comfort [kang daniel]
kang daniel with a university/college student!au + “you are, without a doubt, the only person who can make me smile right now”.
➳ Characters: uni student!Kang Daniel x uni student!female reader/you
➳ Genre: slice of life, uni au, comforting, friends to lovers (implied)
➳ Words: 1.3k
➳ Warning: mentions of reader having a period, argument with friend
➳ A/N: This story was requested by @tranquilpetrichor for my request event. I hope you enjoy it! ❤️This story is partly inspired by real-life events, so thank you for the request, at least I could channel my frustration into this story haha.
You can still request stories for the event: you can find the guidelines here and the masterlist here.
➳ Taglist: @dat-town
You had the crappiest weekend ever.
You had been supposed to see one of your favourite singers on Sunday, you had made all the arrangements (booked the hotel, booked the train, told everyone about it and managed to drag your best friend with you, turning the Saturday night concert into a girly weekend with some sightseeing in a city that you hadn't been to a lot of times) only to have been told last minute that the singer had fallen ill, and the concert had to be cancelled. You had been shattered, but decided to go along with it.
However, on Sunday, the café you had put on the plan had been closed for technical reasons, the museum had not met your expectations, and besides, the weather had been horrendous. It had been raining all day with stormy winds, and your best friend huffed all the time that she hadn't enjoyed the weather and you should have known that this weekend was cursed from the start. To which, you couldn't have helped but retort that if she hadn't wanted to come, she should have just told you, you could have been fine, but neither the cancellation of the concert, nor the weather had been your fault. You had taken it upon yourself to arrange the travel and the accommodation in return for her coming with you, you had looked up sights that she would probably enjoy, and she had always said that whatever was fine with her, you could decide.
Yet, after the news of the cancellation, she had started turning everything against you which you hadn't enjoyed, to say the least. You had probably been angrier and more disappointed that it had all gone downhill after all the preparations, but she had just complained and complained. You had ended Sunday with an argument that had led you two to go back to the uni dorms almost in complete silence. Two hours worth of a train ride had never seemed so long, and if it had not been enough, your period had arrived on Sunday night, so you hadn't even slept well.
No wonder the 8am lecture on Monday didn't seem that appealing, but you didn't want to slack off and let the crappy weekend affect your studies, so you still decided to go. With one hand on your stomach (as if it could ease your cramps) and the other flipping through your notebook, you were praying that today's lecture would go by quickly.
You were so lost in thought that you almost didn't notice someone sitting down beside you, and if it had not been for Daniel's familiar deep voice reaching your ears, you would have probably not even looked up.
"Hey! How are you?" The boy inquired genuinely as he plopped down beside you, fishing his books and notebooks out of his bag. You were glad that he didn't look your way while doing so because you needed the time to pull yourself together.
"Hey!" You replied after a few seconds of silence, your voice coming out quite feebly. You cleared your throat before continuing though. "Not bad. And you?" You forced the words out, hoping that he didn't take note of the weariness in your voice. It was rather difficult to fake being happy, so you tried your best to numb your pain instead.
However, Kang Daniel was a psychology major for a reason. He was excellent at reading people's moods, and he was even better at comforting people. You had this one lecture together - Business Psychology, an elective for you as a Business major and an elective for him as a Psychology major -, but even during the time before these lectures and during short exercises the prof gave you, you could get to know just how kind and compassionate he was. One thing you had realised quite early on was that he was rather soft-spoken despite his deep, raspy voice (and on a side note, he had the most adorable eye-smile and dimples combo). He had definitely surprised you with his maturity and gentleness, you hadn't expected it from him when he had sat beside you during the first lecture in his all black outfit.
During the past two months, you had become acquainted with each other, and had even met up a few times outside of lectures - both purposefully and both by accident -, and you would say you had become quite the friends. Maybe even more than friends, but neither of you wanted to force anything, so you were getting to know each other slowly.
Yet, exactly the thing that you liked about him the most (his attentiveness) was why you felt a bit uncomfortable now under the searching gaze of his, in the crossroads of his worried eyes.
"You sure? Is everything alright?"
In vain it would be if you tried to deny it, so you let out an aghast sigh as you shook your head.
"Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to, but if you want to, I'm listening," he offered as gently as one could once he stopped packing his stuff, and now, he put his elbow on top of his books, his jaw resting on the top of his hand.
You didn't even know where to begin, but you started somewhere and the rest followed. You realised that once you started talking about it, it came easier to share even those concerns that you hadn't voiced out before (like as the fear of losing your best friend over something like this), and Daniel listened, asking a few guiding questions to fill the plot holes of your stories. It was actually quite deliberating talking about all of the things that had bugged you lately. Usually, you vented to your best friend, but with her still not having replied to your latest message and with her being a part of why you were upset in the first place, you couldn't do so.
"Do you want me to leave you be and not force you to talk? Or do you want me to talk about my weekend?" He offered the options before he tilted his head and added a third one. "Or maybe do you want to see new pics of my cats to cheer you up?"
Hearing his question, your lips immediately curled upwards, and your voice softened a bit when you spoke up.
"The cat pics sound the most appealing right now."
"Alright, here you go," Daniel announced with a dimpled smile as he took a hold of his phone and started going through his phone's gallery. He showed the latest pics and videos of his cats back home sleeping, playing with their toys, chasing after each other and bothering his mother while she was trying to watch a movie. You found yourself smiling and giggling at what he showed you, and when he reached the end of his new photos, he looked up at you and merely stared at you, an expectant smile hiding in the corner of his lips.
"Thank you for these. You are, without a doubt, the only person who can make me smile right now," you admitted honestly, and earned a more shy version of his previous smile. He didn't even have time to comment on it though because the professor walked in, but it was enough how he comforted you with his words, with his silence and with his presence. He was a great person, and you were glad to have him in your life.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story of mine! Let me know what you think!
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Hope you have a lovely day/night! Take care! ❤️
