Dongwoo whistled to himself as he collected his bags from the airport’s luggage conveyor. He puffed air into his cheeks as he strolled by a stand with free maps, wondering if he would need them. Looking through them, he concluded that he wouldn’t really need them since his cousin had promised to take him around. He went out to the waiting area where his cousin had promised to meet him, and tried to find her among the crowd that was there that day. He knew she couldn't call him with his name--it would attract attention.

"Jjang!" he heard someone say loudly. "Namu's friend! Hamster's second-in-command!"

The third one in particular, was what caught his attention. There were few people who called him that, and half the time, they were referring to "Namu". He turned around, and collided with a body that had come running towards him.

"Nice to finally see you again, cousin," she declared, smiling at him with a big grin. He returned that grin with a grin of his own.

"My pleasure," he responded, giving her a very theatrical bow.

"Welcome to Greece," she declared, gesturing with both her hands before dropping them both back to her sides. "Come with me, I've got a car waiting in the parking lot."

"Great. Oh, by the way," he said as they went to the parking lot, "nice nicknames. How were you able to think of all that?"

"Woohyunnie's been keeping me updated, but first and foremost, I'm an Inspirit, cousin. Nothing keeps my spirits up like a good dance break from you guys."

His cousin opened the door to her apartment, welcoming him in. He looked around, absorbing everything he saw. Her apartment was small, just right for a graduate student, but it felt quite homey.

"You chose an apartment instead of a dorm?" he asked.

"It's easier to talk to you guys that way," she shrugged. "I mean, my friends? No problem, they're all normal people anyway, so no one really cares if I talk to them. But you guys? And I get stuck in a dorm with avid fans of yours? No thanks, I need my sleep."

He laughed. "Woohyun would have probably enjoyed something like that."

She nodded with a laugh. "So, today, let's just grab some dinner later. But for now, you can go explore the little room left that you haven't seen in the apartment and rest up. I just need to finish this paper and we'd be all set to go for the duration of your stay."

"Sweet."

After a satisfying dinner and a nice, long, catching-up-with-you chat, Dongwoo lay in his bed contentedly. His cousin was already asleep, but he enjoyed his first day in Greece. And he thought about the things he had yet to see and experience and hoped that he might have a chance to do these before he left.

~°~

Almost a week had passed, and they'd gone to see a number of places that Dongwoo really wanted to see. Unfortunately, his cousin had to get back to work, so he decided to use the rest of his time wandering the streets of Greece. They'd gone around those streets a lot over the past few days, and he'd memorized them enough that he was confident he could get around. But just to make sure that nothing would happen, he was given a local sim by his cousin so he could call her if he needed a little help.

He strolled through the streets, looking out for things that he could get for his friends, the members, and his family, when an old man approached him and offered him a golden apple.

"I can't take that," Dongwoo said. "I cannot pay for it."

"You need only answer a question," the old man said, practically begging for the apple to be taken.

"What question?" he asked.

"The question is not mine to give," he said. "But if you take the apple now, they'll find you and ask it to you. Please, spare an old man like me such a heavy load."

Appealing to Dongwoo's gentle nature, the old man was freed of the burden of the apple. Dongwoo watched as the old man walked away, whose gait seemed to get lighter and lighter with each step he took away from the apple. Dongwoo looked at the apple in his hands and wondered what was with it. He couldn't tell anything that was odd about it, save the fact that it was a golden apple, and that there was a Greek word in Greek letters inscribed onto its face. Not knowing what the word meant, but looking interesting, he shrugged and decided to bring it home. His cousin would know what it meant.

"Stella, Stella!" he called, carrying the apple inside the house with two hands. He dashed into her kitchen, where she was working on a few translations. But instead, he'd found her laughing at a video of him doing something silly on a variety show.

Still laughing, she paused the video and turned her attention to him. "Yes?"

"Someone gave this to me," he explained.

"What's that?" she asked, turning curious.

Dongwoo handed her the golden apple, which she turned around in her hands, examining it.

"Wow, Dongwoo, this is one awesome apple," she commented, shaking her head in surprise. "Awesome recreation, too."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, from what it looks like? I'd say this is Eris' gift to the fairest one," she said. "The Apple of Discord, the one that led to the start of the Trojan War."

"Wow, but why would someone give it to me? Last I heard, "the fairest one" was a woman," he commented. "I don't think the definition has changed."

His cousin laughed. "Maybe he was asking you to give it to the fairest one. He, right? Not she?"

"Yup," he replied. "So I get to give it to the "fairest one"?"

"Yeah, I guess," she replied. "I mean, even if this is a replica, it's a nice recreation of the mythical apple."

"True."

"So who are you giving it to?" she asked.

"Do you want it?"

She shook her head. "By Greek standards, I doubt I'm anywhere near pretty." Then she added, "I think."

"Well, by our home country's standards, then," he declared, but she shook her head. "Sure? Okay. Hmm... I'll give it to my Mom. I think she fits the bill."

She nodded in agreement. "That she is. So, are you going to go out again?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. I feel like watching more funny videos of you guys," she said. "Sungyeol's recommendations."

"I'm not sure that's safe," Dongwoo replied jokingly. "But okay, I guess I'll go out and check things out again."

"Okay, take care," she replied as he headedout.

Dongwoo was casually walking down the street again, when this time, three women approached him. They stopped him and asked, "Are you the one who received the golden apple?"

He looked at them a little suspiciously, but nodded anyway.

"Tell us, which of us is the fairest one," one of them said.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I'm not trying to be racist or anything, but you guys look the same to me."

The women looked taken aback, and a distraught look passed through their faces. Dongwoo apologized, but one of the women said, "I guess it cannot be helped, then. You are Asian, yeah?"

"Korean," he replied with a nod.

They nodded as well, and the next thing he knew, three very familiar people were standing before him.

"Taeyeon-sunbae? Tiffany-sunbae? Seohyun-sunbae?" he asked incredulously.

"No, I'm Hera," Taeyeon said, not speaking with Taeyeon's voice. She (and so were the other two women) were even wearing the trio's dresses-and-leather-leggings costume from their Twinkle promotions, which made it even weirder for Dongwoo. "But I guess you can say this is what I'd most possibly look like if I were Korean."

Dongwoo shifted his gaze to the other two, and they promptly replied. Tiffany introduced herself as Aphrodite, and Seohyun as Athena.

"Man, is this weird," he commented, shaking his head.

"Still?" Seohyun-looking-Athena said.

"Yeah, because SNSD-sunbae-nims would never have asked me this question," he said. "Besides, all of them are pretty, so that means all three of you are, too."

"But we're asking you," Tiffany-looking-Aphrodite asked. "So you have to pick one. Only one person can be picked."

"Among the three of you?" he asked.

"It could be among all the people in the world, really," Taeyeon-looking-Hera replied. "But we were the ones to whom the apple was thrown when Eris declared that it was for the fairest one."

"For the fairest one?" he asked. "But I haven't seen everyone to be able to make that judgement, and even if I had, I would judge for myself, but not for everyone else. I don't think that would be very fair."

"From all the people you've met, then," Seohyun-looking-Athena said. The three of them were beginning to think that this person wasn't given quite enough intellect.

Dongwoo clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Everyone's beautiful!" he declared.

"You have to pick one," Tiffany-looking-Aphrodite insisted. "There can only be one. Someone to whom you will give the Apple."

"What apple?" he asked, suddenly confused. "I've given my members apples, too, but I can never say they're the fairest--they're not women. Not even Sungjong even if a lot of us think he's really pretty when he dresses up as a girl."

"The Golden Apple with the inscription for the fairest one in Greek! You have it, right?" Taeyeon-looking-Hera asked, her temper flaring.

"Ah! That one!" he exclaimed happily. "I'm giving that one to my Mom," he explained happily.

"Your mother?" the three asked incredulously.

"Yeah, my Mother is very beautiful," he said.

"Not even if we offer you gifts, you will not choose one of us?" Seohyun-looking-Athena asked.

“Why would you offer me gifts to tell you who is the prettiest?” he asked. “Gifts won’t make you more beautiful. That’s just unfair.”

“Not even if I offered you the world?” Taeyeon-looking-Hera asked, to which Dongwoo shook his head and asked in reply, “What does land have to do with beauty?”

“Not even if I offered you all the riches you could ever want?” Seohyun-looking-Athena asked. She couldn’t offer him prowess in war; it would have been pointless as Dongwoo was not a warrior, and he did not live in those times. But even to her offer, Dongwoo shook his head.

“Why would I tell you you’re more beautiful if you’re rich?” he asked. “Or if I’m rich? I have beautiful fans,” he said. “And I have beautiful sisters who might not be rich, but they’re definitely beautiful. Saying that you’re bribing me with riches just to tell you you’re beautiful says so much about your character,” he commented disappointedly. “And so much more about mine if I accepted it. Money isn’t what makes you beautiful. You could have all the money in the world and still be ugly.”

“What about if I offer you the most beautiful woman in the world?” Tiffany-looking-Aphrodite asked.

“And what about her?” he asked. “What would I do with her?” he asked again. “You’re already asking me to tell you who the most beautiful woman in the world is, why are you asking that to me? You know, I don’t get you three. You really don’t make much sense.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that,” she said. “What if I offer to give you the woman you like the most to become your love?”

Dongwoo cocked a brow and looked at her as if she had just grown a second head. “Are you crazy? Look, I don’t want that. Even if I liked her, I wouldn’t really love her, and she wouldn’t love me, either. A relationship is something that you have to work hard for, so handing her over just like that wouldn’t be fair to anyone, especially not to me. And if there was something that I’d be happy to receive without needing much work, it would be riches-” he said, and at this, Seohyun-looking-Athena beamed, but then he continued, “but then I don’t want that either.

“What am I going to do with all the money in the world? Too much money, too much power, too much fame can corrupt especially if you didn’t have to go through anything to get it. You forget about reality and begin to treat other people like trash. Rather than that, I would just like to work with the other members of Infinite,” he said. “And we’re going to sweat, we’re going to bleed, and we’re going to cry because we’re working hard to deliver good music and good performances for our fans and for our families because that’s what we want. And…that’s the only time that I would be able to really appreciate it.

“Please don’t think that I don’t think that you’re not beautiful; you are. All three of you are very beautiful. But for me, beauty isn’t just what’s on the outside,” he said. “You can be very beautiful on the outside, but be very detestable on the inside, and I don’t think that the fairest one can have such a personality. Likewise, although it might sound very cruel of me to say this, I believe that it is also the other way around. It doesn’t matter if you’re pretty in the inside, but if you can’t take care of yourself and groom yourself at the least, then how will anyone take notice? You have to be presentable, too.

“So, I hope you understand. This is the reason why I think my Mother is the fairest one,” he said. “Her heart and her appearance are working together. Even if she can’t always catch your eye by walking down the street the way other girls who really put an effort into looking the best. Besides, she’s my beloved Mother. If she didn’t exist and love me, where would I be?”

“That makes her a default.”

“It’s not a default,” he said. “because it’s the truth. I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain this to you. It's just the way things are." He was about to say something else when his phone buzzed with a text from his cousin, who had been looking for him. He didn't realize how much time had passed. "She must be worried," he muttered. "I best go. I hope you understand what I've been trying to say," he said, then he bade them goodbye and bowed out.

~°~

The cousins stood at the airport, having already checked in his luggage.

"Hope you enjoyed your stay, Dongwoo," she said.

"It was unforgettable," he said.

"So you have that apple packed?" she asked.

"Yeah, I even asked the customs if I needed to put it in with the rest of the luggage or something. Apparently not; they didn’t even think it was a real apple,” he said.

“If you think about it, where are you going to get a real apple like that?” she asked. “Unless you dip an apple into melted gold, but then it wouldn’t look that nice.”

He laughed. “On the internet.”

“Although that is true,” she commented, laughing. “Okay, okay. You need to go, your flight’s going to leave soon.”

“Aww, I’m going to miss you,” he said.

“I just have one more year left,” she said. “I’ll be back in Korea before you know it.”

“Promise?” he asked, holding out his pinky.

“Promise,” she replied, wrapping hers around his. “Now, go back to Korea and get your new performance ready! I want to see it. Make it cool, okay?”

“OK!” he answered enthusiastically. “See you in a while.”

“Careful on your way home,” she called after him, to which he waved happily.

~°~

After going by the dorms, Dongwoo went home to visit his family and give them the gifts that he'd bought in Greece. He went to his mother, who was busy cooking in the kitchen.

"For you, Mom. The Golden Apple for the fairest one," he said, producing the apple from behind his back.