Falling For The Park Brothers' Sister ⚊ Nishimura Riki

Chapter Twenty Nine

Ni-ki's point of view

Being stuck in the same room as Jungwon was like being thrown into the middle of a storm—one I wasn’t ready to face.

The tension was unbearable, suffocating even. I didn’t bother to hide my irritation as I took the far side of the room, my back immediately turning toward him.

I didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to be reminded of everything that had gone wrong between us. But there was no escaping it, not with him so close.

The silence in the room was heavy, broken only by the distant sounds of Sunoo and Jiyoo laughing from down the hall.

It should’ve been me out there, joking around with her, making her smile. But instead, I was stuck here, fighting the urge to lash out, to yell at Jungwon for… for what?

For being here? For trying to worm his way back into my life? For getting close to Jiyoo?

That last thought stung the most. Jiyoo. She was supposed to be off-limits, someone I could at least rely on to be in my corner. But no, here was Jungwon, trying to get closer to her, and it infuriated me.

He’d already taken enough—my trust, my friendship—and now, he was coming for her too.

I was angry at him, sure. But more than that, I was angry at myself. Angry that I let things get this bad, that I couldn’t just move on like he seemed to. I clenched my fists, trying to push down the frustration, the memories that kept bubbling to the surface no matter how hard I tried to bury them.

Jungwon’s voice cut through the silence, soft and hesitant. "Ni-ki… I’m sorry."

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. Sorry? What was he sorry for? For everything he put me through? For acting like nothing happened? Or was it something else?

Something I didn’t want to think about.

I kept my back to him, not trusting myself to respond. I wanted to shout at him, to ask why he had to bring this up now, why he couldn’t just leave things the way they were. But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t face him, not now, not when everything felt so raw.

So, I stayed silent, pretending like I hadn’t heard him, like his words didn’t slice through me like a knife. After what felt like an eternity, I heard him shift in his bed, the tension slowly seeping out of the room as he drifted off to sleep.

But sleep didn’t come as easily for me.

When I finally did close my eyes, I was dragged back into the past, to memories I thought I’d buried a long time ago.

We were kids again, back in middle school, running through the park with not a care in the world. Jungwon was always a step ahead, his laughter ringing out as he turned back to make sure I was keeping up.

It was so simple back then, so easy to just be… us.

We’d spend hours together, just goofing around, talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

"Come on, Ni-ki, you’re too slow!" Jungwon teased, his smile bright enough to light up the whole park.

"Maybe you’re just too fast!" I shot back, trying to catch up.

We’d collapse in a heap on the grass, breathless from laughing, from just being ourselves. We were close—closer than I’d ever been with anyone. We didn’t need words to understand each other, just a glance, a shared look, and we knew.