You gazed admiringly at the TV screen, propping your head up on your hands as you lay on your stomach. Hoya and the other members of Infinite were displayed on the screen dancing feverishly to their song “Be Mine”. You remembered Hoya from middle school; he was that quiet and mysterious kid in your homeroom that you never had the guts to talk to. Now, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, he’d become an idol, going from the Howon you watched from afar to Hogod on stage. But it wasn’t like you stopped liking him; your crush had grown to a full-blown fangirl-style love. You sighed. If only I’d had that courage to get to know him before… You’d had a crush on him since the seventh grade, but you’d never told a soul. Not your mom, not your best friend, not your years-old diary.

You switched off the TV and rolled onto your back, pulling your covers up to wrap around you. You closed your eyes and slept.

---

The next morning, you went out to the streets of Seoul just to take a stroll and maybe do some shopping. You were lost to your thoughts when you bumped into a muscled chest. You looked up and quickly apologized, “Oh! Mianhabnida,” when you recognized the same charming eyes you’d seen the night before on TV, now only obscured by fake glasses and a baseball cap. H-Howon-ssi? Awed, you could only gawk as he apologized and went his own way, keeping his head down to avoid recognition. Wait, where’s he going without Infinite or the managers?

Conflicted, you debated with yourself whether to follow him, succumbing to your curious intent, or minding your own business and disbelieving your own eyes. People looked at you strangely as they passed by. Oh yeah, I’m still standing here. I must look like an idiot, too, you mused. Before you lost sight of Hoya and his baseball cap, you quickly ended your internal debate and decided to follow him. Cripes, I feel like a total stalker.

~~~

As Hoya moved past you after apologizing, he thought, She looks kind of familiar; I remember her face… Where have I seen here before? Hoya shook his head as he headed down a random street. Today was one of his rare days off work. He really wanted to take a break from practice and just wander unmonitored and contemplate life… or other things. He thought back to school life. Those days were much simpler. I was so carefree back then…

Suddenly the light bulb above his head clicked on. Hoya connected your face to memories in middle school. She’s—!? _____? What’s she doing in Seoul? As he reminisced about the old days, he remembered having a slight crush on you during the seventh grade; you were in his homeroom and he noticed you joking around with your friends. He’d immediately liked you, for your personality and your easy smile. However, Hoya had never taken the initiative to talk to you. He’d had a hunch you liked him back… but it was just a hunch. Hoya suddenly stopped in his tracks.Maybe she still remembers me. Did she recognize me? It would explain that weird face you gave him. He raced back down the street.

~~~

You saw Hoya turn around and sprint back up the street all too suddenly. Startled, you hid behind the corner, pretending you were a secret agent trailing a target… but that was all just your childish imagination. The real reason was because you were quite shy of the notion that he might think you were stalking him or something. Oh wait—I am stalking him…

As you hid from his sight, you watched him look around as if he lost something. Did he drop his phone?

~~~

Hoya searched for your face around the streets, but to no avail; he even looked in the shops and restaurants in the immediate vicinity to check if you had entered, but again, it was as if you’d been just a fragment of his distant memory.

~~~

Abruptly you got a call from your boss, making you jump.You immediately answered to silence your phone, whose ringtone was from “Dashi Dorawa”.

“Hey, ______-ssi?”

“Yes?” You replied. “I’m kind of busy right now—“

“We need you at work ASAP!” Her voice resonated though the earpiece. “Or else you’re fired!”

Uh-oh, you thought, this doesn’t sound too good. I’d better go. Normally your boss was good-natured and flexible. You reluctantly looked back at Hoya, who was still searching (bless his persistent soul), and set a brisk pace towards your workplace. Seconds later, Hoya arrived at the very spot you were standing moments earlier.

I could’ve sworn she was right here, he thought. It was starting to get dark. Maybe it was just my imagination after all.