You carry a bundle of dirty towels into the stock room of the sports center. You've been at work for about four hours and still have two hours left to go. Your shoes have completely dried from walking in the light layer of snow that has covered South Korea overnight. It's 12:30 p.m.

Leaving the yellow painted stock room empty-handed, you walk towards the dance hallway. You pass a room with the door open and hear the scuffling of sneakers. You backtrack and peek in the room.

You recognize the person dancing. Watching him for a little bit, you suddenly gasp when he stops and collapses to the ground. His hat rolls on to the polished wood flooring and he reaches out with his arm to grab it.

You knock on the door twice while peeking into the room. "Annyeong, oppa."

Dongwoo sits up right immediately and looks towards the door. He seems startled, but he manages a smile and a wave. "Annyeong ~~~-ah. Jal jinnaeseoyo? How have you been?"

"I've been good," you say as you step into the dance studio. You go and stand near him on the floor. Not too near since it is still slightly awkward between you and Dongwoo, but not too far either since he's your oppa.

"How have you been?" you ask Dongwoo. He pats the ground next to him and you bend down to sit with your knees propped up. He rolls back his sleeves of his hoodie and looks up at the ceiling. Then he turns and smiles to you.

"Oppa's been alright," he says sadly.

Your eyebrows crease and you feel your heart shudder in worry. What is wrong with your always-happy Dongwoo? "What's wrong?"

He sighs and looks at his shoes. He tilts his left foot from side to side and and says, "There's just a lot going on right now. I came to work off the stress," he looks to you, "Glad you stopped by today."

Something really must be upsetting Dongwoo. You can't figure it out though. You look at Dongwoo. He laughs at you when he realizes that you're trying to find out what he's hiding by staring at him. You smile at his laugh, but say, "I hope you know you can still talk to me about anything." You stand up and offer a hand to Dongwoo on the floor.

He takes your hand and you pull him up with his help. While still holding his hand and standing together, you say, "Anything at all. Whether it be about work, clothing, girls, food, you name it and I'll be there to listen."

Dongwoo looks at you and asks, "Can I hug you ~~~-ah?" Without responding, you take a step closer to him and wrap your arms around his waist. He wraps his arms around your shoulders and gives you a tight squeeze. He loosens the squeeze, but doesn't let go of you.

You hold Dongwoo and after a few seconds, you pat him on his back gently. "Aish, oppa jincha angwenchana. Eotteokke...Dongwoo's really not okay, what to do?" You let go of him and pull back to see Dongwoo's face. You fuss with his hair by waving your hand through it and then give Dongwoo a small smile.

You catch him eyeing your lips and notice that he's leaning towards you. Your heart is pounding, you say quietly, "Opp-"

But Dongwoo's a gentleman and stops himself before he gets any closer. He releases you from his embrace and looks at your eyes. "Mianhe ~~~-ah. Chongmal mianhe. Oppa's-"

"A-arasseo," you stammer still in slight shock of what almost happened. "I'm the one who's sorry, oppa." You hope that Dongwoo knows that you are sorry for not accepting his feelings for you. He has to be the sweetest guy on earth. You ask him, "Can you really not tell me?"

Dongwoo purses his lips and looks at you. After a while, he asks, "Do you have time?"

You think about it and say, "You can just tell me here. I have to stay in the building."

"That's fine," he says. He walks you to the bench in the back of the room near the stereo speakers. It's a bit darker over here since the lighting in the room focuses on the front and center of the room for dancers.

You sit beside Dongwoo with your legs close together and Dongwoo sits with his legs slightly open. He hunches over and puts his hand in between. You look at Dongwoo's face expectantly and he says, "Hyung's promotions have been cut short."

Dongwoo could have other hyungs, but you know who he is talking about.

He's talking about Kim Sunggyu.

You're confused as to why that would hurt Dongwoo, and you open your mouth to ask, but then Dongwoo continues, "I'm not going to hide this from you ~~~-ah because you know Infinite and especially Sunggyu-hyung very well. You deserve to know and I know you won't tell anyone."

You nod your head in understanding and Dongwoo says, "Sunggyu-hyung's promotions got cut because there was a scandalous photo released of hyung and a girl."

Your eyebrows furrow as a flood of thoughts crash around your mind. Who was the girl? Did Sunggyu have a new girlfriend? Why would Sunggyu be so careless? Didn't he realize what was at stake?

"The picture was taken in Hongdae last Wednesday and..." you can no longer hear Dongwoo's words as you cast your eyes far away, not focusing on anything but your thoughts.

Hongdae. Last Wednesday. That was the night of Seunghoon's birthday. That was where you had met with Sunggyu. That had been where you had kissed Sunggyu at night.

You bring your thumb to your lip, remembering the passionate kiss and then turn to Dongwoo quickly and say. "Oppa! Was the photo taken....at night?"

Dongwoo thinks about it then frowns and says, "That's what I heard. How do you know..." He stops talking when he sees a tear fall down your right cheek.

Dongwoo immediately catches the tear and wipes your eyes, "Wae-wae-wae-wae-wae? Uljima...Don't cry..." He's about to put an arm around you, but he reaches away from you towards the floor and grabs a tissue from his practice bag to give to you.

You take it silently as another tear falls. "Wae? Wae ~~~-ah? Oppa's right here. It's not like it's you..." Dongwoo looks at your face and he suddenly understands. The both of you understand that the girl in the picture was you.

Having a solo rock album was Sunggyu's lifelong dream.

And you were the one that ended it.

Dongwoo sits back silently with his head against the wall and sighs. You sit cross armed, in a position almost as if you are hugging yourself. After a long pause of silence and silent crying, you manage to ask, "Onjen? When did you hear about this?"

Dongwoo looks at you worriedly and quietly tells you, "Last night."

You groan inwardly and put your face in your hands as if to block out the pain and find familiar comfort. You feel Dongwoo pat the middle of your back and you lean to him. He has nice shoulders. They are comforting.

Dongwoo holds you protectively and says lowly, "Mianhe ~~~-ah. I wouldn't have told you if I had known it was you."

Without looking at Dongwoo,you say, "Aniyo. I need to know stuff like this. I would've found out sooner or later... Wait," you turn to face Dongwoo, "So...is this not going to be spread through the media?"

"Aniyo. Woolim-sajangnim stopped it before it could get any farther."

You sigh. The first good news in a while. "Good. Woolim has always been good to you guys."

"Yeah, he has."

Dongwoo continues to hold you until you stop crying. When you think you can manage your silent sobs. You get up and walk forward to the mirrored wall of the dance studio. Dongwoo sees where you're going and follows you.

You use the wet tissue to pat the red puffiness away. You look at Dongwoo behind you through the mirror. "Oppa."

He looks at you through the mirror and you turn around to look at him. "Can I hug you?"

Dongwoo gives you a knowing smile and pulls you into a hug. You wrap your arms around him and whisper, "Gomowoyo oppa."

After a comfortable embrace, Dongwoo lets you go first and leans back to look at you. Your eyes are closed, but you can feel him staring at you.

You open your eyes and smile. "Mwoya? What?"

Dongwoo smiles and sadly says, "You're eyes aren't red anymore."

You turn around and look in the mirror to check. He's right. You sigh and then say, "I should get back to work now, oppa." You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and ask, "Eodi kayo? Where are you going?"

Dongwoo turns to the back of the room to grab his bag and hat off of the floor. He turns to you. "I'm going to the weight room."

"I'll walk you there," you say.

Dongwoo gives you his dino grin and you can't help but laugh. The two of you walk out of the studio. You shut off the lights and close the door.

You walk together to the weight room talking about how long he's staying and his schedule.Then you talk about yours. You both don't mention the cut of Sunggyu's promotions.

Before you know it, the weight room is next to Dongwoo. "Annyeong oppa. Work hard!"

"Arasseo ~~~-ah! Annyeong!"

You watch as he steps into the weight room and then you leave to go and continue your day at work.