borderline angel

“If I said it is because it’s true! He said through his teeth. She could never know that it was a big, fat lie. Daeun acting silly made him relax and chuckle genuinely. "Then, should we get some noodles?”

“Alright, I trust you,” she smiled, nodding at his exclamation. “Noodles? Ah, that sounds great. What kind? Did you want some from the convenient store or some actual ones, like japchae? Either one, I’m totally up for it,” Daeun spoke, standing up and throwing away her now empty cup of coffee in a nearby trashcan. 

Iseul was a little surprised to hear that question. He had been just about to leave, actually. All his smoothness vanished ina second. “Uh…um…yes. Sure. I mean–I am.” His confidence wavered, so he knew he had to regain it quickly. “Are you?”

“You said that you were done with errands, if I remember correctly?” she asked once more, this time her eyebrows were furrowing. She didn’t want to keep him here if he had work to do, and she was worried to have gotten in the way of that. She chuckled, clutching her stomach with both arms, pouting involuntarily with a curt nod. “I’m famished, actually,” she whined silently, chuckling a bit at her own antics. 

“Daeunnie, I will make every minute we spend together worth your time,” Iseul promised. Even if they met for ten seconds, he would make her smile. “But you also have to tell me when you get fed up with me, alright?”

She was grinning from ear to ear at his words, nodding slightly in agreement. It wasn’t everyday when she heard something like that, and since she did just now, it definitely made Daeun completely jubilated. “I doubt that would ever happen, but you have my word,” she smiled. “Ah, say, are you hungry?” she mumbled, sipping the last drops of her own coffee.

Jae froze for a moment, considering his options, before saying, “I’ll just have water.” He got enough sugar and caffeine through his day without having a soda with his dinner. He didn’t, however, drink enough water, and he knew that so whenever he was asked to chose, he would often choose water.

Upon hearing his answer, Daeun nodded with a smile, heading over to the drinks where she was going to fill out the two empty cups. Filling one up diligently with water, like Jaehyung had asked for, she placed the lid onto it, focusing on her own drink: ice tea. 

She smiled sweetly at Daeun; the older girl was starting to use one-word answers. Yeona loved moments like this when people were starting to get suspicious and try to put their guards up. She has always found their reactions hilarious, which is why she has always enjoyed getting under people’s skin. “Composition, since you’re already at the piano,” she said teasingly.

Daeun bit the edge of her tongue, stopping herself from snapping at the younger girl. She knew the two weren’t far apart in age at all, but she held the sunbae role in this relationship -- she had to be civil and kind, especially to a hoobae. Even if the hoobae was like.. well, this. “And you should take care of the lyrics as I play around with the keyboard. Since you’ve been talking so much, perhaps you can try to put that to use,” Daeun smiled, subtly sneaking in a diss through her grin.

“Will you sign it, too?” He asked, a little too excited; not that it mattered anymore. “At least let me buy you a meal. Or a cupcake to go with your coffee. He could already picture himself taking her to all the best places he knew. A voice inside his head told him he was getting ahead of himself…again, and as always, Iseul ignored that stupid voice.

By this point, Daeun had caught herself chuckling continuously within meeting Iseul. She nodded, clasping her own hands together, “Of course, whatever you’d like.” Upon hearing his offer, she tore apart her hands, shaking them in front of him, not wanting to bother him. “No, no, it’s fine,” Daeun laughed. He seemed too sweet for his own good, and Daeun found it simply adorable. “A cup of coffee everyday is more than enough. If not, I should be the one repaying you.”

“In that case, you should be: Cute Singer of My Dreams…but I think this way is easier, don’t you think?” He flashed a smile at her. He had been smiling a lot in this short moment. “Daeunnie, let me know when the song is officially released so I can buy it, okay?”

“Cute Singer of Your Dreams? I’m honored,” Daeun laughed, shaking her head. She always felt embarrassed to listen to her own singing, and to have someone else compliment her on her singing, it still felt a bit strange. “Buy? I’ll give you the CD for free; a present for my number one fan and most favorite person ever,” Daeun grinned, sending a wink as she finished, “Don’t worry about it.”

Iseul chuckled. “Alright. I’ll only call you that when I’m teasing you, then.” He watched with a satisfied smile as she saved both numbers in both phones. This is what Iseul called a productive day. He accepted her phone with two hands. He looked to the side as he thought of the name that she would see everytime he called her…which he already knew would be a usual thing. He smiled as he came up with: My Handsome Iseul Oppa. He returned Daeun her phone. “Now you’ll definitely know it’s me.

Upon getting back her phone, Daeun couldn’t help but burst into a small fit of giggles. Although she was laughing, she nodded at him, glancing up at the boy before her again. “Ah yes, my handsome Iseul-oppa,” she repeated, eyes locking with his as she’d said it. “I was thinking along the lines of ‘Cute Coffee Delivery Boy’, but I think this is much better.”

“Really? Consider it done, then.” Suddenly, fetching coffee didn’t seem so bothersome anymore. Iseul’s expression changed as he thought of something. “Oh, but there’s something important missing…” He acted as if he was thinking of a solution while discreetly taking out his phone. He extended it to Daeun. “Your number, sunbae.”

Daeun couldn’t help but glance down as she watched what he was doing, laughing to herself as she watched him pull out his phone. Smooth. “Ah.. I’m not going to give you my number if you keep calling me that,” she pouted slightly, but taking his phone anyway with a smile. Calling her own phone so she could save his number as well, she took a few seconds to officially save her name down as, ‘Daeunnie :)’. Handing him back his phone, she decided to hand hers over as well. “Save your number and name however you’d like, oppa,” she grinned. 

“Of course!” He replied. “You can even count me as your number one fan.” He was glad he had stumbled upon this room, and giving the coffee to the wrong person. He could get scolded all day long, and it still would have been worth it. “I’ll even bring you coffee every day if that’s what it takes.”

“Oppa, if you bring me coffee everyday, you’ll become my most favorite person ever,” Daeun exaggerated, laughing slightly. It was partially truthful. She was known around the company as one of the most hard-working ones, never leaving the company, and staying in the dance practice rooms until practically dawn. Coffee was something that was crucial in her life. Besides, Daeun thought that seeing Iseul everyday could make her day shine a little brighter. 

Iseul had just been testing it out, but seeing how much it made her smile, he thought maybe he should stick to it. He smiled after the misshap, and sat very very still as she removed the headphones. He only dared looking at her when she spoke again. “You don’t have to thank me. I was just being honest.” Something occurred to him, and the thought of it made him chuckle a little. “"You can show your work to me any time. Even if it’s a silly drawing on a napkin, I’ll come and tell you what I think of it.”

Hearing that he was being honest reassured her a little bit more, causing her to let out yet another breath. There was a lot of pressure on the girl group with their new album, especially with their comeback being delayed a bit for personal reasons. Daeun sat back in her chair as she glanced over, not before laughing at his last comment. “Are you that interested in the things that I make?” she chuckled, her laugh angelically echoing a bit within the studio.

Iseul nodded. “Really. You’re very talented, Daeunnie.” He didn’t know why she approaching him again, until he remembered he was still wearing the headphones. “Oh, I’ve got it,” he said as he reached for the item in question. As he did, though, his fingertips slightly grazed the back of her hand, and his heart just went crazy. Iseul didn’t know what to do, then.

She looked over, taken aback a bit at her new nickname. In less than a second, she was smiling at what he had called her, looking away again with satisfaction and saying, “I like it.” Although Daeun had tried to take the headphones off, he’d cut through, the slight contact making her halt for a second before chuckling slightly. She continued, taking them off for him and leaving them to hang along the stand. “Thank you, by the way,” she grinned, referring to his original compliment. “..for listening to it, as well.”

Iseul returned the grin. “I will come running to you as soon as I figure it out,” he promised. Iseul stopped breathing when she placed the headphones over his head, but the returned to normal while she set the song. Iseul swayed his body to the rhythm. Her voice took him by surprise, and suddenly he froze. He didn’t know what to do; that voice…he wished the song would never end. The song only got better and better. When it was over, Iseul turned to her, and smiled. “I like it.” Please, don’t let anyone come in right now, he prayed in silence. 

Daeun bit her lower lip to try and stop herself from grinning wider, though it failed completely. She chuckled, nodding, “Please don’t trip on your way.” At least minutes passed as she held her breath unconsciously, waiting for his opinion on her original song. Before she knew it, it ended and she watched as he turned to her. At his words, Daeun let out a breath, relief flowing throughout her body. “Really?” she smiled graciously, her shoulders slightly slouching as if the weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “Thank you.. I appreciate it,” she mumbled, almost sounding like a whisper. “Ah,” she noted, when she turned to face him again, noticing that he still had his headphones on. She moved and shifted to him slightly, reaching out her hands to take them off for him.

“Hmm…that sounds too simple,” he muttered, almost disappointed. He could think of something later. He stared at the paper. It was hard to stay excited when he didn’t know what was going on. He had never been very interested in music, so he never learned how to read it. He was relieved when she offered to let him listen to the song. He smiled. “Yes, please.” He wondered if her voice was just as pretty as the rest of her.

Daeun chuckled at his mumbling, nodding slightly. “Oh? Just tell me later then, when you figure out what you want to call me. I’m okay with being called almost anything,” she reassured him, grinning, showing her pearly whites. The girl chuckled slightly as she heard his last comment, moving in and taking it upon herself to put the headphones over his ears. As she pulled away, she turned to click on a few buttons before allowing the music to play through the headphones. Sitting silently, Daeun watched him in the corner of her eye, waiting nervously for his reaction. This was actually a solo track on her group’s album, and to be honest, Daeun was beyond anxious about it. 

“Am I?” He chuckled. It felt nice being called ‘oppa’. Iseul considered this for a moment. “You still have more experience than I do. What should I call you, then?” He got excited when she offered him to check out her work. Can I?“ He immediately grabbed a chair. Perhaps he was showing his eagerness a little too much.

Daeun thought about it for a moment, before shrugging with a small yet bright smile still on her lips. “‘Daeun-ah’, is fine with me,” she reassured him, nodding a bit. “Of course,” the girl chuckled a bit, finding his eagerness cute, actually. She took another sip of her coffee before resting it on a small table besides her. “Mm.. this is one that I composed,” she mumbled, running her hand through her hair as her eyes only stayed still on the piece of paper before them -- something she did when she felt nervous. “Did you want to listen to it?” she asked, grabbing the headphones from the stand.