Living in with the Chaes was nothing but fun. After Sharon’s departure, you still cooked for the young master of the house and yourself. Sometimes he will bring you out for a quiet takeaway dinner by the Han River, that one spot which was free from nosey media. Yangsuni was being taken care of one of Sharon’s friends when they came over a day before her flight together with Amber. You had always been a fan of Amber though she was younger than you. Guess your lucky star was shining throughout the trip so far! Three out of the five weekdays, Daniel had to attend his counseling as well as get his community service done. He had been voicing out his worries over you going around Seoul alone when he was busy, feeling sorry for you to be tied down to babysit such an overgrown baby when you were there for a holiday. But for you it did not seem as a responsibility – something you had assured him so many times. It was like a whole new journey filled with surprises. Daniel would feel down at times when he overthought such issues and of course, it hurt you. Instead of giving in to such unhealthy feeling, you often whipped up steak and other western dishes for him. He might have missed America and their food. And of course, his family. Steak could never replace his family but it could make him feel better, so why not? And he had no idea how you, too, were worried for him because he was still fragile with negative comments no matter how he tried to make it look fine and he was okay. Everyday before he left the house, you kept reminding him that the world is a free place but words can be heartless. If someone dragged him down, smile at the person and prove him wrong. The heart needed to be strong.

 

The fourth day after his counseling session, he fetched you from home, stating that he needed to bring you somewhere full of memories. Sitting in the car with Daniel was still as awkward as ever because randomly he would break into mushy songs playing on the radio. Either that or it would get silent for a while before both could find a perfect topic to talk about. He began to slow down the car once he entered a housing area. He lowered the volume of the radio so you could hear him clearly. You glanced at him and found him studying the surrounding and focusing on the road in case he missed a turn. He cleared his throat as his gaze fixed onto a building. He pulled over across the road and pointed out to the third level, forcing out a smile to make it seem that he was okay.

 

“Dalmatian. DMTN. That used to be our dorm when we were still active. And that”, he pointed to a motorbike delivery box, “is our favourite pizza delivery.” He laughed. To the left was a huge basketball court with kids playing police and thief. Daniel rested his elbow on the window as he looked out, smiling to himself. “We used to play basketball together here too. Sometimes Simon would sit at that corner and compose his songs with Jeesu.”

 

Everything he told you pricked your heart. You were not ready for his ‘Dalmatian: Down The Memory Lane’ tour. Tears began to well up but you were quick enough to wipe them away before Daniel turned to your side. “You have yet to tell me who is your favourite member”, he pouted.

 

“Hmm… it’s my secret so why should I tell you?”

 

“Because as you can see, I am bringing you on a Dalmatian tour right now! The whole day we are going to Daniel Chae’s memory lane. Not everyone is this lucky, you see. Not even Korean fans.” Daniel wriggled his eyebrows mischievously that made you chuckle hard.

 

“Stop doing that! Its irritating, Daniel,” you whined and playfully threatened to hit his arm.

 

“Well I thought you would like to see a cute Daniel today,” he replied innocently and then cracking up.

 

The next destination was Dalmatian’s favourite hangout place – the recording studio where the boys frequent to record their mixtapes. The place did not look as grand as you imagined it to be. The building was abit old. It did not look like a studio at all. This time, both of you got out of the car and entered the building. The owner still recognized Daniel after such a long time. They spoke for a while in Korean and before you guys left the front desk, he patted Daniel’s back and gave him a hug. “Him, strong boy!” he told you and of course, you agreed.

 

“Here we are!” Daniel opened the door to one of the recording rooms and signaled to you to walk in. Your eyes widened the same time as your jaw dropped open. This was your first time in a recording studio and everything looked beyond amazing although you were not sure what the buttons on the panel were for. Unknowingly you went straight for the smaller room. Your hand reached out for the door but you stopped and looked back to Daniel who was still switching on the aircon.

 

“Go on”, he smiled. “That’s the real deal over there.”

 

You nodded excitedly and skipped towards the microphone, admiring every small detail. Daniel came in after that and stood right beside you. He took the headphones and put it over your ears, adjusted the mic to your level. Confused, you frowned at him. You were going to ask him whats going on but he silenced you and pointed that he was going to sit at the panel. Then the headphones came on and you could hear his voice.

 

“How does it feel like standing there?” he asked.

 

“Mmm? Its exciting”, you blushed, flashing the best smile of the day.

 

“Do you wanna try singing?”

 

“What? You crazy? I don’t sing..”

 

“Right. So tell me about those song covers you dedicated to me the other time.”

“Well…Umm…”

 

“Come on, give it a try!” He cheered you on. “Its really cool”, he assured.

 

“Your ears are gonna slip into coma.”

 

“Your covers were great. I wanna listen to them with my own ears. Witnessed it with my own eyes.” He showed you the famous puppy eyes. Oops, he actually listened to the covers you tweeted to him.

 

Finally you conceded and gave it a shot. A small part of your own rendition of Soyu and Geeks’ ‘Officially Missing You’. Not sure if he knew but that song meant a lot to the fandom because of the cover they did when Dayday and Dari were in the group. You were touched seeing him listening to you attentively. You might have run out of pitch here and there because you were nervous but he did not bat an eyelid nor made fun of you. He had his eyes closed all the time, head bobbing to the beat of the metronome. It had been so long since you sang in front of someone other than a normal noraebang session. Seeing him enjoying every bit of your unprofessional voice made your heart ache. You wanted to cry but crying over a small thing seemed too childish. It was one beautiful experience given a chance to sing in a real recording studio because it was one of those dreams you had although you only took up singing as a passion. The look on his face was already etched in your heart. It was one of those valuable memories although the time spent there with Daniel was not more than 2hours.

 

“Thanks for the golden experience, Daniel” you said once you got into the car. “Really means a lot to me. I’ve always wanted to try out singing in a proper studio.”

 

“I know.”

 

You gasped. “How do you know?”

 

“I guess I forgot to tell you I’m a psychic. Yeap.”

 

“Riiiiiiiiiight.”

 

“Hahaha! I’m kidding. Come we are not yet done for the day. But I’m famished. Lets get our dinner first.”

 

You dropped by a patbingsoo parlour in Dongdaemun after the hearty dinner. It looked familiar like you had seen it before in photos. Then Daniel went on to explain that it was Donglim’s favourite parlour and he was head over heels for the oreo flavor one. He once got dragged there by Donglim because he had yet to satisfy his patbingsoo craving after 2 months of diet and working out for the E.R. comeback. Sometimes Simon would be the kind hyung and treated Donglim to it. Donglim was like the other maknae of the group, a little quiet though. And he had natural flawless skin, he rarely got zit attacks like the other members. As both indulged the huge oreo patbingsoo together, you wondered if he missed his hyungs terribly. It felt like it. It must be. But he was trying to feel better, perhaps, covering it all up with his ‘Exclusive Dalmatian Tour’ for you. Why did he not ring his hyungs? No, its not because you wanted to see the interaction you were dying to see and not that you were hoping for Daniel to let you have a small convo over the phone with the other members too. You just wondered if they were as close as before. They were one unbeatable team in your heart. Once and forever, whatever happened and they kept going against it and that fact made you realized that you want to know the group better and what made them so strong.

 

Daniel’s phobia in the public had gotten better eversince you got there, according to Sharon. He did not put his hoodie up anymore and let the world see his bare face, sometimes the droopy tired eyes he had. Nowadays when he brought you out, he smiled even more. Sometimes you laughed in the public with him, getting judged by some people who once knew he was in the music industry before. The nicest ones would go over and say hi and asked how he was doing. He did not avoid them anymore, nor did he run away. You were very proud of him. Of course when they questioned your presence, making wild guesses that you were the girlfriend. You could just stutter and made a clear gesture with broken Korean that you were not. Meanwhile those mean ones would just sarcastically laugh or made loud remarks about his scandal. You would drag him away but he would stop you, saying that his heart was strong enough. Plus you were by his side. You. Are his best strength and his best supporter. He did not seem worried at all and as what you had always reminded him, he just looked at them and smiled before leading you by the hand and walking away. When he felt angry or weak, he would grab and squeeze your hand in his before slowly releasing it as you both walked far enough from the meanies. He was getting hang of this. All praises to God, Daniel finally toughened his heart.

 

Daniel snapped his fingers, bringing you back to reality. “What are you thinking about?” He tilted his head with a big question mark on his face. “I have been calling your name thrice but you were looking out the window smiling to yourself. Are you sick?” Daniel placed his palm on your forehead. You laughed at the boy’s reaction and put his hand down.

 

“I’m okay, Dan. Don’t worry. I was just thinking about what my bestfriend Petra would say if she knew everything.”

 

He heaved a sigh of relief. “I thought you were not feeling well. Don’t scare me like that!”

 

“Yah! Its you who think too much… Relax, Dan!” you chuckled. “So where is our next destination?”

 

Daniel’s face lit up instantly and soon, you were on your way to the undisclosed place. Daniel was a stranger although it had been days since you knew him personally. Everyone knows how one should not trust a stranger completely. Too bad you did. Unknown destination yet you agreed to it without any hesitations.

 

The stereo was blasting K.Will’s ‘I Need You’ and Daniel was happily singing it aloud while playfully winking at your direction. You had to beg him to stop because your tummy was in pain from laughing too much. Instead of stopping, he lovably laughed along with you, singing the song with more energy the trot way. It was the funniest thing he had ever done so far. Way funnier than the trip to Lotte World. Finally both of you reached a small building and Daniel led you up to an apartment. You were taking every step cautiously fearing that Daniel might harm you though you trusted him with all of your heart.

 

He proceeded on to ring the bell and an ahjumma opened the door, greeting you and him with a smile. But she went out of the apartment once you and Daniel went in. You were puzzled with a glimpse of fear. “Have fun!” was her last words before she left. As the door closed, Daniel took your hand and led you in. You were too scared to say anything or resist him. He was not even seductive even if he wanted to do something bad to you. Your eyes scanned the interior of the house. Nothing was amiss. It definitely belonged to someone since it was well maintained. But who was that ahjumma? And where is Daniel leading you?

 

He made you sit in the living room as he went to the kitchen to take something. He was so secretive about everything. The house was unusually quiet too. Then he came behind you and covered your eyes with his hands. You startled but he comforted you nicely. He probably felt the fear in you and knew you were doubting him that he told you not to worry so much because this was the highlight of his tour. He was giggling all the way as you paced your steps forward carefully.

 

“Okay stop! We are here. Are you ready?”

 

There was a tinge of excitement in his voice.

 

“Is… Is something gonna happen? I… I’m sc- why are we in… in this house?” Your eyes were still covered and all you saw was black. He pushed your body down and you could feel your touching the surface of something soft. A bed?

 

“Okay.. Count to three. Then I will reveal the surprise”, he convinced you. You stuttered counting to three aloud.

 

“O-one, T-two, th… th… three.” Slowly Daniel put down his hand and you opened your eyes… and widened them once you saw who was infront of you. You failed to realize that your jaw had dropped open so huge that they were laughing at your reaction so loudly. You glanced towards Daniel who had sat together with them infront of you.

 

“Oh my god.” That was all you could bring yourself to say. In front of you were the boys you yearned to see since ages. Left to right it was Simon, Inati, Dari, Jeesu, Donglim and lastly, the person who brought you to the place. Daniel.

 

“Surprise!” they exclaimed in unison, waving to you with so much energy. And again without you realizing, your tears welled up in your eyes as they did a self-introduction. It felt like a fan meeting but a private one – in a bedroom. Simon was ready to strum the guitar and Jeesu was behind a keyboard smiling gleefully at the success of their surprise.

 

“Don’t cry”, Inati tried to comfort you, pouting. He stepped forward and wiped off the fallen tears of joy with his thumbs. Inati ruffled through your hair like an older brother and told you to brace yourself for the first ever private performance from the members and him. The first song they performed was an acoustic version of ‘Lost In Love’ then ‘Still By Your Side’, ‘E.R’ and lastly was ‘The Man Opposed’ with the hyungs teasing Daniel and you. Daniel pretended to get angry and got up from his seat and playfully strangled Dari from behind. Listening to those songs and watching them singing live in front of you, it was indeed the highlight of the tour. It had been a year since you last saw them (on tv) and seeing them joking around in your presence felt like you were sitting in for the Dalmatian TV broadcast. Apparently, Daniel had banned them from showing off their abs since you are the only female and you might get scarred by how toned their abs were. Donglim whined like a kid in his busan accent since he had his abs in shape on that day to show it off. The other members tried speaking to you in English but in the end everyone laughed because Jeesu was trying too hard with his fail questions.

 

Have you eating nice? Whatch your doing tomolo?

 

Yes Jeesu.

 

You suddenly got reminded by your dalmate friends whom you were close with via twitter and told the boys about them. Surprisingly they asked what were their reactions when DMTN went on sudden hiatus. It was an open talk and you looked at Daniel and he said it was okay. He will not feel hurt. Lies. You began from the start to the end, trying not to hurt anyone. In the end, everyone got quiet.

 

“Didn’t know that you girls are strong emotionally”, Simon muttered, still staring blankly on the floor.

 

“But thank you so much for the support, it means a lot”, Jeesu butted in with his beautiful eye smile.

 

“If there’s something dalmates would like to say to you right now, it would be ‘Keep Moving On, We are still by your side’. I guess that applies to everyone. So, oppa, fighting!”

 

“And thank YOU so much for this special surprise you have prepared. I wish I could share the moment with many more people”, your voice accidentally cracked while trying hard not to break down again infront of the boys.

Ended the night with long hugs from the boys individually. That was the best night of your life. The best moment of your Seoul trip!