Chapter Text
Slam!
“Kang Daniel, how could you?!”
The light chatter in the room instantly died down as everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. A small figure stood trembling with barely repressed rage, hands placed over a desk that was owned by the school’s most notorious student, Kang Daniel.
It would be an understatement to say that Kang Daniel was popular in the university; his family owned it — as well as many other companies under the name Kang. Students in the school knew not to get too close to him unless you were deemed fit in his circle of friends — friends who were all going to be working under Kang once they took over their own smaller companies after graduation. See, the only way to befriend Daniel was if you were an influential person yourself with many connections worldwide. Which was why most students in lower social classes gave Daniel a wide berth whenever their paths crossed, not wanting to incur the wrath of a wealthy and intimidating individual.
But not Park Jihoon. He could care less for hierarchy or politics. And right now, he wanted Kang Daniel’s head on a spike for what he did to him and his family. “You know why I’m here. Look at me and tell me why... why did you fire my father?”
The students watching waited with bated breath as Daniel slowly turned his head to Jihoon and inspected him silently. They had to give props to the younger male for not backing down and holding eye contact with Daniel until the older male smirked and stood up.
With a jerk of his head towards the door, Daniel turned and headed for it. Many of the students immediately scattered to give him way, gaping with silent mouths as Jihoon followed reluctantly behind him.
They thought this would be the last they’d see of Park Jihoon after today. No one got away for talking disrespectfully to Kang Daniel like that and the students began whispering amongst themselves, wondering what the likelihood was for Park Jihoon to lose his scholarship and leave the university.
“So you found out?” Daniel said after Jihoon closed the door behind him. They were in an empty classroom now, away from prying eyes, and Daniel leaned against a table with hands in his pocket, his relaxed posture no doubt pissing Jihoon off even more.
The smaller male looked to be gritting his teeth, fists clenched tightly at his sides, “My father has been a loyal butler in your household for the last twenty five years. He’s done everything for the Kang family. You can’t just fire him for one damn mistake?!”
“Mistake? You call serving me shrimp a mistake? I could have died if I had taken one bite.” Daniel took steps in Jihoon’s direction, eyes narrowed at him, “It wasn’t just a mistake your father made. It was a huge blunder. An almost murder.” He hissed, bending a little so their faces were level.
Jihoon’s cheeks were flushed red with anger, eyes glinting dangerously at Daniel. The smaller male could have hit him right now if he wanted to but he didn’t, he wouldn’t. He knew if he did, Daniel would easily block him.
“The fault didn’t only lie with him. There were other servants there who could have checked your meal before giving it to you. Why was my father the only one punished for it?”
Daniel straightened his back and shrugged nonchalantly, “He'd been making mistakes left and right for awhile now. I couldn’t turn a blind eye anymore.”
“What mistakes?! He may be getting old but he’s still one of the best butlers you’ve got.” Jihoon retaliated, getting up into Daniel’s space.
The older male inclined his head slightly, “You’re forgetting who you’re speaking to, Jihoon-ah.”
But the other wasn’t dissuaded. Not that Daniel thought he would. Jihoon’s big eyes narrowed and his scowl deepened, giving the impression of an angry puppy that Daniel found slightly amusing. Only Park Jihoon would be brave enough to speak his mind to the Kang company’s heir And yet, Jihoon seemed to reign in on himself today, inhaling deeply before speaking again.
“My family can’t live off the few income I make in my part-time. If you take away my father’s job, we’re practically broke.”
Daniel could tell it pained Jihoon to say that, having to expose how pitiful his situation was to the person who had caused it. And no matter how cute Jihoon looked glaring at Daniel with his nose scrunched up and cheeks puffed out, he wasn’t about to submit to someone beneath him.
Shaking his head, Daniel bent down to Jihoon’s height again, making sure he had those eyes on him. He enunciated each word clearly, wanting Jihoon to properly hear it, “He should have thought of that before deciding on continuing his job and messing everything up for himself. It would have been better if he had retired because then your family could still have mooched off money from us.”
The stunned expression on Jihoon’s face was priceless and Daniel sent him one last smirk, before moving to leave the room. He'd said enough.
Just as his hand landed on the doorknob however, he heard behind him, “I thought maybe you weren’t so much of an asshole as people said you were, but I should have listened to them. You’re the worst, Kang Daniel.”
He looked over his shoulder at Jihoon and found the other not facing him at all. But Daniel could tell the other was about to cry with the way his shoulders were trembling and his hands were clutching at his pants tightly. Sighing, Daniel opened the door and replied coldly, “Glad you finally realized it,” before letting the door slam shut behind him.
~*~
Park Jihoon left school that day with a dejected outlook but nobody moved to approach him. Everyone in school knew by now that a certain scholar named Park Jihoon had confronted Kang Daniel earlier in the day but what transpired between them was a mystery. The fact that Park Jihoon was still walking and looking healthy suggested that no fight had broken out but clearly an argument had ensued judging by his expression.
Daniel, on the other hand, looked to be as indifferent as always. He didn’t seem as if the conversation with Jihoon had affected him at all; in fact, he could have forgotten it altogether already. It was a known occurrence that Kang Daniel ignored anyone he found useless, especially the stream of girls he’d dated and broken up with. No one could ever keep his attention long enough to deem important.
So why was it, after school and into the night, Daniel could still picture the disappointed look on Jihoon’s face when he realized how much Daniel had changed these past few years? He scowled, hiding himself under the blankets and willing sleep to take him away already. But it continued to elude him, no matter how tight he shut his eyes.
Daniel found it hard to sleep. He tossed and turned on his bed but despite it being made out the finest quality Korean money could buy, he still found himself uncomfortable and Daniel settled on just glaring at his ceiling, wondering why he was so restless.
It wasn’t because of what happened today, surely. Daniel didn’t have a weak heart; he no longer had it.
An image of those wide, doe eyes and pouting lips filtered through his mind suddenly and Daniel groaned, hands rubbing his face in a move to get the picture out of his head.
You’re the worst, Kang Daniel.
Yeah, he really was. But this was the kind of attitude he needed if he was to inherit the company some day. A soft, weak heart wouldn’t get you anywhere in the business filled with heartless men and merciless duties. But no matter how much he hardened himself and forgot about memories long past, he couldn’t ignore the churning feeling in his gut every time he made Jihoon cry. How many times had it been now?
Daniel sighed and shut his eyes, adjusting the blankets over his bare torso in a useless effort to get comfy. Maybe in another life, Daniel could have been a better person and made people happy instead of making them fear him. And maybe that person would have had a different outlook on him and wouldn’t cry as much.
Daniel snorted and turned on his side. If only that could ever happen. He wished things could simply change that easily but this was his reality, his life; Daniel eventually had learned to accept things. And one of them was that he could never make that person smile again.
On the same night, Jihoon was gazing out at the stars from his dorm’s balcony, unable to sleep. He’d just finished a phone call with his father as he had wanted to know how he and his mother were doing now that his father didn’t have work.
He could tell they were putting on a good face for his sake, not giving him any hints to their problems and insecurities. Jihoon sometimes wished they’d stop treating him like a child but at moments like this, he didn’t know what he could do to help either. Most of the money he’d been saving up, he sent them all to his parents and his part-time work wasn’t enough to keep them surviving throughout the year. His father was still looking for another job but it didn’t seem like he was getting any success yet.
He was lucky that he had managed to get a scholarship in a prestigious university like this, all payments already taken care for including the dorming fee. Jihoon knew it was a load off his parent’s shoulders and he was proud that he could do this much for them but still, it wasn’t enough.
Pouting, Jihoon slumped against the railings and tilted his head towards the sky as if he could find some sort of divine answer there. A sea of twinkling lights shone down from above, not as many as they were from his province but enough for Jihoon to feel like he was back home in his parent’s house, watching the stars from his room.
Suddenly, something flashed in his periphery and when Jihoon turned his head, he found what looked to be something falling from the sky. But instead of an object, it was sparkling and seemed to be coming from lightyears away. Was that a...shooting star?!
Jihoon immediately clasped his hands together, bowed his head and prayed. He murmured under his breath numerous wishes at once, trying to say them all in one go as if it would count as one wish. When he looked back up, he found the falling star gone but Jihoon was sure of its existence. Although it was just superstition, Jihoon somehow felt confident that his prayers had been heard and he hoped with all his heart that his ultimate wish would come true.
I wish everyone I love could live happily and healthy for the rest of their lives and that they may find luck in the most opportune of moments.
It wasn’t much for him but for the others who needed it more than Jihoon did. Smiling, he finally felt relaxed enough to go back inside and crawl under his blankets to sleep. Maybe tomorrow would bring a brighter day ahead. He did have to look for another job after all.
With a single shut of his eyes, Jihoon was embraced in slumber’s arms.
~*~
The moment Kang Daniel woke up, he felt odd. Like something-was-wrong odd rather than I-woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed odd. Snuggling against his pillows, Daniel tried sleeping it off. It was a Saturday after all so he didn’t need to wake up for any classes.
Yet, he couldn’t go back to sleep because he felt so hot. Was the aircon off? Daniel could still hear the slight buzzing sound it made in the background so that couldn’t be it. Kicking the blankets off him, Daniel rolled on his back. He found the action a lot easier to do than he remembered since his body was usually heavy in the mornings which was why it took him longer to get out of bed. Frowning in thought, Daniel tried crawling out of bed but something in his periphery caught his attention. Where was all that white fur coming from?
He looked down and tried shaking it off with his paws but it seemed to be stuck to his skin.
Wait. Paws?
Daniel blinked and raised his hand. Then blinked some more when the image of the paws wouldn't transform to human hands like they were supposed to. Feeling that oddity coming back to him full force, Daniel jumped out of bed, and promptly crashed on the floor when his limbs wouldn't cooperate with him.
What the fuck?
"Bark! Bark!"
Daniel yelped and looked around frantically, certain he just heard a dog right where he laid and exactly when he just spoke. He spoke again, saying any random word that came to mind and each time that familiar barking sounded, furthering proving Daniel's theory. But none of this made sense because that was impossible. This was completely impossible. Was he still asleep? But no, he had felt the pain when he landed on the ground earlier. Then hallucinations? Daniel furrowed his furry brows, trying to remember if he drank or ate anything weird yesterday but nothing came to mind.
He tried standing and was totally freaked out at how big everything was around him. Immediately, he wobbled his way towards the mirror standing beside the door, knowing he'd get his answer there. He didn't want to think if this was actually true, if he had...if he had really... turned into an animal.
Eventually, Daniel managed to get the coordination of his feet right to help him walk the rest of the way over and what he saw through the reflection of the mirror was a speechless and shocked looking dog that didn't seem to know what to do with Itself.
I'm...a dog?
"Bark, woof..."