Post by @anasthezia

pov: Everyone in the university knew Nishimura Riki. He was the captain of the dance team, consistently on the dean's list, and somehow managed to be friends with almost everyone on campus. People admired him from afar, confessed to him every semester, and whispered his name whenever he walked through the hallways. You, however, never saw him as "the famous Ni-ki." To you, he was simply your best friend. The one who stole fries from your lunch tray. The one who waited outside your classroom whenever your lectures ended late. The one who remembered every little thing about you. Especially the things you forgot to tell everyone else. Like how you preferred iced caramel macchiato with less sugar. Or that white tulips always made you smile because your grandmother used to grow them. The problem was... You already had a boyfriend. At first, everyone thought the two of you were perfect together. Until little by little, people started noticing. Your smile wasn't as bright anymore. You apologized too much. You checked your phone every few minutes, terrified of missing his messages. You stopped joining your friends because your boyfriend didn't like it. Whenever he got angry, he ignored you for days. Whenever he made mistakes, somehow you were always the one apologizing. Ni-ki hated every second of it. He wanted to tell you to leave him. To choose yourself. To choose him. But he knew love wasn't something he could force. So instead... He loved you quietly. Every Monday morning, an iced caramel macchiato would mysteriously appear on your desk before your first class. You always looked around the room. "Who keeps doing this?" No one answered. Ni-ki only smiled from the back of the classroom. A week later... You opened your locker to find a single white tulip wrapped in brown paper. No name. No note. Just the flower. It happened again. And again. Sometimes there was a chocolate. Sometimes a small keychain. Sometimes a sticky note. "Don't skip lunch today." "You did well on your presentation." "Don't forget your umbrella. It might rain." You never discovered who left them. Not because the person was good at hiding. But because Ni-ki always disappeared before you arrived. One rainy afternoon, your boyfriend canceled your date because he wanted to play basketball with his friends. Again. You tried to smile. "It's okay." But the moment you hung up... Your tears finally fell. You sat alone on a bench outside the library, pretending the rain was the reason your face was wet. A familiar umbrella appeared above you. "You'll get sick." Ni-ki. He didn't ask why you were crying. He simply sat beside you. Silently. Waiting. Eventually, you whispered, "...Am I really that hard to love?" His heart shattered. "No." His answer came immediately. "You're one of the easiest people to love." You looked at him. "If someone makes you question your worth every day..." He swallowed hard. "...then they're the problem." For the first time... You cried without trying to hide it. Weeks passed. Nothing changed. Your boyfriend still forgot your anniversaries. Still left you waiting. Still made you feel guilty for asking for the bare minimum. Until one afternoon... You stood outside the university gate for almost two hours. He promised he'd pick you up. He never came. Instead... You saw him laughing with another girl across the street. He wasn't even trying to hide it. Your chest tightened. Before you could turn away... A motorcycle stopped beside you. Ni-ki removed his helmet. "I figured he'd forget." You blinked. "...How?" "You've been waiting here since four." He looked at the empty sidewalk. "I've been waiting too." Not for your boyfriend. For you. He handed you another helmet. "Come on." That night, he took you to your favorite café. He didn't say a single bad thing about your boyfriend. He just listened. For hours. #ni_ki #nishimurariki #enhypen