-Project Friendship: Sunggyu-

Level 6

            It was a cool summer evening in Seoul and Yeri was on her way to meet her classmates for another faculty gathering, everyone had just gotten their grades back and it was tradition for everyone to open their envelopes all together so they may celebrate afterwards but it was the unsaid truth that it was to comfort those that may need it so that they would not be alone. It was not unusual to invite friends, it was an informal event after all and many want to celebrate with more than just their classmates, but what Yeri did not expect was for Sunggyu to invite himself after she mentioned about it just the night before. He was busy after all, he has had a handful of comeback stages already and his schedule was completely filled up.

            “You know you didn’t have to come with me,” she said quietly as Sunggyu trailed after her as they headed up the narrow staircase leading to the Japanese restaurant the students have booked out this evening.

            “Well you sounded so troubled last night worrying about your grades and such so I took pity on you and decided I’d cheer you up.”

            “… Where did you get the idea that I needed you to comfort me?” she couldn't believe he was putting on airs after quite literally barging on her. If she recalled her conversation with him last night correctly she had simply said that she was a little nervous about her grades (like any student would be) but mostly that she was not feeling very up for another gathering with her classmates. “… But I suppose it won’t be that bad… since their attention would be mostly on you… they’d probably get you to buy them rounds instead of me.”

            “For real?” Sunggyu felt uneasy now that his wallet might be in danger. Yeri hid her smile as they arrived on the third floor and she glanced around for the right restaurant, as they walked she asked if it was all right for him to be out during promotions especially since it’s going to be late.

            “It’s fine, plus Howon’s coming with his friend too.”

            “Howon’s coming?”

            Sunggyu was not sure he appreciated how she stopped mid-step and the way her face lit up at the mention of his friend. “Why?”

            “Hmm… no reason,” Yeri began walking again, honestly when Howon told her he had a friend Yeri did not expect that it would be the person it was and frankly she was a little amazed that he would come see them. “Have you met his friend by the way?”

            “No?”

            “Okay then.”

            Sunggyu was about to ask about her vague response but they have just reached outside of the restaurant. There were already lots of people when they arrived and he swore the bustling atmosphere died down when they stepped in, everyone seemed to be staring at them or more likely at him.

            Everyone took note of the idol by Yeri’s side as they greeted the whole room politely. It has already become common knowledge in their class that there was a student friends with Kim Sunggyu and they have mutually agreed to keep quiet with that fact not wanting to inconvenience Yeri who was quite a popular student at their university and most students that knew her were aware that she came from a wealthy family and that was enough to want to stay on her good graces for future favours… but mostly a majority of the students at their prestigious university were just too occupied with their own studies to care enough about a fellow student’s private life (or to even know any idols).

            Yeri continued to greet them with small smiles as she led Sunggyu inside where they could sit near the back, the polite idol bowed to everyone as he followed her and everyone greeted him back with the same amenity. With Yeri’s arrival they were now only missing four people and it seemed one of them would be arriving with Howon anytime now.

            “You’re quite popular aren’t you,” Sunggyu said when he finally sat beside her. They were passed a menu from the table beside theirs and Sunggyu received it with a smile that he hoped looked friendly before passing it over to Yeri.

            “What makes you think so?” she began looking through the menu and she could not help but smile when he retorted how obvious it appeared in the eyes of an outsider, he then went on grumbling how he was never popular in school so he knew immediately when they received all this attention. “They only like my family, not me… plus aren’t you a famous idol now? Things are ought to be different from when you were in high school, Sunggyu.”

            For once Sunggyu did not have anything to say, her response to his childish protests was surprisingly humbling and he simply shut his mouth and nodded his head once to show that he understood. Sunggyu almost flinched when she giggled before turning her attention back to the menu, he watched her as she read and only did he snap out of his daze when she passed the menu to him after she seemed to have made a choice.

            It was also then when the doors slid open again and this time Howon finally showed up with Jihyuk, they spotted Yeri and Sunggyu easily and quickly made their way over as they greeted everyone. Like Sunggyu expected, there were more people that cared about Howon’s appearance than his; he was more well known after all, he’s been in dramas and his sub-unit work was well received by the general public.

            “Heya Yeri!” Jihyuk grinned as he sat down opposite Sunggyu. “Wow, I can’t believe I was right when I suspected your boyfriend was Sunggyu. Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Jihyuk.”

            Sunggyu was really put off by his bouncy attitude and he sent Howon a subtle look of disapproval before shaking the man’s hand. “I think you’re mistaken, Yeri and I aren’t dating.”

            “It’s okay…” Jihyuk lowered his voice to above a whisper as he leaned forward. “You don’t have to lie now, we’re all friends here. Hoya can vouch for me.”

            “No, we really aren’t dating,” Yeri said in a cutting tone before looking to Howon who had not said a word since sitting down. “I didn’t know you were coming, Howon.”

            “Yeah well I didn’t even know about it but I kind of had to after Sunggyu-hyung begged me-.”

            There was an audible thump under the table and an awkward silence engulfed the table as Sunggyu and Howon exchanged dirty looks, thankfully Jihyuk seemed to take the tension better than the rest and began chatting again in no time and called over the waiter to take their orders. It took a little time for the atmosphere to return to normal but it was difficult to stay quiet with Jihyuk blabbing away and asking Sunggyu one thing after another.

            The night progressed smoothly after everybody arrived, after they had their dinner it was finally time to open their envelopes and Yeri pulled hers out of her bag under Sunggyu’s watchful eyes.

            “You totally opened yours already,” Howon accused Jihyuk when he saw his battered envelope. The two bickered and Yeri smiled at the unexpected sight, when Howon told her about his friend she was both excited that they knew someone mutually but surprised that it was Jihyuk. They were so different after all and Yeri could not even begin to imagine the two next to each other much less growing up together but now they were in front of her chatting like old friends and she felt a little abashed for doubting them.

            There was a countdown and Yeri had her thumb under the flap as she waited and after they reached zero she immediately tore her envelope open much to Sunggyu and Howon’s shock. She scanned the paper’s contents furiously and lowered it silently, her expression was unreadable and Sunggyu did not want to peek so he nudged her.

            “Safe?”

            “Safe,” she repeated after him with a grin as she showed him the report card. “Better than I thought too.”

            “Good job,” he nodded back with a boyish smile. “You certainly did a lot better than that guy.”

            Sunggyu raised his chin to the man in front of him and smirked at the sight of Howon begrudgingly patting Jihyuk’s shoulder. Yeri smiled slightly and tried to hide her smile behind her hand when she caught eye with a classmate sitting on another table.

            With the highlight of the gathering now over people were beginning to leave, most of the ones staying were the ones that wanted to drink and Yeri was not one of them… especially since she would somehow be made to pay for their rounds. Howon decided to stay with Jihyuk for a little longer since his friend was upset about his poor grades but Sunggyu decided to leave with Yeri, it wasn't as if he had any other reason to be here apart from accompanying her.

            It was half nine when they got out of the building and there was still some time left before Sunggyu needed to be back and they have not seen each other in a while so they looked for someplace they could catch up. They chose a dessert house nearby and Sunggyu found an empty table in a corner while Yeri went to order, they both chose a bingsu and she added a bubble tea. It was hard to imagine she could still have so much after such a big dinner but she seemed to have an endless stomach for sweets.

            They chatted like usual once they were sat down with their food, she seemed particularly interested in the comeback progress and she even asked him to tell her about each of the stages he has performed. He did not know what to say since it was all quite similar but he told it to her nonetheless and she seemed to absorb everything enthusiastically and nodded to everything he said.

            “One more thing.”

            “What is it?”

            “How come I couldn't vote for you?”

            “Huh?” Sunggyu’s mind went blank. “Vote? You mean for music shows?”

            “Yeah, I tried voting but I couldn’t find your name anywhere.”

            Sunggyu knew she had no experience or interest in fandom business and she hardly went online as it was so he felt somewhat touched that she wanted to give it a go for their sake. He tried his best to explain it to her slowly and using terms she would understand, as he did she pulled out her phone and asked him to show her the pages and apps she was supposed to use.

            “Okay wait… so you don’t get charted in the first week?” Yeri repeated as she struggled to process his words. Sunggyu gave her a quick nod. “And therefore you can’t win music show trophies on your comeback stages?”

            “Usually that’s the case.”

            “… This is so confusing,” Yeri gave up as she put her phone down and reached for the bubble tea on the table instead, she took a long sip as she tried to remember all the information Sunggyu had just told her but it still wasn’t really registering… especially since he mentioned all these different kinds of voting systems available. It was hard to imagine there were people that actually did this every time their groups were promoting and she was having newfound respect for fans. “Okay, so we do the online pre-voting to get you nominated for first place… and then we vote again during the live broadcast?”

            “Yes and you can do that on twitter or through SMS,” Sunggyu smiled at her effort. “Then there’s also SNS score, streaming scores, chart and sales scores… basically different shows have different requirements.”

            “… Right…” she wished she knew what half of those things would entitle her to do for INFINITE to get the highest score but her patience for today was reaching its limits. Though she did feel kind of embarrassed since she has