A/N: So the long awaited Donghae appearance has finally arrived! I also managed to insert –what I hope are—some cute Darahae moments. Now this is a BEAST of a chapter, but I think it might be worth it :)

So I hope you enjoy! And it would be great if you can let me know your thoughts, whatever they may be (ex: something isn’t believable, you’d like more of something, etc.)

Same day; Hye-sun’s apartment.

The young man was getting antsy. He wasn't known for his patience, and it was taking Hye-sun awhile to answer the door. He was actually surprised that she had to answer it; the woman was in the habit of leaving the door unlocked, so sometimes he would just walk in.

                        He knocked again. He really hoped she remembered that he was planning coming over. He had told her earlier in the week that he would drop by today. But it was entirely possible that she completely forgot and went out for the night or went to sleep.

                        He turned away from Hye-sun's door as he waited. The fifth floor hallway was dimly lit as the muffled noise of families' and singles' lives filtered through their doors. Two doors down he could hear hip-hop music and merriment as two young guys walked through with a case of Cass shouting rambunctiously. He could hear the wails of an infant through the door to the left of Hye-sun's place. He glared at the sounds of yelling coming from the door across from Hye-sun's. The ahjussi there was always yelling at his wife; calling her obscene names. He remembered one time when he came over, he saw the wife step out her apartment carrying a basket of laundry. The dead look in her eyes and the mark on the cheek made his blood boil. How a man can treat their woman like that was beyond him. He was glad to have a good example in his father; he treated his mother with the upmost respect.

                        The sound of a door opening took him out of his reverie. "Ah Noona~! What took you so long?!", he asked as he was turning around.

                        A petite young woman with disheveled, wet hair and flushed, pale skin stood in the crack of the door. He gaped and blinked in confusion when he finally got a good look at the person staring back at him.. The face that greeted him, although pretty, looked completely different from Hye-sun's. While Hye-sun's features were small and delicate, where as this girl's were stronger--more prominent.

                        The young man furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 'Am I at the wrong apartment?' He glanced up at the number written above the door. 'Nope, 502. It's the right place.' He quickly looked at the girl and back at the number. 'I could have sworn it was 502,' he began second guessing himself. He turned his head to gaze at the door to the right. 'Could it be 503?'. It wouldn't be the first time he got a door number mixed up.

                        When he turned his attention back to the young woman, she was staring at him rather expectantly. What the young man didn't realize was that she had asked him a question and was waiting for his answer; he was much too busy rapidly flicking his gaze between her and the door number to notice, much to the young woman's bemusement. So she asked him once again a little bit more forcefully: "Can I help you with something?"

                        He stuttered in embarrassment. "E-eh, ye. I-Is Hye-sun there?"

                        The girl looked at him up and down critically. "May I ask who you are?"  Hye-sun was already developing a little following for her 'ulzzang' image and that included garnering the occasional weirdo fan. And although this good looking young man could very well be a friend of Hye-sun's, she couldn't be too cautious.

                        "My name's Lee Donghae. I'm a friend of Hye-sun's."

                        "One moment, please." And with that, the girl promptly shut the door and relocked it, while Donghae was left waiting once again.

                        Sandara quickly went to Hye-sun's bathroom door and knocked on it. She cracked the door open. "There's someone named 'Lee Donghae' here for you?"

                        "Ah! I forgot that fool said he was coming over today! Go ahead and let the kid in." Hye-sun instructed.

                        Sandara went back to the door, unlocked the deadbolt and unlatched the chain lock to finally open the door. "Go ahead come in and take a seat. Hye-sun is in the shower." 

                        Once he stepped through the threshold and removed his shoes to put on the slippers, Sandara introduced herself. "Sorry for being a bit rude; I thought we weren't expecting anyone at this time of night. Anyways, I'm Park Sandara. It's nice to meet you, Lee Donghae."

                        As Donghae opened up his mouth to officially greet her, Hye-sun shouted through the thin walls. "Dara-yah!" At hearing her new nickname, Sandara walked closer to the cracked bathroom door to hear her friend better. "Is Donghae wearing shorts?!", Hye-sun asked over the splashing of water.

                        Sandara furrowed her eyebrows while she looked at the smiling boy who was hiding behind his hands. "No. . . He's wearing pants. . ."

                        At hearing Hye-sun's pouting 'Aw man', Donghae uncovered his face to bang his palms against the wall. "Noona~! Of course I'm wearing pants! It's too cold out."

                        "But now I won't get to rub your legs~!"

                        While Sandara's face reddened at the intimacy she was hearing, Donghae shouted indignantly to cover up his fluster. "Yah, Noona! Why do say such embarrassing things about me in front of someone I just met?!" The blushing boy snuck a glance at Sandara.

                        "Now she won't get to feel your legs either~!", Hye-sun complained as she tried to contain a giggle.

                        At seeing Sandara's eyes widen in shock, Donghae tried to convey his innocence. "She's just kidding," he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he tried to explain. "It's kinda embarrassing to say, but. . ." Donghae's face reddened further while he paused in his explanation. ". . .my legs are pretty hairless. . .so that's her way of teasing me about it. . ."

                        "His legs are smoother than mine," Hye-sun agreed while she lathered up her body.

                     "Well, then I suggest spending more time with your tasks in the shower rather than shouting at us about it. So you don't have to worry about that hairy problem," Donghae jested.                       

                        They could make out Hye-sun grumbling over the splashing of water. "Aish, that kid. Now all of a sudden he's got comebacks." She raised her voice, "Wait 'til I get outta here!"

                        Once it became clear Hye-sun was done talking, Donghae and Sandara just stood there in uncomfortable silence. Donghae was still too embarrassed to look at the stranger while Sandara was still reeling from the weird conversation. They stood there until finally, Sandara--remembering she had to play hostess while Hye-sun was out--finally worked up the nerve to talk to the guy. "Go ahead and take a seat. Hye-sun will be out soon."

                        Once Donghae plopped down onto the beige futon, he removed his blue puffy jacket and black beanie and got comfortable. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee, water, tea?", Sandara asked. She couldn't keep the shaky tremble out of her voice, much to her chagrin.

                         She was never good at playing hostess with new company, especially when she was alone. Plus, him being a good looking guy just made her nervousness worse. And he was indeed a pretty boy. Now with the beanie gone, his nearly shoulder-length hair and side-swept bangs framed his pale face and wide eyes. The more angular features of a chiseled jaw and cheekbones were beginning to show through as the fat of awkward adolescence was vanishing. But it was the smile that he displayed when Hye-sun was teasing him that had the possibility of taking a girl's breath away. His long lips easily morphed into a wide smile that showed off a row of perfect pearly whites.

                        It was this same smile he flashed her in way of asking for tea that ultimately left her disarmed. A fluttering sensation rose from her stomach and radiated through her chest. Sandara quickly clamped down on the feeling and mentally shook herself once she realized she was staring. She walked the few paces to the tiny kitchen.

                        'What am I doing? I've got a boyfriend,' Sandara scolded herself. 'Granted we haven't really talk talked since we got into that fight,' she reasoned while retrieving the kettle from the counter.  'But still, it's just a rough patch. And it doesn't mean that I can get all giddy anytime a cute guy smiles at me,' she lectured as she filled up the kettle from the tap. She thought snidely.'Pfft. . . Nice smile.  Big deal! There are a lot of good looking people in Seoul with nice smiles.' She shook her head at herself, 'Babo! Why am I still going on about it?. . .'

                        The whole time Sandara was having her internal monologue, Donghae couldn't help but stare observe her. It was strange how many facial expressions she went through just while filling up a pot of water. She went from a serious frown to a smug smirk in zero to sixty. It was really entertaining for Donghae to watch. It made him wonder what thoughts crossed this girl's mind to get her face to change so rapidly.

                        Donghae finally decided to interject on her seemingly berating thoughts. "So,  how long have you and Hye-sun been friends?" In the time that he's known Hye-sun, Donghae has met a lot of her female friends. But he was sure that he would have remembered a face like Sandara's.

                        "Um pretty recently, actually," Sandara stated while placing the kettle on the burner and lighting it. "We were roommates before we became friends."

                        "Oh really?" Donghae questioned in disbelief. "How did that happen?"

                        "I was invited to take workshops at the same company Hye-sun is signed under." A shiver ran through Sandara and she ineffectually rubbed at her bare arms while she continued on. "And since I have to commute way outside of the Capitol, Hye-sun offered me a place to stay."

                        Donghae smiled, "That sounds like something Hye-sun would do."

                        She smiled back, "Yeah, she's great. I'm amazed how well we hit it off." Finally noting a lull in the conversation, Sandara excused herself to find something to cover up her arms.

                        She returned shortly wearing a red hoodie and her damp hair brushed out. She walked into the kitchen and reached into the cabinet above the fridge to retrieve a mild pain reliever. She quickly swallowed down the pills with a glass of water hoping it take the aching away.

                        The silence was stifling. She chanced a glance at the young man from over the rim of her glass. He was biting away at his top lip while shifting awkwardly in his seat. 'Why does Hye-sun  always have to take such long showers. He must be feeling as uncomfortable as I do right about now.' Sandara decided to break the tension with more small talk. "So. . . when were you born?" She wasn't going to make that same mistake of not asking twice.

                        "October 15, 1986. What about you?"

                        "Ah, looks like I'm older; November 12, 1984."

                        "Eh, really? So you're the same age as Hye-sun?" Donghae seemed genuinely surprised. "But you look so young."

                        "Yeah, that's what everyone tells me," Sandara scratched her cheek. "So are you still in high school?"

                        "Yes, my last year. I'll be done in February."

                         The shriek of a whistle broke through Sandara's next comment, and she quickly went to remove the kettle from the burner. She removed two mugs and a small box from the cupboard. "Is jasmine tea, okay?"

                        "Yeah, that's fine."

                        Sandara took two teabags from the box and placed one in each cup. "So are you planning on going to a university?", Sandara asked while pouring water into the mugs.

                        "I don't know. . .," he said uncertainly while accepting the cup of tea from Sandara. ". . .I want to. But, my main focus right now is on debuting."

                        Sandara perked up at that. "Oh, so you're a trainee as well?", she asked while taking a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table. The warmth from the heated floors soothed her aching muscles while she took a sip from her aromatic tea..

                        "Yeah, for SM Entertainment," he stated around sips of tea. It seemed like he anticipated Sandara's next question, because he answered right away with, "I've been there for almost four years."

                        "Are you set to debut soon?", she asked over the rim of her mug.

                        "Yeah, we're supposed to debut sometime next year," he took another gulp and continued on, "I was supposed to debut in 2002 as a part of a five-member group, but that fell through. We're now a group of about. . .," he counted off the names of the current members on his fingers, "ten members. But it's still up in the air right now--members can still be dropped or picked up."

                        Before Sandara could comment, Hye-sun finally emerged from the shower wearing a loose pink t-shirt and black yoga pants. She palmed her short, wet locks with her towel. "Phew, I feel so much better now!" Her eyes fixed on the young man: "Donghae-yah! I forgot you were coming by!~"

                        Donghae promptly stood up, and Sandara soon followed. "Ah Noona, I'm used to you forgetting," Donghae teased. "So did you get it?" Donghae asked eagerly.

                        "Of course, of course," Hye-sun waved him off and headed to her bedroom. She quickly returned with a cd case. "All the tracks you wanted are on the. Plus, I asked for some remixes that I thought you would be interested in." Hye-sun always provided him with the latest YG music.

                        Donghae accepted the disk gratefully. "Thanks, Noona!~"

                        "So, what are your plans for tomorrow?" Hye-sun asked without preamble.

                        "We're rehearsing, why?"

                        "After you rehearse, what are you doing in the evening? Dara's pretty new to the area, so I wanna show her around and have her meet some of my cool friends," Hye-sun ignored Sandara's bashfulness, "Since you're one of the cool friends, you and some of the guys should come out with us."

                        Donghae glanced shyly at Sandara. "I don't know, Noona. It's getting pretty busy lately since we're close to--"

                        "Yah, you guys deserve a break once in awhile. And tomorrow is your half day, so let's spend the other half doing something fun!" she tried desperately to convince him, "We can go out to eat--maybe that great bulgogi place we usually go to. Ooh, we can go to the noraebang afterwards! C'mon, c'mon! Noona will help--". Sandara's hand on her elbow had interrupted her plea.

                        "Please don't force him if he doesn't want to go," Sandara quietly requested. She was starting to get embarrassed at how hard Hye-sun was begging for her sake. "Maybe Dongwook, Han-byul, and Jiyong would be able to go."

                        "You see them all the time," Hye-sun dismissed, "You're so shy. You need to go outside of your boundaries and meet new people."

                        Sandara frowned at the ground. "But still—“

                        "Sounds like fun," Donghae interjected, "I'll ask Hyukjae if he wants to go. What time did you want to meet up?"

                        "Is ten okay?" Hye-sun asked.

                        "Should be. I'll text you if we're going to be running late," he said while heading to the front door.

                        Hye-sun opened the door for him. "Okay, let's meet at the restaurant."

                        "Sounds good." Donghae turned to Sandara. "It was really nice to meet you."

                        "Same here,