It all started when Nishimura Riki, Ahn Miso's long time crush approached her and asked her to help him with a girl. The worse part is that the girl happened to be Miso's cousin that she hates the most.
--A Nishimura Riki (니시무라 리키) Fanfiction
By:
S...
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"Hey pretty!" I heard a voice call out to me when I was walking to school. I looked around my surroundings and saw my one and only crush running up to me with a bouquet. Oh, he's back to impressing Yena and I get fooled everytime he calls me pretty.
"I was waiting for you..." I ignored his words as I took a moment to scan the flowers he was holding. Lavenders? I don't remember telling him that Yena liked them.
"Riki, why did you bring lavenders? Yena never liked them as a kid, she told me they have a sharp scent that she hates--"
"These are not for her." He interrupted me with a hint of annoyance lacing in his voice. It was the first time when I didn't hear him talk about her with his soft voice, one that he only uses for her.
"They're for you." His soothing voice broke my thoughts and I almost felt my heart stop for a second when I realized what he just said. "I... uh, read in your diary that lavenders bring peace to you, so I brought them for you. The last few days must have been stressful for you. Sorry, I couldn't find the fresh ones."
How does he understand me so much? I've been so much troubled by all the Kim Jun and marriage thingy. Mainly after yesterday when Riki fought against him, I was worried that he'd tell my father about Riki. But he didn't, which made things even more strange and concerning for me.
"Take these!" He grabbed my hands and placed the flowers in them, "they're all yours and you're all mine..."
"Huh?" I uttered in confusion when he whispered the last words under his breath, making them inaudible to me.
"Alright, let's go. We're running late, darling!" He held my hand as he pulled me to run with him. Oh, the way he calls me darling as if I'm the only girl he'll ever call that. Ouch.
Even after everything that happened between us, everytime he holds my hands, the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter. All of my worries drift away when he's close to me with his hand in mine, making me feel free, free to love and dream.
Riki and I giggled when we found a seat together to sit on the bus. I placed the bag on my lap and glanced at the boy beside me only to find him looking at me too. He laughed softly when our eyes met, making me smile.
"Miso..." I hummed at him, looking down at my hands. "What else do you like beside lavenders? I want to know you more."
Wait, why? I looked up to meet his eyes and felt a wave of blush pour over my cheeks by the way he was staring at me. Looks like I'm dreaming too much.
You, something that I love the most after lavenders.
"I.. uh, I like science a lot." Aish, I think this isn't something he'd like to know about me.
"I know that already, you've been topping that subject almost for all the years I've been here." He laughed, "I want to know the little things about you, like your favorite season, your favorite song and..."
I found myself getting lost in his eyes as he spoke. He wasn't looking at Yena like he always does. His eyes were only on me, leaving me with a relieved yet troubled heart.
-
I took a deep breath, letting the cold breeze brush past me and mess my hairs as I climbed up the stairs of the rooftop. It's late at night and I suddenly feel like stargazing, meh.
After the seperation of Yena's family and mine, the roof remains as an only thing that we share. But we only go there when the other's not present, not like how we used to do during the winters.
My thoughts broke when I spotted a lean silhouette of a girl standing at the edge of the roof with her head raised up towards the dark sky. I immediately turned to leave when I recognized her, it's Yena.
"Miso... can we talk?" Her words echoed, halting me in my steps. My lips parted, am I hearing things?
Her steps grew closer to me but I stood still. "Let's talk. Not as friends, not as cousins, not as enemies but..." She continued, "as strangers."
Why? Maybe because her thoughts are also getting loud like mine? I don't mind pretending to be what we've been for years but it's not easy to talk.
I heaved a sigh and turned to her with a smile. It was a smile that you pass to strangers. It's been 10 years, how can I say no?
"I'm doing well with my life." She started once we both sat on the floor, "the guy I'm dating loves me, I have nice friends and I've got a dream to chase." Oh, she has everything she told me she wanted when we were kids. "What about you?"
I bit my lips, fumbling for words. "I... am just fine."
She simply nodded, even when she knew I was lying. She's aware that I have no friends and I'm forbidden to dream.
"The japanese boy from my class, who's always with you on the bus, are you dating him?" She asked when she realized I had nothing else to say.
"Ah, n-no! I'm not dating him, we're just... acquaintances."
She laughed slightly, "He's into you, it's pretty obvious. Either you're trying to ignore it or maybe you're just really oblivious."
"No, he likes another girl. She's prettier than me." I looked in her eyes because it's her only, the stranger sitting next to me.
"I'm older than you by a month. I know better, little stranger." Yena stood up with a smile.
"Let's talk more as strangers from now on." I spoke when she began to climb down. She waved her hands at me and continued to walk as I watched her back disappear into the darkness.
I know that it's not how strangers talk, we can never talk like strangers. We were 8 when we last talked and now we're 18, it's been 10 years. We've lived more as strangers and enemies than we've lived as cousins and friends.
And I'm willing to change that.
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It took me days to write this chap and it's still as bad as it could be, eh! But trust me, writing feels illegal when you have projects to complete!
