𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘-𝗛𝗔𝗧𝗘﹕ni-ki

－ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎

Third person.

"You guys were right!" Ni-ki burst out, shocking his friends when he came in and lunged himself at Jake for a hug. Jake awkwardly patted the younger boy's back before he unlatched himself and moved to sit next to him.

"Is everything okay, Riki?" Jake worriedly asked.

"Right with what?" Jungwon asked. They were quietly concerned at the youngest who was pouting while playing with the hem of his uniform.

"I..." Ni-ki began, finding it hard to say it out loud. It made them more worried, eager to know what was going on with him.

But it wasn't a big problem as they thought it would be. 

"...I do like Yunmi!" Ni-ki blurted, covering his face in shyness.

Six boys felt their faces drop, not because they were surprised by the revelation, but because they got scared for nothing. No one said anything, but they were all giving dead stares at him. Sunoo was the first to say something as he made a loud sound.

"I told you so! Finally! Finally!" He cheered and clapped in joy.

"That's... that was your emergency?" Jay spoke.

"I didn't say I have an emergency. I wanted to tell you that I've realized my feelings and that I do like her." Ni-ki responded.

"I- Congrats." Jay retorted, sighing deeply.

"What are you gonna do then? Any plans on confessing or no? Oh, you do have to confess." Sunghoon chimed in, pointing at him with a chip before popping it into his mouth.

"My plan is not to tell her just yet. Or! I can just not tell her at all and continue being a menace to her life. Good plan, right? Yes." Ni-ki would say he was proud of his idea, but no one agreed except himself.

"No, bad plan." Heeseung shook his head.

"You have to tell her eventually. Who knows? Yunmi might like you back." Heeseung pressed his lips, teasing him with last sentence.

"Choi liking me back, I can't imagine." Ni-ki ridiculed.

"Oh, and, she and I have had no conversation for four days." He added, grimacing.

"Go talk to her." Sunoo gushed.

"I can't. Not until she talks to me first." Ni-ki whipped his head and crossed his arms.

"I don't think she'll talk to you if you don't do it first." Jay said.

"Be a man and do the first move, Nishimura." Sunghoon grinned as he imitates the girl's voice.

"Unless you would rather let her slip away and never become friends again?" Sunoo taunted.

"No!" Ni-ki abruptly stood up, giving in.

"Thought so." Sunoo snickered.

"Do any of you know where she is?" Ni-ki asked.

"I only saw her a while ago going somewhere, though I don't know where she could be." Heeseung responded. Ni-ki paused to give it a thought.

"Nevermind, I might know where she is." Ni-ki said before walking off.

"We'll be on the soccer field!" Jake exclaimed. Ni-ki beckoned a thumbs up.

━━━━━

Searching for Yunmi around the school was quite a hassle. She wasn't in the library, the school garden, or the cafeteria. The rooftop was the last place he could think of, but Yunmi doesn't go there often. He decided to trust his gut and had a little bit of hope that the rooftop is where she is.

His instinct was right, Yunmi was there, standing right in the middle. Ni-ki was about to approach her, stepping forward until he realized, she was not alone.

Yunmi wasn't there by herself, Minseong was with her.

He only readied himself on how he would make them go back to normal, without coming off as awkward. To be friends again. Not knowing that he also should've prepared for what he might see.

Ni-ki didn't mean to secretly watch them both. He knew this was something private between them and he must leave the door already. But he can't. Not when he saw her wrap her hands around his neck, engulfing him with a hug.

Not when there was a pang in Ni-ki's heart that his whole body was forced to stop. The more they took longer to let go, the more they made it harder for him to think that it meant nothing. He was hurting and he didn't understand why.

The moment it ended, he balled his hands ino fists. Ni-ki turned his back away from them and didn't look back.

One step forward, three steps back.

━━━━━

Going to the soccer field where his friends were supposed to be, he saw Jake kicking the ball around, and Jay sitting on the grass. Before walking up to the older, he tried to keep a straight face as a cover.

"Where are they?" Ni-ki inquired, causing Jay to turn his head to him.

"Oh, you're back. Sunghoon went to the restroom, Jungwon and Sunoo left, and Heeseung hyung got called by his classmate." Jay uttered briefly, patting the grass for Ni-ki to sit. He nodded and obliged, waving at Jake.

"So, are you and Yunmi okay now?" He asked. Ni-ki ignored the question, and instead asked the older back with something else.

"Hyung, how bad would it hurt the more you love someone?" Ni-ki was blunt enough to ask him such a question

"Is that a hypothetical question, or...?" Jay questioned, knitting his eyebrows. Ni-ki shrugged his shoulders, not meeting his eyes. Jay understood the silent answer and cleared his throat.

"Depends on the amount of how much you're in love with them. The deeper and stronger it is, the worse it feels when they hurt you. The more you get attached to them, the harder it gets to let go eventually. Falling in love has consequences, and you can't stop that. What I know is that people don't have to keep holding on when it doesn't feel like love anymore." Jay said, getting into the deep talk as Ni-ki briefly listened.

"What you have is a crush, kid. Don't you think you're too young to ask that kind of thing?" Jay punched his shoulder, breaking a smile on Ni-ki's face.

"I just got inquisitive. You answered it anyway. And I'm nearly seventeen!" Ni-ki exclaimed, throwing a soft punch back as Jay laughed.

"I answered your question, now answer mine. Are you and Yunmi okay now?" Jay recounted.

"I saw her with someone so I didn't get to talk to her." Ni-ki pursued his lips.

"So? Was there no way to borrow her?" Jay asked and Ni-ki shook his head.

"It was a boy she was with. I saw how she hugged him." Ni-ki explained. Jay opened his mouth to say something when Ni-ki interrupted him.

"She likes someone else, hyung."

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