Dalmatian - Daniel & Jisu

“Boo!” Hyeri jumped and turned around. Daniel was smiling down at her and she rolled her eyes. “It’s not even funny anymore!” He ruffled her hair and said, “It’s funny to me because you still flinch.” Hyeri pushed him and said, “Shut up Daniel” making him laugh. “Hey guys!” Jisu came running up to them. “Hey!” Hyeri smiled at him.

Jisu and Daniel have been Hyeri’s closest friends since junior high. Hyeri had many classes with Daniel as well as the same after school classes which brought them closer to each other. As for Jisu, their parents were close which developed a strong bond between Hyeri and Jisu. For this reason, Hyeri was more comfortable talking about family and personal problems with Jisu. However, Jisu and Daniel both extremely cared about Hyeri but she wasn’t aware of this.

School was over and after school classes had been cancelled for that day. The three of them had decided to go eat ice cream before going home. While they were sitting down and talking, Hyeri’s phone vibrated indicating a text message. Jisu looked up at her and noticed a change in her face expression. She quickly replied to the text and took out the phone’s battery. “Who was that?” Daniel asked her. She smiled and said, “It was just my brother.”

Jisu knew what this meant. Her parents must’ve gotten in a fight again. He knew that Hyeri and her brother never spoke to each other unless they were warning each other about a fight in the household. Daniel got up to go to the restroom and as soon as he did, Jisu asked, “Your parents?” Hyeri just looked down and nodded. Jisu sighed, “I guess you can come over tonight.” Hyeri muttered, “I’m sorry…” Jisu smiled and said, “You know I don’t mind. I’m always here for you, remember?”

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That night, Jisu and Hyeri just sat on his bed, talking. “Are your parents still on the verge of filing a divorce?” Hyeri nodded. “The other day, I saw the papers on the coffee table. My mom’s demanding my dad’s signature but he’s refusing.” Jisu looked at her and said, “Just know that when they do fight, you can always turn to me, okay?” Hyeri smiled and looked at him. “I’m lucky to have a friend like you by my side.” Jisu stretched his arms out and said, “Obviously~” Hyeri giggled and gently pushed him.

Hyeri was sleeping on his bed while Jisu slept on the floor. He couldn’t stop staring at her. He felt as though he was the lucky one to have met her in his life. There once was a time when Jisu fought with his dad and Jisu had ran to Hyeri’s house in tears. He clearly remembered how Hyeri allowed him to cry into her shoulder and took care of him the entire night. That was the same night he realized that he had fallen for Hyeri.

That happened approximately 3 years ago and Jisu still loved her with all his heart.

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“Wow Daniel, that’s totally unfair! You pushed my hand off!” Hyeri and Daniel were playing a game on his phone during break time. “Naaah, that was fair game!” Hyeri frowned and started to pinch Daniel’s cheek. “What?!” Daniel scrunched his face from the pain and said, “Stop it!” Jisu was watching this and chuckling. Daniel then reached over and started to bite Hyeri’s hand. “What the heck Daniel!”

She let go and stared at the hand. Jisu’s eyes widened and said, “Holy , it’s red.” Hyeri pouted and shoved the imprint to Daniel’s eyes. “Look at what you did!” Daniel grabbed her hand and looked at it. “I didn’t mean to bite it that hard…” Hyeri sighed and said, “I can’t believe you bit me…” Daniel pouted and said, “Aww, do you want a kiss for your little boo boo?” Then Daniel planted a kiss on the imprint. Jisu immediately brought his hands into fists out of instinct. Hyeri screamed, “Ew!” as she wiped it on Daniel’s shirt, making Jisu’s anger and jealousy die down. Daniel started laughing and said, “You love it! Don’t deny it!”

After school, Jisu went to Hyeri’s classroom only to see that she had already left. He frowned, remembering Hyeri telling him that she’d wait for him. Jisu looked out the window and saw Hyeri and Daniel pushing each other around as they walked out of the school’s gates. “What happened to waiting for me…” Jisu quietly muttered to himself.

Jisu had always been jealous of Daniel but he kept this to himself. He had always wanted the playful friendship Daniel and Hyeri had but for some reason, Hyeri never treated him the same way. Jisu had so many speculations that Hyeri might’ve liked Daniel but he never tried asking Hyeri about it. It was a cowardly move not to ask her but Jisu didn’t want to be heartbroken if it were true.

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“You slept over Jisu’s last night, huh?” Hyeri put on a small smile and nodded. “Are you okay?” Hyeri tilted her head and asked, “Why do you ask?” Daniel shrugged. “You always sleepover when something’s wrong.” Hyeri let out a small chuckle and said, “Yeah I’m okay. Thanks for asking.” Daniel frowned. “Why do you trust Jisu and not me?” Hyeri furrowed her eyebrows and replied, “Of course I trust you, why would you think that?!” Daniel continued to frown and said, “Because you tell him everything. I feel like Jisu knows your whole life while I only know a small part of it.” Hyeri started to laugh and said, “No one knows my whole life. Jisu just somehow knows me really well. He can read me like a book.”

Daniel sighed. He hated it when Hyeri slept over Jisu’s house. He could clearly see that Jisu liked Hyeri and Daniel didn’t like it. He wanted Hyeri for himself.

On the bus ride back home, Hyeri kept bobbing her head back and forth, falling asleep. “You sleepyhead.” Daniel muttered as he gently grabbed her head and placed it on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and softly muttered, “Thanks Daniel…” Daniel just smiled.

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Hyeri reached her front door when her older brother ran out. He stopped when he saw her and said, “Leave. Go to Jisu’s house or something.” Hyeri tried to look over her brother’s shoulder but he blocked her view. “They’re fighting again…” That’s when Hyeri heard glass shattering followed by yelling. Hyeri looked down and saw her brother holding a suitcase. “Where are you going…” She looked up at him and saw tears in his eyes. “I can’t live like this anymore.” Then he closed the door and walked past her. “Oppa!” He stopped walking for a second but then he ignored her and walked faster.

Hyeri slowly opened the door again but as soon as she did, she heard her mom screaming. Hyeri couldn’t hold in her tears anymore. She ran into the kitchen and shouted, “Just shut up already!” Both her mom and dad looked at her in surprise. She tried to wipe the tears on her face away. “Why can’t I have a happy family like the other kids at school? Why do I have to always go to Jisu’s house whenever you guys fight? Why can’t I come home to a normal family? I hate you guys…” Then she turned around and ran out of the house, crying and sobbing.

“Hyeri-yah! What’s wrong? Oh my gosh…” Jisu’s mom said to her when she opened the door. Jisu came running down the stairs and his heart broke when he saw Hyeri. As soon as Hyeri saw Jisu, she ran inside and hugged him, crying. “Mom…” Jisu’s mom showed concern in her eyes and nodded, allowing her to stay again. “Hyeri-yah, let’s go upstairs to my room, okay?” Jisu gently let go of her and grabbed her hand, taking her to his room.

After letting her cry everything out, Jisu calmly asked her, “Do you want to talk about it?” Hyeri muttered, “I yelled at them…” Jisu’s eyes widened. “You did? Why…” Hyeri stared down at her hands and said, “My brother left.” Jisu sighed. He wasn’t surprised that her brother would do such a thing. “Leave as in run away from home?” Hyeri nodded. “Okay well I know you’re hurt and everything but you have to look on the bright side. This is just a phase for your parents. Whether they actually do divorce or not, the outcome will turn out fine. Don’t disappoint them, okay?”

Hyeri was calmly sleeping when her phone lit up. Jisu looked at it and saw a text from Daniel. Hey I accidentally took your homework so I went to your house to return it to you but… are you okay? Jisu sighed and replied. This is Jisu. She’s at my house right now. Almost immediately, Jisu received a text on his own phone from Daniel. Jisu, we need to talk. Jisu replied. Alright.

Jisu and Daniel met up at the park and sat down on the bench to talk. It felt weird for both of them since they never hung out with each other unless Hyeri was there. Daniel spoke up first and said, “It’s about Hyeri…” Jisu slightly smirked, knowing where this was headed.

“Jisu… I know you like her but—“ Jisu cut him off and said, “I’m not going to just easily give up Hyeri.” Daniel sighed, “That’s what I was afraid of.” There was silence so Daniel spoke up again. “Then how do we work this out…?”

“I guess Hyeri can choose. I’m willing to give her up if she likes you. But if she doesn’t like either of us then…” Jisu just shrugged. Daniel nodded and said, “Same here.” Jisu scoffed and said, “Honestly speaking… I always felt like she liked you.” Daniel looked at Jisu out of disbelief and said, “I felt that she always liked you. I mean, you’re the one she goes running to when someone happens.” Jisu looked down and said, “But you’re the one who makes her smile and laugh.”

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Hyeri-yah, let’s hangout today!Hyeri read this text from Daniel and made a small chuckle. What do you want to do? Daniel immediately replied, Surprise!  Hyeri smiled and said, Okay then. I’m at Jisu’s house. Daniel replied, I’ll be there soon!!

“Who are you texting?” Hyeri looked up at Jisu and said, “Just Daniel.” Jisu made a small frown to himself and said, “Let’s go out today? Help you forget about everything.” Hyeri bit her lip and looked down at her phone. Jisu realized that Daniel probably invited her out. “Oh shoot, I have to do a project today. I completely forgot. Ahh, I’m sorry.” Hyeri pouted and said, “I was going to hang out with Daniel today. You should just come with us.” Jisu shrugged, “I can’t. I have to do my project. Sorry…” Jisu thought that this might’ve been a good opportunity to ask her. “Hyeri-yah… do you have feelings for Daniel?” Hyeri looked at Jisu and shook her head. “No… why, does it seem like it?” Jisu chuckled and said, “Just a little.” Hyeri pouted and said, “Don’t tell me there’s rumors…” Jisu shook his head and said, “Oh no! I just thought maybe.”

Jisu looked out his window and saw Hyeri walking down the hill with Daniel. He was always curious how Daniel could make her face light up so quickly. But then Daniel’s words from the night before ran through his mind. Maybe Jisu did have a chance.

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“So what are we doing?” Hyeri asked when they got on the bus. Daniel shrugged, “I don’t know.” Hyeri glared at him and said, “I thought it was a surprise!” Daniel smiled and said, “Not knowing what to do is the fun part. It’s called spontaneity.”

Their day was spontaneous indeed. All though most of the time consisted of eating small portions of food here and there, they walked around the streets together, looking at several stores. Then Hyeri suddenly felt like walking up to the Namsang Tower where Daniel gladly took her. After walking around, they decided to go take sticker photos. They took silly photos and in the last one, Daniel grabbed her face and planted a kiss on her cheek. Hyeri made a disgusted face expression and slapped him afterwards. Hyeri didn’t suspect anything since Daniel always joked around with her like that.

It was beginning to get dark so Daniel and Hyeri were walking to Hyeri’s house. “Thanks Daniel…” He looked at her and asked, “For what?” Hyeri smiled and said, “You took me out today so that I’d forget about what happened last night.” Daniel looked down and smiled. “That’s partly true but I took you out today because I wanted to.” He messed up her hair and said, “But you’re welcome.” Hyeri smiled and said, “It helped me forget about it, thank you.”

Daniel walked her up all the way to her door step. Hyeri hesitated to open her door. Daniel leaned down and said, “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Then he opened the door for her. As soon as they opened the door, they heard a crash. Hyeri flinched and muttered, “Goodbye Daniel.” Before she could walk in though, Daniel grabbed her arm and pulled her back out. “I’m sorry.” He then closed the door and pulled her away from her house.

Hyeri looked down at the floor and Daniel just sighed. He took both of her hands and squeezed them tight. “I guess Jisu’s house would be better.” As soon as Daniel let go of her hands to take her to Jisu’s house, she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding onto him. And then he heard her sobbing. “Daniel… I’m so embarrassed to always go to Jisu’s house.” Daniel leaned down and wiped away her tears. “You know he cares about you a lot. He would sacrifice everything to take care of you. There’s no reason for you to be embarrassed.” Another tear fell down her face and Daniel wiped it away. “I think you should be with Jisu right now. He’d take good care of you.” Daniel stood up straight and told himself that Hyeri would prefer to be with Jisu at that moment.

Hyeri grabbed Daniel’s hand and said, “I want to be with you.” Daniel just stared at her, his heart beating faster and faster. “Okay.” Still holding onto her hand, he began to make his way home. He didn’t know what to do. He had never seen Hyeri like that before.

Daniel’s parents were away on a business trip leaving him with his brother but his brother had left to go partying. “Make yourself at home.” Daniel smiled at Hyeri as she sat down on his bed. She forced a smile and said, “Thank you.” Daniel sat down next to her and leaned his face close to her, staring intently at her. Hyeri started to laugh and pushed him. “Stop it Daniel.” He pouted at her.

Hyeri smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. Daniel gently rested his arm on her shoulder. “Daniel… I really like you.” His eyes widened. Maybe she meant this concerning their friendship. “I really like you too.” Hyeri looked up at him and said, “I meant I really like you more than a friend.” Daniel looked at her, meeting her eyes. “That’s what I meant too.” Hyeri put her head back down and hugged him tighter. Daniel chuckled and said, “You know I’ve liked you since junior high. I was too scared to tell you.” Hyeri smiled and said, “I’ve liked you since junior high too.”

The smile on Daniel’s face didn’t leave. He couldn’t control it. “I always thought you might’ve liked Jisu.” Hyeri let go of Daniel and looked at him. “The reason why I always went to him was because he personally knew my parents. I was more comfortable with him. I couldn’t imagine myself running up to you crying and swollen.” Daniel sighed, wondering what he had to do about Jisu.

“Hyeri-yah… let’s not tell anyone about this. Not even Jisu. It’ll be awkward.” Hyeri smiled and said, “So you want to have a secret relationship.” Daniel smiled and nodded.

It was true that Hyeri liked Daniel since junior high. What Daniel didn’t know however was that she knew he liked her as well. She had been waiting for him to confess but he never did. However, Hyeri didn’t know that Jisu liked her too.

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Hyeri and Daniel both walked to school together with smiles on their faces. Daniel slyly took her hand and twined his fingers with hers. This made Hyeri blush but she just looked down at the ground and smiled. “Oh my God, I’ve been wanting to do this for so long. This feels so good.” Hyeri laughed at Daniel’s remark. Daniel leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek. “I can do that without acting like it’s a joke.” They just looked at each other smiling and laughing.

During lunch, Jisu came over and sat down in front of Daniel and Hyeri. Daniel felt guilty for keeping this from Jisu but he didn’t know how to tell him. They were all eating and talking about the usual stuff.

But Jisu knew. It was far too obvious. The smile that Hyeri had gave away everything.

When Jisu came back from the restroom, he saw Daniel and Hyeri holding hands under the table, smiling and giggling. Although Jisu’s heart broke into a million pieces, he maintained his smile. He was going to be happy for her, no matter how hard it would be on him.