Not What It Seems || Kang Daniel

1.3

"Y/N has had a long day. Please go home."

I stood behind my mom as she tried to convince Vernon to leave, but he wouldn't.

"Please. I need to talk to her," he begged desperately.

My dad stepped up and extended his arm out to point to the sidewalk, away from my house. "You've damaged her in the past. I don't need you to do that anymore. Go."

His voice was booming, the neighbors could probably hear. Vernon hesitated to leave, but he ended up running away, tears forming in his eyes.

"Sometimes I feel bad for that boy," Mom said, still watching him sprint as if there were no tomorrow.

~

I walked into Room 263, holding a 'Get Well Soon' present in my hands. Daniel had just finished surgery this afternoon.

He was sound asleep on the hospital bed. I sat down on the chair next to him, trying not to wake him up. He needed the rest.

Then he said something, still asleep.

"No," he laughed. "Stop it!"

I began to giggle. He continued to mumble some words, then he shouted.

"No! Don't throw away the french fries, they're still good!"

I nearly fell out of my seat, holding in my laughs. He continued to snore, softly.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I bursted out laughing, causing Daniel to wake up.

"Y/N?" he looked at me in confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be at school? And why are you laughing so hard?"

His voice was groggy, as if he woke up in the morning.

"My parents told me to miss school today because of yesterday," I said, "but I brought you something!"

I held out a box of pizza, the kind we got at the restaurant a few months ago. That was the first time I ever got to know Daniel.

He gazed at the cheesy slices, then dug in. He beamed with happiness when he said, "This beats the crappy food here."

I smiled widely at his reaction. "I'm glad I could fix that problem."

He gave a smile in return, gobbling the peice in at least 5 seconds. I watched him eat half of the whole pizza in amazement. He was super hungry.

"When do you get to leave this place?"  I asked.

"Today."

"Today?!"

"Yep. My bone was fractured a little bit, but the doctor said I should be good to go, just as long as I rest at home."

My jaw dropped. "What kind of Doctor makes you leave after you almost died the day before?"

"It looked like they had a lot of patients waiting, I guess. And it's not that bad. It's just a broken arm and some bruises," he said with a shrug.

Speaking of a 'doctor,' a nurse walked in.

"Hello, you must be Kang Daniel's girlfriend?" she greeted, shaking my hand.

Girlfriend?

I looked over at Daniel in confusion. He gave me the same expression I had.

"I'm not his girlfriend," I clarified, speaking slowly.

The nurse smacked herself on the forhead and shook her head in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry about that. Are you here to check on him, then?"

I nodded.

She looked at her clipboard and said, "Mr. Kang, you are safe to leave right now if that is alright with you."

"That is fine with me," he said.

Finally. I was anxious for him to get out of here, I wanted the truth.

~

"Thanks for driving me back home," he said, plopping down onto the sofa.

"No problem."

He turned on the TV and patted the spot next to him, looking at me. I obeyed and sat next to him. A movie played, a horror movie. Daniel's uninjured arm wrapped around my shoulder. I looked up at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" he replied.

I took a deep breath and thought twice about what I was about to say.

"After you got your splint on, you told me you loved me. Was that true?"