Against the Odds | DAERIN

Chapter: 5

d a n i e l l e

"Why won't you?" Jungwon shouted, looking at me angrily.

I had heard him come home earlier, and I wanted to make sure he wasn't mad at me. I thought if I came into his room to talk to him, maybe it would sort things out. But I didn't expect him to still be drunk.

"Because, baby, I'm not in the mood. Please stop," I said, tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Why the fuck am I even with you? You're always so frigid," he replied, rolling his eyes and sitting down on the edge of his bed.

I wiped my tears. I didn't want to upset him.

"I'm sorry, baby, I'll do it," I said, slowly taking off Haerin's hoodie.

Haerin...

No, Jungwon's my boyfriend.

After I had taken off the hoodie, I slowly took off the trousers, dropping them on the floor and stepping out of them, leaving me in my underwear and bra.

I looked over at Jungwon, who had now taken off his clothes and was sitting on his bed in his boxers.

"You're amazing, baby. I love you," he whispered as I took a step forward.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Haerin barged in. Thank God.

My eyes met hers, and I swear I saw them darken when she looked at what I was wearing.

"What the fuck, Haerin?" Jungwon shouted, causing her to shake her head and look away from me.

Did she hear what Jungwon and I were saying?

"I'm taking Danielle home," she said, looking at Jungwon. I looked at her, her jaw was clenched, and her fist was balled.

She looked angry.

"No, you're not," Jungwon replied, about to stand up.

"Yes, I am. You're drunk and being a dick. I'm taking her home."

He looked like he was about to do something, and I braced myself until he sighed and sat back down.

I breathed a shaky sigh of relief when I felt her gently take my hand. She made me feel comfortable, safe.

"Come on," she whispered, leading me out of Jungwon's room and closing the door.

"How are you going to take me home?" I asked, the tears threatening to spill again.

"I'm not. Come on," she whispered, now leading me to her own room.

She handed me her clothes again, and I took that as a sign to put them on, forgetting I was only wearing my bra and underwear.

After I was dressed, I looked up at her, and her eyes softened. Why does she look at me like that?

"Can I hug you?"

"Yes, please," was all I could get out before the tears started to roll down my face again.

She gently grabbed my arms, pulling me into her chest and wrapping her hands around my shoulders. I tucked my head into her neck.

"Thank you."

I felt safe when she hugged me.

She was so caring.

Despite her looking kind of intimidating, I've come to find she's the complete opposite.

Her gentle hand slowly stroked the back of my head as she rested her chin on the top of it.

After a while, she slowly released her grip on me and looked down, meeting my eyes.

Her eyes were beautiful, a soft brown. Not too bright; they reminded me of gingerbread.

"You tired?" she asked, her eyes still filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm keeping you up," I said, looking down.

She smiled at me. "Hey, it's okay. You can sleep in my bed."

"Really? Where will you go?"

"I'll sleep downstairs or something."

"No," I replied way too quickly.

"I mean, it's not fair to kick you out of your bed. It's big enough for both of us. I don't move around too much in my sleep." I don't know why I said that.

"Sure."

h a e r i n

I climbed into my bed, and Danielle did the same. What have I just agreed to? I took a deep breath before turning around to face Danielle. Instantly, my eyes met hers.

"Thank you, again," she said, looking down at her hands.

"You don't need to thank me," I replied. There were a couple of minutes of silence before I broke it.

"You don't have to have sex with him, you know," I said, looking at her.

"I know," she replied, looking up at me, meeting my eyes once again. "But I want to."

"You want to because you want to or because he wants it and you want to make him happy?" I said quietly. She turned away and lay down.

"Goodnight, Haerin."

"Goodnight, Danielle."

I lay down. She hadn't responded to my question, but I knew the answer. I sighed, closed my eyes, and found myself drifting off almost instantly. It had been a long night.

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside and checked my clock: 9:34 am. I looked next to me to find an empty bed. Where's Danielle? I got up and went downstairs quietly, still half asleep. As I was about to walk into the kitchen, I heard talking.

"I'm sorry, baby. I love you. I'll be a better boyfriend." I peeked my head around the door and saw Jungwon and Danielle standing there. He had his hands on her waist while she wrapped her hands around his neck and brought his head down to kiss him.

I cringed. So this is what he does. He does something shitty and gets her to forgive him by giving a fake-ass apology. I watched them kiss as a disgusted look appeared on my face.