mischief boy! nishimura riki

17: why me?

jungwon furrowed his eyebrows, staring intently into riki's soul.

the rest of the boys, with arms akimbo, stared right back with the same stern expression.

jay spoke up first.

"what have you been doing ??? i think we all deserve an explanation from our dear maknae."

jake and sunghoon nodded fervently.

it didn't help that sunoo's raised eyebrows, coupled with a judgmental gaze, pressured riki further.

riki pondered in silence, unsure as to how to explain this mess to the boys.

but they didn't have to know his plan.

in fact, they could very well aid him.

"well, i got a girlfriend. what more is there to it? do i need to continue on about our rendezvous?"

the boys were speechless. how could their maknae treat this issue lightly?

heeseung raised a hand, and silence befell the room.

"didn't you like umi? what happened? why are you with her BEST FRIEND? riki, this is messed up."

oh.

guilt stung his heart. he didn't even know chaewon was umi's best friend. how clueless was he to just grab the first girl on sight and ask her to be his girlfriend when all he wanted was to make umi jealous?

how childish was he?

but he knew he dug too deep. there was no going back.

all for the sake of the competition.

umi, i hope you will forgive me.

riki stood his ground, calmly telling the boys that it was just a harmless prank.

they don't need to know.

the boys each shook their heads in disbelief, and they filed out of the dorm in silence.

riki sensed the disappointment lingering in the air.

but he couldn't do anything about it.

as he lay in bed, thinking about how he got himself tangled in the mess, a question popped into his mind: why then, would chaewon want to court him, if she very well knew about him and umi's situation?

riki pushed the thought to the back of his mind, reassuring himself that umi probably never told chaewon about them. shifting his position on the bed, he decided to nap for a while longer.

🪄

in a dorm way up high in the sky, as high as the mountains, lay umi, who had locked herself in her room.

the tissue box beside her had been emptied, and a heap of tissues had been forming a mini mountain on her sheets.

who knew, the coldest yet most composed person in the school, would be crying her heart out over a boy. and the boy just so happened to be her number 1 rival just months ago.

needless to say, umi was heartbroken.

her heart ached recalling riki's eyes, which were so full of love.

except that they were never meant for her.

they were always meant for her best friend. chaewon.
the touches, the gazes, all of them, only chaewon could enjoy them.

she was always the second best.

yet, another part of her was full of jealousy. and pain.
her friend had betrayed her, and she demanded answers.

wasn't it girl code to never lay a finger on your best friend's crush?

even after pouring her heart out about a boy to her best friend, did she deserve bearing with the pain that came with her best friend getting together with the boy she liked? her best friend, whom she had trusted, confided in, loved?

or was it her fault, for never being honest with her feelings, for never talking it out with riki, to the point that he moved on with her best friend?

just why, did it have to be her?

she needed answers, and the only way to do so was to confront her fears.
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a/n:
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