Falling For The Park Brothers' Sister ⚊ Nishimura Riki

chapter eight

For someone like Nishimura Riki, I'd hate to admit that his car is nice. It's surprisingly clean and doesn't smell like a locker room, which is a plus.

He's currently filling up the tank at the first gas station we passed by, leaving me sitting in the front seat twiddling my thumbs.

The entire ten-minute drive here was filled with me cranking up the music and staring out the window without saying a word to him. But hey, he seems fine with my company, right?

He hops back into the driver's seat a few minutes later and says, "Alright, let's roll."

The moment he turns on the ignition, I blast the music - Taylor Swift, of course, because who doesn't love a bit of T-Swift? But Ni-ki quickly turns it down.

"Hey, ease up on the volume. You might blow my brand-new speakers, and trust me, my mom will kill me if I wreck this car so soon," he says, shooting me a glance.

I let out an exaggerated sigh and prop my feet up on the dashboard. Within seconds, he's reaching over to push my feet down and dust off any imaginary dirt.

"Dude, didn't you hear me? This is a new car," he reminds me, giving me a sideways glance.

"Fine, fine," I mutter, settling back into my seat. "Can I at least pick a song?"

Ni-ki nods reluctantly but gestures at me to keep the volume sensible this time.

As I scroll through my Spotify playlist, I accidentally hit Jay's playlist he shared with me.

Yeah, even his music taste is rubbing off on me, which is kind of annoying.

Suddenly, Collide by Justine Skye starts blaring through the speakers. Oh great, the lyrics are so not the vibe right now. I quickly shuffle to the next song - Next Door by Amelia Moore and ASTN.

Ni-ki turns to me with a huge, stupid grin plastered on his face, and I slowly realize the implications of playing that particular song in front of him.

"Isn't this a song about falling in love with the boy next door?" he teases, laughing at my obvious blush.

"It's not mine! It's Jay's playlist, okay?" I retort, punching him playfully in the arm.

He nods, an amused smirk lingering on his lips. "Sure, whatever you say, Jiyoo."

I roll my eyes and go back to staring out the window, pretending to be deeply interested in the passing scenery to avoid any more teasing.

"You know, you're kind of cute when you blush," Ni-ki comments, breaking the silence.

"I don't care what you think is cute, Ni-ki," I snap, not bothering to look at him.

"You'll warm up to me eventually, I promise," he says with a mischievous grin.

I choose to ignore him and scroll through Instagram instead, shutting him out every time he tries to start a conversation.

"Hey, I gave you a ride, Princess. The least you can do is give me a bit of your precious attention," he prods, leaning over to poke me.

"Don't. Touch. Me," I shoot back, shooting him a glare.

"Why not?"