Literally Loved Reading This Sm - Tumblr Posts

I AM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS. first of all this deserves WAY more love, this fic is fr one of the best niki fics out there ☹️ I AM LOVING THIS NEWSPAPER CLUB IDEA N’ THE WHOLE LOVE COLUMN THING, ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE 🙏 EVen though niki is a whole jerk thoughout the whole thing, i could not contain my excitement for their lil ice cream date (jake’s a real one fr 💯) 😭😭 THAT MF BETTER TREAT YN WITH LOTS OF LOVE AFTER ALL THAT HE SAID !!

AUTHOR, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND SOSO TALENTED 🥹 THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS I’LL BE SURE TO REREAD THIS MANY TIMES IN THE FUTURE HEHE <3

prettywon presents... SIXTEEN EIGHTY-FIVE

?!#%$ synopsis: You and Riki were the hardest workers on the newspaper staff. Despite this, you two are never to be seen working together. He avoids you and you avoid him, until you're both put up for the task of running the "Love Seekers Column." As the column gains popularity, so do you and Riki, and no good can come from that.

OR You and Riki are forced to work together. Why are his small habits, formerly irritating beyond means, suddenly so charming?

?!#%$ pairing: nonidol!Riki x gn!reader

?!#%$ wc+genre: 6k words of angsty fluff (mainly fluff? we'll see)

?!#%$ warnings: swearing, 4th wall gets broken ??, Riki is asshole

?!#%$ cast: Jake+Riki of enhypen, LOONA+ITZY cameo 😍

?!#%$ a/n: for a collab with @iwonzzi !! so much thought went into this tbh I shed TEARS.

?!#%$ perm+collab taglist: @gloomysunny @candidupped @illiterateliz @jiwlys @soobin-chois @acciomylove @ja4hyvn @vantxx95 @sbnchaos @yizhoutv @nikisgirlfriend — @ayayiiie @dstarsz

ISSUE ONE : Nishimura Riki.

–

YOU typed away on the keyboard, monotone clicks filling the room. The silence was welcomed and all you'd ever wanted while working on the school newspaper. Words came to you naturally, fully enjoying the rare silence you had.

Unfortunately, it was short-lived. Riki burst into the room, saying farewell to his just-as loud friends. He didn't spare you even a glance as he neglected to close the door, per usual, and instead grabbed a Chromebook. It was the same routine you both always followed . He forgets to close the door, you do it for him, he complains his computer is dead, you remind him that he had forgotten to plug it in before leaving yesterday. At least, that's what usually happens.

“Riki, for once could you close the door yourself.” Things like a shut door may seem minor, yes, but were essential if you were to focus. Which is something Riki knew well. “Y/N, for once could you get off my back about every little thing I do?” While his friends call it caring and you wanting him to be well-mannered, he calls it being picky and a perfectionist.

“I wouldn't be ‘on your back’ if you weren't acting like a 5 year old, forgetting the most basic things.” You continued working on the front page of the newspaper, wishing he would stop being petty and just close the door. “It's not that hard, I'm not asking for-”

“Shut up” Riki stood up to close the door, the sound louder than what you expected. “Can’t you let me work for 5 minutes?” He ruffled his hair, sitting down to finish up the page he had been working on.

“Why should I? You never let me work in peace considering all you do is leave a mess for me to clean up.” Your leg bounced at an increasing tempo. You hated him but complaining about him when he was right in front of you felt different from doing it behind his back.

"Who said you had to? It's not like we're dating."

Both of you stopped. You stopped typing, he stopped digging through his backpack in search of a chip bag. Riki had words forming in his head, a desperate explanation as to why he said that. Even a laugh at the very notion of you two dating would work. But he couldn't find anything to say as he slowly thought about the two of you more. Stuck in the same classroom after school nearly everyday, the feelings he held were always a slip of the tongue away.

You cleared your throat and that was enough for the two of you to somewhat agree that what just happened would never see the light of day.

In all honesty, you and Riki had never before talked this much, ever. So as the tension grew, he constantly reminded himself that he hates you and you hate him. That's how your relationship worked, and that's how it will always be.

A short apology was on the edge of your tongue as someone rushed through the door. Jake, whom you liked far more than Riki, had his hands on his knees, “I just had the smartest idea ever.”

***

“What do you mean, love column?” It didn’t seem as if Riki liked the idea, and you could see why. Everybody is already so obsessed with love anyways. Why feed the addiction?

“You know what I mean, it's like The Lonely Hearts column, except we have a little section for love advice as well.” Jake paced around the room, eyes filled with excitement, more excitement than when he had first introduced the idea of a school newspaper.

“Jake, that column is older than my great-grandma. Not to mention there's dating apps out there, they wouldn't be that interested.” You didn't have time for his ideas, the latest issue hadn’t been completed though it was set to be published tomorrow. “But it's simple, people submit descriptions of their ideal type,” Jake paused, choosing his next words carefully, “and you two can choose which one you want to feature.”

“What?” Riki half-shouted, almost dropping the computer he was putting away, “You think Y/N has the kind of experience to be giving other people relationship advice?”

“You want me to work with someone as careless as him?” Your typing slowed as you stared at Jake, tone more aggressive than you intended.

“Look, I know that you two aren't on the best terms,” Riki cut off the older boy, “We aren't on any terms. I'd rather hang out with Mr. Park before working with them.” You nodded dully in agreement.

“You two have the time in your schedules to work on the column, and think about the popularity we would get.” Jake placed his hands on the table before him, trying to get you two to see the bigger picture.

“I'm fine with working on it, but couldn't I do it with you instead?” Ignoring the scoff from Riki, you continued, motivated to spend more time with Jake, “It's just sorting through submissions and coming up with some half-assed romantic advice, right?”

“I would if I could but considering it's February, there's gonna be dozens of submissions and I'll have to be running the club on top of that” Jake sighed, “Not to mention soccer season is coming up, I just can't.”

“Put an ask for submissions in the front page. We'll publish it tomorrow.” Jake glanced in your direction. You did as he asked, hesitating; why did Jake want this so badly?

“I still don't think this is a good idea,” Riki stood up, tired from arguing with you and Jake suddenly showing up with some idea about a love column. Jake seemed confused, and reasonably so, you don't think Riki has ever been so against something before. “The newspaper is already hard to manage as is because of some people.” He glanced your way, which you decided would be better for you to ignore.

“Well that doesn't matter, it's already final. I've asked the principal to make a call for submissions in the morning announcements tomorrow” Jake spoke in a cool tone, not letting Riki’s hot headed tendencies get to him.

“Whatever, I told Heeseung I would hang out with him today,” Riki gathered his stuff, biting the inside of his cheek. “I finished my page, I don't slack off as much as one person might think.”

Jake bid his farewells to Riki and walked over to you, placing a hand on your shoulder, making your palms sweat more than you'd admit. “Please, this'll help stop the newspaper from shutting down.” He held back the second reason why he wanted the column as he gave you a smile and left the room. “Wait, Jake,” you called out to him, turning around slightly.

“Yeah?” He responded, reacting to your voice.

You paused. You considered voicing your complaints about Riki. You could tell Jake absolutely anything in these few moments, and Riki wouldn't be here to rudely interrupt.

“Don't get too stressed about the newspaper, focus on school and soccer, Riki and Ii can handle it.” Jake, nodding in thanks, left the room.

Now it was just you left with a front page waiting to be finished.

***

“Riki, why the hell did you disagree?” Jake caught up with him, knowing that he didn't have plans with Riki. “I didn't want to agree too easily,” he lazily threw away a gum wrapper, “I'm supposed to hate them, remember?”

“Yeah, and I thought we were changing that.” Jake swung his arm over Riki’s shoulder, “I worked my ass off with the principal to let us add that column. You know they're considering cutting us off in terms of funding.” Jake sighed, feeling the gray hairs growing already.

“And like I said, this column will help, people are stupid for love,” Riki said, shrugging off Jake's arm and quickening his pace. “Yeah, like you” Riki scoffed and continued walking without Jake, who was laughing a bit too hard at his own joke.

ISSUE TWO : LOVE SEEKERS COLUMN

—

You biked to school, noticing something odd ass you entered the campus. People were actually interested in the newspaper. Usually only teachers picked it up and the select few students that liked crosswords, but to see so many holding the newsletter? Unheard of.

You put up your bike and found Jake, surrounded by more people than usual. Making your way through the small crowd, you gave Jake a questioning look. “I told you the column was a good idea Y/N, the newspaper’s going to be everywhere!” Jake's happiness couldn't be hidden as he repeated, “Please drop off your submissions for the Love Seekers Column in the box in the front office” to all the curious people in search of a significant other.

Passing through the aforementioned front office, a decent line had formed in front of a small box titled ‘LS Column Submissions Here!’

Before you could make it to the hallway, Yeji approached you. “Y/N, you're with the newspaper right? Do you think you can give some advice on how to know if he's the one?” Yeji walked with you to class, “I'll owe you big time, my parents want me to get into long term relationships, but I can't choose just anyone.”

“I can't do that Yeji, and no offense but we've only talked once.” You gave the girl your sympathy as you entered your biology class, only to find that Riki was in a similar situation as you.

“I'm telling you, I can't just give you the spot in the column,” Riki tried shoving off the hand on his shoulder to no success, “Jake told me that we had to be particular with what we choose.” Yuna, who had been questioning the boy, wasn't hearing a word.

“C'mon Riki, I thought we were like this,” Yuna crossed her index and middle fingers, “Do me a favor this once. Please?”

Since when did Yuna ask others for favors? Guess love really could change people.

“Yuna, Riki made it clear that we'll be choosing the name appearing in the Love Seekers Column ourselves,” You cleared your throat, hating the thought of defending Riki, “it's just Tinder in a newspaper, why bother going through all of this?”

Yuna left her spot next to Riki and grabbed your shoulders, less gently than she intended to. “It's Valentine's day soon.” She emphasized the second word as if you didn't already know, “Not to mention we're almost done with our second year of high school, people are getting desperate for someone to date” Yuna finally let go of your shoulders, sighing like it was obvious.

“Which is why,” Yuna dragged out the last word, a sweet tone enveloping the sentence, “I need to be the one in the column.” You rolled your eyes and tried moving past her to no avail “I’m serious Y/N” she continued her fruitless pleads as you wondered why the hell Riki wasn't here fending her off with you.

Turns out, he had moved to the other side of the classroom, hanging out with his friends and laughing about something. He left you to deal with Yuna’s desperate pleas as he kicked back at whatever he was talking about.

“Yuna, I'm sorry but I can't help you” You finally escaped the suffocating conversation and, ignoring the complaints of the girl, sat down.

You barely had time to unwind when you were approached by another girl, Ryujin. “Hey Y/N, I have some spare change if you're down to let me feature in the newspaper.” You leaned back into your chair, trying your hardest not to snap at the unknowing girl.

“I can't do that, besides it doesn't even matter that much anyways.” You wholeheartedly believed that this was an idiotic idea, and barely believed that Jake was behind it.

“Doesn't matter? Do you know how hard it is to find someone your type that actually goes to your school?” Ryujin gawked at your nonchalant attitude, “You have all the power right now, anyone who gets their submission posted will probably get into a relationship soon after.” She took your hand, successfully catching your full attention.

“You can bribe anyone with the chance of being in the column,” Ryujin emphasized ‘anyone,’ like you didn't grasp the concept, and honestly you really didn't.

“That's exaggerating, it's not that big of a deal.” You shook off her hand as you looked at the board behind her, curious about what you were doing in class again. Ryujin re-entered your line of vision, “You could even offer some girls a date with Jake or Riki, they're some of the most pined after boys in the entire school.” After seeing you laugh, Ryujin lightly hit you,

“I'm serious! I wouldn't be surprised if most of the submissions were just love confessions to them.” Ryujins face was full of everything but playfulness as she continued trying to buy her way into the newspaper, and unbeknownst to you a certain boy was listening in.

Idea after idea formed in his head as he finally realized how he was going to confess.

***

You walked into classroom 168, tired from dealing with people wanting to be in the newspaper all day. “It looks like you've been through hell” Riki was already there, sifting through the submissions. A pen and a ripped piece of paper sat beside him, but you thought nothing of it.

“Wouldn't you like to know,” scoffing, you took off your backpack and rolled your shoulders, allowing them to relax after a long day, “you're the one that left me to deal with them. Always running away like an idiot”

“Yeah well I'm not the one that's exhausted after talking to one person” Riki spun around in the swivel chair he was in, facing you, “I actually have a life.” He placed down the submission he was holding and picked up another, laughing.

“Look, this person said that their type was you,” drawing your attention, Riki noticed the hint of joy in your eyes. He didn't even say who it was from yet. Why were you so happy? When he saw you walking towards him, he ripped up the submission. “Of course, we won't be putting that into our newspaper. It was probably just a dare anyways.”

Stopping momentarily, you cleared your throat and sat in the chair next to him. It probably was a dare anyways, he just loved rubbing salt into every wound didn't he. Picking up a slip of paper from the box, you read it out loud.

“Tall guy that plays sports, has good humor and isn't too possessive” humming, you read the back of the paper “oh, this was Yuna's submission.”

“Let's just pick a random one and get this part over with, and do you have to read it out loud?” Riki continued without a care for your response “I'm mainly worried about the advice part, we both know I'm more experienced but Jake would never trust me to write something like that.”

Once again, he continued. It was one of the many traits you hated about him, he never gave you a chance to be nice towards him. If he let you speak you could've proposed him giving the advice and you writing it down; but he spoke before you could interject. This wasn't the first time, on various occasions you have tried being polite by throwing away his leftover chip bags, cleaning the classroom after he leaves, etc.

But not only does he ignore your efforts, but he acts like your kindness is your fault. You vividly remember the time he loudly called you “his servant” when talking to his friends, making sure the entire class could hear. You were doing things for people for weeks after that.

“Seriously, why did Jake trust you to work on this column” Riki laughed, ever so clearly at you than with you, “you're hopeless, have you ever even had someone confess to you before today? Not to mention it was anonymous” he continued smiling, picking at random pieces of paper.

“Honestly, not only do you lack self confidence but so do the people you attract. How pathetic.”

Your hand made contact with his face, something you've wanted to do for months. Of course you didn't expect to be crying while doing it, but that was a minor detail. Violently using your sleeve to stop the tears, you took a deep breath.

“You think I want to work with you? I haven't talked to you for the past 4 months for a reason.” You stood up, eyes red and stinging. “And honestly, I hate you. I hate how you're in the one club I like at school, how you always leave your shit around for me to clean up, how you always talk about me and never with me,” You took a shaky breath as you walked across the room to pick up your bag, “I hate everything about you and honestly, I'd rather move countries than be with you”

You left the classroom, bag in hand as you pulled out some change to buy a snack on the way home as a desperate grab for comfort. Riki was about to call out your name, but knows he won't be able to repair what he's done so quickly. He picked up the pieces of paper he ripped up, and gently put them together. They read, ‘My ideal type is you, Y/N’ just like he mentioned before. But if you carefully flipped the torn paper over it, you'd see something else.

Thank you for always keeping me in line, Riki

ISSUE THREE: Jake Sim

—

Riki was worried. Not only was two days ago the first time you had left classroom 168 before him, but yesterday was the first time you ever missed working on the newspaper on purpose. Or so he thought.

“What do you mean Y/N worked on the paper yesterday?” Riki stopped walking next to Jake, who had a strawberry milk in hand. “Y/N said they came by in the morning to work on it, they finished all of their pages so they're good for this week” Jake tossed the milk carton, eyeing Riki. “You're mad at me aren't you.” he continued, hands in his pockets.

“Of course I am, how am I going to fix my mistake if I can't even see Y/N?” Riki rushed to match the pace of the older boy.

“Riki, I already helped you out by setting up the column,” Jake sighed, stopping in front of his classroom, “this was your opportunity to tell them, you messed it up not me.”

“At least try and get them to be in the same room as me, please?”

“... sure”

***

Jake ruffled his hair as he stepped into the classroom, which you also happened to be in. He sat next to you like he always did, and pondered how he should go about asking you about Riki.

Jake started speaking before he knew what he was going to say.

“So…” he trailed off, not preparing what he was going to say next.

“So..?” you raised an eyebrow, laughing at the boy's awkward posture.

Y/N totally thinks I'm the male lead in this. I should probably change that, right?

“Why'd you stop by in the morning yesterday? I thought you hated waking up early.” Regret was quick to settle in, as he saw your face flushed in a shade of light pink. He didn't even realize that he remembered such an insignificant fact about you.

I made it worse?!

“Well I guess you could say me and Riki got into a small argument,” you propped your chin up with your palm, “he was being an asshole so I just left. And to be honest I don't really want to see him again.”

“Well, you can't be in the classroom in the mornings anymore,” Jake started lying, coming up with anything to get you two together, “It's being used for.. tutoring starting today. And you're kinda aggressive when you type so it would be distracting.. maybe?”

“You're such a bad liar Jake, I'm not going to spend time with Riki if that's what you're planning.” You raised an eyebrow, aware of the boy's tactics. Of course you had no clue why Jake wanted you and Riki to be together.

“Oh..” Jake turned away, leaving you to bask in your success. Until tomorrow, that is.

And so Jake found himself being trailed by Riki once again as he entered his classroom. “Make sure you actually do something this time you stupid furry” Riki called out from the end of the hallway, causing some weird looks as Jake hurriedly ran into the classroom. Of course, not before shouting “Yeah but you owe me ice cream after school” to his love sick peer.

Dodging a few kids running around the classroom, he made his way to his desk. “Morning, Y/N” You turned to the boy's voice, smiling and waving like you usually did. Now was the perfect time to set Jake's plan into action.

“Oh, I forgot I had to ask you something, did you finish the love advice part of the LS Column? I didn't see it when you handed me your work yesterday.” Jake looked at your notebook, and watched as you broke the lead of your mechanical pencil.

“Shit, I totally forgot about that, I'll work on it after school today.” You closed your notebook, getting ready for class, “I'll finish it before Riki gets there. Whatever you were trying to do yesterday isn't going to happen.”

“Great! How about we get some ice cream after?” When he saw you eagerly agree, he couldn't help but hold a bit of guilt. But after all, Riki just said he wanted to be in the same room as you, he never specified that it had to be classroom 168.

***

Riki patiently waited for Jake at the ice cream place. At least, he thought he was waiting for Jake.

You rushed to the ice cream shop after finishing at the school, eager to spend some time with your more-than-little crush; Sim Jake. This was the first time Jake had ever initiated a hangout between you two so you were beyond excited.

Riki checked his phone, the message read as follows:

Sim Furry

Hey, so uh.. you're gonna be getting ice cream with y/n instead of me! THIS IS THE LAST THING I'M DOING FOR YOU. I'm not pushing this along any further. I WANT TO GRADUATE IN PEACE!!

Looking at his phone in alarm, he glanced back up to see you walk in. Fuck. This was not the plan Riki had in mind. He didn't have a plan, he was going to come up with something with Jake over ice cream.

Clearing his throat, he took out one of his airpods, the faint sound of pose by loona playing in the background as he approached you. “Why is someone like you here? It's not like you have a date or anything..” Riki bit his lip, noticing how you ignored him.

“I do actually, I'm supposed to meet up with Jake here” you replied, knowing it was a lie. Well, half-lie. You were supposed to hang out with Jake, but you're 99% sure you were the only one that considered it a date.

Jake Sim that asshole.

“I was actually supposed to hang out with Jake here too.” Riki decided playing dumb was the best choice, and honestly it was the only choice.

“Oh”

“Yeah”

You two stood in front of each other for a moment, the eye contact making Riki’s palms sweat and his ears embarrassingly red.

“Order for Riki?” The cashier called out for the boy, and he turned for 5 seconds to get his beloved double scoop chocolate cookie dough ice cream.

“Wait, why are you leaving?” Riki rushed to be at your side “I uh, bought too much ice cream and Jake would be mad if I left you alone after he stood us both up”

And I got two spoons on purpose so we could share.

“Thanks for offering the ice cream but I'd rather not spend time with you.” You turned back on your heels and you were nearly at the door when Riki tapped your shoulder.

Strange, didn't your heart only race when Jake did that?

“I don't want to be seen with you either, but like I said Jake wouldn't like it if I left you alone.” Riki offered you a spoon, which you hesitatingly took.

“Fine, but I'm only doing this for the free ice cream.”

***

Riki happily walked to the park with you, though clearly you didn't feel the same. “About yesterday, I'm sorry about what I said,” Riki started, nibbling on his spoon, “I was completely out of line and deserved to be hit by you.”

“You did deserve that, but I doubt you actually think that.” Of course, you don't buy the apology. Riki had always treated you horribly, why would this time be any different? “Thanks for saying sorry I guess, but let's just accept the fact that we'll never be anything more than peers.” You halfheartedly said, not thinking much of it.

Those words cut through Riki like no other. Not even friends? His heart ached and his happiness was all but present as you two reached the park. “Yeah, sure.”

You two found a bench to sit on, you sitting further away from Riki than needed. “So uh, are you still mad at me?” Riki held the cup of half-eaten ice cream in his hands, glancing at you occasionally. “You called me pathetic.” You not-so gently reminded him.

“Yeah I don't really have an excuse for that,” Riki bounced his leg nervously, “I just wanted you to know that I'm not some total jerk that always makes fun of you.” Riki chose his words very carefully, making sure that he kept his semi-long term crush on you under wraps.

“But you are a total jerk that always makes fun of me,” You responded, “remember when you told everyone that I had a crush on Sunghoon even though I had never even talked to him before?”

The boy recalled the exact memory you were referencing, wincing at his past cruelty. “Yeah I'm sorry about that too..”

“Are you really Riki?” you stood up, brushing your pants off, “Thanks for your consideration, really, but I'll head home now.” with a turn, you headed towards your neighborhood, but once again Riki tapped on your shoulder.

“Let me walk you home at least, it's getting cold anyways” He silently offered you his jacket, and ignored the leaps his heart did when you saw you hesitatingly put it on.

The walk home was awkwardly silent, but you appreciated the gesture, even if it was by the one guy you hated. You walked on the side of the sidewalk facing away from the street, hands in the pockets of Riki’s jacket. Riki coughed, doing anything in a desperate attempt to fill the silence.

“Feel free to keep the jacket.” Riki said once you reached your house after an embarrassingly long walk. “I'll throw it away then” You said without hesitation, and without saying goodbye you walked into your house.

You bolted upstairs to your room and threw Riki’s jacket off, landing on your chair. You jumped onto your bed as you hugged your pillows. You looked through your window and saw Riki walking away. Why did your face feel so hot when you saw him smile?

ISSUE FOUR: A Crush.. on Riki?!?!

—

You tapped your pencil on the desk, it was the next day and you sat next to Jake. Ignoring his supposedly indirect glances in your direction, you found it strange how his sudden interest in you didn't make your heart race like it had so many times before in the past. Your mind had been filled with Riki since the ice cream ‘date’, but it couldn't be because you liked him, right?

You two had just walked to the park and talked for a bit. That's it. Even though you two were mistaken as a couple once or twice, that was all it was, a misunderstanding. Even if the silence was nice and you wished you stayed with him for 20 minutes more, it's only because he offered you free ice cream. He only did that to apologize for his behavior, and you knew better than to shamelessly accept the aforementioned apology.

“Hey, Jake.” You stopped pondering and turned to face the boy. Worry filled your mind when the butterflies you used to feel whenever you looked at Jake disappeared.

“Yes?” He replied, a little too quickly, “Is it about Riki? Are you two getting along? Tell me everything that happened yesterday.” He shot out question after question, and your suspicions were confirmed.

“So you did set that up!” You sat up straight, still surprised that the golden retriever-like boy could pull off something like that. “Yes.. why?” Jake started, “Did nothing happen? Damn that kid.”

Your heart skipped a beat, “Was something supposed to happen?” you leaned towards Jake, curiosity apparent. “Well yeah he was supposed to-” He loudly cleared his throat, “Anyways did you do the English homework?” He laughed when you responded with a groan. Your doubts were confirmed when once again, butterflies didn't erupt in your stomach at the sound of his laughter.

You found yourself in bed that evening, thinking about Jake, and feeling nothing, and then thinking about Riki and feeling your heart race. You looked at his jacket resting on your chair, and remembered the walk home you had together. You buried your head in your pillow, searching for your phone.

—

YOU: Jake are you up?

JAKIE: OFC DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO TALK ABOUT?

YOU: I swear to god you cannot tell anyone

JAKIE: OF COURSE!!!!!

YOU: I think I like Riki

JAKIE: SECOND MALE LEAD CURSE IS GONE LET'S GOOOO

YOU: What.

JAKIE: Nothing <3

YOU: okay r u just gonna say that and not help me.

JAKIE: bro why do you need my help you see him everyday when y'all work on the newspaper just talk to him then

YOU: hmm.. no!

JAKIE: THE FUCK YOJ MEAN NO?!?!???

YOU: He hates me remember 😂😂

JAKIE: I wouldn't be saur sure abt that one .. anywayz!

YOU: huh

JAKIE: just act like you do around me after school tmr LOLZ

YOU: I have no reason to be there tho like I finished everything

JAKIE: Riki has been procrastinating on choosing a submission for the love seekers column go help him or something GOOD NIGHT

YOU: WHAT?

YOU: JAKE

YOU: HELLO??

—

***

And that's how you found yourself in classroom 168 the next afternoon, nervously looking at the door to see if Riki was going to walk in.

As if on queue, Riki barged in like he always did. He was ecstatic to see you in the room, the past two days were incredibly dull without you. Tossing his backpack to the left, he glanced at you, wondering if he should close the door. Deciding that would be a too obvious notion towards his affection for you, he acted against it.

“I thought you finished everything already” Riki asked, sitting on the other side of the room as per usual. “I did, but we still need to pick which submission is going into the paper this week.” Standing up, you walked to the other side of the room.

And so the next 20 minutes were spent with Riki, laughing at people's type and holding eye contact with each other for a second too long.

“This person said they wanted a person that would wear cat ears” you pointed out, laughter heard from both you and Riki as smiles filled the air. “That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, cat ears?” Riki tossed the paper out before picking up a random paper. He blushed a light shade of pink before hiding the paper away.

“What was on that one?” You raised an eyebrow at him before reaching for the paper still in his hand, “C'mon give it, was it a declaration of love or something?” You reached over, completely focused on grabbing the slip of paper. Riki, needless to say, was focused on other things.

Like one, how you were trying to grab the other love confession he submitted, two, how you smelled like coffee milk. And three, how you were inches away from him, making his face redder than ever.

“It's nothing really,” Riki tried maneuvering the paper so it would be out of your reach but he only made matters worse. He accidentally revealed the back, which read ‘I’ve always loved you, from Riki’

Dramatically gasping, you hid the bitterness resting in the pit of your stomach, of which you would later find out to be jealousy. “You like someone? Who is it you asshole” you said, reaching even further.

The chair Riki was sitting in tipped over, and unsurprisingly, you landed on top of him. You saw the black fabric of his hoodie as you wondered, is his heart supposed to be beating this fast? No, the real question was is your heart supposed to be beating this fast?

While Riki was distracted, you glanced at the sheet of paper that put you two in this very situation. It was clearly written by a shaking hand, but you could vividly see the words scribbled on.

‘I know I've been annoying to you for months, but I don't want to pretend that I hate you anymore. This is sort of embarrassing but I've liked you since our first year here, and I joined the yearbook club because you did.’

No name was mentioned, but you didn't need one to know who he was talking about. “Riki” you said, barely above a whisper. The boy in question felt his heart pounding within his ribcage, he knew that you knew and that he was either going to hate today or love it.

Gently grabbing his chin, lifting it slightly, the boy melted under your touch. “Is this.. okay?” You mumbled, glancing at his lips, leaning in just enough to send Riki insane. “Yeah, it's okay” he barely formed the sentence, stuttering and pausing between words. Your noses were aligned, you could feel each other's breath as you ran your hand in his hair. Riki felt his heartbeat over everything, over the sound of the athletes talking in the hallway, over the air conditioning, everything.

Two years of stealing glances at you, two years of talking about you because you were all he thought about, two years of wanting your hands intertwined, he endured acting like he hated you for this moment.

Well maybe not at this exact moment.

Jake ran into the room through the open door, courtesy of Nishimura Riki, to see both of you, mere centimeters away from a kiss. “Oh… sorry, bad time, I'll just uhm..” Jake silently backed out of the room, closing the door.

You burst into laughter, hiding your face in Riki’s shoulders as he wrapped his hands around you, hand resting gently on the back of your neck. You made eye contact with him once again and lightly hit the boy, “Why don't you ever close the door?” Riki laughed along with you, a chorus of melodies neither of you could get tired of before he finally planted a kiss on your cheek.

You stood up, using a chair for support as you then pulled Riki up. You fixed your hair, he tried cooling down his burning face.

“Does this mean we're..”

“A walking enemies to lovers cliche? Yes.”

Riki blinked a few times at your response, “I was going to say a couple but I think I like the sound of lovers better” he smiled, picking up the tipped over chair as his eyes landed on the basket of papers still on the table.

“Shit, we still don't know which submission to put for the Love Seekers Column.”