When Seo Jin dropped off Dongwoo in front of a large mall, Infinite’s manager knew something was a little suspicious. For the past few months, he has been bringing Dongwoo to Star City and picking him up in the same location. This would seem like an ordinary shopping trip if Seo Jin didn’t know that Dongwoo was a careful spender or that Dongwoo’s family home was still quite far from Seongnam, where the crowded mall was located. However, Dongwoo would always insist that the manager should drop him off at Star City, even when it would be just as easy to bring the main rapper straight to his house.

            Infinite’s manager only shrugged. It wasn’t in him to nitpick at everything going on in his kid’s lives. He only hoped that whatever Dongwoo is hiding, he would either have the strength to get through it or find the courage tell the other members.

            “Thank you, hyung!” Dongwoo yelled as he waved to the speeding away black van. He carefully checked his backpack to see if he had everything, then, looking around him, he walked in the opposite direction of Star City. After turning a couple blocks and passing a few streetlights, Dongwoo came across his desired location: Bundang Jesaeng Hospital. He carefully donned on his hood and sunglasses to keep his face concealed from any Inspirits and hurried into the building. Seo Jin suspicions were most definitely correct. Dongwoo was not at Seongnam for a shopping experience.

            Dongwoo expertly shifted through some white walled hallways, avoiding the prying eyes of curious patients. Climbing up a few stairs, he finally reached room B14 when the door suddenly opened.

            “Oh, Dongwoo!” A nurse with hazel eyes and tied up bronze hair exclaimed in surprise, clutching the hospital files closer to her. “Haven’t seen you in a while!”

  “How is she?”

            “She’s been doing great, her blood levels are stable and she’s been quite happy these past few weeks. But, she definitely misses you. I just finished her check-up, so you can stay as long as you like.”

            “Oppa?” A timid voice echoed from the open hospital room.

            Dongwoo grinned and bowed to the nurse, “Thanks, Nurse Park.”

            “No need for formalities, you can just call me Shin-hye or noona, whatever you like,” she laughed and walked down the hall with a little wave.

            “Oppa? Is that you?”

            Dongwoo immediately ran into the room with a wide smile on his face. He dropped his bag to the ground and scrambled to give the little girl a large bear hug.

            He tickled the girl’s sides and laughed, “Mi-nyeo! It’s your one and only brother! Did you miss me?”

  Mi-nyeo merely pushed her brother off her shoulders and crumpled her nose, “Eww, you stink.”

            “Sorry, I just got back from dance practice and didn’t have time to shower,” Dongwoo replied apologetically. He sat in the swivel chair right next to his sister’s hospital bed and opened his bag, “But look what I got you!”

            Dongwoo brought out the white fluffy teddy bear that was once designated the property of Nam Woohyun. The little girl squealed and clutched the stuffed animal to her chest. “Oppa, it’s so cute! Thank you!”

            He only chuckled and tousled Mi-nyeo’s long auburn hair, “It almost cost me my head too. Woohyun is going to be so mad. Why does he have to be your favorite and I’m not?”

  “Well, he has a nice voice and he has a really nice smile and he—”

            “No, no, no, I don’t want to hear it. That was a rhetorical question. You’re still young. You can’t be having a crush on one of my friends now. Look, I already have goose bumps on my arms from the horror,” Dongwoo pointed to the unnoticeable bumps on his forearms when he bunched up the sleeves of his jacket.

            Mi-nyeo only giggled at her brother’s protective behavior. “I’m twelve, a teenager pretty much. And I’m NOT a stalker. So, you didn’t have to get it for me you know.”

  “I know,” Dongwoo gave a small smile, a hint of melancholy behind his eyes.

  She patted Dongwoo’s hand that was resting on her bed, “You don’t have to get me anything, oppa.”

            “I know,” Dongwoo gave his signature grin and wrapped his hand around his sister’s, giving a reassuring squeeze. She gave a similar smile and hugged the bear tighter.

  “But, thanks. I knew there was a reason why I liked you.”

  “Yah! What is that supposed to mean?” Dongwoo feigned a hurt expression and pulled his hands to his heart in shock.

            She giggled lightly and pushed the bear into Dongwoo’s arms. “You’re my personal butler of course! Now, please put him over at the counter with the flowers, I want to hear everything that you’ve been doing.”

            So, Dongwoo did what his sister said and placed the bear carefully on the little stand in front of the hospital bed. He spotted the well-watered tulips in the corner and frowned a little, noting some familiar cursive writing. But, before he could contemplate any longer, he returned to Mi-nyeo’s side. He animatedly told her about their comeback album, Sungyeol’s surprise birthday party, the rigorous training they have to do, their horrible encounter with their CEO, everything. He even told her about the awful cleaning schedule they have for Infinite’s dorm. Mi-nyeo listened with rapture and was laughing all throughout Dongwoo’s stories.

            When she finally got a chance to breathe, she said, “Gosh, oppa. How in the world do you even survive in that house? Do you guys even do laundry?”

            “We try. We really do, well, until Sungjong starts screaming at us,” Dongwoo replied, wiping a stray tear falling from his eyes, “But, seriously, it really is not our fault. Woohyun’s the one who always misses laundry day, backing up our schedule. And then, someone suddenly runs out of clean underwear and accidentally takes—”

            “Okay, TMI. I do not need to hear that,” Mi-nyeo waved her arms in front of her in protest. Before Dongwoo could continue retelling his sister about the woes of living with six other boys, the door suddenly opened.

            “What are you doing here,” a woman demanded from the doorway. Her hair tied in a relatively loose ponytail, her purse grasped in her tense fist. The woman glanced from Mi-nyeo and back to Dongwoo in fury. Nurse Shin-hye poked her head behind the furious woman and gave Dongwoo an apologetic look.  

  “Mom,” Mi-nyeo called softly and clutched the blankets on her bed a little bit tighter. “You’re early.”

  Dongwoo tried to put on his best smile and bowed in front of the woman, “It is nice to see you again, Mrs. Jang. I just wanted to stop by—”

            “I told you not to come here anymore,” she said curtly and placed her bag on the vacated chair in front of Mi-nyeo. “But it seems you never listen.”

            She turned to the other young woman standing awkwardly at the doorway. “Nurse Shin-hye, would you please water the tulips, they’re looking a little dry.”

            Dongwoo looked down at his feet while Nurse Shin-hye briefly placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as she went by him to take the flowers from the counter. She took one glance back into the room and then went off to the nearest water faucet. The door clicked after her, enclosing them in a heavy silence that could bring Dongwoo to his knees.

            “I just wanted to see my sister, ma’am,” Dongwoo said as he lifted his eyes to meet dark opal ones just like Mi-nyeo’s. “I don’t mean any harm.”

  Mrs. Jang stiffened slightly and sat down in front of Mi-nyeo, “She’s not your sister.”

  “Mom!” Mi-nyeo yelled, appalled.

            Taken aback by Mrs. Jang’s hasty remark, Dongwoo took a step forward and loosely grabbed onto the back of her chair. His eye softened as he tried his best to make his voice as gentle as possible, “Please don’t say that. Although I’m not blood related to you and only half related to Mi-neyo, I still consider her my sister and you my mother. I—”

            “How dare you?” She stood up rapidly and gave the main rapper a cold stare. She crossed Mi-nyeo’s bed to face the open window. The beautiful blue sky contrasted with the gloomy and tense atmosphere of the hospital room.  Dongwoo shifted slightly in his stance, giving his sister a warm glance. She looked at him worriedly and placed her hand into his.

            “You will never be my son as long as you have that woman’s blood in your veins,” Mrs. Jang said without even glancing back at him. Dongwoo’s heart dropped in his chest. He’s heard her say this before, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting any less. He wasn’t a crier like Sunggyu or Sungjong and he wasn’t about to let the hurt cross his face with his sister watching. He clenched his fists. His real mother was a lot different from the woman standing in front of him. He took a deep breath and grabbed his backpack from the floor. Before he left the room, he placed a few DVDS next to the stuffed teddy bear. He cleared his throat.

            “I’m leaving some DVDs here for Mi-nyeo to watch if she gets bored. They’re rated PG, so it is all safe,” he said, his hand already on the doorknob. He took one last look into the room, spotting his sister’s small smile of farewell and the familiar sight of his mother-in-law’s back. “See you around. I love you, Mi-nyeo.”

            Dongwoo walked out the door and suddenly bumped into a surprised Shin-hye again. Water slushed out of the potted plant as she moved back to gain her balance.

  “I’m sorry,” Dongwoo immediately apologized, grabbing the tulips from the ground and rearranging its leaves to what it looked like before.

            “It’s fine. But, Dongwoo, is there something wrong?” She asked with furrowed brows, bending down to clean up the muddy soil on the white hospital floor. Dongwoo didn’t reply, only staying to help wipe away the dirt. As soon as the nurse straightened up her back with the potted plant on her hip, Dongwoo gave a curt bow and scurried down the hallway. He pulled up his hood to hide his impassive face as he exited the hospital entrance and quickly hailed a taxi car.