"How much of that did you hear?" He asked, he stared back at you blankly, almost as if he didn't believe you were real.

"I think a lot more than I was supposed to." You answered honestly, Riki opened his mouth to speak, but both of your phones were buzzing incessantly with texts from your captains.

He sighed, before turning his phone off and looking back at you. "Let's talk after the show. There's so much I want to say to you."

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୨୧⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

You were set to perform right after Enha, which Soobin was very much unhappy with. Thankfully, though, they actually performed their own choreo this time.

This hardly calmed Soobin down, however, because god— were they killing it.

Their power on stage demanded the attention of the audience and their charisma helped to distract from any mistakes they could have made.

Heeseung shot Soobin a smirk on their way off stage, and it took everything in Soobin not to choke him out right then and there.

For any team, they would have been impossible to follow up.

Not for your team, though.

It was the performance of a lifetime. You don't think you had ever put this much of your blood, sweat, and tears into anything before. And now, here you were, ready to see all of it pay off.

All the stress that had been

After your performance, you and the rest of the novas sat eagerly backstage, waiting for the rest of the teams to finish performing and for scores to be announced.

This was one of the biggest, most important moments of your high school career, but you couldn't get your mind off Riki.

All the things he told Jiwoo backstage, were they true? Would you be an idiot for letting him back into your life after he had already hurt you so bad?

You were far from discreet, and the way you and Riki kept making prolonged eye contact backstage almost killed you.

Your team, along with all of the others, stood at the wings of the stage as they announced the winners. Third place had been given to a team from Daegu, and you waited in anticipation for the top two.

"In second place," The announcer began, "from HYBE academy of the arts, ENHYPEN."

You watched as the boys' faces fell. However, they sucked it up and put on a smile as they walked out.

"And finally, in first place, the Korean Junior National champions, also from HYBE academy of arts, SUPERNOVA."

You couldn't believe it.

You almost thought that you had heard them wrong. But no, you had won. You actually beat ENHYPEN. For the first time ever, they didn't take away your spotlight.

Soobin made sure to walk out with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, staring directly at the boys the entire time. He gracefully accepted the trophy, and it almost looked like he was about to cry.

You were over the moon, all the hard work you and your teammates had been put in for the past year was finally paying off. You showed ENHYPEN- and the entire school, that you were done living in their shadows. And as you looked at Riki, he smiled and sent you a thumbs up.

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୨୧⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

When Riki finally found you backstage, you didn't know what to say. You smiled at him, and you wanted to say something, but no words came out.

"Congratulations on your win. You deserved it, really." He said, a soft yet embarrassed smile on his face.

"Thanks, Riks. I really appreciate it. How'd your team take the news?" You asked, out of pure curiosity. You knew that team, and you knew they were most likely throwing nothing short of temper tantrums right now.

"Better than I thought they would, to be honest. Except for Jay, I'm pretty sure he stormed out and drove home." You laughed, and so did he. It was nice hearing his laugh, you hadn't even realized how much you missed it.

It was silent for a while before you finally looked back at him. "About earlier- I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it's just-"

"It's okay, y/n. It's all stuff I wish I would've told you before, anyways, and I hate that I never did." He cut you off, and you were a little shocked. "I never knew why I got so flustered around you before. I have never felt this nervous around someone before, ever. But when it comes to you, I go crazy."

He paused, searching for any hint of emotions in your expression, but kept going.

"I like- No, I love you y/n. And I don't care if our teams hate each other, I don't care if you think we would never work, I don't care if there are a million logical reasons why we shouldn't be together. Because I love you, y/n. And I think that's the only reason we need to tell us that we should."

"Riki, I don't even know what to say." You chuckled, cheeks bright red from the sudden confession. "I agree that there are a million reasons we shouldn't be together."

His face fell slightly as he braced himself for rejection, but you kept going.

"But I love you too, Riki. You make me want to be the best version of myself that I can be. I think we owe it to ourselves to try."

The smile that appeared on his face was so bright, you would've thought he was the one who won a national competition today. He engulfed you in a hug so tight you thought you were going to lose all air in your lungs.

"You gonna break my heart, y/n?"

"Only if you break mine first." You teased, and this time, he placed a chaste kiss on your lips.

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୨୧⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

a/n: it's finally over! i apologize for the (kinda) hiatus i took during the later parts of this smau, but that is over and i am now back! i have had so much fun writing this smau and i hope you guys had fun reading it, too :). i have an epilogue coming out and a new smau announcement very soon so please stay tuned for that!

p.s. i hope you guys noticed the tatbilb reference 😚

"How much of that did you hear?" He asked, he stared back at you blankly, almost as if he didn't believe you were real.

"I think a lot more than I was supposed to." You answered honestly, Riki opened his mouth to speak, but both of your phones were buzzing incessantly with texts from your captains.

He sighed, before turning his phone off and looking back at you. "Let's talk after the show. There's so much I want to say to you."

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୨୧⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

You were set to perform right after Enha, which Soobin was very much unhappy with. Thankfully, though, they actually performed their own choreo this time.

This hardly calmed Soobin down, however, because god— were they killing it.

Their power on stage demanded the attention of the audience and their charisma helped to distract from any mistakes they could have made.

Heeseung shot Soobin a smirk on their way off stage, and it took everything in Soobin not to choke him out right then and there.

For any team, they would have been impossible to follow up.

Not for your team, though.

It was the performance of a lifetime. You don't think you had ever put this much of your blood, sweat, and tears into anything before. And now, here you were, ready to see all of it pay off.

All the stress that had been

After your performance, you and the rest of the novas sat eagerly backstage, waiting for the rest of the teams to finish performing and for scores to be announced.

This was one of the biggest, most important moments of your high school career, but you couldn't get your mind off Riki.

All the things he told Jiwoo backstage, were they true? Would you be an idiot for letting him back into your life after he had already hurt you so bad?

You were far from discreet, and the way you and Riki kept making prolonged eye contact backstage almost killed you.

Your team, along with all of the others, stood at the wings of the stage as they announced the winners. Third place had been given to a team from Daegu, and you waited in anticipation for the top two.

"In second place," The announcer began, "from HYBE academy of the arts, ENHYPEN."

You watched as the boys' faces fell. However, they sucked it up and put on a smile as they walked out.

"And finally, in first place, the Korean Junior National champions, also from HYBE academy of arts, SUPERNOVA."

You couldn't believe it.

You almost thought that you had heard them wrong. But no, you had won. You actually beat ENHYPEN. For the first time ever, they didn't take away your spotlight.

Soobin made sure to walk out with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, staring directly at the boys the entire time. He gracefully accepted the trophy, and it almost looked like he was about to cry.

You were over the moon, all the hard work you and your teammates had been put in for the past year was finally paying off. You showed ENHYPEN- and the entire school, that you were done living in their shadows. And as you looked at Riki, he smiled and sent you a thumbs up.

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୨୧⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

When Riki finally found you backstage, you didn't know what to say. You smiled at him, and you wanted to say something, but no words came out.

"Congratulations on your win. You deserved it, really." He said, a soft yet embarrassed smile on his face.

"Thanks, Riks. I really appreciate it. How'd your team take the news?" You asked, out of pure curiosity. You knew that team, and you knew they were most likely throwing nothing short of temper tantrums right now.

"Better than I thought they would, to be honest. Except for Jay, I'm pretty sure he stormed out and drove home." You laughed, and so did he. It was nice hearing his laugh, you hadn't even realized how much you missed it.

It was silent for a while before you finally looked back at him. "About earlier- I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it's just-"

"It's okay, y/n. It's all stuff I wish I would've told you before, anyways, and I hate that I never did." He cut you off, and you were a little shocked. "I never knew why I got so flustered around you before. I have never felt this nervous around someone before, ever. But when it comes to you, I go crazy."

He paused, searching for any hint of emotions in your expression, but kept going.

"I like- No, I love you y/n. And I don't care if our teams hate each other, I don't care if you think we would never work, I don't care if there are a million logical reasons why we shouldn't be together. Because I love you, y/n. And I think that's the only reason we need to tell us that we should."

"Riki, I don't even know what to say." You chuckled, cheeks bright red from the sudden confession. "I agree that there are a million reasons we shouldn't be together."

His face fell slightly as he braced himself for rejection, but you kept going.

"But I love you too, Riki. You make me want to be the best version of myself that I can be. I think we owe it to ourselves to try."

The smile that appeared on his face was so bright, you would've thought he was the one who won a national competition today. He engulfed you in a hug so tight you thought you were going to lose all air in your lungs.

"You gonna break my heart, y/n?"

"Only if you break mine first." You teased, and this time, he placed a chaste kiss on your lips.

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୨୧⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

a/n: it's finally over! i apologize for the (kinda) hiatus i took during the later parts of this smau, but that is over and i am now back! i have had so much fun writing this smau and i hope you guys had fun reading it, too :). i have an epilogue coming out and a new smau announcement very soon so please stay tuned for that!

p.s. i hope you guys noticed the tatbilb reference 😚

All the best teams in the country were gathered in one place, but Soobin had his eyes on only one person.

Lee Heeseung.

You and your team knew how hard you had worked for the past few weeks, especially after the choreo fiasco. There was no doubt in your mind that you could beat Enhypen.

But from the looks on their faces, they seemed to have no doubt that they could beat you, either.

Heeseung strolled up to Soobin, almost as if he was bored. But you knew that behind his nonchalant façade, he was just as terrified as anyone else in the room. "Fourth year, Soobin. I'm excited to see what you guys have planned. Good luck."

"Fourth year, Heeseung." Soobin replied, standing his ground. "And thanks, but we don't need luck. May the best team win. He asserted, shaking Heeseung's hand as he walked away.

The two team captains were likely the most on edge. It was both of their last years, and both of their last chance to finally show the other who was the best.

And as much as the two of you tried to deny it, the tension between you and Riki was painfully obvious. The stolen glances from across the room didn't go unnoticed by either team, it was almost pitiful.

You even debated going up to him, but all your temptation and yearning disappeared when Jiwoo walked into the room.

"Hey, I thought only performers were allowed backstage?" Hanni groaned, loud enough to make sure she heard. Embarrassed, Jiwoo whispered something to Riki and briskly walked out.

Riki followed Jiwoo out to the hallway, and you had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. He was so shameless. Your annoyance was visible to everyone in the room, and you were sure you would have lost your mind if Sunoo didn't come up to you.

"Hey y/n, I know you probably don't want to hear from him, but I think you should talk to Riki.

You knew he was just trying to help, but still almost scoffed in his face, "Thanks Sunoo, but I don't think he wants to hear from me either. Besides, he looks like he's doing just fine."

"He's not, trust me. Just— go find him and talk to him. If things don't go well, you'll never have to speak to him again." He could tell you were hesitant, and even he was surprised at how much he pitied the two of you. "Just give him a chance, y/n. I don't think you'll regret it."

You walked out into the hall, stopping before turning a corner when you heard Jiwoo's voice.

"I don't get it, Riki. I thought you liked me?" Her voice was shaky, like she was about to cry. The conversation sounded really personal, but you couldn't bring yourself to walk away.

"I'm sorry if I gave you that impression, Jiwoo. I never meant to lead you on, and it's not your fault at all. You’re great, really, it’s just that— I like someone else. I thought I moved on from them, but I wasn't. And I don't think I'll be ready to be with someone else for a really long time."

There was a long pause before Jiwoo responded. "It's y/n, isn't?"

"Yeah, it is." He confirmed, almost disappointed. "How'd you know?"

"Riki, you are an amazing dancer, but you are a terrible actor. I could sense your feelings for her from a mile away. Why don't you do something about it?"

"I don't think it's gonna go anywhere. She doesn't see me like that and with our teams, I don't think it would ever work out. We'd only both get hurt, you know?" There was an odd sadness in his voice, as if it was breaking him to say it out loud and he wanted nothing more than to be proved wrong.

"I think you should at least try. You're a great guy Riki, and you deserve someone who makes you happy."

They were silent for a couple seconds before Riki's phone buzzed. "Shit, it's fifteen minutes till call time. I got to go, but I really appreciate you coming, Jiwoo."

You scrambled for a place to go, but Riki turned the corner too quickly and you were now face to face.

"y/n?"