“When did you know?”

“Know what?” YoungBae asked.

“When did you know that you loved me?” Luna asked as the couple lay on the bed of his Nagoya hotel room on a Friday night. BIGBANG had just begun recording the Japanese version of the 'Alive' album and Luna flew over to visit. In matching bathrobes, they talked as he attempted to teach her how to play 'Go, Stop.'

“I knew on Jeju. I don't know the exact moment, but I did know that the idea of never seeing you again didn't sit well with me,” he answered. Luna threw a card down and he tsk'd at her. “No, no. You can't do that. Aish. How did you grow up with ahjummas and not learn how to play?”

“I get the general concept of the game, but HyoJin-halmoni never let me play. She said I was too young.”

“You at this,” he told her gently. She struck him and he pretended it hurt. “What about you? When did you know you loved me?”

“I also knew I loved you on Jeju,” she confessed. YoungBae waited with his eyebrows raised for her to elaborate. Luna avoided eye contact, so he slapped her lightly on the leg. She rolled her eyes and mumbled, “I knew I loved you when I walked into the bar the first day we met.”

“Yeah, right.” he countered.

“I felt something, at least. I knew when I woke up next to you the following morning. I stopped kidding myself in Sydney as I watched you read poetry to an old woman.” Luna threw a card down to prompt him to continue the game and end the line of conversation. It didn't work.

“Why didn't you tell me before?”

Luna looked hard and long at her cards before she answered him. “As you may recall, my mother knew she loved my father shortly after she met him. That didn't turn out so well.”

YoungBae leaned over to grasp her chin and force her gaze. “You are not your mother and I am not your father. I love you.” he told her in complete sincerity. Luna nodded and kissed him briefly before turning her focus back to the cards between them.

“In a sort of related matter, I get my month of vacation soon. I was thinking I'd spend part of it as a sasaeng fan and chase you around the world. How does that sound?”

YoungBae let out a surprised bark of laughter. “Please, don't even joke about that.”

“Sorry. I think I can take it in July after Dave does my yearly review.” Luna frowned at the thought.

“Why the frown? You're great at your job, you'll get a great review.”

“It's not about performance, I always do well on those. I frowned because it's also when they tell us if we're going to be rotated.”

“Rotated?” he asked with a sense of dread. He placed his cards down with a lot more ease than he felt.

Luna bit her lip and kept her eyes down. She berated herself silently for letting that slip. “They rotate us so we get a chance to experience new places and things. I've been in South Korea so long because I'm the only person in the embassy that speaks the language fluently.” she explained.

“But you speak Japanese too. They'd send you here next, right?” he asked quickly.

“Or any French or English or Spanish or Swahili or Pig Latin speaking country. Language proficiency isn't the deciding factor. They could send me anywhere.”

“Dammit, Luna!,” he roared. YoungBae jumped off of the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. “When were you going to tell me this!?” He paced by the windows as anxiety assaulted him.

“I'm sorry! I thought we talked about this before.”

He stopped pacing and looked at her with a steely expression. “I believe I would remember if you had informed me that we might not be living in the same country for much longer.”

Luna scooted up against the headboard and told herself to relax. She didn't want to fight with him. She was only here for the weekend, and then she had to fly to Taiwan. Their time was precious, she didn't want to spend it being mad. So, she watched him stalk back and forth and didn't try to defend herself.

YoungBae rubbed his forehead in frustration. Think, think. There has to be a way to stop this, he told himself. “What about Dave? He loves you because you always cover for him. He wouldn't let you go.”

“It's not his call, Bae. All he can do is recommend.”

“Well, what about Ambassador Franklin?,” he suggested. “He said you were invaluable to his team. Surely he wouldn't let you get moved to. . . to . . Poland!”

“He can request, but Home Office has final say,” she informed him sadly. Seeing his continued agitation, she crawled to the foot of the bed and motioned for him to sit down. Once he did, she rubbed his shoulders to relieve the tension. “I'm sorry. I thought I mentioned this was a possibility before. Please don't get all stressed out about it. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Okay?”

He didn't respond so she shook him gently. YoungBae nodded and leaned forward to place his head in his hands. All kinds of doomsday scenarios ran through his head. He may have looked calm on the outside, but on the inside he was reeling.

He loved her. Yes, their relationship had some issues, but he knew deep down that if she moved away, he would lose her. Even a novice to love, such as himself, knew that long distance relationships never worked. It was one thing for him to have reservations about their future together, but he'd be damned if she'd get taken from him. There has to be a solution.

“If they move you elsewhere, would you quit?” he asked quietly. Luna's hands stilled as she absorbed the question, though the reply required no thought.

“No.” she told him with absolute certainty then continued the massage.

“Would you quit if I asked you to?” he asked almost in a whisper. Luna took her hands off of him completely and sat back on her heels.

“Would you quit your job if I asked you to?,” she shot back. YoungBae opened his mouth to speak, but she put her hand up to stop him. “I've read that it's unhealthy, but what I do is who I am. I have worked hard to get in the position I'm in. I love my job and it's the only thing I can see myself doing for a long time and still enjoying.

“You're the same way. Your job is a part of you, and a big part at that. You wouldn't be happy doing anything else, despite the numerous drawbacks. I understand that feeling because I feel the same way. Please, don't ever ask me that again.”

YoungBae sighed and flung himself back on the bed. “God, I wish you had never mentioned this. It's all I'll be able to think about now.”

Luna straddled his hips and put her ear to his heart. “I'm sorry I said anything.”

“No, don't apologize. I'm glad you told me. I want you to always tell me everything,” he moved his hands to rub her back in comfort and kissed her on the hairline. “No secrets, Dal-ee.”

“No secrets.”

*****

Luna met Stacy and SeungRi for lunch the next day. SeungRi found a quiet sushi restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. When Luna opened the door to the private dining room, she thankfully closed her eyes just in time.

“Jesus, you two! Really? We're about to eat on that!” Stacy slid her skirt back into place as discretely as possible while SeungRi put his coat over his lap.

“Sorry, we thought we had a few minutes. Find the place okay?,” SeungRi asked a little breathlessly. Luna did her best to shake off any lingering images before she sat down. “Where's YoungBae?”

“YoungBae-hyung,” Luna corrected automatically, then rolled her eyes. He had gotten to her too. “He and JiYong are out shopping because neither of them have enough clothes.”

The three talked while they waited for their food to come. They spoke in Japanese primarily, but Luna and SeungRi made sure to quiz Stacy on her Korean from time to time. For every word she got right, SeungRi would give her a kiss. He kissed her when she got one wrong, too. 'For encouragement.' he rationalized.

It was disgusting.

The more time Luna spent around SeungRi, the more she liked him. He was irreverent, arrogant, borderline disrespectful and yet, so very likeable. She knew at different points that she should be offended by him, but he had a way of making everyone feel welcomed and comfortable that she couldn't take offense. The natural reaction to almost everything he said was to laugh, shake your head or roll your eyes. The only time that he behaved like a Maknae during lunch was when he prepped the napkins and wooden chopsticks. That was it.

Part of the reason Luna agreed to have lunch with just the two of them was to observe. Stacy got to see Luna and YoungBae together far more often than Luna got to see Stacy and SeungRi. Luna had to admit, they were an odd, but undeniable cute couple. It did Luna's heart good to see her headstrong friend look so happy. Luna knew that she probably leaned too heavily on Stacy, so it was nice to see that Stacy had someone to lean on as well.

Seeing them joke and flirt could make one forget that underneath, they were both serious, business minded individuals. They could go from gazing at each other adoringly to arguing about commodities and interest rates in an instant. It was a sight to behold.

“Noona, are you cheating by eating fish? I thought you were a vegetarian.” SeungRi asked Luna.

“I am a vegetarian, but I make the exception with seafood because I need the protein. One can't live by soybeans alone,” Luna explained before stuffing another piece of sushi in . From the corner of her eye, she saw Stacy make a face. “What? You like tofu!”

“No . . . I like how you cook tofu sometimes. I definitely couldn't live with it as my main source of protein.” she corrected.

“You don't have to worry about that, sweetie,” SeungRi fed Stacy a piece of sashimi with his bare hands and she on his finger. In a lecherous tone he added, “If you ever find yourself needing a protein fix, I will gladly supply you with plenty of my--”

Luna snapped the chopsticks in half, threw them on the table and ran out of the room.

*****

Luna touched down at Gimpo Airport after her week in Taiwan and admitted to herself that she didn't miss traveling all that much. No, she still enjoyed the travel, she didn't enjoy that particular plane ride, though. On the flight, she was fortunate enough to sit by the worlds most nervous flyer. The woman perspired and drank and talked incessantly despite Luna's subtle hints. A book, earphones and a face mask, but nothing worked.

With her bags in tow, Luna stepped out of the terminal prepared to hail a cab. She stood on the curb with her hand raised, but no one was biting. Then, a familiar SUV pulled to a stop in front of her. An even more familiar man jumped out of it.

“Hey, Sweet-thang, can I give you a ride home?” YoungBae offered. Luna ran at him, bags forgotten, and jumped into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his torso and kissed him between giggles.

“What are you doing here? Why aren't you in Japan? And why didn't you tell me you were coming!?” she asked in quick succession.

Still holding her up, he opened the passenger door, set her down and stood between her splayed legs. “Let's see. I'm here to drive you home. I'm not in Japan because we're here recording new songs for the repackaged album. And, I didn't tell you because it would ruin the surprise.” he finished with a pinch to her cheeks. Luna wrapped her arms around him and gave him an Eskimo kiss.

Luna strapped herself in while he put her luggage in the trunk. On the ride home, they talked, held hands and discussed dinner plans. Because Luna had been out of town for the last week and a half, she knew there was no food in her house. She asked him to stop at the grocery store close to her apartment to pick up enough food for dinner that evening. YoungBae kissed her briefly before she ran into the store. She wasn't in there long, he could see her at the register talking politely to and smiling at the cashier. From his spot, he could see her grabbing the bags and walking towards the exit. She was almost out of the door when a tall, Korean man walking in and stopped her.

YoungBae saw the look of happiness on her face as she set the bags down. She wrapped her arms around the man's neck in a tight embrace. Drawing back with her still in his arms, the man kissed Luna on the forehead. Luna smiled and nodded along as he talked to her with a lot of hand gestures. Luna looked up at the man with a clear look of affection on her face that YoungBae didn't care for. He saw the man reach in his pocket and hand his phone to Luna. She started typing in to it and then handed it back to the man. He leaned down and kissed her, on the cheek this time, before wrapping her in another hug. The guy must have made a joke because Luna slapped him playfully on the arm and pushed him towards the entrance. They waved one last time before Luna got back into the car with YoungBae. She still had a grin on her face when she sat down. YoungBae pulled off before she had a chance to put her seat belt on.

“Who was the guy?” he asked as they stopped at a red light.

“What guy?”

“The guy I saw you hugging and kissing, Luna.” he bit out.

“Oh, that's right. You haven't met him. That was Kim JungHee. My neighbor across the hall.”

“Do you greet all of your neighbors that way?” he asked Luna.

“Only the ones I really like.” Luna answered distractedly. She had pulled her phone out to send JungHee a text message.

“Are you texting him now?”

Luna gave him the side eye as the hint of accusation in his voice began to register. “As a matter of fact, I am. There was something I forgot to tell him to buy.”

“Something that you didn't put in his phone already?”

“Wow. You must have been watching me closely.” Luna was irritated. “For your information, what I put in his phone was my recipe for seared tuna. I forgot the tarragon.”

“Tarragon.”

“Yes, tarragon. Damn. He has a date tonight and it's a great first date meal. Simple, but looks complicated and impressive.” Luna huffed an aggravated breath and leaned towards the window to put distance between them. Not that they needed any more. YoungBae was quiet for a few minutes before something she said dawned on him.

“You made that for me the first night I came over. When did you make it for him?”

“Years ago,” Luna explained with forced calm. She knew the direction this line of questioning would lead and she was not in the mood for it. She rubbed her jaw absently and asked for patience. “Bae, don't do this. He and I are just friends.”

“Just friends.”

“Are you going to repeat everything I say? To be perfectly honest, JungHee and I had one date. One. We didn't connect romantically, we became friends. That's it.”

YoungBae grunted, dissatisfied with her answer, but dropped it.

In the apartment, Luna started dinner while YoungBae sat in front of the TV in a bad mood. The effects of their sweet reunion at the airport were long gone. He was unhappy about seeing her be so affectionate with another man, she was unhappy that he'd question her. Period.

There was a knock on the door, which YoungBae answered. Looking through the peephole, he recognized the man from the grocery store. Relu