The five people sat on the floor around a small table, warming their hands with steaming cups of tea. An awkward silence filled the air, but everyone was too busy trying to keep warm to talk to each other. It was a really cold day, and they were happy to finally be inside, but the 4 youths had nearly frozen bodies from the cold. Mrs. Song, the host, finally spoke up, feeling the need to break the tension that floated through the air as she set her cup on the table.

            “It’s been a long time, Howon,” she smiled at the younger INFINITE member, taking his free hand in both of hers to give it a light squeeze. “You should visit us more often.” Jihyuk looked utterly confused when Hoya smiled back at his mother, nodding in agreement.

            “Umma, don’t do anything embarrassing,” Mina coughed as she nudged her mother lightly, just to be sure. Mrs. Song laughed at her daughter before letting go of Hoya’s hands.

            “No! I need to make you look bad, so I can steal this fine young man for myself!” her mother teased, looking back and forth between Hoya and Mina. Hoya blushed lightly, but Mina burst into laughter. Her mother always knew just how to lighten up the mood. As the girl was having her laughing fit, Jihyuk hooked his arm with Sunggyu’s.

            “Hyuuung, I feel awkward,” Jihyuk said, although it was his own house with his family. Sunggyu just chuckled and ruffled the younger’s hair; Jihyuk obviously didn’t realize how awkward Sunggyu felt, as the elder was in a new environment with someone he wasn’t very close to yet. Just then, Mina stopped laughing and decided to pull the other two boys into the conversation.

            “Umma! This is Sunggyu, my friend,” she said, reaching over the table to point at Sunggyu who froze in surprise. Sunggyu smiled and bowed his head at her mother; he was happy that she considered him a friend, yet he felt pain in his chest when he realized that was all he was and all he ever would be: a friend.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Sunggyu. You and Howon are welcome here anytime,” Mrs. Song said with a smile. The group chatted cheerfully as they finished off their cups of tea. Mrs. Song set her cup down once she had finished and excused herself before standing up to get something. A few minutes later, she came back with a thick, white binder with a faded label.

            Mina’s eyes widened as she reached for the binder, but her mother pulled it away before handing it to Hoya, Sunggyu, and Jihyuk. Mina screeched in protest, “No! Not my baby photos!” It was too late; Hoya had already opened the book excitedly, and the sight before them caused the three boys to coo in delight. Mina facepalmed; it would be a long morning.

            Several hours later, on the airplane, Sunggyu couldn’t stop looking at his phone. Although it was on airplane mode and he couldn’t receive texts, he kept on rereading a text he had received right before he boarded the plane to Japan with the rest of INFINITE.

To: Gyubear :3

Have a safe trip, and don’t have too much fun without me!

From:  Mina

            Sunggyu couldn’t help but feel happy; the girl seemed genuinely nice and cared about him, but she also had sent texts to the other INFINITE members that she had the phone numbers of. He fell asleep on the plane with his phone in his lap and a smile on his face.

            Once in Japan, INFINITE was busy. As in, they only had breaks to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. This meant less time to be tourists, but it was okay for the boys; they had been to Japan several times already and were too exhausted to want to explore anymore.

            Hoya was lying on the floor of the venue; INFINITE was practicing for a concert that would occur the next day. In fact, they would be performing at two different cities in Japan, which meant they had to work twice as hard. The seven boys were sweaty and exhausted, so the manager had decided to call it a day. He ordered for some ramen to be delivered, and now the boys were simply waiting for their food.

            Dongwoo peeked over Hoya’s shoulder to peer at the screen of the phone that Hoya had been tapping at for several minutes already. He raised his eyebrow when he saw the name of the person that his friend had been messaging. Dongwoo whistled before joking, “Ooo, our Hobaby’s got a girlfriend!” Dongwoo attempted to snatch the phone away from Hoya, but luckily the taller rapper was able to swat his hands away just in time.

            “She is NOT my girlfriend! Not yet!” Hoya said, hiding his phone in his arms. Dongwoo started cracking up, drawing the attention of the other boys.

            “Okaaay, okaaaay, whatever you say,” Dongwoo said as he stuck his tongue out. Sunggyu looked at the laughing duo in contemplation before pulling his phone out. Why hadn’t Mina responded to his texts? He sighed as he watched his manager bring in several boxes of chicken for the staff before deciding to text Mina in hopes of a reply. It’s not that he was desperate; it’s just that he felt the urge to talk to her. She understood the pain of constantly being put down, and Sunggyu felt like he could talk to her about anything.

To: Mina

I wish you were here.

From: Gyubear

            Sunggyu hit the send button after much thought; he wasn’t overly greasy like Namu, and he only was cute when he was asked to be, or when he wanted something. He slipped his phone into his pocket and lazily walked over to where everyone was gathered, so he would be able to eat before all the chicken disappeared.

            Mina was helping her mother in the restaurant that evening, cleaning up the tables because she was still on her winter vacation. It was almost Christmas, so it was getting colder, but Mina wasn’t looking forward to going back to school after the weekend was over. Plus, her brother and INFINITE wouldn’t be back in Korea until after she was back in school.

            Mina sighed as she wiped the same table for the tenth time; she would miss her brother during Christmastime. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, so she looked around to make sure that there were no customers in need of assistance before checking the incoming message. She assumed it was from Hoya as the two had been texting back and forth for a while already, but to her surprise another name appeared on her phone’s screen. She smiled slightly as she read the short text from the leader before typing in a response.

To: Gyubear :3

You should invite me next time ^^

It’s lonely here.

From: Mina

            Before they knew it, it was Christmas day. As much as INFINITE wished they could spend the holidays with their families, they had a Christmas concert in Japan the night before. It would be a waste to spend their whole Christmas on a plane, so the manager had advised that they return to Korea after spending Christmas day shopping for presents. Jihyuk, as INFINITE’s bodyguard, was required to follow them on their shopping trip, but he was excited to buy some gifts also, although he had to watch the members at all times.

            “Hyung, do you think my mom will like this?” Jihyuk asked, holding up a cute apron that had excessive ruffles, frills, and lace. Sunggyu raised his eyebrow at the decorated cloth.

            “Uhh…” Jihyuk burst into laughter before putting the apron back onto the rack.

            “You’re right. She would never wear that,” the younger said before walking over to check on how Sungjong, Sungyeol, Dongwoo, and Myungsoo were doing.

            “What are you looking at?” Hoya asked the eldest, putting an arm around his shoulder. Sunggyu jumped slightly in surprise before shrugging.

            “I don’t really know. These were cute, so I just walked over here,” he said with a chuckle. Because Jihyuk had left the accessory shop to check the other four in the clothing store, Sunggyu, Hoya, and Woohyun were left with a body guard that they weren’t as close to. The guard stood stiffly a few meters away, watching the boys but trying not to pry too much into what they were doing.

            Hoya thought for a moment before grinning. “You should buy it. It would look cute on you, hyung,” he said before letting go of Sunggyu and sticking his tongue out at the leader before running away to hide behind Woohyun.

            “Yah! Come back here, you twerp!” Sunggyu laughed, but didn’t make any move to go after Hoya. He would get back at him later with a prank of some sort, but right now he was busy looking at a stand of cute hair clips. They were a bit cheap, but it was the thought that counts, right? He looked behind him to make sure that Hoya and Woohyun weren’t causing any trouble before picking out a fairly simply, white bow with a plastic pink heart in the center. The other hair accessories had too many embellishments, and he couldn’t picture the girl wearing it.

            Sunggyu coughed softly at that thought as he paid for the clip. Since when did he buy things for girls? Actually, he hadn’t even planned to buy it for anyone, but for some odd reason, one girl kept popping into his mind. He watched as the cashier wrapped the bow with patterned paper, smiling to himself. “She’s going to love it,” he mumbled before thanking the cashier with a small bow of his head and taking the package.

A/N: Um, so I just realized that I set the beginning of the story in winter xD SOOO YEAH, IT'S CHRISTMASTIME IN THE STORY BECAUSE WHY NOT- Also, I recieved a beautiful poster from HiHiCutiePie <3 thank you so much for that cx It's really pretty, and it shall be the cover image for now. ;u; honestly, that made my day. It made me realize that people actually read and like my stories. Thanks again <3

See? Isn't it beautiful <3? xD okay, anyways- I'd really appreciate if you guys commented, subscribed, or upvoted c: It gives me motivation to write more. Also, if you could like my message to Suho that would be great <3 I hope you enjoyed ^^

http://exo.mcmworldwide.com/EN/message.asp?EE_SEQ=28138