???????? ????? ━━ nishimura riki

chapter forty-six

"Finished already?" the teen nods at the older woman. Like a proud mother, Nagi congratulates her for her small achievement. "You have quite the talented hands, Nina! You know, you could start a small business with that."

The girl hums in response. Nagi is such a kind woman, she still has a chance in life and to change her ways for the better good but why would she go as far as working with yakuzas and abduct innocent teenagers who already have enough problems to deal with. Nina's face darkens, even adults like her could use a lecture or two.

Noticing the change in expression, Nagi wondered what was going on inside the girl's thoughts. Did something happen? Maybe it's just a headache. "Nina is there something bothe-"

"Did you reflect on our conversation we had two hours ago?"

"I-"

"Do you think Soul would be proud to have a mother who secretly kept the true whereabouts of his biological parents, manipulating, giving them false information, and sending them to different countries, when all they wanted was to meet their son? Did you honestly think Ni-ki would easily just accept you in the family after working with bad guys, threatening his family and possibly leading them to their deaths because of your selfish plans?" Nagi starts to quiver, her eyes looking so troubled. . . just as Nina expected. She needs to break her. "And if Mister Tsuyoshi dies, who's fault is it gonna be? Koshino?" the girl snickers. "He isn't the one with the plan, he was just following your command."

"S-S-Shut u-up. . ." she managed to say through heavy breaths. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Nagi lightly pulls the strands of her hair. Staring right down at the ground with widened eyes and wearing a wicked grin. She was starting to look like a psycho. "It's not my fault. . . It's not my fault. . . It's not my fault. . . . I was just in love. . ." Nagi whispers to herself trying to calm her nerves. 

Nina moves back at the sight, it was better to create distance just in case she concludes attacking. This is not the end yet. She knows that this was a stupid idea from the beginning however that won't stop her from shoving the harsh reality inside her little mind. "You call yourself a grown-up? Act like one! Put your heart aside for once and go with your head! No matter how many times you try, you will never replace Tsuyoshi's wife! You will never be Riki's mother!"

You will never be Riki's mother!

Those words lingered in Nagi's ears, the way it kept on repeating only drove her mad. From loud heavy breaths to terrifying shrieks, Nina slowly takes a step away. Talking about mental and emotional disorders, she is a psycho. An obsessive and lovesick psycho.

Why must love be so powerful? It's a feeling that everyone would die just to get a taste of. It's an affection that people would yearn to be reciprocated by a significant other, turning a blind eye to the consequences if one chose to act recklessly and allow his or her world to revolve around their lover. 

"So. . . I saw you dancing with Ni-ki earlier"

Saeyoung blushed. "Y-Y-You saw that?" turning her head away, she could feel her cheeks burning from the embarrassment. Not to mention, Soul still had a thing for her, it only made the situation more awkward than it is. "L-Listen it's not what you think-"

"I have to say, it kind of did hurt. . ." he was lying to himself, it hurt a lot. He likes her so much that he couldn't help but wish that Ni-ki didn't exist at all or to be less cruel, Saeyoung not having feelings for him in the first place. The raven-haired japanese knew that he was in no place to be mad at what the two had for each other. He wasn't her boyfriend, okay. But Ni-ki? His half-brother is in a relationship. It just doesn't make sense.

It isn't fair for him. 

Soul wanted to try to get a moment alone with his crush but sadly, luck wasn't on his side. Instead, it chose to side with Ni-ki. Soul asks himself, what did his past self do to deserve this? Was Ni-ki a hero before? And he was the villain? But now it looks more like he's the second male lead and Ni-ki's the lead of the story. "Look, I respect what you two have. . . I like you. . . and he's my brother. I don't wanna ruin that relationship we have."