It's pretty hard to find a picture of melancholic Daniel cuz most of the time he'll either look cute or y XD

Enjoy!

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She was expecting the usual calm morning, but as soon the elder lady opened her front door, she was attacked in a tight squeeze as someone embraced her firmly. The familiar scent and sounds of sobs coming from the person made her realize who it was.

“Hani? Sweetie, what are you doing here?” Granny gently her hair as she returned the embrace.

“Granny… Daniel’s gone… h-he left…” the younger girl said in between sobs.

Hani’s cries grew louder as she patted her granddaughter’s back comfortingly, “There, there… let it all out,” she spoke softly.

A few minutes later, they were sitting comfortably in granny’s cozy living room, sipping on her calming green tea. Hani has always loved spending winter indoors when she is at her grandmother’s, snuggling herself in the couch with her granny’s warm tea and a good book. The house itself gave her a familiar homey warmth that she enjoyed very much. Hani didn’t get the feeling while living alone in Seoul, until Daniel came into her life, giving her a cozy pleasant warmth that she has grown accustomed to. Now, she missed it terribly.

“Maybe he had a good reason to do that. I don’t think he meant to hurt you sweetie,” Granny calmly responded after Hani told her what happened the past few days.

“He didn’t even say goodbye,”

Granny wiped away a tear, patting her cheek softly. “Not saying goodbyes means that it’s not over. Maybe Daniel meant that he didn’t want to end things with you. That he still wants to be with you,” she spoke wisely.

“Perhaps, this is his way of saying that he will come back.”

“How are you so sure?”

The elder female smiled in assurance. “If he really meant to say goodbye, he wouldn’t leave anything with you. Not even a small note. But Daniel even gave you a cat,” she implied.

Maybe granny’s right Hani thought.

Though his house was empty, there were still a few things that he left with her, Peter the cat being one of the obvious ones. She still has his hoodie from their first date, the pillow and soft toy that he bought for her bedroom for his occasional sleepovers as well as the countless pictures they took together stuck on her fridge and stored inside her phone. It’s possible that her grandmother is right, for all she knew Daniel could’ve left these on purpose. Not just because he didn’t want her to forget about him, but also because he intended to come back.

“I have a feeling Daniel is different. He’s a gentleman who would never hurt you purposely,” Granny added.

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A few months later…

“Ready for our last exam before we graduate?” Sohee and Iseul patted her shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.

“You guys go in first. I’ll be right there,” Hani smiled, waving them off inside the exam hall.

[Flashback]

“Come here.” Daniel opened his arms wide, inviting her for a hug after noticing how anxious she looked.

Hani melted at the adorable sight as she walked closer and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her near, burying her in his encouraging embrace while swaying a bit from side to side.

“Fighting! I know you’ll do great.” He kissed the side of her head before pulling away from the hug.

“I really needed the hug. Wish me luck!” Hani confessed before heading inside the exam hall.

Hani found a sticky note from the cup of drink Daniel gave her earlier. It read:

‘From your boyfriend Kang Daniel who is always watching over you~ All the best!’

[End]

She stood in front of the entrance to the exam hall, trying to calm down her nerves. Reminiscing the last time she was present there, Hani smiled at the bittersweet memory. She still remembered Daniel’s presence vividly when he first accompanied her to the exam, but today was different. There were no warm embraces from him that she missed so much, encouraging words from his deep husky voice that she loves so much or even his cute handwriting in the small sticky notes he liked to stick on her favourite green tea latte. Later when she finished, he surely won’t be waiting for her patiently to buy her dinner in celebration of her final exam either