Recap Chapter 22: Lee Joon finally met the rest of EXO. He found the four's reaction to Dara doing aegyo very interesting and amusing.

To Tao's dismay, his Dara noona did not join them for dinner. This resulted to him being teased by the members led by D.O., who brought up the subject of the panda's supposed breakdown.

Lay did not only give Dara piano lessons but an unexpected compliment as well, which surprised her.

Xiumin and Luhan went out for a drink because the former found out a possible confession.

At the rooftop, Xiumin and Dara spent some time stargazing and talking.

Lying down on the wooden bed, they look at the sky in silence, marveling at the magnificent view.

Dara quickly glances at her silent companion in time to see a smile grace his lips. Despite only seeing his side profile, she can imagine it to be the kind of smile that's bright and magnetic; she couldn't help but be enchanted, after all, she had seen it many times.

She forces herself to look up despite the urge to stare at him. 

It's useless to deprive oneself because she absolutely hopes to see it one more time---the smile she grew to adore and appreciate. Just when she makes up her mind to take the risk of being caught, the smile is gone. Too bad.

Disappointed, she looks back at the sky. The lighting in the rooftop was dim enough, enabling them to gaze at the beautiful view.

When a thought strikes her suddenly, she swiftly turns to her companion. But the question that's on her mind never gets spoken because his eyes are closed.

She looks at him, longer than usual. An unexpected want to touch his face washes over her. She recalls that same feeling, the desire to touch an old painting in museums; because simply watching or looking at it is not enough. She can compare that feeling to the urge to touch Xiumin's face.

Before she gets carried away, she mentally chides herself to abandon that thought.

But she can't help it. It's like an invisible force draws her to gaze while he's asleep. Gazing at him is as wonderful as watching the stars. She realizes this with an unmistakable fluttering of her heart.

If his eyes did not slowly flutter open, she may have been staring at him still---and he may have caught her at it again.

She quickly averts her gaze away from him. If he caught her, she'll just pretend to be nonchalant about it. She fixes her gaze at the brightest star and sighs loudly, hoping it will prompt him to wonder. It worked; he looks at her imploringly.

"It's getting late," she explains. "We better get inside," she says him in a soft voice while sitting upright and moving off from the wooden bed.

He agrees without a word. And she senses that even though he's quiet, something in him seems lighter compared to earlier when she found him there alone.

He guides her by the arm when they descend the stairs. It must be his good manner that leads him to do it and she does not protest at his help, in fact she's thankful for it. 

When they reach her door, they said their goodnights. Before closing it, she sees his brilliant smile once again, and there is no mistake about the fluttering of her heart.

It's been an hour since they said their 'goodnights.' Yet she's still wide awake as she lies down in bed, trying to recall if she drank coffee earlier. 

It's definitely one of the reasons she couldn't sleep now, right? That's what happens whenever she drinks coffee. That's what happened the day she and Xiumin had coffee at the cafe---she couldn't sleep immediately.

Maybe the effects from the other day are not completely gone.

She shut her eyes and forcefully tries to empty her mind but a wave of realization surfaces. To blame it on coffee alone, she knows she's kidding herself.

She has a clue as to why she can't sleep.

His smile is so brilliant and beautifully haunting.

Meanwhile, Xiumin is thankful that his roommates are already slumbering when he entered the room.

He still feels happy at the fact that he spent some time at the rooftop with her. Although unsure about whether or not she watched him earlier while his eyes are closed, it still makes him giddy, like an idiot, just thinking it probably happened.

Maybe it's a habit of hers. Anyhow, he's simply happy. And the moment his back hit the bed, he has no trouble falling asleep.

The next morning at Suho's group's room, the boys talk again about the thousands of comments to the video posts in Chanyeol's IG account. They had decided that all videos would be uploaded in his account. He uploaded the first five videos the other day. The rest was uploaded yesterday. It's very obvious that their whereabouts was most commonly mentioned in the comments.

>>>Oppa!! we miss you so much! Where are you??? :((

>>>glad you're having fun! but where are you?

>>>take care oppas. where are you??

>>>have fun!!! But EXO-Ls miss you very much. Where are you?

The fans are very curious about their location. But no matter how tempted the boys are to say that they're in Busan, they restrained themselves from disclosing such information. With a heavy heart, they also realize that the day after tomorrow, they'll be back in Seoul. The thought of it makes them sad.

Meanwhile, Chen, who is standing by the closet, calls out. "Minseok-ah." 

"What?" Xiumin lazily replies. He does not bother to look up from what he's doing.

"Can I borrow your shirt or sweater?"

"Go ahead." Usually it takes awhile before he agrees to lend a shirt, being a clean and neat person that he is. But he's in a very good mood today so he agrees almost immediately.

Suho and Luhan exchange glances. That is unusual. They eye the hyung who is busily tapping on his phone, there's a small smile evident on his lips.

Someone seems to have had a good sleep. Luhan is suddenly curious about the reason behind his happy mood because yesterday, his aura was the complete opposite.

"What can I borrow?" Chen asks while rummaging through the neatly piled clothes.

"Anything you want," he says as though he does not care even if Chen takes one and never returns it.

"Good morning!" is Dara's cheerful greeting to the eleven boys whom she found at the dining area. They couldn't help but smile at her. Lee Joon, who's still out filming, will not be able to join them for breakfast---she tells this to the boys who feel relieved at the absence.

Just when she is about to sit next to Xiumin, who is smiling at her, a not-so-loud but unmistakable MTBD plays in the background.

"Sorry about this, excuse me," she hurriedly fishes her phone from her pocket while telling them to go ahead and start eating. She heads out to the porch to take the call.

The boys exchange glances, thinking of the same thing: who could the caller be?

"Eomma..." She holds her breath, a little nervous to receive a call from her mother this early.

The ringtone is very appropriate since whenever her mother asks her about her supposed dating activities, she can't help but have a mental breakdown or at least anticipate she'll have one after the talk. She almost thought Min Ho is the caller but when she saw who it is, she did not feel relieved at all.

"I was just about to have breakfast," she says, silently praying her mother won't mention anything about the subject she didn't want to talk about.

-

"Everything's fine around here," she casually says. Her mother does not know about EXO being their guests, let alone the forming friendship she has with them.

-

"M-Mwo?"

-

"You don't have to. I mean, I'm going back in two days," she quickly adds.

-

"Oh. Is that why you plan to come here?" She does not realize her mother actually misses her.

-

"Eomma, I'll drop by when I get back," she hopes that will stop her mother from visiting.

-

"In time, I'll tell you. It's just that we're still getting to know each other," she bit her lower lip, feeling an immense guilt for saying the same reason whenever her mother asks about the guy she's supposedly seeing. She grips the phone tighter as if doing so will ease the guilt.

-

"Neh. I promise to drop by once I get back."

-

She heaves a sigh before pocketing her phone and returning to the dining area. Her bright mood suddenly plummeted after the call.

How can she get out of the situation she created out of desperation?

"Let's go camping later," Chanyeol excitedly suggests. They are gathered at the living room. He is literally shaking with so much excitement that the other can't help but feel excited too.

Dara is simply observing. Aigo. They look like kids who are going to the happiest place on earth.

"Noona, is there a place nearby besides Heaundae that we can go to? I think it's prohibited to go camping there." Chen looks hopeful that she knows of one.

"You're right, it's prohibited. I know a place and it's more or less thirty minutes from here. What time do you plan to leave?"

"You're coming with us right noona?" Tao sounds worried at the possibility that she will not be joining them.

Not wanting to impose on them, she replies, "If you want me to."

"Yehet!" Tao exclaims, earning a raised eyebrow from Sehun. Maybe it's because the panda used the maknae's famous expression. "I can watch the sunrise again with noona," he says dreamily.

That statement causes most of the boys to shake their heads at Tao's obvious display of affection towards Dara noona. It seems he's the only one who does not mind showing it openly.

On the other hand, Xiumin's mind