𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗡𝗔𝗘𝗦. ni-ki

s i x

Out of boredom, Jia decided to hurt herself a little by reading her past chats with the boy

Seeing the call button right beside his name made her tempted but she held herself back to wait until everything is clear and she's not stressed

Not that much stressed

2 weeks, 7 days, 20 hours

The time that separated her and her liberation from what she's been keeping inside for months now

"I see you like to reminisc your trainee days?" Jia turned her phone off as someone starled her

"W-What are you doing here?"

"I was just here to ask what I should do with his hoodie" Jia grabbed the hoodie from the elder's hands and putted it on

"No need to get aggressive" Byeol left her again as she continued to reminisc the past while sniffing on the cloth

Jia was obsessed, not in love

She, herself, would say that but

some members thought different

She was simply missing him, what about those girls who miss their boyfriends and just put their things on because they smell like them?

They're obiviously not crazy

But, they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, yet

"We need to do the grocery" Jia's ears pearked up

"I'll go!" She volunteerd

"I come with you—"

"no need to! I can go alone" she reassured the leader

"If you say so" Jia skipped happly outside the house with a list full of things she needs to buy

She even refused to go with their van and their manager, she's completely alone

"This girls eat too much.." she mumbled as she pushed the now full shopping chart

"Jia?" She looked up with her face covered due to safety

"I'm sorry, you mistaken me for someone else, my name is Suhee"

"oh, I'm sorry" the boy bowed as he left from there

Jia sighed in relief, not in the mood to meet some fans that might ask her for photos and these things while she was just here to buy food

She payed as she passed by a minimarket

Since I'm here

The girl entered as she took food for everyone

"sorry, where can I found banana milk?" She asked the cashier who seemed disinteressed in her work

The cashier pointed to a fridge at the opposite side as Jia nodded

Bad for her, she was too short to reach the milk as another hand grabbed the seven bottles she was trying to reach

"wait, I was trying to grab those—" she stopped when the mysterious boy putted the bottles inside her bag

She looked up as she caught the boy looking at her while smiling

"Thank you..." she waited for him to say his name

"Riki" Jia froze

What a coincidence that both were in the same place, right?

He removed his mask and smiled at her

"You're still short" Ni-ki teased her

"I'm not short! It's just that the fridge is too high" Jia pouted even tho it couldn't be seen because her face was covered

"yeah yeah, as you say so" dead silence enveloped the atmosphere

"can I take you home?" Jia hesitantly nodded as both walked near the door

"w-wait I need to pay this first" she looked at the bag full of food and drinks

"I'll pay for you—"

"No need to, I still have some money left" the girl payed for everything before both walked under the night sky

"What were you doing there? you didn't buyed anything"

"I was just going around and looking for something" he explained as the younger nodded

Their hands slightly brushed against eachother as they walked

Jia's heart fluttered at the boy's next action

Ni-ki grabbed her hand and intertwined it with his, squeezing it a little as he smiled lightly

Jia, flustered, looked at their intertwined hands as blood rushed to her cheeks

She can feel her heart beating loudly inside her chest, echoing in her ears

How lucky that they were wearing masks right now or else both should have hid their red faces

She loved his gentle and soft touch, even if it was rare for him to do this kind of things

Jia squeezed his hand back as Ni-ki's smile grew bigger

People passing by might mistake them for a couple

And some did but did the two cared? No

Unless they're both idols, how stupid they were to even forgot their own job

Jia wished this moment would last forever, same for Ni-ki

But sad for them, Jia's dorm was right in front of them as she stopped

"My dorm is here," She pointed to the door with the hand holding the plastic bags before looking at their intertwined hands

Ni-ki quickly let go of her hand gently as she smiled lightly

"hope to see you around" Jia went inside her dormitory

"you buyed dinner!" Jiyeon, aka the foodie, took the plastic bag contening the food

Luckly for Jia, the oldest was too focused on the food to even notice her smile and her red cheeks which never left since she encountered the boy

"I—" she was about to tell her teammates about her time with the japanese boy but decided to keep it for herself

"I used all the money left for the dinner"

She removed her hat and masks as Jungmi noticed her redish cheeks

"It's cold outside?" The korean-chinese girl asked "u-uh? Oh yeah it's cold, that's why my cheeks are red"

Jungmi raised a brow "as you say so"