"Hyung, what are we going to sing for the concert if they ask for an encore?"

“Can You Smile, of course. You're an idiot dongsaeng."

"You're so mean, hyung! This is why Woohyun-hyung is better than you."

"Shush. Get ready, we're going out in 2 minutes. Infinite!"

6 different voices joined him.

"Infinite!"

Sunggyu woke up, shaking his head wearily after the wonderful dream. His idol was the star of his dream, as usual. 
 
The object of his affections seemed to be a member of a group with him and 4 other people. He noticed the other 4 were a mixture of models and dancers that were friends with Lee Sungjong. The last member was Hoya, Sunggyu's friend from Busan that had dropped his education to dance. They were 'Infinite.' 

They seemed happy, and Sunggyu desperately wished that was the reality. Even though he was a measly shopping center clerk, he wished to sing.
He loved singing, and Sunggyu was a rare male fan of a male soloist. It was uncommon, and even his family was disgusted by it.

Lee Sungjong was his favorite, the idol that he looked up to. He was 19, while Sunggyu was 23. If you asked Sunggyu, he looked like a beautiful angel descending from the heavens to purify the world.
If you asked citizens on the street, he only looked pretty and had an admirable voice.

He sat up, before looking at the poster of Sungjong on his wall. His bubblegum pink hair was glimmering in the photo, and the fake snow surrounding him made him seem like a fairy.

"Good morning, Jongie!"

--

He wastes a whole work day for this, a measly yet meaningful 11000 won per hour going down the drain.
However, it's for a good cause.

Lee Sungjong's handshake and fan meeting.

Sunggyu booked his ticket months ago, practically yelling his voice out when he saw the notification.
He had spent over 5 months of savings on the ticket, along with lightsticks and merchandise. 

(Garbage, his family would say. Prized possessions, Sunggyu would say.)

It's a bit awkward, judging by the 99% female population surrounding him. They're whispering and indiscreetly pointing at him, with some glares stabbing at him.
He's a male fan, of course.

A high school girl duo has no trouble bumping into him on purpose, almost sweeping him off his feet. "Gross," they murmur, "A creepy guy showed up to a male idol's fanmeet. How gross."

They shove him, and Sunggyu has to clench his teeth to stop himself from yelling at them.

"Excuse me," A gentle, feminine voice says, stepping up to him. 

Sunggyu looks up, and girls scream. It's Lee Sungjong, in his glory. With his newly dyed brown hair (just like his debut, Sunggyu notices), and his angelic face.

"Y-yes?" Sunggyu's voice stammers and his heart is beating 6 million times per second.

"Would you like to take a selfie? I can sign something of yours if you want," he says, smiling widely. Sungjong holds up his phone and tilts his head in the most adorable way ever.

The female fans are quiet, their eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yes. Thank you so much," Sunggyu mutters, a hot pink blush on his face. Sungjong smiles in response, and Sunggyu hands his phone over. They pose, and as Sungjong holds his finger heart up, Sunggyu can't help but poke his pale cheek.

The camera snaps, and Sungjong laughs right after. "You're so mean! Oh, do you mind if we could take another?"
Sunggyu can only nod, and Sungjong holds his own phone up at an angle.

Sungjong pokes Sunggyu's cheek in return, and Sunggyu can't help but hold up a finger heart. It's cringy and greasy, but Sunggyu smiles.

The phone makes a ka-chink sound, and Sungjong looks at it, smiles, and pockets it once more. "Would you like me to sign something?"

Sunggyu holds up his smooth black phone, and Sungjong nods, taking out a permanent silver pen to scribble his signature on it.

"Oh, what's your name?" Sungjong asks under his breath, so the female fans have no chance of hearing it.

"Kim Sunggyu."

"Okay, Sunggyu-hyung!" He writes something else on it, but Sunggyu can hardly see it at this angle.

He hands it back with a grin, and Sunggyu can't help but smile back. "Goodbye! Have a nice day!"
Sungjong turns away, grabbing the girls' attention once more.

Sunggyu heads home right away, but before that, he looks at his phone case.

'Lee Sungjong. Stay strong, Sunggyu!' is written on there, along with a heart.

Sunggyu holds it close to his heart and laughs, as loud as he can.

--

He meets his idol at a supermarket.

More specifically, the supermarket he works at.

Lee Sungjong wears a knit hat along with a pair of sunglasses. His nose and mouth are covered with a black surgical mask, but Sunggyu can still recognize that perfect jawline.

"Oh, it's you! Kim Sunggyu," Sungjong says quietly, taking his sunglasses off. It is 3 am, and there are no people in the market, so it should be safe.

Sunggyu's face is flushed, how did Sungjong manage to remember his name? "Y-yes! Thanks for remembering my name..."
Sungjong laughs, small and under his breath, and Sunggyu is heart-struck once more.

"No problem! I don't think I would ever forget the first male fan that came to one of my fanmeets."

Sunggyu feels embarrassed, but Sungjong just waves it away. "If it makes you happy, don't be embarrassed. I love singing and my fans the most, you know? Nothing will ever change that. Ah, can you ring my items up, please? I… have to go."

He signals to the pile of ramyeon and band-aids on the desk, and Sunggyu flinches.

"Of course." He rings the 5 ramyeon and the pack of back-aids, coming to a total of 7000 won. "7000 won, please."

Sungjong hands the money over, and Sunggyu can't help but ask something. "What brings you here at," he takes a quick glance at the clock, "3 in the morning?"
He puts the money in the register and prints out the receipt. 

Sungjong looks flustered, an achievement that Sunggyu feels somewhat (guiltily) prideful for. "I just came home from a music show, and I forgot I ate all the ramyeon."

"What about the bandages?" Sunggyu hands the receipt over.

"Er...It's late, and I'm pretty hungry, so I'll head home! Have a nice night, Sunggyu-hyung!" Sungjong's shaky hand grabs the receipt from Sunggyu, and he is instantly suspicious.

 
But he doesn't want to make him even more uncomfortable, so he sends him off with a small smile. "Okay. Eat something more than just ramyeon, okay? Sleep soon, it's late too. Take care of your health."
He sounds like a nagging leader, but Sunggyu is truly worried.

"Okay! Take care of yourself as well, Sunggyu-hyung," he says as he pushes the door open, and the store is quiet once more.

After the conversation, he realizes that his palms are sweating. He sighs, wipes them on his shirt, and tries to calm down his rapid heartbeat.

He waits until 4 am until the next coworker takes the shift.
Seeing the boring supermarket uniform is strangely comforting at this point, and he smiles, waving at them, before pacing out of the door.

The moment he's out of the door, he remembers Sungjong's half-covered face and grimaces. 

He wishes beautiful idols like him would never get hurt, but life never stops for anyone.

--

Sungjong spots Dongwoo arriving at the cafe in Seoul, and Sungjong waves him over to their huge table. “What's up, hyung? Why'd Woohyun call us all here, when he wouldn't even show up first?”

Dongwoo shrugs, laughing, and says, “I don't know! But everyone's coming.”

Sungjong nods, turning to his phone as they wait. 

Soon enough, Woohyun and Sungyeol pop in, sitting down as they chatter about who knows what. They were only waiting for Hoya and Myungsoo, now.

Dongwoo was a dance choreographer and rapper. He once did a collaboration stage with Sungjong, and Sungjong still remembers the stage when they switched parts, with Dongwoo singing and him rapping.
Hoya was also a rapper and choreographer. He acted once in a while, too. He worked at a dance studio in Busan and preferred to not stay in the limelight.

Woohyun, Myungsoo, and Sungyeol were all models and actors. Sungjong didn't know how they became so close, but he sometimes modeled with them for magazines. Woohyun had somewhat of a singing career, but chose to not delve deeper into it (a shame, really, because he was amazing at singing.)

They were all from different agencies, and Sungjong really did wonder how they all became closer than brothers. He first met them in a run down soju bar during his debut year, where a drunken Woohyun exclaimed, ‘What a pretty girl!’ and tried to kiss him.
After the other guys had stopped laughing and apologized for Woohyun's confession, he introduced himself as Lee Sungjong.

Afterward, it was like they were friends from the very start.

Hoya enters the table quietly, followed by Myungsoo. Seeing that all of them were there, Woohyun taps on the table, calling for silence even though the only one that was talking was him. 

“Alright guys, I gotta tell you someth-”

“Hoya?”

--

He arrives at a cafe not far from his apartment, looking for Hoya's familiar figure. He had wanted to meet up with Hoya for a while, as both had not met since Sunggyu had started working night shifts at the supermarket.

His phone was acting weird, too. The phone couldn't receive messages until over a day that the person had sent them. He had learned that after his manager angrily called him about why he didn't show up to work. He had called the phone company ages ago but hadn't gotten the time to fix it yet.

He spots Hoya on a table, only it's with 4 other people and… Sungjong?!

“Hoya?” He calls out, only for all of them to turn their heads towards him. He recognizes them as the 4 other celebrities Sungjong hangs out with… Jang Dongwoo, sitting on the left, is the choreographer and rapper who did a stage with Sungjong. Nam Woohyun, Lee Sungyeol, and Kim Myungsoo are all actors and models, and Sungjong had sung some of the soundtracks for their dramas.

“Sunggyu-hyung?” Unexpectedly, Sungjong says that, not Hoya.

Woohyun asks, “You know him, Sungjong-ah?”

Sunggyu bows, trying not to expose himself as a diehard fan. “Yes. My name is Kim Sunggyu. It's nice to meet you. Anyways, Hoya, weren't we supposed to meet today?” The alone was unsaid but heavily implied.

Hoya tilts his head confusedly. “Sorry, hyung. Didn't I text you though? I said I had another meeting.”

And Sunggyu gets it. His phone didn't get the message. “Ah, sorry then. My phone didn't get the message, Hoya. I'll leave you to it, then.” 

Just as he's about to leave, Sungjong's voice calls out from behind him.

“Sunggyu-hyung!” Sunggyu stops to look back, and Sungjong beckons him back to the table with a pale hand. “Why don't you sit with us? After all, you wanted to meet Hoya-hyung here too.”

Ah, my angel Jjong…

He walks back with a little bit too much excitement in his steps, and sits at the table, in between Nam Woohyun and Lee Sungyeol.  Looking at their outfits make him seem very underdressed. After all, he only has his dark gray turtleneck and his dress pants.

“So,” Hoya starts, staring straight at Sunggyu, “How's work? Also, didn't you say you got a musical offering at some theater? How is it, hyung?” 
Dongwoo and Woohyun seem mildly interested at the word ‘musical,’ until Sunggyu realizes that they've acted in musicals before.

“Oh, it's okay, I guess. Though I don't think I can do it because of my job.”

Sungjong scoffs, before realizing how rude he must sound. “Oh, I mean… Don't worry about your job! If you want to do the musical, do it!”

Woohyun and Dongwoo agree, with the latter nodding rapidly.

Sunggyu smiles at their good intentions. “It's not like I don't want to do it… I have to pay rent, you know, so I can't really skip it for the musical showings.”

The three stop, looking guiltily. Sunggyu takes their silent apologies with a small smile. “It's okay. I'm used to it.”

Suddenly, Myungsoo looks up at him, eyes bright with… admiration? He doesn't say anything, but he nods with respect at Sunggyu.

“So, how old are you?” Woohyun offhandedly comments.

The third time Sungjong and Sunggyu meet is like a dream, like a comforting blanket that Sunggyu wishes he could have had earlier in his life.

--

The fourth time they meet is harsh and cold, like a freezing gust of wind biting at his face.

He's at a club, and Sunggyu is half-drunk and about to pass out when he sees that familiar form.

A curvy body, barely covered with a scandalous lace top that barely covers his stomach. His shorts are extra short, and Sunggyu wonders if he's even wearing boxers under that.
Half of his face is covered with a black and pink lace mask, and it seems he's wearing blue contacts. His brown hair is tied up in two small pigtails. 

Despite the alluring appearance, Sunggyu is horrified. Sungjong was an idol; what the hell was this? Why was he on that stage, that stage where so many men had thrown their money at?
It was disgusting. He shouldn't be out here, here where only the lowest of the low go. He shouldn't be here, performing and twisting his body in such unnatural angles.

He starts dancing, and even though Sunggyu had always dreamt of this, he feels like throwing up.
Sungjong's body is alluring, and he curves to the music beautifully yet roughly.

His arm wraps around that steel pole, and Sunggyu's attention is instantly drawn to the white bandages wrapped around them.
There's tightly wrapped around his forearm and wrist, and Sunggyu deeply wishes there isn't more.

The crowd whistles and male yells resonate around the cigarette-stained club, and Sunggyu wishes he could leave.
But he can't. He has to talk to Sungjong. He needs to know his reasons for being here.

Sunggyu takes his phone out, admiring the 'Stay strong, Sunggyu!' that is adorned on it, and he hopes he could be strong.

Fortunately, the music stops, and Sungjong bows. His legs wobble and shake, and he moves to take the money that has been shoved into his socks and shorts.
Sunggyu is happy he did not catch the moment, the moment where the crowd reached out, touching Sungjong's body and throwing money at him.

The announcer moves to present the current dancer, and the attention is drawn away from him once more.
Sungjong is moving- moving towards the 'staff only' section, and Sunggyu runs up and grabs his wrist.

He does not say his name, for he does not want to cause a scandal.

Sungjong turns around, a breath caught in his throat when he realizes just who it is.

"S-Sunggyu-hyung?"

--