Falling for you ; DAERIN

Where we first met

DANIELLE's POV

"You look distressed, my dear." His voice is soft and full of worry as he rubs my shoulder. "I'm fine, butler Sam." I tried my best to not show any distress to not worry him. He just gave me a smile and shook his head. "Danielle, I can tell when you have thoughts on your mind."

I sighed. "I miss Haerin and not just that.. she was acting a bit weird last night so I'm worried about her." He smiled softly while taking a seat next to me.

"I think you also deserve to know. Today is Haerin's mother's death anniversary; every year on this day, Haerin would isolate herself and spend the whole day by herself at her mother's grave." His tone filled with grief and condolences. His words made me want to tear up. I quickly stood up and run towards the door.

"DANIELLE!? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" He yelled. "GOING TO MY WIFE." I yelled back as I continue to run. "Can you please drive me to where Haerin is? Please!" I asked while panting from running. Seriously, who made these stairs so high?? "Of course, madam." The driver answered.

The drive is roughly 35 minutes long to traffic. Ugh, why now!? Why are you always hiding your feelings, Haerin? You shouldn't be in pain alone and dwell with all of it.

Once we've arrived, I quickly dash out of the car and went through this beautiful pathway. The flowers were beautiful and brilliant. I finally reached the end and there was no one there. Though, I see two bouquet of flowers next to a gravestone. It was no other than Haerin's mother.

I lit up an incense stick and gave a prayer to her before going back to the car. "Shall we go home then?" I shook my head. Haerin has to be somewhere right now but where could she be beside her mother's grave? I kept thinking and thinking of any places that she might go to alone. Suddenly, I thought of a place. A place that holds dear memories for both of us.

"Can you drive me to tokkiville?" The driver nodded and started to drive off right away. When we were close to arriving, suddenly the traffic hits. There are too many cars and none of them can move even an inch. I groan before exiting the car myself, leaving the driver confused.

"I'll get there by foot. Thank you for driving me!" I told him before running off. Ugh! I haven't run in so long so I'm out of breath so quickly. The clouds started to turn grey and water droplets starts to fall down. Fuck it, who cares if I get soaked? I have to find Haerin. I need to be with her at her lowest and share her pain together.

I ran and ran until I see a silhouette of a person sitting in a bus stop despite the heavy rain pouring down. Once I've arrived, I was panting too heavily to even speak. But it's alright now. I've reached you.

She smiled before extending her handkerchief to me. "You're soaked." She said. I don't know why, but tears started rolling down my face. Perhaps I hate seeing the sight of her enduring everything alone until she bursts. I slowly walked over to where she is and cupped her face with my hands.

"Haerin, It's okay to show how you feel. You shouldn't endure everything until your heart bursts.. like it did when we were at the lake house. I know it's hard but slowly, you can do it. And if it gets difficult, I'm always by your side. I love you."

With tears still rolling down my face, I pull her face towards me and connected our lips. I could feel her fingers grasp the side of my hips; pulling me in closer. Once our kiss ended, she smiled softly at me. The smile that makes my heart melt and my body becoming soft. She placed my head onto her chest and hugged me tightly. Despite of my soaked clothes, the hug was warm.

"Thank you for finding me, Danielle." I hugged her tighter, not wanting to ever let go of her embrace.

"I don't want you to suffer alone."

"I'm not. Remember, I have you now."

She broke our embrace as she pull our bodies apart which made me pout a little. She used her soft hands to caresses my cheeks. "How did you know where to find me?" She asked. I chuckled a little. "This is where we first met."

Her gaze softens as she look at me with a hint of surprise. "So you do remember." She said with a faint smile. "It took me some time but eventually, yes." I pushed her hands off my face but then immediately holds it. "I even wrote about you multiple times in my diary. I was literally head over heels for someone I barely know." I added.

"Wait you did!?" She asked her eyes filled with curiosity as it shines. How adorable. I nodded, "Then I started calling you bobcat in my diary because I remember thinking you look and act a lot like a cat." She gasped at my words. "That's actually crazy because the first time we met, I remember your hair being all frizzy and fluffy which looked a lot like a poodle puppy. Therefore, I started to call you puppy.... In my diary as well."

I smiled before resting my head on her shoulders which she immediately responded by leaning her head on top of mine. "Seems like all along, there was some invisible string tying me to you." She said which made me smile.

"Yes bobcat, yes there was."

She brushed my head off to take off her jacket and wrapped it around my body. "You'll catch a cold if we don't get you changed." She frowned. "It's all worth it. After all, I get to see you again. I missed you so much." I said, leaning my head back to the position it was previously in.

"It hasn't even been 12 hours yet." She laughed.
"My sun only shine when you're around, bobcat." I replied back to her while smiling.

---------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note: I apologise for any mistakes. It's late at night but I wanted to finish this chapter. Therefore, I didn't get the chance to read over it.

Thank to everyone who show support and enjoy this story!

More chapters to come 🙂

Also are there any swifties reading this story that catches all the Taylor Swift references throughout this book? 🤣