water lily - ni-ki x y/n

chapter 3

Y/N yawned, walking into her last class of the day, uninterestingly scribbling in her notebook as her teacher introduced herself to the class, and covered the certain areas she would be teaching to Y/N and the rest of the class.

After a boring hour of class, Y/N met up with Sunghoon and walked home with him. As soon as they returned to the apartment, Yeji grabbed Y/N excitedly. "Y/N! Why don't you come to the mall with my friends and I?"

"Um, sure." Y/N smiled politely, nodding to Yeji's offer.

"Good luck, Y/N, they take hours shopping," Sunghoon rolled his eyes playfully.

"Shut up, Hoon!" Yeji slapped his arm and continued, "You take Yuna to the movies and take five hours to get home, to be exact." The oldest said, smirking at him.

"Hey!" Sunghoon whined, heat rising to his cheeks, his older sister chuckling, proud that she was successfully able to fluster him.

"Sunghoon has a girlfriend?" Y/N asked, snickering mischievously.

"No, I don't," Sunghoon said, trying to defend his life, "She's just a friend!"

"Mm, I don't know. Sounds like you guys are more than friends." Y/N shrugged nonchalantly, she began to chuckle as she evoked a reaction out of Sunghoon.

"Whatever, I'm going to sleep," He said, leaving the two girls behind. He knew the teasing would never stop now that Y/N knows about his "friend".

As his door closed, Yeji gave Y/N a fist bump, "I'll go get the keys and then we can leave." The oldest said, walking to her room with the cutest smile in the world.

Y/N smiled, nodding at Yeji. She waited patiently for the oldest to return. As soon as Yeji returned with her keys, the two girls walked to the parking lot of the apartment complex and entered Yeji's car, then drove to the mall.

Yeji parked the car and led Y/N to the entrance of the mall, four girls waved excitedly at Yeji and greeted her.

"Oh? Who's this?" Ryujin said, putting her phone in her pocket.

"This is Y/N, she came to Korea from Japan." Yeji said.

"Ah! Look at that, we have another foreigner on our hands!" Lia said, grinning at the other girls.

"Oh, be quiet Lia! Just because you lived in Canada for a few years doesn't mean you're a foreigner." Ryujin said, nudging Lia, making her almost lose her balance, "I'm Ryujin, the coolest person that you'll ever meet."

"Yeah right, I'm Y/N's new sister," Yeji responded to the short-haired girl's nonsense which made Y/N let out a short laugh.

"I'm Chaeryeong and this blondie over here is Yuna. She's busy texting her boyfriend right now." The black-haired girl said, laughing.

"I am not, unnie!" Yuna said, defending herself for the tenth time today.

Y/N glanced at Yeji, giving her a knowing smirk. She looked back at the girls, "I thought Sunghoon was sleeping." Y/N said with a teasing tone.

"Well! Things just got gross, let's just head into the mall before this escalates!" Lia said, walking inside the mall with the others following her.

"Yuna, get off your phone, you're here to shop, not be all cutesy with your boyfriend," Ryujin said, taking the blonde's phone and turning it off completely.

"Hey! I wasn't texting him and he's not my boyfriend!" Yuna said, almost feeling defenseless at this point.

"Right," Yeji scoffed. "You're always smiling at your phone whenever you get a notification."

Yuna huffed, ignoring her annoying friends, and walked into a store with plushies.

"I didn't know there would be so many Japanese-type stores here," Y/N said, reminiscing about her heritage, "It makes me miss home even more."

"No worries, Y/N. I'm sure you'll have opportunities to go back someday." Yeji reassured her, placing a comforting hand on Y/N's shoulder.

"Why don't we go check it out? Maybe you'll recognize something." Lia offered, Y/N nodded at the opportunity. The four of them entered the Japanese store. Y/N scanned the store, recognizing all the familiar snacks and toys she used to eat and play with as a child.

"We have quite a selection of Japan's most favored items in this store! What are you girls looking for on this fine afternoon, today?" Y/N turned around, and a familiar voice greeted her.

"Kazuha-sama?" Y/N blinked, observing the worker before fully recognizing her.

"Y/N-chan? Oh my gosh, it's been so long!" Kazuha said, embracing Y/N with a tight hug.

"You two know each other?" Yeji asked as the two Japanese girls broke their hug. Y/N nodded in response, and Yeji nodded finally understanding.

"Kazuha-sama and I used to go to the same school together. We were really close until she had to move." Y/N explained to the group of girls.

"Wow, you grew up with this beautiful worker?" Ryujin said, getting nudged by Yeji.

"You've grown so much! The others will be so happy to see you again!" Kazuha said enthusiastically, brushing off what the short-haired girl said.

"That's right, how are the others? I haven't been able to contact them since they moved." Y/N smiled brightly.

"They're doing great, we've all been very busy with outside activities though. Sometimes it's kind of draining but we're sort of used to it." The older said, giving Y/N a reassuring smile.

⚜

"Niki! Why weren't you answering my calls this weekend?" Y/N asked, stopping Niki in his tracks. He turned to face her, seeing the overwhelming emotions on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N. I've been so busy getting ready for a dance competition and I haven't had the time to check all of my notifications." Niki explained with an unhappy look in his eyes.

"I know you've been busy with your parents' dance studio lately but what about me? What about us?" Y/N reasoned, "We haven't been able to do anything because of your excuses about dance."

"Y/N, they aren't excuses. My parents need me to do excellent at the competitions and that's what I'm going to do." He said, trying to make Y/N realize what he feels, "I can't just drop everything to hang out with you."

"I understand that you're dedicated to your practice, but you also have to consider how I feel. I miss being able to spend time with you." Y/N frowned, glancing at him.

"Y/N, I can't spend time with you right now. I have to perfect my skills. You know this already.." Niki muttered, trying to reason with Y/N.

"Can't you spare some time for me? At least a few hours?" Y/N softly spoke, grabbing his hands, staring sincerely into his eyes.

"Y/N, I-"

"Niki, please." Y/N desperately spoke, her voice cracking with emotion, her grip on his hands beginning to tighten. "Just a few hours. That's all I'm asking for."

"What if my parents catch us? They won't let us see each other anymore." Niki furrowed his eyebrows, trying to avoid spending time with Y/N.

"I don't care. I just want to spend time with you." She sighed, resting her head on his chest, her hand trailing to his shoulder, "Please?" Y/N pleaded.

"Fine.. But only for a few hours." Niki said, giving in to Y/N's want.

"Aw, I knew you'd say yes! I love you so much, Riki." Y/N cooed, hugging him tightly.

Niki sighed quietly into her hair so she wouldn't be able to hear it.

⚜

After the nice little reunion, the girls decided to walk around the mall and shop some more before heading home. Y/N got along really well with the five girls during their time at the mall.

'Hopefully, we can do more things like this in the future,' Y/N thought to herself, getting in the passenger seat of the car.