Soeun couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she had to pick Choi Hana as her best friend out of everyone else she knew.

Hana was the opposite of almost everything she liked in a person, but somehow, that did not deter Soeun from befriending her and gradually building a strong bond with the feisty and straightforward accountant.

Soeun was a girl who abhorred waiting – regardless if it was for someone, for food or for her online shopping items to arrive. She was someone who absolutely hated wasting time waiting. In other words, one would call her impatient or hasty, despite the fact that she was a rather pleasant tempered girl.

Hana, on the other hand, was a girl who was constantly late. Be it for important meetings or for dinner date with her friends, she was someone who cared little for being on time. There was a wide range of reasons for her to lose track of time, and the biggest one was her ability to oversleep. She had a knack (or an annoying talent, as Soeun liked to put it) for sleeping through almost everything. As such, alarms were useless on her and she was therefore, late to many of her engagements.

Having gotten used to her lack of time management, Soeun had already built up a habit of not waiting for Hana when she was nowhere to be seen for ten minutes after their meeting time. She was now immune to losing her temper over her best friend’s tardiness, since there was pretty much nothing she could do to ‘cure’ her condition.

However, Soeun couldn’t help but to feel immensely peeved with Hana that afternoon.

She had gone on a major shopping spree in one of the crafts store she chanced upon after paying the last of the rental for her shop, and had walked out with three full bags of paper goods, other craft items and an adorable mint green embossing machine that had Soeun’s eyes glimmering in excitement upon her first sight. Hana was supposed to meet her for a lunch date then, and so Soeun was sure she would have another pair of hand to help her with her bags.

However, what Hana said when she picked up Soeun’s call (miraculously) set the bridal storeowner off her good mood. Apparently, she was on the way not to meet Soeun, but to rush down to an impromptu end of year luxury brand sales down in one of the warehouses.

Perhaps Soeun shouldn’t have bought so much from the crafts store in the first place, but really, what designer could resist when she entered a place that she could call her haven? It was like telling a shoes-obsessed woman not to get a single item in a shoe shop.

It was virtually impossible.

Soeun heaved a heavy sigh and eyed her purchase with regret and slight distress. She had only walked for five minutes after exiting the crafts store, and already she could feel the exhaustion catching up on her. The darned embossing machine was double the weight of the other two bags combined and it was turning Soeun’s arm purple. She contemplated calling Lou, but seeing as her shop was just a few minutes walk from where she was, she decided to forgo that notion.

“Stupid Hana. Choosing bags over her best friend,” Soeun grumbled, picking up the bags once more with a grimace as she started a slow trudge down the icy streets. Passersby moved to give the struggling young woman a wide berth, but it was mainly from the dark expression that coated her flushed face and the spiteful mutterings falling from her lips. “Stupid me and the stupid embossing machine. Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

She was rounding the corner towards her shop’s street when she bumped into someone, causing her to drop her bags onto the snow covered cobbled floor. Soeun let out a soft yelp and immediately scrambled to save the paper from the wet floor when hands started reaching for her purchases as well.

“I am so sorry!”

Soeun looked up at the familiar voice and narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the men under their heavily accessorized face. Despite it being winter and snowing, one of them was wearing sunglasses while the other two had their faces heavily concealed under their scarves and winter hats.

“Soeun-ssi!”

Sungjong and Sungyeol looked up at Woohyun’s loud exclamation as smiles broke out on their faces. Sungyeol peeled the oversized shades from his face while Sungjong pulled the thick scarf from blocking his smile.

“Hi guys,” Soeun said, chuckling when both Sungyeol and Sungjong quickly replaced their disguise when a group of young girls walked past.

“What are you doing here?” Sungyeol asked. He brushed the wet papers down with his coat sleeve before putting them back into the bag gingerly.

“My store’s down the street from here. Just got back from a little shopping as you can tell,” She explained, heaving the heavy bags onto her arms once more with a grunt. “How about you guys?”

“Holiday shopping,” Woohyun answered. He eyed the angry red lines on Soeun’s arms caused by the bags’ ropes in concern. “Do you need help?”

“Ah, no, it’s okay. My shop’s just down the street from here. I’ll be fine.” The three looked skeptical at her however, when they noticed how she was already struggling to keep a firm hold on the bags. Silently, Woohyun reached over and grabbed all three bags from her, his eyes bugging out at the combined weight of the three.

“It’s okay, really. I don’t want to both –”

“You’re not bothering us.” He interrupted and passed two bags to Sungyeol and Sungjong. “But what the heck did you buy, Soeun-ssi? Gold?”

“I might have gone a little overboard with my shopping.” Soeun explained sheepishly as she thanked the guys for their help. “Couldn’t help myself when I see all the pretty scrapbooking items.”

Sungjong chuckled as Soeun led their way to her shop. “You sound like Sunggyu-hyung when you said that. He spends money like it’s water too,”

“Ah… when you put it that way, it just sounds like we’re wasting money needlessly. I’ve got a pretty good reason for my spree.”

“That’s what they always say,” Sungyeol joked. “Anyway, Soeun-ssi, how old are you?”

Soeun turned towards him with wide, disbelieving eyes at his sudden random question. “Eh?”

“Oh, I don’t mean to offend you or anything.” He explained hastily at seeing her expression. “It’s just to get our ages right. This idiot here,” at this, he nudged Woohyun roughly. “Is talking to you like you’re younger that us. But I’m pretty sure you’re older.”

“I see. Well um, I’m not too sure how the age thing goes here but I’m born in October 1989.” Soeun admitted.

“Noona.” Sungjong declared immediately. “You’re the same age as Sunggyu-hyung. He’s the oldest in Infinite.”

Soeun couldn’t help but smile at his pronunciation of Infinite as ‘Inpiniteu’. It never failed to amuse her how Koreans pronounced some of the English words. Rather than laughing at them because of their lack of ability to properly articulate some letters, she thought it was adorable how they went about giving English a whole new other sound.

“How old are you three then?”

“I’m 21, noona.” Woohyun replied, calling Soeun ‘noona’ naturally, as though he had been calling her that since the first time they met. “Same as Hoya and Sungyeol. Dongwoo hyung’s our second oldest at 22, L’s the second youngest at 20 while Sungjong here is our maknae.”

“I’m 19,” Sungjong added. Soeun grinned at the youngest and ruffled his hair fondly.

“Noona, where’s your shop?” Woohyun asked. He had taken upon himself to be the one carrying the bag holding the embossing machine and the toll of the weight was starting to show on his flushed cheeks.

“It’s just up front,” She said, pointing out to the only window display along the avenue that wasn’t glimmering with bright lights. “I am really, truly sorry for disrupting your holiday shopping.”

The three shook their heads and mumbled out easygoing responses as they trudged through the snow. It never failed to escape Soeun’s notice how they would lower their heads or turn to look elsewhere whenever a group of young girls passed by.

Soeun’s warm breaths came out in a foggy exhale as she tucked her hands into the deep pockets of her coat. Snow was starting to fall once more as the evening sky darkened into night. With the setting of the sun, the festive lights decorating the streets of Sinsa-dong were given a chance to show off its bright glimmer, accompanied by the pop Christmas carols that played softly from the lit stores.

“We’re here.” She said, coming to a stop in front of their destination.

Soeun’s place was noticeably smaller than the rest of the other boutiques, but its eye-catching concept pulled the attention of passersby to it immediately. The exterior was given a black and white theme with its white brick walls and window displays that were given a smooth black t. The words – House of Ingrid – in bold, block letters were arranged at the top of the shop front, where it sat between two antique styled wall lamps. It was as if Soeun’s bridal place served as a visual respite from the boldly decorated window displays lining the street.

Soeun rummaged through her bag for the keys and bent to unlock the glass door before entering and holding it open for the boys. “You can just leave the bags by the door, it’s fine.”

The first thing the three Infinite members notice once they stepped through the entrance was the rich, sharp smell of peppermint and sweet vanilla that greeted their senses immediately. The aroma surrounded them in a thick curtain of festive contentment, which only thickened further when Soeun started up the stereo and the smooth, velvety voice of Frank Sinatra crooning traditional holiday tunes softly, filled the still air.

Lights flickered once before switching on fully, brightening the dark shop up in a warm, orange glow. As the three singers moved deeper into the bridal store, they couldn’t help but be in awe at the sleek interior, despite it being half-done.

Fairy lights hung down in sparkling strands from the staircase that led customers to the second floor, giving the walls of the shop front a halo of warm glow. A heavily decorated Christmas tree stood proudly in the corner beside the marble counter which was littered with wall hangings that Soeun had yet to put up. The interior of the shop was given a palette of neutral tones, except for the ceiling walls, which were painted a dark night sky blue.

Sungyeol whistled lowly. “Wow. Soeun noona, did you design the space yourself too?”

“Oh, no. Of course not!” Soeun looked up from the store’s main electrical control where she had been trying to bring up the temperature of the place. She gave the heating system’s knob a slight turn to the left before shutting the carefully concealed box and going back to the front of the shop. “I hired an interior designer to help with the space. I merely put up the decorations which as you can see, I’ve yet to finish.”

“It’s so pretty.” Sungjong murmured in wonder. “Can I live here forever?”

Soeun laughed in reply as she looked through her small pantry for the can of hot chocolate powder and the jar of peppermint canes and mini marshmallows. “You guys get yourself comfortable first, alright? I’ll whip up some hot chocolate for you.”

“Thank you, noona!” The three chorused back in unison. Woohyun took a seat on one of the three suede couches while Sungjong and Sungyeol wandered around the place, browsing through the various wedding paper crafts that Soeun had designed.

It was then that the little silver bell hanging above the front door tinkled, signaling the arrival of someone to the store.

Hana came through the doors with her numerous bags of purchase, her porcelain skin flushed from the cold of the winter air outside. She moved further into the store and placed the paper bags down onto the glass coffee in front of where Woohyun was sitting on, not noticing the young man as she pulled the thick knitted scarf free from her neck.

“Elly! Come look at what I got for you!” Hana yelled as she tucked her long brown hair behind her ears and started rummaging through one of the paper bags that had a red bow on it. She took out a specially wrapped box from the bag with a quiet exclamation of triumph and looked up, only to see Woohyun standing in front of her, gapping at her in what someone would call pure reverence.

“Um, what the heck?” Hana’s brows shot up at the strange man and started backing away from the table slowly. She turned around to see where her best friend was when she her eye stopped on the figures of Sungyeol and Sungjong. “Elly! There are weird guys in the shop!”

Soeun rolled her eyes and made her way towards the couches with two small baskets of white and dark chocolate peppermint bark and fudge brownies in her hands. She bumped the side of her hips against Hana’s to move her out of the way and placed the baskets onto the table. “They’re my friends.”

“Since when did you have guy friends?” Hana asked bluntly, earning herself surprised looks from the younger two members at the words that were coming out of . Woohyun, however, was still staring at her intently, much to her chagrin. The accountant frowned and pointed at him. “What’s wrong with that one?”

“Don’t mind her. Try these, I made them myself.” Soeun told the three, waving her hand in Hana’s direction dismissively. Sungyeol immediately rushed towards the table at the first sight of food and quickly shoved a piece of fudge in his mouth without any hesitation.

Soeun then turned towards her statuesque best friend and huffed. “You were supposed to meet up with me! How could you abandon me for shoes? What kind of friend are you?”

“A good one that knows bargains are hard to come by. Especially for luxury brands.” Hana patted the shorter woman on the head lightly and grinned at her. “Someone’s got to make sacrifices for the greater good.”

Soeun made a face at Hana’s unreasonable logic and shook her head in exasperation. She had already given up on trying to make sense of what Hana considered to be philosophical, seeing as that girl was on another level of weirdness Soeun couldn’t seem to reach.

Hana grabbed the numerous bags from the table and walked towards the staircase, making sure to send Woohyun one last look of bewilderment when she realized he had yet to take his eyes off of her. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.” Before she could disappear upstairs, however, she turned towards the group again and pointed at Woohyun.

“That person has some serious issues. I think he needs help.” She deadpanned.

“Hana!”

“What? I’m just saying!” With that, the accountant continued on her wake upstairs, ignoring the incredulous look Soeun was sending her.

“Woohyun-ah, I’m really sorry about her remark.” Soeun apologized. “She doesn’t mean anything from it. It’s just her nature to be that way,”

“Noona… can you introduce us?” Woohyun asked, his voice still holding a light tinge of dazed dreaminess.

“Huh?”

Woohyun picked up a piece of fudge and gestured in the direction Hana had disappeared to. “Your friend, she’s very pretty.”

“Oh, um… Woohyun-ah…”

“Just ignore him, noona. He’s like that when he sees a pretty girl.” Sungjong rolled his eyes at his hyung’s behaviour and took a bite out of the peppermint bark. “Hyung’s always going on about how loyal he is to his Inspirit girlfriends, but when he sees a pretty woman, whoosh and ‘Inspirits? Who are they?’”

“Inspirits?”

“The name for our fans.” Sungyeol explained through mouthfuls of chocolate fudge. He was the perfect example of someone stuffing his face, with his full, bulging mouth and the pieces of peppermint bark he held in his hands.

“Slow down!” Soeun advised although she was amused by his enthusiastic response towards her baking. “You’re going to choke if you keep stuffing them into your mouth like this!”

“I can’t help it! These are so good,”

“Just slow down. You’ll give yourself a bad stomachache,” Soeun stood up and moved back into the kitchenette when the sharp noise of the kettle pierced the air. She poured hot water into three mugs filled with the chocolate powder and stirred them well before topping them with some whipped cream, marshmallows and a stick of candy cane. She then placed the mugs and a tall glass of warm water onto a small wooden tray and brought it back out for the three men.

“Here, drink this before you really choke yourself.” She handed out the mugs, taking the glass of water for herself before settling back onto the couch. A comfortable silence fell over the four as they nursed the hot drinks and basked in the comfort the sweet holiday snacks brought.

“Noona, where in America were you born?” Sungyeol asked, breaking the silence. Woohyun was still stealing glances at the staircase, as though wishing for Hana to come walking down and join them anytime.

“I was actually born in Seoul.” Soeun said as she took off her shoes and pulled her stockings covered feet up onto the couch. “But I moved to New York with my family when my father decided to bring the family business abroad. I was 3.”

“3? How are you able to speak Korean so well then?”

“I had Korean language lessons growing up. My father was really firm on not letting my siblings and I forget our roots and made a point of not allowing us to speak anything but Korean at home. That’s how my language is so strong despite the accent.” She explained. “It’s funny though, despite the fact that he had drilled into our head how he hoped we’d marry someone of Korean descent, my brother and sister went off to get married to pure Caucasians.”

“And you? Do you have a boyfriend?” Sungyeol asked with cheeky grin.

Soeun shook her head with a small smile. “No. Not just yet. I’m more concerned over the opening of the store than finding a boyfriend.”

“When is your grand opening?”

“8^th January.” She nodded at the incredulous looks from the three and sighed, shrugging. “I’ve got poor time management, I know.”

“Why don’t you push back the opening then?” Woohyun asked. “I mean, it’s your store, you’ve got the say on when to open it or not right?”

“I do, but I wanted it to be on the 8^th of January because it’s a memorable date for my parents and I.” She turned towards the blank wall that was still waiting for her to put up the display pieces of her bridal headpieces and frowned. “But that’s okay, I’m sure everything will turn out just right. They always do.”

‘Lies,’ she told herself. ‘You’ve still got the second floor to fix.’

“We could help you. We’ve still got some time left.” Sungjong offered as his hyungs nodded in agreement.

Soeun shook her head firmly. “You three have already helped me enough by lugging my bags here just now. I don’t need to feel anymore guilty about disrupting your holiday shopping.”

“Aigoo, noona! It’s okay. We’re almost done with it, anyways.” Woohyun said, pointing to their shopping bags. “All that’s left for me is Sunggyu-hyung, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find something quick.”

“Mine too! And Hoya.” Sungyeol added. “I can just get anything purple for Hoya and he’ll like it. Gyu-hyung’s a little tricky though.”

“Oh, speaking of him, has Sunggyu-ssi recovered from his cold?” Soeun asked as the memory of him sniffling and sneezing popped into her head. For some reason, it bothered her to know that he was sick.

The three Infinite members looked to each other at her random question towards their leader as eyebrows rose in surprise. They then turn to appraise Soeun with identical expressions of curiosity and silent insinuations, causing her to flush red at their questioning gazes.

“It’s just… he was sick when I met you guys for the first time. And I know how hard it is to recover fully in the winter, even if it’s from just a minor cold.” She stammered, avoiding their eyes and taking a long gulp of her water. “Maybe you guys could get him a new coat… or a health basket… or something.”

Soeun cringed at her lame attempt to divert their attention, only to chastise herself when she realized how she had made it sound as if she should be guilty for being concerned over someone’s health. She cleared and sat up straighter in her seat, meeting the eyes of the three men in front of her.

“Sunggyu-hyung’s fine.” Sungjong replied, though the teasing smile tugging on his lips still stayed. “He’s always falling sick in the winter, it’s no big deal.”

“That’s good then,” Soeun nodded. Her eyes trailed over to the large cuckoo clock sitting against the wall, still waiting for her to put it up and noticed how late it had already gotten. “It’s getting late, you guys should go home soon. I’m sure you’ve got those schedules to run tomorrow right?”

The three nodded in unison.

“I’ll drive you guys home.” She said, taking the emptied mugs and glass from the table and placed them back onto the tray, along with the snack baskets that had long being cleaned out.

Sort of filler. But I wanted to show the growing friendship between these three and Soeun. And I also wanna introduce another aspect of the story, however brief it is. (Woohyun and Hana)
Part 2 will be uploaded later tonight when I'm home and I've finished typing out the last part :)

I realize I can never write a smooth ending for my chapters. Eotteoke? It's annoying me so much whenever I reread what I wrote. Also, I can't help but feel like this story's getting a little draggy :|

hugs and kisses and rainbows and unicorns for all of you!