“Hyori, wait up!” SungGyu called from the back exit door of the main school building. She had tripped for the umpteenth time today. Her normally peach toned skin was crimson. How could she have made a fool of herself in front SungGyu again?

As she got her keys out of back pocket, she felt a gentle hand slip its way around her wrist. Her heart felt as if it were about to jump from her chest.

“Hey, calm down. Only the Infinite members and I saw you fall. No one laughed.” He said, affectionately as she turned to meet her eye. “Well, except for DongWoo, but he’s always laughing.”

“Ugh!” She pulled her wrist free and covered her flushed face. SungGyu sighed.

“I know how much you hate embarrassing yourself in front of him, so I’ll help you become more graceful.”

“But-.”

That Saturday, SungGyu arrived at Hyori’s house bright and early. Hyori was just finishing her breakfast when he walked into the kitchen with his signature eye smile. Hyori noted that SungGyu’s v-neck accentuated his defined chest muscles.

“Cute bunny slippers.” Hyori looked down in horror as she realized she was still in those stupid slippers. She mentally smacked herself before excusing herself to get changed. SungGyu chuckled at the way her brow furrowed. He had always thought she was cute ever since SungJong had invited her to lunch after their drama classes in 9^th grade. But everything changed the summer before 11^th grade.

MyungSoo had decided that going to the beach would be a great last day of summer event. Hyori had worn a bright yellow tankini. When a couple of college guys began to hit on her, SungGyu felt this jealousy he had never felt for a girl before. He fondly remembers walking over and lightly taking her hand.

“Jagiya, lunch is ready.” He had said. Her cheeks were already flushed from sun exposure, but then seemed to glow when he said ‘Jagiya’. SungGyu’s heart pounded at the subconscious realization that Hyori could possibly like him back.

(Upstairs)

‘Oh gosh! What to wear?! I didn’t expect him over so early!’ Hyori thought. She furiously kicked those cursed bunny slippers across the room. ‘He’ll never see me as a woman because of those stupid shoes! Aigoo!’

She sat on her bed in utter defeat, staring at her closet until something caught her eye. The only yellow item she had ever bought and only because SungJong had recommended it.

She pulled the bathing suit tank top from under some old shoes. It still smelled like the salty ocean from when SungGyu called her ‘Baby’. Her heart ached viciously.

(Epik Dance Studio)

“Tablo-hyung let me rent this room out so that you could see yourself from different angles.” SungGyu said, enthusiastically as he and Hyori entered the room. There were floor to ceiling mirrors covering the walls except for the one they had entered through.

“Wow. I’ll have to thank him next time I see him. Tablo-oppa really took you under his wing after your brother left for the States. Do you still talk to SungMin?”

“Eh, yeah. Sometimes.” He was finally alone with Hyori and she wanted to talk about his older brother. SungGyu felt the pangs of jealousy bubble up in his stomach. “Let’s get started.”

“Okay.”

“The first step is for you to walk gracefully. Back straight and legs slightly bent to help support your weight better.”

“Are you calling me fat?” Hyori joked and SungGyu face twisted up in horror.

“No. N-n-never...”

“I was joking, pabo. Is my back straight enough?”

“No. Straighten your mid section a little more.”

“Like this.”

“Here, lemme show you.” He placed his hands on her stomach and lower back and electricity exploded between them. Their heads snapped up to stare at the other. Their chests were rising and falling in sync.

“SungGyu-hyung, are you in there?” WooHyun called from the front desk. SungGyu reluctantly pulled his hands away from Hyori’s waist.

“Yeah, Hyori and I are in here!” WooHyun burst through the door with Hoya and DongWoo in tow.

“Hey, guys! What are you doing here?” Hyori said and hugged each of them. SungGyu’s mood deflated as she wrapped her arms around DongWoo, who seemed to enjoy the hug far too much for SungGyu’s taste.

“SungGyu said Tablo let him rent out the practice room for free today, so we came to practice.” Hoya said as he sat down his duffel bag and began flipping through the songbook.

“We were kind of working on something here, guys.” SungGyu said in a tense voice.

“SungGyu, it’s okay. We can finish my gracefulness lessons some other time. I wanna see you guys practice.” Hyori said, already taking her seat on the lone bench in the back.

“If you say so.” SungGyu mumbled and Infinite began practicing. Hyori found her eyes drawn to DongWoo’s style. He was a balance between Hoya’s powerfulness and WooHyun’s gracefulness. Hyori eyes wandered to SungGyu and found him staring back at her. Her cheeks instantly flushed. When she looked back up, he was by the radio, shutting off the music.

“You guys are amazing! I wish I could dance like that, but my coordination really as you guys can see on a daily basis.”

“You may not be able to dance like us, but I think you’d make an amazing rapper.” DongWoo said with his signature smile. Hyori’s face lit up in a way that SungGyu hadn’t seen since the day at the beach.

“Really you think so?”

“Definitely! I’ll teach you when we go for ice cream later.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll have time for that.” SungGyu said harshly.

“Why not?” everyone asked.

“We have competitions in a month and we are not in sync. WooHyun, you missed a step before the chorus and Hoya, you almost stepped too far. If that’d been the real stage, you would have fallen off. DongWoo, you were off beat for nearly half the song. We need to practice instead of eating ice cream.  Hoya, go call MyungSoo and the SungBros.” The Infinite members stood in disbelief. Their leader never acted like this. SungGyu gave them a challenging look before they dispersed to practice or go call the missing members. Hyori sat on the bench once again.  She sighed and watched SungGyu or rather, the beast that had taken over SungGyu’s body. SungGyu met her eye and he instantly felt bad, but that didn’t stop him from pointing out all of DongWoo’s faults. Jealousy was an ugly monster that was rearing its ugly head.

 

“Ajumma, we’ll take the samgyeopsal platter.” DongWoo said before turning back to Hyori with a smile.

“So, how have practices been going? The showcase is right around the corner.”

“Don’t remind me. SungGyu’s been on my case ever since you came to practice.”

“Really? You should’ve told me. Once I have a word with him, he’ll never bug you again.”

“Awww, Hyori, you’re so adorable, but it’s ok.” DongWoo reached across the table to muss Hyori’s hair. Her cheeks flushed at the affectionate gesture. SungGyu, who had been ignoring the pair’s conversation, quickly turned his gaze towards them. “Hyung’s just trying to get us into tip top shape.”

“Yeah…. I guess.”

‘This kid is really resilient.’ Hyori thought as she took a sip of water.

“Plus, the only reason he’s treating me like this is because hyung likes you. Like a lot.” DongWoo said after the food arrived. Hyori’s eyes bulged and she choked.

“What? He what? Don’t be such a pabo.”

“He. Likes. You. Kang. Hyori.”

“But there’s no way….”

“Now, you’re being the pabo. He thinks you like me, so he’s jealous of how nice you are to me, hence why he hasn’t been himself lately.” Across the way, SungGyu’s heart pounded fiercer than ever before. If his crush was so obvious to DongWoo, then the other Infinite members had to know as well.

“Don’t joke around like that, DongWoo. Why would he like me? I’m clumsy. I’m not super pretty nor am I good at anything. Leaders deserve swans, not ugly ducklings.” Hyori looked down, allowing her hair to fall and cover her face.

“You may not be a graceful swan, but you’re definitely not ugly.” SungGyu whispered into her ear, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“SungGyu…” Hyori instantly pushed her hair back into her face. He tipped her head up towards him.

“You’re beautiful and you’re great at making me love you.” He gently placed a soft kiss to Hyori’s lips. Electricity shot between them even as they pulled away.

“What are you doing here?” Hyori said, suddenly breathless.

“He’s been following us all day.” DongWoo said with his signature smile.

“Yah. You knew all along?” SungGyu laughed to himself. “I guess I’m not great at hiding anything. I’m sorry I was so mean to you these past few weeks, DongWoo. Love makes you do crazy things.”

“It’s all good, hyung. But you should’ve confessed sooner. I thought I was going to pass out from all the death glares you’ve been giving me all day.”

“Mianhae, dongsaeng….” SungGyu said, running his hand through his hair, self-consciously.

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone. Have fun, lovebirds.” DongWoo quickly disappeared before Hyori or SungGyu could protest. They sat there awkwardly for a few moments.

“So, you like me, SungGyu….oppa…” Hyori looked up to meet SungGyu’s gaze. His cheeks were flushed at the sound of “oppa”.

“Yeah…” Hyori pushed her hair behind her ear, confidence swelling.

“Good. Because I like you, too. Oppa.” They smiled as Hyori leaned in for a gentle peck.

“I like the sound of that. Say it again.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“Oppa...” Hyori cooed, as her cheeks flushed.

“I like the sound of that.” SungGyu was about to make another move when he spotted the other Infinite members peering into the restaurant. “Yah!”

“What?” Hyori turned around and giggled at the sight of the goofballs. A parking meter suddenly became so fascinating. “Should we invite them to dinner?”

“Aish… Really? I guess, but you’ll have to have dinner with me next week.”

“That’s sounds amazing.” She smiled as the she signaled for the awkward teens to come into the restaurant. SungGyu snuck a quick kiss onto her lips before his noisy band mates sat down. Throughout the meal, the newly founded couple shared laughs and gazes of love and to think this love all started with “Jagiya” and a yellow tankini.