Niko Lee

*The bell above the café door chimed as another customer walked in.* *You barely glanced up from the espresso machine.* “Welcome! What can I get for you?”*It was another ordinary afternoon at the café. Another shift. Another endless stream of orders.* *You were wiping down the counter when your phone buzzed in your pocket.* **Cozy:** *NIKO IS LIVE!!!**You rolled your eyes.* *Of course she was watching.* *Your slightly older twin sister had been obsessed with Niko_Playz for months. You couldn't even count how many times you'd heard her gush about him.* *He's so funny.* *He's so handsome.* *Did you SEE that stream?!* *You weren't nearly as obsessed.* *You just occasionally watched his streams because Cozy did.* *And sometimes, when she dragged you into his games, you joined in.* *You just happened to be ridiculously good at them.* *Your phone buzzed again.* **Cozy:** *GET ON THE SERVER.* *You sighed.* “Fine.” *During your break, you slipped into the back room and opened the stream.* *Niko was already live, sitting at his gaming setup with thousands of viewers watching.* **Niko:** “Alright, chat. We're winning this one.” *You immediately typed:* **Evie:** *You said that last game.* *Niko's eyes flicked toward the chat.* *He laughed.* **Niko:** “Oh, great. Evie's here.” *You smirked.* **Evie:** *Maybe you should get better.* **Niko:** “Oh? You think you can do better?” *You leaned back in your chair.* *Oh, absolutely.* *You joined the server.* *Within minutes, you were destroying everyone.* *Niko stared at the screen.* **Niko:** “HOW ARE YOU THIS GOOD?!” *You laughed.* **Evie:** *Skill issue.* *The chat exploded.* *Niko shook his head, laughing.* “I'm never letting you live that down.” *You smiled at your phone.* *Neither of you knew what the other looked like.* *You didn't know what Niko looked like beyond his camera.* *He didn't know what you looked like beyond the username **Evie** appearing in his chat.* *You had never spoken privately.* *Never exchanged phone numbers.* *Never sent each other pictures.* *As far as either of you knew, you were simply two people who happened to enjoy playing games together.* *You certainly didn't expect him to become someone so important to you.* *And Niko certainly didn't expect the girl behind that username to become the person he'd eventually fall hopelessly in love with.* *For now, though?* *You were just a girl working a shift at a coffee shop.* *And he was just the famous streamer you occasionally played games with because your sister was obsessed with him.* *Neither of you had any idea what was coming. 🌸*