20cm ∙ t.keita

part 4

as keita approached his locker, a proud smirk emerged on his face. he crossed his arms while he waited for you to notice him, eagerly awaiting your reaction.

the scoreboard of the night was 45-27, a good 15 of those points were thanks to keita. you watched the whole night with your eyes glued to him. you had even memorized his jersey number; keita was 17.

"so?" his eyebrow was raised, his question ringing through your ears. you went home that day promising to yourself you would not speak of it. to his face, at least. the last thing you'd want do to is join his fanbase at your school (which consisted of aisha after the game)

"so?" you repeated at him, acting clueless as to what he was insinuating.
"you know what i'm talking about."
you shook your head playfully. "no.. i don't. you gotta use your words, big boy"
his lip twitched at the name. he was *not* a child, and why you seemed to still have that narrative even after watching him tackle with as much energy as he could muster irritated keita beyond belief.

he sighed, knowing you wouldn't entertain him unless he played along with you.

"the rugby game. 'm guessing you were there?"
"what's it to you?"
his confident stature faltered for a second. he.. hadn't thought of the scenario where you hadn't gone. if you weren't there.. that would've ruined absolutely everything. that night keita fought so hard for *you*. even if it was out of spite to prove you wrong, every single point he scored he imagined your shocked expression. he had imagined beomgyu and sungchan gassing him up. he thought about ryujin and minju giving you a disapproving glare, asking how in the world you could berate someone like that. like *him*. if the reality was you were chilling at home, netflix turned up while he was busting his ass on the field...

he stuttered, suddenly losing eye contact with you.
"you at least heard about it... right?" he mumbled the last part, despising the way his voice began to lose all power it had before. that's always what happened when he was around you. all the authority leaving him and rendering him powerless at your sly remarks. winter interrupted the two of you, peaking from behind her locker.

"we were. y/n was the one that dragged me there" you lightly hit her arm, whispering something keita couldn't pick up on. reassured, keita continued.

"you take back what you said?"
"about what?"

"you know.. about the mini golf" he muttered, now extremely embarrassed. he hadn't realized how.. immature he was until now. keita didn't have a deep hatred for golf or anything, so why was he so offended? why did he want to impress you so badly? he crossed your arms, leaning against the lockers with a smirk. "you want my praise?" keita scoffed, acting as if you were unbelievable. he rolled his eyes, looking at you to spew bluffs before his eyes softened at the eye contact. okay. maybe he did...

you shook your head. "i never said you weren't good NPD." his eyes furrowed at the new nickname. what's.. that stand for? if it was another hidden short joke he felt he would've exploded on the spot. you laughed at his expression, patting his hair before gesturing to winter you were ready to go. "you impressed me, see you around."

☆...★...☆...★...☆

"what's NPD?"
heeseung laughed curiously at keitas sudden question. looking up from his computer. "narcissistic personality disorder. why? you got a health project?"

silence clouded the boy's mind for a second, everything becoming a haze. it didn't take long for fury to fill every inch of his body. from the ends of his fingertips to the strands of his hair, keitas mind went blank with rage.

"that BITCH!" keita suddenly slammed his fists on the table, disrupting their study hall period. the teacher gave him a look, to which keita only sheepishly smiled. he turned to heeseung. "i'll tell you later"

once later came he had pulled his friends (beomgyu and sungchan had decided to tag along against his wishes) away, deciding they needed to eat off campus for lunch today.

"sung, what's NPD?" he asks the same question to his friend, making sure to get a consistent answer. "NPD? isn't that narcissism?" keita grits his teeth. so it was true.

"that stupid ass-"
"did someone call you that?" heeseung cut him off, knowing better than to let keita rage out in the car.

"i swear when i see y/n again i'll-" beomgyu burst out laughing upon hearing who was responsible for the new name, unable to control the roars of laughter erupting from his lips. keita rolled his eyes, but said nothing in defense of the teasing comments.

"wait wait wait.. y/n said you had NPD?"
"i'm *not* narcissistic!" the glances the other 3 shared said otherwise, making keita straighten his back defensively. "when have i ever done something narcissistic??" they all glanced at each other again, unsure how honest they can be.

"i mean there was that one time during basketball practice you-"
"that doesn't count! hanbin was *asking* for it."
"okay, well what was the context before the nickname" keita huffed put; recalling the memory in his head. his pout then changed into an open expression, his mouth falling agape when he connected the dots. "okay well, that was a different story! it's was-" he was interrupted by beomgyus giddy laughter again, listening as he began clapping hysterically.

"this is too good" gyu had choked out to heeseung, making the corners of his lips curl into a smile as well.

"you think she got the nickname from what you said at the game??" sungchan teased, hitting beomgyus shoulder lightly. keita glanced between the two, his lips thinning into a frown.

"whaddya say?"
"he called you an egomaniac" keita looked at beomgyu with an unimpressed expression, waiting to beomgyu to defend himself.
"i'm just saying man," beomgyu shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the death glare being sent his way. "you invited some girl that you think hates you to watch you play so she'd stop hating you?"

"that doesn't make me narcissistic."
"okay, what was the full conversation?" beomgyu continues to instigate, even with everyone else's silent pleas for him to stop. gyu was pretty much the only one immune to keitas bitch face, which results in beomgyu usually being the one getting bruises from him. even with beomgyu being in hockey, his muscular strength was far outweighed by keitas kicks to the shin.

keitas mouth fell agape, just now reflecting on his actions. he glanced away, biting the inside of his cheek softly. "i wanted to hear her say i did good.."

"an egomaniac *and* a praise kink??" heeseung quickly covered beomgyus mouth to stop him from spewing any more bullshit. keita was once again left defenseless, a situation he felt become more and more commonplace the longer you stayed. if a magic genie came up to him right now, his three wishes would be to grow 20 cm, make beomgyu less annoying, and zap you from existence altogether. the longer he knew you the less tolerable you became. seriously, not one redeeming quality! how is that even possible? the cherry on top was how everyone seemed infatuated with you.. how did you even manage that? sure you were pretty, but all that you had going for you. frustrated, keita suddenly lost his appetite for lunch that day.