Woohyun and his manager were greeted by a writer noona and a cameraman as soon as they entered the hospital. The idol bowed to the camera as he followed the writer noona and his manager up the elevators and towards wherever his mysterious fan was.

They entered a ward. There were already a few cameras filming. The writer reminded them to be a little quiet, as the people in this ward needed rest, and the hospital had allowed the filming as long as they didn’t disturb the other patients.

They stopped outside a room and, through the small gap of the open door, he caught a glimpse of a camera, some PDs, and two writer noonas inside. It was then that it finally occurred to Woohyun that his fan may be a patient.

It made him feel a little guilty about his earlier reluctance to visit his fan… a sick fan, it seemed.

The writer noona excused herself and entered the room. When she returned, she brought a young woman with her.

The woman was pretty, with dark hair, small eyes, thin lips, and slightly chubby cheeks. She looked a couple of years older than Woohyun.

“I’m the noona who wrote to the station about my brother,” she explained to Woohyun with a bow. “He’s a huge fan of yours. And… I really wanted him to have the chance to meet you before…”

And that was how Woohyun learned about his so-called number one fan.

Kim Sunggyu, 25 years old and originally from Jeonju, loved to sing. Music was his passion and was going to pursue it as soon as he graduated from high school. But at age 18, he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The symptoms had been going on for months, but he never paid attention to them, too busy studying in order to graduate. It wasn’t until he fainted at his high school graduation that they found out. His parents moved him to Seoul to live with his elder sister and her husband, believing that Seoul’s hospitals would provide him with better care. He had been in and out of treatment for the past 7 years.

What got him through those times was Infinite and their music. To be specific, Woohyun’s singing got him through the hardship of it. Sunggyu was really a huge fan. He collected Woohyun’s posters and went through great lengths looking for his photo cards. He watched all of Woohyun’s appearances on variety and music shows and even the one drama he was in (even though he hated dramas). He even made his sister tape Woohyun’s appearance on Immortal Song because he had a chemo treatment scheduled the day it aired.

Sunggyu went into remission 3 times and relapsed each time. He was losing hope of ever getting better and surviving and had gotten depressed. Noticing his loss of hope and hearing about MBC’s show, his sister wrote to the station on his behalf. She thought that if Sunggyu’s story got picked, Infinite could watch it and give her brother some words of hope and encouragement. She wasn’t aware that Woohyun himself would show up to the filming and surprise her brother.

“This… this truly means a lot! Thank you!” She bowed 90-degrees to the idol, which he politely returned.

Woohyun’s heart warmed at the story and he looked towards the door again. The cameras were focused on the patient, but he couldn’t see him.

“Woohyun-shii, Sunggyu-shii is just finishing up his interview and then you’ll go in to meet him, okay?” the writer noona said to him.

He nodded, getting himself ready as the staff hooked him up with a mic.

+++++++

“Sunggyu-shii, there’s someone here to see you,” the interviewer said, and that was Woohyun’s cue.

The door opened and he strolled in, tall and confident, a cameraman following behind him to capture his every move. As Woohyun approached, he took a few seconds to observe his fan.

The figure on the hospital bed wearing a pale blue hospital gown was pale, really pale, with random bruises marring his skin. His hair was a thin mop of brown and his eyes were tiny and had dark circles under them. But, despite the obvious lack of meat in his bones, his cheeks were chubby.

All in all, he was small, frail, and for lack of a better word, vulnerable.

But, when Woohyun strolled in and removed his mask to smile and say, “Hello”, the biggest and most beautiful smile he had ever seen appeared on those chapped lips, a blush of red slightly coloring his otherwise pale complexion. And his eyes… his eyes shined.

And the first thing that came across Woohyun’s mind as he looked at his fan?

Cute.

“N-Nam… W-Woohyun?” Sunggyu stuttered, his eyes wide in disbelief. “Y-You’re… You’re here…”

The interviewer stood up as Woohyun came closer and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, my number one fan,” he said, teasingly.

The blush on Sunggyu’s cheeks deepened as he slowly raised his hand to shake the idol’s hand. Woohyun noticed how cold his skin was, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

“I-It’s… It’s really you,” the fan said in a soft voice

A staff member brought a chair next to the bedside so Woohyun could sit.

“Sunggyu-shii, we invited Woohyun-shii here to meet you,” the interviewer said.

Sunggyu only stared at his blanket, with his head down. But, when the idol looked closer, he could see that the fan was fighting tears.

“Sunggyu-shii, how do you feel that your idol is here?” the interviewer asked.

“I… I… “ Sunggyu sniffled a little before finally raising his head to meet Woohyun’s face. His eyes were glistening with tears. “I’m really h-happy… I never thought… I thought I was going to die without telling you how much you mean to me… Woohyun-shii.”

Watching this man, older than him by two years, looking at him in pure joy and admiration, Woohyun forgot what he initially felt about male fans. They were no different than female fans. They were fans. They loved him for him… for his music… for the joy he brought them.

It was evident in Sunggyu’s eyes how happy he really was that Woohyun was there, and the idol silently thanked his managers and band mates for persuading him to do this. He loved making his fans happy.

He smiled, genuinely at the fan. “You’re not planning on dying on me and Infinite, are you Sunggyu-shii? We’d love to see you at one of our concerts at some point.”

The fan blushed. “Um… Well, I’ve always wanted to go. But, um… well…”

He subtly gestured to himself and Woohyun almost smacked himself in the face. How could he be so insensitive?!

To his surprise, Sunggyu laughed. “It’s okay, the tickets are always sold out whenever I try, anyway,” he said, smiling. “Noona got me the DVD of your first concert though, so I watched it from there.”

“We’re even better live!” Woohyun boasted, puffing his chest out a little. “Next time, I better see you in the audience!”

Sunggyu laughed and Woohyun found that he liked that laugh. It was like music to his ears, as cliché as that sounded.

“I hope I live long enough to make it,” Sunggyu joked, lightly, but there was a slight tremor in his voice.

Woohyun did not like that. He preferred the laugh.

Without realizing, he had reached out to take one of Sunggyu’s hands. “You will,” he said with an encouraging smile. “I can see how strong you are. And if mine and Infinite’s music can help you fight this sickness, then I will gladly continue making music. We’ll have a comeback every month if we have to!”

Sunggyu’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t do that, you need to rest too. Us, fans, get worried about you, you know.”

That warmed Woohyun’s heart, but before he could respond, the interviewer interrupted.

“Woohyun-shii, why don’t you ask Sunggyu-shii about his dreams?”

And so Woohyun had no choice but to abide with the prepared script in the next hour or so of filming.

+++

“You know, I didn’t like you guys before,” Sunggyu admitted in a low voice.

The two were seated on a bench in the hospital’s indoor garden. Sunggyu’s doctor had allowed it, as long as they had a nurse come along, just in case. The garden had been cleared out for the filming, so aside from the idol and his fan, there was only the nurse, two cameramen, and two PDs around.

Woohyun blinked at him in alarm. “Wait… why not?!” he whined, forgetting his image for a second.

The idol found the older man easy to talk to, and he was surprised at how much they had in common, in terms of passion for music and sports, even though Sunggyu regretfully revealed that he hadn’t played any sports since his diagnosis.

Sunggyu chuckled at him. “I wasn’t into all that kpop stuff… I’m more of a rocker type. I like Nell a lot.”

Woohyun pursed his lips into a pout. “More than Infinite?”

The other just shrugged before looking down at this feet. “That was before your debut. I listened to Nell, but eventually, even though I love their songs, a lot of them put me in a bit of somber mood, especially after every chemo. So… I sort of… stopped listening to music for a while…” He looked up at Woohyun. “But, then, my noona left the radio on one day. It was a couple of days before one of my treatments and I was feeling very anxious. Your song, I mean, Infinite’s song, ‘Voice Of My Heart’, it was playing. I liked the melody and the lyrics were nice, kind of sad, but hopeful. And then...”

He stopped and turned away shyly from Woohyun. The idol raised his brows in curiosity.

“And then?” he questioned.

Sunggyu cleared his throat and look at Woohyun again. “I heard your voice. It calmed me. And when you hit those high notes, I… I don’t know how to explain it but… I needed to know who you were. I found out it was an Infinite song. I found out who you were and… I guess, it was more curiosity that made me listen to your albums and… well… I became a fan.”

He grinned at the stunned idol, who was now blushing at the story.

“After that, I started listening to Infinite before my chemo and again after. I always felt better when I did. And I like your voice most of all, it's beautiful and passionate. It reminds me not to forget the beauty of music.” He smiled at the idol. “Thank you.”

To say that Woohyun was speechless was an understatement. He couldn’t come up with a response after that. Of course, as an idol and singer, he knew that he could influence people and make them happy. But, for someone like Sunggyu, his voice was an anchor. He, as an artist, was keeping what little hope Sunggyu had of living alive.

“I… You’re welcome,” was all he managed to say.

Sunggyu turned his head to look away from him again. “I think I’m okay with dying now that I met you.”

Woohyun didn’t like that. He didn’t want Sunggyu to think that he was going to die. His heart ached at the thought. But… what could he do?

“What can I do to make sure you live?” he whispered, forgetting the cameras around them, forgetting that he was on a show, forgetting that after that day, he was under no obligation to visit Sunggyu anymore.

But, it appeared that Sunggyu never forgot that fact. He smiled at Woohyun again. “Woohyun-shii, you’re my idol and my inspiration. All I’ve ever wished for was to meet you so I could tell you that and thank you face-to-face and now I have. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

But, Woohyun wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Before he could ask again, the PD cleared his throat.

“Woohyun-shii, our 20 minutes is up, Sunggyu-shii has to go back to rest now.”

What? Already? It felt like they didn’t have enough time at all. Woohyun wanted to talk to Sunggyu more, to ask him more questions, to get to know him more.

But from beside him, Sunggyu nodded at the PD before standing up and turning to Woohyun. “Thank you for the last 2 hours, Woohyun-shii. I meant everything I said.”

He held out a hand to the idol. The latter simply stared at it for a few seconds before standing up and wrapping his arms around Sunggyu instead. The older man released a cute squeak of surprise.

He was thin, so very thin, and Woohyun was afraid that he would break him if he hugged any tighter. It just made his heart ache even more.

“Thank you for today, Sunggyu-shii,” Woohyun whispered to him. “I hope to see you again. Keep fighting, please. I really want to see you at our next concert. And I haven’t even released my solo album yet. You have to be alive for that. If I promise that you’ll be the first to hear it, will you fight?”

“W-Woohyun-shii…”

At another throat clearing from the PD, Woohyun had no choice but to pull away.

The nurse came forward with a wheelchair for Sunggyu. The fan hesitated before turning to Woohyun and bowing one last time and settling himself on the wheelchair. The nurse wheeled him away, a second camera and a PD following behind them.

Woohyun was left alone in the garden with the other camera and PD, who asked him for one last interview before wrapping up. When he finished and said "good-bye" and "thank you" to the staff, he wanted to go see Sunggyu again.

But, his manager said that Sunggyu was now resting, the filming had taken a toll on him and it was best for them to leave. Besides, he had vocal practice in an hour, so they must go back to the studio.

If he arrived at the hospital wanting only to leave, he now wanted to stay longer. However, on that cold autumn day, Woohyun left the hospital with a heavy heart, hoping to be given the chance to come back again soon. And this time, without the annoying cameras and PDs interrupting his conversations with his number one fan.

A/N: Woohyun and Sunggyu finally meet! Ahhh... I at angst so much.... But, I really wanted to write this. As a writer, I have to learn how to write different genres, so this is quite a welcome challenge. I just really hope it doesn't . 

Thank you for the support!