Jihyuk stared at the two who were currently gawking at each other. Tears were forming at the corner of Mina’s eyes, and he got worried. Was Hoya some sort of ex-boyfriend that he never knew about? If so, he wasn’t afraid to smash his face in. Sure, they were friends, but Jihyuk really loved his little sister. She was his everything. He wondered why she had never told him about her relationship with Hoya. They had to be close, or else Hoya wouldn’t let her call him by his real name.

            Hoya cracked a smile, stepping over the fallen water bottles to approach the girl. He was glad to see that the girl was okay; saving her from those bullies was forever imprinted in his mind. What if he hadn’t missed the bus and never walked by that area? This thought constantly bothered him; it would be a shame for such a beautiful girl to die from the hands of heathens. Hoya could tell that this girl was beautiful on the inside and out from the moment he saw her, and he knew that she had more of a right to live than those bullies.

            “Hi,” Hoya murmured before enveloping the girl in his strong arms. The pair had never hugged before; in fact, they had only met once, but they impacted each other’s lives greatly. Hoya never lived one day without thinking about Mina, and vice versa. Mina felt the tears stream down her face as the man who had prevented her from committing suicide multiple times held her close to him. The scent that had lulled her to sleep for four years filled her nostrils; she cried harder as she rested her head against Hoya’s broad chest.

            “T-thank you,” was all she said as the older man rubbed her back gently. Hoya rocked her back and forth gently, not allowing his eyes to stray to anyone else in the room. They didn’t need words to express what they felt at that moment; each other’s presence was enough.

            The six members, one bodyguard, and several stylists watched the pair in awkward silence. They did not want to interrupt their moment, but at the same time they were curious as to how Hoya and Mina knew each other. Mina felt the awkward atmosphere first, so she pulled away and wiped the last bit of her tears on her sleeve, sitting up straight and looking at the others.

            Before she could give an explanation to what just happened, Sunggyu abruptly rose from his chair and motioned at Hoya. “We need to talk, now,” he said firmly before walking out of the dressing room. Sensing the serious tone in Sunggyu’s voice, Hoya stood up after wiping a tear off Mina’s cheek with his thumb. He silently followed the leader into the hallway.

            “You, missy, have some explaining to do,” Jihyuk said as he pointed at his sister. She sniffled and nodded, bundling herself up in the jacket even more, but appearing happier than ever.

            “It’s a long story. Howon can tell you,” Mina said with a smile as she covered her tearstained cheeks.

            “It’s her, right?” Sunggyu whispered once the two were in the hallway and the door to the dressing room was shut tightly. Hoya nodded slowly. He had told the leader about the girl he saved all those years ago, how he kept having dreams about her and knew that she was the one. The one that he wanted to be with forever.

            “I thought I’d never see her again,” Hoya murmured more of to himself than to Sunggyu.  Sunggyu smiled slightly; he was glad his friend could be truly happy. The mysterious girl who had touched his friend’s heart had finally made a re-appearance, and if Hoya was happy, then Sunggyu was happy too.

            “I’m glad. Don’t lose her this time,” the elder advised before he pulled Hoya back into the room. They still had a few hours before the fan signing, but Hoya sure had a lot of explaining to do.

            “She’s an old friend of mine,” Hoya stated plainly as the other boys listened to his explanation. Myungsoo made a face as he realized that he had no right to act close and brotherly to Mina, when Hoya had known her for much longer. Mina held back her sigh of relief; she didn’t want the other guys to know about how she was bullied because it might make them pity her.

            “Yah, you better not have had any funky business with my baby sister,” Jihyuk said protectively while putting his arm around the said girl. Hoya laughed, shaking his head.

            “I would ask your mother first, of course,” he said with a smile, causing Mina to blush heavily and cover her face although Hoya had surely meant it jokingly. Jihyuk rolled his eyes, clearly not pleased with the elder’s answer.

            Dongwoo smirked, throwing his muscular arm around the other INFINITE H member as he laughed. “Hoya, you’re so old fashioned. Who needs permission now to date? Go get her,” he teased as if Mina was not in the room at all.

            Before Jihyuk could make another comment about staying away from his sister, a coordinator popped her head into the room and shouted, “Standby in 10 minutes!” The seven idols rose slowly, sighing all the while; it was too early to deal with screaming teenage girls and erted ahjummas. The stylists in the room began to scramble, retouching the boys’ makeup and making sure their shirts were properly tucked in.

            “Since you’re here, you should try to be of some help,” Jihyuk said as he pulled Mina out into the hallway again to wait until the boys were ready to walk into the public. Mina nodded obediently; her brother did her a favor of bringing her here, and she was in a good mood now anyways. “Okay, so there’s probably three things you’ll need to do today,” Jihyuk said while looking at his hand and counting on his fingers. “Number one. Don’t get in the way of the coordinator noonas,” he said in a hushed tone so that no one could hear him.

            Mina looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face, “How is that helping? If I hadn’t come, I couldn’t get in their way in the first place.”

            “Nah, it’s just they’re scary when they get upset or stressed,” he said with a pout. “You don’t want to get burnt with a straightening iron or have the INFINITE members forced into ugly outfits.” Jihyuk nodded and stood beside his sister in front of the boys who had just come out from the dressing room. It was about time to go outside and meet the public. Cheers could be heard from the impatient crowd waiting at the entrance of the building.

            “Two. Make sure that each member has water by their seat at all times,” Jihyuk said as the group began to walk down the endless hallway. “It gets really hot outside with all those people, and no one has time to constantly get them water. I can’t even go because I have to watch them throughout the whole event.” Mina nodded, mentally taking note of all the instructions her brother gave her, knowing that it was now time to be serious by the tone of Jihyuk’s voice.

            “And lastly, grab towels for the guys and them to the restroom when they need to go. I think you could handle protecting one, while I watch the other six to make sure they don’t get in trouble,” Jihyuk said with a twinkle in his eye. You could tell he loved his job; he seemed close to the members, and he already knew what he needed to do inside out.

            Mina smiled and nodded as the entourage reached the exit to the outdoor stage and table where the fan signing would take place. Although the fans weren’t here for her, it was nice to feel useful for once in her life. Just today, she felt like she had a purpose.

A/N: This week is really busy for me, so I might not update a lot ;-; sorry... but anyways, how did you like it? cx they finally meet again. How cute- BUT WHAT. HOW IS SUNGGYU INVOLVED WITH THIS?! WE SHALL SEE SOON- /bricked

XD the real plot hasn't come yet, it's mostly background info and character introductions. soooo, stay tuned <3 please upvote, comment, and subscribe c: