A few days had passed since my attack and I was no longer being treated like an invalid. Even better, Hoya had decided it’d be a good idea to teach me self defense. He was trained in Taekwondo himself, but he just taught me some basic defensive moves. We eventually had an audience as we worked in the main room. Sungyeol, Sungjong, Woohyun and Myungsoo sat against the wall eating a whole watermelon and cheering me on.

            “Get him noona!” Sungjongie yelled. He had a piece of watermelon in each hand and shook them side to side like they were pom poms.

            “You’re holding back,” teased Sungyeol.

            I was about to go in for an attack on Hoya when I felt someone grab my shoulder from behind me. I spun on my heel and brought my elbow into someone’s gut.

            “Holy crap!” Sungyeol hooted as Dongwoo fell to the ground in pain.

            “Oh my god,” I yelled out; dropping to my knees and grabbing his face between my hands. “Dongwoo sweetheart, are you okay?”

            He was clutching his stomach in pain, but the sound emanating from him was his iconic laughter.

            “You … trained her… well,” Dongwoo gasped to Hoya between laughs.

            Everyone else gave a round of applause as Hoya bowed dramatically to our audience. I helped Dongwoo to his feet and hugged him in apology, but he didn’t seem mad at all. I looked back at the others and saw that Sunggyu had joined the party as he leaned in his doorway. He clapped with everyone else and gave me an approving nod of the head. I felt heat rush to my face, but I chalked it up to extreme embarrassment.

            “Since everyone is here, I have an announcement to make,” Sunggyu said from his doorway. Everyone turned to him in curiosity.

            “I was just on the phone with Manager Jungryl and apparently there is an event at a local nightclub being thrown for one of the executive’s birthdays. We are all expected to attend. There’ll be media at the entrance, too. Other trainees and Woolim artists will be there so I expect everyone to be on their best behavior.”

            A chorus of affirmations was sent up by everyone. I started fidgeting where I stood. I couldn’t contain my excitement. This was exactly what I needed. Life had been so stressful lately. Going to a party and dancing with my seven favorite people sounded like just the right medicine.

            Boy was I wrong.

 

 

            I ignored the member’s whines outside the bathroom door as I finished putting on my makeup. This was the first time we had ever gone to a party like this and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. My hair flowed over my shoulders in long chocolaty brown waves. I was wearing the dark blue and purple sequined dress that Sungyeol bought me for my birthday. It was a little less skimpy looking once I had put it on, but I decided that I would wear a little black fur shrug to cover the tops of my still bruised arms and my exposed upper back. The dip in the front of the dress ended right below my sunflower necklace and only revealed a tiny bit of cleavage. Any cleavage made me uncomfortable, but it was the only dress I owned. I still wasn’t great with heels so I wore a shorter blue strappy pair that had been neglected in my closet since pre debut. They almost matched the dark blue sequins perfectly. I was debating whether to put tights on because the dress was a little short for my taste, when someone knocked obnoxiously loud on the door.

            I opened the door and yelled, “Yah!” into the main room and was greeted with seven shocked faces. The boys were all dressed and they were looking clean cut and handsome.  They looked like a bunch of GQ models. My eyes paused a little longer on Sunggyu in his tight fitting black pants, white v-neck shirt and dark gray blazer with black accents.

            “Noona you look beautiful,” Sungjong said. You would think it was the first time they had seen me like this. I noticed a few of them trying not to look at my legs and I realized that they hadn’t seen me in anything so short before.

            “I should wear tights, shouldn’t I?” I questioned them. This was one of those times where I could have used a female’s opinion. Any female would have done at that point because I knew nothing.

            “You look perfect noona. Stop being such a girl,” Myungsoo said as he moved past me to check his perfectly styled hair in the mirror.

            “Who knew Sungyeol was so good at picking out dresses?” Hoya marveled. “He has no fashion sense when it comes to his own outfits.”

            Sungyeol had been beaming at the compliment, but then his face fell when he heard the second part.

            “I think you look very handsome Sungyeol. And you have great fashion sense.” I watched with a smile as his cheeks reddened.

            “If you’re done now we should leave,” Sunggyu said as his eyes grazed over my body quickly with a worried look. He avoided looking at me the rest of the way there.

           

 

            We arrived in the stretch limo Woolim had sent for us and stepped out onto a little red carpet that led to the front doors of the club. I was blinded by the flashing cameras as Woohyun held my arm to help me out of the vehicle without falling on my face. I was relieved when he positioned himself in front of me in case my dress rode up while I exited.

            We stood together for pictures and talked to the reporters before finally entering the building. On the inside, the club seemed to stretch on forever. There were probably 200 people already dancing in the center of the room. I was excited to join the fun, but we were quickly led to one of the upper levels that looked over the dance floor. We had to greet the company higher ups and mingle before we could enjoy ourselves. I stuck to the side of whichever member was closest to me every time we were introduced to another industry professional I didn’t know. Sunggyu seemed to know a lot of them because he was the leader and dealt with most of the business in our band. We really would have been lost without him.

            After we had greeted everyone we were supposed to, we found the other Woolim trainees that were invited. We had debuted months before and had gained public popularity, but in my heart I still felt like a trainee and I was more comfortable hanging out with them than the other famous artists. I saw some girls I knew and separated from the guys to catch up with them, but they seemed a little intimidated by me now. After an awkward three minute conversation I ran back to find a band mate. Any of them would do.

            I found Hoya and Myungsoo talking to a pair of tall boys and made a b-line for them. I came up behind my friends and pulled my arms through there’s as I let out a deep breath of relief. They laughed knowingly at my nervous behavior.

            “Noona, this is Dae Ryong,” Hoya said as he pointed to the boy across from him on my left.

            “And this is So Ryong,” Myungsoo said pointing to the boy across from him on my right. “They’re trainees.”

            I was smiling and ready to introduce myself when I looked back and forth in awe. They were twins. They were both a little taller than Sungyeol and were therefore towering over me even in my heels. The one on the left had a little more hair than his brother and it was dyed a lighter shade. Other than that, I wouldn’t have known which was which. They gave me matching smiles as they saw my startled expression.

            “Sorry, I was taken off guard,” I said. “My name is Julia.”

            “We know,” they said at the same time. It was a little creepy but we all just laughed. “How old are you, Julia?” So Ryong said. Or was that one Dae Ryong? I had already forgotten. My brain didn’t work correctly when I was nervous.

            “I’m a 89er,” I replied. Living in Korea I quickly became accustomed to the obsession with age and rank.

            “We’re 88er’s,” the lighter haired one said. “That means you can call us your Oppas.”

            I just smiled uncomfortably and nodded. I didn’t even call Sunggyu Oppa. Hoya seemed to sense my discomfort because he smiled and turned to me.

            “Noona didn’t you want to dance?”

            I nodded emphatically and hopped a little on my heels while Myungsoo and Hoya chuckled.

            We made our way down to the first floor and I grabbed any member I found on our way there. I pulled Dongwoo and Sungyeol by their sleeves as we advanced in one big cluster. The twins had decided they’d dance with us too. I was happy to see that at least a few other females had joined our pack as we reached the dance floor.

            At first we all danced in one giant group and I was having the best time. Sungyeol spun me carefully over to Dongwoo who tangoed with me dramatically. I giggled like a five year old as he made faces like he was posing for the cover of a romance novel. When the song changed he let me go and I started to dance with myself. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the beat of the music.

            I suddenly felt someone dancing close to me; almost touching. I opened my eyes and found the dark haired twin staring down at me.

            I smiled politely and peeked around him to see that we were separated a little from the others. I danced with him a bit before I tried to make my way back to the group, but he seemed lost in the music and blocked my path. I reflexively shimmied away from him a little; bringing myself further into the sea of strangers.

            I felt the distance from my Infinite members widen and a weird apprehensive feeling formed in the bottom of my stomach. When I wasn’t near them I got separation anxiety. It was a little immature considering I was an adult, but I suddenly was very uncomfortable.

            I tried to communicate to the twin that I wanted to get back to the group using my words, but he either couldn’t hear me or didn’t care as he just danced closer. I went to leave again but his hand came to rest on my hip and held me in place. His long fingers tightened as he gave my hip a firm squeeze. I stopped dancing entirely. I turned my back to him only to be confronted with his face again. I almost screamed out in shock, but then I realized it was just his twin with the lighter hair. I covered my surprise with a forced smile as he started to dance with me too.

            My anxiety was building and I was starting to get annoyed. I darted to the side swiftly, but one of them grabbed my hand by the wrist and spun me in circles to the point that I was dizzy. The sensation reminded me of my recent attack and all the disorientation I had felt. I reached out desperately to find support on one of the twin’s arms as my breathing kicked up. He took my sudden touch the wrong way.

            I wasn’t even sure which twin I was with anymore as he brought his large hand to rest on my upper chest; right over Sunggyu’s necklace. I recoiled like a snake and appropriately made a low hissing sound in the back of my throat. I accidently had backed into the other brother, though. I could feel his whole body moving as he danced against me. His hands were touching my waist and roaming down towards my legs. I suddenly felt nauseous.

            Everywhere I turned I was confronted with the same face. It was like a terrible nightmare. Were there two of them or five?

            I was verging on the point of madness as I ducked and dashed to the side for the second time only to have him grab my wrist yet again.

            That was it.

            As his broad thumb was wrapping tightly around my wrist, I brought my teeth down onto it and I clenched my jaw as hard as I could. I caught some of my own flesh in the process, but I was past caring. I tasted blood on my tongue and heard a satisfying yelp as my wrist was set free.

            In a flash the dark haired twin was looming over me again, but his lust was replaced with rage.  I felt his wrath pulsing off his body in waves as he glowered down at me. I wasn’t one to run from a confrontation and my own anger was in full gear so I glared up at him; daring him to do something to me.

            Our standoff ended as abruptly as it began when a hand appeared on the twin’s chest. He was suddenly many feet away from me as he was pushed back forcefully. I tried to hide a laugh as he collided with his brother and they both stumbled on their long legs.

            Sunggyu stood between us now and even though he was outnumbered and shorter by at least 5 cms, he stood his ground in front of them. He glared up at them with the deadliest look I had ever seen. I had been the subject of many disapproving Sunggyu stares, but this one was down -right scary. He didn’t say a word as the twins watched his eyes speak volumes. Their anger dissipated and changed to concern for their own safety as Sunggyu dared them to try something. He was apparently much more intimidating than me.

            The twin I had bit with the darker hair held his bleeding hand up in surrender. Sunggyu turned back to me and grabbed my hand. His fingers interlacing between mine washed away the dirtiness I had experienced. His touch felt natural and pure.

            Before I could be pulled away, I marched up to the twins and snapped my teeth together as loudly as I could. I was pleased when they recoiled from me in fear.

            “Tasty,” I said with a devilish smirk before I was towed through the crowd and away from their wide eyes. Their expressions were perfect copies of astonishment.

            I had lost my mind.

            I was dragged deeper towards the back of the club by Sunggyu. My breathing had picked up tremendously as the shock of what had just occurred settled over me.

            Cold air suddenly hit my face as Sunggyu pulled me out of the building and into the dark alley behind the club.

            My gasps were coming out with visible puffs in the chilly December air. At some point while we were in the club it had started to snow. Sunggyu led me into the darkness as he glanced around to see if there was any one else in the alley.

            When he was satisfied, he pushed me gently against the wall and brought my hand close to his face. A piece of cloth materialized out of his blazer pocket and he wiped the blood away from my injury. I was stunned as I saw that the deep impression of my canine had put a hole in my body  near my wrist. I couldn’t even feel it. When he had cleaned my wound he leaned in and slowly planted a kiss over it.

            Goosebumps suddenly covered my flesh. I wasn’t sure if it was from the snow drifting onto my arms and upper chest or if it was from the sensation of having his soft lips pressed against my skin.

            Sunggyu noticed my bareness and moved in closer. His body was leaning into me as he took his blazer off. I stared at the pale skin on his exposed neck as he placed the jacket over my shoulders. His eyes glided over my own uncovered neck and collar bones while my heart started to thunder in my chest. He tugged the blazer closed causing me to stumble into him on my shaky feet.

            The warmth coming off of his body from under his light t-shirt was absorbed by my freezing frame when he pulled me into him. I became lightheaded as his scent filled my head. My breathing had quickened to the point that I was almost panting.

            His hands found my face and tilted my chin up so that I was forced to look into his eyes while they burned. A quiet gasping sound escaped me as I was pushed back against the cold brick wall and he leaned his forehead against mine.

            He was breathing heavily now and my hands rested on his chest as it heaved up and down. My fingers curled reflexively into his shirt when his nose suddenly caressed mine. His fingers ran through my hair quickly before he gently grabbed a fistful and leaned my head back. Our lips were nearly touching as I felt his hot breath brush over my face and into my parted mouth.

            He was leaning in closer to kiss me when my eyes snapped open in panic. What were we doing?

            His lustful eyes widened with surprise when I pushed him away. He was still reeling from the push as I ran to the door. The gray blazer slipped off my shoulders and floated to the ground as I pulled the door open and raced back into the club.

            I was quickly thrown into a raucous mix of sweaty strangers that I had to fight my way through. I didn’t have a destination in mind. Just somewhere else. I had to get away.

 

 

            Woohyun was on the second floor watching the dancing bodies below when he spotted Julia. He could see her radiance from here as she danced with Sungyeol and Dongwoo. She was beaming in a way he hadn’t seen often lately, but it was a sight he wished he could see more. After everything that had happened, nothing warmed his heart more than seeing her happy and laughing.

            He watched as she danced by herself and then with one of the trainee twins he hadn’t had time to introduce himself too. They were moving further from the group and Woohyun couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, but she was still smiling.

            Sungjong called to him from a group of other trainees by the wall. A few of the girls were cute too, but Woohyun waved them off as he looked back over the banister and into the dancing crowd. It didn’t take long to relocate Julia as she moved and her sequins picked up the lights.

            Both twins were there now. One was on either side of her and the sight reminded Woohyun of a rat in a trap. One of the twins had grabbed her hand and was spinning her around a little too much. Of course they didn’t know that she recently had suffered a concussion, but Woohyun still tensed as he watched on with the eyes of a hawk. She was trying to find her balance when she recoiled from one twin’s touch only to bump into the other one. His hands started to roam over her. Woohyun’s whole body went cold at the sight. He looked to Julia’s face and even from his view above he could see her disgust.

            He was about to run down there when he spotted Sunggyu making his way through the crowd towards them. He was pushing men and women alike with no concern as he raced his way to Julia.

            Woohyun brought his eyes back to her in time to see one of the twins hovering over her looking angry. Dread filled Woohyun’s chest as it looked like this might go terribly wrong. He was about to try yelling out at them when Sunggyu arrived on the scene. He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when Sunggyu pushed the guy away. She was safe now. Sunggyu wouldn’t let anything happen to her; that he knew for sure.

            He watched with piqued interest as Sunggyu took her towards the back of the club and disappeared from view.

            Woohyun was no longer worried about her physical state as he made his way down to the first floor, but for some reason he was still disquieted. He moved calmly through the crowd and towards the back of the club, but it was a slow process.

            It felt like ten minutes had gone by when he was suddenly knocked backwards on his feet by a distressed Julia.

            She didn’t even look at him as she apologized and ran past. He yelled out to her, but she couldn’t hear him as she darted towards the entrance. Woohyun turned to see Sunggyu following her. This time he was ready and he grabbed Sunggyu by the shoulders as he tried to pass.

            “What did you do?” Woohyun shouted over the music.

            “Did Julia come past here?” Sunggyu asked; his eyes wide and panicky.

            Woohyun brought his face right beside his leader as he spoke into his ear “You know you can’t be doing this.”

            He backed away to see Sunggyu’s shocked eyes as he tried to discern what Woohyun meant. He realized quickly.

            “I have to find her,” Sunggyu yelled. His eyes were pleading with Woohyun to understand.

            “I’ll go after her. Stay here.” Sunggyu made to protest but Woohyun brought his eyes within an inch of his best friend’s and repeated in a deadly tone, “Stay. Here.”

            He turned from Sunggyu as he stood stock still in the middle of the dancing crowd. “Check the playground!” Woohyun heard him shout as he made his way to the doors and out into the snowy night.

             

 

            She wasn’t at the playground, Woohyun saw as soon as the cab pulled up to their dorm. His anxiety doubled as he ran into the house and didn’t find any signs of life. He stood in the middle of her bedroom and stopped to think. Where else could she be?

            His heart rate picked up with hope when he heard a quiet noise. Was that a cat? He realized quickly it was the soft sounds of someone stifling their own tears. He hated when she cried. But where was it coming from?

            He looked out her open window and saw the glass sunflower that he had helped Sunggyu procure the day she was in the hospital. The pedals looked like liquid gold as they shone with melting snow flakes.  He knew where she was.

            Woohyun quickly ran out of the house and around to the side of the building and found exactly what he was expecting.

            Sitting on the cold dirty ground under the flowerbox was his noona. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her bare legs. Her face was buried in her knees as she cried. The ground was not yet covered in snow but he could see random flakes speckled through her brown hair as it cascaded over her arms like a makeshift blanket. She must have been freezing.

            All he wanted was to get her inside, but when he went to grab her she tensed up and made a strangled sound that hurt his ears. He stopped trying and covered her in his jacket. It was the best he could do.

            He lowered himself to the ground as close to her trembling body as possible; hoping to at least transfer some of his heat to her as she shivered. Only a second after he had sat down her head popped up.

            Her eyes were large, puffy, and frazzled as she yelled, “You’re going to get your pants dirty!”

            Woohyun couldn’t stop from laughing out loud. This was typical. She’s sitting in the dirt in her birthday dress with no concern for her own health, but he gets his pants dirty and she turns into an angry mom.

            “Should I take them off then?” he asked as he went to undo his buckle.

            “Stooop,” she dragged the word out with a cute whine as she grabbed his arm. He was pleased to see that she was trying not to laugh even as tears still silently rolled down her cheeks.

            “Everything is going to be alright noona,” Woohyun assured her quietly.

            “How do you know?” She asked seriously. She looked hopeless. Like she had been through hell and back. When he thought about her life so far he realized he wasn’t far off.

            “Because so long as we are all together we can get through anything. All eight of us.”

            His words had an effect on her as he knew they would. He knew how she felt about them all and how she felt when they weren’t around her. He honestly believed that as long as they were with her they could keep her safe; physically and mentally.

            “Can I tell you a secret?” she said conspiratorially, suddenly trying to pretend she wasn’t upset. She wanted to distract him so he wouldn’t be worried about her. She was the elder here and she felt that she had to take care of them. She didn’t want any of them taking care of her. Woohyun saw right through her, but he played along. There were very few limits on what he would do to make her smile.

            “Tell me! Tell me!” he chanted brightly.

            “I bit a trainee tonight.” She said with an adorable smirk. It was forced, but still adorable.

            Woohyun couldn’t stop laughing. He nearly fell to his side as the laughs started in his belly and erupted from his body. He saw with pleasure that his laughter made her smile. And this smile wasn’t forced either.

            “You really bit him?” he asked as he wiped tears from his eyes.

            “And I told him he was tasty,” she said covering her face in shame.

            “You even gave him a cool one liner? Noona, you can’t tell me things like that or I’m going to start falling in love with you, too.” He realized too late that it was the wrong thing to say. He tried not to slap himself upside the head as her face fell again. Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered Sunggyu. Her expression was worse than when he got there. And he had been doing so well, too.  

            “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m a bad guy. Are you mad at me, noona?” He was shamelessly playing on her sympathies as he gave her sad puppy dog eyes. He was good at being cute.

            He held his arms open to her and she searched his face as she considered. He eventually won as she gave up her fight and started bawling. She allowed him to collect her in his arms. He held her back against his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her body; wishing he could squeeze the sadness out of her. She cried into his forearm as it cradled her face. He laid his head on top of hers and rocked her side to side.

             “Noona, you’re my hero,” he said quietly. She laughed through her tears; never realizing he was completely serious.

            After only about eight minutes of rocking, hugging, and crying she was fast asleep. He knew she would succumb to her exhaustion in no time. She had a tendency to fall asleep at the drop of a hat no matter where she was. Especially after a stressful day.

            He took his phone out. He ignored the 5 unread texts from Sunggyu and just sent him a message that she was safe. He put his phone away before he scooped Julia into his arms and carried her towards the house. She woke a little at first, but she just grumbled something incoherent and nuzzled her ice cold nose into his neck.

            He remembered seeing her do the same thing to Sunggyu. His sympathy for Sunggyu in this situation sky rocketed as he stared down at the bundle of Julia in his arms. Of course Sunggyu had fallen in love with her. Woohyun couldn’t come up with a single thing not to love.

            When he got her into the house he laid her in her bed amongst the pile of stuffed animals from their amusement park trip. He struggled to undo the strappy things on her shoes before he slid them off her feet. He silently took off her earrings and bracelets, but decided to leave the sunflower necklace on her.

            As he brought the blanket to her chin she moved again. This time her hand was reaching around on the ground while she slept. He looked to see what she wanted and spotted the leopard Sunggyu won in the balloon contest nearby.

            He resisted the urge to kick the stupid leopard across the room. Instead, he nudged it closer to her hand with his foot. When it was close enough she grabbed it around the head and pulled it up to her face. He watched sadly as she hugged the leopard tightly to her chest and hid her nose in its fur.

            He had told her everything would be alright, but he suddenly wasn’t so sure.