ꜱʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴏᴜᴛ _ ᴇɴʜʏᴘᴇɴ 8ᴛʜ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ

= 잘했어 =

Many people forget that despite being so young when she started joining the industry, Lily had always been taking care of Niki since the first time she had known him. It was because he was younger than her and she had this strong sense of love for the young boy since she had always wanted a younger sibling of her own.

Whenever Niki needed comfort, he'll always turn to Lily and she'll do everything to make him feel better. The fans truly loves their relationship and it's so sweet and beautiful, to know that Niki had someone to rely on through his hardships. There's a whole compilation of their lovely interactions but the fans can never forget the way Lily is the first person that Niki looks for when he was announced to debut in Enhypen.

Despite everyone crowding around him to congratulate him, his eyes are stuck on Lily and once everyone gave him some space, he ran to Lily to hug her as he cried. Lily smiled, "I've told you, didn't I? You will surely debut." Niki is so thankful for having Lily whenever he felt like giving up. The older girl is always taking care of Niki like a little brother that she loves a lot. And she's been praying for his success since day one.

Now that he have what he wanted, she can never be prouder of him. "It's all because you believed in me, nuna. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Lily smiled and held his face in her palms. She then wiped his tears away with her thumbs. There are an entire universe in her eyes whenever she looked at Niki. Even though she had not known Niki for long, she is still so proud of his achievement. Being away from his parents in a foreign country must have been so lonely and scary for him. That's why she can't help but to care for him.

"You did great, Niki. I'm so proud of you." He smiled through tears. Lily sighed and patted his head. "Go and join the others. I'll join you if it's meant to be."

Niki thanked Lily once again before making his way to the side so that the announcer can finish announcing the final lineup. Thankfully she debuted or he would have cried. Now that she has entered his life, he don't know if he could ever live without her anymore.

••

Most of the times, Niki doesn't really show his vulnerable side to others but that one night during their concert, he can't help but getting choked up with tears as he reads out the ment that he had prepared. It felt so foreign. Three years ago, he was just dreaming about debuting and now, he's standing on the stage in Tokyo Dome, his hometown, performing in front of thousands of people.

It felt so surreal when thinking back about it. He watches the members' face, trying to capture the moment. When the members wanted to approach him to comfort him, he stopped them, knowing he would cry right away if they did. There's still a lot he wanted to say so he can't cry just yet but then Heeseung wrapped an arm around Niki that all hell breaks loose.

Tears fell down helplessly down his cheeks and all the members gathered around him to comfort him. They know how hard the youngest work to come this far in life. It sure wasn't easy. All the loneliness. The fear. The pain. It was never easy and they see it all, even when Niki never truly showed it.

While everyone is gathered around Niki, Lily stood on the side by herself as she watches with pride, the boy who she took care of grew up to be so successful. Niki looked around, realizing that Lily is nowhere near him. That's when he saw her crying by herself, away from the group hug.

The youngest gently pushed everyone to the side. "There's a person who I'd like to say thank you for always being there for me. She is the kindest soul I've ever known even when I'm a brat most of the time," he chuckled and looked towards Lily with a smile through all the tears, "Youngwon nuna. Thank you for everything you've ever done for me. I have said this and I'll say it over and over again until my last breath. I couldn't get this far without you in my life."