Daesung came every morning after that. We got into a routine; He would show up at 8:30 every day, and that was when I would take a break. We would sit and drink coffee together and talk until he had to leave, and then I would return to work ever anxious for our next encounter.

 

It was three weeks after our first encounter, I waited anxiously at the counter for Daesung to come through the doors. Sure enough, at eight thirty, he did. I got us pumpkin pie lattes and sat down at our normal table. He seemed to be smiling more than usual today; It was as if he was planning something special. He looked excited.

 

"Guess what." He said vibrantly as soon as we were seated.

 

I tilted my head. "What is it?" I asked.

 

He grinned. "Big Bang is going to fly to Las Vegas in two week to shoot a music video. We'll be there for awhile. Can you believe it? Vegas!"

 

My eyes blinked of their own accord. He was leaving for awhile? What would I do if I didn't see him? I inwardly told myself that I had to be happy for him; This obviously meant a lot to him and I could not spoil it selfishly. So instead, I grinned back at him.

 

"That's wonderful!" I purred as convincingly as I could.

 

Daesung must of bought it because he then continued, "To celebrate, I insist on you coming and having dinner with us tonight. It's small but there will be a few of our friends there. What do you think?"

 

"Really?" I said, in slight disbelief. "You want me to come?"

 

"Of course I do! It'll be fun and you can meet the other members too."

 

Me, in front of G-Dragon, Seungri, T.O.P, and Taeyang? The thought nearly made me faint.

 

"O-okay." I found myself replying, then smiling. His attitude was contagious; I couldn't help but be happy when I was around him. He was right; This would be fun and it would be good for me too.

 

"Where can I pick you up?" He asked me then. I took a napkin and wrote my address and directions on it. We made plans as to what time, and then it was time for him to go. I was so happy, I didn't even think about him going away.

 

~~

 

Around six I heard a knock on the door. I was still panicking over my hair, so I pleaded with my grandmother who was a kind but slightly impatient woman to go answer the door and stall. She did so reluctantly, leaving me to finish what I was doing.

 

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to dress for this 'small' occasion. 'Small' to me meant jeans and sneakers, but 'small' to an idol probably meant something more. So, I tried to play it safe. I wore a casual black and pink floral dress, with a jacket and converse. I thought it would look better with heels or sandals, but I couldn't do that on my stupid leg. I styled my hair into what I thought would turn out to be an elegant up-do, but turned out to be a messy french braid to an even messier bun. My makeup was the only thing that looked good, but I had a lot of experience covering up dark circles and puffy cheeks from crying.

 

I could hear my grandmother laughing from down the hall; She must be enjoying Daesung's company. Of course, who couldn't be charmed by an angel like him? I stepped out from the hall and into sight, smiling.

 

Daesung looked up at me and almost instantly, he brightened. He was wearing neat but still partially casual attire, which made me relieved with my choice in clothing. He walked over to me and offered his hand, which I took as I felt the color rush to my cheeks.

 

"Are you ready to go, Chae?" He said gently, still smiling.

 

I could of melted. "Yes." I managed to say, holding his hand as he politely said goodbye to my grandmother and led me out the door to his car. He opened the door for me and I got in, awed by the Audi. I had never ridden in a nice care before. My family never had much money so everything we had owned had been used and pretty beaten up.

 

"So..." I said awkwardly as he started to drive, "...Who, exactly, did you guys invite to this gathering?"

 

He tilted his head and thought for a moment, "Well. Us, of course, as well as the girls of 2NE1 will be there. Se7en will be around. The others are out of town at the moment. Plus Lydia and our staff behind the scenes will be there to enjoy it too."

 

I felt light headed. So...All of Big Bang, as well as CL, Minzy, Dara, Bom, an Se7en. I didn't know if I could handle that, but I tried to play it cool. "Oh, I see."

 

I must have clearly failed because Daesung started laughing.

 

"Don't worry! Contrary to popular belief we're all just normal friends. We don't bite...Well except Jiyong. He bites." He turned to look at me and grin doggedly, which made me start laughing instantly. The laughter was  causing my concerns to lighten and float away. Here I was, in the car with one idol who I was completely comfortable with; There was no reason i couldn't be comfortable with more, too.

 

Daesung parked the car and got out, again opening my door for me while I tried to compose myself. For the second time he took my hand and helped me out of the car, but he didn't let go. Instead he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before leading me inside.

 

We mut of been the last to arrive. The place was more crowded than I had anticipated. I spotted 2NE1 talking to some official-looking people in one corner of the room, and then I heard someone running and Daesung was blindsided by Seungri. He jumped on him, grinning. 

 

"Hyung!" Seungri purred. "We were beginning to think you got lost!"

 

"You wish, then you could have our food to yourself." Daesung chuckled. The other three members walked up a little more calmly. All of them were smiling. Jiyong and Taeyang were pushing each other around while T.O.P's eyes were on me.

 

"So you must be Chae." He said, lips curving into a smile.

 

He was strikingly handsome; Not the same type of handsome as Daesung, but still enough to make my cheeks turn all sorts of colors. It was then too that I noticed my leg start to feel a little painful; I willed it to hold out until we could sit down.

 

"Yes." I said sheepishly. "That's me."

 

Taeyang chimed in then. "Daesung's been telling us about you. He says you're beautiful all the time."

 

"Don't forget smart. Oh, and breathtaking! He used that word." Jiyong added.

 

I was ready to shrink and disappear. Had Daesung really said those things about me or were they just making it up?

 

Daesung coughed. "Thanks guys." He said, chuckling a little. "Anywho...Let's go sit down for now, before everyone gets anymore active." He could tell my leg was starting to hurt. He took my hand and gently led me to a table that was set to seat six. I wondered if that was on purpose as the other members all sat down around me.

 

It wasn't long before food was brought out. Since I hadn't been in Korea all that long, I had no idea what it was. The time I had spent here had been with my grandmother who didn't change her diet from the american food she had grown up with, so therefore I had rarely done so either. Not wanting to look stupid though, I took the chopsticks that were also placed in front of me. I used to be good with chinese food; This couldn't be much differant, right?

 

Wrong. I examined the chopsticks. They were thinner, more flat. They felt awkward and clumsy in my hand. I blushed slightly as I attempted to get them to lay as they should.

 

Daesung caught my movements from the corner of his eye and smiled a little. He scooted his chair closer to mine, and held up his hand with his chopsticks. "Like this." He told me, gently taking my hand and positioning it like his. "Now try."

 

My ears and cheeks felt hot, but I did so. I managed to catch some meat in my chopsticks and I smiled sheepishly. 

Daesung grinned. "There you go." 

 

Of course I couldn't help but grin back at him as Seungri and Jiyong started play-fighting over their food, Seungri bumping right into T.O.P who pushed him over in his chair. He fell on the ground, laughing.

 

"Are you guys always like this?" I asked, blinking. I had expected more professionalism, but this made me feel a lot more comfortable.

 

He laughed, "Always. Being childish is more fun than being an adult any day."

 

Seungri had gotten up and playfully hung on Daesung. "The other hyungs are being mean." He chuckled.

 

Daesung reached up and ruffled Seungri's hair, pulling him into a playful choke hold. Seungri pulled Daesung out of his chair and the two wrestled on the floor for a moment before Daesung pinned Seungri down, grinning and laughing.

 

"I win again." He laughed, letting his friend up who pouted and sat back down, but grinned back at everyone a moment or so later.

 

Soon, everyone had finished eating. Music was playing and people were dancing. I watched, not trusting myself to get up on my own, and Daesung stayed with me. 

 

"This is more like a party than just dinner." I told him, smiling.

 

He smiled back. "Well I guess it's more of a celebration than anything. A lot of us have a lot of important things coming up; It's good to have fun first."

I nodded, leaning back in my chair. My leg didn't hurt now but I had been sitting down for awhile. "If you wanted to go dance with the others I wouldn't mind." I told Daesung. 

 

He looked at me and tilted his head. "How about you come with me instead?"

 

My cheeks grew hot again. "Daesung...I can't..."

 

"I'll help you." He said, standing up and holding out his hand. "I won't let you fall. I promise."

 

I stared at his hand for a moment, thinking. Finally I gave in and took it, getting up. He pulled me in a little closer and led me through the people to a less crowded area to dance. The song changed to something slower, much to my relief. 

 

He paused and took both my hands in his, smiling, before putting his arms around my waist. I liked the way he did that; His arms were strong and I felt safe in them. I carefully put my arms around his neck, blushing.

 

"You could stand on my feet." He offered, smiling. "Then just hold onto me."

 

Cautiously I did as I was told, leaning forward and holding onto him with my feet on his. He then started to dance with me, guiding me around effortlessly. I looked up to meet his eyes to find him smiling warmly, and he massaged my back a little as he took a step closer to the others. I found myself resting my head on his chest and closing my eyes, letting him take me wherever he saw fit. He was so warm, and cuddly. He smelled like chocolate mints, which were my favorite candy. I felt more secure than I had in a long time. Like nothing mattered but me and him, together.

 

The moment was perfect but it couldn't last forever. The song ended just as my leg started to ache some, and I looked up at him. When I did, he was closer than I had been prepared for. My nose almost brushed his as his eyes met mine, and I felt him breathing as he moved in even closer to me. I felt his lips barely brush against mine....

 

...And then Seungri wolf whistled, making both of us jump at once and simultaneously turn red and look away from each other. The other members had all lined up and were watching us, only we hadn't noticed until now. Jiyong elbowed Seungri. 

 

"That wasn't nice." He informed him but was laughing. Taeyang shook his head. "Careful Chae, you know Daesung...He's the pushy type." He laughed, teasing.

 

"Yeah yeah." Daesung said, laughing nervously. "You guys are hilarious."

 

"We know." T.O.P grinned. "I think they're cute myself." He told the others. "Maybe we should just get them a room now to make up for our interruption."

At this point Daesung and I were both as red as can be, and of course I felt my leg start to shake some. I held onto his arm, trying to tell him in a non-obvious way that I needed to sit down now. He took the hint and put his arm around my waist to support me.

 

"I think we'll head out for the night." Daesung told them. "I promised I'd take Chae home at a reasonable time."

 

It was a bad excuse and he was a bad liar but I was eternally grateful nevertheless. I waved to the other boys, who grinned and all said their goodbyes to us (which also included kissy faces and lots of whistling) as Daesung led me out.

 

He opened the car door for me and just in time because my leg totally buckled. On a good day, I could last a decent amount of time on it. Today was not one of those days. I half-sat, half-fell into the seat of the car. Daesung shut the door behind me and got in the drivers side.

 

"Sorry about that." He said, biting his lip. "I shouldn't of asked you to put that much strain on your leg..."

 

I shook my head quickly. "No, really, I had a lot of fun. I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have been brave enough to do it on my own."

 

"Maybe next time we go to a movie instead." He chuckled.

 

Next time...Did he really mean he wanted to go somewhere with me again? And the way he said it made it sound like this was a date. Wait..Was this a date?

 

A few minutes later Daesung pulled up to my house and got out to walk me to the door. Or rather, make sure I could walk to the door without falling. He offered his hand and I took it, getting up and walking with him there.

 

We paused at the door and he kissed my hand. "I'll see you in the morning, right?"

 

"Of course you will." I smiled gently, trying not to blush again.

 

Slowly, to the point where I didn't quite realize what was happening, Daesung pulled me in and hugged me tight against his chest. I hugged him back, burying my face in his shirt and thinking about how this was the most comfortable I had ever felt. Then, almost casually, he pulled away an inch. I looked up to see what was wrong, only there wasn't anything. I felt his lips on mine, for real this time. I felt the breath leave my lungs and the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. For a long moment we stayed there, eyes closed, close. 

 

I knew then for sure that my reason to live still existed. My dark times were over.