Escapade

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Donghae placed a finger to his lips as the maids and butler prepared to greet him.

He could hear the sound of laughter resounding through the hallway from the dining room. It made him curious as to who could make his parents so happy. Only a close few were given the ability.

As he came closer, he realized that it was no one other than Jessica. He should've known. Afterall, his mom did mention that she would be here.

Staying in his spot, not too far from them, he watched as she handed a fruit basket to his mom who accepted it with a wide smile, and some herbs to his dad who gave a loud hearty chuckle.

"I heard that auntie and uncle have been stressed over the company so I thought it'd be good for you guys to replenish your health. I'm sure Donghae will take great care of the company for you."

His mom held onto her hand as she tenderly patted them.

"You're still the same as I've always remembered, Sooyeon. Still so sweet and caring, my child."

Jessica quickly denied the compliment.

"That's not true at all, auntie!"

His dad chuckled.

"Still as modest as ever too!"

It surprised him.

To leave an entirely good impression on his parents, rarely anyone was able to do so. And if they did, it would take them quite a bit of time. He assumed that Jessica must've known his parents for as long as their parents were best friends, but he didn't think that they interacted enough to be as close as they are.

Their conversation droned on and Donghae decided that it was probably about time he came out from his spot and joined them.

"Mom! Dad!"

His greeting was almost left forgotten as they immediately pulled him into a bear hug.

And then the nagging commenced.

"Lee Donghae! Don't you know that you're not nearly home enough to greet your parents?!"

He pouted.

"But I'm busy taking good care of the company aren't I?"

His dad came in to pacify both mother and son.

"He's right, honey. But you should try to come home to visit more, son."

Donghae smiled.

"I'll try to drop by more often."

Jessica smiled at the scene before her. It was all too familiar.

"Why don't we eat now, auntie and uncle? The food will turn cold soon."

"Oh! You're right dear! Come, let's sit!"

Then, just like that, they all settled down for dinner. It was a warm and happy dinner. The type of dinner that a loving family usually had together.

When they were done eating, Donghae's parents decided to call it a night and retire to bed early. Despite their absence, they insisted that Jessica stayed for a bit longer so that Donghae could show her around. What Donghae didn't know, was that Jessica probably knew his house almost as well as he did.

-

"And this picture here, was taken when I won the soccer match. I got my knees and elbows scraped from wrestling with the other boys over the ball."

She bit her lips in an attempt to suppress her laughter.

'Liar. You got those from tripping over the ball!'

She ahhed and nodded her head, feigning ignorance.

"You must've been a good soccer player!"

"I am!" he boasted smugly and the smile on her lips turned into a grin.

He scanned the shelf.

"I swear, I should have a lot more childhood photos than this!"

"Maybe it's cause you weren't that good looking so your parents decided not to take too many pictures," she joked.

The truth was, she knew. She had been the one that requested it. There just happened to be too many photographs of them together, leaving his shelf with a limited number of self portraits in the process.

He looked at her appalled.

"Do you know the definition of good looking? You're looking right at it!"

She threw her head back in laughter and slapped his arm playfully.

"Way to be modest!"

He grinned.

When he was with her, fame, wealth, and luxuries seemed to vanish into thin air, out of sight and out of mind. Only happiness and warmth engulfed them. The only problem was, he, himself, was unaware of the simplicity of happiness that she made him feel.

She suddenly beamed at him.

"Are you up for a late night adventure?"

-

Donghae smiled, entranced by the girl before him. He watched her stick her hand out her car window to feel the wind as his eyes twinkled in amusement. They had decided to take their own cars just to make things simpler for when they both headed home afterwards.

The brunette just never failed to surprise him regardless of what it was. As soon as they had entered the freeway, she had sped up, challenging him to a race and now here they were, speeding along the freeway. With her hand stuck out the window, she waved a peace sign at him, enjoying her position as the lead. He took that as a sign for him to step up on his game and immediately raced past her before sticking his hand out to give her a salute.

They continued on like that, racing past each other before they finally arrived at their destination.

The duo got out of their car as they laughed heartily, energized in the late night by the rush of adrenaline.

"I didn't think you had it in you," he mused.

She grinned.

"I have my daredevil side here and there."

He smiled before raising an eyebrow in further amusement.

"An ice cream parlor? This was your idea of a late night adventure?"

She protested against his mocking.

"It's not just an ice cream parlor! It's Gelato ice cream with 200 plus flavours!"

"Weirdo," he sang.

She punched him and laughed.

"I bet you're craving some right now as we're standing here! Don't lie!"

His response of a shrug was followed by a playful smile as he headed for the entrance.

From behind him, she grinned.

-

Jessica stared at his ice cream cone, perplexed.

"Are you sure you can finish that?"

Her face scrunched into all kinda of expressions that he couldn't decipher making him let out a laugh.

"I don't think you can finish that," she tried again, "You're probably going to end up with a stomach freeze!"

She paused momentarily.

"What happened to you not wanting any?!"

Jessica knew that Donghae had a big appetite but she just didn't imagine that it would be this big. His ice cream was stacked almost twelve inches tall and everytime she looked at it, she swore that she got a little brain freeze. It just totally blew her mind that anyone would stack their ice cream that high.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about not wanting any. And, since we're already here, I might as well make the most of it and go for the jackpot right?"

She cracked up.

"You're such a fat boy!"

"Hey, you didn't get that much less than mines! You have about three scoops right there!"

She childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

"Aren't you afraid of getting fat?"

She shook her head and smiled before turning it into a nodd with a sheepish grin.

"I admit, I am. But, I can't stay away from good food for the life of me so why torture myself right?"

And to prove it, she took a big bite into her ice cream.

"Mmm!" she sounded with a mouth full of ice cream and he wasn't sure whether it was to express how delicious it was or because she was hit by a sudden realization.

He chuckled.

"I'm sorry but I don't speak the language of ice cream."

She swallowed and reached out to hit him.

"Instead of alcohol, you should just turn to ice cream from now on when you're sad! You gotta admit, it tastes so much better!"

He suddenly turned serious.

"Talking about alcohol, why did you take my beer to drink the other day? My mom told me that you're allergic to it."

She shrugged casually.

"I was thirsty."

"Liar."

"Fine, I drank it cause I didn't want you to drink anymore. You already spent the whole day drinking that day! If you drank anymore, you'd probably die from alcohol poisoning!" she exaggerated jokingly.

He stayed silent, simply staring at her.

"Why?"

"Why?" she repeated after him confused.

"Why are you so good to me? Why do you care so much about me?"

She smiled softly.

"Just because I want to."

His eyes gazed into hers.

A tranquil silence briefly engulfed them before he asked his next question.

"Do you lik- mmph!"

It all happened so fast that Donghae could only look at Jessica, completely bewildered. In an attempt to keep him from asking what she knew he would, she had shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. More like a handful to be exact.

She blinked once.

Then twice.

Within the next second, she had emerged into an endless fit of laughters that consisted of broken sorry's that she just couldn't get out right.

He glared at her.

She covered a hand over but only ended up laughing harder as she simultaneously released her violence upon the table, hitting it with every laugh.

"What were you just saying about that stomach freeze?" he said through gritted teeth.

She bit her lips, her laughter finally suppressed.

"I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to have you attacked by a spoonful of ice cream! It just so happened that as I was eating it, it tasted so good, and I wanted to let you have some too, and before I knew it, the spoon went flying into your mouth!"

She grinned sheepishly.

He stayed glaring at her.

She frowned.

His glaring continued.

Her frown deepened.

He broke into a laughter.

"Are you sure your name wasn't suppose to be something along the lines of weirdo?"

Her frown turned upside down.

"How did you know? My first name is actually Weir and my last name Do."

It was his turn to crack up as he let out a hearty laugh. She loved it. The sight of him laughing so happily.

-

The two leaned against their cars, admiring the night sky.

"It's getting late, you should go home and get some rest for work tomorrow," Jessica urged him.

He turned to her with a playful smile.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're quite naggy?"

She punched him and crinkled her nose before letting out a smile.

"I know," she grabbed his arm, "Now let's head home!"

Jessica dragged him to his car as she opened up the driver's seat and attempted to push him inside.

She grunted as he stayed immovable in front of the car door.

"You really are a fat boy! So heavy!"

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's called strength."

She stepped back and smiled teasingly.

"You don't want to go cause you can't bear to part from me?"

He scoffed before getting into the driver's seat.

'Bingo! Reverse psychology always works!'

She closed the door and laughed.

He rolled down his window.

"So, I'll see you around?"

She nodded, smiling.

"Donghae?" she called out as he started up his engine.

"Hmm?"

He turned to her and leaned onto the window.

"If you ever need someone to talk to or accompany you, just call me up, okay?"

She held her hand up to her ear like a telephone.

He smiled.

"I'll enter you onto my speed dial."

Her lips curved into a grin.

And just like that, their night ended with two hearts full of smiles.

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Hi dearies! (:

So I made some good use of my spare time whenever I could and was able to update even sooner than I imagined (:

I was actually going to separate this chapter into two different updates but I figured you guys would enjoy a long chapter more since my other ones have felt quite short :$ 

The only problem is, I'm typing up the next chapter right now & I'm experiencing some writer's block haha, I know how I want to go about it but just can't seem to get there!

I'm not quite exactly too satisfied with all of my chapters so far either ): Is it boring any of you guys? I just feel like I'm throwing in so many random fillers ):< Even though they're meant to lead up to the main point of the story, I just feel like I don't write it out as well as I could!

This chapter itself, is quite a filler, but there's actually a reason for it, and that's because from here on out, I think it's gonna get a lot more angsty/ dramatic heeheee!

My attempt to let the past slowly unfold also seems to be confusing many so I'm kinda bummed about that too ): I might do some editing whenever I can just to get the story a bit clearer but still keep the flow as it is and not reveal too much :S

I'm sorry guys! It's not that I want to keep you confused, but I just think it would be so much more enjoyable reading the story if everything's not laid out in plain view for you to see all at once :$

Ah, I need to figure these dilemmas out, BUT I promise I'll keep up with the updates and won't delete the story or stop updating because of these (:

I'd feel horrible if I did, seeing as you guys are such awesome readers & subscribers!

There goes my rant, haha sorry guys! 

A big thanks to all my subscribers, commenters, readers, and upvoters! <3 I'd love your feedbacks!

XOXO