Chapter 10

 “Hey Daniela, ready to hit the stores?” Daesung asked as He, Jiyong and Seunghyun made their way to where I stood by the hotel’s door. 

I bobbed my head enthusiastically, Dae and Jiyong started walking with Seunghyun and I right behind them. The warm breeze and not so sunny day made it the perfect time to go around walking, and after a five minute walk we were in a street with lots of shops all around.

“Come, there is a salon this way” Seunghyun pushed me past a store display I stopped to look at. 

I looked at him in surprise. 

He smiled back “I asked the concierge at the hotel for a recommendation.”  I wanted to hug him tight and kiss him full on the lips but all I could do was stare at him, dumbfounded. 

“Hey it was my idea to ask,” Jiyong grumbled “shopping and hair salons are my favorite, and since we finally have a day off, why not?”

I gave him the biggest smile “Thank you”

We walked into the salon and we were greeted by a cheerful lady who looked to be in her forties. 

“I don’t have and appointment,” I began. 

“What’s your name, honey?” the woman asked. 

“Daniela De la… just Daniela,” I said 

The woman jotted down something on a pad of paper then beamed up at me. “Well, you’re in luck, Daniela. I can take you right now. My name is Mikyung. Come around and let me get you settled in. Then we can talk about what you need done, though I can tell you definitely need some color.”

I blinked as the woman herded me around the counter, chattering brightly the entire way. I glanced back at the guys who had taken seats in the small waiting area. Seunghyun smiled back at me and winked, so out of his normal self, he must be in a good mood.

Mikyung whipped a cape out and secured it around my neck then ran her fingers through my hair. “Hone, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you need to fire your stylist. This is one of the worst dye jobs I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

I smiled. “I’m afraid I did it. I was in a hurry. Messed it up. Can you fix it?”

“Do you want to go full on red?”

“No, I’d like my natural color back.”

Mikyung studied the strands of hair in her hands for a minute. ”sure I can fix it, honey. Don’t you worry about a thing” She began combing my hair out and with that I relaxed. After a moment, Mikyung leaned forward and in a loud whisper said, “Now, I’m not one to pry, but you have to tell me which one of those gorgeous hunks is yours.”

I froze, but then a smile started to spread on my lips. For a brief moment, I consider just denying but I decided to carry on with the joke. “The three of them are,” I dais softly

Mikyung’s brows shut up “All? Oh girl, you must have saved the country in your other life!” she shot me an exaggerated wink in the mirror. “No seriously, one of them is yours?”

I stared at her in amazement, how did she know? 

“How do I know? Honey, just look at the way one of them is looking at you, like he could eat you up for lunch.” Mikyung sighed wistfully. “There was once a time when a man looked at me like that.”

“What happened” I asked, curious at the longing in her voice.

“Oh, we wanted different things. Or at least I thought I did. I just couldn’t accept what was staring me in the face. Lean back, Honey, let me get this cotton around your forehead.”

 I dutifully leaned back and waited for her to continue. 

“He finally got tired of waiting, I guess. Took off on his own and never saw him again.”

“Oh that’s too bad.” I said “you don’t know how to find him?”

Mikyung looked startled. “Well, I never considered trying to find him. That was long ago. He is probably married with kids by now.”
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“Maybe” I murmured

An Hour later, Mikyung whirled me around in my chair to face the mirror. 

“There you go. What do you think?”

I stared back at my reflection. “It’s me” I whispered. No streaks of red shone in my blond hair. The ends were trimmed and the tresses gleamed in the soft light.

Mikyung beamed “you have lovely hair, don’t damage it again”

I stood and impulsively hugged the older woman. Who went stiff and blushed at my sudden show of affection. “Thank you”

I paid Mikyung and walked over to where the members sat. They all stood up when they saw me and Jiyong was the first to complement me. 

“You look beautiful, just like my manager should.”
 
I smiled and ducked my head.

“Lets hit the shops and buy tons of stuff” Jiyong said enthusiastically “there are a bunch of stores in this neighborhood lest hit them all.”

“Lets go” I replied

I noticed a boutique specializing in lingerie. And a small smile curved my lips, I had just thought about how much I needed to but new underwear. At first I thought we would hurry through the shops, sure the guys would be bored silly looking at clothes, but boy was I wrong… I soon realized the enjoyed trying new things and seeing me change from outfit to outfit.  I made the excuse of having left something at the salon and separated myself from them to go into the lingerie store. Inside, I picked out two y outfits and much needed underwear.  When I stepped out I was caught by Dae and Jiyong, who reached for my bags and smile playfully at me making fun of my blushed face.

“Seunghyun went to a toy store, He will meet us at th