prompt: you’re tired of seeing the school’s sweetheart, kang daniel, get taken advantage of.
note: a precious anon requested this - i’m so sorry for the delay! school’s been a bit busy for me but i really wanted to write so i hope you enjoy!!!
you were just a normal student with a normal amount of popularity and normal grades - the epitome of normal
involved in a few clubs, most people knew you or of you, but they weren’t necessarily falling at your feet
you were you and that was that
kang daniel, on the other hand, was the school’s golden boy - not that he had amazing grades or a perfect record, but he had a heart of gold
whether it was helping professors with cleaning up after class, agreeing to pick up food for a random club he wasn’t even a part of, or giving dance lessons to freshmen, he was always lending himself to others
he never complained and you found yourself wondering if he really never got tired of giving his time
the first time you ever interacted with him, he had offered to help your club put up posters and you got paired with him to put some up in one of your school’s wings
you were curious to see what the hype was about, if he was really as perfect as everyone made him to be
but tbh, the two of you just had fun shooting staples at each other in the hallways, laughing when he slipped on some loose paper
however, you could tell what a genuinely nice and helpful person he was when he didn’t leave you by yourself to clean up the mess you two made even as he was called for dance practice
you heard he was going to be in a dance festival, so you convinced your friends to go watch it with you
that got you some sly smirks but you knew it was worth it to see him dance
the place was absolutely packed when you got there; apparently the show sold out because everyone knew that daniel would be headliner
luckily, your friend was close with one of the student directors who had reserved seats really close to the stage
when you watched daniel dance, it was like seeing power personified
his moves were beautiful, like his heart, but the intensity was so strong
you wish he would display that the next time he was getting taken advantage of
a week after the festival, your life still barely had any daniel in it - you only had one class with him
there, you noticed him sniffling into a tissue, eyes desperate to close
aside from you, no one else seemed to notice how tired and sick daniel looked all week
but you didn’t want to pry, so you headed to your normal table for lunch after your class together ended
there you were, sitting at adjacent tables in your campus’ eatery; you were with your friends and he was with his usual crowd of people
despite the difference in your friend groups, he made sure to weakly wave at you with the brightest smile he could muster
you returned it and you noticed his eyes seemed to crinkle up further when he got your attention
you didn’t want to admit it, but the school’s sweetheart had earned a soft spot in your heart
but you saw how some girls got up from their table at the corner of the room, giddily giggling on their way to daniel’s table
you knew you didn’t have a right to be jealous…but you just were
so you continued to watch them while angrily eating a spoon of rice
daniel didn’t even notice them at first as he was sleepily putting food into his mouth, eyes looking like they would shut at any second
(a few minutes ago you tried not to laugh at ong catching daniel’s face from falling into his soup, but that’s beside the point)
“daniel!!!” wow, their voices were shrill
said male could be seen trying to blink away his sleepiness, looking around for the source of his name
he found it in his fangirls, who were surrounding his table
“you looked so cool at last week’s dance festival! you really deserved to be the headlining performer!!!”
“so we were wondering if you’d pleasepleaseplease teach us the routine? we’ve been trying to learn it ourselves, but we’re just no good…you can teach us after lunch, right?”
you bit your lip in frustration: how could they just invite themselves into daniel’s schedule like that? did they think he lived to serve everyone?
you were afraid that daniel would easily agree once more, but were proudly surprised to see him hesitate
he was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, a habit you realized he showed whenever he didn’t know how to go about a situation
“i kind of have an exam tomorrow that i need to study for…”
“oh, that’s fine! we’ll tutor you right after you teach us the dance!”
did these girls not understand social cues???
“but the dance took a while for me to learn, i don’t think we’d be able to finish it in just a few hours”
you were so proud of daniel for doing his best to disagree, but unfortunately, the girls saw his excuse as a blessing
“that’s perfect, we’ll see you all week!”
you could see daniel giving in - not because he wanted to, but because he was just too damn nice to say no, even when he was physically sick and exhausted
so you slammed your hands on your table and stood up, shocking not only the friends at your table, but most of the room
and just like you wanted, daniel, his table, and the girls turned their attention to you
you felt your body moving on its own to his table, stopping in front of daniel and the girls
daniel called out your name softly and questioningly while the girls glared at you like no tomorrow
“do you not see that daniel isn’t feeling well? he is actually exhausted - the festival just ended last week and i bet he’s had to catch up on a lot of schoolwork since then. there are so many other dancers at this school and i get it, daniel’s the best, i really do, but can’t you stop for a second and think about what he’s feeling?”
one of the girls scoffed at you, insisting that daniel’s always up to helping other people and that’s what makes him such a sweetheart
“that’s just it, daniel’s a sweetheart. he’s amazingly kind and would do anything to help other people, but do you realize he’s probably putting everyone first? he needs to prioritize himself for once and you aren’t helping him. don’t treat him like a doormat and walk all over him. he deserves more than that”
you ended your rant by looking at daniel pointedly - he was staring in awe, mouth and eyes open in shock - and walked back to your table
you heard a slow clap and looked back at daniel’s table to see ong whooping and applauding you
you also saw jisung look at minhyun, who shrugged and started clapping, too
soon enough, the entire place was applauding your lecture, and you were covering your face in embarrassment and disbelief that you actually just did that
so you quickly muttered that you’d be leaving to your friends, who were all staring at you in amusement because they knew how you really felt about daniel and were proud that you stood up for him
you covered your face with a book as you practically ran out of there, finally taking it off as you reached the courtyard and determined you were safe from prying eyes
“that was really cool of you back there”
you jumped when you saw daniel casually sitting on the bench next to you…how did he even get there…?
“to answer the question you’re probably thinking of, i ran out the back entrance…thanks to you, the girls finally left me alone!”
you couldn’t help but smile at how happy his freedom seemed to make him, sitting down next to him when he patted the empty space
“i’m happy i could help! but i’m sorry for meddling in your business…that’s not usually me, but i was really tired of seeing you get taken advantage of! you have to take charge sometimes!”
he nodded thoughtfully, taking in all of your words
“you’re right and don’t worry about it, i’m really grateful that someone said it. it’s my life and i don’t always have to do what other people ask of me”
“and i should take control, shouldn’t i?”
“so have dinner with me tonight?”
your hand was mid-fist pump, ready to cheer for whatever you expected to come out of his mouth next; but this, ooh…you didn’t expect this
he cheekily smiled and you could’ve sworn he had a lot more color to his face compared to when you saw him enter the eatery for lunch earlier
“i’ve been wanting to ask you out ever since i helped you put up the posters for one of your clubs”
“and when you cheered for me at the dance festival in the third row, i just knew i had to perform better than ever”
you were still speechless - happy, but speechless
“plus, seeing how passionate you were back there makes me believe you feel a bit more for me than you let on, hm?”
you scrunched your nose at his accurate analysis, breaking out into giggles when he laughed at your face
“that’s fair, i do like you…but don’t you have an exam tomorrow?”
his laughs turned sheepish at that and he started rubbing the back of his neck nervously again
“yeah, that…that was kind of a lie? it was my attempt to back out of what they wanted me to do…”
you mockingly gasped, poking his stomach playfully
“the golden boy, our school’s sweetheart, god daniel is lying???”
he was a bit embarrassed but thought back to your words, and when his mischievous smile appeared, you knew you messed up
“listen…everyone calls you that”
“i’ve heard and i’ve cringed, but from you it sounds just right”
“i thought you were tired, though?”
“i was, but the thought of going out with you has me feeling so energetic”
and that was the start of your relationship with the school sweetheart, the one who could do no wrong
his friends were really thankful that you were there to balance him out, for they were afraid he’d just drop dead in physical and mental exhaustion
you slowly convinced him to say “no” whenever he was feeling overwhelmed and to save some love for himself
“but all my love’s saved up for you~”
safe to say, you guys would be perfectly happy together
