After becoming a human pancake, Daisy had taken the bus home. She had garnered a lot of odd looks from the many passengers aboard. The flour was completely caked into her hair and the eggs were starting to smell a little rotten. Daisy had walked the remaining way home since the bus did not run in this area of town. She was now walking inside and noticed Sunah preparing for dinner.

      Daisy was prepared to sneak up the large staircase to avoid a confrontation with her mother, but a squeaky stair foiled her plan and she froze. "Daisy is that you?" Sunah calls out and Daisy curses under her breath..

      "Yes, Mom?"

      "Your Aunt had to run some errands so she'll be back by dinner time."

      "Sounds good, Mom." The ruckus coming from the kitchen stops and Sunah can be heard making her way to the living room where Daisy hid. Daisy tried to scurry up the stairs but ended up tripping and hitting her foot on one of the steps.

      "Who did this to you?" Sunah asks from the bottom of the steps. Daisy fought back tears as she spoke to her mother.

      "Just some kids at school, Mom. Nothing for you to be worried about."

      Sunah shakes her head. "When you tell me things like this, it does make me worried. How long has this been going on?" She asks.

      You have to lie, Daisy told herself.

      "Just for today. I guess they just don't like me being the new kid." Lying was easy for Daisy; she always did it for the sake of her mother. She hated watching her cry so she had always put a brave face on to appease her.

      "Where was Johnny during all of this?"

      Just then, Johnny walks through the door wearing custom headphones. He removed them when his saw his Aunt. "What's going on?" He asks, then looks up at his cousin. Daisy was glaring at him, unbeknowist to Sunah.

      "Did you know about this?" Sunah asks.

      "I, uh—"

      "He wasn't there." Daisy interrupts. "Because if he was, he would've done something to stop it."

      Johnny knew there was another meaning behind her words. Believe it or not, he did feel guilt for not being there for Daisy. It gave him sort of comfort to know that Taeyong was going easy on Daisy and it's not like Taeyong knew the student body would retaliate in this sort of way.

      "From now on I want you to keep a close eye on Daisy, make sure something like this doesn't happen again." says Sunah and Johnny nods.

      The family disperses and Daisy continues up the stairs, not before Johnny grabs her arm. "Why didn't you tell your Mom the truth?" He whispers.

      "I figured you'd want to remain as the perfect nephew in her eyes and the guilt I know you feel is sufficient enough for me." Daisy says. "And I know how much your reputation must mean to you." Her words were filled with poison.

      Without another word, Daisy turns her back on a regretful Johnny and makes her way to her bedroom. She stripped down to her underwear and took a quick shower. She had flour in places there shouldn't be. Daisy let all her worries wash down the drain.

      Once done with her shower, Daisy headed downstairs for dinner. Her Mom was setting the table perfectly and she had about ten dishes lined of in the middle of the table. "Oh, Daisy good thing you're here. I forgot to make the kimchi for the dinner tonight. Can you run to the nearest store to pick some up for me?" Sunah asks.

      "Just for kimchi?"

      "Your Aunt is obsessed with kimchi. She'd kill me if I didn't have some made tonight." Sunah pulls a credit card from her back pocket. "Here's my card. Just bring me some in a jar and you and I will make some from scratch later."

      "Okay." Daisy is about to head out the door when Johnny appears before her again.

      "Do you need me to go with you? It's getting dark outside." He asks.

      Daisy shakes her head. "I can take care of myself." She grabs a light jacket and heads outside.

      The night air was fresh and the sun was starting to set. Daisy pulled out her phone to use her GPS device to the nearest location. It was still hard for Daisy to wrap her head around all that had happened since she started to attend the school. She began to question if she should just give in and apologize to the hot-headed Taeyong.

      No way, Daisy thought. I'm not going to back down.

      Daisy has now paid for the small jar of kimchi and prepared to leave the small convenience store. After thanking the cashier, Daisy finally left. It was darker than it was before and only the street lights illuminated the night. Three boys maybe around Daisy's age were talking amongst themselves and leaned against the store wall. She reaches in the grocery back and cheerfully begins eating a sausage stick.

      About five minutes into her walk back home, Daisy started to feel unsettled. She had the eerie feeling that she was being watched. She abruptly stops to pretend to tie her shoe and looks secretly over her shoulder. The same boys from outside the store had followed her all the way through the neighborhood. There were about twelve feet behind her and they had stopped to talk. Daisy had no doubt that they were discussing their next move. The three of them could easily overpower her if they had their way, but Daisy was tough.

      Slowly standing back on her feet, Daisy takes one last look over her shoulder and froze: they were looking right at her, smiling. Without another word, Daisy sprints ahead at full speed. This was the only scenario that she was glad she signed up for track and field in high school. She continued to zig-zag through buildings hoping to lose track of them, but she could still hear their footsteps not too far behind. Daisy was close to home but fell at a dead end when she cut through an alleyway.

      "There's nowhere for you to run now." Daisy turns around to face the three assailants. They were slowly closing the gap between them and still smiled manically.

      "What do you want?" Daisy asks.

      "Payback."

      Suddenly, one of them lunged at Daisy but she easily avoided his attack by dodging out of the way. He hits the wall behind her. The second boy grabs her shirt collar and yanks it hard enough and rips it, but Daisy bites his hand until he lets go and kicks him in the crotch. While he recovered, the last one grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her hard against the wall; he was stronger than the other two. His body pressed against hers as Daisy squirmed underneath him, but she was stuck.

      "Maybe we should have a little fun." He whispers by her ear and his hand grazes her behind.

      "No!" Daisy yells.

      "Hey!" A familiar voice yells and the three boys stop and turn in the direction of the stranger. Daisy was crying now and her face was touching the wall, but she still managed to turn her head as well. Another shadowy figure walks up to the bunch and they immediately let Daisy go. Daisy squints at the dark figure and her eyes grow wide. It was Jaehyun. "I was passing through the neighborhood when I saw you three looking very suspicious. How surprised am I to find you manhandling a woman. I wonder what the police would think of this?"

      "We were just trying to scare her."

      "I think you've done enough of that, don't you think?" Jaehyun turns serious. "Let her go." The boy does as he is told and Daisy slides down to the ground in shock. Jaehyun swiftly grabs him by the collar and pulls him close. "I don't want to see you anywhere near her, got it? If I do, I will turn you in to the police. I have an identic memory so it won't be hard to provide them with a detailed sketch. Okay?"

      "Yes." Jaehyun lets him go and he and his friends run out the alleyway and out of sight. Jaehyun squats down next to Daisy who was now shaking. She clutched her ripped shirt but couldn't look Jaehyun in the eye.

      "You forgot something." He says suddenly. Daisy finally looks up, confused.

      "What?" She asks.

      "I did what you said, but the pancakes didn't puff up." Jaehyun says.

      Daisy was shocked at the abrupt question, but continued anyway. "Did you add baking powder?" She asks.

      "That's it." Jaehyun stands to his feet and Daisy begins crysing.

      "Why would they do this to me?"

      All of a sudden, Jaehyun gets on just his hands and leans again the wall. "When you feel like crying, do a handstand. That way, your tears won't fall down." He says. Daisy wipes her tears away and Jaehyun stands back on his feet and sticks a hand out. "Let me take you home."

      Daisy looks at Jaehyun's outreached hand at back at him. She was glad that he was able to save her tonight. She didn't know what would've happened if he hadn't showed up. Daisy smiles softly and grabs his hand as he leads her to his very expensive looking car. Jaehyun opens the door for her as she climbs in the front seat, still holding on to her shirt. Before pulling off, Jaehyun hands her a black sweater.

      "Wear this for now."

      "Thank you." Daisy says as she quickly put the sweater over her own clothes. Jaehyun starts the engine and pulls off.  "Why did you think to follow those guys?

      "They're from SM University. They must've been retaliating against you because of the red card."

      Daisy nods in understanding. "Thank you for helping me out." She says.

      "I didn't help you. I just didn't like what they were doing." says Jaehyun.

      After sending Daisy off home, Jaehyun walks back to his car and pulls out his cellphone. He dialed Taeyong's number. He answers on the first ring. "Yes." He was lounging in his house, alone.

      "I just dropped off Daisy at Johnny's house." Jaehyun says and Taeyong sighs.

      "I told you not to associate yourself with that girl. She's a psycho—"

      "Did you know that she was almost assaulted?" Jaehyun asks and Taeyong stops talking.

      "What?"

      "She was walking home when she was jumped by three men. I got a good look at their faces. They're from SM University."

      "Is she okay?" asks Taeyong.

      "Yes, but she was pretty shaken up." Jaehyun finally enters his car. "But I'm going to ask you something and I want you to answer honestly...did you hire those guys to assault Daisy?"

      Taeyong scoffs. "Of course not. I might be heartless, but I'm not that cruel. I gotta go." He disconnects the phone and sits in silence on the sofa as he squeezes his phone tight. Dozens of scenarios began to suddenly play in Taeyong's mind and he tried to push them back. Moments later, he dials a different number on his phone.

      "Hello?" The voice on the other end sounded strained.

      "What did you do?" He asks vehemently.

      "I don't know what you're talking about."

      "Don't act dumb! I just got off the phone with Jaehyun and he already told me. Did you touch her?" Taeyong asks.

      "Look, you said—"

      "Did you touch her?!" Taeyong yells. His veins protrude from his neck and his voice echoed through the empty mansion.

      "We just wanted to have fun with her." The boy says. "You wanted us to teach Jandi a lesson."

      Taeyong sighs and begins to massage his temples. "I told you to scare her and make her surrender on her own. We will discuss your punishment on Monday." He disconnects the phone and pulls up another contact: Johnny. Maybe if he called, Johnny could check to see if she was okay. Taeyong shakes his head and throws his phone on the bed. 



 

      The next day, Daisy was working her closing shift at the Coffee Bean under the supervision of Chaeyeon. It wasn't that busy of a day and the girls had started to chat about their personal life. Daisy had spilled all the beans to Chaeyeon. "I don't know if I could've survived all that. Daisy, are you okay?" Chaeyeon asks and Daisy puts on a brave smile.

      "Yeah, it's not a big deal."

      "I liked NCT 127 because they're cute, but it turns out they're an awful bunch.." says Chaeyeon. "So is that Taeyong guy interested in you?"

      Daisy laughs and a couple of customers stare. "Don't be ridiculous. He just wants to make my life miserable. But I'll never let him win." She says.

      "Don't worry. NCT 127 or whatever, whoever bullies my friend is a bad guy. I'll stand up for you if I see them." Chaeyeon nods.

      "Thanks a lot."

      "So are all of Taeyong's friends annoying?" Charyeon asks.

      "Not exactly."

      "What do you mean?" asks Chaeyeon.

      "I know it's not Johnny's  fault that he made friends with such a terrible person. And I haven't had any issues with the others, but they have not tried to steer him from evilness either. And I think at least one guy is different from the rest." Daisy says.

      Chaeyeon raises a brow. "One guy? Who?" She asks just as two familiar faces walk into the shop: Jaehyun and Johnny. The night before, all Daisy could dream about was Jaehyun as she slept in his shirt. He's come to her rescue two times now, so she was head-over-heels for him now. Chaeyeon nudges Daisy with her arm, provoking her to greet the customers.

      "Hi, welcome to the Coffee Bean!" Daisy says cheerfully, but frowns when she sees Johnny.

      "I didn't know you worked today." Johnny says.

      "Just order what you want and don't disrupt our work." Daisy says and Johnny sighs. He wondered when she would forgive him.

      "Hi, Chaeyeon." Johnny says while smiling. She blushes and swipes her bangs behind her ear. 

      "What can I get you?" Chaeyeon asks.

      "I want two drinks. One black coffee and whatever Jaehyun gets."

      As Jaehyun looks over the menu above, Daisy uses the opportunity to check him out. He wore neutral colors just like any other day. His tan duster jacket went perfectly with his white button-down and grey slacks. His reddish brown hair was tussled—like he had just woke up. Daisy wondered to herself if an Adam's Apple could be considered y.

     "Daisy?" Daisy hears her friend and co-workers voice and snaps out of her trance. Jaehyun had a perplexed expression and all eyes were on her. "Two drinks."

      "Yes, two drinks." Daisy repeats and turns around to grab the cups. She scolds herself quietly, hitting her hand on her head softly and Jaehyun smirks. Daisy turns back around to face him. "I recommend you try the Dalgona Coffee or White Jasmine tea. Would you like to try one?"

      "I'll take both." says Jaehyun.

      Daisy smiles. "Okay." She says and gets to working.

      "I don't remember you liking milk tea." Johnny whispers.

      "I don't really like it. But these drinks have interesting names."

      Some time later, another day was ending for Daisy and Chaeyeon. They exit their shift together and both smelled of coffee beans and pastries. They walked down the quiet empty halls of the Mall side by side. "Do you think Jaehyun came to check on you?" asks Chaeyeon.

      "No. He doesn't think of me that way." Daisy says sadly. "I think I actually annoy him."

      "Didn't you mention that he has saved you two times now?"

      "Yeah, so?"

      "It just sounds like you guys have some sort of unspoken connection, that's all." Chaeyeon says. "He's always there when you're in danger or peril. Sounds like a real knight in shining armour."

      Now that she thought about it, Chaeyeon was right. Jaehyun had already saved her more times that she can count and she couldn't help but wonder if he really did like her. As the friends parted, Daisy noticed Jaehyun by his lonesome. He was staring intently at an advertisement of Moon Gayoung. Daisy walks over quietly and stands next to Jaehyun.

      "She's really pretty." Daisy says as Jaehyun caresses the picture. "But you know, touching the ad will make your hands dirty."

      "She is beautiful, isn't she?" Jaehyun asks with a smile.

      "Do you know Gayoung?" asks Daisy.

      "A long time ago." Jaehyun asks, then swiftly turns to face Daisy. "Wait, how do you know her name? Do you know her?"

      "I've only heard about her from Chaeyeon, but I don't know her in the slightest. You seem like you know her quite well."

      "We grew up together. She's been overseas for over three years now."

      "You must miss her. You know, I heard that the money she earns modeling she uses for the less fortunate. Someone like her would be blessed in life. She could even marry a prince." Daisy rambles on.

      "She's just a model." Jaehyun says. Daisy could hear a twinge of sadness in his husky voice.

      "England's newest Princess is a biracial woman like me—who was an actress by the way—and is now married to Prince Harry." Daisy says. "I think it's a very likely scenario. Don't you agree?"

      Jaehyun frowns. "You're always so noisy." His phone buzzes in his pocket and he checks it in return. Jaehyun suddenly smiles. "I have to go." Without another word, he ruffles Daisy's hair softly before walking away.

      What am I, a dog? Daisy thinks, swiping the hair out of her eyes. Johnny appears and walks alongside his cousin.

      "I thought I made it very clear that I didn't want to talk to you." Daisy says, arms crossed.

      "I know you're mad at me and you have every right to be. But I just wanted to tell you to keep your distance. I can tell you like Jaeyhun and you might not want to pull on that thread." Johnny says.

      "Why not?"

      Johnny sighs. "It's a complicated relationship between Jaehyun and Gayoung. I just don't want you to get hurt." He says and Daisy scoffs.

      "It wouldn't be the first time."


 

      Daisy attends a new week of school and she hoped that it would be different. She didn't get as many stares, but she was still felt uneasy, like everyone was waiting to attack her at any moment. She met Hera at the front of the school and they were on their way to their first class. It felt like Daisy hasn't caught up with her friend and she desperately needed to keep her up to date on the Taeyong debacle. Hera had been out of town with her family. "They did what?" Hera asks.

      "I got egged right after you gave me those clean clothes. They even had the audacity to cover me in flour."

      "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to protect you. You should actually be grateful." Hera says.

      "Why?"

      "People have been beaten or worse because of that Red Card. They seem to be taking it easy on you because you're a girl."

      Daisy shrugs. "I guess should be grateful." She says. As the pass through the halls, the students begin to whisper amongst themselves and Daisy got a weird sense of déjà vu. The three Kim's also known as the mean girls, blocked Hera and Daisy's path.

      "I'm surprised you still showed up here after a week. I thought you'd be smart and go back to where you came from." Saeron says.

      Daisy fake laughs and steps up to her. "You know, I feel sorry for you. You're too busy trying to get into Taeyong's pants that you fail to see how despicable of a person he really is. You should really have more respect for yourself." She says.

      "You're the one to talk about 'trying to get into someone's pants'? I'm guessing you haven't heard the rumor." Yoojung asks.

       "What rumor?" Daisy asks.

      "That you had an affair with your college professor back in America and that's why you moved out here. It's so sad really." Saeron pauses and smiles evilly. "You should have more respect for yourself."

      If smoke could come of of people's ears, Daisy would be an engine. This was the last straw and she knew exactly who to blame. Pushing her way through the crowd, Daisy kept eyes straight ahead as Hera and the student body followed her lead.

      Lee Taeyong, you've ruined my pride. You berated my spirit. And now you've crumbled my integrity. For that, you must pay.

      Daisy soon found herself in front of NCT's hideout and she bangs on the multicolored door. "Lee Taeyong!" She yells and continues to pound the door.

      "You're crazy!" Exclaims Saeron.

      The door opens and all of NCT 127 was present in the room. Taeyong still had his hand on the doorknob as he smirked. "It's too late to apologi—" Before Taeyong could finish his sentence, Daisy had boldly slapped him on the cheek. Taeyong held his face and looked at Daisy in disbelief.

      "I warned you."

 

Now that all the chapters are done, please continue reading on Wattpad for more. Once the story is finished I will publish on both platforms. Please make sure to comment as well and share! https://www.wattpad.com/story/235559310-boys-over-flowers-%E2%86%AC-nct-127?utm_source=web&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_myworks