The Love Scandal ♪ Nishimura Riki

13 ♪ ignore the comments

Chapter thirteen

"We meet again, arch nemesis," Jihyun mumbles, holding a mysterious tone to her voice despite the look that Riki gives her in response. Regardless, probably from not wanting to bicker this early in the afternoon like they usually do, he plays along.

"In that we do," he mumbles back.

She takes her seat and sets the packet down. Somewhere along this whole working together thing, she has been the one to carry the packet around and Riki had been the one to write things down. They had argued earlier about whose handwriting was better and despite never coming to an agreement, Riki took the role of writing down whatever they both conjectured which—so much for the different handwriting thing.

Jihyun skims over the paper. Actually, Riki's handwriting was pleasing to look at, which was a surprise. Most of the guys she'd met probably had the same penmanship as a five-year-old, but Riki actually had letters and words that she could read and comprehend.

That aside, she feels a bit prideful as she reads over what was written. They might not make a great team, but they were two smart people at the end of the day, so, of course, their work would be stellar. She grins to herself, yup, good work.

"Why are you smiling like that? You look crazy."

Well, perhaps he didn't mind arguing this early in the afternoon. Regularly, she would respond with a witty comment but she didn't feel like being burnt out by ire today so she ignored him. "I think we can add another point on the agreement side," she says.

"And that is?" Riki asks, clicking his pen to prepare to write.

"Have you ever read Macbeth?"

"The hell is that?"

"Okay, never mind." She leans forward and rests her folded arms on the tabletop. "But it can support a point when agreeing because if one does not build a healthy relationship with a loved one or anybody at that, they can make brash decisions that end up ruining their lives. A lack of healthy relationships can hurt our mental state because, in the end, we're just people who were made to thrive out of interactions with others."

"Not bad," Riki says, the point of his pen gliding against the paper as he writes. Jihyun grins out of satisfaction.

"I know, right?"

"Not too much," he retorts, bland and apathetic. Normally it would annoy her to no end but it doesn't this time. "But since you said that," he starts, but he never quite continues or finishes his statement until he finishes writing about a minute later. He really wrote all of that. What a waste of ink. "Can't that backfire? You end up making relationships with the wrong people."

"Then you just have to reevaluate who you befriend and who you accept into your life," she says.

"But you can never really know the reason someone decides to come into your life," he responds. It almost makes Jihyun laugh because just a few days ago she was thinking the exact same thing. You can never tell when someone is giving you the truth, were they giving you the good flavor of candy or were they giving you the terrible one and hiding the good behind their back?

It reinforces that the world is limited. Despite the countless opportunities to know someone new, you're reminded in conversation that it is only yourself that you will know properly because everyone can lie. Because it is easier to say something you don't quite mean than to say something you do—because the heart and mind are confusing. But that's different, completely different.

"In a way, it comes down to when they want to stick with you. If they both stay during the hard times."

"But even then...how will you know if they're helping you because they expect a favor from it or not?"

She looks at him, observes, and searches for the crack in his expression that tells her that he's been through this because it sounds like he has. But maybe she's looking too much into it. When they make eye contact, Riki's eyes are still indifferent, like he's saying all of this without any meaning to it despite how much fragility was in his tone.

Perhaps he isn't speaking from experience, but instead fear. He's a public figure, an infamous and successful one at that, the statements will never ring truer. She pities him, under all the genuine vitriol there's a part of her that sympathizes with his misfortune.

"Well, then there goes our points right?" She murmurs, and to lighten the air she says, "So technically my method is better, seeing as we're doing the points prior to the theme statement."

"Just because the theme statement isn't on this paper doesn't mean I don't have one."

She perks up, lowering her eyebrows as she analyzes him. "So what's your statement?"

"Why do I have to share that with the likes of you?" He comments.

"Why do I have to share that with the likes of you?" She mocks, pitching her voice up. "Just keep writing, Nishimura."

"Only if you stop talking, Bae Jihyun." It was supposed to be mocking, the way he said her name, but it was weird how it sounded this time. She wasn't used to hearing her name from him, which made it confusing how there was a sense of familiarity in the way his tongue formed around the syllables as if it were nature.

Actually, not talking seemed a bit pleasing. Riki could do all the work and she could stay silent, possibly doze off here and there. So—not to appease Riki in the slightest—she stayed silent.