“I’ll take a cab home with Hoya-hyung later!” Sungjong called to his manager as he was dropped off at Uijeongbu. There was a reason why the maknae was currently racing to the clothing store a couple of blocks from where he was dropped off by Seo Jin. Sungjong looked around him and secretly entered the store with his body plastered to the wall. Peaking out of a display of t-shirts, the maknae kept an eye out for the main dancer. His eyebrows rose curiously as he saw Hoya casually looking through a couple of styled jeans. When Hoya’s eyes darted in his direction, Sungjong quickly ducked down in front of a mannequin.

            Sungjong knew he was going to get an earful if Hoya found out the maknae was following him. But how could he stop himself from figuring out his always well-put together hyung’s secrets? Now that Hoya knew his secret and mercifully kept it, it was about time that Sungjong paid him back for his trust. But it was strange to see Hoya actively shopping for clothes. He knew his hyung well enough to notice how much the main dancer disliked shopping or even the thought of changing his comfy pants for the tight ones that assembled the racks. He also knew that something was bothering his hyung even with his cool façade.

            In fact, not that he would ever tell his hyungs about it, but Sungjong knew Sunggyu and Hoya would wake up in the early morning and go to the kitchen. He always placed the leader’s insomnia to his enormous duty of taking care of Infinite, however, the main dancer’s case was different. Hoya wasn’t in charge of keeping the peace between members—though he is responsible of their dances sometimes—he was supposed to be like the other six of them, carefree and happy. Sungjong winced at the sudden pain on his back. Well, okay, maybe not really that carefree or happy, but it wasn’t like everything was peachy clean for them anyways.

  Lost in his thoughts, Sungjong almost missed Hoya’s shadow as he suddenly exited the clothing store.

            “Crap,” Sungjong stumbled out of his hiding spot, almost tripping on the mannequin stand. Curious strangers gave him a peculiar look as he reassembled his clothing and tried to walk out as normally as possible. He hastily followed Hoya, who emerged from a nearby flower store with a beautiful bouquet of purple. Sungjong rolled his eyes. He knew all about hyung’s obsession with purple.

            After a few more minutes of Sungjong aimlessly following his hyung around, Hoya suddenly stopped in front of what appeared to be a large park. With quick reflexes that only the maknae possessed, Sungjong swiftly jumped into the nearby bushes, letting his eyes dart around his surroundings. He let out a relieved sigh when the main dancer didn’t even spare a glance at the oddly colorful shrubbery, but just started to climb up the stairs that led to the gated park. 

  “Uijeongbu cemetery?” Sungjong mumbled to himself as he read the sign on the black iron gateway, “What is he doing there?”

            Sungjong didn’t think too much about it as he quietly climbed the steps to a nice green clearing at the top of the cemetery. “Wow,” he exclaimed breathlessly, admiring the grassy field that stretched beyond him. He closed his eyes for a moment and let the breeze cool his back, allowing the stress and pain that had plagued him for weeks to dissipate from his body. Scents of wild lavender and magnolias cleared Sungjong’s troubled mind as he basked in the warm sunlight. After what seemed like eternity, the maknae opened his eyes sluggishly and gave a small smile.

            He looked about him one last time and then, decided to head back down the stony stairs to go home. If Hoya was being secretive about where he was going, who was Sungjong to try and pry into his hyung’s secrets? Everyone had something they didn’t want to share with the rest of the members. It was just a matter of someone finding out about it. Mentally berating himself for his insensitivity and insatiable curiosity, Sungjong didn’t notice the figure standing behind him with an unimpressed stare.

  “So you’re leaving now?”

            Sungjong jumped at the familiar voice and slowly turned around to face the person he most certainly did not want to meet. He squinted a bit as the beginning rays of sunset engulfed his hyung’s figure in an eerie light. The maknae gave an unconvincing laugh, “Uh, hyung, I didn’t know you where there.”

  Hoya didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, and then, he gave a large sigh. “Come with me.”

            “Eh? What?” Sungjong asked uncertainly, finding himself faced with his hyung’s back as Hoya climbed down the steps and moved more into the grassy field. “Hyung?

            Passing through bunches of reed grass and other wildflowers, the two Infinite members finally stopped in front of a gray tombstone that faced the city.

  Clearing his throat, Sungjong tried to apologize, “Hyung, I’m sorry I followed you here, I didn’t know, I’m so sorry—”

  Hoya held his hand up to stop the maknae’s babbling. “Say your greetings first.”

            Hoya positioned himself in front of the grave and placed the beautiful purple flowers on top of the carved stone. Giving a slow bow, he gestured for the youngest Infinite member to do the same.

            “Cheon Seong Im-ah,” Hoya said as Sungjong gave his own greetings, “this is our maknae, Lee Sungjong. He may be rough around the edges and a little reckless, but he’s a good kid.”

  Sungjong cleared his throat again, “It’s nice to meet you, Seong Im-sshi.”

  The main dancer remained impassive as he removed some stray leaves off Seong Im’s gravestone.

            “Her favorite color was purple, you know,” he finally commented. Hoya gestured to the flowers in front of them, “She would always buy purple lilacs.”

            “Hyung…” Sungjong was at a loss for words. How could you console a friend who has lost someone you were never supposed to know about?

            “We were very good childhood friends before my family moved to Seoul. She was the one who urged me to audition and kept nagging me to practice. A couple of months after we debuted, I lost contact with her.”

  Hoya’s voice started to crack, “I didn’t know why, I was angry, I even tried to call her mom a couple of times, I didn’t know she…”

            “Hyung,” Sungjong called quietly and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “You don’t have to say more. It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

            There are times when Sungjong really wondered what was going on in the Infinite members’ heads. He was always curious about their lives outside of the entertainment business and was often found snooping around the dorm to the annoyance of his hyungs. But this time, Sungjong wasn’t sure he wanted to know anymore.