✔︎ unrequited flowers | nishimura riki

XXV

Ayano picked up the ringing phone that disturbed her slumber. She looked at the phone to see it was Ni-Ki. Without hesitation she answered the call, hearing Ni-Ki speak in a whispered tone. "Hey Ayano?" He whispers. The girl hums in response. "Can I come over ? Please ?.... I need to talk to you." Ayano thought of it for a while. Should she invite him over ? "I'm at my old apartment, the password is 2406." Ni-Ki smiled. Ayano still misses Sunoo. "I'll come over in 10. Thanks Ayano."

.

The girl had fallen asleep while waiting for Ni-Ki to come over. 4 beeps could be heard at the entrance along with a sound of the door opening. Ni-Ki was confused as to why the place was empty. "Ayano ? I'm here." Ayano's head snaps up, her eyes wide open. She tries to blink against the darkness of the room around her. A knock was heard. "Can I come in ?" Ni-Ki speaks again.

Why now?

Ayano thought. She merely answered the phone and wanted someone by her side, just because she was lonely. She mumbles a small 'wait' as she tries to sit up. She slowly climbs out of the bed and goes out of the room, noticing Ni-Ki was sitting on the couch. Ni-Ki looked terrible. His hair is disheveled, his skin an angry pink, hinting that he walked here without a jacket, and as Ayano moves closer she could see tear stains on his cheeks. She sits down next to him carefully. 

Ayano feels her chest tingle unpleasantly at her proximity to the older, closer than she's been to him in weeks. She forces the tickle in her throat down. "Ni-Ki, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" Ni-Ki pulls his feet onto the couch, wrapping his arms around his legs. "I- I came to tell you to come home with me." Ayano thinks she's never seen him look so utterly defeated. "Sunghoon told me about your disease. He explained it properly. I was so confused, I needed answers."

The words make a thousand emotions flutter through Ayano. Anger, hope, betrayal, relief. "Then you know why I can't go with you." Her throat feels far too dry.

"Ayano, I love you."

The girl can't stop a cough from forcing its way through her throat. Ni-Ki doesn't miss the brief look of panic on Ayano's face. "You know it doesn't work like that." The girl's heart beats painfully in his chest. Maybe Sunghoon was right. Nothing will work even if she had given Ni-Ki a second chance.

"I want to be with you." Ni-Ki feels tears return to his still swollen eyes. He's so tired of crying. "You love Sunoo." Ayano speaks through the tightness, her words strangled. "I love you. I want you to come home. We'll be together, and you'll be okay. I don't want to lose you too, Yano." Ni-Ki sounds desperate, his eyes frenzied. "Please don't say that, I know you're still not over Sunoo." Ayano lets out the sobs building within her, interrupted by her coughings.

Ni-Ki moves forward, his hand on Ayano's cheek before she can flinch away. "I can still try. Please Ayano, I don't want to lose anymore people. I will try and get over Sunoo. What I know now is, you don't have much time left."

Why do you still look so broken?

Tears are flowing over Ni-Ki's cheeks now, the tip of his nose red. Ayano can't stand to see him cry. She leans into Ni-Ki's touch, allowing herself the indulgence. As she looks into Ni-Ki's eyes, feeling his hands on her cheek, his familiar smell surrounding her, hearing him say the words she's dreamed about for almost 2 years, she can't stop herself. 

Ayano thought she was doing the right thing before, by staying away from Ni-Ki. She doesn't know what's right anymore. The girl's out of strength, she only knows that she craves for Ni-Ki, no matter how much her lungs threaten to tear themselves apart when he's near. "Okay." She puts her hand over Ni-Ki's.

"Let's go home then."

Ni-Ki smiles and sighed in relief, but Ayano can see the pain masked behind it. 

okay let's really finish this, chapter marathon let's go. prepare your tissues <3