Best Friends || Kang Daniel

t w e n t y t w o

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Niel: Where are you?

Niel: You ran away again.

Niel: Just what are you running away from?

Phone in my hand, I eyed the messages warily. My fingers were itching to type in a reply or at least something. But I couldn't think of a proper one. Aside from Daniel, my phone was bombarded with missed calls and text messages from Chaeyoung, Seongwoo and Jisung. Even Minhyun's name appeared.

Niel: I miss you.

For a long time, I was contemplating whether to press the send button or not. Shaking my head, I erased the message I composed and decided to switch my phone off instead. Then, I pushed it away from me as I hugged my knees and buried my head.

It didn't stop there. I closed my eyes, shutting it tightly. There was darkness for a moment but later on, the nothingness materialized into a shape, forming a figure. It didn't take long for me to recognize the figure as Daniel. The look on his face the last time I saw him. The hurt in his eyes. The pain shining through them and the tears forming.

"Ahyeon is back."

"I've been in contact with her ever since she came back to Korea."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner. I don't know how to."

"Ahyeon is back."

Of course, Ahyeon.

Why do I even begin? She was everything in Daniel's eyes. His first love, his first kiss, his first relationship; his first everything. The one and only girl that Daniel ever truly loved.

Even though it pains me to say this but, I liked Ahyeon for Daniel. She was kind, graceful, beautiful and talented- everything that I wasn't. She was the only girl who wasn't jealous of my relationship with Daniel nor was she threatened about it. We even became as close as friends back in my first year college but we were polar opposites.

When she wore a lovely dress, I opted for jeans and sweaters. When she'd go for heels, I trusted my old sneakers. When she was busy playing the cello gracefully, I was recklessly messing around with my paintings. She was prim, I was not. I enjoyed finding the beauty in imperfections, she did not.

Ahyeon would try so hard to be friends with me and I did the same thing. We bonded but found no connection in each other like the one I have with Chaeyoung. None of that. It's as if we are two like magnets; when we are pushed together, we instantly repel.

Or simply because I didn't try hard enough to be her friend. Truth be told, I didn't want to at first. It was selfish, I know. But could you blame me?

How could I be friends with Ahyeon?

Those times, I was in absolute despair. Daniel was in love with someone else. I was watching him fall in love with someone else. I allowed him to fall in love with someone else. Imagine how broken my heart was.

There was no chance at all for me now. That spot, which I've been longing for, was already taken by someone else. And that was Ahyeon.

I remember just crying my heart out every night. The emotions I've kept at the bay, I let them flow freely when no one is awake. It was torturous; seeing the one you love fall in love with someone else. The pain was unbearable but somehow, I was able to pretend as if everything was fine.

I could just take Daniel away from Ahyeon by confessing but I didn't. Why? Because I saw how happy he was. The way he smiles when he's with Ahyeon, I've never seen him smile like that. I had the chance to be selfish. However, my selflessness failed me from doing so.