"i agree," rika stated, extending her hand out.
yuta shot his head up at her, not a word leaving his mouth.
"well?" she raised a brow at his frozen state.
yuta cleared his throat and snapped back into his senses. he put his hand in hers and shook it, "i'm glad you are willing to comply."
"the pleasure is mine mr. nakamoto," rika smiled.
"please, call me yuta," he grinned, "i want to keep things friendly with you."
rika scoffed as the corner of her lip curved upwards, "alright, yuta."
the lad gulped as he heard her say his name. his name rolled off her tongue smoothly, he missed hearing her call him. how happy she would sound every time she would call for him, but now all it sounded like was ice, like it meant nothing.
"if we're keeping things friendly, feel free to call me rika," the woman offered.
"as you wish, rika."
rika showed yuta around her headquarters, showing where they kept weapons, where hacking took place, where the bar and casino was. there was no denying that this girl was extremely rich.
"i'm impressed by this place, by you. how did you get this wealthy?" yuta questioned as his eyes roamed around the casino.
"hard work, a lot of hard work. it wasn't easy getting to this point. i had to fight my way up here, and i lost a lot for it," she sighed, "but my team really played a big part in my success, our success."
yuta nodded, he looked at her intently as she spoke. she turned her head to look right back at him and their eyes met. their gazes were locked for a moment before rika cleared her throat.
"speaking of my team, let me introduce you to them," she led him out of the gambling den and down the hall where the familiar tall, white doors that were used throughout the whole construction. she pushed them open where six girls who were seated at a long table. yuta assumed this was the meeting room.
the room was brightly lit by natural light that shone through the large windows. the chandelier hanging over the prolonged, marble conference table illuminated the space even more. the girls were seated in large, leather padded wheely chairs. lastly a wide screened tv was on the wall at the front of the room, easy for anyone to see. it had a very comfy feel despite it being a place of seriousness. it definitely felt more welcoming than his own conference room at his headquarters.
"girls, this is yuta nakamoto, leader of nct and our new ally," rika introduced.
the latters stood from their seats and bowed, which yuta reciprocated.
"it's a pleasure to finally meet you mr. nakamoto. my name is soyeon," the blonde haired girl spoke.
yuta only gave a small nod and smile.
"as for everyone else, that is minnie, yuqi, soojin, miyeon and shuhua," rika familiarized the man with the girls.
she mentioned how shuhua and miyeon were part of the hacking team as they specialized in anything technology. minnie and soyeon are some of their strongest fighters and were in charge of the combat unit. due to their visuals and timid aura, soojin and yuqi were very good at attracting, seducing and allurement. they were the ones who got their enemy right where they want them.
she did remind him that despite them having their designated roles and specialties, they could all fight and were extremely smart. not even one of them were weak in the basic skills.
"are you the boss around here?" even though he knew the answer, yuta still asked.
"i guess you could say that, but we all have our part to play when running this place," she claimed.
"so were you the ones who trained them?" he asked, this time it was a question he didn't know the answer to.
"only in fighting. when we first met, it was already obvious that they had the smarts. they all had their specialty to bring to the table. the only thing they lacked was physicality. sure, they were quite strong already and some already knew the basic fighting skills, but it definitely wasn't enough to keep them alive in this industry, so i helped them out," she explained.
"where did you learn how to fight?" yuta looked at her, both of them stopped walking.
she exhaled sharply and stared at him, "that's a different story for another day," she simply stated.
"anyways, i believe i have told and showed you everything i needed to. i will give you a call so you could perhaps show me around your headquarters and all," yuta nodded.
"of course, it was quite fun today. see you soon," yuta smiled and rika returned the favour. the bodyguards showed yuta out of the building.
yuta sighed loudly as he drove off. every time he was with her, it was a struggle to keep himself composed. he just wants to tell her how much he misses her, how sorry he is and how much he loves her. he wanted to engulf her in the warmest hug and bring her home. her lips, he wanted to kiss those soft and sweet lips again. he didn't know how much longer he could go on like this. how much longer until he'd break and let out all the memories they once lived. would she remember? would she leave him once she remembers? yuta rubbed his face, telling himself to shut up and just pay attention to the road.
"how was it?" mark questioned.
"it was alright," yuta flatly responded.
"how is she?" taeyong asked, taking a seat next to yuta.
yuta decided to invite the boys over since it had been a while they had gotten together. no, missions did not count. it had been forever since they all were able to have a little fun and relax.
however, yuta couldn't seem to relax.
"she's still so beautiful, but she's so different. she's so serious, cold, and so hard to read. i feel as if it's not even her anymore, like her face and body was taken over by a totally different person," he ranted.
"has she shown any signs of remembering you?" yuta shook his head at the oldest man's question.
"why don't we just let it go for now, just for tonight. for now, let's just have some drinks and have a good time as friends do," haechan says, opening a can of beer.
the rest agreed. the night ended with laughter and enjoyment, something that the men, especially yuta, hadn't experienced in a while.
"i can't believe yuta was the first one to get a girl before any of us," taeyong whined, taking gulp from his can of beer.
yuta scoffed, "how is it hard to believe?"
"you're too uptight and cold, makes you look old," jungwoo joked making everyone burst into laughter.
"am not!" yuta protested through his laughter.
"but seriously, i honestly thought that jaehyun would get a girlfriend before any of us," taeil stated.
"why?" yuta questioned.
"look at him, he's handsome, strong, smart, so unbothered," johnny smiled as jaehyun sat there with a small smile.
"are you saying i am not those things?" yuta acted offended.
"exactly," johnny laughed.
"hm, rina would beg to differ," the japanese man smirked.
"alright, stop bragging," doyoung rolled his eyes playfully.
the group of women were let through the gates of the nct headquarters. rika lifted her head up and eyed the building. she exhaled sharply before she kept walking, her team following behind her.
once she was let through the doors of the building, she was immediately greeted by two familiar men.
"glad you could make it rika," yuta smiled, walking towards her and giving her a small peck on the cheek. the girls looked at each other, taken back by his actions. rika however, gave a small smile and nodded.
"shall we begin?" rika asked and yuta nods.
(g)-idle was shown around the place just like rika had done with yuta at her headquarters. weapon room, meeting room, hacking team, training rooms and such. rika stayed silent for the most part, only giving nods, hums and short questions. the rest of the girls were the ones to ask the questions.
"i believe that is all," taeyong said.
"i do have one more question," soyeon spoke. yuta gave a low nod, allowing her to proceed, "why do you suddenly want to become allies despite you finding out about us just recently?"
yuta mentally cursed to himself, "well, as i mentioned to rika in our first encounter, i am becoming worried about monsta x. they're becoming more active and maybe getting stronger. everyone knows that nct and monsta x are big rivals, which means that they are targeting me and my team. so, i'm gonna need all the help i can get," he explained, letting out a silent breath of relief that he was able to answer the question with no problem.
soyeon eyed him for a moment, he knew from the look in her eyes that she wasn't convinced but she shrugged anyway, "alright, that was all."
as the girls were being escorted out, yuta runs up to rika.
"rika wait," the latter turns around to face him.
"mhm?"
"i would love to get to know you better. would lunch tomorrow work?" he asked.
rika's brows knitted together, staring at him.
minnie placed a hand on the japanese girl's arm, "don't," she whispered.
rika looked into her eyes and sure enough minnie could read her expression. sighing, she brought her hand back down and stepped back.
"sure, pick me up at 12:30 pm," rika stated before walking out the door with the girls. the last one to exit was soyeon but before she did, she turned back to look at yuta with a dark gaze that he couldn't read.
"what's that soyeon girl's problem?" taeyong snickered.
"i don't know, but i don't like her vibe," yuta muttered.