The next morning, Niki acted like nothing happened.
No red eyes. No apology. No tension.
At breakfast, he was laughing with Jake about something on his phone.
You walked into the kitchen.
He didn't look up.
"Morning," Jungwon said softly.
"Morning."
You grabbed a bowl, poured cereal, and sat down.
Not next to Niki.
Across the table.
Jay noticed first. His eyes flicked between the two of you.
Niki kept talking like everything was normal.
"You see this?" he said to Sunghoon, shoving his phone toward him.
You stared at your cereal.
He wasn't even glancing at you.
Not once.
Practice was worse.
Usually, you'd stand next to him during water breaks. Lean into his shoulder. Share earbuds. Whisper dumb jokes.
Today, he stood with the others.
And you stayed by yourself.
No lingering touches.
No eye contact.
Like you were just another member.
It hurt more than the argument.
Because pretending it didn't happen meant it didn't matter.
And that scared you.
⸻
Dinner that night.
Everyone gathered around the living room floor with takeout.
There was one empty space next to Niki.
The one you always sat in.
You walked in last.
He noticed you this time.
Just barely.
You didn't slow down.
You walked right past him.
And sat down beside Jungwon instead.
Jungwon stiffened slightly in surprise but didn't question it.
You handed him a pair of chopsticks.
"Pass me the sauce?"
"Yeah," he said quietly.
Across the circle, Niki had gone still.
He didn't say anything.
But he was watching.
Jake started telling a story, animated as always. Everyone laughed.
You leaned closer to Jungwon to hear him better.
Your knee brushed Jungwon's.
You didn't move it away.
Niki's jaw tightened.
He finally spoke.
"Can you pass the water?"
You handed it to Jay instead of him.
"Here."
Jay blinked but passed it along.
Niki's eyes flicked to you.
You didn't look back.
For the first time since the argument, he wasn't the one pretending nothing happened.
You were.
And somehow...
That unsettled him more than yelling ever could.
