***

Sungjong and I had exchanged phone numbers because he still wanted to get in contact with me so he could continue learning “Nothing's Over” on the piano. Because of that, I had received a text from him the next morning asking if I could come by later so we could play some more. I replied and said sure, since I really had nothing else to do that day. I went up that afternoon, thankful that the same security guard from the day before was there. I smiled warmly at him as he let me in. I sent a text to Sungjong and asked where he was. He told me they were still in dance practice and to wait for him outside the dance practice room. Once I received directions from another worker, who gave me another funny look (seriously, was it the hair they were giving me looks for?), I set off to the practice room. I arrived just as the door opened. Hoya stepped out and smiled at me.

“You must be who Sungjong keeps texting,” he said. I nodded with a slight laugh. He held the door open for me. “Go on in, we should be done soon,” he said. I bowed slightly and went in.

“Thank you,” I said softly as he flashed another quick smiled and took off down the hall.

“Minnie!” Sungjong called from across the room, waving and walking over to me. I had given him permission to call me Minnie the day before because being called “noona” made me feel old. Plus, seeing the looks on everyone's faces was priceless and very much worth it. I smiled at Sungjong and waved back. He gave me a quick side hug. “Sorry, I'm all sweaty,” he said. I shrugged.

“It's cool. I would be too after dancing for hours,” I said with a light laugh.

“Minyoung-ah!” Woohyun said, clapping me lightly on the shoulder from behind. I willed my face to stop being so bright red at his touch. There were murmurs of “the YouTube chick?” from those who hadn't met me yet. I bowed quickly at the other members.

“Hello, my name is Kim Minyoung,” I said, flipping my bangs back out of my face. The other four members, Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Sungyeol, and L bowed slightly and were halfway through introducing themselves (which, while not necessary, was the polite thing to do) when Hoya came back in. Dongwoo walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulders.

“Took you long enough. Have you met Minyoung yet?” he asked, steering Hoya over to me. Hoya smiled and waved with a quick small bow.

“I've met her sort of already,” he said. I waved a little back at him and smiled.

“Yeah, both times I almost ran right into him,” I said with a soft giggle. Having Sungjong at my side was somehow helping me relax a little. I guess it was the time I spent with him the day before that had gotten me more comfortable with him. Although, having Woohyun still draped across my shoulders was almost enough to counteract the soothing feeling from Sungjong. “Y-you guys should get back to practicing. I don't want you guys to get in trouble,” I said, taking it as an opportunity to get the highly attractive older boy out of my personal bubble.

“Maybe you could practice with us?” Sungjong suggested cautiously. The others didn't seem to be terribly against the idea, so they spread out a bit an showed me a couple of steps. I tried my best to imitate them.

“Good job, Minnie!” Sungjong said. “That was better than when I first tried.” He laughed. I shook my head.

“I'm sure you did fine,” I said. “I feel like I looked like a flailing mouse.” They all laughed at the analogy. And probably the mental images that followed. The door opened then and Manager Kim walked in. He stopped and looked at us.

“Why aren't you guys practicing?” he asked coldly. I shrank back a bit and attempted to hide behind the nearest member, which was Dongwoo at the time.

“Hyung, we were just teaching Minyoung here some moves,” Sunggyu said. Manager Kim looked everyone over for a moment, pausing slightly when he saw me trying to hide behind Dongwoo, the corners of his mouth twitching as he held back a smile.

“Well, I guess since you were teaching, I can count it as practicing. I'll let it slide this time,” he said, finally smiling openly. “Miss Minyoung, why don't you come stand beside me while the boys practice some more?” I nodded quickly.

“R-right,” I stammered, going over to stand beside him like I was told. Dongwoo seemed to just notice I had been hiding behind him and grinned at me like the foolish genius he is. I held up my fists in that action you see us Koreans do on TV shows. “Infinite, fighting!” I encouraged. The other members grinned as well and continued their practicing.

“I see you're getting along fine with them,” Manager Kim said. I nodded.

“Yeah. I met Sungjong yesterday after the audition with you when I went to the piano room. I offered to teach him how to play 'Nothing's Over' so we exchanged phone numbers. We were going to practice once he got done here,” I said. The manager, Kim Jungyeol, looked down at me.

“You play the piano too?” he asked. I nodded. “You're just full of surprises.”

“I hope they are good surprises then,” I said with a light grin. He smiled back at me.

“So far, so good,” he said. We shared a laugh.