A New Start || Seventeen

Chapter 28

Daena silently moved aside giving Jeonghan space to walk past her into her apartment.

She wanted to speak but the second she had seen him standing in her doorway it was like she had lost the ability.

She closed the door behind him and watched as he crossed the room and threw himself onto the couch like he had been there a hundred times before,  like it was his home. He hadn't been in Daena's apartment much. In fact he had been there just once.

Daena now seeing him in her apartment realised that she had already know what she wanted that night when he had come to her aid. She just hadn't been ready to admit it.

Jeonghan placed an arm on the back on the couch and turned to look at Daena who was still frozen by the doorway.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Daena nodded and crossed the room to take a seat in her armchair. For some reason sitting on the couch beside Jeonghan didn't seem like the right thing to do.

Jeonghan watched her carefully and then blew his hair out of his eyes suddenly.

Daena realised with a start his hair was a different color. Gone was the blonde she had come to know, his hair was dark now almost black.

"You... you've changed your hair" Daena stuttered.

Jeonghan ran a hand through his now dark hair. "Yeah"

Daena blushed, feeling stupid for pointing out the obvious.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

Daena liked it a lot, maybe more than the blonde. It suited him and contrasted well with his pale skin and big dark eyes. She simply nodded in response.

Jeonghan changed position on the couch leaning back into it and getting comfortable.

"I heard you were looking for me today" he stated.

Daena swallowed. All the confidence she felt earlier around this conversation had left her and all she could think about was how awful it would feel if he rejected her after all this. Maybe she had misread the signs. Maybe Joshua and Hoshi were both wrong about Jeonghan's feelings being genuine. Maybe this was all a game to him.

She took a deep breath before answering. " I was, I'm guessing you have spoken to Joshua"

Jeonghan nodded. "I have"

"What did he tell you?"

Jeonghan leaned forward. "I'd rather hear it from you" he said before running his tongue over his bottom lip.

Daena blushed again and looked away. Now she had admitted her feelings to herself she found him more attractive than ever. She was certain there was no way he could ever genuinely be interested in her.

She stared at the wall beside her wondering if there was a way she could lie her way out of this. She suddenly didn't feel like having this conversation.

"Daena?" Jeonghan called her name snapping her attention back to him. He looked concerned. "What did you want to tell me?" He asked quietly.

Daena looked at the now cold cup of tea she had made herself earlier. She stood up and rubbed her hands on her jeans. "Oh, nothing. It wasn't important. I'm going to make some tea, do you want some?" She asked as she made her way out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Alone she steadied herself against the counter for a moment. She had used the tea as an excuse to leave the room but now she thought it might calm her nerves.

She slowly started to make the tea, taking her time as much as she could. She wasn't sure she was ready to go back in there and say out loud what Jeonghan was pushing her to say.