Dongwoo’s POV

All of a sudden both Hoya and Jiyun ran to separate rooms. What was happening?

After all the members settled down and began eating while chatting, I walked over to the room that Jiyun ran into discreetly. I tried to open the door and realized it was locked. I knocked on the door and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

“Leave me alone hyung!” She shouted.

I was startled at her reaction for awhile until I realized it was Hoya.

Damn. I can’t believe I got confused again.

“Okay sure…” I my heels to go over to the other room when I realized all the members had heard what Hoya said and shot weird glances in the direction of the room.

“Oh and Jiyun-ah, it’s oppa not hyung!” I added.

“Oh yeah. Right. Sorry oppa.” I heard him saying.

“What’s wrong with this kid? Never mind, I’ll tend to him in a moment.” I thought. After I made sure all the members were engrossed in their own conversations, I proceeded to knock on - the real - Jiyun’s door.

“Jiyunnie?” I called out softly.

“D-dongwoo …hyung?” I thought I heard a whimper and a sob but I wasn’t so sure.

“Are you okay?”

Jiyun’s POV

At that moment, I felt so afraid. Dongwoo’s bound to know that something is amiss.

I’m not sure why - maybe it was because of his gentle and comforting voice, maybe it was because of his kind and innocent image - that I let down my guard and decided to share my sorrow with him.  At that time, all I knew was that I needed to let it out and I trusted him.

I opened the door and let him in, before locking it again.

“What’s the problem? You cried?” He asked worriedly, looking at my tear-stained face and puffy red eyes.

“Dongwoo oppa…  I’ll tell you about it, but can you help me to keep it a secret? Please?”

He hesitated for awhile before nodding.

“Don’t tell anybody, especially Hoya.”

“Ok! You can trust me.”

“Actually, I knew Hoya from some time back, even before you guys debuted…”

Dongwoo’s eyes widened slightly but he kept silent.

“I had a best friend I’d known since I had memory, and her name was Su In. One day, Su In told me she had a boyfriend, and it was someone I didn’t even know. They got to know each other through dance school.”

“Hoya?” Dongwoo blurted out, and then said apologetically, “Ah, I’m sorry, continue.”

“Yes, it was Hoya. I was happy for her of course, but at the same time, I was worried whether this guy would treat her well. Su In was just so innocent… I would even say gullible, and I was afraid she might get cheated. There were a few times I got to see him, and I felt more relieved when I saw that he was quite caring towards her and that they were really happy together.”

“And then?” Dongwoo said excitedly, like a little kid listening to an interesting story, “What happened?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m being too excited am I? Sorry…” He said a little embarrassedly.

“It’s ok,” I laughed weakly and then continued, “Well, after that, Hoya became a trainee at Woolim. At that time, they were still quite okay I would say… But one day, he told Su In that they had to break up temporarily as he would get really busy preparing for debut, and he was also unsure whether he could give her happiness after debut. And then he said to wait for him, and he would make a decision soon enough, but before that, he wished that they could maintain as best friends.”

“Ah, I think I heard of that.”

“Hoya told you guys?”

“Not much, just that he broke up with his girlfriend right before debut. We knew there was so much more to it, but he wouldn’t say anything else and we didn’t want to probe.”

“Okay… well, this is my side – Su In’s side – of the story… I’m not sure what’s his side either, but I’ll find a right time to talk to him about this. Anyway, after he made that statement, he didn’t contact Su In for all the months up until the day of Infinite’s debut. He didn’t pick up or return any of her calls and messages, but we both thought that he was just too busy. Yet on that day…” I paused for awhile, choked by my tears again.

I noticed that Dongwoo’s hand was moving up and down in the air, unsure of whether he should pat my back and comfort or anything, with this genuinely concerned look in his eyes.

“I’m okay.” I said, and continued, “On that day, Su In was preparing to go and watch Infinite’s debut stage, and I was going with her. Just before stepping out of the house