Jeonghan looked at his phone after ending the call with Daena. Had he really just said that outloud?
He hadn't meant to. It had just slipped out. His eyes went wide at the realisation.
He slid his phone back into his pocket and turned slowly to face Hoshi who was standing behind him.
Hoshi stood there with his mouth open in shock staring at Jeonghan.
"Did you..?" Jeonghan started, trying to find the words to ask Hoshi if he had heard, knowing he more than likely had.
Hoshi nodded before Jeonghan could finish his sentence.
Jeonghan looked around, they were already in the practice room waiting for the other members to arrive even though they weren't due to for a while yet. Jeonghan had asked Hoshi to help him get some practice in alone and luckily after a quick scan of the room he realised they were still alone.
"Do not tell anyone" Jeonghan said sternly.
Hoshi frowned at this and after a moment spoke "Why?"
Jeonghan ran a hand through his hair in distress, pushing it back up and off his forehead.
"I..I didn't mean to say it" he replied quietly.
"What do you mean?" Hoshi asked in response.
Jeonghan didn't answer. He wasn't sure how.
"Hyung, what do you mean? Do you not feel that way about Noona?" Hoshi pressed.
Jeonghan pushed his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants and sighed. "I don't know, maybe... yes, I think so" he explained in a rush the words flowing out so quickly Hoshi almost missed them.
"Yes?" Hoshi asked.
Jeonghan looked down at his feet and nodded slowly.
Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't you mean to say it?"
"Can you stop with the questions Soonyoung?!" Jeonghan snapped, lifting his head and glaring at Hoshi.
Jeonghan watched as Hoshi took a step back away from him in surprise.
"S.. sorry I just, I was trying to help" Hoshi replied, it was his turn to look down at his feet.
Jeonghan watched for a moment as Hoshi shuffled in discomfort.
He could tell he had upset his friend. In an attempt to make it better he closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around Hoshi's shoulder.
"It's fine, I just... I didn't mean to say it to her like that, it just slipped out. I would rather have told her at the right time and in person" Jeonghan explained.
Hoshi looked up at Jeonghan. "Okay, that makes sense, sorry I pressed you about it. I just worry about Noona" he shrugged.
"You worry about her? What about me?" Jeonghan asked chuckling as he stepped away from Hoshi.
Jeonghan watched as a serious look took over Hoshi's face, that was often a sign he was going to say something that might hurt.
"I don't think you understand Hyung"
Jeonghan watched Hoshi waiting for him to continue.
"The likely outcome of this is she will get hurt"
Jeonghan crossed his arms. "What do you mean?" He demanded.
Hoshi sighed. "It's not just my opinion, Shua hyung agrees, you've never taken a relationship seriously, eventually you are going to break her heart"
Jeonghan could hear the blood rushing in his ears. He was furious.
"I'm going for a walk, I'll see you at practice" he declared.
He didn't look at Hoshi as he exited the room.
-
Daena took one final look in the full length mirror.
She had chosen her favourite white skinny jeans along with a pale blue checkered oversized button up shirt.
She nodded at herself in the mirror, pleased with her choice of outfit.
Checking the time Daena realised she really needed to leave if she was going to make it to the agency building on time, she wanted to get there slightly early and see Jeonghan before practice.
She grabbed her favourite pair of white sneakers and quickly laced them up.
Pulling out her phone she sent a quick text to Jeonghan letting him know she was on her way.
-
Daena took the walk to the agency building relatively slowly.
She was enjoying listening to music through her headphones and trying not to think if she had heard Jeonghan correctly or not during their call.
Soon enough the agency building was in sight. Daena placed her headphones away and reached into her bag to pull out her pass. She hadn't been asked to return it when she had stopped teaching and Minji had assured it that it would keep working if she wanted to visit.
Daena caught a glimpse of the bracelet Jeonghan had bought her dangling from her wrist and smiled. She hadn't taken it off since and had no intention of doing so. Leah had gushed about how beautiful it was the next day and basically pretended to die from jealousy at 'Daena's hot thoughtful boyfriend' to quote Leah's exact words.
She looked up at the agency building and spotted a familiar silhouette sitting on a bench just outside.
Even with his hood up and a mask on obscuring his face almost entirely Daena knew who it was.
Daena stopped directly in front of him. The masked man lifted his head slowly to look at her revealing more of his face. She had been right.
She had known it was Jeonghan as soon as she saw him.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked.
"Waiting for you" he replied with a shrug.
"What if someone saw you?" She asked anxiously.
"It's fine" he said getting up and walking towards the building.
Daena watched as he turned back to face her.
"Are you coming?" He asked.
Daena nodded an quickly shuffled after him.
As she entered the building she caught the eye of Minji who was sat at the reception desk.
As soon as they had entered the building Jeonghan had pushed his hood back and removed his mask. He didn't need to hide his identity inside.
Minji waved furiously at Daena.
Daena stopped and waved back. She felt a warm hand lightly tug at her wrist. She looked up to see Jeonghan dragging her towards the practice room.
"Come on" he groaned.
Daena shrugged an apology at Minji who looked at the hand Jeonghan now had on Daena's wrist in confusion.
Daena winked at Minji and gave her a thumbs up.
Minji just continued to stare at the pair in confusion until they disappeared from sight.
"Have you eaten?" Jeonghan asked.
"Yes, have you?" Daena responded.
"Yeah, I got some food while I was out" he replied quickly.
Daena sensed something off in his tone but didn't want to question it.
Soon they were in the corridor that held Seventeen's usual practice room but instead of heading towards it Jeonghan opened the door to a different room and gestured for Daena to enter.
As soon as they were both in the room Jeonghan closed the door behind them.
Daena glanced around the room and realised there was no one else in the room. They were alone.
She turned to face Jeonghan was standing behind her.
"Where is everyone?" She asked.
"In the practice room" Jeonghan replied with a shrug.
Daena frowned at him.
"And why aren't we in the practice room?"
Jeonghan didn't answer. Daena shifted uncomfortably, something was off with him, she could sense it, he hadn't been acting like himself since she had arrived at the building. She wondered if it had anything to do with what she thought she had heard earlier.
Daena let out an irritated sigh and stepped around Jeonghan to open the door planning on heading to the actual practice room so she could ask the others what was going on.
As soon as Daena placed a hand on the door handle she sensed Jeonghan move behind her.
He placed a hand on the door to stop it from opening.
Daena let out another irritated groan and turned to face him. She found Jeonghan standing immediately behind her trapping her between himself and the door, he was so close she could smell his aftershave and feel his breath on her cheek.
"Wait" he sighed. "I'm sorry I just wanted a moment alone with you" he leaned in and placed his forehead on her shoulder as he said this.
Daena relaxed at hearing this and reached out to take his hand. "Why didn't you just say?" She asked.
Jeonghan sighed against her shoulder his breath tickling her neck. "I've not been having a great day"
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.
"No, its okay, I'll be fine" Jeonghan said straightening up to look at her. He ran a hand down her arm stopping at her bracelet and started playing with the charms dangling from it.
"You can talk to me Jeonghan"
"I know" He whispered leaning forwards.
Daena knew what was coming and beat him to it, placing her lips on his before closing her eyes.
After a moment they broke apart.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Daena asked her voice full of concern.
"I feel better now" Jeonghan replied winking at her.
Daena laughed and lightly slapped him on the arm.
"Come on, lets go find the others" She said as she turned to open the door.
"Wait, one more thing" Jeonghan said stopping her.
Daena turned back to face him and waited for him to continue.
"I do, you know" He said simply.
Daena stared at him in confusion not entirely sure what he meant "Do?" She asked.
Jeonghan paused and took a deep breath before replying. "Love you, I meant what I said earlier"
Daena stared back at him, her mouth dropping open in shock. She had convinced herself she had misheard him earlier.
When she didn't respond Jeonghan spoke again watching her carefully as he did so.
"I love you Daena" he said quietly.
Daena continued to stare at him watching as concern slowly appeared on his face.
She realised he was waiting for her to say it back and the longer she took the more likely it was that he was thinking she wouldn't.
She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist pulling him into a tight hug.
"I love you too" She whispered into his chest. Smiling as she felt his arms wrap around her in response.