45.

. . . Donghae thinks as he looked at Dara. He's pretty sure that he's blushing right now because goddamit, she's touching his face.

But those thoughts leave his frazzled mind when he sees Dara's expression. Wary. Vulnerable.

His heart hurts as they stare at each other. Why does she look like that?

"Donghae, please, please tell me. Right now, if- if you're serious. If you' sincerely feel that way about me. Because, I don't think I can handle it if you're just playing around."

His heart drops at her words. Did she really think that Donghae might be playing around with her? She's afraid that I'll hurt her.

Dara's hand moves to leave his face, but Donghae grabs it and firmly grasps it into his own. He looks determined as he starts to speak.

"Noona, I'm not the type of guy to joke about feelings. I really, really like you. And it's okay, if you don't return these feelings." Donghae uttered with conviction.

Dara's eyes wells up with unexpected tears as she lets out a choked laugh. "What the hell are you saying, Donghae? I really like you too, in case you haven't noticed."

Donghae stares at Dara for a moment, looking like his soul just left his body.

Dara grins, less tense now that Donghae clarified that he's not joking.

And then he pulls Dara close, hugging her tightly. She lets out a surprised laugh.

They pull away from each other slightly, both of them red-faced.

"So..um.. Can I.." Donghae stutters, going crazy over how close Dara is to him..and his face. His gaze falls from her eyes to her lips.

Way to go, Captain Obvious.

Dara giggled before flicking Donghae's forehead with her fingers. "You're asking me if you can kiss me?"

Donghae died a little at that. "Yes?"

Feeling confident because of how cute Donghae acted, Dara playfully replied with a, "I don't know, can you?"

Despite feeling flushed, Donghae started to lean closer towards her.

Dara closed her eyes expectantly, acting calm when in truth, she felt like screaming with all the butterflies she feels in her stomach.

And then he slowly pressed his lips to hers for a few seconds before pulling away.

Dara opens her eyes in shock. "What?" That's it? Her mind asks in disbelief. She stares at Donghae, his face still flushed.

"I don't want to rush you..or anything." He pathetically, albeit sincerely, explained.

Dara stares at him disbelievingly before guffawing.

"Hae, we're not teenagers anymore, although we look like we still are. That's not the kiss I wanted from you."

They try again, now with Donghae putting his arms around her waist to pull her even closer, his eyes drop to her lips again, still hesitant.

Dara rolls her eyes. This guy seriously. She thinks, feeling anticipation and annoyance all at once. 

So she decides to take matters into her own hands, clasping her hand on his nape and pulling him to her, closing over his.

Donghae's eyes widen comically and gasps into the kiss. Dara almost chuckles at that, but opts to deepen the kiss instead.

As soon as they pull away from each other, they stare at each other in silence. But Dara breaks it by laughing hard, pointing at Donghae's face.

"You look like a fish out of water, Hae. Are you alright?" Dara asked in amusement. Donghae tries to compose himself before responding.

"It's your fault though. You surprised me." Donghae says.

Dara grins, "So you disliked it? Okay, we won't do it again." With that, Donghae sputters protests. "That's not what I meant!"

2NE1's leader did not take it very well when Dara came home by early morning.

"We were worried!" CL pouted at Dara before glaring momentarily at Donghae, who was behind Dara as they entered the dorm.

Bom and Minzy were standing by quietly, until the older between the two spoke. "Where were you?What did you do?"

The newly made official couple turned red at her questions, making Bom and Minzy screech excitedly, obviously thinking weird things.

CL swatted at the two members. "Help me out here, you guys." She turned to Dara once again. "The manager told us that you ran away."

Dara held her hands up defensively. "I didn't! I was taken away. Blame him." She jokingly pointed at Donghae.

CL's eyebrow twitched, her strong gaze scaring Donghae. The guy looks at Bom pleadingly for help.

"Okay..why don't we just sleep this off. I'm pretty sure everyone's tired. Dara will explain everything to us tomorrow." Bom says.

Everyone agrees to follow, even the stressed leader. Donghae moves to leave, saying goodbye to the girls.

Almost out the door, Donghae stops and turns back. "Dara, wait." The 2NE1 member obeys and goes to him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?" Donghae teased, eyes alight with mischief.

Dara rolls her eyes, pretending to be annoyed, before pulling Donghae down by the collar to kiss his cheek.

"There. Goodbye." She mumbles, shoving Donghae outside playfully.

And as the door closed, Donghae sighed happily to himself, smiling creepily from ear to ear.

It surprises Donghae, the fact that almost all the members of Super Junior were present at the dorm when he got home.

The active members of course. 

Donghae groans at the sight of the members waiting for him by the living room. "Why the hell are you still awake? It's almost dawn."

He stays by the door, creeped out by his bandmates.

"Excuse me, but where were YOU, to come home this late?" Sungmin retorts, grinning like he already knows the answer to his question.

To Donghae's rescue, Eunhyuk tells Sungmin to shut up. "Besides, the important thing to ask him is whether Hae was successful or not."

The members go silent at that, faces solemn but clearly intrig