-Project Friendship: Sunggyu-

Level 2

            It has been a week since Yeri and Sunggyu met and while there weren’t always opportunities for them to meet they managed to keep in contact through KakaoTalk and he did manage to sneak out on other days to meet her for a late night dessert or a quick dinner. Yeri still had mixed feelings about being friends with someone so famous but she did know that he made her feel happier than she had in a long time and she had a feeling that he felt the same way, not to mention somewhere deep inside she knew she was excited as she grew to love his group more day by day – she wouldn’t tell him that of course, she found that whenever she mentioned INFINITE or any of s he would show a very strange self-satisfied smile. It wasn’t a bad thing necessarily but it did make her feel a little weird since sometimes they could speak so casually that she could even forget he was an idol.

            Yeri and Sunggyu met after her last shift for the week and like before they headed to a restaurant to have a quick dinner before he had to head to practice. Compared to the beginning of the week Sunggyu looked a lot more tired, there were dark circles under his eyes and he was dressed even more sloppily then before. He mentioned that they’ve begun filming the music video and the next few weeks will be even more hectic with recording other tracks and attending jacket shoots.

            “But it’s alright,” Sunggyu said with a quick smile when he noticed her concerned look. “It’s part of the job and it’s all worth it to see the results of the hard work we put in.”

            “… You sound just like the perfect idol everyone expects you to be while you’re on TV,” she broke eye contact with him as she sipped on what remained of her milk tea. “Is that really all there is?”

            “… Well of course it doesn’t mean it isn’t tiring. I hardly got any sleep last night…” he finally let out a sigh, dropping his composure significantly and his eyes fluttered shut as he took this moment to calm himself. With this Yeri wondered just how tiring it must be for him, not only to work nonstop everyday but also to smile and say he’s okay when he felt otherwise.

            “Sunggyu… I know it’s not much but if I can do anything-.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” he smiled before even opening his eyes to look at her. “Like I said, it’s part of my job. Even though it’s tiring, I do it because I love it and you should worry more about yourself. You told me you had finals coming up.”

            “Don’t remind me, just when I had forgotten about it…” she grumbled lightly.

            “Forgetting about it won’t make it go away,” Sunggyu laughed, during moments like these she remembered that he was three years older than her and while he did not always voice his worries she knew that he did care (similar to how someone would look out for their sibling). “… Anyway I should get going now.”

            “Oh yeah, okay,” she nodded as they stood and she picked up the bill for them to pay at the door. Sunggyu excused himself to the washroom after handing her some change to pay his share and she paid the cashier. The girl on the cash register seemed to be new or there was a problem with the machine since there was a holdup in getting her change, Yeri smiled as the girl apologised and told her she was in no rush.

            “Yeri-ah,” Sunggyu suddenly appeared by her looking a little disgruntled as he fixed his jacket. He noticed there was a problem immediately and frowned slightly. “I’m going to be late so is it okay if I head off first?”

            “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” she nodded. “Hurry, I don’t want you missing practice.”

            Sunggyu thanked her and left first leaving her behind to wait for the change. Finally the cash register began working properly but just as Yeri got her change another waiter came up to her looking out of breath.

            “Hi, the customer that was with you left his phone in the bathroom…”

            “Oh,” Yeri eyed the shiny iPhone 6 in the man’s hand, it was indeed Sunggyu’s phone but what way did she have to give it back to him? But first thing’s first, she thanked the waiter and received the phone graciously, actually somewhat thankful that it was returned to her instead of being picked up by some random person that would snoop through it’s contents.

            She did not know what would be more troubling, the fact that an idol’s phone would be looked through or the fact that the staff could account that INFINITE’s Sunggyu had been at the restaurant with an unfamiliar girl, she shuddered at the thought and pondered on how much trouble Sunggyu could potentially get into.

            Yeri jumped in surprise when Sunggyu’s phone began chiming and vibrating in her hand and she knew she shouldn’t look but she saw the message notifications from a group chat and it seemed they were messages from his group members. Yeri pressed her lips into a fine line as the words flashed on screen at an alarming speed, familiar names kept popping up and she used every bit of her willpower to ignore the messages written by Sunggyu’s idol members.

            She ought to just turn it off and wait until the next opportunity to give it back to him but she knew that they wouldn’t be able to contact each other much less for her to inform him that she had his phone and she just didn’t feel comfortable going through his phone to call one of his contacts; who would she contact anyway? L? Hoya? Their manager?

            With a heavy heart she decided that she would drop it at their company’s building, she wouldn’t even say who she was and it would be a quick stop by before she headed home to study. Yeri wanted to stay positive but she knew the situation didn’t really look all that great, she didn't even know if Sunggyu has told his friends about her or if it was even okay for him to have outside relationships… they were only friends after all but she was a girl… and that could potentially jeopardize the group.

            Yeri looked up the Woollim building’s address on her phone’s maps, Sunggyu has mentioned that it was close to his dorms (therefore close to her home) before but it was literally two streets away, she wondered how she never found out that there was such a large agency so close by. She found the building easily enough and she glanced around by the entrance, opposite the building was a quaint little café which she guessed was the very same one owned by the company as it was filled with fans peering out the window in the building’s direction. It was a bizarre sight but at least they weren’t crowding around the front doors unnecessarily, she’s heard some frightening stories about crazy fans but so far INFINITE’s fans seem relatively well behaved.

            Taking a deep breath she headed towards the entrance and she was thankful that there wasn’t a passcode or something barring the front door, it was relatively normal inside looking more like a small modern office building than a talent agency. There was a reception desk inside and Yeri rushed over when she saw the girl that was sitting there had just gotten up looking as if she was leaving after her shift.

            “Um- Excuse me?” Yeri called out to her and she smiled when the girl at least stopped and sat back down for her.

            “Are you here to see someone?” the receptionist asked as she looked over a piece of paper on her desk. “Do you have an appointment?”

            “No I don’t and actually I’m not here to see anyone… I know this is a little weird but I have Sunggyu’s phone?” Yeri immediately regretted saying those words the moment she saw the receptionist’s face, the look she gave her was of complete disgust and Yeri realised what she must be thinking. “I mean, he left it behind just now and I’m just returning it.”

            “You will have to wait a moment, I need to call a manager.”

            “Wait what?” Yeri watched nervously as she began to dial a number on her desk’s phone. They couldn’t possibly think she was a stalker could they? And they wouldn’t force her to stay, right? “Look I just wanted to drop it off and be on my way…”

            “No, please just wait, okay?” the receptionist eyed her icily. “It won’t take a moment for someone to come down to speak to you.”

-

            Dance practice has been going well this past week, they’ve managed to learn the choreography completely in a day and the next few days were all about polishing the moves and reaching the level of perfection that was expected of them. The only part that bothered Woohyun was how he and Myungsoo had to go on coffee runs during breaks, they had lost stone-paper-scissors on the first day and now they were stuck running errands for the other members for the week, at least today was the last day.

            Woohyun and Myungsoo chatted quietly to themselves as they headed out of the restricted area and down to the lobby, both musing if there would still be fans at the café at such late hours; there were always one or two hardcore fans that would wait all night in order to catch even glimpses of them. When they arrived they were met with a most peculiar sight, their manager had disappeared a few minutes ago before their break but they never expected to find him in the lobby speaking to an unknown girl.

            “So you’re saying you found the phone?” their manager asked the girl, seeming annoyed by the whole situation.

            “No- well technically yes,” she sighed back. “I was with Sunggyu earlier and he left it at the restaurant.”

            “… Who are you again?”

            “My name is Yeri, I’m a friend of his.”

            Woohyun and Myungsoo looked between each other, both equally surprised to hear that their leader supposedly had a lady friend… especially one that he would meet for meals. They knew it was their hyung’s phone because they recognised it but also because Sunggyu had mentioned he couldn’t find his when he first arrived at the practice room. Before Myungsoo could stop him, Woohyun walked towards them; the girl immediately noticed him and her eyes widened, not an unusual reaction but this made them wonder all the more if she truly was just Sunggyu’s friend like she claimed to be.

            “What’s going on?” Woohyun asked as Myungsoo followed him silently, showing his trademark ‘cold city boy’ look at the stranger uninten