Niki continued to gently pat my back as I couldn't stop coughing.
"You said Jeon Seo Yeon?" I asked, still not sure if I did indeed hear him say that name.
Her name.
"Yes, I said that. After you left the class I had to find a seat, and there was an empty seat next to her so I sat there. To be honest I didn't have a choice because her seat was the only one available." He shrugged, continuing to eat his food.
"Wait so...are you guys...friends now? Do you like her??" I curiously asked.
Niki chuckled. "Well I guess you could say that. Today she was really helpful in class. She explained the work to me in Japanese when I didn't understand it." He smiled.
I felt my heart ache, as if someone had just wedged their knife into it. I don't know why I felt like this, why I felt like this for him. It was kinda new to me, even though I've had relationships(one) in the past. Perhaps Hyewon was right. Maybe I was starting to like Niki without even knowing it.
I heard a fork being thrown onto a plate, frightening me.
"Yahh, Nishimura Riki! Seo Yeon is bad news okay! She's-"
"Hyewon stop." I whispered.
"No! He needs to hear this before Seo Yeon pulls another Seo Yeon and hurts him. Nishimura, stay away from her. Trust me, you do not wanna associate yourself with her." She warned him.
Niki raised his eyebrows. "Why? She seems really nice. Plus she's fluent in Japanese so it's good for me to be her friend."
"Nishimura, remember when we told you about how we used to have a large friend group?" Zoa asked.
"Yes." He slowly nodded.
"And you remember how we said things went south and everyone went their separate ways?" She asked.
"Yes." He nodded.
"All of that happened because of Seo Yeon. She did something bad and ended up chasing our friends away. She hurt Yong and I and we will never forgive her for that. So again, stay. Away. From. Her. I'm warning you." And with that, Hyewon stood up, aggressively pushed her chair back in and walked away. Just like that.
"Zoa! Zoa!" I called, but she continued to walk until she was out of the cafeteria.
"Yong I'm sorry I didnt-"
I sighed. "Niki why'd you have to bring her up?"
"W-well you asked me..and I just...answered your question. I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt Hyewon and you. If you don't wanna talk about it then I won't bring it up again. I promise." He slightly smiled, letting out his pinky.
I chuckled, letting out my pinky and intertwining it with his. "Thank you."
"I wanna make it up to you guys." Niki stated. He turned his whole body to face me. "Let's go out today. Like, hang around the city and stuff. You could give me a tour too." He brightly smiled.
"Sounds good. But do you think Hyewon would wanna come with?" I asked, finishing the last bits of my food.
"We could ask her, I'm sure she'll say yes. Plus, I'll be paying for your food." He shrugged, pushing out his bottom lip while his eyes sparkled under the cafeteria lights.
"Alright yeah. She'll probably say yes." I said.
⏳
"No." Hyewon immediately answered.
"BRUH! Come on it'll be fun! Plus, Niki feels really bad for what happened at break." I said, wrapping my arm around Hyewon's.
"For the tenth time, NO! I don't wanna hang out today." She said, trying to push me away. But it didn't work, because I stuck to her, like glue.
"Why not??" I asked.
"Because I'm not in the mood!" She said.
"Niki's paying though. Free food. You like free food." I said, my face inching closer to hers.
"I'll be paying! You can have whatever you want." Niki said, slightly nudging Hyewon.
Hyewon groaned. "WHAT part of I don't wanna hang out DON'T you UNDERSTAND! Quit being so annoying and let me go home in peace!! Gosh." She removed my arm from hers and slightly pushed me away.
Niki and I watched as Hyewon angrily marched to the school gate, her hair bouncing as she walked. I exchanged worried glances with Niki and we both sighed.
"Well then I guess it's just the two of us." Niki said.
⏳
Background music: Coffee - BTS
Sweet Night - V
"So, where you wanna go?" Niki asked.
We walked together through the beautiful city and streets of Seoul. It was about 6:30 p.m and the sky was decorated in a pretty burnt orange tint, creating ambiance. I closed my eyes, feeling the cool air blow past my exposed legs.
"I wanna show you something." I suddenly said, opening my eyes as I remembered something.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Just follow me." I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him with me.
We walked past a few buildings and crossed several busy roads until we finally got to where I wanted to go.
"Over there, can you see it?" I asked, pointing to a small river deep in the woods near Seoul's most famous community park.
"You mean the river?" Niki asked.
"Yes. You wanna get a closer look?" I asked.
"Sure." He said.
We made our way towards the river, carefully walking down the small hill. We slid along, down the hill, taking tiny steps so we didn't fall and hurt ourselves. Niki trailed behind me, asking if I was okay, and I was. Although a few tree branches lightly scratched my arms, it didn't hurt as much.
We finally reached the bottom of the hill and we both let out heavy sighs.
"Look..." I said, walking towards the river. "It's even prettier than I remember." I smiled.
"You've been here before?" Niki asked, standing next to me and also taking in the beautiful view.
"Yes, several times. Before our parents died we used to come here and camp for the weekend. We were that one weird family no one understood..." I chuckled. "But after my parents left us, my brother and I didn't come here often. It's been years since I've come here."
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." Niki softly said.
"Nahh it's okay. I know they're in a better place now, watching over us." I smiled to myself.
"Does anyone else know about this place?" Niki asked.
"Well, Hyewon is the only person who knows about it. I guess, you're the second person to know about it too." I said, looking at him.
I silently admired his features. His side profile, his jawline, his lips, his nose, his clear milky skin, everything. He nibbled on his bottom lip and turned to look at me.
"I'm glad you showed it to me. It's really beautiful." He said, then smiled.
I returned the smile, and looked back at the river in front of me. I took a deep breath in, then out, and enjoyed the sound of the waters flowing about, with the wind swaying the tree's leaves side to side.
As we stood there in silence, my stomach grumbled and I jumped in fright.
I held my tummy and looked at Niki to find him smiling, almost laughing.
"Are you hungry?" He asked.
I only hummed in response, making him laugh and nod. He took my hand in his and pulled me with him. We made our way up the hill, and got out of the woods and into the familiar busy streets.
⏳
"What are we eating?" Niki asked.
We slowly walked together, still hand-in-hand. I wondered why Niki hadn't removed his hand from mine, but I didn't complain at all, because I liked it. It felt nice.
"Maybe something from one of the food stalls somewhere." I suggested.
He sighed. "I guess that could work. How good is the food though?" He asked.
"Ohhh trust me, it's really good. Very filling too." I smiled.
"Then we'll have street food!" Niki yelled, then laughed. I laughed with him.
"Ohhh there's one over there!!" I shouted, pointing to a small food stall on the side of the road.
Niki gasped. "Wait a minute, is that...is that a Japanese food stall?!!!!" He shrieked.
"Looks like it-"
"We have to try it!!" He said before pulling me with him. We quickly ran across the street and finally to the stall.
We respectively greeted the owner and he greeted back. As I spoke to him and told him what we wanted to have, a confused look formed on his wrinkled face.
"I don't think he understands you." Niki whispered.
"You think." I said.
Niki chuckled, turning to look at the owner. He smiled, and started speaking to him in Japanese. The owner's facial expression seemed to change, which means he understood what we wanted. He nodded, and went into the tiny kitchen to prepare our food.
"He says our food will be ready in a few minutes." Niki said.
I nodded, and we both made our way to a small bench and sat down. Yes, he was still holding my hand.
"I need to teach you how to speak Japanese." He said, sighing heavily and resting his head on the mahogany crest rail.
"What makes you say that?" I chuckled.
"What happened just now. You couldn't communicate with the owner because you didn't know what language to speak." He turned his head to look at me.
"But-"
"Do you know any words in Japanese?" Niki asked, a smirk playing on the corners of his lips.
"Uhh..." I smiled nervously, then shrugged my shoulders. "Kawaii..."
Niki burst into laughter. "Are you kidding me?! Kawaii, that's all you know?!" He smiled.
"Don't laugh..." I smacked his thigh. "What do you expect me to do?! I don't know how to speak your language." I rolled my eyes.
"Right..." He laughed. "Which is why I need to make some time to teach you how to speak Japanese. It's good to know a lot of languages besides your own you know." He smiled.
I smiled with him, my cheeks turning pink and my heart starting to race. It's his smile man, his smile makes me feel this way.
"You have a point." I said, shaking my head.
We both sighed and looked up at the somber night sky, covered with a blanket of stars that brightly shone. The silver crescent moon beamed like a silvery claw in the night sky.
"It's nice isn't it?" Niki suddenly said.
"What?" I asked.
"The sky. It's really nice." He answered.
I nodded, and continued to look up, until a masculine voice called out, making both Niki and I to look in that direction.
"Ahh! He says our food's ready." Niki stated. We both stood from the bench and made our way to the food stall.
We bowed, and thanked the kind owner for the food. However, before we could leave, he said something to Niki that I couldn't understand because well, it was in Japanese.
I looked at Niki to find him vigorously shaking his head, a light shade of pink decorating his cheeks. I frowned, wondering what the man said to make Niki react this way.
"Niki..." I nudged him. "What did he say?" I asked.
Niki's eyes slightly widened and he nervously scratched the back of neck. "Nothing important. Come on let's go!" He chuckled before grabbing my wrist and pulling me away from the stall.
"Yah! What was that all about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing!" He said.
"Come on, I know he said something to you. You looked nervous." I said.
"No seriously, he didn't say anything!" He chuckled nervously.
"Mhmm, alright then." I shrugged.
⏳
I sighed, standing in front of the door and digging in my school bag for my house key.
"I had fun today." Niki said. "We should do this more often. Like, hang out, as friends."
As friends...yeah.
"Yeah..." I chuckled. "We should."
"Anyways...I'll see you at school." He said, stepping off our porch, but I quickly stopped him.
"Wait! We should exchange numbers." I smiled.
"Sure! What's your number?" He asked.
Niki handed me his phone and I quickly punched in my number and gave it back to him.
"Cool, I'll see you then." I said.
Niki nodded. "I'll call you later." He smiled.
"I'll be waiting." I stupidly said.
That sounded...creepy and cringe. Great job, Min Yong.
He laughed, and nodded, before walking off.
_____________________________________
[A/N]
Damn, that was awkward😀
Anywho, please tap the star guys!
Thanks<33333
Lub you
Byee
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