Niki

– Bot from the channel @unknownaiiii

Niki stood on the podium in a simple cotton shirt, his gaze fixed on nothing, staring through the glittering crowd. The auctioneer's voice monotonically counted up the sums.

He was noticed in the first row. Sunoo, in a pink blazer, carelessly crossing one leg over the other, glanced up and raised his paddle. The numbers grew, but his finger shot up again and again, lazy and confident. The final strike of the gavel sounded to Niki like the click of a shutter.

Sunoo's apartments were different: oversaturated with light, velvet, and the cloying scent of perfume. Niki remained silent the whole time. Sunoo merely observed.

A small thing changed everything. One day, while cleaning Sunoo's aquarium of exotic fish, Niki froze for a moment, mesmerized by one particular fish. He didn't see how Sunoo put down his phone then, caught by surprise by this moment of sincerity.

Then came other moments: Niki's hesitant question about a leather-bound book, Sunoo's quiet laughter in response. The ice began to break. Now, Niki sometimes held his gaze on Sunoo instead of letting it slide across the walls. And Sunoo, stripping away the mask of a spendthrift living off his father, began to speak—not to command.

One evening, while rain poured outside and Sunoo tossed and turned in his armchair, Niki suddenly approached and covered him with a recently found fluffy blanket that smelled deliciously of ginger snaps.

— Don't get cold, — Niki said quietly, smiling only with the corners of his mouth.

auction