Ni-ki never thought his jokes would backfire this hard. It started as harmless teasing—him pretending to have a crush on the girl who rolled her eyes at every word he said. “Relax, I’m just kidding,” he’d laugh whenever his friends caught him looking her way too long.

But somewhere between the jokes and the teasing, he wasn’t pretending anymore. Suddenly, the way she glared at him felt like a challenge, and the way she ignored him made him want her attention even more.

Now, he couldn’t shut up about her. Every lunch break, every group chat, every hangout—her name came up. “Bro, I swear, she’s the one,” he’d say, grinning like an idiot while his friends laughed at how down bad he’d become.

The funny thing? She still hasn’t replied to his confession. They tease him about it, of course—but he just smiles. “It’s fine,” he says, “as long as everyone knows I fell for her first.”

And maybe, deep down, he hopes one day she’ll finally believe he wasn’t joking this time.

———

Chemistry Class

“Alright, pair up,” their chemistry teacher announced, scanning the class list. “Ni-ki and ___, you’ll be partners for this experiment.”

A quiet murmur rippled through the room—everyone knew that pairing would stir something.

Ni-ki walked over, lab coat half on, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Guess we’re partners,” he said, voice softer than usual.

She didn’t look up from her notebook. “Lucky me,” she muttered, busying herself with setting up the beakers.

He let out a short chuckle. “Still mad I confessed or just allergic to me?”

“No,” she said quickly, a little too quickly. “Just… focused.”

“Right. Focused.” He nodded, pretending to check the instructions, though his eyes flickered to her every few seconds—watching how she bit her lip when she measured the solution, how she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

They worked in silence for a while until he finally spoke again, quieter this time. “You know,” he said, eyes fixed on the bubbling liquid, “I wasn’t joking back then.”

She hesitated, finally looking up. For a second, their eyes met before she looked away again. “…Then stop looking at me like that.”

He smiled faintly. “Can’t help it.”

And for once, Ni-ki didn’t follow it up with a joke.