Dance Partners || N.NK ||

Part 64/S2

You sighed, tossing and turning on your bed in a futile attempt to find sleep.
But the sleep you longed for never came.
Not that night.
Not the next.
And certainly not the one after.

Night after night, you lay on the thick mattress, wide awake, your thoughts refusing to quiet down.
Even when sleep finally claimed you, it never lasted more than a few fleeting hours.
The toll it took was swift and unforgiving—dark shadows carved themselves beneath your eyes, deep enough that he finally noticed the change in you.

Ni-Ki.

When he first noticed it.
You were in the kitchen, quietly drinking from a coffee mug, your back leaned against the kitchen sink.

"Good morning" Ni-ki spoke, his eyes flickering over yours as he walked past you to the fridge.

You smiled
You lifted the mug once again near your mouth—about to take another sip of the coffee.
But the words that he later spoke interrupted you, your hands freezing mid air.

"What's that under your eyes??" he asked, the warm smile on his face earlier now faded with concern.

He walked back towards you, facing you face to you while he leaned back on the kitchen counter.

"Huh?" you responded with furrowed eyebrows, not understanding what he meant by the question at first.
"Didn't you sleep last night???" he questioned, ignoring your confused reply.
"What do you mean?" you pretended to not know what he was talking about.
But deep down you knew exactly what he meant.
"Care to explain how the dark shadows got beneath your eyes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he waited for you to come clean with the truth.

You sighed, not knowing how to tell him.
The thing that was bothering you for the last couple days.

"I don't know... I had hard time sleeping the last few days" you muttered, setting your coffee mug down on the sink—empty.
"Hmm?" he hummed softly, as if asking for you to explain further.
But you didn't.
"Why? What's bothering you?" he asked, his morning voice softening slowly by the moment.
"Nothing..." you mumbled, turning around to wash the mug so you wouldn't have to face him.

You turned the tap on, the water flowing down on the sink almost immediately.

You didn't hear him move at first—only felt the faint shift in the air behind you.
A moment later, his arm reached past yours, fingers slightly brushing yours as he twisted the tap closed.
The sudden silence in the kitchen made your heartbeat sound louder than it should.

Before you could step away, his arms slid around your waist, pulling you gently but firmly against him in a hug.
His face found the curve of your neck, warm breath gazing your skin as he spoke, his voice a low murmur.

"Don't do that... don't shut me out."
You swallowed, eyes fixed on the sink in front of you, but he held you there, his embrace unyielding.

"Tell me," he whispered, tightening his hold just enough for you to feel the sincerity in ever word.

You could've turned around.
Told him what was bothering you, why you laid restless for nights, the truth.
But you couldn't bring yourself to.

And he knew.
He knew about the "arranged" fiancé you had yet to learn about—news that had been hanging between you both like an unspoken shadows.
But that was long before your memory loss.

The words to say it all—how to bring it up again—felt tangled and impossible to find.
You feared how he might react, worried that speaking it aloud again would change everything between you.
Though it hadn't when you first brought it up months ago.

So instead, you stayed quiet, wrapped in the warmth of his embrace, pretending the silence could hold your secret for just a little longer.

"Are you missing your members..?" he asked, trying to guess the problem you were dealing with, since you didn't speak up.

"No..." you denied, though you could feel your heart pounding as you responded.

It was a lie.

You missed their voices.
The smiles they carried everyday, even when practice was hard.
The silly little fights you had with them in the dorms—in the practice rooms—at backstage—durning the countdown for stage.
You missed them—the girls.

But they weren't the problem.

"That's bizarre, could that be a lie?" he questioned, as if he could see right through your words.

"Maybe..." you admitted.

The moment your voice reached his ear again, he broke the hug.

"Yn," he spoke, turning you around so you were facing him again.
"Tell me exactly what's bothering you" he said, eyes fixed on yours.

Yet, you lowered your gaze down to the floor, still not finding the courage to look him straight in the eye.

"You know..." you began.
"The fiancé I told you about back then ?" you finally spoke, spilling the truth out.

He nodded his head.

"Yeah?"
"Well...My sister is already getting married, the wedding's in 2 more weeks," you said.
"That's nice, isn't it?" he said, feeling confused.
"Indeed...and you know I'm turning 18 this December," you mumbled, your voice getting quieter with each word you uttered.
"So I fear my parents will make me get married too soon after I turn 18...that way I can already take over the family company."

"I'm pretty sure they won't do that, you are just about to start your second year in college." he mumbled, ignoring the fact that your parents were trying to marry you off to not him, but to another man you didn't know of yet—someone you didn't love.

You sighed, taking a deep breath before finally looking up at him.
A small tear escaped your left eye as you finally met his eyes.
You felt overwhelmed.

"My mom wants me to take over the business as soon as possible...and if not, then why would she already interfere with my career this early?" you questioned, looking at him as if he was the only one who held answers to your question.

He pulled you in his chest, embracing you once again.
But this time, his hold around you tightened even more.
He held you as if you were a fragile thing about to be shattered any moment.
That's how secure you felt in his arms.

But would you ever be able to feel this safe in someone else's arms, like you do in his?
It seemed impossible—like trying to reach for a cloud that drifts just out of grasp.
Except you weren't even reaching for it, not even for anything else.
You wouldn't, you would never be able to love anyone else the way you loved him.
Even if the world had to force you, it would always be him the one you truly loved.

"Remember the words your biological father said..." he whispered, his chin resting on your head while he ruffled your hair—a quiet action that did more than just comfort you.
"It's a silent promise Yn, don't forget it" he added, the tone of his voice soothing your aching heart down.
"He won't let it happen, even if he hasn't gained forgiveness from you yet for his actions in the past."

And just like that, you slowly drifted into a deep slumber, right there in his arms—despite it being the middle of the day.
The sleep you had longed for through endless days and nights had finally taken over, wrapping you in its warmth within the comfort of his embrace and voice.

~ To be continued

The story keeps getting longer yall 😭
I think I should make a separate season like just for the ending

And I just wanted to thank everyone for the 500 followers!!
I never checked my follower count until now, I expected it to be about a hundred of y'all but oh boy was I wrong.
Thank you so much for reading my works!! It means a lot, really.