fall into u | nishimura riki 엔하이픈

04

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Wait... what?

Jia's eyes widen in surprise as Riki steps forward to hand the Barista some money to pay for her drink and his own. She feels her cheeks flush as he looks at her with an amused smirk.

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you." Jia thanks him quietly as she bows slightly.

"You're welcome." Riki says politely as he takes his coffee and begins to walk towards the exit.

"Wait!" Jia suddenly says, grabbing onto Riki's sleeve quickly. Riki turns to look at his sleeve, causing Jia to let go as embarrassment washes over her.

"Would you like to sit down with me?" Jia asks, feeling an overwhelming amount of shyness out of nowhere as she invites the boy to sit with her.

"Oh- sure," Riki nods, as she nods back awkwardly.

The two find a table by a window, and sit there in silence as they try to cool down their drinks.

Riki opens his mouth to say something and break the uncomfortable silence, however Jia suddenly speaks up.

"If you still wanted to, I've decided I'll let you do a small interview for your article with me." Jia suddenly says, not bothering to look up from her tea which she is slowly stirring.

Riki is taken aback by her sudden offer, having accepted the fact that she was never going to sit down for an interview with him.

"Wait- really?" Riki asks, not knowing whether the girl was serious or not, although, she didn't seem like the type to joke around.

"Yeah, I realised I was probably a bit harsh on you. I don't mind doing an interview, I just don't think I have anything interesting to say." Jia confesses, as she looks up at him. "I didn't want to give you a boring interview to write up in your article."

"Is that really the reason you didn't want to do an interview with me?" Riki asks, surprised at her sudden confession. She always seemed very confident and sure of herself, but right now, Riki can see underlying insecurities which Jia successfully hides.

"It is." She says, slowly taking a sip of her tea.

"Well, I guess I'll go for an informal style interview since I don't have any written questions on me." Riki says, feeling rather unprepared now he actually has to interview her. He pulls out a notebook and a pen and taps the paper a few times.

"So, why do you study so much for school?" Riki begins, writing down the question as Jia hums quietly.

"Because I care about my future." Jia says calmly, nodding as she clasps her hands in her lap. Riki notices her usual stiffness returning, her answer coming across quite structured.

"Is that the only reason?" Riki continues, looking at the girl before him.

Jia hesitates slightly, biting her bottom lip as she looks out the window. "Well, I have responsibilities... and expectations."

"From who?"

"I suppose my parents expect a lot from me. My older brothers achieved a lot in school and I aim to do as well as them to please my parents." Jia says, and Riki couldn't help but notice a sadness entering the tone of her voice.

Riki hums, writing down her answer. The interview was turning out to be more personal than expected, and he didn't want to be invasive of her privacy

"Are they your real goals though, is that what you really want out of school?" Riki asks as Jia shifts in her seat.

"In some aspects, yes, and in other aspects, no." Jia replies as she rests her chin on her hand. "Truthfully, for a long time I wanted to go into music. I've always loved playing the piano and I used to enter competitions when I was young, but my parents made me stop when I entered high school."

"Why would they do that?" Riki asks, as he leans forward, becoming more interested in her story.

"They said I had to 'take my future seriously' and music wasn't something I would earn enough money in." Jia says, a small frown appearing on her face.

"Money isn't everything." Riki says bluntly.

"I know, but to them it is," Jia says, a sigh escaping her lips as she taps her foot on the floor. "They said I could continue it as a hobby, but my main focus should be my studies."

Riki was surprised that Jia was being so open with him out of all people. He got the impression that she has been wanting to speak about this for a long time.

"I hope that one day you can follow your own path that hasn't been planned out by your parents." Riki says as he closes his notebook.

Jia looks at Riki, her lips parted as her cheeks reddened. She'd never heard that from anyone before, and she felt a sense of comfort in his words.

"Thank you, Riki."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The two realised they lived closer than they thought, as they walked back home in a comfortable silence.

Riki begins to root through his bag for his camera, realising her forgot an important part about the article.

"Hey Jia, would you mind if I took a quick photo of you for the article?" Riki asks as he stops walking.

Jia turns around, a pained expression on her face which causes Riki to laugh.

"I'm not very photogenic." She mumbles, lifting her bag higher up her shoulder.

"It's fine, I'll take a few and let you pick," Niki reassures, "go stand in front of that cherry blossom tree over there, it'll make a nice shot."

They walk across the road to the riverbank, where a cherry blossom tree stood. The petals were falling quickly, the light breeze sending them flying everywhere.

Jia goes to stand in front of it, awkwardly stood with her hands behind her back. She looked stiff and uncomfortable, so Riki walks over.

"Focus on something that's not me, just be natural." Riki instructs before walking back to his spot.

Jia does as he says, occasionally looking directly at the camera and other times looking down at the river or up at the cherry blossom tree.

"Okay, I got some." Riki calls out to Jia, who walks down towards him. He shows her the ones he took, and notices a small smile appear on her face.

"You're really talented, these are great." Jia compliments him, "but you can pick one for the article, I don't mind."

Riki nods, and the two continue to walk home as the cherry blossom leaves cover the pavement in front of them.