“I have a surprise for you, dear!” Lydia’s mom shouted as soon as she entered their home.

“Oh yeah, cuz I want that.” She snickered as she placed her backpack on a chair.

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one. I promise.” Her mother smiled reassuringly and gave her an envelope.

“Are you giving me money? Or a congratulating card saying ‘You finally hit the gym’? Or maybeeee-…” she patted her finger on her lips, thinking.

“I suggest you stop guessing and just open it.” Her mother’s eyes were sparkling in anticipation.

“Alright, alright.” She ripped carefully the paper and got out three tickets for a flight in Los Angeles, California. “I can’t believe it….are we going to visit Sunghoon oppa?” She was bouncing up and down, being overly happy.

“He said he misses you and he will be there for the summer, so he sent these tickets for you, David and his mother.” Her mom kept smiling at her daughter because even though she was 26 years old, she sometimes behaved like a ten years old. But she was proud of her and what she achieved so far. She managed to do what she lovesd, meaning working with everything involving creation like modeling, makeup, hairstyling, professional photos and so on. A child means the world to a parent and seeing her being so cheerful and living by ‘carpe diem’ saying, made her a proud mother. 

“Does David know?” she asked, kipping the tickets close to her chest.

“Not yet, we thought you wanted to tell him.”

“Of course, I’m meeting him in 10 minutes.” she left quickly to meet her beloved friend.

 

At the park near her home…  

“Hey, chingu, what’s up?” Lydia giggled as she met her childhood best friend. 

David was a tall, cute guy Lydia was neighbors with. They’ve been friends since they went to primary school together and their parents were good friends. It was a time in the late high school days when they tried to have a relationship, but it failed as they were better off best friends. They felt weird being intimate, so they decided to stay in the friend zone. They were always having sleepovers and talked about everything because neither of them would judge the other, but help and understand their situations. 

“Nothing much, how are you?” he said as he hugged her tightly, taking in her perfume. It was a weird relationship between the two of them. Even though they tried to get together, they couldn’t, but they remained close. When they would watch a movie, they would cuddle, but still there would be a barrier of touching. They loved each other, that was obvious, but without strings attached. They simply cared for each other enough to keep it cool.

“You’re breaking me. I can hear my bones cracking.” She chuckled, trying to breathe, “I…might…die.”

“It’s your fault, I haven’t seen you in forever! Do you think that if we talk on FaceTime and Facebook it counts? I tell you, it doesn’t!” he kissed her cheek, receiving another giggle from his friend.

“You’ll forget about that as soon as I tell you the amazing news!”

“I don’t think I will forget that easily, but let’s give it a try.” He shrugged as Lydia hid her excitement really well.

“We will go on a trip….” She simply said, waiting for his response.

“We did that so many times.” He was not impressed.

She put her arm around his neck as they imagined what she was relating. “Somewhere warm…with waves you can surf on…with hot chicks running in their bikinis….”

“Stop right there. Even though you make me imagine these stuff, I still imagine you. The effect you have on me, baby-…”

She smacked the back of his chicken head. “Yo, idiot, I’m serious. Plus, I told you not to fantasize about me….pabo yah.” she muttered under her breath.

“I’m kidding!!! You know you don’t have to take seriously my erted remarks as I tell them.” He defended himself.

“And you know I know you do that. I was messing with you, but you forget that ha” she giggled when she saw his pouty face. “You also know that only my bias looks cute with muscles and pouting, there’s no way I find that attractive on other men.”

“Somebody’s an obsessed fangirl.” David said in a sing-song voice.

“No I-….ok, maybe I am. A bit. But can you blame me? He’s soooo…I’m just gonna tell you where we’re going. To...” she imitated drums “…California, baby!”

“Omo! No.way. Is Sunghoon hyung visiting?”

“Yup.” 

They both hugged, excited to see their ‘uncle’. They knew him through David’s mother’s best friend and they all just clicked. They would go everywhere and have lots of fun together. Camping, surfing, playing in the park, anywhere, they would have the time of their lives. 

Of course Lydia was his favorite as he called her ‘princess’. She was so lovely and petite in his eyes. He told her she was special, a treasure to the guy who would steal her heart forever. That’s why he was always protective with her, but careful at the same time as he wished not to invade her personal space and let her choose because any decision she made, it would be the right one. 

An uncle is a fun person who gives you valuable pieces of advice and never criticize your actions. That’s what Sunghoon was for her and that’s why she considered him her uncle.    

 

In Los Angeles...

“Would you like to go to the supermarket now?” David asked as he made a turn with the car they rented for the time they were staying there. Three months exactly. That was the perfect holiday time. Lydia was studying art in her country and working in her spear time. So now she took time to relax and have fun for a while because she usually stayed in and worked her off. She wanted her tiredness and stress to go away, so that vacation was totally all she needed.

“Yes, as usually. It’s just easier to buy everything from here than making the luggage full and heavy. I hope they have that strawberry shower gel that I love so much.”

“I know, we always do this when on a trip. So, let’s go!” He parked the car as near to the entrance as he could because Lydia was the type of girl who buys everything that seemed ‘at a good price’ or ‘a great deal’. She wasn’t easily fooled, but she would go to buy a carton of milk and return with different types of cookies that would go along with it and potatoes which she adored. 

They entered the supermarket that was near Sunghoon’s holiday villa. Being a famous composer in South Korea, he could afford such big place. A stunning view of the ocean, private beach, indoor and outdoor pools, guests room for all tastes and so on. The most special room in the house was Lydia’s. He let her decorate it by herself and everybody wanted to get in there, but she didn’t let anyone see it. She wasn’t hiding anything, but when she was there, her imagination together with the dreamy surroundings and her relaxation state made her create incredible things. 

Sometimes she would write songs there. Sometimes she would help her uncle with dance covers for his productions. That’s why it was so important everything was untouched in that room. It was their place. If anybody from outside found out about that, Sunghoon’s career would be compromised. All the original ideas were hiding in there. 

You may wonder why Lydia didn’t pursue an idol’s career. Well, she was a shy person (unless you gave her the right amount of alcohol, but we’ll get to that eventually in the story). She didn’t like to be in the middle of the action, therefore she didn’t like attention from others. Everybody tried to convince her to do something official, but she didn’t want to. She liked it that way.

David suddenly bumped into Lydia, who was staring at somebody.

“Why did you stop all of a sudden? I could have hurt you without intention.”

She didn’t say anything in return, like she would usually do. Not even a sound, she only stared. Her friend followed the direction of her eyes only to find a Korean man, obviously looking for stuff to buy. He had a blue cap, white t-shirt and simple matching blue shorts. Nothing special about him. He wasn't tall, more about average height. Black hair that you could easily observe. Pretty much nothing uncommon.

“I can’t believe it.” realisation hit David as the guy lifted his head to look at products on higher shelters.

“Me neither…there’s gotta be a mistake or something.” was half opened.

“Is he really Donghae from Super Junior?” he said with a quesioning look on his face, concentraiting to remember his features.

At the sound of his name and his band’s name, Lydia ducked and dragged David along. “Why would you do that? Why are you hiding, Lydia?”

“I panicked! He looked like he was going to look at us because, you know, you pracically yelled his name. I-I don’t want him to see me.”

He laughed at her silliness. “You’re crazy. Really? Come on, if he sees you so what? Worst thing to happen is for you to trip somehow and break something.”

“As good as that sounds, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” As she was imagining the worst scenarios, David already got her up by her arms and started to walk with her. She remained silent and kept her eyes on the ground.

“What do you think would happen, you idiot? I don’t get it. What if he sees you, is that really a bad thing?” he chuckled.

“Do you remember when I had a crush on Barney? I almost broke my neck while tripping over the first step on the main stairway in college. Can you imagine what will happen if I bump into him?” When she emphasized the word, she looked up only to find a pair of chocolate brown eyes watching her. She blushed and turned around in her tracks, dragging David along.

Her buddy tried to turn her around. “First of all, what’s with that name? I mean, you are good looking, but you have a pink dinosaur’s name. I just can’t get it what you saw in that guy. Second of all, what are you doing? You said you needed that strawberry shower gel.”

“First of all, so what if his name was Barney? I liked the guy for his personality. Second, D was there!! I’m not ready to face him and you know it. So we will wait here until he leaves.” as soon as she finished the phrase, Donghae passed them to get to the drinks section. As he was passing by, he gave Lydia a sweet look with a matching small smile.

"Haha is she an ELF? Some fans are just so cute." Hae thought while trying to pass by them, noticing how she clinged to David. Maybe they were a thing, who knew? He thought they made a nice couple anyway.

“Not ready to face him?” he looked back only to find Donghae already in other place, minding his own bussiness.

“Oh yeah? Feel this.” Lydia took David’s had and put it on her chest. He quickly retreated.

“Are you nuts?!” he exclaimed. 

“Aish, I wanted you to feel how fast my heart is beating.”

“And you couldn’t just make me feel your pulse on your arm or neck??” he started to laugh really loud.

“I might be crazy and yeah, you’re right, you could have felt my pulse on my arm. But I’m lost already because he is here…But you? You’re crazier than me. How can you laugh like that? Do you need a psychologist? I won’t even try help you in any way.”

“You have a liking for psychology and yet you are a lost cause when it comes to men’s way of thinking. He doesn’t know who you are and he may think that we are just two weirdos.”

She just pouted at the affirmation. “Can we just get the shower gel and go?”

"Sure we can." he ruffled her hair, for which he received a small hit on the arm.

 

In the car....

"Hey, are you alright?" David asked concerned about his friend. He knew that it was somewhat important for her because Donghae was her ultimate bias, but he absolutely loved to . She did it to him too, so it wasn't such a big deal, that's what he was thinking.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just, Sunghoon oppa told me he has a biiiig surprise for me. That he brought someone with him who I will for sure like. But he said he wouldn't tell me until we arrived and I'm thinking, what if he brought Donghae?" she frowned. "And I'm already screwing this up." she left a deep sigh out, looking upset.

"Hey, you don't have to worry. Like I told you before, he may not even noticed us." he put his hand on her hand. "And if he did, so what? If he will like you, besides being the luckiest man alive, he for sure will have to put up with your lunacy."

He received a smile from Lydia, which he much apprecited. "See? You can conquer the world with that smile. So use it more often, ok?"

"Hah okay. Thank you so much, Davy..."

"Davy?....DAVY?? You, woman, are killing me!" he threw his hands in the air.

"Why? I thought it was cute to call you like that." she shrugged, trying not to lose it.

"Nope, it's not." she bursted. "Anyway, I think you're gonna like what I'm going to put on."

"What are you going to pun on the radio?" she asked nonchalantly, knowing exaclty the song.

"California looove~ Tuuurururuu tu~"

As the song begun, David started the engine and Lydia to sing. They both enjoyed the short ride to the villa, singing from the top of their lungs. It was a song that made everybody dance and feel the Cali summer vibe. Especially the two of them who were now in heaven. It didn't matter for her that everybody was looking as long as she was with her best friend. I mean, for whom would matter?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWbXQQG9B6c