Waterfalls || Yeonbin

chapter 6: supper

November 20, 1939

I took a deep breath before knocking on Daniel's door, house number twenty-four. I was nervous for some reason, not quite feeling at ease when I saw the doorknob turn. I straightened my back when the door opened, seeing Daniel smiling at me. I slightly widened my eyes, his dress shirt, tie, and uniform jacket gone, leaving his sleeveless undershirt. It was wrapped tightly around him, showing off his muscular chest and arms as he brought a hand up to push his hair back.

"You're early." He said, his soft voice making my chest flutter.

I smiled, trying to hide my blush, "Y-You said you don't fancy tardiness."

He gave a little chuckle before moving to the side, opening the door wider and gesturing me to come inside, "I apologize that I'm not properly dressed."

I slightly bowed to him as I stepped inside, "That's alright. I-It's your house after all."

He scrunched his eyebrows as he closed the door behind me, "You want me to stay like this?"

I felt my face heating up and tried to avoid his eyes, "If you'd like to. D-Doesn't matter much to me."

I felt his hand gently fall onto my shoulder, "As long as you don't mind then. It's awfully warm in here..." He whispered; his voice low as he rubbed my back. I understood since it was particularly warm for November, "Please, come inside. Do take your jacket off. You can hang it in the closet and just put your bag anywhere."

I nodded, taking my satchel off my torso before slipping my suit jacket off my shoulders, "Yes, sir." I said, taking each arm out of the sleeves. Daniel showed me to the closet where I hung my jacket.

He led me to his kitchen, which doubled as his small dining room. His house was the same as mine, since it's on a military base, but his decorations were much different. He actually had decorations, to be honest. He must have been here for a while to have decorations.

"Dinner's almost finished..." Daniel said as I fixed the suspender over my shoulder, making it a bit more comfortable, "Just waiting for the tteok."

I gave him a small smile, "Smells great, sir."

He rolled his eyes, "Please, don't call me 'sir' in my own home."

I raised an eyebrow as he opened a cabinet, grabbing two glasses and placing them on the counter, "Lieutenant?"

He chuckled lightly, grabbing onto the edge of the counter and leaning on it, crossing his left foot over his right leg, "You know how in your interview you said 'Daniel' couldn't possibly be my real name?"

I nodded, lowering my head as I replied, "I do apologize for my behavior—"

"You were right." He said, cutting me off.

I picked my head up, my eyes widening, "What?"

"You were right. Correct about everything actually..." He started, beginning to move closer to me, "That's not my real name. Merely a name my parents wanted me to go by to make it easier for me and the people around me. I used to get bullied about it quite often."

"Oh..." I said, surprised about how personal he was getting with me. He'd never done it before, "I-I'm sorry—"

"Don't be..." He said, face-to-face with me as he added, "Nobody's ever picked up on it before."

I softly smiled, making my dimples show, "I tend to be the observant kind."

He smiled back at me, "Yeonjun... Address me by my real name, would you?"