invisible string ,, 니키

𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 , your glasses are beautiful

☆

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RIKI WAS SITTING IN his comfortable room, nestled in the familiar surroundings of his own space. the air was still, punctuated only by the quiet hum of his desk lamp, which cast a soft and inviting light over his desk. he was immersed in his homework, which was a blend of difficult math problems and a daunting history test that he knew he was unprepared for.

a smattering of papers was scattered haphazardly on his desk, but he was too preoccupied with his thoughts to pay them any mind. his phone was pressed tightly against his ear, and he was listening intently to the voices of his two closest friends, sunoo and jungwon, who were chatting with him from the other end of the line.

"there is no way i saw you and hari sitting together in an ice cream parlor, not arguing with each other!" sunoo shouted excitedly over the phone.

riki's fingers tapped nervously against the surface of his desk as he listened to sunoo's exclamation. the sudden burst of energy from his friend caught him off guard, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of frustration at the misinterpretation of the situation.

"erm, it's not like that," riki interjected, his voice tinged with a hint of defensiveness. "hari and i were just... hanging out. nothing more."

sunoo's laughter echoed through the phone, a teasing edge to his tone. "sure, riki. whatever you say. but we all saw the way you two were looking at each other!"

riki's cheeks flushed at the accusation, his mind racing to come up with a plausible explanation. "it's not what you think," he insisted, his words falling on deaf ears.

meanwhile, jungwon's playful jab only added to the turmoil swirling within riki. "you finally admitted having feelings?" he teased, his voice carrying a mischievous undertone.

riki let out an exasperated sigh, his frustration mounting with each passing second. "what? no. ew... i mean, we're not really enemies anymore, but also not really friends?" he clarified, hoping to dispel any misconceptions about his relationship with hari.

despite riki's attempts to steer the conversation away from the topic of him and hari, his friends seemed determined to tease him relentlessly. as sunoo and jungwon continued to banter, riki couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creeping over him.

"i'm serious, guys," riki insisted, his voice firm as he attempted to redirect the conversation. "we were just hanging out, that's all."

sunoo chuckled knowingly. "whatever you say, riki. but you know, if you're into her, you could just admit it. we won't judge."

"honestly, you would judge, sunoo," riki rolled his eyes, a mixture of irritation and amusement bubbling within him. "but, i'm not into her," he replied adamantly, though the conviction in his voice wavered slightly.

as the conversation began to wind down, riki's mind started to wander towards the upcoming history test that he had been dreading for weeks. he couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his chest as he realized that he was woefully unprepared for the test.

despite knowing that he should have been studying for it, he had been so distracted by other things that he hadn't even opened his textbook yet.

as he thought more about it, he realized that he didn't even know what he was supposed to learn for the history test, let alone understand what was going on in the lessons. riki had spent most of his time in class either annoying hari or dozing off, so he was now feeling the full weight of his procrastination.