Taeyang led me to an unmarked SUV, where he graciously held the door open for me and we climbed in together, with a nod to the driver, as we were off. “So, my dear musician, where are we starting our adventure today?” His smile put me at ease as he held up a brochure with both of his hands. “ Kangam Jyeop Su Yeh- it’s a really relaxed restaurant that serves a lot of good things like miso soup and kimchi ramen.” The driver pulled up as we chatted it up, and we piled out again-and it was everything he said it would be, just by the outside appearance.

When we got inside, the hostess greeted us warmly- “You must be a favorite customer,” I lightly teased as the hostess bowed deeply before blushing and quickly leading us to a cozy alcove in the corner.  “No- I pay well,” we laughed as a waiter showed up with menus for the both of us. “Thank you for taking time out of your day to do this for me,” I said quietly as we looked over our selections. He winked cutely at me, causing me to giggle-am I blushing?- before replying sweetly, “It’s no problem-order whatever you want.” I pointed at the menu, “Well in that case-I would like one of this, but I’m afraid of saying it out loud!!”

After ordering, Taeyang looked at me in such a way that I had to ask, “What’s wrong?” He titled his head and continued to look at me, “I just can’t imagine why you would want to come and work with a group while they’re undergoing so much stress-and trust me, all of us Hallyu stars are no stranger to drama,” he added quickly as I chuckled and took a sip of water placed with our appetizers. “Well, I was looking at all of the controversy, the pain and stories that are shown on the news about your celebrity status and I was intrigued, rather than prejudiced about it,” I waved a hand to the atmosphere of the restaurant/café. “There’s always more to be seen, underneath the surface of the stories that we hear, and I always want to help people-give them that fighting chance they couldn’t have before-so that their pain ends before their story does.”

Taeyang sat quietly for a minute, and then he brightened up. “Wow; all I can say is thanks-I sometimes forget how to look at the world as they look at us,” he said, looking out at other people going by, “sometimes I forget my own in order to appease the masses, for slight fear of their hate in my own doings…” I reached over and patted his hand, and he met my eyes as I said warmly, “You will never be conquered by your enemies, my love-your quiet strength and humility will carry you farther than you think…”

We ate in amicable peace after that, laughing and sharing stories like old friends. Taeyang was an old soul-I appreciated his mannerisms more than anything he could do for me, because he was genuine in all that he did for us-his friends, compatriots and all he met…

“Gosh, this ice cream tasted like it came from God’s personal freezer,” Tae laughed as I mimicked worshipping the pint of Rocky Road that we picked up from Baskin Robbins on the corner(the people inside basically shat themselves when a Big Bang vocalist randomly drifted inside their world) and he raised his gelatin to the skies before laughing fully himself. “Yeah, there’s nothing like it anywhere…” We walked downtown, seeing as we both had time to kill, and Tae-oppa pointed out different things of culture that held my interest for a long time…

“Oh wow-it’s 5 pm already?! How did it get so late without me noticing?!” Taeyang burst out laughing at my “Scream” face, and he blushed lightly as he said, “You effectively took my mind off anything else for the day, you know that?” I linked my arm through his, laughing, “Now you’re just being charming- I thank you anyways,” winking at him, causing his friendly retort, “I’m being serious here!!”

As we approached an alleyway, 5 people jumped out, and immediately I knew- ’s about to go down- just by the attitude and clothes that they were wearing. “Oy- you’re coming with us!!” A man stepped forward, about my height, but muscular and a brooding expression on his face, spoke in harsh Korean- judging by the way the other two men and women surrounded us, this was the leader we were talking to. They formed a semi circle in front of us, cutting off our leisurely walk effectively. I unlinked my arm from Taeyang and folded them patiently, fighting a small ball of tension growing in my ovaries- not now, Mother Nature!!- and asked them quietly, “And who or what are you?”

A chick with crazy green hair and bright eyes shrieked out, “We do the talking here, Yankee-come with us peacefully, and nobody gets hurt!!” Another guy cracked his knuckles while the first guy spoke up. “M has been waiting for this moment for a long time- and now we get to kill two birds with one stone-not only are we nabbing the woman he’s been fascinated with, but a bonus- the head of a vocalist from Korea’s Little Brother Band-Big Bang!!” I stopped breathing as Taeyang exhaled calmly. “M? You’re from that group of hoodlums?” I looked at him, and he nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off the main talker. “Of course Big Bang has had their own run-ins with our personalized haters-this is nothing new…”

The second woman pulled out a knife and twirled it menacingly in my face. “You Yankee -thinking that you could just come over here and sleep with OUR good men?!Who do you think you are?” The last man grinned at me, showing filthy hygiene as he his lips “Actually, Taren-ni, you’re not that bad looking at all-I’ll be glad to show you how a real man s…”