Recap Chapter 4: Bom revealed her worries about publicly announcing her relationship with Dong Wook. Dara will meet a younger man according to the reading. Dara learned that she was to meet a former classmate--- it was a date set-up by her mother.

Dara looks at her reflection in the full-length mirror to check her appearance. Her mother’s probably downstairs waiting. Most likely she’ll get some kind of guidelines on how she should act on such set-up date. But she already has her own guidelines: 1. be unpretentious; 2. try to enjoy as much as she can (even though she doubts the meeting will be enjoyable).

It will be over soon; that’s what she tells herself repeatedly whenever the notion of not going seems tempting. After one last look, she feels satisfied with her outfit. She shoulders her bag and quietly descends the stairs, hoping she could leave undetected. Unluckily, her mother is in the living room. And it is not surprising when she comments on Dara’s choice of clothes.

“Are you sure you're wearing that in your meeting with him? Can't you at least wear a dress?” There is a disapproving look evident on her mother’s face while she shakes her head. Besides that, Dara detected another mood barely visible in her face. She seems excited for Dara’s first date in a long time.

 
“Eomma, I'm more comfortable in this.” Dara replies, standing straight, while trying to hold back an exasperated sigh. She wears a simple black chrome hearts t-shirt, black fitted pants and black zip-up hi-cut converse. She loves the black ensemble---it’s a clear representation of her mood. The only thing that’s not completely black is her bag, which contains her black snapback, sunglasses, black and yellow scarf, and a dark gray see through hoodie just in case a need to cover-up arises. She feels a little worried about the meeting to be honest. There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ going through her head. For instance, what if anyone who sees her immediately assumes she’s close to being taken. What kind of news is bound to spread if someone sees her on a ‘date’?

Hopefully, she would not seem like she’s in a date. But that’s likely to happen ever since the news on Bom’s relationship with Dong Wook-ssi has been disclosed through the YG news page. The netizens commented with regard how glad they are for Bom and hopeful that Dara will be next to reveal anything about dating and more preferably about having a boyfriend.

“Are you sure? You're not trying to discourage him, are you?” Her mother’s suspicion brought back her mind from its musing.

 
Dara shakes her head. “Of course not. I just want to show him the real me.”

 
Her mother lets out a sigh and then, “I sometimes wonder if you're a tomboy. Most of your clothes are for boys. I rarely see you wear a dress or skirt.” She puts her arms across her chest while waiting for Dara to deny it.

“I assure you mom, I very much like the opposite .” Dara makes sure she gives emphasis to the word like so her mother will be pacified.

“Alright, just make sure to treat him nicely. And also, don’t forget to send him a message that you’re on your way.” She smiles at Dara encouragingly. “You better go or you'll be late,” she said while glancing at the wall clock.

Despite the pending hassle of the meeting, her mother’s smile makes Dara happy. She hurries to give her mother a kiss on the cheek, “Alright, I’ll go now.”

On her way out, she realizes it’s been awhile since she last saw that beautiful smile on her mother’s lips. She recalls how happy and excited her mother is when news of Bom’s relationship came out (it's kind of a late reaction really since her mother didn't seem to care when Dara said it the other day). She reacted more after she read the news in YG Entertainment's news page. It’s as if the news is a prelude to Dara’s forthcoming ‘relationship.’

Dara can’t help but shake her head while on her way out. For the sake of her mother’s happiness, she vows to do everything she can to not mess up the set-up 'date.' She looks at her silver watch. There’s still enough time to drive leisurely, she thought, as she opens her car door and tosses the bag on the passenger seat. The guidelines she’s expecting to hear turns out to be just that short and simple. She pulls the door close, puts the key in the ignition and starts the engine but does not leave yet. She pulls her phone from her bag’s pocket and starts composing a message. Last night, her mother gave her the number of Jung Min Ho and told her to send an introductory message, which she will follow without objection.

Once the message has been sent, Dara pulls out of the parking spot, feeling a little bit nervous. A few minutes later, while in the intersection at a red light, Dara hears the message tone (CL’s MTBD), in moderate volume. The downside with impersonal messages is that one cannot fully discern the mood or better yet the personality of the other person. Not that she’s trying to find out his personality through his messages. She’s simply curious about his character. She can’t remember how he is back in the day; after all, they’re still too young to commit to memory anything important such as personality.

Base on his reply, Dara can safely say he’s a well-mannered namja.

The message says: Hi Dara-ssi. I’m on my way to the café. Drive safely. See you in a while :)

She can’t help but smile a little at his use of emoticon. Now that’s something they have in common.

It’s only been days since the rumor came out. Even though Xiumin and Luhan are a little worried, nothing changed in how they treat each other, either in public or private. They’re best friends and they will not let one malicious rumor affect them or their activities during free time. It’s not as if it never happened before: their close friendship being questioned. This time, however, the rumor seems to be more serious and relentless.

Yesterday, they went to a coffee shop, wearing hoodies, masks and sunglasses as usual to cover-up. Despite their manager’s advice that for the meantime they must lie low, Xiumin cannot help but give in to the need to go out. He reasoned out that it’ll be a quick one.

And indeed it was quick. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Or so they thought. The next day, photos of him and Luhan together are uploaded in Instagram, Twitter and other social networks, with comments that are a bit offensive.

Xiumin knows better than to read and dwell on those. He’s on his bed leaning against the wall, busily looking at his phone (Instagram in particular). Luhan is downstairs probably watching television with the other members. To reduce the boredom, he’s checking out the EXO memes. He laughs once in a while, thinking of how much effort i