his dream 😭 protect him at all cost
NETWORKS @kflixnet @hyfenet @k-labels
#k labels#hyfenet#kflixnet#enhypen headcanons#enhypen fluff#enhypen imagines#enhypen scenarios#enhypen x reader#niki#niki x reader#niki headcanons#nishimura niki#niki enhypen#niki enha#enhypen smau#niki angst#niki fluff#enhypen angst
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✈︎ pretty little braids
you would never have expected to find pink hair in your brush, especially not when you have black hair.
pairing : bf!riki x fem!reader
warnings + genre : fluff. slight angst. mentions of cheating through assumptions. profanity.
wc : 654
You could feel your heart stop as the image began painting itself. Your hold around the brush grew loose, the bristles seemingly looking illuminated, as if a light was shone brightly down between them.
Long pink hair was entwined deep into the brush, the hue opposing your dark hair. A small scent of vanilla wafted up as you brought it closer to your eyes for inspection.
“Riki, what the fuck?” You didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but you couldn’t care less at that moment.
“What happened?” Your boyfriend barely looked up from his laptop as he responded, his eyebrows turned down as he focused on defeating the other player.
“I’m not even kidding, I’m literally about to throw up” His head snapped up at your words, his eyes growing wide as he saw you holding a familiar brush up beside your head.
“Whose hair is this?” You watched through narrowed eyes as he clumsily made his way over towards you, his feet nearly catching the edge of the rug and his eyes never left your own.
“I swear it’s not what it looks like” He tried grabbing the brush from your hands but was unable to due to you pulling it away from his reach. “It’s not? I think it’s pretty clear right now” You plucked a piece of hair from the brush, a look of disgust on your face as you raised it between the two of you.
“Because my hair is definitely not pink” Your tone was nothing more than accusatory, eyes burning as you shot arrows at the strand tucked between two fingertips.
Riki’s chest burned as he watched your walls close in around yourself, the usual look of love adoring your irises replacing itself with disgust.
“It’s my sister's hair, I promise” A loud scoff left your lips at his excuse, his sister's hair? The same sister that lived in Japan?
“Riki, she lives in Japan” You deadpanned, voice void of humour. Riki shook his head, his messy hair falling over his eyes. You physically had to hold yourself back from brushing back his bangs, fingers itching as they clenched.
“She’s in Korea right now, we wanted to surprise you” Riki knew of your relationship with his sister, having met you through her.
“Well, why would her hair be in my brush?” With one hand you made quotations, your sarcasm leaking through as your annunciation grew firmer.
Riki’s cheeks became inflamed, red spreading from his nose to the tips of his ears. One of his arms scratched the back of his neck as he avoided all contact. “Um, it’s kinda embarrassing”
Riki backtracked immediately from the look of your face, his mouth opening to spill the real reason. “I wanted to learn how those pretty little braids that she used to do for you”
He trailed off as he watched your mouth drop open in remembrance. “I thought I’d learn ever since you told me how much you missed them”
The look on your face completely changed, melting into love as your blood raced to your cheeks.
“Oh…” You didn't know what to say, embarrassment crawling up as you remembered your accusations. Riki sensed your feelings, your demeanour immediately giving you away.
He gently ran a hand down the back of your head, stopping as he reached the base of your neck. “I love you more than anything, I’m sorry I made you think otherwise”
You shook your head back and forth, a small smile on your lips as you wrapped your arms tight around his waist. “It’s okay, even if I just had a heart attack”
Within the next few hours, Riki spent the entirety of the time pampering you, small kisses dotting your cheeks from time to time. He continued the acts of love until his sister arrived at his dorm, her pink hair tied into the little braids that you missed so much.
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