#also the jaehwan in the bg is so fitting

[chipsandwaffles]

just wondering (can we be friends?)

Synopsis: There is no way you had a crush on Daniel. Absolutely not. No matter how many times you drunk dial Seongwoo saying that you did nor how many signs get shoved in your face. Nope. Member: Daniel/Reader Word Count: 6,727 Notes: i definitely wrote this for @yugenvevo and definitely not because i’m weak for daniel. that sounds fucking stupid, being weak for him... honestly, my french anon, i wrote this for you too. for all the daniel hoes, how about that. now to fling myself into the sun. goodbye. enjoy.

You hate your best friends.  

Okay, hate might be too harsh. You don’t hate them. On any other day, you really love them and love being around them.  

But today, you just want to kick them both in the dick so hard that they won’t get up for the rest of the week (less Jaehwan than Seongwoo, but still).

Because today is apparently Tease Y/N about her crush on Kang Daniel day (which was not a thing you did not have a crush on Daniel) and they have not let up since you sat down at your usual lunch table.  

"And she's all "I like Jihoon not Daniel!" Seongwoo exclaims, in this over the top way that has you brooding. Jaehwan's laughing did not help. "But then she calls me drunk at 3 A.M saying how in love with Daniel she is-

"Oh my god, I did not-

"You did!" Seongwoo is laughing with Jaehwan now, their arms around each other making it seem like they were on a team and you were alone on your own team. A losing team. One that had no chance of winning in the first place.

Which you were.

"And- and she says she hates him but then when she's talking to him she can't stop staring and smiling-

"She's lovestruck!"

You were always on the losing time when you were against them.

"When do you think they're going to get together?" Jaehwan suddenly asks, his and Seongwoo's laughter dying down immediately. You hated how easy they could switch attitudes.  

"Never, I hate him," you say. They both ignore you.

"Soon, right? It has to be," Seongwoo says. Jaehwan nods in agreement. They continue talking to each other, their voices getting quieter and quieter as you watch them. You're sure they're insulting you in there somewhere, they must be. That's what they always did. Seongwoo even puts his hand to cover their mouths, as if you could actually hear them.  

You sigh, waiting for them to turn back to you and include you in the conversation. They had to eventually.

Hopefully.  

But, of course, it's them, your idiot best friends, and instead of doing anything you expected, they do something even worse.

"Daniel!"  

You stare in disbelief at Seongwoo, wondering why he was calling Daniel over. Why did he have to make your life difficult?

"What are you doing?!" You hiss at him. Jaehwan leans in close to fill you in.  

"You say you hate him... So tell him that. Stop giving the poor boy false hope." Seongwoo turns to you and nods, a disappointed look gracing his features.  

"Yes, Y/N. Let him down easy, okay? For he's just a cute little puppy."  

"The cutest puppy," Jaehwan agrees.  

"I hate the both of you."

Daniel arrives at the table then, breathing a little heavier since apparently he jogged over to your lunch table. He could've just walked like a normal person but no. He had to be cool and athletic and jog over to you.  

"What's up guys?" He greets in that deep voice of his, the one that makes your heart pick up speed in that stupid way that only Daniel can make happen. He could've just had a normal boring voice like other people, but no. He had to have a super hot voice.

"Just wanted to ask if you got the dance down yet for practice?" Seongwoo asks Daniel. You quickly look down and shove two crackers in your mouth, hoping Daniel won't notice you or something. Maybe if he didn't, you could continue not thinking about him.

Because you definitely weren't.  

You weren't thinking about going on cute dates with him or holding his hand or making him laugh or kissing him in front of Seongwoo and Jaehwan to bother the shit out of them. Because you were a normal person who didn't think about Daniel like other people.  

"Hey Y/N." Daniel greets you so nicely, with almost a hint of shyness as he does it.  

It's so stupidly adorable that you can't help but look up at him. He's smiling in this cute way, where his eyes crinkle and his two front teeth are showing behind his lips, and it only makes your heart race even more. He's only ever smiled at you like that.

Fuck, you hated yourself.  

"Hey, Daniel. What's up?" You ask. You can feel Seongwoo's and Jaehwan's grins pointed your way like the cocky assholes they were. Of course you weren't going to tell Daniel you hated him. How could you when he smiled at you like that?

"Nothing much. You get that economics homework done?" He asks. You nod your head.  

"Easy peasy, really."

"For you maybe. You're smart. It's always easy for you," he says. The compliment does nothing to ease your heart.  

Before you can reply though, Daniel's friends are calling him back over to their lunch table, loud enough for the whole place to hear. He apologizes for having to go and says goodbye before jogging back over to his own table.  

You totally don't watch him go away.

"What happened to telling Daniel you hated him?" Seongwoo asks. You turn your attention to him, seeing that cocky grin you knew was there.

"Forget Daniel. I hate you."

"See, you can say that to me because you know it doesn't hurt me. But if you say it to Daniel you know it's going to break his heart-

"And Y/N doesn't want to break Daniel's heart, do you?"

"I hate you," you tell them. Seongwoo shrugs in his cocky way, a triumphant look on his face, and Jaehwan copies him right after he sees how bad your glare is.

You were such a fucking liar. You didn't hate Daniel. You had the biggest crush on Daniel.

But you definitely hated your best friends.

-

Your crush started back in your last year of high school. Daniel had recently transferred to your school after moving from Busan, not knowing anyone but still smiling at the class and offering friendship.  

You hadn’t really paid any attention to him as he came to sit next to you, too focused on finishing the chapter of the book you had in front of you before the teacher actually got to her lesson. Daniel didn’t pay attention to you either, some boy on the other side of him, Minhyun, getting his attention immediately. You kept to yourself, and Daniel, as friendly as he was, kept to his own business as well.

You and Daniel didn’t interact until one fateful day, a day you think about often, where you had embarrassed yourself immediately in front of him.  

You had been sitting at your desk eating your lunch and entertaining yourself with hitting the end of your pencil so that it would do a flip, thoroughly enjoying yourself every time it succeeded.

But then you had been too distracted with taking a scoop out of your pudding cup that when you went to hit the pencil you hit too hard and it ended up flinging across the room. You watched it soar, going, going, until it hit its destination.  

The place it hitting being Daniel's forehead. Your eyes widened in shock and you quickly looked down, not wanting to have to explain what you were doing. Considering you had been the only one in the room, you knew it was pointless. He was going to ask you.  

Which he did.  

He walked over to your desk and stood in front of it, holding out the pencil in your line of sight.  

“Is this yours?” he asked. The question was stupid, because clearly it was yours, but you just shook your head.  

Because you were embarrassed and just as stupid as Daniel, apparently.  

“No. I’ve never seen that pencil in my life,” you said. You heard Daniel laugh, soft and dorky and something that’s never been directed at you before. It made you look up, seeing a just as equally soft smile, eyes crinkling in the cutest way possible.  

You’re pretty sure that was strike one before you fell for Daniel.  

“So, who threw it then? The invisible ghost?” he asked. You shrug.  

“Must have been.” You paused, looking back to the pencil. “But they didn’t throw it I… think they were trying to make it do flips- but I don’t know I was just eating my lunch.”  

You reached for your pudding cup and took a large scoop out of it then, shoving it in your mouth a moment later. Daniel laughed again, and then he was pulling up a chair on the other side of your desk, placing the pencil down.  

“You know, if the ghost wanted to flip it well, this is how they should do it.” You watched Daniel demonstrate a perfect pencil flip, his hand coming down on the very tip of the pencil making it do a complete circle before landing back on the desk. You stared at the pencil, then shook your head before looking at Daniel.  

“You call that a flip?” you asked, clearly trying to challenge him.  

You and Daniel had then entered a pencil flipping contest to see who could get the most flips. You remember Daniel getting the most three times, but since it landed on the floor it never counted and you had taken first place. He wasn’t happy about it, but had given in when you offered him some crackers from your lunch.  

Which then prompted Daniel asking why you were eating alone, a question that had made you roll your eyes. You admitted to him that all your friends were in another school, and no one here was really all that interested in getting to know you so you just kept to yourself.

Which then made Daniel ask if he could be your friend.  

Which then you shyly accepted after he agreed to bring you pudding cups every day for the rest of the school year.  

Your friendship grew from there, Daniel ditching his friends to come have lunch with you every day, sitting next to you during breaks while you read books, coming over to your house to study and sleep on your couch with you while you watched some random movie, complimenting you whenever you got good grades and laughing at himself when he got worse ones, telling you that you were his best friend, and eventually telling all his friends when they asked why he was hanging with you that you were his best friend.

That was strike number two.  

"What?" He had asked when you stared at him disbelieving. "You knew that."

"Yeah but-

"But nothing. You're my best friend. Unless we're not best friends and all those pudding cups meant nothing..." You rolled your eyes and hit Daniel, turning away from him to continue reading your book. You couldn't help the smile that got shoved into the pages of your book but was ultimately for Daniel, because he made you feel so loved when your friends were all somewhere else.  

And then came the day when you realized you were crushing on Daniel.  

You had been late to school, not even bothering to pack a lunch like usual or even try to look mildly presentable, with your shirt untucked and your hair in a messy bun. You were stressed as you entered the class late, the teacher immediately telling you to wait outside while she finished up talking to the class. You had never gotten in trouble before, and being out there had only stressed you out more.

But suddenly, the door to the classroom was opening and Daniel was coming to stand next to you, bumping his shoulder with yours.  

"Bad morning?" He asked. You looked at him, frowning.  

"Why are you out here?" You asked. He smiled at you, one of your favorite smiles, soft and light and used only when he looked at you.  

"I can't let my best friend stay out here in trouble by herself. You'll get bored. What kind of best friend would I be if I left you here alone?" You stared at Daniel for a long time, your heart swelling at his words. He was willingly out there with you to keep you company, to let you know he was there for you even if you got in trouble for being late.  

Thinking about the gesture made you look away to the floor, finding the school floor tiles so interesting.  

Knowing Daniel had your back no matter what, that he was willing to get in trouble for you made you realize that he was more than just a friend to you. That was strike three.  

But there were issues being in love with your best friend. All you could think about was Daniel, all you wanted to do was kiss him and hold his hand and go on dumb dates together. You blushed when he complimented you or smiled at you, and you found yourself all over the place every time you got near Daniel.  

It was a problem, and you being your confused teenage self had ended up acting irrationally on it.  

“You want to stop being friends?” Daniel looked heartbroken at the proposal, his face unbearable to look at the more he stared at you with those sad puppy dog eyes. “Why- did I do something wrong?”  

You shook your head. “It’s not you Daniel, it’s me. I just-

“Are you breaking up with me?” Daniel asked. You rolled your eyes and shook your head again.  

“We aren’t dating, Daniel.” But you wanted to be. “I just need some time apart from you. I feel too dependent on you-  

“I’m okay with that,” Daniel tried to reason. He just didn’t want to lose his best friend. But you hadn’t felt like his best friend anymore. You just felt like some girl with a crush on him.  

“I’m not, Daniel. I just- give me time, okay? When I’m ready, we’ll be best friends again,” you said. Daniel didn’t look too happy about it, but he agreed anyways. Because that was Daniel, and he'd do anything for you.  

How could you not have developed a crush on him?

"How much time do you think you need?" He asked as you ate your last lunch together. You shrugged, taking a spoonful of your pudding.  

"I don’t know. As much time as I need. I guess you'll know when time is up."  

Two years later, and you still needed time. You still weren't over Daniel. No matter how many people you kissed, no matter how many boys you pretended to like, no matter how much you denied it and said you hated him to Seongwoo and Jaehwan, you still loved Daniel.  

And he was still waiting for you.  

"Y/N?" You jump in surprise at the voice next to you, knocking your knee against your desk and letting out a noise of pain in response. You wince as your hands come to your knee, holding it and mumbling curses as you sit there.  

"Oh my god- I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" You turn your face to look at the voice, seeing Daniel with concern on his face as he watches you. You frown and look away.  

"'m fine..." You mumble out, pressing your forehead to your desk. The teacher keeps talking to the class as you sit there and eventually Daniel puts his hand to your back, rubbing up and down to give you some comfort.  

There he was. Daniel, the guy who had your back no matter what, even when all you did was hit your knee against the desk.  

It had been two years since you said you needed space from him, since you stopped being best friends, and yet, he was still there for you.

You wished you weren't so stupidly in love with him.  

-

"So why don't you tell him?" Seongwoo asks as you sit in the library together. You turn to him, frowning in this over the top way that makes him roll his eyes. You hated that Seongwoo knew what you were thinking about without even having to tell him. "What? You act like it's a bad thing."

"Telling Daniel I'm in love with him is a bad thing. It's like telling Jaehwan he's not funny," you say. You hear a gasp from behind you, making you and Seongwoo look to see who let it out. Jaehwan is staring at you in shock, a hand to his chest because he's dramatic like that.  

"What do you mean I'm not funny?!"  

"See what I mean? He's going to now pretend we don't exist while coming up with stupid one liners that are just "so funny" because he's upset. It's like me telling Daniel I like him. If I do, he's just going to ignore me and get upset," you tell Seongwoo. He looks at you, moving his arms into a thinking position with one hand on his chin and the other at his elbow as he nods his head.  

"I see your point..." Jaehwan comes to sit across from you two, mumbling crap under his breath that neither you nor Seongwoo pay attention to. It's happened before; it was really nothing new. You instead focus on Seongwoo, seeing the gears in his small little head turning. He was probably going to say something smart to help you out.  

"Why do you think Daniel doesn't like you back though?" Seongwoo asks. You roll your eyes and turn back to your books. False alarm. It was completely stupid.  

"Because he's only ever seen me as a friend and I mean- I thought he wasn't over, uh... That one girl. Whatever her stupid name is..."

"You're jealous over a girl Daniel dated for two weeks to get your attention," Seongwoo says. You look at him, glaring.  

"Why would he do that?" You ask. A look of disbelief crosses Seongwoo's face and you both hear Jaehwan across from you groan.  

"Okay, I'm going to stop being upset for two seconds- Y/N, are you that dense?" Seongwoo snorts, agreeing with him a moment later.

"Yeah, seriously. Are you that dense?"

"What- I’m not! Daniel-!" You shut your mouth, realizing you're yelling in the library and calm yourself down for a moment. These two were being ridiculous. Daniel didn't like you. "Daniel doesn't like me. We've been friends since high school-

"And he's had a crush on you since high school-

"Has not!" You yell at Seongwoo. He crosses his arms and yells back.  

"Has too!"

"Has not- why would he have a crush on me?!"

"Hell if I know- you're not that cute-

"You're insufferable, Seongwoo-

"And you're no better! Seriously, you're as dense as a rock, Y/N!"  

"Hey!" Both you and Seongwoo tense at the voice yelling at you, turning your heads to look at the girl on library duty right now. She looks furious, most likely because Seongwoo and you had been yelling, and all she has to do is make a motion of zipping her lips with a glare on her face to shut you and Seongwoo up.

You both turn back to the textbooks sitting in front of you, keeping quiet for the next ten minutes so the library girl doesn't kick you out. Seongwoo taps the desk as he reads, Jaehwan mumbles under his breath about being funny, and you stare down at your book, once again getting distracted by Daniel.

How could Daniel like you? You had just been friends, and, if he liked you, wouldn't he have said something about it? He wasn't exactly shy when telling you how he felt, so why would he keep that from you?  

Daniel didn't like you. He would've told you.  

And then by now, you would've been dating, rather than pretending you didn't have the biggest crush on Daniel. You could've moved past your stupid emotions and given them all to him instead.  

He didn't like you. Daniel didn't like you.

But Seongwoo wasn't ever wrong usually unless he was being cocky. And he wasn't being cocky now. He seemed curious to know why you thought Daniel didn't like you back.  

All you knew is he couldn't. Daniel couldn't like you back.  

"Daniel doesn't like me," you mumble out. You can feel Jaehwan and Seongwoo's eyes on you, and you sigh. "I just- I basically gave up on our friendship because I liked him. Why would he still like me?"  

Suddenly, Seongwoo has his hands on your chair and he's turning it around, making you look at something across the library. There, in a corner by himself, is Daniel, looking your way with a smile on his face. When he realizes you're looking he waves shyly at you before going back to whatever he was working on.  

"He does this all the time, Y/N. Stares at you, talks about you, asks us how you are. He even doodles your name in his notebook," Seongwoo tells you.  

"He does not-

"He does. Daniel is willing to wait on you to mend your friendship and has been waiting for two years, dude. You seriously don't think he likes you back?"  

-

"Y/N- Y/N- can you- can you pleaaaaassseeee turn up the music! This is my favorite song!" You can see Seongwoo jamming to some music in your rearview mirror, definitely not the music on the stereo because nothing was playing, but to something in his head. Daniel giggles next to you, while Jaehwan and their friend Sungwoon jams along with Seongwoo.

Driving your drunk friends home was always an experience, that was for sure.  

"Y/N," Seongwoo slurs your name, moving forward so he's settled between the two front seats, his arms slung across the headrests of both. "Daniel needs to be dropped off- off at- at his place. The one place next to the park on that street-

"Why can't I just drop him off at your place?" You ask. Seongwoo pokes the side of your face with his hand, making you flinch away. An experience surely, but also terribly annoying as well.  

"Beeeeeccaaaaauuusseee, Daniel has somewhere to be in the morning and he can't stay at my- my house- my- my apartment? Yes. No. Yes!"  

You roll your eyes and move one of your hands off the wheel, shoving it into Seongwoo's face to get him back in his seat. "Fine. I'll drop him off. Can I drop the rest of you guys at Seongwoo's place?"  

A chorus of yeses come from the three boys in the back and they start cheering about something, making you roll your eyes.  

The car ride to Seongwoo's apartment gets sidetracked by a trip to a convenience store to get ice cream but after that it's relatively short, arriving at his apartment in less than ten minutes. You had to help Jaehwan into the apartment while Sungwoon and Seongwoo stumbled together to the door, but eventually you got them all in, dropping them in Seongwoo's living room before taking his keys and his phone and putting them under the sink.  

Drunk Seongwoo didn't need to go driving his car like an idiot and crash it, so hiding his stuff was the best option. Once he went looking, he'd tire himself out and pass out.  

It all worked out really.  

And after that, you're driving once more, Daniel in the front seat, his head pressed against the window while you drove. He wasn't asleep, you knew, because he was mumbling something under his breath, but you opted to drown it out with playing music.  

It was awkward between you two.  

Your focus was supposed to be on the road in front of you, but you couldn't help it when all you could think about was Daniel.  

You blame Seongwoo for making you think Daniel liked you back. You had been awkward around him since, leaving when he came to your lunch table, sitting in a different row during your class you shared together, not even looking at him even though you knew he was looking at you.  

But he didn't like you back. He couldn't.

"Y/N." You glance over at Daniel as you sit at the red light, seeing him smiling that soft smile he's only used whenever he looked at you. "You're so pretty."

You blink at him, your face suddenly getting hot at his words. He was drunk. He was so drunk.  

"Shut up Daniel. You're drunk," you tell him, putting your eyes back on the light. You hear him giggle and feel his hand at your ear, brushing some hair behind it.  

"Doesn't mean it's not true," he says. You shy away from his hand and shift a little in your seat. You wanted to put distance between you two before you did something irrational.  

Like pull the car over and kiss him.  

"Y/N," Daniel calls your name again, soft and almost sad.  

"Daniel."

"Why did we stop being friends?" He asks. Your hands grip the steering wheel harder than they need to be and you sigh, shaking your head.  

"We're still friends, Daniel," you reply.  

"Not like before."

"Things happen," you try. Daniel scoffs and shifts in his seat. You glance at him once more to see him lying on his side, his eyes heavy as they settle on you.  

"What things happened? You said you needed time. Time to... feel less dependent on me... That sounds like such bullshit," Daniel argues. "What was the real problem? Was it because I ate your pudding cup that one time? Or because I got a higher grade than you for once?" Daniel moves his hand to your face, turning your face so you can look at him. "Do you hate me?"

"Daniel!" You quickly slap his hand away and put your eyes back on the road, shaking your head at him.  

"I'm only trying to understand-

"Maybe I do hate you!" You yell, turning onto Daniel's street. You're pissed at this point, pissed at Daniel, pissed at yourself, so it's no wonder you start spilling things out. "Maybe I hate you because you're so stupidly cute and sweet and you smile at me like I’m so important to you! I hate you because you let me win that stupid pencil flipping contest even though you won three times- and- fuck, I hate you because you're still there for me even though I practically abandoned our friendship and I hate you-

"Because you love me?" Daniel finishes. You quiet yourself as you pull up to his apartment building, put the car in park and reach across the middle console, opening the door for him. You unbuckle his seat and push at him, wanting him out, out, out.

"Y/N-

"Please just go-!"

"Can't I say something?" He asks. You shake your head, still pushing at him, but Daniel is heavy and strong and there's no way you're pushing him out of there. He ends up turning in his seat, grabbing your hands and holding them in his own. His hands that are rough but big, making all your resolve dissipate as you look at him.  

"When you're ready to talk, you know where to find me. I'll wait as long as you need," he says.  

Then he's leaning forward, pressing soft lips against yours so suddenly, making you freeze up at the brief touch. He pulls away just as suddenly, mumbling out a goodnight before getting out of your car, closing the door and going on his way.  

You go home in shock, your fingers touching your lips where Daniel's had been for the rest of the night.  

He didn't like you. He couldn't.

But he kissed you. Daniel kissed you.  

That had to mean something.

-

"He did what?!"  

You roll your eyes at Jaehwan. "Please don't make me repeat it."

"What do you mean he- he just- oh my god, I didn't think he had it in him."  

You sigh and lay yourself across the table. It had been days since Daniel kissed you, and of course, he didn't remember.  

But you remembered. The way his hands held yours, the way his lips felt against your own. You had dreamed of that before, but the real thing was far different. It was nicer and something you wanted to experience ten times over. More than that. You wanted to kiss him forever.

"I need to tell Seongwoo."

You hated it though. Daniel didn't remember, and you were left to suffer like this, alone, with your feelings all mixed up. You needed to talk to him. Drunk Daniel knew that. You knew that.  

Wait.

"No, wait- you can't tell Ong!" You reach for Jaehwan, grabbing at his arm before he can slink away from you like the slithering snake he was. He looks back at you with a raised eyebrow, frowning.  

"Why can't I? He should know," Jaehwan says. You dig your nails into his arm, glaring at him to get your point across.  

"He's going to tell Daniel first thing- you tell him, and I'll break your guitar," you pause, squeezing his arm harder. "And both your hands."

Jaehwan slowly sits back down, agreeing that he won't go tell Seongwoo that Daniel kissed you. You sigh in relief and release his arm, only for Jaehwan to stand back up and run off, leaving you in his dust. That was your mistake. You shouldn't have let him go. You knew better than that.  

Okay, well. Now it was time to hide then.  

You gather your things and Jaehwan's, slinging both your bags over your shoulder before heading off to your apartment. There was no doubt in your mind that Jaehwan was going to tell Seongwoo, and Seongwoo was going to tell Daniel, and then Daniel was going to come find you because he was Daniel and you didn't want to deal with that today.  

Fuck, you really hate your best friends.  

Just to your luck, you end up in the middle of a frat war on your way to your apartment, one that involved water balloons and some concoction of chemicals that made you stink like complete shit. You had yelled at them for doing such a thing on campus of all the places and for pissing you off, but they didn't care. Not to mention none of the boys from the frats bothered to apologize to you, which only further pissed you off, and you stormed off after throwing one of the stink balloons in one of the leaders' faces.  

It didn't help that this whole Daniel business already had your emotions all over the place.  

You were a mess.  

Which, is probably why you ended up at Daniel's place.  

He caused all these emotions, he deserved to deal with them.  

"Sorry, sorry I was- Y/N- oh my god!" Daniel quickly pinches his nose after his face goes through many emotions as he opens the door for you but ultimately contorting into disgust when he gets a whiff of you. You smelled fucking awful, there was no doubt. This was great.

“I got caught between a stupid frat war- can I use your shower or- I don’t know. I’ll leave.” Daniel, even though you stink so bad, doesn’t hesitate to pull you into his apartment, leading you straight to the bathroom. He tells you to start the shower, leaving for a moment to another room. He comes back with clothes in hand, a trash bag, and a shy smile on his face.  

“You can borrow my clothes and I’ll wash yours if you want. I'll... put your bags on the balcony as well. To try and air them out.” You don’t really want to walk around smelling like this and you don’t won’t to keep subjecting Daniel to the torture that is your stench, so you accept his clothes and the trash bag. He leaves and shuts the door behind him after taking yours and Jaehwan's bags, leaving you alone now.  

Staring down at Daniel’s clothes, you already feel better about this whole situation. Because Daniel is sweet, and he’s especially sweet to you, and because even if you smell like absolute garbage and Daniel has every right to stay away from you, he’s actively trying to get you to stay, to make you feel better.  

Maybe… maybe that was Daniel’s whole point. Maybe he was trying to keep you around, to make you stay, because in every sense, you had left. You stopped being best friends and Daniel was waiting. You had taken two years to come talk to him and Daniel had waited.  

Daniel was just waiting for his best friend to come back.  

He was waiting for you.  

Your shower is as short as you can make it while still trying to be clean, the smell of Daniel’s body wash, the smell of his shampoo and conditioner and the smell of his cologne permeating through the bathroom as much as possible. It’s all over your skin and the bathroom smells like some perfume war happened, but it’s better than smelling like ass for the rest of your time with Daniel.  

After shoving your clothes into the trash bag and tying it up, you pull on Daniel’s clothes, a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. They’re far too big for you, the sweatshirts sleeves going way beyond your hands, the entire shirt practically engulfing you. The sweatpants are big as well, falling off your hips every step you take. You have to tighten them well before you finally step out of the bathroom.  

You walk to the living room, your bag of clothes in hand as you go. Daniel is sitting on the couch, furiously texting on his phone but when you enter the room he looks up and sets his phone down.  

"Hey, you're... done," he says. You laugh, nodding.  

"Yep. All done."  

He comes to stand in front of you, taking the bag from your hands, but he doesn't move from his spot. You and he look at each other, his eyes roaming across your face, while you just let him look you over. Something about this was weird. This was so weird.  

"You're wearing my clothes," he says. You nod your head again.  

"I am," you reply. You hear your bag of clothes hit the floor as Daniel's hands come to gently cup your face. It's intimate and everything you dreamed of, and if you didn't know any better, you swore Daniel's eyes were going back and forth between your eyes and your lips.  

But you needed to talk. You needed to talk and get all your feelings out before you did anything else.  

You needed to know if Daniel even liked you.  

"You... smell like me too," Daniel mumbles. He steps closer to you, his hands, big and softer compared to the other night, move back on your face, both his index fingers grazing your earlobes, one of his thumbs swiping across your cheekbone.  

If he leaned down, he could kiss you.  

"Yeah... I smell like... you," you mumble back. You find your own eyes flickering back and forth between his eyes and his lips, his lips that would be so perfect for kissing, your teeth tugging on his plump bottom lip as you kissed.

And his eyes, soft and inviting and always somehow looking your way.

Daniel was always looking at you.

You can't help it when you lean up, pressing your lips to Daniel's just as he did the a few nights ago. It's short, just a press of lips, and you're moving away just as quickly as you moved forward.

Daniel and you are staring at each other again but it doesn't last long because he's leaning down, pressing his lips to yours for a third time. The kiss is different than the other two you've had before, this one desperate, wanting, pleading. Daniel's hands are pulling you close to him, his fingers curling in the fabric of his sweatshirt on your body.

He wants you to stay.

He kisses you like if he stops he's never going to be able to again, like the second he lets go you're going to slip through his fingers. You do your best to keep up, moving your lips against his, just as desperate as him because you wanted him too. You always have.  

But then he's moving you back, still kissing you, and soon the back of your legs are hitting the couch and you're falling down. You find yourself sitting on the couch when you open your eyes, Daniel above you his eyes searching your face again. His hands are next to your head, one of his knees between your legs. You weren't going anywhere, but you're pretty sure that's what Daniel wanted.

"You like me," Daniel says. You nod your head. "Since high school, right? That's why you stopped wanting to be best friends." You nod again. "And you still like me. You kissed me because you like me, right?"  

You nod once more. Your hands move to Daniel's hips, moving up his sides, moving in, moving up his chest, broad, toned, until they reach his shoulders, resting there. You just wanted to touch him, to feel him under your hands. "I kissed you because you kissed me the other night- when you got drunk with Seongwoo and Jaehwan and Sungwoon and- and Seongwoo and Jaehwan kept trying to convince me that you liked me too- you do, right? You wouldn't have kissed me back if you didn't, right?"  

Daniel nods. "Since high school, Y/N."

"Seongwoo said that too," you say. You find your hands squeezing Daniel's shoulders, once, twice, and then letting them fall back to your lap. "If you did, why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't know you liked me back. If I told you, wouldn't I have ruined our friendship?" You laugh, shaking your head.  

"Yeah, but I did that for you instead. I- I'm sorry, I just- I didn't know what to do back then. I didn't want to lose you completely- but then I ended up losing you anyways-

"Y/N," Daniel interrupts. His hands move from off the couch to hold your face once more. "You never lost me. I was going to wait for you as long as you needed."

"...because you wanted to be best friends again?" You ask. It's a stupid question. You know it is, but Daniel laughs, smiling in that way you love so much, with softness in his eyes and something close to love, you're sure.  

"Because I love you, Y/N."

Your heart feels like it stops then, everything in slow motion as you watch Daniel. Daniel smiling at you, smiling at you like he always has, smiling at you like you're the most important thing to him.

You love it.

You love him.  

"But you said you hated me the other night," Daniel says. Your moment is paused as you glare at him.

"You remember?!" He shakes his head quickly, laughing.

"Vaguely! Vaguely! Mostly just the "I hate you" part," he explains.  

"Not the kiss?" He shakes his head again.

"Not the kiss."

Your moment is brought back as you quiet again, Daniel moving his hands so that one is behind your neck, the other holding your chin now, tipping it up further towards him. He looks almost shy as he looks down at you.

"You don't hate me though, right?"  

"I don't."

"You... love me?" Daniel asks. You bite your lip, nodding your head. Your eyes are wandering from his eyes to his lips again, and you can see clearly that Daniel is doing the same.  

"Say it?"  

You don't hesitate. "I love you."

He smiles again, and he's leaning forward, his lips so, so, so close to yours. "I'm going to kiss you now."

"Uh-huh. I'm waiting."

"Bet I've waited longer," he challenges. You roll your eyes, grabbing at his shirt.  

"Kiss me, Daniel."  

Daniel and you only get about three seconds into your kissing when the door is suddenly bursting open, yelling from two idiots flooding into the room, two idiots known as your best friends, two idiots by the names of Jaehwan and Seongwoo.  

They're yelling even louder when they see the position you and Daniel are in, and you can't help but think that you hate your best friends.  

Except Daniel.  

You love Daniel.