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It was time they filmed for an En-o’CLOCK, and Riki knew he wanted this one to be different—he wanted to add a bit of that Ni-ki flair their fans seemed to love. He brought up the idea with their staff, who seemed to enjoy it so much that the next few weeks were spent in preparation for that certain En-o’CLOCK video.
So, there he was now, in front of his hyungs like he was being interviewed by a court, but Riki was grinning widely as all of them sent him confused looks.
“So—what’s this about?” Jungwon asked as a stylist was fixing his makeup, grunting when he moved his chin too abruptly toward the maknae.
Riki stayed silent as he zipped his lips. “I’m not at liberty to say,” he teased, and Jay rolled his eyes.
“What’s this? Designated Survivor?” Everyone fell silent as they all turned to look at him, heads tilted in confusion.
“What?” Sunoo asked, looking like he was already done with everyone else’s charades.
Jay scoffed. “You guys are so uncultured.”
Riki huffed. “Says you, grandpa.”
“Brat.”
Riki stuck his tongue out. “You love me.”
Heeseung chuckled and brought a hand to the small of Riki’s back. “Do we?”
The members all fell into comfortable laughter as they waited for directions on what to do next. Only Riki sat comfortably in his chair, phone in hand like he planned to unleash chaos upon the world. Which—he did. In one way or another, chaos would be unleashed. You only had to stay to see it.
Their director for these videos came up to them, clipboard in hand, smiling as she approached and signaled the stylists to leave so she could properly explain what was going to happen. Heeseung was the first to notice, bowing his head just slightly in greeting.
“Hey, boys,” their director said. Riki chuckled as the director ruffled his hair, slipping an arm around his shoulder affectionately.
“Hey, noona,” Jake greeted.
The director smiled. “So, let me explain the game plan for today. You guys are going to react to some video—but on your own.” She glanced down at her clipboard, scanning her notes.
“You’ll have a camera in the corner of each room so it can clearly show your reactions,” she instructed.
Jungwon put a hand up. “What are we reacting to?”
The director only bit back a grin as she and Riki locked eyes, a silent conversation between them.
“You’ll find out,” she replied.
The boys all groaned, and Riki only stood up.
“Race you to the reaction rooms!” the maknae said, which immediately pumped up Jake as he rushed after him, heading toward where their names were neatly placed on doors.
Riki stepped inside without sparing a glance at his other members and sat down in his chair, pulling out his phone—he knew he wouldn’t be reacting to anything.
Heeseung was pushed into the room by the director, who had gotten tired of him asking too many questions. He huffed and sat down on the floor, where a convenient blanket and pillow were laid out for him.
His eyes searched for the camera and saw how it was placed very close to the TV in the room—he guessed everyone’s setup was like that, so their faces could be seen clearly.
Heeseung rolled his eyes and decided to relax. Whenever they did reaction videos, they were always fun and energy-draining, so something like this? He wasn’t complaining.
When the TV started up, a big “7 Things I Hate About ENHYPEN” popped up, and Heeseung raised an eyebrow. They never reacted to hate comments in videos like these, but he pursed his lips as the video continued.
His shock only increased when he saw his maknae on the screen, a shit-eating grin on his face like he was ready to reveal state secrets to the world.
“What’s he doing—” Heeseung whispered under his breath.
The Riki from the video winked at the camera, confidence skyrocketing on-screen—as always. Heeseung chuckled.
“I hate that Heeseung’s good at everything. Like, literally everything. I breathe near a mic and he’s already harmonizing better than me. Quit being talented—it’s exhausting.”
Heeseung paused, trying to take the whole thing in. Riki said it so casually. The maknae didn’t pass out compliments easily—not at all. You were more likely to receive a whole rant about Brawl Stars before he even muttered a sliver of a compliment.
Now, this may not look like one, but Heeseung knew—all of them did—how to read between Riki’s lines.
Heeseung was the hyung Riki secretly looked up to the most. He pushed Riki to be better just by existing and never made him feel small for asking questions. How did he get that just from Riki complaining about him being too talented? Maybe it was his hyung instincts. His soft spot for the maknae.
Anyway, one thing was clear: he was absolutely not letting go of the youngest after this was over.
Jay walked into his room and sat down quietly, leaning his back against the wall. He already knew Riki was scheming something behind their backs, but understanding the maknae always proved to cause more headaches than necessary for the average human being.
So when he saw “7 Things I Hate About ENHYPEN” pop up, he wasn’t necessarily surprised—but he was confused. Why was Riki being so secretive about this?
Then the maknae appeared, face ready to cause chaos.
“I hate that Jay acts like he’s a whole CEO, but he cries at Disney movies. And don’t get me started on the way he nags me to fold my laundry. I’m a visionary, Jay. Let me live in chaos.”
Riki finished with a soft chuckle and turned off the camera.
Jay stared—then let out a snort, probably undignified for an idol—but wow. Their maknae was so emotionally constipated he had to tell them how much he appreciated them by covering it up with dramatic bullshit. Jay rolled his eyes. So typical.
Jay already knew Riki thought this way about him. Jay’s a stable rock for him—stern but soft. He makes Ni-ki feel grounded when the idol life gets too fast. They’d never had conversations about it in the past, but Jay could read Riki’s face like a mimic. He knew what the Japanese boy usually meant.
Still, his heart did tighten just a little. And Jay might’ve just realized how much love he holds for Riki.
Jake shouted after Riki. “Rikiiii—!” He pouted when the younger slipped inside his room without a single word to any of them.
Slightly irritated, Jake stepped inside, grabbed the blanket he saw, and placed it on the floor, making a little fort for himself. He brought the pillow to lean on, laying on his belly and kicking his feet back and forth like he was going through a 2000s magazine.
The video started up. “7 Things About ENHYPEN.” Jake scoffed. What Riki had planned for the six of them was unknown. Jake (and Sunghoon) would claim to be the closest to the youngest—but he had zero idea what he was about to witness.
Then Riki showed up, waving at the camera.
“I hate that Jake calls me ‘Rikiiii~’ like I’m a literal puppy. Also, he treats Layla better than me, and she doesn’t even do the choreo right.”
The Japanese boy chuckled and rolled his eyes.
Jake immediately felt like barging out of the room and keeping Riki in his pocket so the world couldn’t have him anymore. By now, all of them knew this was Riki’s best attempt at complimenting them. He was the one member who only showed affection in his hardest moments—rare ones, since the maknae liked dealing with stuff on his own, even if Jake and the others told him plenty of times they were there when he needed it.
Jake’s eyes watered as he played the video again. Jake is warmth. He makes hard days softer and always makes Ni-ki laugh—even when he doesn’t want to.
Jake bit back a tear and hit replay again, waiting for this whole thing to be over so he could gather Riki in his arms and never let him go.
Sunghoon took his sweet time getting to his room, mostly because he was busy texting Riki dramatic threats like:
“i swear to god if this is a prank i’m putting salt in your cereal”
“ik you’re behind this. i have instincts.”
“you’re not slick. ”
He stepped inside, huffed, and flopped into the beanbag chair that had been placed there for him. Typical. This felt like Riki was going to do something emotional. Again.
Sunghoon squinted when the screen lit up.
“7 Things I Hate About ENHYPEN.”
“Here we go…” he muttered.
Then Riki appeared, that smug little grin on his face, and Sunghoon almost laughed just at that.
“I hate that Sunghoon pretends to be cold-hearted when he literally tucks me in sometimes. Also, stop sending me TikToks of penguins. I get it. You think it’s funny.”
Riki rolled his eyes, but the smile tugging at his lips was way too fond.
Sunghoon stared at the screen, then at the camera filming his reaction. He blinked. Then blinked again.
“…Okay, that’s not fair.”
Sunghoon had no intention of crying, but now he felt like his soul had been lightly stomped on. In a good way?
The truth was: Riki always gave him a hard time, but Sunghoon liked being the older brother he never had. He liked sneaking snacks to him, liked listening to Riki’s rants about dance practice, liked giving him quiet support during their harder schedules.
He liked—no, loved—being Riki’s person.
And Riki had just exposed it in front of a whole camera.
Sunghoon sighed, resting his cheek on his palm. “You little punk.”
He played it again. Then again. Then, quietly, he pulled out his phone and saved the video to send to Riki later. With the penguin emoji. Obviously.
Sunoo walked in already suspicious. He didn’t trust that gleam in Riki’s eye earlier, especially when the younger zipped his lips and bolted away.
He crossed his arms, sat down on the velvet chair (which he mentally rated a 7/10 for comfort), and narrowed his eyes as the video started.
“7 Things I Hate About ENHYPEN.”
“Excuse me?” Sunoo said to no one.
Then Riki popped up, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
“I hate that Sunoo’s prettier than me. Like??? Chill??? Also, he’s the only one who gets away with roasting me to my face and making me laugh about it. I don’t like that. It’s witchcraft.”
Riki ended the video with a smug wink.
Sunoo gaped. He paused the video.
“Did he just…”
He rewound it.
Watched it again.
Paused.
Put a hand to his chest. “Oh my god. I knew he was soft for me.”
Sunoo let out the tiniest gasp-laugh combo, covering his face for a second as if to hide how wide he was smiling. That little menace actually made a whole video just to say Sunoo was the only one allowed to sass him because he loves it.
And Sunoo did love being Riki’s safe space. His outlet. His partner-in-petty.
Sunoo looked up at the camera, tears pricking his eyes. “Tell no one I cried, or I’ll sue.”
Then he wiped his tears like the drama queen he is and watched it again with the biggest smile on his face.
Jungwon was the last to go in. He’d been suspicious the whole day. Riki was up to something—and Jungwon hated being left out of the loop. Especially by him.
He stepped into the room and sighed. There was a chair, a snack, and a note.
“7 Things I Hate About ENHYPEN,” it read.
Jungwon sat down, his lips tight.
Then the screen lit up, and Riki appeared. This time, he looked a bit softer. Less chaotic.
“I hate that Jungwon always worries about me. Even when he says he’s fine. Even when he’s busy or tired. He always checks in on me. I don’t like that he carries the world on his shoulders like he has to.”
Riki looked away for a second, then added:
“But I guess I love that, too.”
Then the screen went black.
Jungwon didn’t move for a whole ten seconds.
Then he whispered, “You little…”
He pressed his lips together, the emotion hitting him like a wave. Jungwon always looked after Riki. Of course he did. He was the leader, sure—but more than that, he was someone who needed Riki to be okay. Always.
And hearing Riki say that—in his own awkward, backhanded way—meant everything.
He scrubbed at his eyes, quietly sniffing.
Riki was chilling in his room when the door suddenly burst open—and before he could blink, he was ambushed by open arms and someone clinging to his back. Judging by the height and the dramatic energy, it was probably Jake.
“You little rascal!” the Australian sniffled into his hair.
Riki laughed, twisting around to face all of his hyungs now crowding the doorway.
“You guys liked it?” he asked, trying not to grin too hard.
Jungwon chuckled as he crouched down in front of him. He gently brushed a strand of hair from Riki’s eyes, then leaned in to press a quick kiss to the maknae’s forehead.
“You’re a menace, you know that?” he murmured.
Riki flushed instantly, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck at the very public display of affection being thrown at him.
“Hey! We want in on the cuddling too!” Sunoo chimed in, practically launching himself next to Riki and slinging an arm around his shoulders. Riki leaned into it with a small, content sigh.
“You’re the best maknae, y’know that?” Heeseung laughed as he and Jay flopped down nearby, settling close beside Jungwon. Sunghoon slid in on Riki’s other side.
Riki rolled his eyes. “I’m your only maknae, genius.”
Jay nodded solemnly. “True. And we wouldn’t want anyone else,” he added softly.
Riki froze, his eyes going a little glossy.
Sunghoon’s eyes widened. “Guys. He—”
Jungwon raised an eyebrow at him, then turned to look at Riki again. “Oh my god. You are so adorable.”
“I am not,” Riki scowled.
“You were almost crying because you love us too much.” Jake ruffled his hair affectionately, resting his chin on Riki’s shoulder.
Riki groaned. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
He might not have been able to say it out loud—not yet, maybe not for a while. But he knew his hyungs would always be there for him. They were his role models, his brothers. And they understood both the good and the not-so-good parts of what it meant to be Nishimura Riki.
With that thought, Riki let himself be pulled into a group hug from all sides, melting into the rare moment of full-on physical affection.
He gets questioned later on about the whole episode and Riki chuckled.
He then goes quiet, looks a little stunned, and mumbles,
“I hate them. Like… a lot.”
Then immediately wipes a tear and laughs:
“They’re so annoying. I love them so much.”