Dance Partners || N.NK ||

Part 59/S2

"Ni-ki..." you spoke, your voice cracking along with Ni-ki's.
"I-" you began but your voice was immediately cut off as Ni-Ki, the boy embraced in your arms suddenly pulled you behind a bush nearby.

"THERE THEY ARE!!" you heard voices behind the place you were standing at just moments ago.

"What's going on.." you muttered, your heart racing for what felt like a fear.

"Shh" Ni-ki whispered, finally showing his face to you.
The dried tears, the swollen red eyes of his cracked your heart.
It was a sight you never thought you'd ever see.

You've always known Ni-ki as the tough guy who would always argue with you over the stupidest things and find different ways to annoy you.
The guy who once used to wear an annoyed expression on his face whenever he saw yours or when he had to dance with you.

But now?

He was no longer the Ni-ki you once used knew.
He stood before your eyes now as a man.
A man who had risked everything, even his career, for the love he had for you.
The one who never stopped searching when you suddenly vanished from his life without a trace, torn away by an unsupportive family.
The one who always stayed by your side, through every hour of the day and every silence of the night, even when your eyes looked at him like he was a stranger whom you've never met before.
He was the one.
The only man your heart would ever see and the one your eyes first landed on with admiration.

"I THINK THEY WENT THAT WAY" somebody shouted, their voice sharp and urgent, snapping you out of your thoughts.

The sound of hurried footsteps pounded against the pavement, multiplying like a storm.
It wasn't just a few people—it was a crowd.
Dozen, maybe more.

Crouched low, your breath shallow, you pressed further into the dense bush, the leaves brushing your cheeks.
Ni-ki stood crouched beside you, his hand protectively holding yours in a firm grip.

Through a tiny gap between the branches, you peeked out.
A group of people hurried past—some holding cameras, others with phones raised high.
Paparazzi. Fans. Reporters.

Your pulse quickened.

They were looking for you.

For him.

For the both of you.

And they weren't going to stop until they found you.
All Just to get some portraits and footages of you two standing close together.

The footsteps faded away once by one and silence filled the air.
But even that didn't last long when you heard another set of footsteps.
Yet this time it wasn't a whole crowd.
Just one pair of footsteps.

"What a life...even during his hiatus and after her leaving the industry, they're still chased by the paparazzis" a woman mumbled, walking right past the bush without noticing you—luckily.
Her heels clicked against the pavement as she shook her head and disappeared into the distant.

You swallowed hard.
The words of this woman, a complete stranger to you stung more than you expected.

So this was what your love had become—something hunted.

"I think they are gone...let's get out of here" Ni-ki spoke while peeking through the gap once more, his voice was muffled and strained due to him silently crying in your arms earlier.

You nodded your head, no words coming out of your mouth as you let him lead you out the bush to somewhere else—somewhere safer.

~ To be continued.

I'm sorry I had to make this very short...