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Daera fixed her big, black earphones over her ears and swiped her ID over the scanner in front of SM's communication centres glass doors. A sigh left her lips and she threw the lanyard over her neck. She didn't want to come here in the first place, but a certain uncle of hers asked her to come over, so they could go grocery shopping once his shift was over.
It's been a week since Daera left Jeju. She has been feeling down and gloomy ever since. Not even Red Velvet was cheering her up and Park Lena was on repeat ever since. She felt so hurt about Donghyuck's behaviour and the fact that he didn't even ask Daera what actually happened in the Teddy Bear Museum.
He had called and texted her multiple times, but Daera wasn't ready to talk to him yet.
The ping of the elevator doors got her out of her thoughts and into reality. With confident steps, she walked to one of NCT's break rooms and knocked on the door. Once a familiar "Come in" was heard, Daera opened the door and bowed, while entering the room.
She was faced with Chenle and Jisung that were currently taking a break from Dance Practice.
Chenle immediately jumped out of his chair and almost knocked his glass of juice over. "D-Daera-noona! What a surprise!" The Chinese lad stuttered and tried to fix his clothes. Jisung gave him a weird look and looked over to Daera. "Hi Noona, Ari-hyung is still in the Café with Renjun-hyung, Jaem-hyung and Jeno-hyung. He should be here any second." The youngest said and sipped from his coffee.
"You look really good today, Noona!" Chenle exclaimed and Daera looked down at herself. She wore nude tights, worn out Superstars, a black leather mini-skirt and a loose navy coloured hoodie. On her back was her glittery backpack and her headphones were dangling from her neck.
She looked tired and threw on the first clothes she found after coming home from school today.
"Thank you, Chenle." She sighed and let herself fall down on one of the couches. She looked around the room. It was decorated with several NCT merchandise. Pictures of the boys were hung up on the walls and Daera felt a pang in her chest when her eyes automatically landed on Donghyuck's picture.
Jisung caught her staring at the vocal's picture. "He's still at home in Jeju. He fractured his foot a few weeks ago." Jisung explained and Daera almost said 'I know', but then she remembered that no one knew of her and Donghyuck's relationship.
Could she even call this a relationship?
This was much more hurtful than an innocent lovers quarrel. Daera was hurt by Donghyuck's ignorant behaviour. It was obvious that he would defend his family member but he never gave her a chance to explain the situation. Daera took a deep breath and looked at Jisung.
"He must be in a lot of pain, right?" But Jisung shook his head. "He seems to be doing ok. He face timed us a few days ago when he was hiking with his cousin. She seems to take lots of care for him!" Jisung beamed and Daera felt sick.
Tears were pricking in the corners of her eyes and she quickly stood up. "C-Chenle? Where's the restroom?" She asked with a shaky voice. Chenle explained the way and Daera dashed out of the room the second the tears fell from her face.
She rushed into the restroom and held on tightly to the sink. Her breath was hitching and the tears streamed over her face like a waterfall. She missed Donghyuck so much and she hated feeling this way towards him. She wiped the tears aggressively from her face and looked at herself in the mirror.
Her mascara was smudged and her bottom lip was shaking crazily. "I can't believe he did this to me...", she whispered. "He doesn't even seem to be sad that I left. Why don't I leave him completely then? He has his cousin so why should he still like me, right? I mean, look at me? I'm super ugly and probably super clingy." Daera blew up her cheeks and bit her bottom lip when she heard a cough and turned around.
A squeal almost left her lips when she saw no one else than Kang Seulgi walk out of a cubicle. "Oh my... Seulgi-unnie, I am SO sorry you had to hear this!" Daera apologised and bowed deeply. "Daera... look up." The Idol demanded and Daera looked up. It was still awkward being acquainted with her favourite singer, but she slowly got used to it.
It was one of the perks of being able to walk in and out of SM Entertainment.
"I'm sorry if I eavesdropped, Daera-yah. But I just couldn't stop listening to your monologue. Are you okay?" - "Honestly?" Daera asked and Seulgi nodded while washing her hands. "It sounded better than any Drama the girls and I have watched lately."
"You have to promise, you won't tell anyone. Especially not your company!" Daera said and Seulgi nodded and leaned onto the wall next to the sink. "Pinky promise!" Seulgi smiled and linked her pinky finger with Daera.
"Donghyuck and I... we're a couple. We've been together for seven months and last week I visited him in Jeju and then something happened." Daera didn't give Seulgi any chance to react to her sudden confession. "His cousin told me to leave him alone, she told me that I don't belong to him and that I only ruin his career." Daera sighed. "She then cried in Hyuck's arms telling him she lost me in the museum and that she was so worried about me. Donghyuck then got cross at me for running away from Sora-sshi in the museum—what I never did! So he demanded me to apologize. And since I didn't want to fight with him I apologized and Sora-sshi seemed so triumphant." Daera looked down and nibbled on the edge of her shirt. "That evening I begged his Mum to drive me to the airport. And then I came back. I have ignored his calls and texts ever since."
Daera looked at the palms of her hands, while Seulgi nodded slowly. "Wow... that's indeed one hell of a story." The older female said and poked Daera's shoulder. Daera looked up. "Donghyuck sure wasn't acting very nice to you, but it takes two people for a fight." Seulgi pursed her lips. "You should talk to him and explain how you felt when he took his cousin's side without listening to you." Seulgi continued and then smiled brightly.
"I knew the two of you would end up together!" - "Eh?" Daera asked and looked at her Ultimate Bias. "What do you mean?" - "Donghyuck often came to me and Irene and asked how ReVeLuvs' mind works. I guessed he was talking about you since I always saw the two of you together. Congratulation on your seven months, Daera." - "Thank you Unnie..." Daera breathed out and Seulgi wrapped the younger female in a warm hug.
"I really hope the two of you can fix this." Seulgi patted Daera's head and smiled happily. "Same, Unnie. Same."
