The next morning, Dara received a message from Hyoni.

“Unnie! I heard about your date last night from Heechul! Oh my!”

Dara replied, “Yes! ^^ It was a secret.”

“Heechul said he followed Gray on Instagram right away after you left the place.”

“Really? He really likes that place.”

“So are you together now?”

“Not that we’re officially dating. We’re just going out as friends for now.”

“You liked Gray before, right? Aigoo! I really thought you’re dating now.”

“We’re close friends now. ㅎㅎㅎ”

“Omo! Who would’ve thought! We were just playing the Ideal World Cup before with Seyoung and you chose Gray and now you’re going out together. This is good news!”

“I never thought he’d ask me out too. But I’m glad we got to know each other better.”

“I’m looking forward to how it will go with you two. Can I call you?”

“Yes! I’m free today.”

Hyoni called her. Dara updated Hyoni about her lovelife and Hyoni was too invested to know more of it already. They also talked about the dating scandal of Dara and Jiyong because last thing Hyoni knew was she stayed at G-Dragon’s villa for a night so she thought something happened with them that spiraled to a romance. Dara denied and said it was just Jiyong’s way of showing his affection to his friends. Hyoni agreed as she could see it from Jiyong’s personality too.
After they talked about Dara’s lovelife, they checked up on each other like how friends usually do. Hyoni said she was busy going from different countries for her job nowadays so she couldn’t hang out with her a lot. Dara said they could hang out any time once her gigs are over.
Hyoni saying that she could say that because she’s going out with Gray already. They laughed at the thought.

Then they continued to talk for hours...

That afternoon, Gray randomly uploaded a photo of him with the bouquet of flowers he gave Dara last night. It has a caption saying “Flowers”.

When Dara saw it, she immediately commented, “It’s good!”

Gray replied with emojis, “😜❤️️” (sticking tongue out) +(heart)

Since Heechul was already following Gray, he also commented, “photoleee: ❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️” (plenty of hearts)

Were they publicly flirting now? They were just happy to be lowkey for only a few knew about the meaning of it. 
Gray constantly contacted Dara after the date. Dara asked about his allergy if it became better and Gray reassured that he’s totally fine by sending a photo of himself, striking a wacky pose with his eyes wide open to show that his eyes were clear now and not red and itchy anymore.
Dara laughed and liked that Gray was a funny and entertaining person.

Of course, when there are people teasing Dara in her corner, there are also people teasing Gray on his. He was in his studio with the AOMG boys and the boys kept asking what happened but Gray wouldn’t spill a thing. He was not the type to tell people about anything when a girl is involved, most especially if it’s Dara.

He said, “We had a good time last night. That’s it.”

Loco asked “Did you kiss?”

Gray reacted, “What?! No… I’m not like that. We just talked.”

Jay jokingly said, “Your gaming is weak, man!”

Wonjae added to ask, “Was this your first time to date a girl?”

“I only had one girlfriend before and it's been so long so I forgot the ways.” ,Gray answered.

Simon D said, “To be honest, Gray had it all. He had the looks, talent, personality and character. The only thing he’s lacking is a girlfriend and probably—”

Gray completed Simon D’s sentence, “Height?”

Simon D responded right away, “Yes! Height!”

The boys laughed and made fun of Gray.

Jay said, “Gray might be short, but man, he gettin’ all the girls! I look like a joke whenever I stand beside him!”

They laughed again. Jay added, “I was never an option for girls when we’re together. I become invisible. I was suddenly out of the choices. I am not Jay Park from that moment, I’m just a peasant.”

This caused more laughter as they witnessed some of the said scenarios before. It added more to the humor for they could already visualize.

Loco said, “I think because hyung is confident with everything, except his height though—”
They laughed before Loco even finished what he’s saying. Loco carried on, “Wait! I mean, because he’s confident, he gets the girls. And not just any girl, it’s Dara noona!”

Jay exclaimed, “ yeah! A lot of men are crazy over her and our man, our man! Gray~ AOMG represents! He just dated her!”

They cheered him on and congratulated him at the same time for stepping forward and making progress. They thought he was brave to be upfront about what he felt like doing ever since.
Unquestionably, Gray made his friends proud.

Needless to say, he didn’t stop there. He continued to secretly go out with Dara for days until they’re very comfortable with each other. While on the other hand, Donghae was working in the studio as well and was currently on a break when he noticed that Dara infrequently replies to his messages and they barely talk nowadays. He thought it was his fault because he couldn’t be on his phone too much because Irene told him to do so. He didn’t like how things turned out because he couldn’t speak up of his true feelings to Irene.
But because Irene was often practicing and busy with Red Velvet’s comeback, he had the freedom to hold his phone close to him. 
He checked her profile and saw that she hadn’t updated her profile for many days already. He didn’t know what got to him but he opted to check Gray’s profile so he searched his Instagram.
It was because of what Eunhyuk told him before that gave him the urge.

He browsed his feed and posts. Upon looking at each one, he observed that Dara liked some of his posts and she commented to some. Because he had no idea about the subliminal message of their comments, he thought they were just close friends, which also terrified him.
He realized that what Eunhyuk told him before was a warning. He has competition.

He was alarmed. As he got back to his senses, he realized what he should be doing. 

He spoke, “What was I thinking before? Aish!”

He immediately went to their message