riki mauß x f!reader ♡ “i lost my angel in l.a.”
⧽ you knew riki mauss, your old co-tutor. the transition from high school to university changes everyone, of course. but you never would’ve guessed that a semester abroad and the college experience would change the nerdy riki you once knew and wanted so much.
📓. nerd!maki ⟶ wannabe fratboy!maki , nerd!reader , red flag!reader, misandrist!reader , college au , social media au + written
so high school﹕ m.list ﹕wc 2k
⟡ freshman year of college, first sem.
“so how do you even know him?” ningning asked, her voice filled with curiosity as she turned her head toward you, flipping her hair back with her hand as the two of you walked toward the campus library. the air felt thick and humid, and you could feel the chicago summer heat clinging to your skin, making you tug uncomfortably at the hem of your shorts.
“we went to high school together, well... partially,” you replied, your eyes fixed on the cracked sidewalk beneath your feet.
“what you do you mean?” ningning hummed, her eyes sparkling with what you couldn’t tell was curiosity or mischief.
“well, he transferred to my school our junior year, second semester. he lived in singapore,” you added, words tumbling out as you remembered what it was like seeing riki for the first time.
“ohhh! i heard singaporean guys are cute,” she giggled, nudging your arm playfully with her elbow, a teasing grin spreading across her face.
you laughed, shaking your head in disappointment, “he’s not even singaporean.”
“Huh?” her brows knitted together in confusion.
“he’s german and japanese,” you clarified, feeling a bit embarrassed talking about it.
ningning tilted her head in confusion, “hm?”
“i dunno! i didn’t ask for his whole life story when he moved,” you replied, your voice rising slightly as you approached the library doors. you pushed them open; the cool air greeted you while you scanned the room, searching for riki. Instinctively, you almost turned to ask ningning if she saw him, but then you remembered this would be her first time meeting him.
just then, pressing your lips together in a moment of tension, you spotted riki standing up, waving his arm to get your attention. next to you, you heard ningning giggle softly, “oh my god, yeah. definitely not singaporean.”
her teasing made you roll your eyes. you pinched her side lightly. “be nice,” you shot back, though you fought back a laugh. you heard her mumble a half-assed apology as you both walked toward the table riki reserved for the thee of you.
the library was surprisingly loud for a friday afternoon. last friday, you could’ve sworn there were at least sixteen people in the library, and now the library was filled with chatter and faint rustles of pages being turned.
“hey,” riki greeted with a warm smile when you and ningning approached the table. his friendly demeanor was the same with everyone.
“hi,” you and ningning replied in unison. ningning sat down across from riki, leaving you the seat next to him. normally, you wouldn’t mind this situation, but an embarrassing awareness tugged at you, knowing your overly gross sweet tone from earlier had probably given something away to ningning.
you gave riki a tight-lipped smile, your cheeks barely warm as you settled into the chair beside him.
“so, y/n tells me you’re from singapore,” ningning broke the not-so-silent silence; her eyes glistened with fake interest as she leaned forward.
riki nodded cluelessly, a hint of confusion sparked across his face. “yeah, i am! i moved to chicago when i was seventeen,” he explained, momentarily forgetting about the displayed on the table.
“that’s cool. your name… is it german?” ningning teased, as she was baiting riki.
his eyes widened, and a wide smile broke across his faze, a blush also creeping up to his cheeks and ears. “yeah!” he confirmed, almost too enthusiastically.
ningning suppressed a laugh as she glanced at you, both of you sharing a moment of silent amusement as you gave her a straight-laced look.
“did y/n tell you?” riki asked, his voice a bit hesitant, his face reddening at the thought of you talking about him. he always thought you had something against him. your conversations were mostly limited to school-related topics. he remembered the time he sent you an instagram reel and received no response. one could argue you were like that with everyone, but when he got your text about your friend needing help, his mind raced with all kinds of thoughts and ridiculous conclusions.
ningning playfully pouted, shaking her head while resting her head in her hands. riki’s eyes shifted to her polished nails, then back to her perfectly glossed lips. he straightened in his seat when he realized she was about to speak again. “i guessed, and i was right,” she smiled.
you grimaced, fully aware of what ningning was doing to poor riki. her smile widened as she noticed his growing discomfort, and you were able to tell what she was thinking.
“well…” maki cleared his throat, fidgeting with his hands in his lap. “me and y/n have until three before we have to go tutor the high schoolers…”
“oh, riki. please, do you really wanna spend your friday night tutoring kids?” ningning interrupted sweetly, tilting her head in her signature mockingly endearing manner.
“um.. well, i…” riki stuttered, genuinely at a loss for words. what was he supposed to do when the pretty girl in front of him was clearly hinting at something else?
“how about this, riki? you can tutor me, like planned, of course. and then afterwards we can make this a group hangout! you invite some of your friends, and me and y/n will invite ours,” ningning proposed, batting her eyelashes.
you felt riki stiffen beside you, a wave of awkwardness washing over the two of you. it felt like you were in the cuck chair, watching helplessly. squiting your eyes in slight frustration, you sunk deeper into your seat.
“i mean…” riki almost panicked, glancing at you slouched in your chair. his voice gained more confidence. “me and y/n… i don’t know if anyone will be free.” he nodded, as if he were trying to convince himself.
“aw… okay… i understand, i guess,” ningning pouted, faking another hurt expression that clearly worked because riki immediately felt guilty. tumbling over his own apologies and excuses.
you weren’t even sure why you were there. this was supposed to be just between ningning and riki, but somehow you found yourself pressing your cheek against your arm, scrolling through your phone. you tried to tune out the muffled conversation as riki explained something to ningning you couldn’t understand.
once the clock hit two forty, ningning said her goodbyes to you and riki, her smile lingering on him a bit too long. you couldn’t help but notice how her hand rested on his shoulder for a second longer than necessary when she thanked him. with a long sigh, you flopped back into your seat, feeling drained. riki caught sigh of your tired expression, his hand pausing mid-air as he thought you a reassuring squeeze on your thigh, but then he mentally cursed himself for being such a coward. you curled your knees to your chest, scrolling aimlessly on your phone.
“um…” riki’s voice came out unusually soft, even smaller than normal, catching your attention.
“are you tired?” he asked, looking a bit worried.
you squinted at him, unsure if he was teasing you about how you looked. honestly, you hadn’t put in any effort today. just threw on some sweatpants and a wrinkled t-shirt and barely taming your frizzy hair.
riki instantly regretted his choice of words when he saw the shift in your eyes. “i’m just…! you sighed after ningning left. i… i can tutor the kids today, if it’s a bother!” he rushed to explain, trying to redeem himself as you shook your head.
“oh, uh, okay. i’m sorry,” he mumbled, looking down at his lap like a sad puppy.
the next three hours gruesomely dragged on, every minute felt like an hour. the two juniors you were supposed to help wouldn’t leave riki alone. you weren’t jealous or anything; it just annoyed you how he softened his voice for them while explaining basic algebra, and their giggles didn’t help.
“i think he wants you,” one of the girls, ella, whispered to her friend, both of them giggling while ignoring their blank math books.
“no! he wants you!” her friend whisper-shouted, and you couldn’t help but groan at their teenage delusion. riki caught your groan and smiled.
“i liked our group today,” he announced, casually packing his bag while looking over at you.
“yeah, okay.” you replied, maybe a bit too bluntly.
riki’s smile faded slightly, surprised by your response. “you didn’t like them?”
“they’re obnoxious and don’t even pay attention. i’d rather work with the freshmen.”
“woah. you hate the freshmen,” his mumbled, shocked you didn’t like the group that much.
you stuffed your laptop into your bag and pushed in your chair a bit too forcefully. riki matched your pace, wanting to stay with you a little longer as you slung your bag over your shoulder. reaching across the table for your phone, you felt rik’s presence close to you.
“do you… wanna walk together?” he managed to say, though his voice was barely above a whisper.
you shut your eyes, silently thanking the universe that he couldn’t see your face before nodding briefly. “yeah, i guess, whatever.”
riki mentally cheered, glad he was finally getting you outside of school. he wiped the smile off his face quickly when you turned around, but he wasn’t quick enough.
you had no idea where you two were headed but found yourself only a step behind him, standing a little too close. riki was glad you didn’t create distance; he took pride in being this close to you.
“there’s a like… a coffee stop nearby. my friend yuma and i always go to,” he said, glancing back at you with a mix of excitement and nervousness. “well, yuma, me, and his girlfriend. i’ve never been here alone,” he admitted, his cheeks burning up. you wanted to laugh; honestly, he didn’t need to overshare.
the coffee shop was surprisingly packed for that time of day, with the air thick with the smell of strong espresso and the hum of soft laughter. somehow, riki managed to snag a booth tucked away in the corner. the sense of privacy felt nice. you slid across from him, setting your backpack down, and looked back at him to find his puppy-like expression fixed on the menu. he waited for the line to die down before standing back up.
“what do you want?” he asked, trying to maintain eye contact, but you couldn’t help shifting your eyes away.
“a caramel iced latte’s fine,” you replied, wanting to meet his gaze but accidentally catching a glimpse of his crotch instead.
he didn’t notice, already turning back towards the counter, and you found yourself staring at first the back of his head, and then just his back.
you weren’t nervous, really; you didn’t have feelings for riki mauss. he was just your co-tutor. but when he came back with your drink with that infuriating invisalign smile plastered on his face, it almost made you change your mind. it felt so high school, like when you first met.
“i didn’t know how sweet you wanted it so… i—” he paused, laughing a bit as he slid in across from you. “they gave me these, like, packets of syrup,” he added, grinning as if he found treasure. you almost wanted to smack him for being so stupidly cute. this feeling in your stomach, the corny, stereotypical butterflies, made you feel like you were on a first date. this was definitely not a date.
you nodded, pressing your lips together as you reached for the iced cup he moved closer, along with the mountain pile of syrup packets.
“thanks,” you mumbled. you felt a mix of embarrassment and shyness from his fixed gaze on you, that stupid smile never slipping.
“you know we’ve… we’ve known each other a while, and we’ve never really hung out before,” he said, his voice shaky, as if admitting something big.
“yeah, i guess you’re right.” you nodded, taking a sip from your cup. the caramel wasn’t pungent; actually, it was a subtle flavor. thank god riki brought the syrup packets.
“i don’t really hang out with like… the other tutors,” he continued, fiddling with the rings on his fingers, a hint of nervousness in his demeanor. “ i just… just with you,” he continued, like it made sense
well, to be fair, it did. maybe only to you, but it made sense. your teeth caught your bottom lip as you contemplated his words, letting out a quiet sigh. “i get it,” you replied softly.
riki’s eyes lit up like a puppy hearing buzzwords. he straightened his posture and smiled.
@@ : @saranghoeforanton , @loverfiields , @rizzkimauss , @hxruax
💭₊˚⊹♡YAYYYY first chapt. aye aye wowwww ok giys this is kinda boring i apologize. but i promise it'll get good soonwe just needed the base down heh.
