You didn’t expect the day for the exclusive interview with Daniel and his team to come so fast. Part of you were relieved because you’re closer to getting back your beloved camera, while another part of you were starting to get cold feet about meeting the heartthrob again. It took a few days for the interview to happen, as your team had to prepare the script for the questions to be asked. When you said your team, you really meant just Doyeon. Since she enthusiastically volunteered to personally write the scripts, claiming that she knows what are the best questions to ask in the interview. “Yah, Doyeon! Help me with these!” You yelled from the bottom of the stairs, leading to the entrance of the sports complex.

Your best friend ignored you completely as she marveled at the building in front of you. “I can’t believe I’ll be seeing My Jihoon up close today!” she jumped excitedly and ran inside.

You blew hair out of your face, as you lug the photography equipment on both shoulders and followed her inside.

“Need a hand?”

A familiar husky voice offered. You almost dropped the tripod in your hands at the sight before you. Standing before you was Daniel, dressed in a black suit with a simple white shirt and a black necktie. He looked very gentlemanly, suave and charming. Gosh, his visuals right now was not helping your heart at all. After all, you do have a weakness for guys in suits, he seriously made you heart skipped a beat.

“N-no, I’m good.”

“Admitting that you need help, doesn’t mean you’re weak Jooyeon,” Daniel quoted, taking the heaviest looking equipment from you.

Doyeon gasped and silently mouthed ‘OMG, did Kang Daniel just called your name in an informal speech!’ to you. She cleared , breaking off the shared eye-contact between the two of you. “I’m Kim Doyeon, the magazine’s junior reporter and Jooyeon’s best friend.” She introduced herself and shook hands with Daniel. “You’re well-dressed for the interview.”

He returned the gesture and acknowledged her with a nod, as you let out a suppressed chuckle, “Seriously? A little too much for a simple magazine interview, don’t you think?”

“Actually, I just came from class. Since I’m a business major, we had to dress formally for assignment presentations. I didn’t have time to change,” Daniel explained calmly, making you blush in embarrassment from the realization.

“It’s alright. In fact, it’s great! Many readers would love to see the non-athletic side of you too.” Doyeon supported, nudging you forward. She shifted her attention in a split second the moment she saw her target, “Park Jihoon-sshi! I’ve always wanted to meet you!” she exclaimed, jogging over to the dumbstruck winkboy. The rest of her sentences was unclear to you as she was literally rambling nonstop.

“Uh, do you have a place for us to do the interview? I need to set these up before we start.” You asked, motioning to the equipments.

“Well, we don’t exactly have a meeting room. We have a locker room, the coach’s office, the waiting area and training area right here,” Daniel pointed to the specific areas, while turning around.

“I want here!” Doyeon declared, standing at a corner where the trophy cabinets were placed. “These trophies make a nice background!” You nodded in agreement, heading to where she was and started to set up the camera.

“Woojin is still in class, so he’ll be late,” Daniel informed, “If it’s ok with you girls, we can start first. So, how do you want to do the interview?”

“Well, since there’s four of us, we can pair up. I’ll interview Jihoon-sshi while you can interview Daniel-sshi.” Doyeon proposed.

You immediately snapped your head in her direction, almost dropping the equipment in your hands. “That wasn’t the plan! I’m here as a photographer!” You whispered in hushed tone.

“Come on! This is going to be so much fun! I’ve prepared a separate set of questions for Kang Daniel!” she whispered excitedly, pulling out a set of papers from her folder.

“That’s a great idea. That way we can have more time to finish all the questions.” Jihoon finally spoke up after being silent for a while.

“It’s settled then!” Doyeon clapped, impatient to get started. “Jooyeon you can do the interview over there. We need to be further from each other to prevent from the voices from overlapping in the videos.” She pointed towards the boxing ring, located at the far side of the gym, almost out of view from the numerous punching bags and boxing equipments in the way. You couldn’t help but to think there’s a hidden meaning behind her weird behaviour.

“But I only have one camera for the recording,” you gave an excuse. Since your camera was still with Daniel, you had to borrow from the photography studio and only took one camera, not knowing of Doyeon’s secret plans.

Daniel disappeared into the locker room and came out a few minutes later with your camera in his hands. “You can use yours, for now. But our deal is still on,” he whispered the last sentence to you.

“Just follow the script! You’ll be fine. Fighting!” Doyeon encouraged you, before pulling Jihoon with her to start the interview.

“Shall we?” You followed Daniel as he guided you to the boxing ring, feeling defeated.

********************************************************************

“The background will look nice from inside the boxing ring. What do you think?” Daniel suggested, already climbing into the ring. You placed your bags inside the ring and struggled to join him, you never expected a boxing ring to be quite elevated. He made it look effortless due to his tall stature. Daniel offered a hand and you took it, as he swiftly yet carefully pulled you up next to him. Both of you were still naturally holding hands once you made it inside the ring, and Daniel couldn’t deny that he liked how your small hand fit perfectly into his large ones.

You pulled away and busied yourself by checking for the right background through your camera. “You’re right… it’s perfect.” You approved. You took out a clip-on microphone and handed it to him, while you start to set up the camera. When you were done, you found Daniel still struggling to put on the mic. You couldn’t help but to chuckle, seeing how he looked like a lost puppy, having a hard time to untangle the mic wires.

You walked over to help him, easily untangling the wires and fastening the microphone securely to his necktie. “There you go.” You looked up to meet his eyes. He made your heart skipped a beat for the second time, from the way he was staring down at you with his gentle and warm eyes as he gave a short ‘thank you’.

It took awhile to start the interview as you frantically flipped through the papers given by Doyeon, looking for a suitable question to ask first. Daniel on the other hand, was waiting calmly as he looked ready to answer any questions thrown at him. “Ah, screw it! I’ll just go by sequence,” you grumbled under your breath. You were seated behind the camera as you motioned Daniel to look into the camera for the recording. “First question: How do you feel to be featured as a character for the new game developed by SNU?”

“I feel honoured. But this is not purely my achievement, it is also a recognition for our members and boxing club to be highly regarded as a significant contributor for our university’s increasing reputation in the athletics field,” Daniel answered confidently, giving a smile to the camera.

Well, that wasn’t so bad. I guess I can handle this. You thought to yourself, feeling hopeful.

You exchanged a brief smile with Daniel and proceeded to continue the interview. It went very smoothly, exceeding your expectations. The more you interviewed him, the more you understood why many think highly of him. Aside from his visual appeal, he has a very likeable personality. Daniel was very professional and a natural in front of the camera –the suit he was wearing made it even better. He was like a seasoned athlete, handling press conferences proficiently after every game.

You supposed that he has grown accustomed to interviews for coming in first and winning trophies in many competitions two years in a row. Daniel also showed his passion for boxing, as he eagerly explained some of the boxing training and techniques that he learned in layman terms so that those who are unfamiliar with boxing could understand them better. “We’re not only the inspiration for the game characters, but we also provided the game development team with the necessary knowledge of boxing techniques to be added into the game. We wanted to let people experience the game like a real life version of a boxing match,”

“Could you give us an example?” You asked further.

“Like my signature move for punches. It’s included as a special move for my character in the game,” he described in detail.

You raised and eyebrow, stating your opinion. “Won’t that mean your opponents would know all your secret techniques and learn how to defeat you better? All they have to do is study your game character and how you fight to plan an attack next time they have a match with you in real life.”

Daniel smiled as he shook his head, countering your debate with confidence, “There are no such things as the 'best fighting techniques', there are only good applications. Technique in itself is not so much what you do, but how you use it.”

This time instead of looking into the camera, he stared directly to you, feeling challenged, “My opponents could by all means use the same technique as me, but they would be applying a different amount of strength and speed than me. Experience and practice is also a crucial aspect in boxing. So far, I haven’t seen anyone who is able to replicate or execute my technique perfectly.”

“That sounds pretty snobbish to me.” You retorted.

“Don’t mistake confidence with arrogance. Each player have a particular area they are expert in and we should be confident with it. No confidence, no success.” Daniel’s confidence didn’t falter as he remained calm and even managed to flash you a smile. You were quite impressed with his answer.

You gave a small nod in understanding before flipping to the next page of the questions, “Daniel-sshi, you’re known as one of the campus heartthrobs. The male students think highly of you while you have many female admirers. Rumour has it that you are currently not in a relationship, is this true?”

W-wait.. w-what kind of question is this Doyeon?! This has nothing to do with the current topic! It took your brain some time to make sense of what you just read as you gasp loudly. You weren’t completely surprised. Ever since you told your best friend about the day you first met Daniel, Doyeon has been trying to get you to approach him on your own. Saying that you shouldn’t miss this golden opportunity.

Daniel was staring at you with an amused grin on his face as he crossed his arms before him. “I’m s-sorry, I must’ve switched my question sheet with my friend’s. Y-you don’t have to answer that last question.” You stuttered, flipping through the pages hurriedly for another question.

“What if I want to? Besides, it did say Daniel. That’s me.” He pointed out.

“Pardon?”

“It’s true, I don’t have a girlfriend. But someone special has recently caught my attention. I want to get to know her better, but she’s playing hard to get. So, I’m wondering what does she feel about me?” Daniel’s eyes were fixed on you, with an unreadable expression on his face.

“We’ll move on to the next question Daniel-sshi,” You ignored him and the rapidly increasing beat of your heart.

“I like it when you say my name.” You dropped the pen you were holding and decided that you needed to get away from this situation right away. Damn, Kang Daniel is smooth. How is he so good at flirting?

“C-can we take a break? I need to… check the battery on the cameras!” You gave an excuse while doing a clumsy attempt of picking up your fallen pen, due to your trembling hands.

“Jooyeon! We’re gonna take five!” Doyeon saved you from further embarrassment when she came hollering at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing in the empty gym.

“I’ll go get us some drinks.” Daniel offered, going down from the boxing ring and left with Jihoon tagging along.

You dropped on your knees and groaned in humiliation, as soon as Daniel was out of sight. “So, how was your alone time with Mr. Kang?” Doyeon teased, enjoying your reaction.

“Argh! It was so embarrassing! Why did you include questions about his personal life?!” You felt annoyed.

“Did he answer though?” You nodded. “Tell me!” she jumped excitedly.

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” You replied softly.

“Great! Now, you can totally date him! Aww, I can see it already. You two will look so cute together!”

“Snap out of it,” You smacked her arm, feeling displeased. “On a side note, he was unexpectedly eloquent. He answered all the questions professionally.”

“Daniel’s not only athletically inclined, he also excelled in academics. Why do you think people like him so much? Well, aside from his looks, he’s also the top of his class.” Doyeon shared an information you never knew about him.

***********************************************************************

After a short break, you continued the interview with questions regarding his training as a boxer. He even volunteered to show you a demonstration. You weren’t prepared for another skip in your heartbeat when he casually took of his suit jacket and undid his necktie. He also ed the topmost button on his shirt and folded his sleeves to his forearms to get ready for his demonstration. Cute? Check. Handsome? Check. y? Double check. You cursed to yourself for thinking that way. You bit your lip and immediately looked away when he noticed that you were staring. The corner of his lips went up to a smirk.

Daniel easily jumped down from the elevated boxing ring and offered you his hand. “We’re going over to the punching bags,” He smiled, waiting for you to accept his hand.

You hesitantly and carefully held his hand, trying your best to exert the least strength on your grip. You tried to follow him by jumping down from the ring, but you lost your footing and yelped, expecting to fall flat on your face. Daniel managed to catch you as you landed in his strong embrace. It was a rescue attempt, but it could be easily mistaken as a loving embrace as you had your face buried in his chest, with one of his arm around your waist and the other hand holding tightly onto yours, “You alright?”

You looked up and instantly blushed, his face now inches away from yours as he gazed deeply into your eyes. Daniel’s heart was beating wildly in his chest, but he soon admired your brown eyes with such fondness, enjoying the moment. “D-Daniel-sshi…” You tried to get him out of his reverie, after getting lost in his warm embrace on your own.

He gently set you down, reluctantly letting go of his arm around you. He smiled, softly pulling you with him with his hand still holding onto yours tightly, liking too much how they molded perfectly together to let go.

“Boxing advice, instructions and techniques help all boxers train and perfect their boxing skills to become a stronger, more powerful, and faster boxer,” Daniel started his demonstration when you arrived in front of one punching bag, while you listened intently. He put on boxing gloves and showed you a few simple punches, jabs and uppercut. He did the same thing again, but you could easily see the difference between his demonstration before and after. The latter were more precise and more organized even though he used the same amount of strength.

“Great technique should improve effectiveness and efficiency. They are focused on improving performance as opposed to be limited by rules and forms. Every fighter and fighting situation is different, so we are required the mastery of many techniques.” Daniel finished off his explanation.

“Looks simple, but quite intricate.” You complimented.

“Do you wanna give it a try?” he offered another set of gloves. “I’ll teach you.” He smiled, putting on the gloves for you.

“Ok, try punching straight.” He directed step by step. You obviously didn’t know what you were doing as you pushed your fist forward, attempting to hit the punching bag. You were left feeling shy and confused when the bag didn’t even budge. Daniel couldn’t stop his giggles, noticing how cute you looked. He stepped behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders.

“The key is in your shoulders, not so much your hands. You have to swing your shoulders in the direction of your punch,” Daniel wrapped his arms around you to guide your punch. You tensed at the close contact. “Take a deep breath, and swing your shoulder as you punch.” He instructed.

You did exactly as told and delivered a punch to the sand bag, earning a smack sound as it swayed from the impact. “I did it!” you exclaimed, unable to hide your excitement as you jumped happily.

“You’re doing great for a first timer,” Daniel smiled while giving you a high-five, feeling happy for you too. “Cute,” he mumbled to himself.

And for the first time you exchanged genuine smiles with him, unable to stop yourself from being attracted to him and his endless charms.

*****************************************************************

It took two hours for both interviews with Jihoon and Daniel to finish. Unfortunately, Woojin couldn’t make it in time and you had to continue his interview on another day. Instead of worrying about it, you were actually looking forward to the next time you get to see Daniel again. You were packing up your camera gears as Daniel took your camera away from you. “Collateral,” he simply answered when you tried to protest. “I don’t want to be keeping this as much as you don’t want me too. If only you-”

“You set the time and place. Then, ask me again.” You stated, biting your lower lip when you finished talking.

“D-does this means ‘yes’?” He blinked in disbelief.

You shyly nodded, you couldn’t believed yourself either. “Hand me your phone,” you asked, holding out your palm.

Daniel just stared at you blankly. “How are you gonna tell me about the date if you don’t know how to contact me?” you reasoned. His face instantly brightened up, showing you his beautiful smile and cute crinkly eyes as he placed his phone in your hand. You called your own phone and waited for Daniel’s number to appear on yours before you saved it.

“Wait, Jooyeon. I want to ask this properly in front of you.” He softly grabbed onto your wrist when you were about to leave. “Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Will you go out on a date with me?”

You had butterflies in your stomach at his gentlemanly gesture. He wanted the date to be proper, even from the way he’s asking you. “I’d love to go on a date with you Daniel.”

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow then.” He gave you another irresistible smile, feeling ecstatically happy.

Another update! It focuses mainly on the interview. I hope you guys will like it!

I meant to put a picture of Daniel is a suit complete with a necktie for the chapter image, but didn't have time to dig through his pictures. will probably change it if I find a better picture.

Oh, and the GIF... *fans self* just enjoy ><"

This oneshot became a threeshot and now became a short fic  > o < LOL (and I still have some ideas left...)