Taeyang was up all night, wondering what to do for his first lesson with Sandara. He held a notebook in his left hand, erasing his latest thought that seemed too forward. She was a shy girl, he knew, but what would start to bring out her faith in others? Taeyang decided that she must trust other people before herself, trusting herself was difficult, but trusting other people took time. He knew that for a fact. Tapping his pencil on his chin, Taeyang blinked away sleep from his eyes to continue to work. “Hmm…wonder if Dara has any cookies.” He got down from the window sill of Sandara’s guest room and carefully tiptoed down to the kitchen. The dark room was illuminated by the dim moonlight but Taeyang still had to feel his way towards the fridge, “Cookies, cookies, cookies. Does Sandara have any cookies?”

CL liked strawberries and TOP liked coffee, Taeyang’s was cookies. He always craved them, chocolate chip or double fudge to be specific. In Sandara’s fridge, the muscular man was about to have a fit when he didn’t see any cookies, “Looking for something?” He jumped, hitting his elbow against the countertop. While he was hissing in pain, he heard her snicker, “Are you ok, Taeyang?”

“Yea. Ow, you just scared me a little.” Taeyang rubbed his elbow with his hand and closed the fridge before asking, “Got any cookies?”

“Huh?” He saw her confused stare and smiled.

“Cookies. Like chocolate chip?”

“Um…I don’t think so.”

He pouted, crossing his arms, “We’ll have to go buy some then in the morning.” Taeyang jutted out his bottom lip more and sighed, “Can’t do anything without a cookie.” He grumbled angrily. Sandara chuckled, “What? What’s so funny?” Taeyang looked at her, feeling offended. Was this funny to her?

She shook her head, “Sorry. It’s just that, you’re like a child, no wonder you get along with kids so easily. That’s cute.” He blinked, “Get some sleep Taeyang, you must be tired.”

“Yea…” Dara smiled and went back up the steps as he stood there, dumbfounded, “…That’s it!” He crashed his right fist onto his left palm and widened his eyes in realization, smiling widely, “Idea!” He hissed. Sandara needed to trust other people before trusting herself, that was Taeyang’s theory. What better place to start, than himself?

Taeyang sat on a chair, scrolling through his texts on his phone. TOP was telling him about his student, as well as CL. Both students seemed good-looking from their files, but both TOP and CL refused to admit. He smiled: I’ll admit that my student is cute.

They both replied at the same time:

TOP-hyung: Whatever

Chaerinnie: Psh.

He laughed and set it back into his pocket. Sandara tugged his sleeve, “Let’s go get cookies for you.” He jumped up and smiled happily, “Why were you laughing earlier?”

“Oh. I was texting my fellow Leaders and their texts made me laugh. It’s nothing really.” He said, following Sandara to her car, “Ooh. Nice car.” Taeyang smiled and slipped into the passenger seat, letting him sink into the smooth leather.

Sandara chuckled and pushed the keys into the ignition, “You like it?”

“I haven’t been in a car for a while. It’s been a really long time actually, I usually make students walk-but COOKIES are an exception!” He made a fist in the air and grinned, “To the store SANDARA!!”

“Aish, it’s like driving around with a kid. Don’t you grow up?”

He shrugged, “Well, what’s the fun in life if you don’t act like the way you are?” He smiled and nudged her arm, “Hint, hint.”

“Stop, I’m driving. Do you wanna die on Earth?”

Taeyang tapped his chin, “It’d be an interesting experience.” She smacked his shoulder, “HEY! Both hands on the wheel!” Sandara smiled and shook her head, turning at a light, “The world seems to have changed since I’ve been here.” He said.

Sandara looked at him and back on the road, “You haven’t been on Earth in a while? I thought you had a lot of ‘Missions’” She said, making her fingers quotations.

He shook his head, “No, not Earth. I meant Seoul.”

“Oh…well, how did it change?”

Taeyang turned, “Some things seemed to have torn down, new buildings replace them, more houses and stuff…but the general atmosphere feels less…carefree. Like everyone is in a tight place right now. It doesn’t feel nice.” He slumped his cheek against his seat and sighed, “Especially if you’re someone like me.”

Sandara turned the wheel and bit her lip, “Do you like traveling all over the place?”

“Well, my trips aren’t always the best. You know, what I do isn’t cheerful. I rarely have time to check out the places I’ve been to.”

“Where have you been to?” Sandara asked, “Give me a minute to park the car.” She looked back and switched into reverse, “Ok, sorry for that.” She pulled out the keys and Taeyang got out to open the door for her. Sandara hesitantly accepted his hand and stepped down from her car.

“I’ve stepped foot in nearly every country in Asia and Europe, I’ve been to America and Africa a few times, and Oceania as well as South America too. So, six of the seven continents.” He took a hold of a shopping cart and pushed it through, smiling and cheering like a kid while calling her name, “Sandara! Come on!” She followed him, chuckling and shaking her head. Since when has she met someone so close to her age be so childish? Sandara walked forward and took a hold of the cart.

“I got the cart. Just get what you want. I’ll pay.”

He whirled on her and shook his head, “No. I’ll pay. Trust me, I’m loaded.” She laughed and he smiled; “Now that is a genuine smile.” And he ran off before she could say anything. Taeyang came back with a handful of boxes.

“Whoa, whoa. What’s that?”

He looked at her confused, “I told you. I’m here for cookies. I got two chocolate chip, one oatmeal raisin, one peanut butter and two double fudge.” He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, making her smile, “Look! There it is again!” Taeyang pointed at her, “A genuine smile. Please keep it like this, Sandara. You look beautiful.”

She blushed, “I’ll try, Taeyang.”

“Good. So is there anything you want?” He placed a hand on the cart, “I can push. You need to embrace your inner self. Get in.” To his surprise, Sandara made no second to wait. She climbed in and sat with her legs crossed, cookie boxes in her lap.

She imitated him and cried out, “Onward, TAEYANG!”

He scoffed, “I do not sound like that.”

“Do too.”

“Do not.”

She laughed and poked a passing by chicken, “Yah, you want chicken for dinner?”

“You cook?”

Sandara nodded, “I can’t do take out forever. So what? Chicken or no chicken?” He took it and placed it in front of her, “Good. Now I can think about what to make.” While she pondered, Taeyang pushed the cart towards the dairy section to get a gallon of milk for his cookies. He stood to get it with one hand on the cart so that Sandara didn’t roll away when a child and his mother passed them by.

The young boy looked at Sandara sitting in the cart and whispered to his mother, “Omma, why is that big girl in the cart? Doesn’t that man get tired of pushing her?”

His mother looked at them and smiled, “No sweetie. By the looks of it,” Taeyang gave Sandara the gallon and smiled at her, “I think he likes to push her in a cart.”

“Omma. What does that mean?”

“You’ll know when you’re older.” They went past the two and the woman smiled at them, “Love is beautiful.”

Sandara looked through the cart and smiled, “Ok. I think we have everything we need. I can go pay now.”

Taeyang insisted in paying for the groceries since it was his idea to go, but Sandara was persistent. “Ok, this has to be the first time I’ve ever heard you say so much at once.” He said.

“That has nothing to do with this situation right now, Taeyang. I told you, I’ll pay-“

He tapped his chin, “Yes, but didn’t I deny that request?” She huffed and gave up, letting him draw out his wallet and pay, “Sorry ma’am, this woman here is very hard to get to.”

The cashier smiled, “No worries. It looks like you’re trying very hard to get to her though.”

Taeyang chuckled, “Believe me, ma’am, I am.”

She laughed and handed him the bags, “You be good to that girlfriend of yours though, she looks like a keeper with you.”

Shocked, he stood there until he found his voice, “Oh, no, ma’am you’re-“

“TAEYANG!” Sandara called, “Come on! We have frozen stuff! They’re gonna melt!”

He sighed and ran after her, “Coming!”

“Taeyang! Dinner’s ready!” He came down the stairs, texting TOP one last time before turning off his phone. Sandara offered him a bowl of rice and gestured to the chicken on the table.

“Whoa! This looks really good!” He awed, “Hope it tastes the way it looks.”

She rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry. I tasted some before I set it on the table. If it isn’t to your liking, I’ll pay you back the money from the chicken.”

Instantly, he started eating a piece and made a face, “Ew. SANDARA! I demand refund!” He held out his hand. She laughed and gently pushed his head down towards his bowl, “Whoa. Be careful. The chopsticks are pointing right at my eyes.” He smiled, “The chicken is really good though, it’s almost at the top with my double fudge cookies.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” She said, “So tell me Taeyang, I’m curious. What’s the best part of your job?”

He finished his bite and swallowed, answering calmly, “Helping people. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

She nodded, “I know how you feel.” She said quietly, “I’ve never had a good life as a kid. I guess, you already know that. So seeing all the children at the community center gets those memories running again. I can’t just shake it off, you know. It’s hard to let go of something that’s made me into someone so…fake.”

He tilted his head, “I told you, I was abandoned by my parents,” She looked up at him, “and that my father took me in as a kid. I was bullied a lot in school because I didn’t have a lot of money to buy the latest clothes or stuff like that. I hated being a kid, but things just seemed to find its way to make itself right. I met a girl when I was an early teen and things went pretty well, until I found her making out with one of my friends.”

“That sounds awful.” They both paused to take another piece of chicken from the center and ate another bite.

“It was. But I got over it, and things went better for me emotionally. You know, the best thing to do in a bad situation is to think positive.” He pointed his chopsticks at her, “You need to think about the good things in life. Your family, your brother, your job. Those are good things in your life.” He looked around and stood to bring a box of double fudge cookies to the table, “Know why I love cookies so much?” She shrugged and he smiled, “Because when I turned eighteen, I started dating this girl-who’s a Leader now too-Lee Chaerin. Soon after that, I was waiting for my dad to come meet me at this coffee shop in Seoul. I ordered a cookie since they were free, a double fudge. While I was eating it, Chaerin came into the store and told me my father was missing.”

Sandara raised a brow, “So, you like cookies because while you were eating one, your girlfriend told you your father was missing?”

He chuckled, “That’s not all of it. I moved on and knew my father would come back in my life eventually. So about two years later, I was eating another one of these at home-and damn, that one was really good. And Chaerin came to me and told me straight up: ‘We need to break up’. I swallowed that cookie and it hit me. Nothing in life, is gonna go the way it should, or the way you think it will. But in the end, it’ll always turn out better. When I finished the cookie, we were officially broken up and she left. I ate another cookie, and realized that letting go was the easiest thing to do. So every time I felt the need, I ate a cookie, and it’s helped me calm down and really think about the situation I was in.” By this time, the chicken was nearly gone.

She smiled, “You know, you can put so much meaning into one tiny thing.” Sandara cracked open the box and took one out, “Desert?”

He smiled, “Thanks. And…it’s the small things that really get you through tough times, Sandara.” Taeyang bit into it and smiled, “Yum.”

Sandara looked at him, “Call me Dara.”

He paused and grinned, “Ok. And since you’re technically older than me, can I call you Noona?” She nodded and he felt pleased with himself, “Call me Bae. That’s part of my real name-Youngbae.”

She nodded and stood up, “Alright Bae. I think that cookies go good with milk.”

He nodded and called out, “I totally agree Dara-noona!”

---

wow 35 subbies~I think I'm doing well for my 'lucky' story. ^.^ I'm sorry for my slow update, I was on vacation for a while and had no wi-fi TT.TT But I'm back!! \o/ This chapter does have a poll, so vote and I'd like to get my readers' feedback as well. Don't forget to comment and subscribe-to all you silent readers  ( ._.) (._. ) (._.) Happy voting~!

-TAIwin <3 (.^_^.)