Itaewon is not Dara's ideal place to go to on a saturday night. At 10 in the evening, the area was bustling with so much energy that she was starting to feel suffocated.

Dara rounds to a slightly hidden alleyway until she reaches the pub where she's supposed to meet with a friend. She didn't bring her car knowing that her friend will definitely offer her a ride home.
 
If he doesn't, well friendship over, she thought
 
The pub was packed with patrons, some of whom she's seen or met before. They are part of the film industry, friends of the owner, she guesses. She smiles and bows to greet some of them before going up to their reserved table. Her friend hasn't arrived yet.

The pub's interior was made to look like an old police station and jail. Prison bars separate the open kitchen from the dining room. 

A jailhouse, how apt, she thought. 

Dara sees Donghae step inside the pub. He waves at some people before he starts frantically looking around, most likely in search of her. Instead of trying to catch his attention and lead him to their table, Dara continues to sit there and observe the new arrival.

Really, he is one handsome son of a dinousaur! She could've been the envy of so many girls for getting such a precious catch.

Donghae finally sees her and starts to walk to where Dara was seated, a pout on his face.

"Stop grinning. Do you like it that much when I look stupid?" Donghae sits down on the chair opposite Dara's.

"Serves you right for being late. We agreed to meet at quarter to 10 and it's already 10:05." She pretends to be peeved.

"I'm sorry but my schedule got messed up. Also, don't try to pretend that you've been waiting here for a long time because I called the manager 10 minutes ago and he said you weren't here yet at that time."

Dara laughs. "Ah! You caught me." she says in a cute manner. Donghae pretends to throw up. 

As usual, Donghae did the ordering for them. They didn't order any alcoholic drinks though since the younger one does not drink which Dara finds to be a relief as she doesn't want to add a throbbing hangover to her list of problems.

Donghae and Dara kept a steady stream of chatter while eating, talking about the random things that happened to them recently. 

"I saw videos of the you did for your concerts. Do you really have to straddle those boys?"

Dara raises her hand as if to shush Donghae. "Correction, they are already men. And, it was just fanservice which you are most familiar with. Don't tell me you're jealous." She teases him.

"I'm not jealous. I just pity those BOYS." he laughs when Dara tries to punch him but couldn't quite reach his side. "Shortie" he heckles her some more which earned him an adorable pout. "Shortie" he says again just in case that will make Dara do another adorable pout. She didn't. 

They continue with talking and eating until they got nothing to talk about anymore. 

One of the things that Dara credits as a reason that their friendship lasted so long is how comfortable they are with each other. They can just sit there and be silent without having an awkward atmosphere unlike so many of Dara's past encounters with other people. Dara considers Donghae as her comfort. 

She looks contemplatively at a corner of the pub. A few more minutes passed with only silence between them.

"Do you know why I asked for your number just a few minutes after we met?" Donghae finally asks.

Dara smiles, "Because, you thought I was pretty."

"Ding dong deng! You got it right!" Donghae gives her a thumbs up. 

"You are such a man Lee Donghae!" she chortles.

"Thank you. I've known that since the time I could identify the difference between a boy and a girl." he replies wagging his eyebrows at her. Dara laughs out loud. 

"Do you know why I fell in love with you?"
Donghae asks after a few minutes.

Dara stops smiling. She just looks at him, waiting for the answer, but his lips were tight. She realizes she won't be getting an answer tonight. He smiles and takes her hands. "I'll tell you the next time we meet."

"Cliffhanger." She grumbles. Donghae chuckles.

"Ready to leave?" he asks. Dara nods.

Donghae drives her to their dorm as expected. He didn't leave until he saw her board the elevator. 

Dara let twenty minutes pass before she takes the elevator to go to the lobby. She made sure that Donghae's car was nowhere in sight before she left the building.

The complex where their dorm is located is near the Han river. On the mornings that she's free, Dara would run along the jogging route near the river.  On a night like this one, however, she prefers to sit on a bench that overlooks the river and watch the scenic lights of the city dance on its dark waters.

"Noona, have some hot chocolate." a little boy, about 8 years old, approaches her with a beverage in hand.

"Where did you come from?" Dara smiles at the boy gently.

The boy points to a couple of snack carts huddled in one place. She didn't know there are still some of them that operates at this hour. She checks her phone. It's already half past 12 in the midnight. 

"Who told you to give this to me?" She crouches down so she's at the boy's eye level.

The boy shifts from side to side. "He told me not to tell you." He whispers quietly.

"Oh, did he? Hmm. Too bad I would have wanted to say thank you to him for being so kind." The boy does not meet her eyes.

"Also, I was thinking of buying an ice cream for the both of you as a way of saying thank you." The boy immediately looks at her. 

Gotcha!

Dara knows that it's not appropriate to bribe kids but in her defense, she thought, she was just being cautious with accepting the beverage.

The little boy made a gesture as if he was thinking about her proposal before he takes her hand and leads her to the snack carts. 

"Ah! It's you!" 

Luhan tried to hide behind the snack cart when he saw the boy lead Dara towards him but the place was completely illuminated so his efforts were futile. 

"This pretty noona will treat us with ice cream because we are so kind." the little boy proudly beams at him.
 
Luhan was blushing from head to toe, if that is even scientifically possible. Dara tries to hide her laughter in small coughs. The little boy races for the ice cream freezer. 

"Want some ice cream?" Dara asks.

"Yes" Luhan smiles back.