"So what did you think about your tour of the studio?" GD inquired once they had made it back to the open road, SBS building no longer in sight.

"It was great," Caden enthused with a grin. "Especially our daring escape."  The corners of GD's mouth quirked up at her teasing, but he didn't respond.

*     *     *

Once they had left the elevator and made their way back to his car, GD had reached back behind his seat - presenting her with a huge pile of hats, scarves, and sunglasses.  At the sight of her obvious confusion, he had explained that since they were in his car now - as opposed to one of the gargantuan company cars, which were impossible to tell apart - they were going to need a disguise.  Caden had tried her best to keep from laughing in his face, but failed very miserably.  He had (rightfully) responded with some annoyance.

She didn't understand what it was like to be an idol, he had informed her with a scoff - only mostly kidding.  Besides, he'd explained, this wasn't even his serious disguise material - this was just for getting past the fans outside the gate.  If he planned to get out of the car - depending on where he wanted to go - he'd have to get much more elaborate.

At his heartfelt explanation, Caden had let the subject drop (after just the tiniest bit more teasing) as she proceeded to put on an absolutely enormous pair of sunglasses that covered half her face and made her look like a bug, along with an oversized fedora.  GD, for his part, had tied a scarf around his nose and mouth like a bandit, then threw a wide-brimmed hat on his head so that his eyes were the only feature she could make out.

At the time, Caden had been dually impressed by his ability to pull off this look - and look y doing it - while at the same time, actually being disguised.  Not many people could pull off this look, but GD worked it like a badass outlaw.  She had told him as much (taking great care to leave out the 'y' part), in an attempt to earn back his favor after the teasing.  The slight crinkling of his eyes was the only visible indication that he appreciated this comment.

As promised, when they had reached the outer of the studio, a handful of fans recognized GD's car, hurrying over for a better look while security held them back.  Caden had slunk down in her seat slightly, unaccustomed to so much attention - suddenly relieved to have 12 inches of tinted eyewear blocking her from their stares.

"Hopefully they'll all just assume you're one of our staff," she remembered GD murmuring, nodding his head at the guard as he to the street.  He'd glanced over, shooting her a grin she couldn't see. "It would be awkward if rumors got started about you."  She had nodded her head in understanding, not really having considered that until he'd mentioned it.

"Now I understand the need for disguises," she remembered admitting with a smile.  GD had chuckled in response, turning down yet another street.

"Speaking of which," he'd announced, ripping said items off his head, "you can take yours off now.  The coast is officially clear."  Caden obliged, quickly removing her sunglasses and tossing them carefully in the back where he stored them.  The hat, however, she had left on, sliding it back on her head until it sat snugly (through the sheer volume of her hair).  GD shot her a quick, sideways glance as he drove, chuckling slightly.  She hadn't been able to decide if that meant he was laughing encouragingly, or just laughing at her.  She'd been tempted to ask him, but she just shrugged it off, looking herself over in the sunvisor mirror before deciding that she was sticking to her fashion statement whether he liked it or not.

*     *     *

As they drove farther and farther from the tv studio, GD began giving her commentary on all the sights they passed.  Caden enjoyed this - amused by his vast knowledge of trivia - and made sure point out things and ask questions of her own.  Though it was obvious that he had been taking a scenic route with the intention of showing off the city, after a while it became clear that they were ultimately headed deep into downtown Seoul.

While he didn't take them past YG headquarters on the way (probably because she saw that particular sight nearly every other day), she briefly recognized the shopping district that she had gotten lost in on her first trip to Korea nearly two mouths ago.  She smiled at the memory - it was the first time in her life that the moral of the story was 'act like a complete doofus and obtain the job of your dreams'.  Since then, she'd made it a rule not to think too deeply on that particular matter, for fear of jinxing herself.

She watched as they drove past the good quality, affordable shops that she had spent most of her time in, to the touristy, overpriced area that she had been warned away from, and finally to the high class, designer district.  Here is where they finally made their turn off, driving casually down a street filled to the brim with names of designers that she recognized from indulging in far too many marathons of America's Next Top Model.  Even the buildings themselves appeared more classy and unapproachable than the rest of of the shopping district.  It was as if it was meant to express the idea that 'If you have to ask, you can't afford us'.

While she had never understood why the same cut of fabric at one of those stores cost dozens of times more than Target or Macy's, but she didn't have any sort of moral objection to designer clothes the way some people seemed to.  Plus she was by now well aware of GD's shopping and fashion obsession, and she was more than willing to humor him today.

They finally turned into yet another underground parking structure beneath what appeared, from the outside, to be a high end department store (which took up more than half the block).  She mentioned as much after watching GD pull an i.d. card-looking object out of his wallet and swipe it at the parking machine that guarded the entrance.  The machine promptly spat out a ticket which he placed on the dash before passing through the now open toll bar.

"Well..." he reasoned in response to her comparison, tilting his head from one side to the other thoughtfully. "The ground floor is sort of like that - it's the only floor that's open to the public.  The basement floor and the 2nd & 3rd floors are more like a collection of designer stores designated for members only, and the top floor is a restuarant.  In fact, the only way to use the elevator from the first floor is to slide your membership card."

He flashed the card he'd swiped earlier before replacing it in his wallet.  He expertly swung into a parking spot, quickly unbuckling his seat belt and exiting the vehicle.  Caden followed suit, grinning slightly.

"Sounds pretty exclusive," she commented pleasantly, following as he made his way to the elevator.  He smiled.

"That's the appeal for a lot of members," he affirmed casually, "but for me, exclusive just means I'm able to walk around freely without worry."  He grinned sideways at her before continuing, "That's the only way I could convince  Hyun Woo hyung to let us go unaccompanied - I'm not supposed to be walking around in public like this."  He gestured down at his 'idol casual'.  

Caden nodded in understanding, remembering Hyun Woo's concern before he left the studio.  She'd never realized that walking down the street was something that was possible to take for granted.

"Anyway," GD continued, "that's why here - and other places like it - are popular with idols.  It's nice to have certain places in the city to be able to go without staff and still not have to worry."

"I bet," she agreed as they approached the elevator.  She noticed that he pushed the button without needed to swipe anything.  Then she realized that this whole parking garage must be for members only.

The elevator doors swung open and they stepped inside.  Caden took a look at the buttons for the various floors.  There was PL in roman lettering, representing their floor (she guessed that it meant Parking Level), next to a B for basement.  Above that, all on top of one another, were levels 1-4.  Remembering what GD had said, she voiced a curiosity.

"What's on the basement level?" she asked as he punched the 2 button.

"Oh, that's where they keep all the jewelry stores," he responded. "The really expensive stuff.  I think they figured they'd put it in the basement - since it's underground, the elevator is your only way out, and it's guarded on that floor."

"Got it," she replied with some amusement - mostly because she expected that his speculation was exactly right.

"I planned to avoid shopping in that type of environment, but if jewelry is what you're after, we could certainly take a look," he announced teasingly.  Caden laughed, shaking her head roughly.

"Thanks, but I'm good," she assured him. "I've got one good necklace and a nice pair of earrings for special occasions - that's all I need.  I've never been much for bling."

GD burst into hysterical laughter at this, as the doors closed and the elevator shot up three floors.  By the time it opened on the 2nd floor, he nearly had control of himself.

"Bling," he repeated, wiping his eyes with one last chuckle.  Caden had planned to offer a smartass retort, but she was distracted as they stepped out of the elevator.

She found herself in what could only be described as the fanciest, most over the top mall she had ever seen.  From GD's earlier description, she had expected it to be like nothing she was used to.  Instead, it was like they took an everyday mall and multiplied it by 1000.  Besides the obvious differences - the high fashion in the stores, lush carpeting in the aisles, and leather couches in place of benches - the main thing she noticed was that there were markedly fewer people here than she had ever seen in a typical mall at any given time.

"Wow," she mused, looking around. "It's different than I expected."

"Yeah.  It's really nothing special," he comment. "And that's what I like about it - just a normal time shopping in normal stores."  Caden fought the urge to roll her eyes at this comment (knowing that the number of zeros on any given article of clothing was likely equal to or greater than the number on her paychecks) because she knew what he was trying to say.

"I bet you were wondering why a shopping trip was part of your tour," he added, smiling teasingly. "So I wanted you to know that it wasn't the stores I was after.  It's more... I feel like I should show you around the places where I usually spend my time - that way it's a tour unique to the tour guide."  He flashed her a sheepish grin and she laughed.

"Plus I figured - since I offered you a personal tour - it should just be me showing you," he continued, picking his words carefully, as if to make sure that what he was saying didn't come across in any way awkward. "But after today if you ever have anywhere in particular you want to be shown around - out in public or whatever - I'd be more than happy to take a couple handlers with us so that we could go, so... yeah."

"I was never worried about your choices - I had complete faith in you Tour guide-nim," she assured him with a grin, making him laugh. "But that's also good to know, so thanks for telling me."

"Aish, you make it sound like some sort of accomplishment," he joked, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "C'mon, let's get going."  Caden only smiled as they began to make their way through the mall, giving all the stores a once over.

"Alright," he warned once they'd taken a good look. "I won't assume that you're as interested in shopping as I am - I know too many girls who don't find it half as fun as I do.  That being said - you'll have to tell me when you're had enough because, honestly, once I get going, I can go all day."  She laughingly agreed, following him into their first shop.

At first he took to grabbing handfuls of outfits and forcing her to try them on, just for fun, then he would sit outside her dressing room, giggling like a kid every time she came out.  After a while she got tired of being on display, insisting he join her.  So they took turns trying on everything they could find.  GD pretended to get mad when she about not being able to tell the outfits he put on as a joke from the ones he tried on for real.

She had to internally chastise herself everytime her brain tried to compare him to a gay best friend since it perpetuated an insulting stereotype... but mostly because it kept causing her to devolve into random giggle fits that she refused to explain to a confused GD.

After a while of this, she could tell he was itching to start getting serious.  When she urged him to do just that, he seemed grateful, assuring her that if she ever got bored or thought he was taking too long in one store, she should feel free to wander around others nearby and he would come find her when he was done.  She agreed, following casually behind to the next few stores.

As he had guessed, Caden had never been a huge shopper and was mostly kept amused by the intensity with which he went about it.  She looked over a few items here and there, surprised to find that she could actually afford most of them on her current salary (not for everyday purchases like GD could, but for once-in-a-while splurges), but even still, she tired of clothes quickly.

It was when they found themselves in a shoe store that she knew he wasn't planning to budge anytime soon.  Watching his excitement bubble over as he went from pair to pair entertained her for a while, but eventually she decided to take his advise and check out the rest of the mall.  She mentioned as much, receiving a distracted affirmative response from GD before she took her exit.

She wandered around that floor for a while, but none of the shops particularly stood out to her - either the two of them had already gone inside, or they'd looked it over on their way in.  She noticed that the 2nd floor seemed to contain solely clothing stores.  She remembered that the basement was all jewelry and the top floor was a restaurant.  As she walked clear across the mall and found herself once again approaching the elevator, she began to wonder what the 3rd floor might hold.  She pressed the up button, causing the doors to open instantly.  She stepped inside and rode the brief journey one floor up.

When she stepped out again, she found that floor 3 seemed to be the only one to hold a variety of different themes.  The first handful of stores also sold clothes, but in this case, they seemed to be made solely by Korean designers.  It wasn't until she noticed this that she realized that all the stores downstairs sold only foreign designer brands.  Although a few of the Korean designs seemed to be more her style - less flashy and over the top - clothes still weren't holding her attention for long, so she simply continued on her way.

She passed a few swanky interior design stores, popping in once or twice to investigate a handful of strange items that had caught her eye - not for the life of her being able to figure out what household purpose they could possibly serve.  As she continued on her way, she came across a few stores that were selling art.  She wandered inside, marveling at the many interesting and beautiful (and a few horrible) pieces.  

After a while of browsing and reading the descriptions that sometimes accompanied the artwork, she deduced that the majority were either professional replications of famous classic works, or originals by established living artists (some of them local).  She wondered briefly if Jung Su or his girlfriend would ever consider selling their work through places like this.  She caught herself planning to ask Daeho to bring them here to check it out before she remembered that she wasn't a member.  She laughed at herself - spending the day with GD was already spoiling her (not that she wanted to spend all of her time in the exclusive idol club, but it sure was nice to have the option).  She was sorely tempted by a couple of paintings, but she forced herself to hold onto her money, at least for the time being.  With that, she continued on to the rest of the mall.

As she walked, the things that shops were selling became stranger and more random.  What started out as authentic antique stores, turning into sort of miscellaneous, nick-nacks?  Yeah... they were weird.  She walked through a few, mesmerized by the utter strangeness of it all - it was like they had taken all the stuff that was usually sold in places like Skymall Magazine or As Seen on TV and sort of made it, just... more (she didn't know how to explain it, but the process often seemed to involve gold-plating).

When she finally managed to tear herself away unscathed (she had somehow briefly convinced herself that her life would not be complete without a ceramic, bejeweled, dalmatian shaped toilet paper despenser), she noticed that she had explored nearly the entire floor.  Looking around, a shop at the very end of the mall caught her eye.  It took up about two store's worth of space, and the entire front wall was made up completely of glass, revealing stark white walls and shelves backlit with blinding L.E.D bulbs that caused an almost eerily alien glow to emit into the hallway.

Slightly hypnotised, she began to walk toward the light.  Upon closer inspection, she saw that the shelves were lined with hundreds of brightly colored objects.  She stepped cautiously inside, fighting the urge to shield her eyes from the brightness.  She settled instead for blinking rapidly until her vision could adjust (she never thought she would find herself wishing for those horrendous sunglasses GD had given her earlier).

Once she was finally able to see, more or less, she realized that the brightly colored objects were - for lack of a better word - toys.  Certainly not the kind of toys you would throw on the floor to keep the youngins busy, but toys nonetheless.  For a moment, her inner child felt the overwhelming sensation of being a kid in a candy shop (or, more appropriately, toy shop).  As her eyes worked to take in the appealing rainbow of bright colors, she noticed that the setup - which had appeared to be a single, lined wall - was actually a series of right angles that created various nooks and aisles, hidden from view.  The blending of the bright, monochrome white on all of the walls simply tricked the eye into being unable to distinguish the dimensions from afar.

It wasn't until she had finished marveling over all of this that she noticed another customer standing casually near the wall at the far end of the store.  She bowed slightly to acknowledge his presence, wandering closer to him as she examined the merchandise.  She did a double take, realizing that she actually recognized him.

"Hyun Woo ssi!" she called in surprise.  He had been backlit by the lights behind the shelves, casting his face into shadow so that she couldn't make out the Big Bang handler until she was nearly right beside him.  The amused smile on his face told her that he had probably known it was her from the beginning, and waited for her to realize who she was greeting.

"Long time no see, huh?" she joked, coming to face him directly.

"Ah, quite so.  Hello again," he responded with a grin.

"Come to do a little shopping?" she asked teasingly, making a joke out of a true curiosity.  His smile changed into one that was a cross between all-knowing and sheepish.

"Not me," he said informatively, nodding over her shoulder.  She was already starting to look when she heard a voice behind her call out,

"Ah, Caden ssi."

She turned to see a surprised looking Top standing in one of the hidden nooks behind a shelf, a bright blue figurine in one hand, and a bright green one in the other.

"Top-ah!" she blurted out in surprise. "What are you doing here?"  His surprised expression immediately receded, replaced by an ironic smile that she instantly understood; of course he was a member here and likely came all the time - it was her presence there that should be a surprise.  Nevertheless, his answer was genuine,

"Awo, you caught me.  Coming here, for me, is like..."  He paused, as if trying to think of a better word.  When he couldn't come up with one, he shot her a sheepish grin, continuing, "like an addiction.  These things are my weakness."  He indicated the toys in his hands.

"They are pretty cool," Caden admitted, watching as he made to approach.

He paused long enough to place his finds on a counter that she hadn't noticed before.  Apparently waiting for this, the store clerk suddenly appeared from some hidden door at the other end of the room.  The man paused, diliberating over whether Top was signaling his readiness to complete his purchase.  Eventually he retreated back into the secret backroom once again when he saw that Top was simply freeing his hands before making his way over to Caden.  Hyun Woo also seemed to hang back slightly, leaving the two of them to talk.

As he approached, Caden took a second to absorb his get-up.  She had by now learned that this particular outfit was one that he (and only he) would consider casual-wear: black dress pants, supported by a black belt with a large silver buckle, and a striped button up shirt under a fitted, charcoal peacoat.  The only piece of clothing that could be considered even remotely casual were his shoes, which were little more than glorified slippers - seemingly completely out of place with the rest of his outfit.

'Doesn't he know it's summer outside?' she thought, fighting the urge to grin, vaguely wondering whatever happened to the days when he would spend his time offstage in ratty sweatshirts and goofy pajama pants.  When exactly was it that he had become the type of person who got dressed up even to go to the airport?

"Your addiction, huh?" she prompted teasingly once he finally reached her. "So you collect them?  How long have you been doing that?"  He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, when I was a kid, I always collected normal toys, you know?  Like comic book characters and stuff.  Then when I got older, I just sort of had an attraction to strange things.  After I had debuted in Big Bang, I found out about these sort of designer figurines.  I just kind of look for stuff that appeals to me."  He paused, shooting her a rueful smile and gesturing around, "Actually this place holds a collection of some pretty rare finds.  That's why I come here a lot.  They're always getting new products from various designers."

"How interesting," Caden marveled, a little surprised by her own sincerity. "I collected Beanie Babies for a while when I was young and that was the big trend, but other than that, I've never really collected anything.  Sounds like it takes a lot of effort."  He chuckled at this.

"It does, but not the kind of effort you find yourself bragging about," he joked with a grin. "Unless you happen to run across someone else with the same strange interests that you have."

Caden couldn't help but giggle at this.  He smiled at her warmly, and she realized that this was the first time in a while that she'd had an extended conversation with him that hadn't devolved into Top solely trying to into discomfort.  It was also their first conversation in a long while that hadn't taken place in front of any of the other members.  She imagined that there was probably a correlation between these facts.

But all good things must end, it seemed, because the next words out of his mouth - his warm, seemingly understanding expression still firmly in place - were,

"But enough about me... Caden ssi, what are you doing here?  I'm really curious."

She was instantly hit with that awful feeling of being caught with her hand in the cookie jar - it was the same feeling she'd gotten when Kikwang had first started questioning her back at the studio - and she didn't know why.  The first half-formed thought that floated through her head as she puzzled over the reason for this were GD's words from earlier: '...I figured... it should be just me showing you'.  She had understood his reasoning on this.  Usually it would be normal, upon running into any of the other members, to invite them along, but somehow it didn't feel right to do so right then.  

Plus, she was worried that revealing her tour with GD would come across as playing favorites - although, out of all the boys, she thought Top would probably care the least.  But even still, she had been working with students long enough by now that this mentality was sort of ingrained in her.  As it was, just thinking about it gave her a little sting of guilt, even though the destinction between what was and wasn't favoritism suddenly seemed blurred, now that her students were around her age, and acted more like friends.  She made a mental note to take them all out to lunch someday soon to make it up.

"Oh... I got invited out by a friend," she answered vaguely, forcing herself not to glance over at Hyun Woo, who she hoped wouldn't mention (or bother to question why she wasn't telling him about) her tour with GD.  The older man let out a sort of cough (that she couldn't tell whether or not was related to her words), but otherwise kept quiet.  Top nodded in understanding, although she doubted he found her answer satisfactory.

"Interesting," he mused, right on cue. "Your friend is a member here too?  What are the odds..."

"Haha, I know, right?" Caden gushed nervously, trying as hard as she could not to sound like a complete nutcase. "I didn't know he was a member either... until we got here..."  She nearly cringed at her lame ending, pushing on to change the subject slightly,

"Since it's my first time coming here, I've been exploring around a little on my own.  They have some pretty strange products for sale, don't they?"

"Oh, are you talking about the other stores on this floor?" Top inquired amiably, chuckling. "Yes, they certainly have some... interesting items available.  Did you ever see that dog shaped toilet paper holder?"  She smiled back, letting out an inaudible sigh of relief that he had allowed the subject to drop.  

They chatted for a while about the others stores, and where he liked to shop in the mall, when suddenly a shrill ring emitted from her pocket, causing her to jump.  Top chuckled at her reaction, which made her feel a little ridiculous.  To be fair, though, she hadn't gotten many calls on her cell phone since moving to Korea - the constant check-up calls from the President while she was in Japan had turned into periodic text messages once she was back in the country.  If he needed to talk to her for any extended amount of time, he would simply tell her to come in for a meeting.  She would sometimes receive calls from her family and would often text her friends (since her phone had come with an international plan), but more often they would communicate face to face via Skype.

As Top was laughing and she looking sheepish, Caden remembered that GD had promised to call her when he was done shopping.  She pulled her phone out quickly, glancing at the caller i.d. in what she hoped was a sly way - trying to prevent the other two from seeing.  She was too busy trying to be sneaky to notice Top shooting Hyun Woo a knowing look.  She answered, taking a couple casual steps away and turning the volume on her phone down slightly in the hopes that they wouldn't recognized the voice on the other end.

"Un, hi," she greeted casually, glancing out the store's front window.

"Caden ssi," GD greeted pleasantly, "I realized that you'd been gone for a while, so I went looking for you, but you're not in any of the stores nearby."

"Oh that," she replied laughingly. "I looked through all the stores on that floor quickly, so I decided to explore the 3rd floor."  GD chuckled.

"And did you come across anything interesting?" he inquired.  Without meaning to, she glanced over her shoulder at Top, who was smiling at her patiently.  She smiled back before turning away quickly.

"You could say that," she answered, tone as pleasantly casual as ever.  Then she added, "Did you know that they sell bejeweled, animal shaped bathroom decor?"  She heard GD and Top chuckle in unison.

"Yeah, they sell some wild stuff," GD agreed. "Do you want me to come find you?"

"No!" she blurted out more forcefully than she meant to.  She quickly revised her tone in an attempt to cover it up, "I'm all done looking around up here, so I'll meet you back downstairs.  Will you be at the shop where I left you?"

"Sure, sounds good," GD responded cheerfully. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Alright.  See you," she replied before hanging up the phone.  She turned back to find Top looking at her expectantly.

"Ah, my friend," she announced lamely, gesturing at her phone.  He nodded, wearing the by now all too familiar expression of trying-not-to-laugh-in-her-face.  When he didn't immediately reply, she glanced over at Hyun Woo, who only smiled at her politely.

"Well, I'd better be going then," she stated, bowing toward Hyun Woo before turning to Top. "Running into you was a nice surprise.  I don't often get a chance to talk to you about your hobbies."

"Most people don't care to hear about it anyway, so I guess I should be thanking you for not getting bored with me sooner," he joked, grinning widely.  She batted his comment away with a grin of her own.  She started to replace her phone in her pocket when she suddenly remembered.

"Oh, speaking of phone calls - I realized that I need your phone number," she declared.  He gave her a curious look as she quickly checked the time on her phone, pausing before making the decision to shove it back into her pocket, "but we can do that in class on Monday.  I'll explain it all then."  She laughed as he arched an eyebrow, then shook his head, seeming to give up.

"Alright then," he conceded, still shaking his head with a smile. "Goodbye Caden ssi.  See you on Monday."

"Goodbye," she said brightly, bowing toward the both of them, waving as she made her way out of the shop.

She had just reached the door when she heard Top call out to her once more,

"Caden ssi..."

She paused in the doorway, turning to face him briefly.  He looked her over thoughtfully for a moment before adding,

"I like your hat."

Without thinking, her hand flew to the garment on her head.  She had totally forgotten she was wearing it, let alone who she'd gotten it from until he said that.  She saw that his expression and smile remained pleasant and straightforward as ever, while something in his eyes flickered mischievously.

"Thank... you," she said hesitantly, caught off guard.  She shot the quickest of glances over at Hyun Woo, who was still smiling kindly, before bowing quickly once more.  She turned and exited the store, hand still clutching the hat on her head as she made her way down the long hall, back to the elevators.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N

Haha!  Two updates in less than a week!  What is this craziness?? :P

Anyway, I hoped you guys liked this chapter.  I'm at Starbucks typing and they're closing soon, so I'm trying to hurry. :P

And here, to prove my point about Top, is a photo present for you all: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LNsN_Ypy6bI/Tn_7zUFpzWI/AAAAAAAAIRo/0H531Azf0b0/s1600/TOP+INCHEON+AIRPORT+2.jpg

So comment and subscribe because it makes me happy!