sri

the queen and king made their departure from the room, the king silent and the queen seeming so entertained. he didn’t know which one he hated more, the king’s outright but silent distaste or the queen’s condescending amusement- as if he and his sister were just circus animals that played around for her amusement. once the sound of the doors clicked shut, the crown prince let out a sigh. huh. the spoiled prince didn’t like his parents? ha. junghoon didn’t even have parents- thanks to them at least. 

“well, it’s nice to meet the older brother of my fiancee” the crown prince said with a bow, his words the epitome of politeness, but a drawl to his words belied his feelings of… distaste? what. junghoon was asking himself that a lot in the last few hours. he had the luxury of being able to choose anyone to marry and has the complete audacity to seem disinterested in the person he chose to marry in the first place. “likewise, your highness. as an older brother, I do find myself asking what it was that made you choose my sister in the first place though” junghoon replied, a slight hint of sharpness entering his tone. if the crown prince was going to be a bit insolent, so could he. 

seeun smirked. oh. so this behaviour was a family trait. perfect. that’d piss off his father even more. “well… you could say that I have an interest in women who can keep me on my toes, especially such pretty ones like my sweet raven” he said slyly, the nickname from earlier slipping out. it suited her, he thought. he also wanted to see just how much his fiancee’s brother knew about his little sister’s actions and maybe her plan to kill him. hm. 

junghoon froze. he knew. the crown prince knew. he knew and still decided to marry her. what the hell was this guy’s plan. was he just intending on keeping y/n around to show off and then what, use her as an example for the kingdom? humiliate her and use her to deter any other person from conspiring against him and the royal family? what kind of twisted plan did the crown prince have? junghoon didn’t trust the glint in his eye. it was… suspicious and mischievous. 

“well, i shall leave you to show your brother to his room, my sweet raven. don’t worry, I will have hunter wait outside the room and guide you there” the crown prince said, taking the beat of silence as a presumed victory, and bowing as he left the room, that stupid smirk still plastered on his stupid face. 

he turned quickly towards y/n with a shocked look on his face as soon as the door closed, speeding over to bring his little sister into a tight hug. “y/n… what the fuck is actually going on- are you okay? how did this happen? how much of the plan does the crown prince and the royal family know?” he fretted, looking over her face worriedly. 

“I’m okay. I don’t know. I tried to carry out the plan and, and i missed. I missed, junghoon. twice. he dodged my attempts and then… then he just went and announced that he was choosing me as his betrothed. I don’t know how much the monarchs know about this, but I think, god i hope they don’t know.” y/n said, her eyes wide in a way that he knew indicated that she was going to spiral into a panic attack soon. “okay… okay. its okay. we’re still alive. we might be safe. lets just try to live this day by day, okay? we’re still together and we’re not dead” junghoon soothed her, keeping his voice low and gentle, his words gaining a disorientated nod from her. “okay. lets go and get shown to our rooms, yeah?” he said with a shaky sigh, trying to reassure himself as well as y/n. “yeah… yeah. okay, lets.. lets go” she agreed, looking mildly out of it. 

he guided her out of the room and saw the same stoic and professional guard that had accompanied him to the palace, waiting for them. huh. that must be hunter. junghoon nodded to him, prompting hunter to silently guide them to their respective rooms. the silence that once felt anxiety inducing, was now a relief. no need for there to be unnecessary conversation with stilted and fake politeness. he thanked the guard quietly once they’d reached their rooms, gaining a silent nod from him, leaving them to enter their rooms in private. junghoon ushered y/n into her room, making sure she was okay, before going into his own room and letting out a shaky breath and collapsing once the door had closed behind him. well fuck. I guess this was happening. he just had to be strong for his younger sister and figure out another plan for them. keep them safe. keep them all safe from them. fuck.

once the group had finally arrived at the lake, riki all but jumped out of the car, sprinting down to the lake’s shore. y/n sighed, going to check the boot of the car to grab their bags, only to realise that both hers and riki’s bags were missing. she squinted her eyes to seek out riki, her eyes landing on him holding both of their bags as he ran. god. what an idiot. that’s her best friend alright. y/n made her way down to the shore after him, jogging a little to catch up. “you’re such a bitch, why’d you take my bag without telling me” she laughed once she’d finally caught up to him. “dunno, just couldn’t let my girl carry her bag when i’m here and fully able to carry it for her” riki shrugged, flashing her a cocky smirk over his shoulder. y/n felt her heart flutter a little bit, he’d recently started flirting with her more, and it was leaving her mind and heart scrambled with odd emotions. she played it off by scoffing and shoving his shoulder lightly “ew stop that” she’d said, not really meaning it all that much. 

the rest of their friend group joined them finally, y/n setting up her towel and little area as everyone talked and joked. riki stood in front of her (was it on purpose?) and took his shirt off showily, flexing his muscles (was it for her?). he looked over his shoulder at her and winked overly flirtatiously (was it real?), receiving him yet another judgemental stare from y/n. “get your yucky self down here and i’ll put sunscreen on for you before you burn to a crisp” she groaned, pulling out her bottle of sunscreen, riki obediently sitting in front of her with a shit eating grin. y/n put the sunscreen on his back and tried so so hard- she really did- to not think too hard of how his muscles felt underneath her hands as she rubbed the sunscreen in, finally giving him a smack on the back of his neck once she was done. “ow! domestic assault! my girl hit me!” he whined dramatically, clutching a hand to his chest, looking wounded. “I’m not your girl, give this upppp” y/n groaned, covering up the way that it made her heart flip in her chest at hearing him call her ‘his girl’. he just winked once again and ran off to go swim in the lake, jumping off the pier with an excited whoop, into the water. 

y/n watched as she got herself ready to go join him in the water, carefully applying sunscreen everywhere- not too keen on contracting skin cancer. his head had poked up out of the water, beaming and shaking his wet hair out. good lord he looked so stupid (ly pretty). she walked calmly out down the pier, riki excitedly climbing up the ladder to join her on the pier, flopping a familiar arm around her shoulders and shaking his wet hair, getting her wet, causing her to squeal a little and futilely try to squirm out of his wet grasp. “nishimura riki get your wet ass hands off of me!” she groaned, wriggling against his strong arms. “well, if you insist” he responded cheekily- which was, quite frankly, never a good sign- before pushing her off the pier and into the water, jumping in after her. when y/n resurfaced, she looked at riki with an offended look on her face, swimming over to him with the intent to smack his ass. y/n was intercepted by riki, who picked her up bridal style and held her up against his chest. she felt her breath hitch and time slow down around her, the water dripping down off his hair that fell over his eyes, the stupidly charming, cocky grin on his face as he looked down at her, the feel of his skin on hers- it felt intoxicating. as if in a daze, y/n reached up and brushed back his wet hair off his forehead. “my girl..” he’d mumbled under his breath, his eyes darting down to her lips, wetting his own plush, pillowy lips- god, why did she want to feel those against hers so badly. “put me down!” she protested weakly, earning a soft scoff of “make me”. well. it’s important to note that sometimes, y/n let her demons win. she leant up and kissed him, her heart soaring as she felt their lips lock. riki, in such a complete daze that his best friend and the person that he’d been pining over since forever, kissed him, dropped y/n back into the water- staring blankly straight ahead. 

happy birthday maya!! @rizzkisworld

the second time that he saw her, it was two weeks later. she had wormed her way into his brain and stayed there for the entire time- to the point where his friends were sick of him, all of them groaning the minute nicholas opened his mouth to talk about the beautiful woman next door. this time that he saw her, nicholas was coming back home from the gym, begging internally that he didn't stink and end up grossing her out- oh god what if he smelled so bad that she decided to move out and he’d never see her ever again. in his flustered state, nicholas and the pretty woman next door made eye contact, which prompted the human embodiment of an angel to smile so sweetly at him, sending a rush through his body, his ears obviously flushing a bright red. “hey! did you just come from the gym?” she asked nicholas in a friendly manner. what. she.. she was talking to him?? him?? his mind ran blank at that realisation, only snapping out of his trance at the feeling of her gaze on his face. “uhm. oh! uh, yeah i did, sorry, do i smell bad?” he responded finally, cheering internally that he didn’t fumble the conversation with the gorgeous woman in front of him… that much at least. “no no! you don’t smell bad, i just thought that you were coming from the gym because of your clothes” the pretty and sweet woman said, reassuring him. god she was perfect. nicholas could feel cupid’s arrow shooting straight through his heart (again). he wasn’t even sure how the rest of the conversation went, but by the time he walked into his apartment, euijoo, maki and yuma took one look at his face and immediately groaned, ej holding his head in his hands, maki getting up off the couch as if to leave and yuma falling dramatically off the couch. was he really that bad? yes. yes, he was. 

the third, fourth and thirtieth time he saw and interacted with her went by in a similar fashion, the two speaking more with every interaction and nicholas- without fail- ranting about each and every one of their interactions to his friends at any available opportunity (forcibly removing decades off of their lives). it wasn’t even until three months after he’d first saw her that his little bubble was popped. there she was… the most beautiful, funny, perfect woman he’d ever met, going down the very same stairs he’d first seen her on, carrying… boxes? why the hell was she moving boxes labelled ‘glassware’- oh. oh that’s why. y/n was moving away. nicholas felt like his whole world was crashing and burning around him, his motivation for going outside of his apartment was leaving? 

y/n flashed him a quick sheepish smile as she carried the box down the stairs. “hey nico! sorry I’m taking up the space on the stairs” she laughed awkwardly. god he loved the way his name sounded falling from her lips. “oh! hi y/n! no, no that’s ok! do.. do you want some help carrying these boxes?” he responded instinctively, his soul’s need to be helpful and near to her, kicking back in. “really? oh my god, thank you so much- that’d be so helpful” y/n said, sounding so relieved, her eyes lighting up at the sound of his offer. shit she was so cute (and leaving him). not trusting his voice to not crack embarrassingly, nicholas just nodded his head, going up to climb the stairs in order to grab a box for her, his eyes widening slightly at the weight of the box as he picked it up. y/n soon joined him once more, picking up one of the bigger boxes with an ease that made his throat dry up. lord save him, she was strong too? god, this crush wasn’t going to go anywhere any time soon. 

nicholas helped y/n move her boxes silently, listening to her talk about her day and why she was moving (she’d found a better apartment for a cheaper price a few streets down from where they were now). his silence was mainly in part due to his eyes being glued to her form as she lifted and carried heavy boxes up and down their stairs, feeling so enamoured with her every second that passed, but also because he loved the way that words sounded when they rolled off of her tongue. somehow, they’d managed to bring the last two boxes down the stairs, just about to load them into the car. nicholas panicked, fuck. he didn’t have her number or even her instagram, how would he be able to keep talking with her- “would you like to go on a date with me?”- yeah, that’d do it. he opened his mouth to ask her the fateful question when he was interrupted with; “oh finally, I thought you’d never ask me out”. he blinked. he blinked again. what. oh fuck oh shit, he’d actually said that out loud and to her- oh god he was such a loser, no wonder she just… accepted it? “w-wait… you’d want to go on a date with me?” he asked, seeking confirmation that this was in fact actually happening. “well yeah, of course I would, i’ve been waiting for you to ask me for at least two weeks now” y/n laughed, shoving the last box into her trunk. “oh! oh uhm, yeah okay, erm well, i’ll pick you up on saturday at 6pm?” nicholas stammered his way through this- praying to every god out there that he didn’t fumble this heavenly opportunity. “sounds like a date, nico! see you then” y/n said, subtly flushing shyly, waving goodbye as she got into her car and drove off- leaving nicholas to stand like an idiot on the sidewalk outside their apartment complex. 

“yo! hey nico, whats up?” “i’m going on a date with y/n…” “this again? stop being so fucking delusional please it is physically paining me” “but I’m being serious!” “sure sure, we’ll just pick up some extra anti-psychosis meds on the next grocery run” “im not joking!!”

merry christmas y'all! uhm, i wrote this in the midst of moving house el oh el (hence the theme of this fic erm)

this was written as a present for @chiiyuuv as part of secret santa hehe (i was so locked in trying to finish this on time for you pookie- hope you enjoy it xx)