2011

Infinite’s dorm is noisy as hell.

Sunggyu can’t take it anymore. He decides to go downstairs to the apartment’s park to take a breather.

In his pyjama top and boxers.

It’s cool, he thinks, because the apartment’s security is good. No sasaeng fans to take pictures of him in his undies.

“Hyung, where are you going?!” Woohyun shouts to him. “At least wear some clothes!”

“None of your business! Go away!” Sunggyu shouts back, grabbing his keys.

And off Sunggyu goes.

The elevator ride to the first floor is slow. Sunggyu does a double take when he sees his reflection in the mirror. Unkempt bed hair, dirty old slippers and a sloppy outfit.

Sunggyu can’t remember if he washed his face or shaved in the morning. He scratches his chin and thinks hard.

Probably not.

What is he going to do at the park anyway? He didn’t even bring his phone down.

… Maybe he’ll just sit there and think about life. Yeah, he thinks, today is a good weather to think about life. It’s quite breezy.

He steps out of the lift. The cool wind caresses his leg hair, causing him to shudder. He should have brought down a jacket. It’s too late to regret.

The apartment’s park is quite beautiful. The flowers grown there changes with the seasons. It’s autumn, so there are pretty orange dahlias and beautiful red roses. There are a couple of benches around the park, each with enough space for a couple to sit on.

Sunggyu takes one of these benches, alone.

He removes his slippers and lies down horizontally on the bench. He folds his arms behind his head and stares blankly at the deep blue sky. He could care less if he looks like a hobo. No Dispatch, no sasaengs to catch him.

Maybe he could take a nap. The weather is good. They’ve been practicing hard for their comeback recently, staying up to at least 4am every night (more like morning) to perfect their dance. Unlike the younger kids, his (old) body can’t take the strenuous exercise and his needs his sleep as much as possible. Sunggyu is about to doze off on the bench when he hears the tinkling sounds of a fairy’s laughter.

“Namjoo unnie, cycle faster, slowpoke!”

Sunggyu knows it’s A Pink. And the other person who calls Namjoo ‘unnie’ is Hayoung.

He opens his eyes widely (if it was even possible) and looks down at his outfit of the day.

Oh .

Sunggyu wonders if he should hide in the bushes. He can’t let the fairy-dols see him in this state. He is supposed to be the cool, suave, talented leader/singer of successful idol group Infinite! Not this… hobo.

No no no, hiding in the bushes is a bad idea. He will get twigs and leaves stuck in his (bird nest lookalike) hair if he gets discovered later.

And a passing dog may just decide to pee on him. Sunggyu is known to have the worst luck in Infinite.

Sunggyu watches the two girls cycle in circles around the park as they laugh at each other. It’s quite sad that idols can’t even cycle in public, for fear that they would get chased down by fans. Sunggyu loves his fans, but sometimes the scare the out of him when they become too obsessed.

A cooling breeze passes by them, and Sunggyu watches how Hayoung’s long chocolate-brown hair fly lazily with the wind. Hayoung brushes her hair out of her face with an enchanting smile and a twinkle in her eye, a laugh escaping her pretty lips. His heart unintentionally beats faster than it should. Sunggyu knows he’s too young for a heart attack, even though his nickname may be Grandpa Gyu.

Sunggyu is mesmerized by the sight. Hayoung looks like she’s filming a CF for bicycles and flowers or something. So… Pretty…

And then there’s him. Yikes.

Sunggyu decides his should just pretend to sleep. No one in the right mind would disturb a sleeping person, right?

Wrong.

Being the polite fairy idols they are, Hayoung and Namjoo push their bicycles towards the sleeping figure on the bench.

“Omo, unnie, isn’t that Sunggyu sunbaenim?” Sunggyu hears Hayoung ask.

No no no, I am not Sunggyu, I am not Sunggyu, I am NOT Sunggyu-

“Oh yeah, it is! Let’s go over to greet him.”

Damn it.

Sunggyu feels a tap on his shoulders. He begrudgingly opens his eyes and lets out a fake yawn, for good measure. Hayoung and Namjoo’s heads appear above him, smiling widely.

“Good afternoon, sunbaenim!” They chorus.

Sunggyu returns the greeting with an awkward wave. “Good afternoon to you, too.”

The trio become awkward with each other. But this awkward silence didn’t last very long, because Sungyeol suddenly runs towards them with a pair of pants in his hand.

“Sunggyu hyung, your pants!” He screams out loud for the whole world to hear. “Wear some damn pants when you go out next time, sheesh! Don’t terrorize the whole neighbourhood with your ugly boxers, please.”

Sungyeol is completely oblivious to Sunggyu’s glare and flaming cheeks. He then realises the presence of Namjoo and Hayoung, and then lets out a belated “oh”. He chuckles awkwardly, rubbing his nape.

“So hyung, you still wanna wear your pants?”