𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫 │Nishimura Riki

16

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↳ currently playing ;;
[I like me better] - [Lauv ]

Boredom, Lily decided, was a particularly insidious form of slow, agonizing death. The kind that made you contemplate truly desperate acts. She'd already scrolled through her entire Instagram feed twice.

She watched every single insipid story from Chiara and Alessia's "girls' night out" (Chiara, predictably, was already crying over some guy with a man bun), and even, in a moment of existential dread, considered opening her Google Docs to actually write. That, she mused, was hitting rock bottom.

She sighed, rolling over on her bed, face squished against a pillow, when the mistake happened-she opened Instagram for a third time.

Big mistake.

The first thing that assaulted her vision: Xinxin's story. Tagged: Milan. Pinned location: the very same charming, cobblestone street Lily passed by every other day. Xinxin, looking impossibly polished, her nails freshly done, was sipping an overpriced iced coffee from a delicate glass cup.

Her arm, almost surgically attached, was linked with Sunghoon's, the camera shakily zooming in on his profile as he laughed at something-a real, unburdened laugh that twisted something in Lily's gut.

She didn't even finish watching. With a dramatic roll of her eyes, she threw her phone aside like it had personally offended her, sending it skittering across the silk duvet.

"God, touch some grass," she muttered, aiming the venom at the digital image of manufactured perfection.

Then-a knock.

She jolted upright, blinking, disoriented. Her dad wasn't home. Her sister wouldn't knock; she'd just barge in, probably demanding food. Maybe a package? Her curiosity nudged her off the bed.

Lily padded to the door in her fuzzy socks and a worn-out hoodie, unlocking the latch with a healthy dose of suspicion. Who even knocked anymore?

When she opened it, Ni-ki was standing there.

In a Chrome Hearts hoodie, dark and effortlessly cool, his hair slightly rumpled as if he'd simply decided to appear without much forethought. He held a small, pristine white box in one hand.

Lily blinked, utterly confused. They didn't have plans until next week. Their recent messages had been mostly banter and useless, delightful nonsense-the kind of casual chatter two people who didn't have to talk when not together, inexplicably did.

Ni-ki offered her a small, almost hesitant smile. "Hey there."

"Hi?" Lily said, her voice laced with confusion. "Do we have a date I forgot about? Because my calendar is looking aggressively empty."