A New Start || Seventeen

Chapter 7

Daena and Joshua continued to see each other whenever their schedules allowed over the next few weeks.

Daena had imagined before she came to Korea that she would maybe be lucky to see Joshua once a month, if at all.

She had definitely not imagined seeing him almost every other day.

Joshua had confessed his schedule was not usually this light and it was only due to Seventeen being between comebacks and very shortly they would be starting to prepare for their next one. So the pair were squeezing in as much time as they could manage before that happened.

Due to Joshua's celebrity status they usually had to meet late at night or at Daena's place where they were unlikely to be spotted.

On the few occasions they had gone out in public Joshua had covered his face as much as possible much to Daena's amusement. Joshua's regular disguise consisted of a face mask, sunglasses and a baseball cap. If anything it made him look more suspicious but it had worked so far.

On a few of the occasions they had been joined by another member or even a small group of them. Hoshi was there whenever Joshua allowed him and Mingyu had even tagged along a few times.

Daena had met DK and Seungkwan as a result of these group meets and already felt very comfortable around the members she knew.

Sometimes she had to pinch herself and remember she was hanging out with idols. But they seemed just like regular guys and it was easy to forget.

A few times when Daena had been teaching she had heard the students in her class gossiping about idol groups they like and when Seventeen came up in conversation she had to hold in her laughter or refrain from joining the conversation.

It was Saturday but Daena was working, as exams were coming up shortly for her students she was offering extra classes.

On her way into work that morning she had bumped into Leah who was also teaching extra classes.

The pair had agreed to meet up after their classes ended for the day. Which was still about half an hour away.

Daena watched her students quietly studying as the minutes ticked away slowly.

A few times a student or two had asked a question which had helped the class to pass quicker and finally it was time to dismiss the students for the day.

"Thank you all for your hard work today, make sure to enjoy your day off tomorrow, rest and relaxation are important too" Daena called to the class as they started to get up and leave.

Daena started packing up her own things ready to leave for the day when a knock came at her classrooms door.

She looked up to see Leah entering.

'Hey, you done for the day too?" Leah asked.

"Yeah, all done here, did you want to go grab a coffee?" Daena asked.

"Sure" Leah replied.

With that the two headed off to a nearby coffee shop that had become a firm favourite of theirs on their breaks and after work.

Sitting down at their usual table Daena leaned back and rubbed her neck.

"These extra classes are killing me" She groaned.

"Yeah me too but the money is worth it and these kids deserve the extra attention, they work far harder than I did at school" Leah responded.

"I know right" said Daena sitting up in her seat "You couldn't have paid me to go to school on a Saturday at their age."

"I'll get the coffee, do you want your usual?" Leah asked.

"Please, a Latte wi.."

"With a double shot and a shot of vanilla, I know" interrupted Leah as she started walking to the counter to order.

While Leah was at the counter Daena pulled her phone from her bag to check her messages. It had been 2 days since she had seen or heard from Joshua but as he had explained his schedule was starting to fill back up.

She didn't have a message from Joshua but did have one from her Dad.

'We miss you little love, hope you are well' it read.

Daena rolled her eyes. She had literally had a two hour video call with her parents last night, there was no way they could miss her.

All the same she sent a message back telling them she missed them too and would call again soon.

"Ohh is that your boyfriend?" Leah asked reading the message over Daena's shoulder.

"No its my dad and you have got to stop reading my texts" Daena responded.

"Aww your parents call you little love, so cute" Leah chuckled handing Daena her coffee and sitting down.

"But anyway how is your boyfriend?" Leah asked.

"I don't have a boyfriend Leah" Daena replied as she typed a quick message to Joshua to see if he was okay before putting her phone back in her bag.

"Sure sure, whatever you say, anyway I was talking to my brother last night and I kept defaulting to Korean, I need to speak English more or I'm going to start forgetting it" Leah explained.

"I was thinking the same thing, if I didn't teach in English I would definitely forget." Daena replied "When I told my parents about you they asked what language we talk in and they thought it was hilarious that as two Americans we speak Korean to each other"

"My Korean is nowhere near as good as yours so I like using you to practice" replied Leah.

The two friends continued to gossip and chat until their coffees were finished.

As they were about to part ways Daena decided to check her phone to see if Joshua had responded.

It seemed he had. Daena sighed as she read his message.

'Any chance you would be willing to come meet me at the agency building tonight at about 9, I should be done with practice by then, I will leave a pass at the entrance for you, maybe you could meet the rest of the members too'

"What's up" Leah asked tilting her head to the side as she looked at Daena's frowning face.

"That friend you think is my boyfriend wants me to meet all his friends tonight, there are so many of them, I'm kind of intimated" Daena explained.

"You will be fine, I don't think I have ever seen you nervous, but if you are meeting his friends dress nice, if he isn't your boyfriend maybe you can find one in his friend group" Leah said winking before turning and leaving.

'Great, I knew this day would come but I wasn't ready for it yet' thought Daena as she started to head home and get ready for the all important introduction.