High School — 4 years ago
“Could you not breathe so loud?” you hissed across the table.
Maiki didn’t even flinch. He smirked and exaggerated a sigh, leaning back in his chair with all the dramatic flair of someone dying from boredom. “Could you not act like you're the only one with a brain in this group?”
You gritted your teeth, gripping your pen. It was a simple science project, but Maiki had a talent — no, a gift — for making everything feel like a battle. You were competitive, sure, but he? He lived for making you annoyed.
“Maybe if you did your part, I wouldn’t have to carry this entire presentation,” you snapped.
“I did my part. You just re-did it because you’re obsessed with being right.”
“Because I am right.”
“Oh really?” He leaned closer, that smug glint in his eye. “Then why did you spell ‘photosynthesis’ wrong?”
You froze. Glanced at the board.
Oh no.
Maiki burst out laughing.
You threw your pen at him.
That was the story of you and Maiki: eternal rivals, perfectly matched in intelligence, sarcasm, and the art of driving each other insane. Teachers groaned whenever you were paired. Your friends just sighed and dragged you in opposite directions. It was exhausting, infuriating…
…and kind of fun.
Present Day — Four years later
You hadn’t seen Maiki since graduation. You assumed he went to some faraway university where no one knew your history, and you were thankful for it. But fate — ever dramatic — had different plans.
Because there he was.
Standing by the coffee machine in your office’s break room.
Wearing the same irritating smirk.
“Oh no,” you said without thinking.
“Oh yes,” he replied, lifting his coffee. “Miss ‘I’m always right’ works here too. What are the chances?”
“Clearly not low enough,” you muttered, already plotting your escape.
But you didn’t leave. Not really.
A Few Months Later
It started small. Stealing each other’s favorite snacks from the shared pantry. Competing over who could solve the most puzzles during Friday trivia. Snide comments over coffee that gradually turned into... softer jabs. Playful teasing. Smiles.
You caught him waiting for you after work one night with an umbrella in the rain.
He acted like it was just coincidence. But he didn’t stop walking beside you.
Then Came the Holiday Retreat
You were supposed to help with the cabin decorations. He was only there because his manager forced him to help too. You bickered. You got snowed in. The power went out. And for the first time in your history together, there was... silence.
A soft, glowing kind of silence. Maiki, sitting close, wrapped in the same blanket. The heat of his arm against yours.
“I never actually hated you, you know,” he murmured.
You turned your head, surprised. “You had a weird way of showing it.”
“I think I just liked getting your attention.”
You stared at him.
And suddenly, finally, it all made sense.
One Year Later
You stood in front of a mirror in a white dress, heart pounding. Your old debate rival — the boy who once mocked your spelling — was now the man waiting at the altar.
Maiki looked nervous and smug at the same time. Of course he did.
When you walked down the aisle, he mouthed, “Don’t trip.”
You mouthed back, “Don’t cry.”
He did.
At the altar, you squeezed his hand.
“You’re still annoying,” you whispered.
Maiki grinned. “Good. You’d be bored otherwise.”