A New Start || Seventeen

Chapter 3

Unsure what to make of the situation Daena had found herself in she simply stood there holding the door still slightly open.

For a brief moment she considered just closing the door in his face.

'This isn't exactly fair' Daena thought to herself. He wasn't allowed to ignore her message letting him know she was here nearby for nearly a month and then show up unannounced.

Daena stood there processing the situation and even though she felt completely blindsided she knew deep down that she was extremely happy to see him.

It had been a really long time and Daena loved Joshua, he was more than a friend, he was family.

Taking in his appearance Daena realised this was the first time she had seen him in person since he left years ago. He was no longer the awkward teenager she knew. A confident man stood before her and Daena couldn't help but notice just how handsome he was now. Sure she had seen him on video calls but in person it just felt different.

"Daena... Can I come in" Joshua asked again snapping Daena out of her trance.

After taking a deep breath she opened the door wide and stepped aside.

"Sure" She finally said, letting him walk past and into the apartment.

Joshua took his shoes off and placed them on the rack besides Daena's.

She closed the door behind him quickly. "Do you want to sit down?" She offered gesturing to the nearby couch as she walked towards the kitchen.

Inside Daena wanted to scream at how awkward this was but she quite didn't know how to break the tension.

"Joshua" She called back into the living room as she opened the refrigerator. "Do you want a drink?".

"Sure" he replied. His voice made her jump. He was much closer than she had anticipated. Turning around she realised he had followed her into the kitchen rather than sitting down in the other room.

"Water is fine" he said smirking as he realised he had surprised Daena.

Daena grabbed a glass and filled it with water before handing it to him.

She sighed as she continued past him and back into the main room. Daena lowered herself into the armchair in the corner of the room that had quickly become her favourite reading spot since she had moved in.

Joshua had once again followed her and placed himself on the couch almost opposite the armchair Daena was now seated in.

Neither of them spoke. The silence was unbearable and just as Daena opened her mouth to break it Joshua spoke first.

"I'm sorry to just show up like this, I thought about the best way to do this and decided to surprise you but maybe that wasn't the right choice"

"Why do you say that?" Daena asked curious as to what he meant.

Joshua sighed and then said "You don't seem very happy to see me"

"No" Daena exclaimed almost cutting him off. His face fell.

"No no, I don't mean I'm not happy to see you. I'm just surprised. When you didn't respond to my message I thought you just didn't care" She explained.

"Ahh" he groaned running his hand through his hair. Daena took this opportunity to look closely at Joshua and noticed his hair had grown quite long.

"I'm sorry I have been so busy, and honestly when you sent it I wasn't even in Korea and I assumed you were here on holiday or visiting with your family so didn't want to disappoint you by telling you I wasn't here." He explained in a rush.

"But last week I called home and my mom said your mom had been over and was telling her all about your move abroad and starting your dream job and she was asking how excited I was that you were going to be nearby again and I realised I had completely missed what you were trying to tell me" Joshua continued.

"Ohh." Daena replied "I'm sorry Joshua my picture wasn't really much of an explanation" she said laughing. "It all makes sense now, but I do have one more question" She said as she leaned back into the armchair and smiled at him.

"Sure" Joshua nodded for her to continue.

She moved forward to the edge of the seat and leaned towards Joshua.

"How did you find me?" She asked in a mock sinister tone.

Joshua leaned forward, this action closed the majority of the gap between the pair. He placed a hand on Daena's knee. Daena looked down at his hand with a puzzled expression.

"That was the easy part" he replied in a similar tone to the one she had just used.

"I asked your mom" he laughed.

"She sold me out" Daena giggled. As she looked at Joshua she was hit with the realisation of how much she had missed him being nearby these past few years and how happy she was that he was here right in front of her.

Placing her hand on top of his where it remained on her knee "I'm glad she did. It's been a long time since we were in the same room" Daena told him.

"Me too, I know I've been busy and difficult to get hold of but I never wanted us to lose touch Daena I don't think I realised how much I missed you until you opened that door and I saw you"

Daena hadn't moved to Korea solely to see Joshua again, but she was starting to realise it might be more of a bonus than she had originally thought.