Author's Note: This is part 2 of 5 of Chapter 8. I realized that the Chapter 8 I'm writing is too long to put into one post, so I've decided to serve it to you in bite-sized portions (labeled 8.1 to 8.5) along with a few mini-side chapters (because that's how much I love you). Enjoy! :D

*I don't own any of the photos. Credit goes to the original creators.

_____________

8.2

Japan

"Is Hyukkie with you?"

It was the first thing she asked Donghae upon answering his call. She dreamt about Hyukjae getting lost in a city made of strawberry milk cartons last night and couldn't shake the worry of him going missing once again. On the other hand, it was sort of a pleasant break from all the Clare dreams she's been having. Some were recollections of happy memories; others were nightmares of life without her, both of which end with her waking up with a heavy heart.

"Hyuk? Yeah, he's right here. You wanna talk to him?" Donghae replied, sounding a little disappointed. Lily mentally face-palmed herself. She should've greeted him properly first. After all, she's here for him, right?

"Oh, no, nothing. Just checking. So… what are you doing right now?" Lily segued.

"We're getting ready for the press conf-"

"Hooooly crap whattheheckisthis???" Lily blurted out, cutting Donghae off. She just came face to face with an intersection signage in pure Japanese. What good were directions if she can't understand them?! Ugh. A few minutes in Japan and she's already feeling frustrated. What was wrong with her? She should be excited. She's in a beautiful country that's she's never been to before on her way to meet a wonderful guy who's put in so much effort just to go out with her. She should be ecstatic, but all she felt now was tired, worried, and a bit irritable. 

"Why? What's wrong?" Donghae questioned, a little alarmed. 

"There's this huge street sign with loads of arrows pointing everywhere but they're all in Japanese so I don't freakin' know which one to follow!" Lily replied in a single breath. 

Either her Korean has greatly improved or Donghae's Mandarin comprehension did because he just understood everything. It's that or he magically became fluent in English. Lily wasn't even sure which language she's speaking anymore. Over the months, they've developed a unique way of conversing by using a mixture of Mandarin, Korean, and English. It's like piecing together a puzzle - say something in this language. If it doesn't work, try another one. And when all else fails, grab Henry or Siwon (and sometimes Zhou Mi). And if neither are available, there's always exaggerated gestures or Google Translate. It's a little tiring and confusing but it's the only way they have.

"Are you lost? What do you see around you? Stay there and I'll pick you up," Donghae said. Next she heard was him saying something in rapid Korean to someone, who was disagreeing with him.

"Donghae! DONGHAE! Hello? Donghae!" Lily shouted into the phone. She appreciated his concern but really, he must be crazy to run out on a press conference just to pick up his not-even-dating-yet friend. 

"Yeah? What?" he finally answered.

"Calm down. I know the way. There's English translation written underneath. Me being nearsighted, I didn't see it at first. So don't worry, okay? I'm totally fine," Lily lied. There were no English translations anywhere. But it couldn't be too hard to find her way, right? After all, Tokyo is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Anyway, she had hours before the concert. She'd be alright by then.

"Oh. Oh, that's good," Donghae sighed, relieved. 

"Everybody, to the waiting area!" Lily heard their manager announce from somewhere. Chairs screeching, clothes shuffling, and going footsteps followed. 

"Lily, I'm sorry, I-"

"You don't have to apologize," Lily interrupted gently. "Go, they're waiting for you. I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"

"Bogoshipo," whispered Donghae after a short pause.

"YA! Save your cheesiness for later, the press con is about to start!" Hyukjae scolded from somewhere beside him.

Lily laughed and bid him goodbye for now. It's only been a couple of weeks since she last saw them, but here she was, finally feeling the excitement of being with the boys once again.

~ ~ ~

"Where is Hyukjae?" Lily yelled to whoever's within earshot. 

She got to the SMTown Tokyo venue early in the hopes of getting to film some backstage footage for there faux thesis. It has become a beloved personal project of hers, one she's planning on giving the boys as a gift on their next debut anniversary. However, the moment she stepped into the backstage area, an imposing lady with a walkie talkie pulled her aside and gave her instructions, not even letting her explain who she was. Having no choice but to follow, she ran errand after errand until everyone started calling her the "errand noona". 

"Hey, Lil, over here," Donghae called out. 

"Hi. There you are. Where is Hyukjae?" Lily demanded, looking up and down the corridor, urgency in her eyes, arms laden with various articles of clothing.

"He's changing. What's wrong?" Donghae asked, concerned.

"Where?!" Lily demanded fiercely, making Donghae lead her to the changing rooms. Following him, she explained, "The lady with all the clothes said that she gave Hyuk clothes for some other artist so I need to give these to Hyukkie and give the other to some dude."

"Okay, but why are you delivering clothes?" Donghae inquired.

"I DON'T KNOW!!! It must be this backstage pass. People started assigning me stuff to do. I can't even understand half of what they're saying--HYUKJAE! OPEN THE DOOR!" Lily shouted, banging on the changing room door. 

A moment later, a startled, topless Hyukjae peered out. Lily pushed into the room, ignoring Hyukjae's and Donghae's alarmed protests.

"I really don't give a crap even if you're , Hyuk," Lily said. "I need your clothes. The ones that the clothes lady gave you awhile ago. You're supposed to wear these. And she asked me to bring the ones you just used, too. So take those pants off. NOW!"

"But--" Donghae and Hyukjae started to protest. Lily cut them off.

"I said NOW! I HAVE MORE CLOTHES TO DELIVER! NOW HYUKJAE, TAKE THOSE PANTS OFF NOW!!!" Lily yelled.

A couple of minutes later, a furiously blushing Hyukjae stood fully dressed in the right outfit while Donghae placed his bandmate's used, sweaty clothes across Lily's arms.

"Thank you. Sorry for screaming. I'm in such a hurry. Now, can someone tell me who the heck U-know Yunho is? He really should change his name because I DON'T KNOW HIM."

~ ~ ~

The boys found Lily lying fast asleep, face buried against the backrest of the couch in the waiting room after the show. Leeteuk, who was the first one to enter, shushed everyone behind him before letting them come in. But the others were still on a high after the night's performance that it was difficult to tone themselves down. Soon, the room was abuzz with post-concert energy. Kyuhyun tried to herd the noisy members (Ryeowook, Sungmin, and Shindong in particular) away from the couch but it was too late. Lily stirred, slowly turning as she yawned. 

Flomp!

"Sonofagrrrrrr!" Lily grumbled, rubbing her backside, opening her eyes to laughing faces. What a way to wake up. "Not funny, guys," she mumbled, trying to get up. Kyuhyun made a move to help her up, but Donghae got to her first, so he joined in the laughing instead, not knowing what else to do.

"Gwenchana? Did you hit your head?" Donghae asked, inspecting her head.

"No, no, the other round, protruding thing on my body absorbed the impact," Lily replied. She searched for the source of the sniggering to throw her shoe at - she's pretty grouchy when she's just woken up - her eyes landing on Kyuhyun and his derisible smirk. Lily gave him the dirtiest look she could muster before pushing Donghae aside and lunging at the brat. Kyuhyun, shocked by Lily's sudden outburst, jumped behind the first person he saw, which was Hyukjae.

"You SONOFAGRRRRRRR!!! Stay put!" Lily growled, struggling against Hyukjae in an attempt to beat Kyuhyun to a pulp.

"What did I do?!" Kyuhyun questioned innocently, dodging Lily's swipes.

"Lil, hajima… Calm down," Hyukjae repeated over and over as he fought to keep the her away from his friend. It wasn't an easy task since Lily wasn't exactly petite. And the fact that the incident from earlier kept replaying in his head, making him blush, wasn't making his job easier. 

Lily finally calmed down when Sungmin stepped in and dragged Kyuhyun out the door while the latter protested, "This is so unfair! I didn't even do anything wrong! She's the one who suddenly went crazy and attacked me! Why do I have to get out?!"

Awkward silence ensued when the two were finally out of earshot. Realizing that he was still holding Lily (he had to kind of hug her to keep her contained), Hyukjae abruptly let go of her and took two steps backwards, hanging his head low to hide yet another bout of furious blushing.

Shindong was the first to notice the anomaly. "What's up with you, Hyuk?" he inquired.

Hyukjae just shook his head and continued to keep his eyes glued on the floor. A second later, Donghae let out a laugh. "Oh, I know what that's about!" he exclaimed, and proceeded to tell the tale.

"So you're being all weird and awkward because Lily's seen pretty much everything there is to see on you, huh?" Shindong summarized, laughter in his eyes and voice.

"Stop talking about it, you guys…" Hyukjae begged, shifting in his spot restlessly, unable to look at the rest of them. 

Finding his shyness adorable and painful at the same time, Lily walked over to Hyukjae and placed her arm around his shoulders. "Hyukkie, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. I didn't see anything, I swear. Ask Donghae."

Tentatively, Hyukjae raised his eyes to give Donghae a questioning look.

"She turned around and closed her eyes while you changed," Donghae confirmed. 

Upon hearing this, Hyukjae let out a sigh of relief and slowly fell into a fit of giggles as he realized how embarrassingly awkward his reaction was.

But Shindong didn't let him off that easy. "I'm telling you again, Hyukkie. For a girl to see you half- up close, carry around your sweaty, smelly clothes, AND not have the urge to run away crying… man. When are you gonna ask her to marry you?"

Everybody laughed at what has become one of their favorite jokes, making Hyukjae bury his once-again-reddening face in Lily's shoulder.

~ ~ ~

"So… I take it that our date is canceled?" Donghae inquired. 

The boys have finally finished changing and saying their goodbyes to the other artists. Donghae and Lily chose to stay behind and spend some precious time alone.

Lily stifled her yawn. The date. She completely forgot. "If you're still up for it… I'm good to go."

"You don't have to push yourself, you know," Donghae advised. "You look more worse for wear than any of us."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Eyes widening, Donghae put up both hands in front of him in a defensive-apologetic gesture. "No, no, no, don't get me wrong. I only meant that-"

"Meant what?" Lily demanded.

"I-you-all night, you've been working hard, work that you shouldn't have even been doing and… I know you're so tired and I feel responsible…" Donghae explained.

After holding her pretend-anger for a couple more seconds, Lily softened her expression to a smile, making Donghae relax. Casually, she looped her arm around his as they walked.

"I don't even know why you try…" Lily admitted. "I mean, I'm just me and… you're you. But thank you for being understanding."