The Love Scandal ♪ Nishimura Riki

20 ♪ a raging fire

Chapter twenty

"A few days left," Rohee says.

"A few days left," Jihyun repeats defeatedly. She stares blankly at the glazed floors. The big debate is just a few days ahead and she's going to be speaking for the school–though along with Riki. Her nerves are running about, jumping up and down, and she can't calm them.

"You're going to do great, stop being worried," Rohee chided firmly, narrowing her eyes in a scolding look. Her hair flailed as she sharply turned her head. "And if you don't do well, then I'm sure Riki will."

Jihyun's face scrunches at the subtle blow, unsure of whether or not she should–or could–take it as something comforting. They keep walking after that, gradual steps towards the library. Jihyun mulls before deciding to speak up, "You know, Riki isn't that bad."

Rohee raises her eyebrows out of surprise. Interest scrambled in the way her features were then scrunched. "What makes you say that?" Rohee crosses her arms and gazes at Jihyun accusatively. "What's going on when you two are in the library?"

Jihyun gives her a pointed look. "I don't know what you're thinking but get your mind out of the gutter," she says. Jihyun idly crosses her arms and continues to speak, "But last time we talked, since we pretty much had our work done, and it wasn't bad. He can hold a conversation."

Where she expected Rohee to approve, Rohee only frowned at her statement. Her expression gone serious and concerned. "Should you be talking to him?"

"Yeah?" Jihyun responds.

Rohee shakes her head, telling Jihyun, "No, you shouldn't. Ji, you're neck-deep into this scandal right now. If people see you two talking casually, despite the company's announcement, what would they think?"

"But it will die out eventually," Jihyun says, waiting for the confirmation. The confirmation that Rohee would normally give her.

The other girl's face twists, appearing unsure. Jihyun doesn't get the confirmation. "It may, but just because the fire's gone doesn't mean that nothing burned." She sighs at the pensive look on Jihyun's face. "I'm just saying to be careful, but if you want to talk to him, I suggest you guys find a private or less public place to do so."

Jihyun asserts, "He is not coming to my house."

"I didn't say that...you told me he called you once, right?" Jihyun nods. "So just call him–or text him. That's private enough." Rohee stops her feet when she ends her sentence and just like that they had arrived at the doors of the library. "Since you're done working you're just going to hang out?"

"Hang out? Eh...we're just going to talk unless we have more ideas to jot down."

"So a hangout, basically," Rohee repeats.

"It's not a hangout," Jihyun declares.

Rohee shrugs her shoulders carelessly. "Whatever you say. Just be careful with how and how much you interact with him–that's all I'm saying."

"Okay," Jihyun responds while nodding her head. She places her hands on the door but remembers to wave Rohee goodbye before she heads in.

"For someone who initiated this, I would assume that you'd be the first one to make it to the library at least."

Jihyun makes a passive expression before getting in her seat. "I'll try to make an effort," She mumbles. With a miniature grin, he shakes his head slightly, reassuring her that he never waits too long for her arrival. Jihyun pushes the packet his way, "We aren't working on it, so you can just put it in your bag or something."

He slides the packet back to the center of the table, stating, "Yeah but we have to avoid suspicion, right? So we need to keep it."

Right.

"Oh okay," Jihyun mumbles absentmindedly.

Time doesn't stop. The world keeps spinning. Riki still got a bruise from a mirror maze when he was younger. Jihyun still laughed at him despite having done worse by face-planting from many trips on rugs. Riki still notices that Jihyun furrows her eyebrows a lot. Jihyun's still content with his company. Hours are made from mere minutes, and they talk like usual.

"So how long did you train?"

"Around 2 months. They focused primarily on performance, and voice control and stability. Being faceless meant I didn't have to worry over choreography, but if it became an idea I was set for it without training," Riki prattled. He tended to speak a lot, or at least over the course of the few days they had spent talking rather than working, he had gotten comfortable with speaking a lot. Riki was a lot quieter at their first meet, but given their situation it was understandable, so maybe that's what set them apart at first, and maybe Riki is actually an extrovert.

"What made you go faceless?"

Riki raises his eyebrows, inquisitive and skeptical. "Are you insinuating that I'm handsome enough to not have to?"

Jihyun shoots up, removing her arms from the tabletop. "I don't know where you got that idea from, you're delusional. I'm just asking."

Riki chuckles, "I wanted to pursue education along with music. In order to safely do both I had to go faceless."

"Then why the face reveal?"

"Spontaneous decision."

"Guess it wasn't a good spontaneous decision either." Jihyun perches her elbows on the surface again. "Since everything's adjourned now."

A bout of uncertainty flashes across his face. It's partially true that impulse blinds the acumen, but in this case, was it a bad thing? It probably was.

"Sorry," Jihyun quickly apologizes. She searches for a way out, changing the subject. "The debate is coming up soon. How do you feel about it?" Although there was an attempt to lighten the atmosphere with a change in direction with their situation, Riki remained just as tense, even more so when he clutched the empty air within his palms. Jihyun waited for him to say something–if he wanted to say something.

As her silence becomes perceived as expectancy, Riki speaks cautiously, "Actually...the company is thinking about pulling me out of it."