Recap Chapter 17: Xiumin and Tao started to follow Dara in IG.

Weeks passed, she never failed to remind him through text about the brave thing.

Luhan answered a survey he found while cleaning the room.

CL visited her unnies to tell them that she’s beginning to like someone. Dara couldn’t help but feel lonely again; she went out for a drink. She left a message by mistake in Xiumin’s voicemail mailbox.

Xiumin starts to panic while staring at Dara’s slumped form on the table; her apple hairstyle stands out cutely. Where will he bring her, where? He feels even more pressure coming from Ahjumma’s presence; she is not simply watching him but is also waiting on what he’ll do. He can’t blatantly say he does not know where she lives. What kind of friend does that make him? Now he regrets not asking Dara where Bom's condominium is. It's not like he can just search for it in the internet; it may not be listed or something. And even if he knows, it's risky to bring her there in her current state. As much as he wants to call Luhan for advice, he knows he doesn’t have the luxury of time for that.

“Uhm, ahjumma, can you please help me put her jacket on?” he asks politely.

The lady helps him without a word. In a few minutes, they manage to put Dara's jacket on and zip it. He notices the scarf and sunglasses on a vacant chair, realizing it is the one she wore on her set-up date. He wraps it around her neck loosely while the lady holds her by the shoulders. He pulls the hoodie down to almost cover her forehead; fortunately the hood is big enough. He does not want to risk destroying her sunglasses so he puts it on--- he is the one who’ll need to cover his face at what he is about to do. With Ahjumma still holding Dara, he is able to put on his mask. And then he notices the phone on her pants pocket; he takes it and puts it on his jacket.

He does the only thing he can think of doing at the moment. He'll think of the consequences later. He squats on the floor so he can carry Dara on his back. Ahjumma helps him ensure she’s safely positioned. She volunteers to see them off, to Xiumin’s utter relief, because he can just imagine what looks he’ll get from anyone who sees him with his face covered like it is now--- obviously evading recognition, while carrying her on his back this late at night.

When they leave the grill house, after a few steps out into the street, he realizes that Dara does not weigh much. It makes him wonder if she's underweight in spite of her love for food. Besides the weight, the fact that he is carrying her and the proximity, it makes him nervous and happy at the same time. 

There are a few people throwing him curious glances. He quickly hails a cab, knowing that what he’s about to do is dangerous. It takes him a while to place her on the backseat and close the door. He turns to Ahjumma and bids her goodbye. He bows slightly to the lady and she replies by saying they take care and in a low voice, she says she entrust Dara to him.

With the mask on, he instructs the driver to drop him off to the address. It takes more or less ten minutes to reach the vicinity of the dorm. He pays the fare and hurriedly climbs off the front seat. After ensuring her face is fully covered (he returns her sunglasses) he hastily carries her on his back. Looking around guardedly, he takes a few steps to the back gate. He never thought he'd use the secret passage for such purposes as this---sneaking in a drunken girl.

Past ten o'clock, hopefully no one is walking around and find him weird to be carrying someone on his back. His heart is beating fast as he punches in the code; he discreetly looks around again before going in.

Another obstacle he has to overcome is his friends/members. By this time, most are probably already asleep. He's guessing Chen and Luhan could be waiting on him. He at least can handle them. He takes off the mask but he can't remove the hoodie yet because Dara's head is on his shoulder.

"Where have you been Minseo--- Is that a kid you're carrying?!?" exclaims Chen who has been waiting for Xiumin’s arrival. He is in the kitchen when he hears the door alarm. He immediately rushes to it and is surprised to see Xiumin carrying someone. The loudmouth has not yet seen who it is but the petite form reminds him of a kid’s, thus the inquiry.

"Shhh...” is Xiumin's attempt to have a quiet entrance but he knows it’s too late. “Where are the others?" he asks warily while unhurriedly going to the living room, hoping he doesn't have to deal with the others tonight.

Just his luck, most of them are still awake, and seems like they heard Chen's thunderous question; their eyes are readily focused on the living room door as if waiting for Xiumin’s grand entrance.

They--- Suho, Baekhyun, D.O., Sehun and Kai--- look at Xiumin in shock probably wondering who or what he is carrying.

"Who is that?!" Suho exclaims. He (with D.O. and Baekhyun) vacates the couch so Xiumin can lay her on the sofa gently. The others are still speechless at the sight. 

He pushes off the hood and s his jacket. He knows it’s going to be a long night. Before he can open his mouth, Chen who’s beside him in an instant mouths to him (Xiumin is the only one who sees it), "is that Dara noona?" He probably recognizes the thin scarf that's wrapped around her neck and covers up to her nose. Nobody can see her eyes because of the sunglasses--- Xiumin thought it would be better if she were wearing it the moment they arrive within the vicinity of the dorm. If anyone sees them (specifically recognizes him), then at least she’ll be the ‘unidentified girl’ once again.

He is not able to answer Chen because the others (Chanyeol, Tao, Luhan and Lay) come down in a rush. They probably heard the commotion. They can't see yet who is lying unconscious on the couch because the others are huddled around her in curiosity.

Xiumin doesn’t know if he should be thankful--- because he can tell them what really happened in one go or should he be disappointed--- because how will he deal with them and most specifically, the two fanboys (Chanyeol and Tao)?

At their arrival, the huddle surrounding Dara parted. Now all the boys surround her form, each trying to figure out the identity. Her forehead is still covered by the hood of her jacket plus the sunglasses and scarf did a good job at making her unrecognizable.

Suho while waiting for an answer lets out a sigh. The anticipation is making him nervous.

"Please be quiet okay?" Xiumin instructs firmly while he kneels on the floor to push away the hood, take off the sunglasses--- they gasps in unison, thankfully nobody screams--- Chanyeol and Tao had their mouths covered for good measure but their eyes are screaming base on how it widened like saucers), and pulls down the scarf to reveal Dara's flushed cheeks due to soju. It is paler now compared to earlier. He stands and waits for the violent reaction that's sure to come.

"Hyung! What did you do to her?!" is Chanyeol's controlled wail, as he abruptly knelt on the floor both his hands on his hair, grasping it like a madman. He looks at Dara's unmoving form and then to the open-mouthed hyung. 

As always, Baekhyun is ready to reprimand the rapper--- acting like a madman, it’s not even in the script of his drama so the excuse that it's for practice purposes is irrelevant. He forcefully pulls Chanyeol off the floor by his sleeve. "Ya! Stop that or you'll wake her." 

Chanyeol gets a hold of himself but still his eyes are on Xiumin, waiting for an explanation, not caring that his hair is disheveled. 

Meanwhile Tao is eyeing his Umin-hyung with a judgment level of ten out of ten.

Xiumin ignores the fanboys and tells them how she mistakenly calls him and left a voicemail, that when he tried to call her, her phone was unreachable; he mentions the time limit--- at this Chen comments: “Oh, so that’s why you were in a hurry to leave.” Continuing, he has no idea why she drank, all he knows is she had three bottles of soju. Baekhyun interrupts with another comment: “Whoa! Isn't that one bottle less than what you can tolerate hyung? And you have the highest tolerance in alcohol among us. No wonder she got drunk." Continuing again, he tells them he does not know where she lives so he decides to bring her here where he thinks she'll be safe.

His story seems to pacify Chanyeol, Tao and even Suho who visibly worries about another scandal. Xiumin explains that whatever consequences, he’s willing to take responsibility. Said like a real man, Chen slaps him on the back with high regard and support while saying what he did is right.

He remembers about her phone on his jacket's pocket; he takes it out and says, “I need to charge this so when Dara noona wakes up she can check if there are any messages.” He speedily goes upstairs to his room to retrieve the charger from the drawer. He plugs in the cell phone and puts it on the bedside table beside her sunglasses. He hurries back to the living room in time to hear Lay ask the most obvious dilemma. “Where should she sleep?” They are still huddled but not around the couch, just nearby. 

They have no spare room, except for Manager-hyung’s, but they surely can’t put her there. They later realize that there are only two options to choose from, which are Xiumin and Baekhyun (who shares the room with Chanyeol). Since they are the neatest members, there’s no question that their beds are the cleanest too. Suho suggests Dara-sunbae sleep in Xiumin’s bed because she’s his responsibility after all; it’s only practical. No one disagrees, but Xiumin feels nervous about it.

Because of this, the two eldest must vacate the room; Xiumin will crash for the night in Suho and D.O.’s room while Luhan in Sehun and Kai’s.

After the discussion, only then did they notice the absence of Tao, who they later find gazing at Dara's unmoving form on the couch. It appears he is not paying attention to the discussion; instead he is staring at her. Before they can reprimand the maknae, he says, “I told you it sounds cute.” The members strain to hear. And indeed, she’s snoring but only faintly. Chen shakes his head at Tao’s expression--- it’s as if the snore is music to his ears.

Chanyeol, using the same method Baekhyun used on him earlier, pulls Tao up from the floor by the sleeve of his shirt. And the panda did not complain at all.

Suho advises Xiumin to better bring Dara-sunbae to the room. 

Xiumin turns to Luhan for assistance before Tao can volunteer again. Wordlessly, Xiumin carries her bridal style, to Chanyeol and Tao’s amazement. Their hyung is really strong it seems or maybe Dara noona is as light as a feather. It may seem effortless on the outside, but internally, Xiumin fears his feelings are about to be exposed. If he does not try very hard to act unaffected, then they will catch on.

When they reach their room, Luhan opens the door. Xiumin enters followed by the deer who has been oddly quiet.

"I think the bedcover needs to be changed," Xiumin points out. He lays her on the bed and hurriedly opens his closet to look for a blanket. Luhan is watching his mechanical movements in amusement. If he is in Xiumin's shoes, he's not sure how he'll be able to stay calm. Maybe the baozi is good at pretending to be unaffected even if it's only the two of them in there---plus the unconscious girl to whom both of them are harboring feelings.

Xiumin gives him the blanket and instructs that he change the bed cover immediately. He carries Dara again.

Luhan feels like teasing him. He removes the bed cover with no hurry at all, until he hears Xiumin, "Ya! Hurry up." He need not look to see that his friend's eyes are widening for emphasis. He lays Dara carefully on the bed once Luhan finished spreading the blanket.

Luhan knows that his role is done, so he leaves the room after taking his pillow and blanket with him. Xiumin, whose attention is still on Dara, thanks him. 

Before leaving, he glances back in time to see how Xiumin brushes off the hair on her forehead and take off the scarf with care. Before he witnesses any more tenderness coming from his friend towards her, he walks away. What happened back there is one of the many reasons why his feelings for her can't and must not go any further.

Xiumin deliberates for a second if he should zip down the jacket. Even with the air condition , he worries she'll feel suffocated. He ends up zipping it down a little. He also takes off her shoes and puts it near the foot of his bed. Before leaving with his pillow, blanket, a change of clothes and toothbrush, he looks at her one last time, wondering what the reason behind her drinking is. Besides worrying about that, there's another matter he needs to deal with. He must ask Suho if he should tell manager-hyung now about what happened or should he wait until tomorrow. This is what he thinks of while he closes the door.

“A-Andwae--- Andwaeyo!!” Dara sits upright in an instant when the nightmare has been too much to handle. No way! She’s not going to end up a spinster.

Her breathing has become a little heavy. She’s wiping off the thin film of sweat on her forehead with her sleeve when the hang over kicks in with a pounding headache. The last time she feels this way had been months ago; she can't even remember the reason why. She lies down again, eyes shut, and starts to massage her head. A few seconds pass and she opens them only to wonder where she is exactly. Frantically, she stares at the unfamiliar ceiling and the walls (where the wall clock reads six-thirty) and the other empty bed on her left. She checks her jacket if anything has come undone. She feels nothing is wrong except she can’t remember why she’s there. She looks at where she’s lying--- that's when she notices the stuffed toys and a small pillow on her right, lined up tidily. The room does not seem familiar at all, yet she does nothing but lay there, wide-eyed.

Where is she? What in the world did she do last night? Unknowingly she picks the pink pillow and hugs it to her chest, as if by doing so will help her recollect the murky events of last night.

What she can recall at the moment is how last night she scanned numbers on her phone, wondering who can pick her up in Ahjumma's grill house. She met the middle-aged lady during the filming of GO AWAY music video. Since then, she frequented the place to have a few drinks or just eat noodles--- most of the time she goes there alone; no one bothers her when she's there. They have been friends for years.

She continually hugs on to the pillow, and then brings it towards her face, feeling a bitter taste in at the realization of trouble--- what did she do last night? Then she gets a whiff of a man's cologne--- a mild scent. It makes her assume the bed probably belongs to a man. Even so, she keeps inhaling the scent from the pillow as if it does not belong to a stranger.

Besides, it kind of reminds her of... Minnie kid.

Wait a minute. Does that even make sense? She racks her brain about last night. She vaguely remembers talking to someone. Did she perhaps call Xiumin-ssi? Is he the one who picked her up?

--

---

---

----OH

-----OH MY

------OH MY GOD!

The memories come flooding to her especially the ‘stupidity’ part wherein she called him by mistake. She wants to knock her head against the wall but her headache is still pounding steadily. On second thought, she tightly hugs the pillow due to embarrassment and then uses it absentmindedly to cover her face while mumbling “Pabo. Pabo.”

She concentrates on trying to remember every little detail, but it’s hard. Her brooding is halted when she hears the door open. She keeps still, aware that she probably looks weird hugging the pillow over her face.

Aigo T-T She can't breathe normally but must endure it. Whoever is in the room with her is taking too long to go out. If she keeps with the act, she'll end up gasping for breath so she carefully loosens her hug on the pillow. She is startled when someone suddenly sings at the top of his lungs. But wait--- is that a duet? The singers do not bother to be in tune as they sing Come Back Home’s chorus--- this she barely registers since she’s distracted by the shouting. And is that coming from the bathroom? Base on the echoing effect, she presumes that it is.

Unable to endure anymore, Dara slowly sits upright (pretending as if she just woke up) while discreetly but quickly returning the pillow to where she got it. She massages her head with both hands causing her apple hairstyle to be messier than it already is. She warily looks around and she is dazed to see Luhan sitting on the other bed, fumbling for his laptop’s charger that’s in the drawer. He looks surprised too, maybe at her unexpected movement.

Yep. It's possible she slept in Minnie kid’s bed. That explains the familiar scent. The same scent she remembers while they are in Busan. At the memory of it--- when he caught her staring in particular--- she feels her heart beat quicken. She wills herself to calm down and not think of it anymore. She turns her attention back to Luhan. They look at each other in silence; Dara in her unkempt state stares at Luhan who is in an awkward state, unmoving. It’s not really silent because she can still hear whoever it is singing their lungs out in the background. At the second chorus, she can't help but wonder if they are telling her to go home. She knows what kind of problem her presence will bring to the boys.

When they’re at her singing parts (come baby baby come come baby) she tries hard not to crack up because whoever is in there sings