Chapter Text
Somebody was shaking him.
'Hngh... I don't want to wake up...'
The shaking got worse. Ignoring it, he shifted to his side. He hasn't had such a nice, deep and peaceful sleep in a long time.
'Let me sleep...'
He was then awoken with a harsh slap.
Daniel woke up with a jolt.
The most terrifying set of eyes in the world stared directly at him.
'Ah, so that's why that slap was so familiar.' That's why the slap provoked a reaction from him akin to a scarred war veteran upon hearing firecrackers in the sky. It really reminded him of his days in the junkyard where he would be beaten to oblivion and somehow be expected to take more tomorrow.
"...Hyung? What are you doing here?" Then, as if realizing something, "Wait, what 𝘢𝘳𝘦 you doing here!? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 are you here—" He was even wearing his prison uniform still!
Gun let out a grunt at Daniel's seemingly never-ending questions, already annoyed.
"Ask the others, brat. Do I look like I would know?"
Wouldn't he?
As if seeing Daniel's thoughts that conveyed his full trust on Gun being omniscient, Gun just sighed and shook his head before turning away.
Daniel puffed out his cheeks. 'Typical hyung,' He thought, before he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder.
Jay tilted his head inquistively, although there was worry in his tone. Oddly enough, he also looked a little drowsy, as if he has woken up just a few moments before. That was maybe the reason Daniel was woken up so roughly.
'Ah, right. Hyung said there were others.'
Really, how stupid of him to forget that so soon. Was he really that ecstatic to see Gun? How embarrassing. He flushed before he shook his head and replied to Jay's question.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Hyung is always like that."
Jay nodded, but did not seem satisfied with his answer.
Daniel blinked as Jay grabbed his face, gently of course, and put a cute bandage on his cheek where he was slapped.
'Even though I'm not even in my second body, he's so nice to me... Jay truly is an angel.'
Daniel sighed in fond exasperation.
"Thank, Jay."
Who'll tell Jay that just bandage isn't going to help him much. Although, he still appreciated the sentiment. He didn't think himself to be worthy of Jay's virtuous attitude and his kindness.
He hasn't even repaid him for all the times Jay has helped him!
And then another familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Ugh, can you both stop being so lovey dovey like a married couple and actually pay attention to our surroundings?"
Jay looked at him offended. After all, it wasn't the other Daniel— 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥— he was being roped in with.
Daniel recognized him just by his voice and his annoyed tone. He turned towards the owner of the voice.
"Zack, you're here too?"
'Huh?? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰? What is that supposed to mean!?' He took deep breaths to calm down the hurt in him at Daniel not even noticing his presence.
Relax, Zack. It isn't wise to be so short tempered. You're not a loser anymore. Remember what That Monk said about Buddha's teachings. And whatever, they're not even that close, anyway. Not as much as the other Daniel.
Zack slumped visibly, mood dampening. 'Man, I really wish that atleast Mira was here.'
Now that Daniel realized that it was odd these people were here at the same time, he took a look around.
(He also found it weird his senses were so dull that he couldn't even sense the presence of others, but brushed it off.)
Looking around, Daniel was surprised to see so many familiar people. With Zack who was talking with Johan (seems like they're on good terms now and catching up to each other), he also saw Zoe, who beamed at him, Vasco who was just standing there (poor guy, he looked so lost), the duo of Vin Jin and Mary, bickering as always and... Crystal was there too.
She waved at him when she saw him looking, Daniel waving back before she looked away, lost in her own thoughts perhaps.
Did she even study in his school anymore? He doesn't know, but he's relieved to see she's much more composed than the last time he saw her at her father's funeral.
𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳...
'Way to ruin your own mood, Daniel.'
He dispelled his thoughts of the man, prioritizing the current situation at the moment.
Now that he saw it, Hudson was there, too. That makes it all of Allied, doesn't it? Speaking of Allied and gangs, just looking to the left he saw Hostel.
More specifically, Eli, and behind him stood Warren and Sally, busy with the sleeping Yenna. Maybe that's why Eli looked so fierce right now, realized Daniel, as he saw where Eli's gaze was pinned.
Workers.
There was Eugene with his signature cunning smile and the VVIP just behind him as always along with that giant who had subdued Daniel back in the 2nd affiliate, Mandeok. He's sure he could beat him now, though, he won't let the events repeat again. Just thinking of being captured again makes him shudder...
He understands Eli's hostile attitude towards them more than anyone (maybe not more than just about anyone, but being subjected to bodily experimentation wasn't a very wonderful experience. 0/10, Daniel would not recommend).
(Oh, and he guesses that blonde japanese man, Nomen, was there too, looking bored and humming to himself. Ryuhei, was his name?)
Moving on, to the right of the J High squad, there was also Jake, with Jerry in tow, who was currently making intense eyes contact with Samuel.
'Are they about to fight in here?' Daniel wouldn't even care normally (courtesy of being the leader of a gang with very short tempered members, namely Zack and Vin), assigning it to just how they are with each other, but Eli's daughter, Yenna was still here. He didn't want a little kid to witness extreme acts of violence.
Should he try to do something?
"Samuel, I'm telling you. You should go bald to have even more tattoos on your head."
"Bastard—"
...Nevermind.
They didn't look pissed enough to go at each other's throat as of right now, so he supposes everything is fine.
Oh, and was Samuel standing with Goo? Not too suprising, he supposes, since Goo 𝘩𝘢𝘥 been going on about Samuel being his 'secret friend' sometime ago.
What really suprises him is that... Why isn't Gun-hyung or atleast Goo talking to each other? By this point, he would have thought Goo would come over and pester Gun like always, but this time, he saw Goo just giving him a single glance of longing (?) and then turn away.
... Strange. Goo wasn't even smiling widely upon seeing him. Actually, that has lately been the case everytime Daniel has seen him.
Daniel turned to his hyung and was about to encourage him to talk to Goo when he saw him having... quite the weird expression. It was the perverse one he had whenever Daniel performed a particularly neat trick; he remembers getting absolutely pummeled afterwards due to Gun's excitement.
He followed his hyung's line of sight to see who was the unfortunate object of his lust for fighting this time and promtly flinched.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯... 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰!
Perhaps Daniel's animosity was very much leaking out from his head that the other man tilted his head to look at him, raising an eyebrow with a gaze so belittling as if he saw Daniel as nothing more than a squirrel throwing a tantrum for its lost hazelnut.
Daniel gritted his teeth.
'𝘒𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘮.' That bastard. He would never forget what he did to Jinrang and his gang in Busan.
And as if that wasn't enough, there was another bastard right beside him.
"Daniel, how are you?" Asked James as if they were on very amiable terms, like friends. Hah.
Daniel wasn't over the Busan incident yet. He didn't grace him with a reply, choosing to ignore him out of spite; He received a smile in response.
'What the hell, why didn't I sense him? Scratch that, I couldn't detect anyone's presence!' thought Daniel, a little doubting of his own capabilites now. This situation was a little familiar to back when he was tricked into drinking at a hostess bar; The loss of his senses was really alike.
'Am I drugged or something?... Why am I so dull?'
It was then that something hard like a pebble fell on top of his head.
"Ow!"
That alerted almost everybody in the room to look his way.
Daniel, rubbing his head, looked down to see what had hit him. He picked it up.
'A paper? Wrapped around a rock??'
He unwrapped the paper around the rock— 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘜𝘨𝘩— and saw that there was writing on the crumpled looking paper, so he began reading.
...Ah, so he really was drugged. No, not actually drugged, but somehow his senses had been dulled and the itch to fight had been lowered in not just him, but also everybody else in this room too.
Maybe that's why Gun-hyung didn't jump straight to fight someone.
Well, nothing surprises him anymore. After the whole 2 bodies thing, he isn't very surprised that someone can just do... 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.
"Daniel, could you read out aloud what the notes says?" called out James.
Now, he wouldn't do that normally, but he knows that the others were curious too and he didn't want a fight to break out just to read a note which he would share anyway. He knows some people here who would do that.
"...Yeah."
And so he did.
—
The first half of the letter explained to them about their circumstances and how fighting was not encouraged, as evidenced by them being influenced by something that makes them not want to fight and be calmer than to panic or attack somebody.
The second half, however...
"'𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵'?" James mused, "What an odd choice of wording." He looked deeply contemplative.
"Right..." Daniel unconsciously agreed.
And it feels weird that they're going to be 'reacting' to him. Or more accurately, his second body.
"Isn't this invasion of privacy?" questioned Zack with a raised eyebrow, against the notion of watching his close friend without his consent.
Zoe jumped in. "Yeah, it feels... stalkerish." She would know, she's been through it.
Daniel shuddered. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩? Augh, just remembering it makes him sick.
"I object to watching someone without their knowledge." Crystal flipped her hair cinematically.
Eli also spoke, "I think most of us here agree that since this is information about Daniel being leaked without his permission, we won't participate," with Warren and Sally nodding behind him.
Daniel's heart warmed upon seeing his friends try to protect him even when he wasn't there, or atleast according to them. He even saw Jay vehemently nodding alongside the J High squad (although Vin looked like he couldn't care less).
Similarly, anyone in this room wasn't overly enthusiastic to invade someone's privacy either; be it that they didn't want to encroach upon it or that they simply did not care enough (like Ryuhei, Samuel, Goo, and Kitae who... somehow had a taco he was eating?).
Looking around, Jake and Jerry were also in favour of this decision. Gun had a disgruntled look on his face, too, as if he was displeased about the circumstances.
The only one who seemed to be a little sad at not fucking violating someone's privacy seemed to be Eugene. His face looked as if a child didn't get their promised candy.
...That's a new low, even for him, thought Daniel with a deadpan. Okay, maybe not a new low considering what the 4th affiliate was, but still! Even James looked a bit nauseated at the prospect!
Now that he thinks about it, he used to be an idol before. He must have had his fair share of stalkers too. Daniel, begrudgingly, could sympathize with that.
(Of course, he didn't realize James wasn't averse to watching him and quite literally also invading his privacy but just feeling the nausea from the memories of his stalker.)
"Right," Hudson spoke up, having been silently observing the whole time. "Since nobody here— or atleast, the majority, doesn't want to participate, we'd like to leave."
...
Silence. Total, utter silence.
Many looked around or waited for something to happen now, maybe another paper ball or some kind of announcement. Anything.
But nothing came.
Daniel frowned. "Hey, whoever it is, if you can hear us then please let us out—"
*whirr* *buzzt-!"
Noises of machine parts grinding against each other and electronic devices booting resounded through the whole room.
'What the—'
In a distance, sections of the floor parted and theatre seats emerged facing a wall. The giant wall then lit up like a screen and the words written on it were:
'𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀.'
Surely, this eccentric group of people wouldn't comply that nicely?
...
They all took their seats.
Daniel sat between Zack, who had Johan on his other side and Jay, who had Zoe sit with him. The J high students and Allied (which was really only Hudson as the other members were students at Daniel's school) sit pretty close together.
Hostel was close to their group as well, along with Big Deal who were also pretty close to Samuel and Goo. The workers sat a little further and lastly, James and Kitae sat in eyeshot distance but not too close either.
Daniel sweatdropped. 'I didn't expect they all would actually sit.' Maybe it was the weird effect this room had on them, or they all really did do it out of their own complete will.
Daniel then realized Gun hadn't taken his seat. Feeling bad (he really shouldn't) that he was standing there alone, he ushered his hyung over to sit with him.
"Zack, could you scoot over a little?" Daniel asked him placatingly with hands joined.
Zack grumbled. "Damn it, you really wanna sit with that black eyed psycho than with me!?"
Daniel gave him a pleading smile, sweatdropping. "Please? Can't you see he's so lonely—"
"What are you going on about, brat?" Interrupted Gun.
"Shh! I'm trying to make him move! Stop for a second, hyung."
Gun relented annoyedly and Daniel was able to make space for him, not before saying another 'sorry, Zack!' to the upset teenager.
Onlookers watched the scene with interest, confusion or wariness, except a few disinterested before they all looked away. After everyone was settled, the letters on the screen changed.
'𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂! 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.'
With that, the screen went black before being lit again after a few seconds.
Daniel stared at the 'screen' in marvel, wondering if technology really had come so far; meanwhile, he remembers cellphone being the latest thing in town he had seen just a few years ago.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.
While others were not very familiar and were left trying to figure out the location, those who went to J High almost instantly recognized the uniform.
'Are we watching something from our school?' was the thought that rang through each of them.
Those like Jake, Warren and Sally got a bit nostalgic, remembering their school days and how they couldn't complete their education (not Samuel, he considered himself educated enough). Although, Jake was the only one who didn't long for it as much.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 2 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘱.
'They can show thoughts too?' thought Hudson, a bit taken aback. 'What kind of technology...' Safe to say, many others were also wondering the same thing.
A few of the students recognized the blonde as part of the practical music department, mostly from the performance at the J High festival a little while ago.
"Hey Vin," Mary nudged her best friend, "Pretty sure that's Beom on the screen."
"Huh?" Vin Jin was scratching his ear, not really paying attention. "Sure." It isn't like he can see shit with his 6x black tinted glass anyways.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦.
The mention of Eli instantly brought a realization to some of the others.
"Eli's school, huh?" Eugene mumbled under his breath.
'Then, it's the same one Daniel Park (Big Daniel) is attending. I'm sure we'll be seeing him soon too, if what the note said about watching him was true,' he concluded.
"Hey Eli, is that your school?" Sally asked curiously while gently rocking Yenna who was beginning to stir a bit, receiving a nod in reply.
"Yeah. It is." How weird. It feels strange to see people talking about him when he's present to hear them— not that he hasn't come across that situation multiple times, but still.
"You were really living your best life without us, huh?" Warren pretended to be upset to which Eli tried to explain himself. Warren laughed it off while Sally giggled, telling him he's just being teased which made Eli sigh out of relief.
'Seriously, these two... They'll be the death of me.' He sighed again, this time in fond exasperation. He was really glad to be back with his family.
𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
'𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴.'
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥.
Daniel abruptly remembers what day it was on the screen upon seeing Beom admire himself in the mirror.
'It's my first day of High school!'
Then, a realization dawned over him. Daniel really was panicking now.
'If we can see the thoughts of others, then... What about my secret!? What if they find out I have 2 bodies!?!? How am I going to explain that!!!!'
And he was right. Even something as simple as a 'whoops' when he bumped into the blonde guy was shown.
'I'm so fucked!!'
Beside him, Jay perked up at the voice of his best friend.
Zack also recognized it. "That sounds like Daniel." That had to be Daniel, otherwise which handsome bastard gets such a reaction?
"Woah, really?" Vasco's mouth made an 'o' shape, internally wondering why Little Daniel was at their school (He didn't realize it was the big one; it's OK, he's a little slower than others but he'll come around).
Zoe squealed at the prospect of getting to watch Daniel. Of course, she was against invasion of privacy, but she's a girl too! She isn't immune to Daniel's charms and would want to see him too like any other woman (and man, haha).
Not only the J High Students, but many other also knew who that voice belonged to, although some had trouble remembering like Ryuhei or trouble caring like Kitae.
'He sounds like such a wimp here, even more than usual,' thought Gun with a disapproving expression as he saw Daniel apologize profusely to the blonde. Seriously, this was the guy that gave him the best night of his life? The amount of disappointments today was really piling up.
Samuel had similar thoughts. The Daniel he met at the 4th affiliate was much more wilder and to his tastes; not this goody two shoes. 'You were really so different, Daniel...' Hell, It didn't even look like there was a single fighting bone in that body.
𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘖𝘒, 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.
𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭.
'Kyaaaa~!!! So caring and cool and sweet and kind and— AAAA!!' There was no end to Zoe's fangirling as she swayed side to side.
However, when the Daniel on the screen mentioned that he wasn't used to being this tall, questions arose among many.
Crystal frowned, finding Daniel's thought very weird, although she brushed it off as just him being strange in general.
"What, was he a shortcake or something?" said Zack, disbelieving.
"From hearing his thoughts, it sounds like it was more of an overnight change and not gradual height increase," added Hudson, raising a brow.
Daniel sweated.
Jake had an expression of being deep in thought, rubbing his chin. "Does that mean I can call him shawty?"
Wanting to be helpful, Jerry added his opinion. "I don't think so, boss Jake. He's a little more taller now."
"Ah." Jake nodded as if it made perfect sense.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.
𝘈𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵.
Zoe made a face at the girls even though she herself understood that it was just Daniel's exceptional handsomeness that drew everyone in.
Vasco almost cried at the girls' effort just to get a glimpse of Daniel. 'No, you must not cry Vasco,' he sniffled, 'Daniel isn't a bad guy like other handsome guys.' Although he's met many nice good-looking guys now, Vasco still cannot let go of his bias against handsome guys so easily.
"Ugh, this shit is so damn repetitive!" complained Vin, looking pissed off at every scene essentially just Daniel being glazed.
Mary laughed at him. "You're just jealous," she mocked.
And then there was another weird comment on the screen about Daniel's body, indicating he didn't wear this size usually.
'...He's really making it sound like he had an overnight growth spurt,' thought Crystal .
(That, or she was right about him also having 2 bodies back then. But that couldn't be, right?)
'Oh my god, I feel like I'll age 20 times faster with all the stress this reaction thing is giving me,' Daniel internally cried.
"Right, you and the other Daniel have some weird 'and they were roomates' thing going on," added Goo, who seemed like he was finally in the mood to talk.
What? Where did that even come from?? "No, Goo—"
"Yeah, you sharing clothes was kinda obvious," Zack cut in sharply, "And don't deny it; your thoughts on the screen are all the evidence I need." From Zack's perspective, he thought Big Daniel wore Little Daniel's clothes all the time like a cheesy couple would do.
Zack, seriously, your dumb ass ideas are far too removed from reality!
"No, you've got it all wrong—"
But nobody was listening, and the only one who did was mute so he couldn't defend him like always other than just flailing his arms around.
"Pfft..." James chuckled at the situation, being the only one who knows the truth about Daniel's circumstances. He tried to hide his smile behind his fist, which ended up earning him a look from Kitae who was non verbally calling him a weirdo.
Whatever, whatever. Since when does he care about Kitae's opinions when he is just as weird and creepy, if not more. Atleast James isn't as old as this hag and is actually at an age he can do aegyo and act cute (well, not that he would; he's had enough of it in the idol industry).
𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘻𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥.
Daniel blushed a little from the attention, even if it was him on the screen the girls were gawking at. He still wasn't used to getting such a reaction from people in his second body, and now even his original body receives the same attention; he'll never be able to understand it.
Zoe also had a similar reaction as the girl on screen when the screen zoomed to his face, finally showing it directly after all those candid angles like foreshadowing a long awaited character.
And it was not only her who thought Daniel's appearance was exquisite.
Jay was frozen looking at the screen, mesmerised by Daniel once again like all the other times he was in the latter's company.
Zack, for a moment, forgot his snappy remarks and was also left dumbly staring at the screen, jaw slack. Beside him, Johan was looking away shyly, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Gun was also silent, looking mostly unaffected if one didn't look close enough. Daniel was too breath taking to be brushed away, after all. Even Crystal, who wasn't much for looks, had to admit Daniel had stunning looks.
Ryuhei grumbled under his breath that Kitsune really was too handsome, and it wasn't fair. He couldn't even make fun of his looks because nobody had the audacity to call such a handsome face ugly.
Eugene heard him, giving him a side eye before also silently agreeing as his gaze returned to the screen. He did miss having such a charming subordinate, and Yuseong seemed to like him too. A shame that Daniel Park was a traitor.
'A perfect body...' James wanted Daniel. Not just the perfect body, but also his original. Before, Daniel had been his wings, the key to his freedom from Charles; now, he was just as useful a tool. Anybody would want that.
This moment of everyone admiring Daniel was interrupted by his next thought on the screen.
'𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥.'
And the screen went black.
...
What...?