The last thing I saw before I closed the door to the apartment was Siwon’s grim face, and it gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach. But as Donghae grabbed my hand and pulled me cheerfully towards the elevators, I was thinking to myself: “Do I really want to worry about Siwon all day? If he does get mad, that’ll actually solve my problem, because I don’t have to break up with him..he’ll break up with me. But…do I really want him out of my life?”

Ahhh, whatever. I have work to do now, and with Fishy, too! He’s actually fun to be with once he drops the flirtatious act.

We drove off in Donghae’s dark blue Nissan Bluebird.

Me: Nice car.

Hae: Well, it’s not an Audi or a BMW…

Me: Who gives a damn? I like this one. Roomy, trusty…you know. It’s a CAR, not a showpiece.

Hae: Well, Leeteuk hyung drives a BMW…

Me: And from what I hear about his driving skills, he should be driving an ox cart instead!

Hae: (~Laughing out REALLY loud~) You’re right! He makes us all fear for our lives when he drives the van! (~then getting a bit serious~) Siwon drives an Audi Coupe.

Me: Well, I don’t really know much about cars or their brands, but I assume an Audi is an expensive car…if he can afford it, why not?

Hae: (~Taking a deep breath and cheering up again~) Yeah, you got that one again! So…shall we have pastries and coffee? We’re early!

Me: What? You just ate my pancakes.

Hae: But they weren’t that good. Ryeowook said you were a good cook, I was kinda disappointed.

Me: (~Looking away to hide my red face, because of course, Siwon was the one who made the pancakes~) Well, I was still sleepy. Okay, fine, let’s have something to eat!

And he pulled up to a parking lot near CoEx Mall and we went into a nearby small, out of the way Starbucks.

At around 1045, we left for the Philippine Consulate where we spent about an hour getting all his papers ready for the business trip next week. He was clearly impatient about all the waiting we had to do, but he took everything in with a smile and kept bugging me for Filipino phrases that’ll be useful for him to learn.

Hae: So..I remember how people greet each other in the Philippines…it’s “Mabuhay!!” right? See? I’m good!

Me: Aisshh..Hae, no self-respecting Filipino would greet another Filipino with that! That’s just for tourists!

Hae: (~Face falling in disappointment~) Geezz…and I was so proud of that! What do I say,then?

Me: Well, Filipinos are bilingual, almost everyone speaks English, so, we just say “Hi!” as a greeting. Often, it’s followed by “Kamusta ka?” which means “How are you?”and the usual reply is “Mabuti naman, ikaw?” or “Fine, and you?”.

Hae: (~Whips out a pen and notebook from I don’t know where and writes everything down carefully~)oh, yeah! This is good..I’ll conquer Manila with this. How do you say “you’re beautiful?”

Me: Of course, the Number One flirt in Korea would ask… you say “Maganda ka” and she would probably say “Salamat” which means “thanks”.

Hae: Well, Filipinas are very pretty, so I’ll have plenty of opportunities to say that. How about…”I love you”?

Me: What? You’re planning on being there long enough to actually fall in love?!?!

Hae: Aissshh…no, of course not. But you’ll never know when you need such information. Come on! Tell me!

Me: There are several ways of saying it. You can say it formally by saying “iniibig kita”(A/N: saranghamnida) or more informally, “Mahal kita” (A/N: saranghayeo).

Hae: (~Writing everything down carefully and even adding some heart doodles on “mahal kita”) Great, great! You have to teach me more…so, what kind of food are our “must-haves”?

Me: Lee Donghae! You’re going there to WORK…not to have fun!

Hae: Can’t I do both? I mean, I’m going with you. So I’m gonna have fun! Come on….FOOOOOOODDD?!?!

Me: Well, Adobo and mangoes are staples for tourists…but I’m taking you to lunch at a friend’s house. She promised to prepare her specialty for me when I return.

Hae: yeah!!! Looking forward to it! And of course, we’re going to the beach…..

(~And he goes on and on about his plans the entire day~)

After we finished at the Consulate, we had lunch at a Korean restaurant specializing in dakdori tang, then, we went to the office of his sponsor for the trip only to find out that the meeting was postponed for five thirty that afternoon. With nothing else to do, we decided to stroll around Myeongdong and catch a movie at a nearby cinema.

As I predicted, Donghae is a lot of fun to be with, actually he is fun even if he’s flirting a bit. We found out that we have a lot of things in common, like we don’t really like sweets, but we love coffee. We both like fish cakes but don’t really eat snacks, and while we do like to stroll around, shopping for clothes is actually a burden. And yes, we’re both addicted to movies.

After the meeting with the sponsors, we were invited to dinner and drinks, which, being sponsors was of course something we couldn’t say “no” to, even if we don’t really drink. So, we ended up staying out until almost ten in the evening…and then getting stuck in traffic. So, we actually pulled up at the parking space at almost eleven.

Being the gentleman that he is, Hae walked me to my door.

Me: hey, kid! Thanks! That was work but it was actually fun.

Hae: Aissshh..enough with the “kid” talk! I’m an adult!

Me: I don’t care. You’ll always be a kid in my eyes. Goodnight, Hae! Don’t forget practice tomorrow at ten.

Hae: (~Looking intensely at my eyes~) Someday….

Me: ( ~Feeling awkward~) What..are you gonna sing now?

Hae: (~Sighs~) someday you’re going to take me seriously.

Me: Don’t hold your breath.

Hae: Fine! But don’t I get a kiss goodnight for being a good “kid” all day?

Me: Sure! (~I turned my doorknob, stood on tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the forehead before rushing inside my apartment and locking the door~)

And almost had a heart attack.