if it's meant to be | ni-ki

mix up | 06

niki shot him a glare. "just play the game."

                                         ★

after a while, jungwon stretched, letting out a yawn. "alright, man, i'm heading out. thanks for the games," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

niki gave a small nod, walking him to the door. "yeah, see you tomorrow."

as jungwon disappeared down the street, niki returned to his room, only to find yejin and hana already there. they were grabbing their backpacks, casually chatting as if they owned the place.

"what are you two doing in here again?" niki asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

hana looked up first, unfazed. "getting our stuff. you wouldn't let us finish playing earlier, so we left our backpacks."

yejin added with a shrug, "don't worry, we didn't touch anything. unless you're hiding something interesting..." she trailed off, her tone teasing.

niki's eyes narrowed. "just get your stuff and leave," he muttered, suddenly tense as he remembered the 18+ game he stuffed into hana's bag earlier.

hana zipped up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "what's with the attitude? we weren't even doing anything."

yejin chuckled lightly, clearly enjoying his unease. "relax, niki. see you around."

as they walked out, niki let out a long sigh of relief. but his stomach twisted—he realized he needed to figure out how to get that game back before hana discovered it.

niki sat on his bed, his mind racing. he replayed the moment over and over—stuffing the game into hana's bag—and wondered why he hadn't just hidden it somewhere else.

after about thirty minutes of restless thinking, he sighed and got up. "this is so stupid," he muttered under his breath as he walked out of his room and headed toward hana's.

the door was slightly ajar, and he could hear the faint sound of music playing from her speaker. he pushed it open carefully, stepping inside. hana was sitting cross-legged on her bed, scrolling through her phone. her backpack was on the floor by her desk.

"what do you want?" hana asked, not looking up.

niki glanced around the room casually, trying not to seem suspicious. "nothing. just checking if you've got any of my stuff in here."

hana finally looked up, raising an eyebrow. "your stuff? since when do you care what's in my room?"

"since you two keep leaving random junk everywhere," niki shot back, walking over to her desk.

hana rolled her eyes but didn't stop him as he crouched down and unzipped her bag.

"what are you doing?" she asked, watching him with growing suspicion.

"just looking," niki mumbled, feeling his pulse quicken as he rummaged through her bag.

hana narrowed her eyes as niki began pulling things out of her bag one by one. her pencils, notebooks, and random trinkets were scattered across her desk and floor.

"seriously?" she snapped, sitting up straighter on her bed. "you're turning my room into a mess! i told you, i don't have your stuff. leave!"

niki ignored her, his expression growing more frustrated. his fingers searched every pocket, but the game wasn't there.

he paused, then turned to hana with a frown. "don't tell me you and yejin have matching backpacks."

hana blinked, caught off guard by the question. "so what if we do?" she said, crossing her arms defensively.

niki groaned, running a hand through his hair. "of course. where's yejin's bag?"

hana stared at him, her irritation giving way to confusion. "what's going on? what are you even looking for?"

"nothing," niki muttered, already heading for the door. "forget it."

"you're such a weirdo," hana called after him, still annoyed as she started picking up the mess he left behind.

niki shut the door to his room, leaning back against it with a heavy sigh. his mind was racing. he couldn't believe he hadn't thought about the matching backpacks earlier.

he ran a hand through his hair, groaning quietly. "great. just great," he muttered.

flopping onto his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. he'd have to figure it out tomorrow—maybe distract yejin long enough to check her bag or come up with some excuse to swap them.

for now, all he could do was hope. hope that yejin wouldn't look into her bag tonight. hope she wouldn't find something she wasn't supposed to.

"please, just don't look," niki muttered under his breath as he closed his eyes, silently praying that luck would be on his side.