The crowd went wild as Nam Woohyun took a bow, waved and sent out a few hearts, before being rushed off the stage by staff to prepare for the next solo stage.

Backstage, Infinite’s leader waited with a bottle of water and a box of tissues. Without a word, Woohyun took the bottle and downed it before taking a tissue from the box to dab at the tears that flowed out while he sang his song.

“I’m sorry for crying, hyung,” he sniffled.

But, the leader only smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I understand, Woohyun-ah. I know it’s not easy for you to sing that song.”

“I… I don’t want to cry,” Woohyun answered, looking down at the floor. He could feel fresh tears threatening to fall, but he willed them away. “I promised him that I wouldn’t. But I… I just...”

Dongwoo pulled the younger into his arms. “I know. It’s okay.” He rubbed Woohyun’s back for a bit before letting him go. “I have to get ready for mine and Hoya’s stage. Go get some rest for a bit. We’re back after Yeol and Jongie’s stage.”

Woohyun nodded obediently and headed further backstage to collapse his tired and aching body on the couches. The make-up noonas and stylists reminded him to get ready for a retouch and costume change in five minutes and he nodded at them. Otherwise, no one paid him any attention, all occupied with making sure the rest of the solo stages go okay. Woohyun’s stage was always first now, simply because he would break down each time he finished.

“Hyung?”

The vocalist looked up to see Infinite’s maknae standing in front of him, wringing his hands as he watched the elder, worriedly. Woohyun smiled and patted the seat next to him.

“Yes, Jongie?”

The younger sat next to him, biting his lip. He seemed to hesitate before asking, “Are you okay, hyung?”

Woohyun tilted his head. He was okay now. A good cry always made him feel better.

Sungjong seemed to hesitate again before continuing, “Why do you continue to sing that song, hyung? It always makes you cry. Why don’t you sing a different one? There are a lot of good ones from your solo album. A lot of the fans say they really like ‘Scent’ and-.”

He stopped at the frown on Woohyun’s face and immediately looked guilty. “I… I’m sorry… I know how much that song means to you…”

Woohyun shook his head and flashed him a small smile while ruffling his hair. Sungjong didn’t whine or complain at the action.

“It’s okay, Sungjong. I mean, nothing you said was wrong. I do cry every time I sing it. But…” He sighed. “I wrote it for him… Sunggyu… It’s the only way I can feel close to him… I don’t want to forget him…”

One year ago…

It was a cold, autumn day when Woohyun found himself riding alone in the van with his manager. The other members had individual schedules. Technically, this was his schedule for the day.

MBC was premiering a short special series that featured fans of certain idols. Fans had written to the station months ago about their favorite idols and why they loved them, and the ones that impressed the producers were picked and featured. The twist was that these fans didn’t know they would get to meet their idol

One of Woohyun’s fans was picked, so he was now on the way to meet them. However, they were no ordinary fan. No. They were a male fan.

At first, Woohyun didn’t want to go. Yes, he was known for his fan service and unique relationship with his fans, but those were female fans. He was a natural Casanova when it came to girls. But with guys? Sure, he loved skinship with his friends, but those were his friends!

In actuality, Woohyun found having male fans kind of weird. Why would a man enjoy watching another man winking at them and doing hip s on stage? Unless, of course, they were gay. But, Woohyun wasn’t gay… at least, that was what he believed. He never really paid attention to men. Sure, he found his band mates and the other male idols in the industry handsome and good looking, but they thought the same of him and none of them were gay! (At least, none of them were actually out, no one really talked about these things if they wanted to keep their career.)

Why the producers picked a male fan was a mystery to Woohyun, but he was a little annoyed by it. But, his managers and the band finally managed to convince him when they mentioned that it would reflect badly on Infinite and Woollim if they said, “no.”

So, here he was, being driven to the filming location. He didn’t know much about this fan except for his name, age, and gender and that he claimed to be Woohyun’s number one fan.

“We’re here,” manager Geonam announced, pulling into a parking spot.

Woohyun looked out the windows and furrowed his brows. “Are you sure we’re in the right place, hyung?”

“Mmhmm,” Geonam replied as he got out of the car to slide open Woohyun’s door.

The idol stepped out of the vehicle and stared up at the huge building in front of them. “But, why are we at the hospital? Is my fan a doctor or something? That’s kind of weird.”

He looked at Geonam expectantly who simply coughed and handed him a mask. “You’ll see when we talk to the production crew inside. Now, put this on and let’s go in, we’re going to be late.”

Without another word, Woohyun followed his manager towards the building.

It was on that cold autumn day that Nam Woohyun, main vocal of Infinite, met Kim Sunggyu, his number one fan.

A/N: From here on out until the last chapter will be the flashback.