{Chapter 3}

“Is she cute?”

“Daniel!”

“What?!” the youngest cried in response to the eldest’s reprimand. “It’s a good question!”

Chuckling, Day Day looked at Inati. “It’s fine. He does have a small point.” Turning to Daniel, he answered, “Yes, she is,” unable to keep a smile off of his face. He didn’t want to think that he was shocked that the woman he had been paired with was beautiful, but he was. They hadn’t been able to talk for very long, and Day Day couldn’t remember half of what she had said, simply because she had surprised him. Day Day never would have had the courage to approach, let alone talk to, a woman like Livia.

Youngwon chose to speak then, asking, “Where is she from? You said she didn’t look Korean…”

“She’s definitely not Korean,” Day Day confirmed, turning to Youngwon. “Her Korean doesn’t sound native, but she was able to understand the show’s producer a lot better than I could, but the speaking was off. It was kind of like….she was used to listening to Korean, more than talking. But I don’t know where she’s actually from. I didn’t get a chance to ask her.”

Jisu swallowed the mouthful of food he had been chewing and asked, “But aren’t you supposed to know that? She’s your wife, now, and you met her today…”

“We actually didn’t have a lot of time to talk,” Day Day sighed. “I got there late, and she had a schedule she had to do.”

Inati took the momentary silence to offer Day Day some more food, which the rapper happily took. Dinner at the Dalmatian dorm usually consisted of whatever their manager or they themselves felt like getting. Tonight was chicken, and though that didn’t usually mean that everyone would gather at the kitchen table to eat together, today was different. In a loose sense, Day Day was a married man now, and everyone wanted to know about the first meeting. Even Dari wanted to know, and he managed to make a call to talk briefly to Day Day about ways he could impress his new wife.

“Please tell me that you at least know her name,” Daniel pleaded.

“Livia Jung,” Day Day answered confidently. He had managed to remember that. “And she’s twenty-five years old.”

Inati managed to catch Day day’s eye with a grin. The producers had done right by Day Day with giving him a wife only s little younger than him.

Daniel suddenly stood and ran off, leaving the four other men staring after him, confused.

“When will we meet her?” Youngwon asked, his mouth full of food.

Day Day sighed. He had been thinking about a meeting between his band members and his wife even before he met Livia. “I suppose you’ll meet her soon, but you’ll have to learn some manners first,” he teased.

Youngwon made a face at Day Day, but Inati spoke before anyone else. “Day Day has a point. We’re pretty loud usually, and we get into a lot of trouble and joke around with each other, but we’re going to have to be on our best behavior when our sister-in-law is around.” Inati grinned and looked at Day Day slyly, earning him a glare from the younger rapper for his use of the term “sister-in-law.”

Besides, Inati continued, “It’ll be good for you younger ones to learn how to act like a gentlemen sooner rather than later.”

“But you’re not a gentleman,” Jisu spoke up, looking at Inati seriously. Day Day nearly choked on the chicken he was eating, trying to stifle his laughter.

“Hey!” the leader cried, reaching over to shove Jisu, who almost fell over from the force of the shove. Though he caught himself, he couldn’t save the chicken that he had been holding, and Bbangkku was on it almost before it touched the ground.

“Her name is Livia Jung, she’s twenty-five years old,” Daniel’s voice sounded as the singer walked back to the table, cradling his laptop. He sat down and continued looking at whatever was on the computer screen.

Inati groaned, guessing what the youngest member was up to. “Daniel, it should be Day Day’s job to find out anything about her. From her.”

Daniel ignored his leader’s protests and continued. “She was born in Altenburg, Germany. She moved to America when she was ten, then to Korea when she was twenty. And she just debuted with the song, 'Why?'”

“Is there a video? Pictures?” Youngwon asked.

“Guys…” Inati warned. He really wanted Day Day to have the opportunity to get to know Livia on his own and not through what the Internet tells him.

Daniel continued to ignore Inati. “There are both,” he told Youngwon, a sly smile playing on his lips.

Jisu and Youngwon both stopped  chewing, looked at each other, looked over at Inati, who was glaring at them, then the two jumped to their feet and ran to stand behind the seated Daniel and his laptop.

Inati stood to regain order, but before he could even get a word out, his words were halted when Day Day also got up to see what Daniel was looking at. Feeling slightly defeated, but very curious, Inati gave in and joined them.

“She’s really pretty…” Jisu sighed as Daniel scrolled through pictures from her debut photoshoot. Day Day couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride when he heard that. It may not be real, but as long as he was on the show, he would be able to call a very beautiful girl his wife.

“Dang, you got lucky, man,” Day Day heard Inati tell him over his shoulder. The leader, as usual, had quickly forgiven the younger ones and had joined them in their excitement.

“The video! The video!” Youngwon cried, seeing a video embedded on the profile webpage they were on.

“I know, I know.” Daniel insisted, waving Youngwon’s loud notification away. He clicked “play” on the video and enlarged the screen so that everyone could see.

It was the music video for her debut song, and the boys all listened appreciatively, despite it being a ballad. When it was over, Daniel was the first to speak.

“She sounds a little like IU,” he breathed.

“She’s prettier than in the pictures,” Jisu sighed.

“I bet she’s even more beautiful in real life,” Inati teased Day Day, giving the younger rapper a playful shove. Day Day didn’t respond, way too deep in his thoughts to hear.

He had figured that she could sing, since she had debuted—and with a ballad, no less. But even so, her voice was more powerful and stunning than he had thought. And he had known that she was beautiful—he had met her. But he couldn’t help but wonder, and consequently get nervous, about what she thought about him.

-           -           -           -

“Is he hot?”

“Nattie!”

“Valid question!” Nattie defended herself from her mom.

Livia smiled to herself as she put a plate down on the dining table. She and Nattie were helping each other set the table for their mother, who was cooking. Though both daughters had their own places; Livia had an apartment near her company’s building and Nattie lived in a dorm on the campus of the university she was attending; they would try to make it to their parents’ house every Wednesday for a family dinner. It was getting increasingly harder for Livia to stop by, but she had tried particularly hard today, since she knew that there would be questions about her new “husband.”

“I don’t know if you’d like him,” Livia told her sister with a shrug.

“Why not?” Nattie asked, putting glasses on the table. “And what do you want to drink?”

“Water’s good, thanks,” Livia answered. “And it’s because he certainly doesn’t look like Yunho, Chansung, or any of the other idols you like.”

Nattie put a pitcher of water on the table and asked, “I don’t like just those guys’ looks. What does he look like then?”

Livia thought for a second, trying to figure out a way to describe Day Day. “American,” she finally settled on.

“They paired you with an American?” Livia and Nattie’s mother asked excitedly as she carried platters of food to the table. That was the thing about their mom. Being raised in Germany meant she cooked, and cooked a lot. If there were four people for dinner, there would be enough for at least ten.

“I…I don’t know,” Livia tried to clarify. “I don’t know where he’s from. I just know that the way he acts, speaks and…carries himself, I guess, seems very American.”

“I understand,” her mom said. Turning to Nattie, she asked, “Would you go get your father? It’s time to eat.”

Nattie scurried off, hungry for both the food that her mother prepared and for the information her sister had to give.

“Different cultures have different ways of acting,” Livia’s mom continued in German, organizing the food on the table. “Sometimes it’s the biggest clue as to where someone is from.”

Livia nodded and sat at her place at the table, suddenly very hungry. The stress of the day had taken its toll, and all she wanted to do was eat some of her mother’s home-cooked food.

Her mom served her out of habit, giving her a little bit of everything, even if Livia didn’t particularly like the dish. It was a family rule. Everyone had to take a bite of everything on the table, whether the liked it, hated it, or were indifferent to it.

Livia sat, waiting for her step-dad and half-sister to sit and be served before she ate, another family rule.

Her step-dad arrived first, serving himself a large portion of everything. Though he enjoyed his job as a cultural liaison, it was often stressful for him, and the hours he worked, plus being on call all the time meant that Livia didn’t see him much, so these weekly dinners were about the only time Livia and her step-dad could talk, something that Livia regretted. She saw him as her true dad, and he was probably the funniest person she knew. Plus, he was her biggest fan. Her mother and sister supported her, but her step-dad was the one to make sure she found the right company to enter, and that she was still happy and doing well in her career. Plus, he proofread Livia’s songs and comments, since he was the only native Korean speaker in her family.

“Where’s Nattie?” Livia’s mom asked her husband, who shrugged in response.

“She came and got me. I don’t know where she went, though…” he answered, still piling food onto his plate.

“I’m here, I’m here,” Nattie cried, sliding into her seat next to Livia, her laptop in her arms. She shoved her empty dinner plate away to make room for her computer.

“Nattie…” her mom warned. The youngest daughter was vagrantly breaking the “no electronics at the dinner table” rule.

“I know, I know. But this is important!” Nattie insisted, giving her mother a pout. She may be twenty-three and nearly out of college, but that didn’t stop her from whipping out that face.

Their mother sighed and looked to her husband for guidance. The man shrugged. He didn’t see why there couldn’t be a bent rule once.

“Fine,” she said. “But you have ten minutes. Any longer than that, and it’s going in the trash.”

Nattie nodded and pulled Livia’s chair over. Livia, who had been just about to take a bite of her dinner, sighed, "What are we doing, then?”

“We…” Nattie started, typing away on her computer. “…are looking up your new husband…”

“Huh?”

Nattie chose to ignore her sister’s shock as well as her father’s chuckle. “You said his name is Day Day? From the group Dalmatian?”

Livia nodded slowly, but, despite her inner protests, she shamelessly scooted her chair closer to her sister, so she could see what was going on the laptop better. Livia looked at her parents just long enough to catch them exchanging grins.

“Oh,” Nattie breathed. “I can see what you mean about him looking American. Definitely better looking than most American guys I know, though, which is obviously a good thing.” Livia shook her head, embarrassed for her sister and her speech. Nattie had never been keen on American guys, for whatever reason, so getting her to compliment one was both rare and funny. But Livia knew Nattie wasn’t lying when she gave her opinion. Neither sister had been born with or taught the correct way to lie.

“Oh!” Nattie suddenly cried. “He is American! He’s from LA!” Nattie groaned. “So lucky…” Nattie, having grown up in the Midwest of the United States, was convinced that Los Angeles was the coolest place on Earth. She had even tried to convince her dad to get transferred there, both before and after moving to Korea, just so she could go. “His real name is David Kim…” Nattie continued, scrolling through page after page of information on Day Day. “He’s twenty-seven years old….Dag! Look at all the people he’s taught to rap!” Nattie cried, coming across a list of artists known to be his rap students.

“Nattie, you’re getting really loud,” her father warned.

“I think it’s time to put the computer away and eat,” their mom added.

“Fine,” Nattie groaned, pouting a little again.

Livia scooted back to her place and finally, finally, took a bite of her food.

“Livia,” Nattie said suddenly, making her older sister look over in the middle of chewing. “I approve.”

Thanks for reading/subscribing~!

A couple of notes:

1. The way this story will be formatted (for at least most of the time) is a meeting between Day Day and Livia chapter, then a reaction chapter, then a meeting chapter again. There might be some times when it's switched up, but for the most part, it'll be like that. The reason I do this is because a big part of the actual show is the reaction you see from the couple themselves and people in a studio, and I wanted a way to catch at least some of that.

2. I've realized that this story will most likely be really, very, amazingly long. And as creative as I am, I can't always come up with good ideas, so if you have an idea for a date, let me know and I'll see what I can do with it.