Midori who was missing from the celebrations was actually already in the familiar Cayenne being driven away from the compet.i.tion venue .

"Hey, what's with the rush? I thought we will be leaving tomorrow?" Midori furrowed her brows in confusion .

"I am taking this as travel time so that we can spend more time on other things . Besides, Aunty Aoi already agreed on this . " Dan flashed his bright smile .

"My mom agreed that we will go somewhere for 3 days starting tomorrow . " she tried to remind him .

"I called her today to ask permission regarding this and she agreed . " He chuckled .

"HHow did you get her number?" She looked at him suspiciously .

"Relax . I called the home phone and they gave her contact details . I'm not that creepy to make people dig on the personal info of your mom . . . although I could . . . " He gave her a knowing smile while moving his brows up and down .

Midori gaped and looked at him unbelievably . Then she changed her expression as if remembering something .

"Hey! I haven't packed my things yet!" She panicked .

"Aunty Lan made sure your personal maid packed all your necessities . They're in the trunk . " Dan was proud of himself for making all arrangements .

Just then, Midori looked out the window and realized that they have arrived at the airport .

"Air travel? I knew we were going out of town, but . . . uhm, I don't think Aunty Lan has my pa.s.sport and visa . " Midori was quite annoyed by how spontaneous things were going .

Dan flashed his smile, amused of her reaction . "Domestic flight . "

The car stopped . The driver proceeded to empty the trunks of their baggage .

Before getting out of the car, Dan handed her a paperbag . "Go and change . " He motioned inside the airport .

Midori complied . She went to one of the restrooms and started taking off her uniform in one of the cubicles . This time, Dan has given her casual clothes, a lilac ruffled chiffon blouse and white shorts, with a pair of white strappy flats . To her surprise, it came with a pair of seamless light gray underwear and white hairband . She reluctantly put everything on . She cleaned her face off from the makeup . Afterwhich, she a.s.sessed herself on the mirror and thought that the combination was pretty cute .

'This is too girly, even for his taste . I wonder if I'm just being his girlfriend for show . ' She laughed at her own thoughts .

Before she went out, her phone beeped . She gently shook her head, thinking it must be Dan, impatiently waiting outside .

Dan flashed his brightest smile as she walked out from the restroom . He thought she was stunning even with casual clothes on .

She was still preoccupied with her phone, so he tried to get her attention .

"Something wrong?" he casually asked, trying to take a peek on her phone .

She immediately shoot up her gaze to him, and shoving her phone in her bag, shook her head smiling . "Nothing . They were just asking where I had gone to . " Actually, this was partially true . Mei really sent her a message regarding her whereabouts, but it was not the notification which caught her attention .

Dan was not fully convinced, but he decided to play along, respecting her privacy . "Mei?"

"Mhm . " She nodded, smiling and trying to pretend nothing was amiss . She brushed off her thoughts .

"Shall we go then?" he asked, trying to get her uniform bag from her .

She handed it to him and smiled . "Okay . "

Midori was asleep most of the plane ride due to exhaustion .

Dan wrapped her in his arm, adjusting her blanket every now and then . He was still bothered by her facial expression a while back, but he knew that looking through her phone would just be too low .

Night has fallen when they arrived at the hotel .

The staff in black uniforms took their luggage into their room .

"Hungry?" asked Dan while patting her head .

"Mhm . " she nodded while smiling . "I wonder how the restaurant looks like . " She said this because the lobby has traditional decór .

Dan just smiled and held her hand . He led her to the lake .

Upon seeing the boat with a red lamp hanging on its side, Midori was astonished . Its table was also filled with traditional dishes with a steaming pot of tea .

"You don't mind eating like this, do you?" He lovingly looked at her delightful face .