It started small.
It always did.
At the year-end show, they stood next to each other in the lineup—Ni-ki on her right, cameras pointed everywhere. She didn’t notice the way his pinky reached, hovered, then touched hers.
Barely.
Accidental.
Totally not.
She didn’t look down. He didn’t look up. But their fingers stayed linked until the lights changed.
“it’s the accidental touch, when ‘you don’t mean to’”
Later—weeks later—there was that park.
Not famous. No crowds. Just wind, a vending machine, and a bench with peeling paint.
She sat beside him, pulling her sleeves over her palms as she talked—really talked—for the first time. About pressure. About loneliness. About being "on" all the time.
She didn’t cry.
But Ni-ki held her hand anyway.
Not accidental this time.
Quiet. Solid. Warm in the cold.
“the thickest tension”
When Enhypen won their first Daesang, he smiled on stage like the whole world cracked open into starlight. Tears slipped down his cheeks—he tried to wipe them fast, embarrassed, overwhelmed, young and brilliant.
In the audience, she stood up and clapped like her heart was sprinting.
Not for the cameras. For him.
He looked at her.
Just for a second.
She smiled back.
“it’s the millisecond freeze frame after good news.”
A few nights later, he and Heeseung were live.
Ni-ki’s phone buzzed. His whole face lit up. Soft giggles he didn’t mean to let escape.
Heeseung caught it instantly.
“Yeah, Ni-ki, who’s texting you? Tell us.”
Ni-ki’s ears went red. “Jiji. She—um—just said goodnight. And reminded me about practice tomorrow.”
Heeseung grinned like a wolf. “So that’s why you were giggling.”
Ni-ki tried to hide behind his knees.
“or an unexpected mention.”
It became habit.
Night messages. Safe windows in busy schedules.
Until one night he typed:
“i liked the way your hair looked today you don’t wear it up that often but i liked it.”
His thumb hovered over “send.”
Then landed.
He threw the phone across the couch like it burned.
“it’s the phone toss when it’s risky and you hit send.”
A spring day. Strawberry field shoot.
They worked side by side, laughter light, baskets half-filled. But Ni-ki kept looking away, jaw tense, breathing uneven.
“Are you okay?” she asked, smiling, brushing hair back from her cheek. “Why do you keep looking away? Haha—it's just me. Don’t get all shy now.”
He nearly dropped the strawberries.
“wondering why you’re so nervous round a so-called ‘friend.’”
That night, after practice, he typed into the Enhypen group chat:
“it’s that feeling, so stellar.”
The reply came instantly.
HEESEUNG: bro if you like her JAY: just go fucking tell her SUNOO: literally everyone knows JAKE: even staff knows JUNGWON: please do something before i die SUNGPIL: oh my god just confess already
Ni-ki stared at the screen. Heart loud. Hands shaking.
Then:
NI-KI: yeah. okay.