Proprietorial love

8

One day, during a rare time when Daniel wasn't actually staring at Jay and instead focused on his homework, Zack appeared in front of him.

"Hey, Daniel." The man in front of him said an angry sneer across his face screamed of murder. "Come with me, I need backup."

"For what?" Daniel chuckled. They'd been having lunch together for the past few weeks and Daniel was glad to say his quest for friendship had succeeded, now that his current circle was wider he had been planning on making more connections outside the classroom itself.

"I asked Namsoo to buy me some new shoes and he got scammed." Zack huffed. "So we're gonna go get my money back. You're a businessman, yeah? So I'll need your stupid charisma."

Daniel smiled at the compliment. "You sure know how to make a guy feel special." He crooned.

Zack glared harder, but his slight blush was undeniable. "Not as special as whatever the hell you and Jay are."

At the mention, Jay looked up at them with an inquisitive expression. Daniel immediately brightened up under Jay's attention. "Jay, do you want to come with me and Zack?" He asked.

Jay seemed confused but nodded either way, Daniel ignored the snide "It's like you die without Jay's attention" from Zack and stood up, dragging his friend up by the arm.

"Let's go then, Zack!" Hyungseok cheered brightly, watching the man huff in exasperation before following them out the door.

Daniel was more than happy to let Zack lead the way, content to simply be back up and cling to his friend. Though he had to act more aloof when they got on the train, fixing his mask and becoming the cold businessman Daniel Park never was in school.

"Ahh, it's such a nice day, isn't it Jay?" Daniel chatted away, a hand holding onto his boba as Jay sipped his tea. "I never thought about skipping school, but I guess Zack is making me into a delinquent."

Speaking of Zack, he was... making the most idiotic face Daniel ever had the displeasure of seeing.

"Jay! Jay!" A man sitting next to Jay spoke. "Can I have more milk?"

Right, Vasco was here too.

He didn't know why Vasco wanted to tag along, all he knew of the man was that he was the leader of Burn Knuckles and, apparently, a somewhat friend of Zack.

This meant that Vasco was also dropped into Daniel's life rather unceremoniously.

'Unceremoniously', in this case, meant that Vasco tried to break his shoulder when they first properly talked. Then his dear Jay entered the scene and nearly broke Vasco's wrist from outrage.

Daniel, ever the diplomat and mastermind, took Vasco to the nurse's office where he inquired about Vasco's hate towards him. Of course, while Vasco left many details of his life out, Daniel had a general understanding of what happened to him.

To be bullied and used the way Vasco was, Daniel could only imagine the anger and humiliation he would feel that day. So, instead of giving fake comfort for something he never experienced before, he simply said: "You're quite courageous, to live through something like that and rise to be the hero people like you needed. What an admirable man."

The light that shone in Vasco's eyes could almost be compared to the first time Daniel saw Jay smile.

Now here they were, friends.

If Daniel were honest, he didn't necessarily care about being close to the man, but Jay seemed oddly proud of him for making friends, so Daniel naturally sucked it up and kept in contact with Vasco.