Kayla’s POV

I landed at the crowded airport ten minutes before schedule and headed out to the parking lot. My suitcase bumped on the familiar street and I inhaled the sweet scent that reminded me of Seoul, and the life I’d built here. Being back in England had been wonderful, but I missed the lively energy of Seoul; the lights near the Han River at night; the language; the politeness from one person to another – young as old. Already from afar, I could recognise Donghae’s metallic blue car. I ran up to it happily, waving. Although it didn’t seem to catch my boyfriend’s attention... He was on his phone, so I decided to play a fun little prank on him. I took up my phone and texted him: Hi princey! My plane needed to do an emergency landing. I’m currently outside the coast of Japan. Hope you won’t get too worried. Love you! I sent the text and sat behind a garbage bag, in case Donghae would look up in chock. I couldn’t contain my laughter for very long. Donghae’s eyes got enormous and his hand flew up to his mouth. I saw the worry and panic building up inside him. Then – like I’d hoped – Donghae opened the car door and leaned his back to the car, which conveniently also was away from me. I snuck up, tip toeing to the car and as carefully as I could opened the back door. Donghae had his hands in his hair, half bent over and talking loudly to himself.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god... Okay, keep yourself together, Donghae. Nothing has happened to her, she’s perfectly fine. An emergency landing is nothing. It’s not dangerous. The flight attendants know what to do. They’ll take care of her. She’s in safe hands. Oh god! Why did I let her go on her own? I should’ve gone with her! What if she’s scared? Or crying? Oh, no. If she’s crying right now then I won’t ever forgive myself! It’s my job to protect her! Argh!” Donghae sat down on the ground. I bit my lip to hold my giggle at bay and then opened the passenger’s car door. I sat down in the seat, observing Donghae’s lovely nape and his messy hair. I wondered how scared he would become if I slammed the door. Well, no meaning in wondering when you can find out! I thought and slammed the door. Donghae did indeed scream and flew forward at least two metres, staring back at the inside of the car where I sat completely engulfed in utmost happiness. “Princess?” Donghae panted, half chocked and half confused.

“Oh my God! You should’ve seen your face! It was hilarious! I can’t believe you fell for that!” I shouted while crying from laughter. Donghae got up and ran over to my side, opened the car door and pulled me out of it.

“Princess! I got scared to death! I thought it was a crazy fan! And that someone had taken your phone and that you were hurt! You cannot do that!” Donghae shouted at me sincerely, though I could see him wanting to crack up too. I leaned against his chest, since the hysterical laughter really made me weak at this point. Donghae smelled just as amazing as he always did and his strong, muscular arms wrapped around my waist. He hugged me tightly and snuggled his face in my neck slash hair. “Please, don’t do that to me again, princess. I honestly got scared,” Donghae mumbled.

I took a deep breath, trying to suffocate another fit of giggle. “But Hae... Why would I be outside of Japan? That’s coming from the wrong direction! I thought you’d figure that out,” I giggled. Donghae lifted his head, having the cute frown and pout that meant that he was lost in logic. I couldn’t contain myself any longer. His lips looked so incredibly kissable. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his hard, yet gently and lovingly. Donghae smiled into the kiss, surely feeling the same as I did. Our lips had seemed to missed each other as well, since they worked together in perfect sync from the very start. When we broke the kiss, Donghae looked way happier than before, smiling widely at me.

“All right, that kind of made me forget my name so, I guess, I forgive you,” he said breathlessly. I smiled proudly and gave him another peck in approval.

“Good. Let’s go home then,” I said. I let my arms fall to take a step back but Donghae didn’t let go. “Um, Hae?”

“Yes, princess?”

“You sort of need to let go if we are getting out of here...”

“Mm, I know. But I require a password from my lady before that happens.” He winked at me. A password? How on Earth am I going to know that? I thought. I wrinkled my nose, pondering on what the word Donghae sought might be.

“Can you give me a clue?” I wondered, doing a cute aegyo pose.

Donghae chuckled, “It’s three words, princess,” he said. My mouth formed an ‘o’.

“I love you!” I exclaimed happily. Donghae nodded and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

“I love you too, my princess. Let’s get home now. The members are dying to see you.” We got inside the car and Donghae started the engine. I had raised an eyebrow, hardly believing that the members had missed me so much.

“Are you sure they’ve missed me? Or did you make that up?” I questioned.

“Well... I do think most of them have missed you. And if they haven’t then the amount of loneliness that I’ve been feeling recently makes up for that, guaranteed!” I giggled and leaned back in the seat, watching the scenery that we went passed, thinking about how much I’d actually missed Korea and the friends I’d made here. The drive through Seoul home to the dorms didn’t take too long and soon Donghae and I had parked the car, taken my suitcase and ridden the elevator up to our floor. Donghae opened the door and allowed me to step inside. I inhaled sharply and then screamed loud enough so that everyone would become aware of my arrival.

“I AM HOME!”

“Oh my God, yes!” Sungmin was the first one to scream and run up to me, hugging me tightly. Then Leeteuk, Siwon, Ryeowook and Heechul came. They were also quite happy to see me, I think. At least they greeted me. Eventually the other members followed and hugged me too, even Hyuk and Kyu seemed like they had missed me a little.

“Hi guys! I’ve missed you all so much!” I squealed happily. Their smiles warmed my heart and made my smile grow.

“We’ve missed you too, Kayla, sweetie. How was New Year and Christmas? And how was it to be back in England?” Sungmin asked. He was usually the one who cared the most. While Donghae offered to take my coat and take care of my suitcase, I went with Leeteuk, Sungmin, Heechul and Ryeowook – who all wanted to hear about my vacation – to the living room where we sat down in the two couches.

“It was really nice being back. Things like speaking my mother tongue and knowing all the streets was just what I needed. Although I missed you guys super much!” I said after telling them all the fun things I’d done during those three weeks.

“We’re pleased to hear that,” Leeteuk said, smiling his dimple smile. “So what happens now?”

I knew what he was referring to but I wasn’t sure if they were ready to know. Just as I was about to open my mouth, saying that I didn’t know, Donghae sat down next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned his head on my shoulder. “I think you’re ready to tell them now, princess,” he said.

“Okay... Guys! Meeting in the living room!” I yelled out. Donghae chuckled.

“You are getting better at that,” he complimented. I smiled proudly while the members slowly gathered around us. Most of them looked curious, surely wondering what I had on my mind.

“All right.” I took a deep breath. I wonder how they’ll react... “So... Before I went to England, I went to an audition for a drama.” The members got wide eyes but I held up my hands. “However, I didn’t get that part. Instead there was a woman, Kim Hwang-Mi, who saw me and thought that I would be perfect for another part. So what I’m going to do tomorrow is going to Starhaus Entertainment to start practising on a script for a movie where I will be the leading lady!” The reactions knocked the socks off my feet. Some of the members – Sungmin – squealed on top of their lungs in excitement while others – Heechul, Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk – gaped in surprise.

“That’s wonderful, Kayla! Welcome to our little acting group!” Siwon exclaimed.

“I agree! I’m really proud of you! And you can always come to me if you are in need of advice or someone who is an excellent actor and can help you practise your lines,” Heechul said. I giggled. But I was the only one. The rest were judgingly glaring at Heechul who according to them had gone overboard with the self-praising. “What? I’m obviously the best and most experienced actor here, so why wouldn’t she read her lines with me?” Heechul asked, acting smart and oblivious. I knew he wasn’t serious; Heechul waited for the first one to fall for his oblivion. Unfortunately, that was the person whose hands were around my waist.

“You don’t have to sound so smug about it, hyung,” Donghae commented. Now all the eyes were on him. And he didn’t act oblivious, he was oblivious. “What?”

“You fell for his trick,” Kyuhyun explained. Donghae still didn’t look like he understood, so Hyuk filled in the rest.

“By explaining what he did was wrong, you proved that he can fool someone by acting.” Donghae frowned.

“Oh...”

Heechul smirked. “I am the best. Anyway, congratulations, Kayla. We’re all happy for you,” he continued.

“Thanks,” I replied. “It’s scary and very exciting at the same time.”

“You’ll be all right. They’ll take good care of a nice girl like you,” Siwon assured me.

Donghae scoffed, “They better. Otherwise I’ll have to beat them up. No one hurts my princess and gets away with it.” This little statement got a bunch of different reactions too. I turned around and kissed Donghae for being so sweet. Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun who’d never been fans of cheesiness and adorable prince-like actions and sayings, walked out.

“This is the part that I haven’t missed,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

“Agreed,” Eunhyuk mumbled. I broke the kiss, raising a brow after them.

“Yah! Move out if you don’t like it!” They glanced over the shoulder; Kyuhyun stuck out his tongue at me, astonishingly enough he still smiled. Perhaps they’ve become more accepting of it now? I thought.

After the conversation finished and we’d eaten dinner, Donghae and I went on a small walk around the park. His hand gripped onto mine tightly and secured as we minced down the path. The wind was refreshing and a bit colder than the winds in Oxford. I decided to break the silence by asking a question that I’d pondered on for a while. “Hae, you...aren’t worried about tomorrow, are you?” He turned his head to me, tilting his head in the cutest manner.

“What do you mean, princess?”

“Well. I mean that I don’t want you to worry that something unusual is going to happen, even if I’m going to work late in the evening and study and all. I don’t want you to think that this will change what’s between us. And I don’t want you to get hurt if I don’t have as much time for you as I used to.”

Donghae looked at me like he felt astonished that I’d even brought this up. “Princess, I barely have time for you. I won’t at all be offended or feel like you’ve stopped caring because you have a lot on your mind. As long as I know where you are if you’re staying late or something like that. Then I’m happy.” Donghae stopped and pulled me closer. “I’ve missed you so much, my beautiful princess.” He reached out a hand and tucked some hair behind my ear.

“I’ve missed getting lost in your brown, wonderful eyes,” I answered, sticking out my tongue. He chuckled lightly then nodded.

“Same here. I love you, Kayla.”

“I love you too, Hae.” We leaned forward at the same time, kissing in the middle before we continued walking again. I held a tight grip around Donghae’s arm, resting my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes. There’s no place like home. We walked around for about an hour before returning home again. Even though we’d missed each other an incredible amount, Donghae and I actually headed to different parts of the dorms upon arriving. He went into KyuHyuk’s room; I knocked on Heechul’s door.

“Come in,” he replied. I opened the door and found Heechul by his computer with Heebum in his lap. He looked up at me. “Oh, it’s you. What’s on your mind, sweetie?” he asked.

“I need to talk a bit,” I responded. Heechul gestured me to sit down on his bed; I did. “When did Heebum come back?” Heechul’s precious cat had been in the care of his sister while Heechul was too busy to take care of him. Heebum stretched out in Heechul’s lap and then jumped down. Heechul spun his chair around. He liked seeing the person he was speaking with.

“A week ago. Now tell me.”

“How hard is this acting job going to be for me, both emotionally and physically? What are my days going to look like? Am I ready for this? Do you think Donghae will be able to handle this? I recently got to know that my co-actor is Lee Joon from MBLAQ. Do you have any tips? And I have no idea what I’m going to wear in the morning. I’m having a meeting with everyone who’s a part of this movie. I need to look good, no, great. Not too casual and boring, but not too bold and cocky. Help?” I inhaled some air. Heechul on the other hand merely switched position from leaning back in the chair to having his body weight on his elbow on the table, with his hand resting on his knuckles. I truly hoped that he’d have all the answers I needed, since there wasn’t anyone else in this house that would give me straight answers, truthful ones. Not suppressing the reality to make me more confident or just tell me what they thought I wanted to hear.

“Hm... Okay. Let’s take this in order,” Heechul said, “Firstly, you’ll be exhausted. Physically drained of power, emotionally you’re going to be a wreck and mentally you’re going to ask yourself why you’re doing this. However, if acting is your thing then you’ll have fun along the way, this I promise.” He made a short pause, letting me process his words. Then he proceeded, “You will feel if you’re ready the second you set your foot in at the Starhaus building tomorrow morning. So don’t worry about that. As for the last and probably the biggest problem, I’ve never been in a relationship while in the middle of my career but I can imagine that Donghae will feel stressed, anxious and very jealous during the time of your filming. This is because of two things: one,” he held up a finger, “you won’t have any time on your hands at all, nearly at least. Could come once in a while. Two, if Lee Joon is the one you’re acting against then he’ll feel threatened. Joon is good-looking, he’s nice, many girls like him and he’ll be your first choice to hang out with because he’ll be around you 24/7 to practise lines, analyse each other’s characters, learning and studying them. You’ll want to build up a good relation with him which will help you act better. Lastly, you’re pretty freaking adorable and hot at the same time. Joon won’t keep his hands off of you unless you push him away the first day. What could make a move like that difficult is, unfortunately, the rejection he’ll feel. That could potentially create awkward tension. You don’t want that.”

“So what do I do?” I asked.

“Depends on what your values are. Either you tell Donghae about it all and in a way let him interfere with your performance on set or you keep it to yourself and he’ll have to accept it.” I swallowed hard and massaged my temples. This was the truth that I’d been craving to hear.

“In that case, I don’t know what to do,” I finally said.

“And this is why I’ve never had a girlfriend, Kayla. This industry ruins any kind of encounter that one might want to make something out of. Had I known about this earlier than I might not have told you to accept the job. But there’s really no backing down now, is it? You’ve signed the contract?” I nodded. Heechul smiled and sat down next to me. “Listen to me now, sweetie. You’re a goodhearted, strong woman. If you ever need any of us, we’ll all be here. Including Donghae, of course. No matter how jealous he might be.” He pulled me in for a hug and then helped me up. “Get some sleep now. You cannot be tired on your first day, right?”

“I guess not. Thanks for the advice, I really needed them.” Heechul kissed my forehead then sent me off. “Good night, oppa!” I waved.

“Good night, cutie. Oh, about the clothes. I’ll help you in the morning.” He winked at me. I went out and headed to Donghae’s and my room. Donghae had already gone to bed as it seemed. I changed into my pyjamas and lay down next to him. I snuggled into his chest since he lay on his back.

“Good night, my prince.” I kissed his chest and closed my eyes. Heechul’s encouraging words had truly put my mind a bit more at ease and I felt excited to go inside that amazing, big building that oozed talent from miles away. Like Heechul said: I’m a goodhearted, strong woman. There’s nothing to worry about...

Hey guys! How did you like the chapter? Isn't Heechul SUPER DUPER modest?! xD Know you know the co-actor to Kayla too! WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT??? Lee Joon is INDEED good-looking. How will Donghae react to that huh? You'll just have to wait and see~ Haha ;) See you guys soon! Welcome all new readers! I feel so honoured to have EACH AND EVERYONE of you reading my story! THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU!<3