“So, I really didn't say anything too embarrassing, right? I've been told I'm pretty chatty when I drink.”

“Nope, you went to sleep almost immediately. Popped up at one point and we talked a little, then you went back to sleep.” Yes, he lied. Over coffee they held hands and talked about what they each had been doing on their months apart. She talked about her work and the places she had traveled. He talked about some of the plans for their upcoming album. As he was standing up to put his mug in the sink, the corner of his eye caught sight of her yawn and brief rub of her temples. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was only 9am.

“Go on back to bed. You didn't sleep that long and you must have a killer headache.” grabbing her plate and coffee mug, he sent her to her room with pat on the back and did the last of the dishes. When he finished, he looked for her in the room they had slept in, but didn't see her.

“Lu?”

“Back here” she called. Following her voice, he saw a door cracked open a little father down the hall. The room was decorated in various shades of green with dark wood furniture. It should have looked masculine, but somehow didn't. The queen size bed had a lime green spread on it and had nightstands on either side. Luna was laying down with a pillow covering her head. Taking pity on her, he closed the blinds a bit.

“This is your room?”

“Yeah, that was Stacy's room we were in. Across the hall is the office,” Pointing to one door in the room “that's my closet,” pointing in the other direction “and that's my bathroom.”

“I think your apartment is bigger than mine.” he sat on the end if the bed.

“You live alone though. I share mine with Stacy and she shares her apartment in Tokyo with me. I pay part of her rent, she pays part of mine. The State Department gives us money monthly to cover living expenses so she and I split it up. It works out well because we both like our space.”

“I live with Boss. He snores and has his own bed. Good luck getting him to pay rent, though. ” He heard her chuckle from under the pillow and give him a thumbs up. Moving the pillow she asked if he was going to stay. He nodded after a moment and lay down beside her. She looked at him oddly for a second, then rubbed his chin.

“Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't have a chance to shave.”

“It's okay. I like you with facial hair. Not sure if I told you that before, but I do.” Luna snuggled closer to his side with her head on his shoulder. She smiled and took a brief sniff.

“Did you just sniff me?” She laughed and hid her face in his neck.

“You smell good. By the way how could you stand to sleep next to me last night? I reeked!”

“I wanted to be close in case you needed anything.” She kissed him on the cheek and rested her head back down on his shoulder.

“You are too sweet, Dong YoungBae.” A minute later, she was fast asleep. He rubbed her back, smiling to himself because he was so happy to have her in his arms again.

*****

When Stacy walked in and she saw the extra pair of shoes by the door, she smiled to herself. Her plan worked! Self hi-five!

Walking quietly down the hall, she peeked in to Luna's room and was pleased to see YoungBae and Luna cuddled on the bed. She didn't think she made a sound, but YoungBae looked up, saw her, smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture, did a happy dance then backed out.

With one step into her room, the smell of soju kicked her in the face and caused her to gag a little. Closing the door lightly, she went to sleep in the office on the futon.

*****

“Lu? Luna?” he shook her gently and touched her cheek until he heard her grunt. “I have to go now.”

“Why?” she groaned with a hint of whine in her voice. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up slowly.

“I have to go into the office for a meeting” Luna chuckled. “What's funny?”

“The fact that you call the YG building 'the office'. Like it's some run of the mill business and not a powerhouse in the Korean entertainment industry.”

He shrugged. “We have a pretty normal work schedule. Monday to Friday. Now, since we have an album coming up, we're all in over drive. The days are longer, but YG gives us rotating three day weekends off to avoid burn out. DaeSung is off this weekend, SeungHyun-hyung next weekend, me after that and so on.”

“That sounds reasonable. Call me later?”

“I don't have your number”

“Oh. Right. Let me have your phone,” He didn't think before he unlocked it and handed it to her. “What?...Oh. Wow,” She smiled at the screen and then at him. “I was wondering how this picture came out. We look cute,” She tapped in the number and heard her phone ring somewhere in the house. “I'm surprised you still have this.”

“It was the only thing that proved you weren't a figment of my imagination.”

“Hey, I'm real. I was just...unreachable for a bit.”

“And now you're back,” He kissed her quickly on the forehead. “Lay back down, I'll call you later.” She nodded again and was asleep before he walked out the bedroom door.

*****

Around 6 in the evening, Luna was ready to face what was left of the day. Even she could admit that that was sad. Walking out of her bedroom, she was glad to see Stacy stretched out on the couch watching 'Grey's Anatomy'.

“Hey, girl! Feeling better?” Stacy yelled.

“Finally.” Luna walked over to the couch and punched Stacy as hard as she could in the arm. “That, is for interfering.” She then kissed her on the cheek. “That, also, is for interfering.”

“You bipolar . You're welcome!” she laughed while rubbing her abused arm.

“How could you let a strange man bring me home? Come to think of it, where were you?”

“I stayed with Erin and Carla.”

“Then how did we get into the apartment?” this was met by silence, so Luna repeated the question.

“I gave him the door code.” she mumbled and focused solely on the TV.

“YOU DID WHAT?!”

“It's not like he's really a stranger. If anything had happened, I'd know who to send the cops after.”

“Yes, but that would be AFTER I was already violated and murdered in my own home.”

“Oh, calm down. You should have seen how he took care of you after you threw up. He even saved you when the taxi almost hit you--”

“What taxi almost hit me? Jesus, what happened last night?!”

“He didn't tell you?”

“He said I woke up at one point and told him why I was mad at him, but then went back to sleep,” Luna face palmed herself. “I was sick in front of him too?”

“Oh yeah. I'm talking 'Exorcist' projectile kind of sick. It was crazy! Don't look so embarrassed. That guy is your soulmate--”

“You know, you should have gotten my hippy name and I should be regular Stacy. With all your talk of soul mates and tarot cards, Luna Rae fits you better. It even sounds a little country. One would never know you're a preachers daughter from Texas. Don't they burn non believers down there?”

“I never said I didn't believe. I just believe in more than my Daddy saw fit to teach me.”

Shaking her head, Luna went into the kitchen and started opening and closing cabinets. “Eat yet?” Stacy made a grunt that passed as a 'no' in their language. So Luna put on some rice and set water to boil. Her phone rang and she had to look around for a while to find it, because Stacy was laying on her purse. Rudely shoving her best friend aside, she saw a number she didn't recognize.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Luna? It's YoungBae.”

“Hey again. How was the meeting?” She wandered back in to the kitchen. She tucked the phone against her shoulder and continued chopping carrots and broccoli to steam.

“It was okay. Nothing too exciting.” Silence. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I'm cooking now. What about you?”

“Not yet.” Pause. Pause. Luna reached into the fridge for a third tuna steak.

“Would you like to join us?” she smiled as she asked.

“Is that okay?”

“I wouldn't offer if it wasn't. When do you think you can be here?”

“Half hour? 45 minutes at most if there's traffic.”

“Sounds good. See you soon,” she set the phone down. “Stacy! Set the table for 3 people, please!”

“I'll do it on a commercial.” she called back distractedly.

“It's a DVD, dummy!”

“Oh yeah...”

*****

YoungBae smoothed his shirt down and brushed at non-existent wrinkles. Before going to the YG building, he had showered, changed and repacked his duffle bag as a just in case. Yeah, right. Call it what it is—wishful thinking, he chided himself. He took a few deep breaths before he knocked on Luna's door. He heard a voice yell 'coming' a few seconds before the door opened. Stacy pulled it open and gave him a big smile.

“It's my other favorite partner in crime!”

“Hi again, Stacy,” he said with an answering smile and short bow. YoungBae set his bag of goodies down and removed his shoes. Taking a deep breath, he could smell lemons and spices in the air. “Aigoo, it smells great in here.”

They walked into the kitchen together and he was greeted by an apron clad Luna swaying gently to Sade while lifted the lid of a pot and sprinkles something down in it. He was struck again by how lovely she was. While she slept earlier, he had a lot of time to just stare at her, memorize her. The perfect arch of her eyebrows, the thickness of her lashes, button nose, her slightly chubby cheeks and kissable lips. Even her ears could be described as 'cute'. There was absolutely nothing flashy or glamourous about her and maybe that's why he was so drawn to her. Her lack of artifice was refreshing and a little foreign to a man in his profession. Surrounded daily by women dressed in designer everything, it was novel to see her look so...normal. Like she could feel his eyes on her, Luna turned around and smiled at YoungBae.

“Just in time. The steaks are on, the wine is chilling, the vegetables are steamed and the rice should be done in a minute.”

“I'm excited. Everything smells so good. I usually just eat in the cafeteria at work.”

“I hope you'll like it. I'm not a great cook, but I'm still better at it than Stacy. She sent an ex boyfriend to the hospital once.”

“I didn't know he was allergic to mushrooms. That was an accident and you know it!” Stacy cr