A few weeks pass of teaching English to several YG artists.

I’ve become close with the Big Bang members, which is so weird to even think in my head. The boys have taken me out to eat at different locations for meals they’ve been able to join me for and they all are so comfortable with me that it seems as though we’ve been friends far longer than a few months.

But the best part experience, by far, is the friendship I’ve developed with Daesung. This past month has been busy for him with lots of interviews and talk shows, but he’s kept up constant text chatter with me and we’ve managed to grab some late-night meals together when his schedule permits.

I smile to myself as I finish preparing the eggs I’m making for my breakfast. It’s Saturday and I’m not sure how I’ll spend my day off, but getting to sleep in was a welcome change to start my day.

I hear my phone chime with a text alert and reach over on the counter to retrieve it. When I read the text, my mouth drops open and I have to reread it once more to be sure I’m reading the correct information.

Before I know it, I find myself calling Daesung. But then I realize what I’ve just done. He’s probably busy with work stuff and why in the world would he have his phone on him if that’s the case? Just as I’m about to hang up, I hear, “Hyung! Did you get the news?”

His excited voice has me laughing. I say, “Neh! I’m so excited! I can’t believe it’s already time for your England tour! This is going to be so much fun!”

“Wow, next week! I’m so nervous, though. What if my English and no one understands me in any of the cities we visit?”

I scoff. “Yah! Who do you think you’re talking to? The Choi Seunghyun has taught you so you can rest assured that your English will be better than perfect.”

His teasing laughter lets me know that’s the reaction he was expecting from me.

With a sudden bout of confidence, I ask, “Are you busy today?”

“I’m at a photo shoot right now, but I should be done a little after noon. After that I don’t have anything on my schedule. Why do you ask?”

“Let’s do something!” With a grin on my face, I continue, ”I have a day off today and I was thinking you could show me around someplace I haven’t seen yet.”

“Of course! Aigoo, there are so many places I can think of, but some are farther away than others. How about for today we stick to a close-by location? I’m thinking Hongdae? How does that sound, Hyung?”

“Perfect,” I say through a smile.

***

After a few hours of catching up on my laundry and cleaning around the house, I get a text from Daesung saying he’s done for the day and an offer to meet at the YG building.

Dressed casually in black pants and a white, v-neck t-shirt, I throw on an oversized, forest green jacket and head out the door.

When I arrive at the ground level of the YG building, I see Daesung sitting on the couch, head bent over his phone. He looks up at the sound of my footsteps and the smile that stretches across his face makes my breath hitch in my throat for a moment.

Daesung is dressed in loose-fitting gray pants and a light gray jacket over a thin black hoodie.

I smile at him as I say, “Are you sure you’re not going to be recognized?”

As if anticipating my words, he pulls out a facemask from his back pocket and a big pair of black sunglasses. He gives me a teasing smile. “Don’t worry, Hyung. I’ve had plenty experience blending in.”

I shake my head as I laugh at him. “If you say so. But if we get trampled because of any chaos you cause, I am not staying to help you out.”

His jaw drops and he lightly punches my arm. “You wouldn’t!”

I give him a grin in response.

With a laugh, Daesung pulls on my arm and leads me to a door off to the side. “Let’s go this way, Hyung. It’s how we idols sneak out without being caught by the fans.”

The door leads to a narrow hallway that seems as though it could be running along the length of the parking lot wall. My suspicion proves true when, upon reaching the door at the other end of the hall, we come out onto the small back street of the YG building.

Daesung pulls his hood over his head and leads the way.

Hongdae is only a few blocks from the YG building and an easy walk. I’m surprised by the lack of recognition that Daesung gets while he walks along; but then again, his entire head and face are practically hidden.

I can tell when we get to the actual Hongdae tourist district because the road is blocked from allowing cars to pass through and the number of people walking about suddenly multiplies.

Everywhere I look there are stands selling clothes, hats, sunglasses, jewelry, manga, music; everything is bright colors and fashion brands. I’m immediately drawn to a stand selling men’s hats. A black fedora with a wide brim catches my eye.

“You like it?” Daesung asks quietly from my side.

Distracted, and almost mumbling to myself, I reply, “Mm. I can already see several outfits I could wear this with.”

I hear a snort from beside me. “Are you sure you shouldn’t be a stylist for YG? We are obviously wasting your talents.”

I slowly look over at him, staring into his dark glasses. “I have so many talents President Yang wouldn’t even know where to start with me.”

Daesung is silent for a moment before a burst of laughter falls from his mouth as he leans onto my shoulder. “I must see these ‘many talents’ one day!”

I look him up and down and give him an unsure look. “I’m not too sure you could handle it, Daesung-ssi.”

Daesung continues to chuckle as he lightly punches my shoulder. “We’ll see about that, ajusshi.”

I choke on a laugh. “Yah!”

But Daesung has already begun to walk away. I replace the hat and run to catch up, throwing an arm around his shoulders and taking in the sights once more.

There are so many people, of all ages, all over the place. Off in the distance, I hear live guitar playing; everywhere I look groups of girls are taking photos on selfie sticks.

From beside me, I hear Daesung chuckle. It’s at this point that I realize my arm is casually hanging over his shoulder.

I jump away with a start. “Mian, Daesung-ah. I didn’t even realize I had-“

“Hyung, it’s fine.”

I look up into Daesung’s eyes and see amusement sparkling through, but under that is calm acceptance.

But I still feel the need to make sure my overly comfortable behavior wasn’t too hasty. “You’re sure?”

At this, his eyes turn gentle. “Mm. We’re friends.”

I find myself grinning before I can stop myself. “This is too cool. Friends with Kang Daesung. Have I died and gone to heaven?”

Daesung lets out a loud laugh and shakes his head as he turns and continues walking.

As I walk to catch up again, I look around and take in all the signs and stands that seem to cover every inch of available space.

I see a stand up ahead selling rings and I head over to look. Seeing a few that I like, I put them on, trying to determine which colors I would prefer to wear more often.

“I like that one,” Daesung says, as he points to the third ring I’ve tried on. It’s an oval-shaped ring with a dark sapphire stone surrounded by gold swirls. It’s wild and crazy and I like it a lot.

I look up at the ahjumma selling the items. “I’ll take this one!”

Soon after, we pass several food stands but decided on a kabob stand and I get four spicy chicken sticks while Daesung gets three mild sticks.

As we walk around trying to find somewhere to sit for a bit while eating our kabobs, I see a large crowd gathered up ahead. Heading in that direction with Daesung at my side, I make my way through the crowd to the center of the circle. Once there, I see a young man in jeans and a t-shirt, about our age, with an acoustic guitar and a beanie pulled low over his eyes.

He has a deep voice with a scratchy feel to it, which goes well with the sad love song he’s singing. Several girls are taking videos and swooning whenever he hits particular notes.

“He’s good,” I say to Daesung, “I like his voice.”

Daesung nods his head in agreement. “And if he wrote these lyrics, he’s especially talented. I hope he goes far in his career.”

I smile at his genuine tone.

We stay just long enough to finish our food and then move on to see more of Hongdae. We see a few more live performances and Daesung ends up buying a Doreamon keychain, which I about.

“I swear it’s for my cousin!”

“Daesung, your love of Doraemon was a well-known facts for years. Don’t lie to your Hyung!”

By the time the sun starts to set, we find ourselves in a less touristy part of Hongdae and escape into a bar.

It’s large and the lighting is low. There are billiard tables along the far wall and the bar counter runs the length of the wall next to the entrance.

We take our seats on stools at the far end of the bar. Daesung takes his facemask off, but keeps his hood up.

We don’t speak as we place our orders and take in the bar crowd. When our drinks are placed in front of us, Daesung says, “The guy from that night at Blue…I don’t think he loves me.”

I keep silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. He doesn’t necessarily sound sad, more like he’s stating a fact. “Do you love him?”

Letting out a sigh, he says, “I think…I think I want to be in love so badly that I pretend that I feel it for him. I want to love him…I think I could love him. But I’m not sure how he feels about me.”

“Have you known him long?”

He nods his head. “About a year and a half. He’s one of the dancers at YG. We only started to become more…friendly…in the past six months or so.”

I take a sip from my drink and nod my head. “Well, it makes sense to feel the way you do. It’s pretty common for friendship to develop first before a more romantic relationship sets in. Perhaps you’re still stuck in a friendlier outlook in regards to him. Soon, you might look at him and suddenly feel that deep connectedness and love and vice versa. You do want him to love you, yes?”

Daesung is silent for another moment, considering his answer. “I…yes. I think so?“ At my raised eyebrow, he shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, yes. It’s hard to find someone in Korea openly interested in men. And being a celebrity makes it even harder so—“

“Dae.”

He looks at the hand I’ve placed on his arm and then turns his gaze up to me.

Looking into his eyes and showing him how serious I am, I say, “I know we don’t know each other very well still and you really don’t have to listen to me, but please don’t settle. Don’t think that you have to take the first thing you get just because it shows some signs of promise. You deserve the best love, just like anyone else. And if this guy is the one, then great. But if not, don’t force yourself to work with that. Be brave enough to say what you want and take it.”

I remove my hand and sit back from where I was leaning forward. Daesung continues to stare at me for a bit longer before the smallest, but most sincere smile appears on his face.

“Yeogiyo.”

I turn to the voice behind me to see a young woman with a smile on her face.

When she continues to smile, I ask, “How can I help you?”

She takes a step closer to me and says, “Oh, I was just wondering what you’re drinking?”

“Uh, a gin and tonic.”

I turn back to Daesung to see an amused smile on his face and I make a weird face in return meaning, what a weird question right?

Before I can continue where we left off, I hear “Yeogiyo,” once more.

Before turning around, I roll my eyes and Daesung nearly spits his drink out as he covers his face.

“Yes?” I ask with a smile.

“Would you like to buy me one?”

“Buy you what?”

“A gin and tonic.”

I hold in a sigh, but start to pull out my wallet. “Miss, if you can’t afford a drink, you probably shouldn’t come to a bar.”

The woman’s face drops open in shock and she walks off with a mumbled, “.”

I turn back to the sound of quiet laughter. Daesung has his face in both his hands as he tilts to the side from his shaking.

“What? What’s so funny? She was so rude. I was going to give her money!”

Finally calming himself somewhat, Daesung looks at me with watery eyes. “I can’t believe you’re so dumb, Hyung!”

I feel my eyebrows rise on my forehead. “Why? Why am I being called all these names? What did I do wrong?”

At this, Daesung breaks down once more. “Aigoo, aigoo! That was so funny!”

I punch his arm lightly, feeling like I’m missing something.

Daesung finally calms down, but there’s still a smile on his face. “Hyung, she was trying to flirt with you,” he tells me quietly.

My eyes go wide. “What?! No, she wasn’t it!”

He chuckles and nods his head. “She was.”

“But there are so many people here. Why didn’t she ask anyone else?”

Daesung narrows his eyes as he looks at me. “Hyung, are you dumb? You’re really handsome.”

I give Daesung a long blink. Did he just…call me handsome? DID KANG DAESUNG JUST CALL ME HANDSOME?

“Hello?” I suddenly register a hand waving in front of my face.

Knocking the hand out of the way, I grab Daesung’s head in both of mine. “What did you just say?”

Daesung give me a confused frown, which, under normal circumstances would be funny with the way his head is squished between my hands. “Um, I said you’re really handsome?”

I blink several times as I continue to look at him, not understanding the words coming from his mouth. “Say it again.”

Daesung rolls his eyes and scoffs as he pulls away. “Oh, now you’re just being stupid.”

My heart feels weak and like it’s pumping too hard. “Yah,” I croak. “I’m your Hyung.”

“Still stupid,” he mumbles into his glass, but I see the smile tugging at his lips.

I let my head fall to the countertop and close my eyes. “This is the best day ever. I love my life.”

Although I whisper it quietly, Daesung’s quiet chuckle lets me know he heard.

________

A/N: Hi friends ^__^

hehe... are you super mad?

I'M SO SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE SO LONG. 

All I can say is that life has been fun and I've been living it...please forgive authornim!!

I love you all who continue to comment despite my long absence and who continue to share your support and love. It means everything to me!

I'll see you all soon ^__^ 

<3