Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
#04 | instagram "it's not like he's going to notice that i followed him..."
cinnamon girl • lana del ray "there's things i want to say to you..."
──────
Finally, the weekend had arrived, bringing with it a sense of relief for Rina, who had diligently completed all her assignments on time. Collapsing onto her bed, she felt the weight of exhaustion settling over her. Beside her, Eunchae lay in peaceful slumber, oblivious to Rina's presence.
With a sigh, Rina reached for her phone, seeking a moment of distraction from the week's demands. As she scrolled through her social media feed, her thumb paused on a particularly intriguing reel. It was a reel of none other than Nishimura Riki, his familiar face that seemed to have captured the attention of millions as the reel boasted over five million views and one million likes.
"Why does he have to appear everywhere I look?" Rina muttered to herself, feeling a mixture of frustration and curiosity tug at her as her cheeks turned into a dusty shade of pink. Despite her inner resistance, she found herself succumbing to the temptation and clicked on Riki's Instagram profile.
As the page loaded, Rina was met with a wave of astonishment. His profile had nearly a million followers, and she was momentarily speechless at that. The realization dawned on her that Riki's presence extended far beyond their few shared experiences at school.
"Are you... looking at Riki's Instagram?" Eunchae mumbled as she stirred from her slumber, causing Rina to startle. "W-Why did you have to s-scare me like that?!" Rina exclaimed, hastily turning off her phone. Eunchae's drowsy expression slowly transformed into a mischievous grin. "I'm telling the others about this," she smirked before running off to find their friends. Rina groaned in annoyance as her cheeks heated up.
Minutes later, the whole group had assembled, their curiosity piqued. "He gave you his Instagram?" Yunjin asked, a teasing grin on her face. "N-No! I was just scrolling through reels, and a reel of him appeared, so I clicked on his profile! That's all!" Rina protested, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "But you still clicked on his profile!" Sakura teased, resulting in Rina burying her face in a pillow due to how flustered she was, "You guys are so annoying," she grumbled, earning a few fits of laughter from her friends.
"I won't be surprised if you guys start dating in a few months", Kazuha chuckled. Rina didn't respond to her friend's statement immediately, but her cheeks burned even more, "Oh, stop it. I didn't even follow him", she retorted after a few seconds, rolling her eyes in a failed attempt to maintain her composure. "Okay, then," Eunchae grinned mischievously, swiftly snatching Rina's phone from her hands. Without hesitation, she clicked on the "follow" button on Riki's Instagram profile.
The others burst out laughing as Rina tried snatching her phone back from the younger girl. "Now you've followed him", Eunchae smiled cheekily and gave the latter her phone back. "Are you kidding me?" Rina groaned in exasperation. Though annoyed at first, she couldn't stay mad at Eunchae for long. After all, the youngest wasn't one to take action without permission, and Rina knew her friend's intentions were harmless.
"What are you all so happy about?" Rina questioned with a glare. "Riki has almost a million followers, and I bet he gets hundreds more every day. It's not like he's going to notice that I followed him," she added, rolling her eyes in dismissal. "And if he does?" Chaewon raised a teasing brow. "Oh, stop being so delusional," Rina retorted, refusing to let her guard down. Despite her denial, her cheeks had visibly flushed every time she and Riki shared a small interaction at school. "Anyways, I'm getting hungry. Can we eat dinner now?" Rina asked."Yeah, we're ordering out tonight. Nobody's got the energy to cook," Sakura replied with a small sigh.
"Fine by me," Rina said before glancing at her phone, feeling a rush of excitement for no apparent reason.
After about forty-five minutes, pizza arrived at the girls' apartment. As the six sat at the dinner table and began eating, Rina's phone buzzed with a notification. She grabbed her phone and checked the notification from Instagram. What she saw nearly caused her eyes to pop out of their sockets...
──────
notifications
instagram • today
nrikimura_ has started following you
──────
Yunjin cleared her throat with a teasing flair as she noticed the notification on Rina's phone, "So he did end up following back, didn't he?". "That's obviously because he recognized me from school!", The latter exclaimed, "That's all". "Really, Rina?", Chaewon chuckled, "That's the best excuse you can make?".
"I'm not making excuses!", The latter retorted in annoyance. "Mhm, yeah sure", Sakura said, giving her sister a knowing grin. "So...Are you two going to chat often now that you have each other's Instagram?", Eunchae asked, failing to bite back a grin that formed on her lips.
"To be completely honest, I have no clue," Rina sighed, fiddling with her fingers under the table. "I mean, we've never really had a conversation that lasted more than fifteen seconds, so... I really don't know what to do." "No pressure, Rina. We're just teasing", Kazuha said, a hint of sincerity in her voice, "If you don't romantically have feelings for him, it's completely okay. Also, you don't have to message him if you don't want to", she reassured. "Thanks, Zuha", Rina exhaled a sigh of relief before making her way back to the room she shared with Eunchae.
She unlocked her phone and gazed intently at the Instagram notification. An urge stirred within her, tempting her to either click on Riki's profile or just send him a private message, but she didn't succumb to the temptation this time and turned off her phone before lying in her bed. Rina stared at the light blue-ish hue of the ceiling before eventually drifting away to sleep, her mind in a whirlwind of thoughts...
────── author's note ᯓ★
not too proud of this chapter. i feel like i'm rushing things a bit too much and i absolutely hate that this book is not turning out the way i wanted it to i deeply apologize once again as i'm going through an indefinite writer's block (which is annoying me vv much 🤬🤬) i'll try making future chapters more presentable 🫡🫡
