'... Is at my house right now.' Duke didn't know how to act. 'At least (Y/N) is here, so I'm not totally left to the wolves.'

'My house is so shabby. He's probably never seen a house like this. What if he's disappointed? What if he says something? (Y/N) would probably start a fight...'

Duke watched as Daniel looked around his apartment, occasionally glancing up at (Y/N), who was watching Daniel just as carefully as he was.

"Duke..." Daniel called out, walking towards a wall.

"Yes?" He answered hesitantly, ready for Daniel to make fun of him. 'Do we have a problem?'

"Why are the lights on in the day? You'll have to pay more taxes." Daniel scolded.

Duke gaped, not believing what he was seeing as Daniel busied himself in the house, fussing over expenses and money saving techniques.

(Y/N) watched, becoming more bored with every word Daniel said.

"I'm gonna go get a snack, you have a fun."

Duke nodded dumbly, causing (Y/N) to crack a small smile and ruffle his hair before going to the pantry.

As much as Duke appreciated Daniel's efforts to be helpful, it wasn't anything he hasn't been told before. He pulled an extra chair up to the desk where his outdated computer sat.

"Daniel, come sit." Duke called, patting the chair next to him.

Daniel immediately came over and sat down and watched as Duke selected a file on his computer. Just then, (Y/N) came out of the kitchen with a granola bar in hand.

"No seat for me? Im hurt."

Daniel turned around. "I'm sorry! Here take this one."

(Y/N) shook her head and took a seat on the floor next to Duke.

"Nah, it's fine. I was joking."

Daniel nodded but still felt guilty about having (Y/N) sit on the floor until Duke has his attention again.

"Do you want to hear this? It's a song I wrote."

"Wow! You write songs?" Daniel asked, clearly impressed.

Duke blushed and nodded. "It's for the festival."

When he pressed play Daniel froze, his eyes wide as he listened. Meanwhile (Y/N) used one hand to bring the granola bar to her mouth and the other to tap her fingers to the beat.

After the song finished Duke exited the file and nervously look up at Daniel.

"How is it?"

"It's still in the early stages so it may not be good enough. After improving and mastering it'll be a lot better so don't worry."

Duke hopped of his desk chair and grabbed his notepad and began to scribble in it.

"You get started on the melody. You have a lot of appeal so it'll work well. I can't start because you'll sound weak, because my tone is kind of strong." Duke explained shyly, not meeting Daniel's eyes as he wrote.

"Okay..." Daniel said unsurely, not knowing what half of what Duke was saying meant.

"You'll sing this melody at first. The beginning is important."

"I think I've got it down by heart."

"Oh really? You want to sing it?"

"Okay!"

As both (Y/N) and Duke listened to Daniel sing, Duke only confirmed that this was exactly what the festival piece needed.

When (Y/N) heard his voice up close for the first time it was as if she was put into a trance. Her eyes were wide and she stopped chewing.

Daniel opened his eyes after singing, not realizing he had closed them in the first place. The first person who he made eye contact with was (Y/N), who seemingly broke out of her trance when she saw him looking back at her.

She looked away and coughed awkwardly before pushing herself off the floor to stand up.

Duke looked away from Daniel and to her.

"Heading out?"

(Y/N) nodded and dusted imaginary crumbs off of herself. "I'll stop by later."

Duke nodded. "See ya later."

Once (Y/N) had left the apartment Duke immediately got back to work.

"It's good but how about changing this part like this...? And this part..."

Daniel agreed enthusiastically, excited to be included in the project.

"Time is short, and practicing won't result in immediate improvement. Your vocal chords are weak so they have a limitation. Unfortunately your main focus should be on memorizing the song rather than improving your skill. And damaging your vocal chard's is the worst, so go easy on them." Duke explained with an encouraging smile.

After practicing for a while, Daniel felt the affects of singing for an extended period of time.

'I sang so much...' He thought, holding his throat and coughing a bit as Duke looked on with a concerned expression.

"Does your throat hurt? You can't practice too long because if your vocal chords. Take care of your voice or you'll lose it." Duke said, worried for Daniel's vocal chords but upset that they couldn't practice more.

"Oh, Duke." A voice called from the street corner, catching Duke and Daniel's attention.

"My Dukey has so many beautiful friends. You two should eat something." Duke's grandmother said with a smile.

Duke tensed, worried that this would be a repeat of when his bullies came and wiped out his grandmother's stock then trash talked the food.

Daniel watched blankly as Duke fussed over his grandmother coming to work even though she was sick.

'Duke... You really are just like me. Reminds me of my mom.'

"... Grandma." Daniel called out, causing the woman to look at him with a grin. "We already ate. Thanks for thinking of me, even though you have a business to run."

Duke gasped at Daniel's unexpectedly kind words.

That night while Daniel was working his shift at the convenience store, he discovered that he could continue to practice his singing with his other body.

While he was singing his little heart out, the pretty lady that had visited the store a few times before walked in. She complimented Daniel's voice and bought him another drink along with the rest of her items before she disappeared again.

Later that night while Daniel was still fawning over the beautiful woman, Duke and Jiho came to the store. Jiho apologized for hitting him and bought energy drinks for all three of them to drink out on the sidewalk.

They were sitting on the sidewalk, sharing their bullying horror stories and relating to one another in peace and talking about how the appreciates Daniel in his other body.

Daniel couldn't help but allow himself to become flattered, but before he could cry tears of joy, the cigarette Jiho had been smoking was smacked out of his hands.

They looked up to see Vasco, holding Jiho's still smoldering cigarette between his fingers.

"Is what you're saying the truth?"

After getting over the initial shock of Vasco's appearance and seeing him put out the cigarette with this fingers, Duke and Jiho immediately went to defend Daniel's honor. What Vasco heard must have been shocking, because he fell silent and looked away.

He looked over his shoulder and to Daniel.

"Hey part timer, you're not weak. You should work out. If you don't know how, come find me."

The boys sat on the sidewalk silently again, frazzled from Vasco's little speach. They had enough action for the night, but it seems that the universe wasn't done with them.

Right when Daniel was beginning to consider going back inside, a cars breaks shriek in protests when it jerks to a stop in front of them.

The boys jumped back from the curb and gaped at the rather dingy car.

Their jaws dropped even more when the window rolled down and showed (Y/N)'s slightly irritated face.

"Duke!" She called, moving to get out of the car.

"(Y-Y/N)?" Duke said back, totally confused.

The girl got out of the car, nearly tripping over the sidewalk as she paced up to Duke.

The hooded driver of the car leaned over the steering wheel and waved as Jiho and Daniel with a smile, causing them to awkwardly wave back.

Duke was too preoccupied with (Y/N) fussing over him, holding his shoulders.

"Where were you? I stop by after work and you're not home. What are you doing out so late? It's a school night."

At that, Jiho looked away from the friendly driver and to (Y/N), ready to come to arms for his newly found friend.

"Y-You're one to talk. You're out too." He stuttered.

(Y/N) looked away from Duke for a moment to give Jiho a withering look. Duke saw Jiho begin to tremble and placed his chubby lil hands over (Y/N)'s and looked into her eyes, trying his best to pacify his friend.

"I'm sorry, I should have let you know I was going out. You must have been hungry..."

(Y/N) softened at his words, a tired expression replaying her stressed one. "I wasn't hungry, I was worried."

Duke smiled and (Y/N) stood up ruffling his hair. The affectionate moment was ruined by the car still parked by the sidewalk honking.

"Alright, mama bear. Are we giving him a ride or not?" The driver called, causing (Y/N) to narrow her eyes at him, but there was no malice in her expression.

"Well, you need a ride?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm gonna walk Jiho home."

(Y/N) nodded and looked to Daniel and Jiho who were still sitting on the curb, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Sorry about that. You guys have a good night." She said and got back into the car, giving the boys a quick wave before speeding off.

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Hey, uhhhhhhhhh

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