WRONG NUMBER | NIKI

16 - Secondhand Truth

HANA'S POV

Niki exhales slowly, dragging a hand through his hair before looking anywhere but at me. "They were trying to freak you out." His voice is quieter now, stripped of the sharpness he'd used with them. "That's all. They know exactly which things to say to make people uncomfortable, and you gave them an opportunity." He pauses, then finally looks at me. "I wasn't stalking you. I've seen you around. I've walked the same streets. I've noticed things because..." He stops himself, jaw tightening. "Because we're in the same school. That's it." 

I stare at him for another second, trying to reconcile the boy who had appeared out of nowhere to catch someone's wrist with the boy who had spent the entire day pretending I wasn't standing ten feet away. 

"Then why did you come?" I ask. "You could've kept walking." 

His eyes flicker toward the mess scattered across the floor before returning to mine. "Because I know those idiots. I know what they're capable of when nobody stops them. I wasn't going to stand there and watch them do something stupid." He shrugs, almost impatiently. "That's all, Hana. Don't make it into something it isn't."

"Okay." The word leaves me, but neither of us seems convinced by it. I bend down to pick up one of the posters, smoothing the crease across its corner with my thumb because looking at him suddenly feels harder than it should. "Then can I ask you something?" 

He sighs. "You already are." I ignore that. 

"Did you lie to me?" 

His expression changes immediately. "About what?" 

"Jungwon." The name seems to pull every muscle in his face tighter. "Did you lie when you told me he said those things?" For several seconds, he says nothing, and that silence feels louder than any answer could have been. I swallow. "It's stupid, I know. I just... I need to know." 

He looks at me then, really looks at me, and something vulnerable flashes across his face before he buries it beneath irritation. "No. I didn't lie." His answer is quiet. Certain. "I heard what I heard." 

I nod slowly, even though the knot in my chest doesn't loosen. Then, because apparently today I've decided to make every possible mistake at once, I ask the question that's been sitting somewhere beneath every other question. "Then do you like me?"

His entire expression goes blank. Not surprised. Not amused. Blank. "What?" 

"You heard me." I hate how warm my face suddenly feels. "Do you like me?" 

He stares at me for a long moment before letting out a short, incredulous laugh and looking away. "Why would I like you?" The words are sharper than necessary, almost deliberately so. I flinch despite myself, and I see him notice. His jaw clenches. "Seriously, Hana. Why would you even ask that?" 

"Because you keep doing things that make no sense." 

He shakes his head, growing visibly frustrated. "That doesn't mean anything." He takes a step back, putting distance between us as though distance might make the conversation easier to control. "I came over because I know those guys. They're idiots. I've seen what they do when they think nobody's going to stop them, and I wasn't going to let them mess with you. That's it." His eyes meet mine again, guarded now. "Don't start imagining something else."

I lower my gaze, staring at the poster in my hands. "Okay." My voice is smaller this time. "I won't." For a moment, neither of us speaks, and I think perhaps the conversation is over. Then the word slips out before I can stop it. "You were a bully too." 

His entire body stills. I don't say it cruelly. I don't even say it as an accusation. Maybe that's what makes his reaction so immediate. His eyes close for half a second, and when they open again, whatever softness had briefly appeared in them is gone.