niko couldn't stop fidgeting.

when haechan was over, they sat down and reenacted previous interviews done by this interviewer. it would be recorded and later posted online for viewers to watch, but right now, all that was being aired was their voices.

niko wasn't too familiar with her interviewer, as she wasn't one to watch or listen to many, but she could tell that the woman in front of her was good at her job.

"it's nice to meet you," the woman greeted from across the table. her voice was kind and her hair was the color of ink. she looked more like a celebrity than niko did, but the girl pushed that thought away as she smiled back. "you as well."

the woman introduced herself as raeun. "you look a little nervous over there! this is your first ever interview, right?"

niko nodded. the woman, raeun, smiled a bit softer than before. "don't worry. we'll go easy on you."

"we're on in three... two..."

the person counted pointed at raeun, and her voice immediately changed from sweet and kind to full of confidence. "good morning! i'm here today with the hottest soloist at the moment, niko tsukina!"

a second passed, and raeun flashed niko a comforting smile. sucking in a breath, niko returned it and tried to speak a bit louder than usual. "hello, i'm niko. thank you for having me on your podcast today!"

the interview went smoother than niko assumed it would. the questions raeun asked were the ones she practiced with haechan—how did you get into music, do you have anything in the works, and you surprised with your success. niko didn't have to try too hard to show how humble she was.

then came the questions she had not anticipated.

"now, niko. if it's alright with you, i want to ask you about your time at vybe."

the girl blinked. she should have expected some questions about them, especially since it's no secret she worked there before moving to ruby to debut.

"you are aware that vybe is releasing a new album this week, is that right?"

niko nodded. "yes, that's right."

"do you also know that this is vybe's best selling album yet?"

niko didn't respond. was it really?

"and guess who's credited with nearly all the lyrics?" raeun asked. niko could hear the pride in her voice as she said, "niko tsukina."

that part niko knew. she'd written most of their lyrics anyway, but receiving credit for her work was still so surreal to her.

raeun continued. "their newest album hasn't even released yet and it's sold more copies already than any of their previous albums! fans speculate you're the cause."

her look of shock didn't go unnoticed. "me?"

raeun laughed, but it was clear that she wanted some better feedback. "yes, you. you trended number one in nearly thirty-six countries the day of your debut, and you've continued selling albums months since! you are the definition of a rising star."

the interview felt more like a compliment contest, and niko could hide the blush that spread up her freckled cheeks. "sorry, i'm still not used to all the recognition... but i'm so thankful to everyone who's bought and streamed my album. you're supporting me so much more than you know."

"i'm personally excited to hear your work in vybe's newest release." raeun concluded, and niko felt her chest swell. "thank you, ms. raeun."

mark
dude

mark
what the fuck

niko
??

mark
"eagle-eyed fans have been
commenting about the similarities
between old vybe songs and niko
tsukina's work on the newest album.
did she take inspiration from their
lyricist mark, or was his apology for
'taking inspiration' not as genuine
as previously believed?"

niko
what is that

mark
an article by fucking dispatch

mark
i havent bothered you. why
are you doing this to me?

niko
me? mark, did you read the article?
FANS spotted the similarities.

niko
YOUR company asked me to write
the album, i didn't volunteer. i had
nothing to do with this.

mark
i've already been asked about this
in two separate interviews and the
guys aren't helping at all. they just
point to me and smile

mark
this is your fault

niko
i'm failing to see how

niko
you offered me that job at vybe,
remember? i never went searching
for it.

mark
fuck you

niko
can we not do this today?
it's eunbin's wedding

mark
so? i wasn't invited.

niko
shocker!!

mark
make a statement or something.
this affects you too. people are
saying you took inspiration from
me

niko
so? let them believe what they want

niko
i'm not the one who stole from
a girl grieving her dead mother

"i can't believe how quickly they were able to set this thing up," ami said as she pulled into an open parking spot at the venue.

well, it wasn't much of a venue. more like a backyard. but niko was not about to judge, not when she got out and saw how beautiful it was.

the few, large trees in the yard were wrapped completely in warm-colored fairy lights and delicate white lace. there were simple white chairs for the guests to sit in, and niko was surprised at the relatively small amount of seats. she counted between 25 and 30.

neither woozi nor eunbin wanted something big for the wedding, since they'd been together for so long. they considered eloping, but figured a small celebration for friends and close family would be more fun than anything else.

as the two gaping girls approached the front door, they noticed a figure in the doorway wrapped head to toe in towels. eunbin threw the screen door open and flashed the brightest smile niko had ever seen on a person.

"you're here!" she called, running out in slippers to hug her friends. "come on! i need your help setting up before the guests get here!"

—

niko and ami stood together, touching up their make-up as they waited for eunbin to put her dress on.

their bridesmaids dresses were a dark shade of green with lilac and yellow floral designs. the dresses reached just above the girl's ankles with sleeves that hung bunched around their shoulders. there was a slight dip in the neckline, but ami bought some cute necklaces to balance the space.

when eunbin emerged from the bathroom with her hands holding the top of her dress to her chest, niko could only stare. ami went to zip her up, and niko felt useless for just standing.

"wow," she finally breathed. "you look stunning, eun."

the white dress shaped her perfectly. it was sleeveless, the top shaped somewhat like a stretched-out "U", with sleeves of lace hanging off of her shoulders. the smooth, silky fabric touched the floor, spreading around eunbin when she gave a little shake. when niko met her eyes again, she could see them shimmering with unshed tears.

"wait, i'm sorry!" niko rushed out, grabbing some tissues to carefully dab around eunbin's eyes to save her mascara. "don't cry! you worked so hard on your make-up!"

eunbin sniffled and hurriedly blinked back her tears.  "i'm sorry! i'm just so happy right now."

there was another sniffle behind eunbin, and she turned with niko to find ami with her face scrunched.

"ami, take a breath... your make up..."

"you're so pretty eunb—" was all she managed to get out before the crying started. it was like a chain reaction. ami's loud sobbing set eunbin off, and then when niko ran out of tissues to give them, she felt her own eyes welling as well.

"someone tell chiyo we need more mascara!"

—

the ceremony truly was beautiful.

niko was glad she got all her tears out in the changing room, because when the couple exchanged their vows, she felt ami squeeze her hand to signal that she was going to cry again.

"do you, jihoon, take eunbin to be your wife?"

woozi didn't hesitate. "i do."

"and do you, eunbin, take ji—"

"i do!"

there was scattered laughter throughout the crowd, and the wedding officiator gave the go, eunbin took woozi's face in her hands and kissed him. 

"i now pronounce you, husband and wife!"

cheers followed. hoshi, who was as much of a sobbing mess as ami, jumped from his chair and hollered, the others following suit until everyone was standing and cheering for the newlyweds.

the celebration followed. it was in the same large yard, set up underneath a white tent. inside was music, drinks, and more food than niko had seen in a long time.

ami split off to ask taeyong to dance as niko went to find her table. as she approached, her brows knit together when she noticed jeonghan lingering rather suspiciously.

"jeonghan?" she asked, her voice a bit uncertain as she'd never actually met the man in person before.

when he spotted her, a smile formed on his face. "ah, niko! why aren't you dancing with the others?"

niko looked around, her eyes still narrowed. "i don't dance. what are you doing over here?"

sweeping a hand through his hair, jeonghan nodded his head and glanced at something behind her. "nice, nice. okay! well, i'm being called. bye!" he hurried off to where seungkwan and dino looked surprised by his presence.

"weird..." niko shrugged and went to her seat. she'd moved yuta's name plate before catering arrived, but a look of confusion passed over her face when she noticed a new nameplate on her other side where dokyeom had previously been.

"wonwoo?" she read aloud. "why does that sound familiar?"

"oh, hello," a new voice said, and niko jumped slightly as she turned to see a man in a suit with circular glasses perched on his nose. "uh, sorry, that's my seat..."

niko glanced between the man and the sign, finally remembering why his name sounded familiar. jeonghan, you little devil... the girl smiled and moved for the man to take his seat. "sorry about that. i'm niko."

the man chuckled under his breath. "i know... you're kind of famous."

flushing, niko cleared her throat and took her seat next to wonwoo. "right. you're friends with woozi, right?"

"yeah. jihoon and i were roommates in college. i'm a writer."

niko perked up at that. "really? so am i!"

"oh, cool! what do you write?" wonwoo asked, his face naturally moving to mimic her smile.

"lyrics, mostly. but there was a time when i wanted to write novels."

the man's eyes lit up. "no way! i write novels!"

before niko could ask what the titles were, the previously empty seat to her left was filled. turning her head, the girl flashed a smile at yuta. "wonwoo, this is my... yuta. yuta, this is wonwoo. he was woozi's roommate in college."

yuta stuck a hand out to shake wonwoo's. "nice to meet you. i work with eunbin."

"yuta from vybe, yeah. you're pretty popular." wonwoo complimented before turning his attention back to niko. "do you write all of your lyrics? i'll have to buy your album and read them sometime."

niko let out an almost shy laugh that grabbed yuta's attention. "don't bother, i'll send them to you sometime—" if wonwoo noticed her abrupt stop, he didn't say anything as he insisted on getting her album.

niko glanced down to where the table ended. she looked up to see yuta smiling knowingly down at her. without speaking or moving, yuta had slyly slipped his hand into hers. she had to bite her lips to keep from grinning as she gave his hand a squeeze. 

niko didn't take him as someone to get jealous, and she was ashamed to say she liked the look.

when wonwoo was pulled away by hoshi and dokyeom to dance, niko flashed a grin up at yuta. "wanna dance with me?"

"me? oh, sorry dear, i much prefer listening to glasses hit on you." he teased back.

rolling her eyes, niko stood, her hand still in his, and pulled yuta to where taeyong and ami were dancing with haechan and chiyo. they cheered when they saw the two approaching and quickly pulled them onto the dance floor.

an older song by one of ruby entertainments first artists came on, and ami screamed before hurrying to find eunbin, repeating "this is our song!"

soon, the six of them, plus the bride and groom, were dancing and screaming the lyrics to this song niko had never heard of. yuta's hand never let go of hers as they jumped and danced with the others.

while niko had nothing to compare it to, she knew that this wedding was a night she'd never forget.

•
longest chapter i've written in a while! what do you guys think?