(Recap in italics)

"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.

Caden found GD lounging on a bench (oh, correction -a couch.  She forgot where she was for a second) outside the shoe store where she'd left him.  He grinned upon seeing her, quickly standing and making his way over to meet her.  She couldn't help but grin when she noticed that he was now holding significanlty more bags than she'd left him with.

"Good haul?" she asked teasingly, causing him to grin.

"You have no idea," he affirmed happily, adjusting the bags in his hands. "Ready to go?"  He lead her back to the elevators once again.

"It's around 7:30pm right now," he said, twisting his shopping bags around to glance at his watch. "I was thinking that now would be a good time to do dinner... only if you're hungry, though."

At this suggestion, Caden, who hadn't eaten since before noon, realized that she had, in fact, managed to work up quite an appetite.

"Dinner sounds perfect to me," she agreed, smiling.

"Great!  In that case, I know just the place," he announced with a grin.  When they entered the elevator once again, he pressed the button for the 1st floor.  After a momentary drop, they stepped back out again, nodding to the security guard who was stationed nearby.  As they made their way across the room, Caden was very much reminded of the ground floor of most department stores - makeup and perfume counters with girls assigned to spray people, or try to draw people in for make overs.  There was a large shoe section with handfuls of people trying things on in the chairs, along with various different styles of clothes.  She also noticed that there were more people milling around here than any of the upper levels, and far more of them were tourists.  They still looked mostly  well-to-do, but several groups of girls whispered to each other as GD walked past, though they didn't try to approach.

She was somewhat surprised when he finally  led her through the front doors and out onto the public sidewalk.  There weren't very many people out and about - the only reason shoppers seemed to appear on the street was to quickly walk from the store they were in to the one next door, as fast as possible.  Still, after all GD had told her, she couldn't help but be a little skeptical.

"Didn't feel like eating at the restaurant on the 4th floor?" she inquired cheerfully as they put the mall behind them, making their way up the street.

"That one is good, but it's not my favorite," he explained dismissively, "but I know a really good one nearby - I go there all the time.  He shot her a mischievous look before adding, "Don't tell anyone, though.  I told Hyun Woo hyung we would stay there to eat, just to reassure him that we'd be okay alone."

She waited until he turned his gaze foreward once more before shooting a nervous glance back at the shrinking mall.  She hadn't planned to tell GD that she'd run into Top and Hyun Woo - simply to avoid getting teased by GD if he thought that she'd handled the situation strangely - but now that he'd said that, she was a little worried about the likelihood of their being caught.  She looked the building over carefully.  Top would probably continue to shop for some time, so there wasn't much danger of Hyun Woo catching them on their way out.  There also didn't seem to be many windows in that building (apart from the top floor), and there certainly hadn't been any in the toy store...

She wondered vaguely how much trouble walking to a nearby restaurant without staff could get an idol into anyway.  Maybe it depended on just how far away said restaurant was, or maybe it depended on the location.  GD, noticing that she had been unusually quiet, glanced around at her.  Upon seeing her expression, he grinned.

"Are you getting nervous?" he asked teasingly.

"Well..." she reasoned, debating over how much to tell him.  GD couldn't help but chuckle at this, reaching out to ruffle her hair - hat and all.

"Don't worry," he assured her as she batted his hand away, laughing as she tried to fix her hair. "I told you it was close - just the next block over.  Plus, it's not like this is the first time I've done this.  I thought you trusted me as your tour guide!"

"I do, I do," she answered, chuckling. "I'm not worried, I promise."

"Good," he declared. "Now we're going to have to cut through to the next street just up ahead."  He lead her to a spot where two buildings stood beside one another, creating a small alley, which he walked toward without a second thought.

As it was summer - the days long and bright - the sun was just reaching the beginnings of setting, but none of the street lights had yet to turn on.  This, along with the brightness coming from the stores on either side, cast the alley into shadow, making it rather too dark to see very well.  Caden felt a bit of an unsettled twinge, despite the fact that this street probably contained more security stationed at its various buildings than a street full of nightclubs at happy hour (because, come on, what girl hadn't had the phrase 'don't walk down dark alleys' ingrained into her practically from birth).  When GD didn't pause, however, she resolved to follow.

It took her eyes a while to adjust to the change in lighting.  She reached out to grab GD's sleeve - just to be safe - at the same time that he reached back to take hold of her wrist, and they ended up bumping hands instead.  Caden made to drop hers and started to apologize, but he completely ignored this, grabbing her hand with some impatience, leading her onward.  Surprised, she quickly closed , internally chastising her brain for thinking it was a big deal in the first place.  What was she?  A middle schooler on her first date - worried about holding hands and whether he could tell that she was wearing a training bra?  Don't be silly.

As expected, they made it through unscathed, and GD released his grip on her as soon as they emerged onto the sidewalk.  He led her to an enormously tall hotel, which looked extremely high class, both inside and out.  The concierge greeted him as they walked by the front desk,

"Jiyong ssi, welcome back."  He gave her a nod and a smile without slowing his pace.  Caden followed his lead, after turning briefly to bow at the woman.  And then to yet another elevator ( she jokingly wondered just how many different hallways and elevators she had seen that day), which quickly admitted the two of them before closing.  GD pushed the button for the top floor, and the car began its effortless ascent.

"I bet a place like this has great room service," Caden said, trying to about the reason why he would bring her to a hotel.

"I guess we'll never know," he shot back immediately, causing her to crack up.  He grinned devilishly before adding, "There's only one way to find out, if you're really interested..."  She paused in her laughter, blinking in surprise a few times before cracking up again.  This set GD off, until they were both nearly crying.  When the elevator dinged on the top floor, they both made attempts to quickly recover themselves before exiting the car.

She followed him down a short hallway that opened up into a large restaurant which seemed to take up the entire floor.  It was pretty much exactly how she had expected the restaurant in the mall to look, except with a much more spetacular view (being about 20 floors higher up).  The maitre d' brightened up as soon as he noticed GD approaching.

"Kwon Jiyong ssi," he greeted, bowing deeply. 

"And guest," he added upon noticing that GD wasn't alone.  He bowed nearly as deeply to her. "Shall I find a table for two?"

"That would be perfect, thanks," GD affirmed.

"Allow me to check your bags," the man motioned to someone inside the restaurant, who quickly appeared - relieving GD of his shopping bags before disappearing once more.  

The maitr d' grabbed a pile of menus in various sizes, before graciously leading them to a large table beside on of the many windows, making sure to face them away from the slowly setting sun, so as not to blind them.  He made to pull out Caden's chair, but GD beat him to it.  Caden was forced to bite her tongue to avoid a giggle fit that nearly erupted as she remembered their conversation about chivalry earlier.  The maitre d' waited until GD was also seated comfortably before setting the dinner, wine, and dessert menus in front of them, promising that someone would be over to take their order shortly.

Caden opened her menu to discover that the restaurant seemed to specialize in Korean versions of high class Chinese food dishes.  There were more choices than she could count - nearly all of which were made to sound delicious.

"Find anything?" GD inquired after a minute, as he browsed the wine list.

"I found a lot," she joked, still flipping pages. "Probably too much.  What's good here?"

"Depends on what you're in the mood for," he replied, smiling maddeningly.

"Wow, you're so incredibly helpful," she shot back sarcastically, making him laugh.

"How about this-" he offered, still grinning widely "-a lot of times, when I come here with friends, we usually just order a little taste of everything to share.  Would you like to do that?"

"That works for me," she responded agreeably.  GD smiled, gesturing to the maitre d', who nodded before hurrying to retrieve a waiter to send over.

"Oh, is there anything in particular you'd prefer not to eat?" he asked casually, as a smartly dressed waiter approached their table.

"I'm not too picky," Caden answered pleasantly. "The only things I tend to stay away from are innards - brains and intestines and stuff - they're not my favorite."

"Got it," he announced with a knowing grin, before turning to the employee waiting patiently to take their order.  She listened as GD rattled off the order, losing track of the number of different items he named.  The waiter wrote furiously, clarifying a few details before asking what they wanted to drink.  GD asked a few questions about various wines before eventually ordering a glass.  He paused, turning to Caden.

"Do you prefer red or white wine?" he asked plainly, looking over the list once more.

"I'm actually not a huge wine fan," she admitted.

"Something a bit harder, then?" he inquired, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"I was just kind of planning on getting a soda..." she said laughingly.  GD waved this comment away.

"Come on, you can't let me drink alone," he insisted with a grin. "Besides, I can only have one anyway, since I'm driving.  So what would you like to drink?"

"Well... I prefer not to be able to taste my alcohol," she admitted lamely.  GD chuckled, immediately flipping to the back of the wine booklet, looking it over carefully.  She tried to protest again, but he completely ignored her.

"Look," he said, glancing over at her with some impatience. "I have one really important question that will be the determining factor in whether or not you'll need to drink with me tonight: have you had soju since you've been in Korea?"  Caden's eyes widened in surprise, and she sent a pleading look to the waiter, who was attempting to hide a smile.  Her eyes darted back to GD, who was regarding her cooly.  She considered lying, but in the end she gave up.

"No," she admitted finally.  GD's face lit up, and he turned his attention back to the waiter.

"We'll have a small bottle of the house soju - fill it only halfway," he ordered. "And for the lady-"

He read something she'd never heard of (being unfamiliar with the Korean names for mixed drinks) from the back of the drinks menu, before handing it over.  The waiter quickly gathered all of their various menus before turning away.

"Could I also have a water, please?" Caden called after him.  The man nodded, bowing deeply before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, or something?" she demanded once he was gone, doing her best to glare across the table at her companion.  GD grinned.

"I'm not trying to," he told her innocently, "but if you happen to get drunk in the process..."  She scoffed, kicking at him under the table.

"What?" he cried, laughing as he avoided her blows. "It's not my fault that seeing your teacher drunk is hilarious."

"Oh hardy har har," she quipped sarcastically, causing him to laugh.

"I'm a little surprised that they didn't ask to see my i.d.," she added. "At first I thought you were just trying to trick me into revealing my age."  He laughed at this.

"Naw, your game would be no fun if it were that easy," he teased. "No, everyone who works here knows that the regulars aren't going to order alcohol for minors."  He paused, looking her over in consideration before continuing, "Especially someone like me - if it got out, the action would probably reflect even worse on me than the restaurant."

Caden nodded, remembering the way that so-called 'scandals' among idols could seem so explosive within the Korean public, and GD had already had more than his fair share.

"And we wouldn't want that," she sang out teasingly, successfully cutting the tension.  He was chuckling when the waiter reappeared with their banchan, a series of Korean sides that accompanied every meal, no matter what type for food was being served.  The man left again momentarily, giving GD enough time to dig into the daikon before he returned with their drinks.  GD cheered and Caden groaned as he set a small bottle of soju and two shot glasses between them.  He then proceeded to set a glass of white wine before GD, and a small cup of clear, bubbling liquid in front of Caden, as well as a large cup of water.

"Your food will be out shortly," he informed them before turning to leave once more.

Being used to drinking in Japan, Caden instinctively reached out to pour GD's soju for him, but he beat her to it.  He filled her glass nearly to the brim with a cheeky grin, before setting the bottle down to allow her to pour his.

"Hey!" she complained when his glass only reached about three-quarters full after up-ending the bottle. "Why do I have so much more?"

"I'm the driver," he pointed out obnoxiously. "I need to be clear-headed and sober by the time we need to head home, otherwise we're going to end up having to rent a room here, after all."

"Fine.  You win this round," she grumbled as he only laughed.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked teasingly, picking up his glass.  Caden made a face, but didn't respond.

"Oh come on," he scoffed jokingly. "It's just one little swig.  Toughen up!"  She didn't say anything, simply picking up her glass with the same sour expression.  He just laughed at her, unrelenting.

"To you first soju," he announced with a grin, holding his glass out to her. "And to you forgiving me for bullying you into drinking."  She laughed at this, clinking her glass against his.

"I'll give you the first one, at least," she joked.

"Gun bae," GD responded, grin widening.

"Gun bae!" Caden chimed in.  They each threw back their glasses, dowing the liquid in one gulp.  He set his back on the table with a clank, making a series of harsh noises in the back of his throat - something she had witnessed in numerous dramas, but never in person.  Caden, on the other hand, practically dropped her glass, shaking her hands around and sticking her tongue out, as if to get the taste as far away from her as possible.

"Pleh, pleh, pleh!" she cried in disgust, reaching for her water.

"You're such a wimp," GD accused cheerfully.  She shot him an annoyed look.

"I just told you that I don't like being able to taste my alcohol," she reminded him matter-of-factly, sipping her water more dantily now that she had gotten the taste out of . "I don't know why you should be surprised by it now."  He only laughed, shaking his head at her ridiculousness.  She watched as he picked up his wine and took a tentative sip before nodding approvingly.

"This is one of my favorites," he said with a smile.

"You never struck me as the type to enjoy a single glass of wine with a meal," she teased.  She realized that she had meant her impression of him as a fan, but she decided that her statement still held true to knowing him in person.

"You learn something new everyday," he teased back.  Then he nodded his head toward her other glass, that had yet remained untouched. "Aren't you going to drink that?"

"I was still kind of wondering what it was," she responded casually, picking the mixed drink up and sniffing it gingerly.

"You'll never know until you try," he informed her in a sing-song voice.

"Again with the managing to be so incredibly helpful," she remarked with a resigned sigh. "Okay, okay, at least tell me this - is it sweet, it is sour..?  What flavor should I be expecting here?"

"Sweet," he revealed, pressing his lips together to contain his widening smile.  She looked him over suspiciously before shrugging.  She took a deep breath, taking the most tentative of sips.  It was very sweet.

"Wow!" she said in surprise, looking her drink over appraisingly before turning her attention back to GD. "It tastes exactly like candy!  Except in liquid form!"  He laughed appreciatively at this.

"Yeah, I don't really care for sweet drinks, but some of my friends love it," he told her with a grin.

"I can see why," she replied, taking another sip. "I could drink this all night."

"I don't have a problem with that plan," he teased, entwining his fingers and resting his chin atop them as he looked at her mischievously, "but if that is your plan, let me just tell you right now - I'm not carrying you up to your room if you pass out.  This isn't some primetime drama."

"And even if it were like a drama," she replied pleasantly, mirroring his pose, "you're used to being the one who's carried, am I right?"

She was poking fun at the fact that almost every time Big Bang filmed a drama parody, GD ended up playing the girl.  She was hoping this comment would rile him up a little.  Caden couldn't tell if he even knew what she was making fun of, but either way, his response was calm and cheerful.

"You know it," he proclaimed with a bright smile.  She was a bit disappointed at how well he took this, resorting to simply sticking out her tongue at him.  GD merely chuckled, taking another sip of his wine.  They sat there for a moment in companionable silence as he reached out to grab more of the banchan with his chopsticks, and she took the opportunity to relish this moment of relaxation.

She had managed to finish her mixed drink over the course of their conversation without noticing.  She wasn't usually a heavy drinker to begin with.  This - combined with the fact that the last time she'd been out drinking was when she still lived in Japan, plus drinking on an empty stomach - meant that she could start to feel, even the small amount of alcohol she'd consumed, start to sink in.  It felt like a pleasant buzzing at the back of her brain.

Being aware of this fact, she forced herself not to get too excited when the waiter finally appeared with their food.  She watched in breathless anticipation as he set down plate after plate - all small enough to fit only a bite or two of each type of food - until the table seemed filled.  Then he set a large, empty plate in front of each of them.  Caden hadn't realized just how hungry she was until she smelled the food.  Her stomach immediately began growling like mad as the waiter walked off.

"Everything looks delicious," she exclaimed, clicking her chopsticks together excitedly in her hand, deciding what she wanted to grab first.  GD, who had been watching her watch the food, chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"I guess I should have asked if you were ready to eat sooner," he commented with a bit of a grin, helping himself to several items within arm's reach.  Caden, who had already dug in, batted his comment away with a wave of her utensils.

"I was having fun exploring," she said smiling, while at the same time trying not to talk too much with full. "I just now realized that I was hungry... and what better place to realize it?  This food is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it," he replied with a small, but satisfied smile. "It's one of my favorites."

"I never would have guessed," she said teasingly, leaning her head on one hand. "And I bet you come here all the time, too."  GD rolled his eyes with a chuckle, ignoring her.  She watched fondly as he continued to eat with gusto.  After a minute, he noticed that she was still watching.  He paused, food halfway to his mouth, and raised an eyebrow, to which she only smiled and resumed eating.

"So, did you pick a favorite dish?" he asked conversationally.

"Well, I really like the sauce on this one," she said, pointing at one of the chicken plates. "And these noodles were fantastic.  Actually, everything is pretty much to die for, so picking hardly seems relevant."

"I'm glad you think so," he said with a chuckle. "I'd be disappointed if I took you somewhere you didn't like."

"I wasn't worried," she informed him easily. "I already knew you had good taste."  He tried to hide a satisfied smile by taking a large bite of food.

"It seems like I didn't get to take you to very many different places, in the end," he added once he had swallowed. "But I guess it doesn't matter, as long as you enjoyed the places we did go..."

"I had a lot of fun!" she replied cheerfully. "Plus, now I can say that I've been teased not only by members of Big Bang, but also members of B2st!  Fangirls everywhere would kill to be in my shoes."  He laughed at this.

"Why would any girl kill just to have a bunch of lame guys make fun of her?" he inquired skeptically.  Caden looked at him with mild disbelief.

"Um, have you met fangirls?" she demanded teasingly. "Jeez, how long have you been famous?  It can't be possible that you wouldn't have realized this by now..."

"Gee, thanks Ms. Know-it-all," he responded sarcastically, to which she only giggled mischievously. "That means you're not a fangirl, I take it?"

"I guess not..." she replied thoughtfully.  Then a wide smile spread across her face. "Or maybe I'm just not one of the crazy ones."  Instead of laughing, GD looked her over carefully for a moment.

"From getting to know you over the past month, Teacher," he began seriously, eyes gleaming in amusement, "I'm fairly comfortable allowing you to remove 'fangirl' from your title... but 'crazy' I'm not so sure about."

"Oh, ha ha," Caden tried to deadpan, but she was having trouble not laughing for real. "You always have to get the last word, don't you?"

"Not always," he responded, grinning at the irony.  She just rolled her eyes, taking one final bite of food before setting her chopsticks down on the table firmly.

"I'm full," she announced pleasantly, looking around at their plates.  They had managed to do a fair amount of damage - there was hardly a dish that didn't have at least one bite taken from it.  GD, who still appeared to be eating, looked up when she said this.

"Are you?" he asked brightly. "Does that mean you didn't save room for dessert?"

"Definitely not," she answered adamantly. "Dessert would definitely push me over the edge of fullness."  She paused before looking over at him curiously.

"So idols are allowed to eat dessert, huh?" she inquired, checking him over briefly. "Well, of course you should be allowed to -you're way too skinny to begin with."  He instantly made a face at this.

"What's that look for?" Caden continued teasingly. "Were you not aware of how skinny you are?"

"Alright, alright, that's enough, isn't it?  Have mercy, Caden ssi," he pleaded laughingly.  She grinned, obliging him.  Then GD raised his hand, calling the waiter over to ask for the check.  The man bowed, disappearing to go fetch it.  As soon as he was gone, a swarm of bus boys appeared to clear their table.  They made quick work of it before leaving, taking with them all evidence that the pair had ever eaten at all.  The waiter reappeared, setting the check onto the table beside GD, before quickly making himself scarce.  Caden made to reach for it, but he snatched it up with lightening speed.

"Don't even think about it," he ordered silkily.  She was momentarily taken aback by this, which caused him to grin.

"But," she started, only to be immediately interrupted by GD.

"No."

"But I-"

"No."

"But I was the one-"

"I don't want to hear it," he pronounced casually, placing his credit card into the booklet that held their bill, before placing it on the edge of the table.  The waiter appeared just long enough to pick it up before disappearing back into the kitchen.  Caden made to argue with him once again, but was distracted when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

"I just need to make sure it's not the President who's contacting me," she explained as she pulled it out.  GD nodded in understanding.

Caden saw that she had received a text.  Upon clicking on it, she found that it was from one of her best friends - the one who lived in Japan.  She sent a quick reply, basically to the effect of 'I'll talk to you later' before setting her phone down on the table.

"Just one of my girlfriends," she explained with a smile.  He smiled back, but didn't get a chance to inquire further, because the waiter came by to return his credit card.  GD took it, quickly replacing it in his wallet.  Caden watched as he signed the receipt and handed it back to the waiter, who then proceeded to bow deeply to each of them before disappearing for the final time.

As she watched the man go, her phone buzzed again.  She glanced down at it, clicking on the message, which was just her friend's one word response.  She quickly closed it, turning back to GD just in time to see him reach over and snatch her phone off the table.

"What are you doing?" she asked in surprise.

"Just looking," he said, examining her screen for a moment before adding, "This is cool.  Is it coffee?"  She stared back at him, confused, until he turned her phone around, indicating her background.  She had forgotten that she put up the picture of Jung Su's foam flower last week - already so used to seeing it every time she looked at her phone that she didn't really think about it anymore.

"Oh, yeah," she said, grinning. "Isn't it pretty?  I wish I could be that talented."

"No kidding," GD agreed, taking one last look before handing the phone back to her. "You found a shop that does designs like that?"

"Yeah, last weekend," she told him. "Actually, my friend is the one who made it.  He works at a coffee shop near his school."

Although she had not had a chance to meet with him again since the previous Saturday, she felt fairly confident in refering to Jung Su as a friend - mostly due to Daeho's continued assurance that she had won him over.

"Oh, your friend Daeho?" GD asked casually, propping his head up with one hand.

"No, my friend Jung Su," she answered cheerfully, "but I did meet him because he's friends with Daeho."

"Un," he replied thoughtfully. "And does Jung Su also fit his name?"  He said that last with a hint of teasing, probably refering to his strangeness earlier in the week.

"That depends," she responded laughingly. "What does it mean?"  GD suddenly looked less than enthusiastic about having to tell her.

"Erm... it's pretty much a combination of 'honest' and 'beautiful'," he admitted finally.  Caden couldn't help but choke back her laughter.

"I almost feel like I shouldn't say this, because I haven't known him for very long," she began, pressing her lips together to keep from smiling, "but frankly, they both completely apply to him.  Almost humorously so... He has a tendency to be almost brutally honest."  GD looked like he couldn't decide how he wanted to react to this statement, but he eventually decided on amusement.

"Why do you always ask me that question, anyway?" she asked curiously.  She still hadn't fogotten how strangely he had reacted to hearing about her tour with Daeho.  She believed that Top had probably been right about the reason - 'growing pains' he'd called it.  Plus, she remembered GD admitting that Teacher Park had requested he look after her - hearing that she was relying on someone else might have made him feel that he wasn't fulfilling his end of the bargain.  But that didn't quite explain why he kept picking at random personal details about her friends.

His face changed slightly at her question.

"Well..." he started slowly, looking contemplative. "I guess it's because... when parents name their kids, it's usually after attributes that they hope the child will grow up to have.  So, I'm naturally curious to see if they lived up to their parents' expectations."  She raised her eyebrows at his answer, but after a moment she smiled.  So it was his way of checking out their character.  He must have felt that Daeho was threatening his job of looking out for her, after all.

"In that case," she joked in response, "what does 'Jiyong' mean, then?"  He looked a little surprised by her question, and quickly turned sheepish.

"Oh, that..." he began in Korean, before switching briefly to English to translate. "This is an oversimplification, I'm sure, but it means something like 'heart of a dragon', or 'heart of a king'."  The sheepish look remained on his face as she considered this.

"So your parents thought you were a natural born leader?" she prompted with a grin after a moment. "What do you think?  Did they have good judgement?"

"I- well... It kind of seems... so," he answered, sounding flustered - his face somewhat flushed.  She giggled at the fact that she had forced him to compliment himself.

"What about you, then?" he shot back, regaining his usual self-assured attitude. "What does you name mean?"

"My name?" Caden responded, looking at him in surprise.  Then she turned thoughtful.

"I don't actually know..." she mused casually. "Western parents tend to pick baby names based on whether they like the sound of it, or how it relates to someone they like, rather than the meaning."  She paused, picking up her phone and waving it toward him.

"I could probably look it up, though," she offered. "If you want."

"Why not?" GD replied affably, with a grin.  She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, and began clicking away on her phone, quickly connecting to the internet.  After several moments, she had managed to pull up the right page.

"Caden," she read, squinting down at the information, "Origen: Welsh - so it came from the country of Wales, near England."  She glanced up just long enough to see him nod in understanding before continuing, "Meaning: spirit of battle."  She paused again, her eyes still roaming over the words.  GD watched her, grinning widely.

"Huh," she said finally, closing the page and setting her phone back on the table. "It also says that it's usually a boy's name, but not always."

"So what do you think?  Accurate?" he prompted, holding back laughter. "Personally, I think your parents got it right on the mark."

"Oh, shut it," she ordered jokingly, rolling her eyes. "Who even asked you?"  He just laughed at this.

"Look, it's gotten late," he said after a moment, indicating the darkening sky outside their window. "We've just been sitting here talking, even after the bill was already paid.  We should probably head back, don't you think?"  She nodded in agreement and made to stand.

As was common  when one drinks sitting down, Caden had felt that she'd pretty much lost the little buzz she had gotten at the beginning of their meal, but found this assumption to be inaccurate upon standing.  Not that it was a mind-spinning, world-tilting situation - more like her legs had somehow managed to forget just how much effort was required to support the rest of her body.  The result was Caden standing, bobbing slightly as her knees buckled a bit, then eventually regaining her footing for good.

She tried to play this off, but GD burst out laughing, offering his arm to her for support.  She sniffed at him disdainfully, swatting his arm away, and brushing past him toward the door.  He quickly caught up with her, chuckling like mad, which she dutifully ignored.

They made their way back to the maitre d', who had GD's bags ready for him.  They barely paused as he picked them up, nodding graciously to the hotel employee before leading Caden back downstairs.  The concierge called out to him once again as they made their way past the front desk.  GD offered her a dazzling smile, promising to return soon.  The woman initially remained professional, smiling and bowing her head politely, but when Caden glanced back a few moments later, she saw that the woman - who was probably in her early thirties - fan her face, which had turned a bit red and flushed, apparently from his attention.  Caden hid a smile, glancing over at her companion, who was making his way purposefully out the door.

Spending the day together with GD like this was doing a great job of both reminding her what it was like to be his fan, and at the same time feeling like she knew him more as a person than as an idol.  Little moments like that one made her remember just how charming Big Bang's fearless leader could be, while at the same time realizing that the same actions that made the fangirls swoon no longer had an effect on her.  His calculated, purposeful fanservice was losing its appeal at the same rate that his genuine, unconscious chivalry and reverence toward his friends and coworkers became more endearing. 

She hid another smile as he got the door, quickly steering her outside.

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A/N

Okay, I know that this chapter cuts off rather abruptly, but I did it so that I could put out a chapter without making you wait another week. :P  I was trying to fit the remainder of their day into this one chapter, but there's just too much to write and it was taking me way too long.  You guys shouldn't have to suffer because I keep getting more ideas, haha.

And I'm sure that the drinking culture is different from this in Korea, but I can only go one what I know, which is why GD is sipping on white wine, haha.

I hope you liked this.  I have more already written, but I haven't caught up to the end of their little day out quite yet, but I'm trying to stay on it.  I'm very inspired, at least. :D

Comment and subscribe please!  Otherwise how will I know if you like it? :P  Anyway, thanks to all my readers.  You inspire me to try harder. =*