Just five more minutes…

*RING RING RING*

Ugh, what day is it today?

Oh right, Monday.

Mav sluggishly woke up from the sound of her alarm. Hoping for the drowsiness to wear off, she rubbed her eyes and stood up in a swift motion.

Stretch. Stretch. 1, 2, 3…

Doing various warm – ups were tiring but is the only way to keep her up. After 10 minutes, she fixed her bed and went outside her room to prepare breakfast. On her way to the kitchen, she glanced at the wall clock atop the television.

Wow, it’s only 4:30, she thought as she grabbed a glass from the kitchen drawer.

As the days passed, breakfasts at the apartment became warm and cozy. SungGyu, SungJong, and SungYeol shared their stories most of the time, making the others crack up from some jokes, WooHyun usually wakes up later than the others but is able to help Mav prepare their food, DongWoo and HoYa on the other hand end up washing the dishes, while L doesn’t give Mav the cold shoulder anymore, rather he gave Mav worrying gazes from time to time. For Mav, every morning with them started to get better.

“Oh, Namu, good morning”, Mav greeted WooHyun as he grabbed a glass too. After their adventure last Saturday, Mav and WooHyun agreed to speak informally to each other since WooHyun felt comfortable being with Mav

“Ya, what will we cook for today?”, WooHyun asked in a hoarse voice.

“Kimbap? Hmm… and chicken soup?”, Mav suggested, grabbing the bowl from the rice cooker.

“Sounds good”, WooHyun’s voice sounded clearer after drinking a glass of water.

Both of them prepared the dishes in silence, both their eyes drooping from time to time. A few minutes later, the members started to wake up one by one, with SungGyu being the second and DongWoo being the last one. After preparing the food, WooHyun set the table while Mav called for the others. As everybody settled at the dining table, they started to eat right away. Mav noticed WooHyun and SungYeol eating their food in a rush. She remembered that they still have to film for their drama, and just dismissed the thought. While eating, she felt this awkward feeling of being watched. As she raised up her head, she was able to notice L staring at her. It wasn’t a cold gaze but rather a simple stare that either made her heart flutter or uncomfortable. As their eyes met, Mav gave a weak smile at him, and in return, L gave a simple grin. She suddenly remembered the cupcake she received two days ago, which made her smile while eating the chicken soup from her bowl.

“Mav, hurry up. You’ll be late”, SungGyu shouted from the living room.

For the time being, WooHyun and SungYeol are the only members that have schedules that morning. As for the rest, their schedule will start that evening and will only last for three hours since they will only practice for one performance. This gave a relief to the other members since it gave them free time to rest.

As expected from the leader, Mav thought as she inserted her arm to her bag’s sling.

Mav came out from her room, only to be surprised by DongWoo being fully dressed, waiting for her.

“Let’s go?”, DongWoo said invitingly, leaving Mav confused.

“Ah! I’ll be taking you to school today”, DongWoo explained, causing Mav to relax for a bit.

 “You didn’t have to”, Mav said in guilt.

“You’ll be able to save your fare… and it will be a lot faster too”, SungGyu butted in while he handed her some snacks.

“What is this for?”, Mav chukled as she reached out for the paper bag.

“Just in case you get hungry”, SungGyu remarked.

“We better get going. Bye, Gyu – hyung!”, DongWoo greeted, with Mav tailing from behind.

“You know that it only takes fifteen minutes to get to school, and that is assuming that I take the bus”, Mav iterated, sighing as they reached DongWoo’s car. DongWoo, on the other hand, went straight to the driver’s seat.

“Oh, come on. Who says we’re going straight to the university? It’s too early”, DongWoo smirked, fastening his seatbelt.

“Where are we going?”, Mav asked curiously, with a hint of hesitation.

“You’ll see. Now, come on”, DongWoo urged her again, causing Mav to flinch as she opened the door to the passenger’s seat.

What happened next amazed her. She loved the feeling the speed gave her as the wind hit her hair. She couldn’t care less what’s happening and the only thing that mattered that time was the thrill and adrenaline DongWoo gave. They took a long drive at a long road. What’s unusual is that the road was just near to the university and yet it was less travelled by. Maybe it was because of the trees at the sidewalk or the absence of resident homes but for Mav, it was an avenue to indulge in a dangerous excitement. It wasn’t for too long that the ride had to come to an end. Mav and DongWoo finally turned back and went straight to the university.

“Thank you, Oppa”, Mav remarked as she unfastened her seatbelt.

“Wait!”, DongWoo shouted as he grabbed something behind his seat, causing Mav to be startled.

“Here”, a bottle of banana milk was handed to Mav.

“Oh, thank you”, Mav accepted it with both hands.

“You better hurry. See you at home!”, DongWoo was starting the car’s engine as he saw Mav run off.

A lazy ambiance crept at the apartment as SungGyu and SungJong sat on the couch, lifelessly switching the channel in the television. On the other hand, HoYa was at his room, dancing to another hip – hop song that he recently heard. MyungSoo was in his room, staring at the ceiling while lying down on his bed.

“Hyung, let’s clean”, SungJong suggested, noticing the dust covering the side table as he brushed his hand.

“The place still looks decent enough”, SungGyu muttered, slowly drifting to sleep.

“Come on, Hyung. We need to do something”, SungJong uttered in exasperation.

“Do you want to go out?”, SungGyu suggested, his eyes already drooping.

“No”, SungJong retorted.

“Just sleep. We can just order take – out food for our lunch. We need all the energy we can get for later”, SungGyu muttered as sleep completely took over him.

Sensing that his hyung is already asleep, SungJong let out a sigh. He was right. It was rare for them to have a rest day, well a short rest day, that is, due to promotions and their upcoming concert. Following his hyung’s suggestion, he decided to take a quick nap as he went to his room.

Meet me at Café Petite now – DoYeon Noona

As soon as MyungSoo received her text, he quickly stood up and grabbed a change of clothes. Wearing a fully black outfit, he grabbed his cap and went straight to the door, bumping SungJong who was on his way in.

“Oh, MyungSoo – hyung, where are you going?”, SungJong asked curiously upon seeing his hyung fully dressed.

“Just… out… Oh, do you want some coffee?”, MyungSoo couldn’t respond quickly. He was too excited and nervous at the same time to give SungJong a proper answer.

“Oh! You’re going to a coffee shop? What for?”, his answer bothered SungJong since MyungSoo doesn’t usually go to coffee shops without his camera or alone for that matter, and he wasn’t bringing anything either. He noticed that his hyung only has his wallet on one hand and his phone on another.

“Ye-Yeah. They called me since I forgot something there, remember, when we went together last week?”, MyungSoo quickly explained. It was a coincidental excuse, thanking the fact that both of them have just gone to a coffee shop recently.

“Oh, right. Well, one chocolate drink for me, Hyung. Don’t forget!”, SungJong said in a satisfied tone. With that, MyungSoo dashed to the front door and left.

MyungSoo didn’t need GPS to track down the address since DoYeon and he went there most of the time, where they usually have their dates. It was a quiet café, and not many people know about it, to his relief. Upon reaching the café, he already saw DoYeon beside the window, staring blankly at the shop in front.

She still looks beautiful as ever, MyungSoo thought as he went inside.

“Oh, you’re here”, DoYeon acknowledged MyungSoo glumly as he saw him enter the shop and sat down in front of her.

“So… how are you? I missed you”, MyungSoo said in a quiet tone. To be completely honest, seeing her that time felt like a breath of fresh air.

“Well, I don’t. You know, thank you for ruining everything”, DoYeon snapped back, causing MyungSoo to look down.

“I didn’t-”, as he was about to speak up, she quickly interrupted him while raising her hand in front of his face.

“I called to tell you what a fool you were. To think that I should be sorry for you… tsk. So fake”, DoYeon snickered. MyungSoo could literally hear his heart shatter into pieces.

“I loved you”, he silently uttered but loud enough for her to hear.

“Again, I didn’t”, DoYeon remarked as she stood up and left, leaving MyungSoo in shock.

Stop it, MyungSoo, get a grip, MyungSoo told himself, tears falling down from his face. It was over. DoYeon’s words felt cold as ice.

Hold on, hold on, MyungSoo quietly thought as he stood up and left the café.

Unknown to him, a group of paparazzis spotted him, running towards to where he is.

“That’s INFINITE’s L!”, one shouted.

“L – ssi, we need to ask you some questions”, another one shouted.

Hearing those words made MyungSoo panic, looking for an escape route. Of all the days, he thought. However, it was a one way street, leaving him no choice to look for another direction.

The paparazzis were already approaching him, running as fast as they could. As his mind became blank, a hand pulled him towards a hidden alley behind the café. It took him a while to realize who it was.

“Ma-”, MyungSoo said in surprise, but Mav completely covered his mouth to prevent him from speaking any further.

As Mav peeked at the paparazzis, MyungSoo couldn’t believe such coincidence happened. As he removed Mav’s hand from his mouth, he collected his thoughts and looked at the direction Mav was looking. As both saw the paparazzis sigh and leave in frustration, Mav released a long breath, causing MyungSoo to chuckle.

“Shouldn’t I be the one who should be doing that?”, MyungSoo pointed out, causing Mav to give him a confusing look.

“I ran too, you know”, Mav retorted, causing MyungSoo to chuckle more.

“How did you find me?”, MyungSoo asked curiously.

“Believe it or not, it just so happened that I passed by. We have no classes for today”, Mav explained.

Silence filled the atmosphere between. As MyungSoo was regaining his breath, Mav looked at him intently, causing MyungSoo to feel slightly uncomfortable.

“Stare at me more or I’ll seriously kiss you”, MyungSoo said in a teasing tone but Mav didn’t waver.

“Who was she?”, Mav silently asked, causing MyungSoo’s smile to disappear. Before he could answer, he quickly stood up and grabbed her hand.

“Let’s go somewhere… not here”, MyungSoo invited. Mav was left with no choice but to follow him.

Can I really?, MyungSoo thought as they both walked away from the café.