It was Valentine ’s Day when Hoya and Hyunae first met. A bruised and worn out trainee preparing for his debut, and a restless waitress who in turn envied the couples she served day in and day out in that one coffee shop.

But that day was the day that changed their lives for the better.

In that coffee shop filled with lovers giggling and taking selcas sat alone a stressed out waitress taking her break, her hair messily tied back into a ponytail. She kept sipping her frappe, biting her lip so hard to not be reminded of how lonely she was.

Why the hell am I sitting here when I know I’ll be jealous? Her mind hissed to herself.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before her. It was a guy who reeked of sweat wearing a black fitted tank top and baggy shorts. Beads of perspiration slithered down his shiny neck as he stared down at her, panting.

“Mind if I take a seat? The entire place is full,” he asked so casually, almost in a hurry.

Taken aback, she simply obliged. The moment she did so, he dropped his bags, drank a heap of water and wiped off his sweat with a purple towel. He felt so relieved, as if he hadn’t rested for days.

That was true.

“That really hits the spot,” he said, exhaling the freshness after drinking the ice cold water.

“Don’t you feel awkward?” she asked.

“No, not really,” he replied. “Why?”

“It’s just… this is a coffee shop. Usually couples hang out here,” she stated. “Moreover, you’re a stranger who just came up to me and sits here like we’re really close when in fact, we don’t. I don’t know—it’s just—why are you here?”

He let out a long sigh before speaking. “If you really wanna know, I stay in this spot whenever I get the chance.” He pointed to the purple roses just beyond the glass beside them. “Even though I don’t look like it, I personally like the purple roses in the background. They calm me down from all the stress these days.”

“We’re on the same boat here. Working as a waitress all day pisses me off since I’m in a café filled with a barrage of couples. Do you know how annoying that is?”

“I apologize, but I’m not so sure,” he politely replied. “I have no social life outside the practice room. It feels almost like I forgot how to have a good time with all the backbreaking training I’ve been doing.”

Her face lit up. “Don’t tell me you’re in that new group from Woollim?”

His equally lit up as well. “How’d you know?”

“My cousin, Myungsoo, is in your group so I kinda get how you feel. You guys practice ‘till midnight and get home with a bunch of sore muscles only to get a few hours of sleep and get back to practice again early the next day. That kind of life is just… damn. Dude, kudos to you for being so dedicated to your passion.”

A gush of emotions surged through him; never had a girl complimented him like that. He observed her closely; how some stray strands kept popping out on the top of her head, how her makeup was close to fading, how her clothes were wrinkled with signs of exhaustion.

“You don’t seem to be having a good time either,” he remarked. “I guess you’re more frustrated than I thought.”

“I hate to admit it, but yes. Not a single guy likes me and my self-esteem usually lowers itself so drastically. As you can see, I look like a wreck right now.”

“That’s pretty true—“

“What—“

“Wait, let me explain,” he cautioned. “Look at me being all drenched in sweat, walking around smelling like a sack of gym socks. You think girls would want to come running into me? No. And Ms. Waitress, you don’t look bad—remember that for me. You’re just tired, that is all.”

She rested her chin on one hand. “We’re both just tired.”

“Tired of doing the same old routine,” he added, drinking the last of his water in one go.

“The same old tasks, just a different day…” An idea came to rise in her head; it seemed weird, but it was rather intriguing. She leaned forward a bit toward him and asked, “Hey, wanna deviate from the norm for a day?”

He raised a brow, his interest piqued. “Do tell.”

“I know this is crazy, but let’s hang out together. I reckon you have nothing to do being like that.”

“What about you? Don’t you have your shift?”

“ it. I need a life,” she replied with utmost eagerness. She was naturally a free-spirited person meant to go out and frolic. Her work permitted her to do the exact opposite, and her mind’s about to explode from isolation. She stood up and extended her hand to him. “So trainee friend of my cousin, whaddya say?”

“You’re right. It’s pretty crazy but what the heck, leggo.” He immediately packed his things, took her hand with a hint of awkwardness and agreed. “And it’s Hoya by the way.”

She put on a smile, the first he had seen from her. She looked different, but in a good way. The corners that formed at the sides of somehow made her cheeks look cutely puffier; the moment she smiled, he did too without knowing it. The moment she smiled, he knew within a split second that she was truly happy.

“Hyunae,” she chimed in as they left the coffee shop.

Off they went, simply strolling around leisurely and getting to know each other through light conversation. Side by side, they laughed, teased, and saw a new kind of light in each other’s eyes. Both glimmered with enthusiasm with every step they took. Never had they felt this way—not until they had met each other. It was truly a great escape—an escape with no regrets—an escape that was meant to be.

Sitting side by side on a park bench, both watched the sunset intently as a reminder of a day well spent. The place was tinted with a great hue of yellow and orange with traces of shadows enveloping their backs. Hyunae glanced to the side to see Hoya’s subtle grin and found her heart beating fast. Hoya did the same, catching in her in the act a result and felt the same throbs. Both shifted their heads away, slightly turning red.

“You… just still smell bad,” reasoned Hyunae as a lame excuse. It was true though.

“I know,” Hoya replied.

A long few seconds of awkwardness.

“So, shall I bring you home?” asked Hoya abruptly to break the silence. It was getting pretty late anyway and seeing that she was already tired beforehand, he figured she needed some rest.

Hyunae simply nodded.

The walk home was completely different; they barely spoke. Hyunae only told him which way to go every now and then. Hesitance and withdrawal were the main characters in those ten minutes; they would half open their mouths, preparing to say whatever they wanted but ended up not saying anything at all. A full-fledged sunset and some eye contact was all they needed to know that something was different—something was special.

They finally halted in front of Hyunae’s house and stared at it for a few seconds. Neither one of them wanted to leave.

“Are those white roses?” asked Hoya in much curiosity with the secret motif of extending their time together.

“Yes, I grow them,” she said. “I know this is stupid, but they make me feel like I’m special, that someday, even if no one looks at me right now, I will find someone.”

Someone’s looking at you right now, he thought.

He shook his head. “It’s not stupid. It’s,” he didn’t let hesitance prevail on this sentence. “cute.”

A gush of spark ran through them both.

“Thanks,” she managed to say, opening her gate and preparing to go inside. “It means a lot not be judged.”

“See you again sometime?” he asked, hoping for a yes.

“Definitely. I’ll come visit my brother and see the skills you’ve been boasting about.” Before she opened the door, she remembered something. She walked back to him and told him to flip his phone out. Quickly, she put in her number and said, “My number.”

With that, she ran back to the house and retreated. From outside, Hoya could hear who seemed to be like her younger brother screaming excitedly at her, teasing her about what he saw outside. To that, he chuckled.

As Hoya walked back home, he couldn’t help but grow accustomed to that lighthearted feeling all throughout him. Hyunae did the same, but released her feelings through listening to love songs all night long. While they didn’t verbally state it to each other, both acknowledged it as a date.

Who knew that in that crowded coffee house, two strangers have met courtesy of that one empty seat.

And nearly four years later, they were still together—cherishing each other to their heart’s content. Except one of them wants to level up and promise to make their love last forever.

Sitting in an empty meeting room, Hoya kept tapping his feet as he placed his hands on the table to clasp them firmly together. Unlike his usual self, he was fidgeting inside, and his nervousness was taking over him.

The door clicked open and six handsome guys all dressed in an array of varying styles came in. First were Sungjong and Myungsoo who both wore blazers that fit the dandy style followed by Sungyeol who had on him a simple yet expensive Vivienne Westwood tee and your usual denim jeans, the next two, Sunggyu and Woohyun, were fashion terrorists in black and mismatched tops and bottoms, and last but definitely not the least was Dongwoo who came into the room in winged Jeremy Scott shoes and a hip-hop attire that fit his personality quite well.

They sat in a semi-circle around Hoya, but instead of paying attention to what he had to say, they each carried on to their individual activities. Some flipped their phones out, a selected few took some selcas, and some boisterously talked. Hoya wasn’t surprised; they had always been like this.

Except for one.

“So, what’s it that we’re here for?” asked Sunggyu, lunging forward.

“It’s about,” He paused for a moment and sighed. “Shouldn’t we call their attention first?”

Sunggyu nodded and proceeded to shut them up accordingly. “Hey guys!” he yelled in an outburst. All of them paused and focused their view at the leader and Hoya. Sunggyu then added in a calm yet commanding tone, “Hoya has something to say, and I think it’s what we think it is.”

After hearing the leader’s sudden inference, they all huddled up opposite him on the table. Their semi-circle resembled a mosh pit of excitement.

Hoya cleared his throat and composed himself. “I’m going to propose to Hyunae—“

“Woo!!!” The six of them shouted in joy as if they were the ones proposing. They wailed inside that tiny room, jumping and the air. “We’ve been waiting for this moment since forever!”

Hoya was speechless.

Sungjong jammed his hands on his shoulders from behind and asked in his lighthearted high voice, “So, how will you do it?”

The other five paused again and squeezed together, curious. “Yeah,” they all said, “how will you do it?”

“I will do it at our concert; it’s going to be during, our ‘Man in Love’ stage. It is also timely since it’s going to be the last song of the night. You see, whenever we have a concert she just stays backstage and plays with her phone or talks to our stylists about woman stuff. We will let it stay that way; we will act normal. But during the song before which is ’60 Seconds’, she will be abducted by a selected few stylists and will be dressed accordingly into the beautiful dress I handpicked for her—“

“I hope it’s not horrible,” commented Sungjong. “And I hope it’s not purple.”

“It’s white,” Hoya said. “And it will fit her perfectly. I am sure of it after searching through fifteen different stores. I mean it. I put my mind, body, and soul into this.”

They acknowledged that and told him to continue.

“While she is being prepared, we will sing ‘Man in Love’ as we usually do, but in a slightly different choreography because before my part, she gets put on stage via the lift in the center blindfolded. I will remove the blindfold the moment the lift stops and once she regains her sight, she will not only be greeted by us, but a wide ring of purple and white roses that served as a mark of our first meeting. When it’s Woohyun’s part, a parachute with the ring on it will fall from the ceiling and drop to my hands. That’s during the no vocals part of the song that I will bend on one knee and propose to her and when she says yes, the last chorus plays and we party ‘till the song ends. If she says no, well, I just hope she won’t. And I hope and believe that she won’t because I love her and I let her know that for the past four years.”

All of them were speechless. It was a heavily thought-out romantic proposal that was hard to top. Hoya definitely outdid himself on that one.

“Dude, that’s just… wow,” Myungsoo commented. “Wow.”

“So, where’s the ring?” asked Dongwoo.

With a wide smile, Hoya got a tiny white box with rose embellishments around it. Slowly yet delicately, he reached out to open it until…

“Hey guys!”

“Oh !”

Until Hyunae abruptly busted into the room with her usual bubbly greeting. Luckily, she didn’t see the ring for Hoya had hidden it within a split second back in his jacket pocket.

Observing the tense atmosphere and the heavy panting of the seven, she asked, “What’s going on?”

They needed a save. And fast.

Myungsoo flipped out a few photos from his blazer’s pocket and lifted them up as if he was exhibiting a good hand of cards in a game. “Hoya was threatening us because we have embarrassing pictures of his wardrobe malfunction in the dressing room yesterday as well as his after shower and no makeup while sleeping photos.

They were real. And the save was legit.

She blinked twice, paused, and then excitedly bounced over to grab hold of the photos. “Cool! Let me see!”

“Wait, no!” He didn’t wanna be embarrassed. But there they were, his humiliating pictures being watched by his girlfriend.

She wagged a finger and arrogantly yet playfully shook her head. “That’s a little too weak for people like you guys and especially you my beloved cousin, Myungsoo.” She flipped her phone out and showed them the real gold. In the picture, Hoya had his cheeks bloated up and was trying so hard to pout and make his eyes bigger in the process that his face looked like an exploding balloon. “This is Hoya doing a fail, cringe-worthy aegyo by himself at home with a towel wrapped around his head. He was practicing it and damn, he ain’t cut out for it!” She held up a V-sign in the air. “My stealth skills are awesome, yes?”

“Damn right they are!” Dongwoo agreed. “Up top!”

Each of them high-fived her and proceeded to share the pictures amongst themselves leaving Hoya alone in an awkward spot in the corner. It was only when they were done laughing that she realized what she had come for.

She handed a tote bag over to Hoya and told him to open it. Inside, it was a cute grape-shaped lunchbox with a ton of savory food inside. Idols weren’t supposed to be eating such, but he couldn’t say no which led him to be an exception to that rule. That was one perk of being in a relationship.

“Made it fer ya,” she said as she rubbed the back of her neck and stuck her tongue out slightly. “Enjoy.”

He smiled and got up to rub her head. “Thanks. I’ll eat it well.”

The other six watched in jealousy.

“Hey, I gotta go,” she said. “My brother has a soccer match and I’ll be there to cheer him on.”

He patted her back, escorted her out, and thanked her once again for the food. When she left, he feasted on it like there was no tomorrow. The six watched him enviously; all they were told to eat was chicken , chicken , chicken .

“The sad life of being single,” they all said, letting out exhales of grief.

The door clicked open.

“Hey, what’s up? Their boss entered the room holding his phone looking like he just finished an important call. He sat on the chair beside the six members and warned, “This better be important for me to miss ‘Gu Family Book’.”

“Well, yes. You see, I am going to propose to Hyunae.”

He raised a brow quizzically. “For real?”

Hoya nodded.

“Prove it.”

Finally, the big reveal. The box was placed on the center of the table and inside it was a beautiful diamond ring that every girl would kill for. The members’ and the boss’s jaws dropped at the sight of its beauty.

“Damn right he’s serious,” whispered the boss. “And I reckon that you’ll be extravagantly pursuing this goal, yes?”

“Definitely. At the concert.”

“Expound.”

That was when Hoya repeated his plan via the whiteboard at the back. He drew the layout and everything. While his drawing skills were lacking, his voice made it clear what he wanted. But just as he finished, the door slowly opened accompanied by a contrasting outburst.

“Sorry!” yelled she.

“GAH!”

Within that split second the guys scrambled around to wrap the box around the boss’s blazer and slide in under the table while Hoya slapped his body across the whiteboard to erase his drawings. The people in the room were wide-eyed and panting intensely once again when she entered.

“Hyunae, what’s up?” asked Hoya, out of breath.

“I left my phone here.” Not noticing everyone’s state, she grabbed her phone quickly, apologized to the boss, and before she closed the door she said, “Sorry again, I’m in a rush; I’m so late for my brother’s game now!”

With that the door shut and they drew out sighs of relief. For a few seconds, they stayed like that until the boss broke the ice, still a bit breathless.

“That’s a really good idea,” he remarked. “And please don’t get me wrong here, but I also infer that you’d prefer to pay for the set and everything, am I right?”

“Yes, exactly. I’d like everything to be at my expense,” Hoya replied. “So are you guys game?”

The seven nodded, punching their fists in the air. “Game on, game on!”

And so, Hoya’s preparations began with much effort. Aside from his back-breaking rehearsals, he also had to handle his proposal which meant contacting the people who would bring his flowers and other props in. He had lots to do and had barely any sleep, but he knew it’d be worth it regardless. If it was for Hyunae, the muscle pain he brought home with him and the sores that came in the morning light were nothing compared to his deep feelings for her.

---

On the night before the concert, Hoya had arranged an extra rehearsal schedule to make sure that their night would be insured to be incredible. The Infinite members gathered around messily across the beautifully flowered up stage, yawning with their eyes half-open. Their unmotivatedness tapped onto Hoya’s temper, but he shrugged it away to maintain order.

He clapped twice to wake them up a bit. It only agitated them. “Let’s get to our usual ‘Man in Love’ positions, ‘kay?”

Without speaking, they went to their respective spots and sluggishly stayed put.

“What now?” asked Sunggyu with a hint of burden and dead weight in his voice.

“We dance,” answered Hoya, clenching his teeth mentally. “And dance like there are thousands of people in front of us. But more importantly, we dance for Hyunae.”

Hoya gave the cue and the stereo blared out their song in which he was the only one who made an effort to dance. The rest did miniscule movements of who knows what and at some point, the six stopped dancing altogether. To that, Hoya paused the song and pleaded them to do better although the second time, moreover the third time around, the exhaustion became worse. It was in the fourth time he had to stop the music that he lashed out.

“What the !” he shouted so loud that it echoed throughout the entire venue. That awakened the members. “Why can’t you guys get your together, huh? Can’t you see how important this is to me?”

Woohyun stepped up. “Can’t you see how tired we are? We’re barely hanging and we’ve been having a few hours of sleep a day on top of our rehearsals then you come in and ask for even more dancing and singing. Whoop-dee-doo, you insensitive prick!”

Hoya grabbed Woohyun’s collar and glared at him straight in the eye. Both under the spotlight, the top half of their faces were covered in shadows.

“Try saying that to me again. I dare you.”

Dongwoo came in to stop the upcoming fight. “Stop it. We’re all tired; we’re just thinking irrationally.” He turned to Hoya. “Hoya, I know this is important to you. But let’s call it a night. I assure you we know the routine very well.”

“It’s just you who’s also panicking,” stated Sungjong bluntly. “We’ve rehearsed it more than any number in this concert. So can we please get some ing sleep?”

There was silence in the room.

The youngest stomped his foot so hard that the sound whipped across the stage. “Sleep! Now!”

And sleep they went.

---

It was the day. The day of the proposal. The seven decided to talk in a circle on a few couches on the corner before getting into their stage outfits. They needed to clear up the tension to put up a good performance for the entire concert, and they all had some pent up guilt from last night.

The first one to speak was Hoya. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was just so… panicky. I just want it to be really special, you guys don’t need my touchy-feely side to this.

They all nodded. Sunggyu was the next to speak up.

“I shouldn’t have acted that away either; you were a thousand times more tired than us. Aside from rehearsals, you were planning something important.”

Sungjong chimed in. “And you were already pressuring yourself enough.”

“It’s not that easy, isn’t it,” remarked Sungyeol.

“… planning a proposal, rather,” added Myungsoo.

“You wanted to make her feel that she’s the world to you, that you wouldn’t know what to do without her presence by your side and that the feeling of you without her is foreign to you. I’ve never loved someone that intensely, and I may have not found that someone yet, but I get you. A guy like that can never be an insensitive prick,” Woohyun said. “I’m sorry, man.”

Hoya patted Woohyun’s back. “I shouldn’t have grabbed your collar like that. We chill?”

“Chill,” Woohyun said as he smiled.

“Then shall we put on the best stage ever?” asked Dongwoo, immediately pepping up the mood.

“Yeah!” yelled everyone.

Dongwoo then pointed to where the stylists were. “So let’s go and make ourselves look handsome because we look ugly from exhaustion!” He belatedly added, “Except for Myungsoo whose looks never fade for some awkward reason!”

Off they went to the dressing rooms and then to hair and makeup. The sound of blaring blow dryers filled the room alongside the clamor of makeup cases against the glass tables that held pounds of them. Halfway through the process, Hyunae came and a few of the stylists couldn’t help but grin at her direction. Even the boss who was usually composed let out a slight chuckle at her for no apparent reason. Everyone talked to her normally, acted very casually, and made her believe that the day was just an ordinary concert when in fact, it wasn’t. It would be the concert she’ll remember for the rest of her life.

“Infinite, time to go out!” yelled one of the crew members. The seven members nodded and stepped out of the stage and when they made their entrance, the fans burst into screams. The concert had begun.

Loud fan chants blared across the venue and the waving light sticks ceased to stop, matching the rhythm of each song. The members in return poured out their everything—all the sleepless nights and hardcore practicing. It was all for them, and all for the music.

During Sunggyu’s “60 Seconds” solo stage, Hyunae had already been abducted and trapped into a separate dressing room as the other members changed into their “Man in Love” outfits. The leader had already been strategically dressed to fit the rest of the members beforehand for a smooth transition between the two stages.

“Guys, get ready,” warned the crew member in which the six gather behind him, watching Sunggyu end his solo stage.

From the point of view of the audience, just as the song finished, Sunggyu let out a hearty smile and lowered his mic as he stepped backward. The lights dimmed, immediately making way to the large set of flowers to be prepared; it wasn’t before long that they finished and the six members entered and the screaming commenced. They knew what was going to happen.

The song began as preceded with all eyes on Hoya who smiled with much excitement that not a single fancam caught him in a dull moment. And when time came for Hyunae to be lifted up just before his rap, the crowd went really wild for him who poured out all his sincerity in those few seconds. Sunggyu and Woohyun then sang their parts while Hoya stood in front of her. He looked up and from the ceiling fell a parachute that held with it the ring box that he extended to toward her. She started crying and amidst the music break, he asked, “Hyunae, love of my life, the girl whom I met on a lonely Valentine’s Day four years ago, will you marry me?”

Bursting into tears, she nodded and jumped into his arms. The couple swung around happily and they all rejoiced with the song, clapping, cheering and jumping for joy. The audience congratulated them with fan chants and as the performance came to an end, they gave a good wave at the fans. Truly, that was a happy ending.

Four years ago, two strangers met at a café not expecting that four years later, they would end up spending their lives together forever.

Okay so, this turned out to be reaaaalllllyyyy long. OTL I am sorry that it took a while but regardless, I hope you liked it. :D

Thank you for requesting~! :)