Serendipity | SunKi Au

19: Bitter Thoughts

Sunoo leans back, his lips forming a satisfied smirk when he sees the other male's flustered expression. His mouth opening and closing, no words coming out. He clears his throat, "I'm looking for Jay-Hyung. I should go do that," he mumbles, mostly to himself, his eyes not directly connecting with the older's.

"Yeah, you should go do that, Riki."

~

When Riki found the door labeled Level 4 he peeks into the room to see his two new friends there. He debates on whether to enter the room or wait on the bench outside. Thinking it would be more respectful for the people inside, he decides on the latter, taking a seat on the blue bench beside the door.

He takes his phone out, scrolling through his Instagram. After scrolling through a couple of posts, he comes across one from his crew- ex-crew. 'Ready for summer competition!' The caption reads. The photo was of all the members huddled up, smiling widely at the camera. He didn't know what to feel about it. He felt bitter on one side, he would be missing out on something he had been looking forward to since the beginning of the year. On the other hand, he felt happy that they were happy, all fourteen of them. He settles for liking the picture with a bitter smile and commenting 'Fighting!' on it before glancing at the time and turning his phone off, stuffing it into his pocket.

He gets on his feet, walking over to the door and opening it slowly. Thankfully, it seems as if nobody in the room noticed so he continues to walk to the other corner of the room where his two seniors were. Both of them were deeply immersed in discussing choreography that he hesitated before calling their attention.

"Hyungs," he calls out, his voice not too loud. In synch, the two turn towards the younger boy, giving him a sweet smile when they recognized his presence.

"What's up, Ni-Ki?" Jay asks with a lopsided smile tugged on his lips. The smile made the Japanese boy almost stare at it in awe. Surely, if they hadn't become friends, he would have developed a small crush on the older, Riki thought.

"I'm planning on leaving now, it's almost seven so my mom will want me back now. I just wanted to inform you and thank you for bringing me here," he answers with a smile.

"How will you go back?" Sunghoon intersects, his eyebrows slightly coming together.

"I'll walk, it's not too far from here and I wanted to learn the area."

"Sure you'll be okay alone?" Jay questions, protectiveness radiating off him.

"Of course, don't worry about me. The sun is not completely down yet. I'll be okay," he replies reassuringly with a boxy smile.

"Okay, just be careful," the oldest of the three says.

"I will! Thank you again! See you tomorrow!" He exclaims brightly, not loud enough to attract any attention. The two chuckled lightly, the boy coming off as adorable in their eyes as they wave at him.

Ni-Ki walks out the door, gripping his bag tighter as he makes his way downstairs. He bows at Jia who was at the front desk with a smile which she returns, waving at him goodbye. As soon as he pushes the door open, a slight breeze hits his face and he closes his eyes for a second taking it in.

It felt bitter, all the changes. Even if only happiness would come out of him that negative feeling always stayed as well. Maybe he wasn't used to it, maybe he'll never be and it scares him. Anxiousness fills his body at the thought. That maybe he was selfish, that maybe this was the worst decision he will ever make, that he'll regret all this, that everything will go incredibly wrong.

He sniffles slightly, his eyes welling up in tears, gulping the lump in his throat down. He brings his hand up, harshly wiping those that rested in his eyes and taking a deep breath. 'Beginnings' he thought, nodding firmly as if to reassure himself. He was brought at of his millions of thoughts when he heard a car honk. He would have ignored it if it weren't for its familiarity.

He looks to his right side halting his steps, surprised when he saw the shiny black car.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, trying to not sound too surprised and rather emotionless.

"Just come inside," Sunoo mumbles, moving over to the other seat.

Riki takes a glance around, being cautious. For what? He doesn't know.

He takes a sigh, giving up and simply pulling on the handle. He bows down to Mr. Im who gives him a smile in return as he adjusts his bag on his lap as the car starts going. Riki decides against any further investigation, settling on laying his head on the window after glancing at what the older was doing which was resting his eyes, his head tilted back and his arms crossed over his chest. He closes his eyes too, mentally tired from the last days have been. Soon, his grip on his bag became loose as his eyes relaxed as unconsciousness overtook him.

A few moments later, Mr. Im announces that they had arrived at the mansion, looking through the rear mirror. Sunoo opens his eyes, nodding his head slightly as he unbuckled his seatbelt only then registering that the other boy in the car was not moving an inch.

He sighs. He had seen the boy cry. 'He must be tired,' he thought.

He moves his eyes to the man in front who was patiently waiting until the youngsters got out of the car. "Mr. Im, you can head inside. I'll be there in a moment. Please tell Mrs. Nishimura to reheat some dinner for me and tell Mrs. Kang to bring it to my room afterward."

Mr. Im tries to contain his genuine expression, which was shocked. "You sure about that young master?"

"I don't think I stuttered," he replies coldly.

Without another word, the older steps out of the car. When the silver head boy sees him step into the house, he turns his head back to the Japanese boy, wondering what to do. As he thought, he got lost staring at him. The boy was very handsome, in an objective point of view, there was no doubt. He started to think then. 'Why have I taken an interest in him?' He wonders as his eyes went over each of his features. From his closed eyes with short eyelashes to his lips that had formed a small pout.