THE NEXT MORNING HAD ARRIVED, AND AS MISO TIREDLY LEFT HER WARM, COSY HOME AND WAS HIT WITH THE COLD TEMPERATURE, SHE COULDN'T HELP BUT BEGIN TO REGRET HER DECISION.
She pulled the sleeves of her pink, knitted sweater over her hands to try and find warmth, however due to the skirt she was wearing, her actions were became useless.
As Miso walked down the empty path — almost nobody out, other than the mothers getting their shopping before the teens come about — she let out a sigh. She was back in her usual, boring attire. She hated the plaid skirts and sweaters she had to wear. She despised the slip on heels her mother would buy for her and most of all, she hated the stupid collars that were unnecessarily put onto her jumpers.
She would much rather wear what she wore the day before — even with the cold weather. It was much more comfortable for her, and she didn't find herself counting down the minutes for when she could remove the preppy clothing. However, with her parents up at the crack of dawn, she stood no chance leaving the house in Ria's clothes.
Eventually, once Miso arrived at the race track, her regrets disappeared as a grin quickly took over her frown when her eyes landed on the Nishimura boy, who was walking out from the garage with a bucket of soapy water in his clutch.
The Choi girl quickly made her way over to him, waving her hand as his eyes that had now landed on her widened ever so slightly.
"You came?" He spoke out, a smile tugging as his lips, and Miso chuckled.
"I said I would, did I?" She smirked, making Niki bite down on his bottom lip.
"I see ya back to your normal self, huh?" He commented, looking her up and down, before handing her a wet sponge and instructions her to scrub the metal walls covered in spray paint.
A comfortable silence fell between them as they got to work. Nothing but the sounds of scrubbing and occasional sighs and hums could be heard, but that was okay for them. They were doing something they both would much rather not do, however because they were together doing it, they didn't want to be anywhere else but there.
"How come you're the only one having to clean this?" Miso wondered, concentrating on a bit that wouldn't come off of the metal as Niki turned away to re-soak his sponge.
"I pulled the sort straw." He informed with a sigh, thinking back to the memory of his gang teasing him for pulling the shortest cigarette in the pack.
A hum left Miso's lips as she chuckled, imagining Niki losing. It would definitely be a funny sight that she'd have to experience one day.
Silence fell upon them once again, however a mischievous smirk appeared on Niki's lips as he eyed the girl, who took no notice of him as a plan came to his mind.
Suddenly, a gasp of shock was heard coming from Miso as she felt a splash of water hit her back. Her eyes widened like saucers as she quickly spun on her heel to see the culprit, and once she did, she couldn't help but break into a smile at the sight of him doubled over laughing, hysterically.
"Niki," She whined, looking down at her soaked clothes. "That's dirty water." She chuckled out, throwing her head back, though a grin grew on her lips as she stood properly and soaked up water with her sponge, absorbing the water before throwing it at the creasing boy, catching him off guard and making his laughter come to a halt.
"It's only fair." The boy simply shrugged, a chuckle lacing his tone whilst scrunching up the end of his white vest top to rinse the cloudy water from it.
After a while, the two eventually finished the first part of cleaning, and now Niki was walking back over to Miso with a can of black paint and two paint brushes in his hand. The boys muscles flexed as he held the paint, showing that it must've been quite heavy, albeit, he made it look as light as a feather as he swiftly placed it down on the small, wooden table.
Without another word, the two got back to work with painting the garage walls, however before doing so, the Nishimura boy had decided to bring out a radio so that they could listen to the latest tunes. It was a calming environment as Miso spoke about childhood stories and Niki listened, cracking jokes every now and then when needed, and neither of them wanted it to end.
★
A sigh of relief passed both of their lips as they took a step back to look up at their work in achievement. They'd finally finished redecorating and to say that were pleased with the outcome and to be done would be an understatement.
Glancing over with a small smile on his lips, Niki couldn't help but bite his lower lip as he admired Miso from the side. Never in his life would he of pictured himself in this situation. Painting the Greasers race track garage doors with a Soc... He never pictured himself falling for a Soc...
Niki's thoughts were cut abruptly by Miso, as she turned to look up at him with a smile on her face. The boys expression softened immediately, and he couldn't help but chuckle as his eyes landed on the spot of black paint on her cheek.
"You got something there, Doll." He calmly spoke, leaning down so that their faces were facing one another. Their eyes met and Miso's breath hitched as he slowly reached up and delicately wiped the paint from her face.
But to Choi Miso's luck, wiping away the paint did nothing — it only caused more of a mess because the Nishimura boy hadn't realized the black substance he'd already had on his thumb until it was on her face.
A long sigh left Miso's mouth as she registered what had happened, and without another thought, she bent down, dipping her finger into what was left of the paint and attempting to wipe it on the taller boys face — however, the boy knew her all too well and before she could attack him, he was already running around the track, laughter falling past his lips.
"Niki!" She yelled out, giggling as she chased after him. "Come back! It's only fair! Just like you said!"
The boy was far too fast for Miso, and she found herself becoming out of breath whilst he was almost a mile ahead of her. Nevertheless, Choi Miso wasn't one to give up, and so she pushed hard, determined to get Niki back for dirtying her face.
Eventually, the girl started noticing Niki slowing down, and he stopped suddenly, doubled over trying to catch his breath, giving Miso to advantage to catch him.
"At this moment in time," Miso began, letting out a breath as she halted beside him. "I'm grateful for the amount of cancer sticks you smoke." She teased, beaming wildly, making the boy stand up properly and place a hand on her hip as she got on her tip toes to smudge the paint across his cheek.
"Ta-da!" She excitedly exclaimed, causing Niki to titter at her child-like behavior. There his heart goes again, racing like crazy, like it was about burst out from his ribcage and into hers... and in that moment, he realized she had his heart...
Silence swarmed them as they held each other close, their eyes adverting from one another's lips and back to their eyes once again. It was almost protocol that this happened whenever they were together.
"Niki." The two heard someone clear their throat, making their ears tear apart from one another and turn their heads to look in the direction the voice had come from.
Standing side by side was Jonas and Junhyuk. They had their jaws clenched and Jonas had his arms folded across his chest, whilst Junhyuk had his hands in his leather jacket.
Immediately, Miso watched as Niki bowed politely to them as a way of showing respect to the two older men, and quickly, Miso followed after the boy. She didn't want to get on their bad side.
"Cheers," Jonas nonchalantly nodded his head as a way of thanking the two. "You Goons can head home." He informed them, and the two youngest nodded.
"No sweat." Niki nodded back, and the two headed over to the garage to collect their things before leaving the race track.
"We should wash up." Miso proposed as they walked side by side down the street that with filled with smashed glass bottles and cigarettes buds.
A sigh of realization escaped past Niki's lips as he realized he wouldn't be able to take her back to his place. His mother had a drug addiction, that caused her to lash out at Niki whenever she felt like it, and so he really didn't want to take Miso back to that environment.
"We can go to mine," Miso shrugged, noticing his hesitance. "My parents are at work right now and my brother it out with his friends."
Glancing over at Miso, Niki thought for a short moment as he watched the girl mindlessly smile up at him. It was her smile that made up his mind. It was everything about her that made him nod his head in agreement.
And then, they were heading in the direction of the North side.
★