Everything went silent compared to a few seconds before when all of the sounds of laughter was still being heard. He, along with the other members, has been watching the repeat of last week’s news entertainment. Hoya just stared at the plasma screen, completely baffled.  Tiffany, one of the members of SNSD has just said that she fancied him. Of all of the other INFINITE’s members, Tiffany chose him. HIM. Hoya had begun to feel his chest swell with pride. He smiled unconsciously.

 

“Hyung~!” Suddenly, a book came in contact with him.

 

“Yah!! Yah!!” Rubbing the back of his head, Hoya quickly turned towards the source of the voice. Sungjong, the maknae of the group who was caught in the act tried to hide his laughter. The other members snickered to themselves. Hoya just glared at them.

 

“Now now…don’t look at us like that. It’s your own fault that the book come flying towards you,” the leader of the group, Sunggyu said.

 

“Yeah,  we’ve been calling you for several times already and there you are, still smiling like a lovesick puppy,” Woohyun added, mimicking Hoya.

 

Sungyeol and L laughed harder, seeing Woohyun’s attempt in trying to smile like Hoya did just now. Dongwoo on the other hand, tried to stop the members from teasing Hoya endlessly.

 

“Come on guys, give him a break!” Patting Hoya’s shoulder, he immediately asked the golden question. “So, what are you waiting for? Go and asked her out already,” Dongwoo smirked, wriggling his eyebrows.

 

“Mw-mwoh?” Startled from the question, Hoya shifted uncomfortably.  The members knew of his great interest on Tiffany, and they keep on teasing him about him. Now that Tiffany had confessed that she fancied him, there’s no way that the members would give him a break.

 

“Don’t play dumb or else we’re going to tell her-“

 

“A-arasseo! I’ll talk to her okay? But not now,” Hoya mumbled.

 

“You’re lucky, hyung! How I wish Taeyeon noona will say that she likes me and we’re going to marry happily ever after,” Sungyeol, who had grown fond on Taeyeon, sighed.

 

L who was beside him, smacked him on the head. “Oh please, like she will ever like a choding like you,” Sungyeol stuck out his tongue.

 

This again brought laughter in the room, as Sungyeol being the choding he is, pretend to sulked at the corner of the room. Hoya on the other hand, tuned out the sounds from his mind. The only thing he can think of right now is how to approach the girl of his dreams, Tiffany. Glancing at the other members, he quickly sneaked out from their dorm, trying to get some fresh air.

~~~~~

The studio was filled with the members of SNSD as their latest song, The Boys, was being played. The girls practice their dance routines along with the music. After the song had ended, all the members had also reached the finishing touches on the dance steps.

 

“Okay guys, let’s take a 30 minutes short break nae,” Taeyeon suggested, while wiping sweats from her forehead.

 

The others sighed in relief, and they all just stay silent as each of them does their own business. Sunny grabbed two water bottles and approached Taeyeon, who decided to practice her parts. While Yuri and ~Yoona kept poking their maknae,Seohyun, who immediately lay down on the floor, breathless.  Hyoyeon decided to join both Sunny and Taeyeon and had started to dance randomly, while Jessica excused herself to go to the toilet. Tiffany on the other hand, had other plans.

 

“I’m going to take walk for a while,” she said to the others, and stepped out from the studio.

 

As soon as she’s outside, the smell of fresh air hit her.  Inhaling it, she felt relaxed and smiled to herself. Even though the sun was shining brightly at her, she didn’t care as the atmosphere feels so peaceful to her. It didn’t take long for her to reach her destination, the beach which is secluded from the public. It seems like a daily routine for her to visit the beach after spending nearly a day at the studio. Upon reaching it, Tiffany quickly took off her shoes and walk gracefully on the sand. Sounds of the waves splashing against each other and the sight of seagulls welcomed her as soon as she got nearer to the sea. Spreading her arms wide, she closed her eyes and let the wind hit on her flawless face.

~~~~~

The cold wind blew a breeze, ruffling Hoya’s black hair. He drew his jacket closer around him and kept on walking on the sandy beach. He was on his way back to his dorm when his eyes caught hold of a girl standing near the sea. A sense of familiarity suddenly surrounded him. Why did she seem so familiar? He thought. Hoya seems to be debating with his mind whether to approach the girl or not. She might be one of those crazy fan girls. Shuddering, he stepped back a little. But then, curiosity gets the better of him. Just take a peek. It won’t hurt though, he assured himself. And so, he crossed along the beach. When he finally arrived just a few meters away from the girl, he stopped dead on his track. It couldn’t be her. Jaws wide open, he blinked his eyes a couple of times. At the same moment, the girl has decided to turn around. Both of them are now staring at one another.

 

The first few minutes are so quiet that you can even hear their own breathing. Tiffany felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been poured onto her. She opened to say something, but nothing came out. Her mind was numb. She didn’t expect to meet him at there. And she’s not ready to face him, yet. Remembering of her sudden confession on the media, her cheeks flushed red. Wake up, Tiffany. Now is not the time to freeze up.

 

“Well…it’s nice to see you here,” Hoya mentally slapped himself.  Nice going, Hoya. Now she’ll probably think what a major loser you are. Trying to act cool, he smiled nervously.

 

“It’s nice to see you too,” Tiffany responded, with his cute eye smile. But on the inside, she feels so embarrassed. Tiffany, calm down. Breathe in, that’s it, breathe out. She repeated this action until her heart began to slow down a little.

 

Brushing off strands of hair that falls on his forehead, Hoya tried to muster his courage to keep on talking to her.

 

“So, no practice today?” he asked cautiously.

 

“Actually, I have. It’s just that we’re having a break now and I decided to take some fresh air and this place comes to my mind and…” Tiffany stopped immediately, realizing that she talked too much. Biting her own lip, she began to speak again. “I’m sorry I’ve talked too much…”

 

“No no, it’s okay,” Hoya smiled and had to keep the urge to laugh. She’s so cute.

 

“I…I have to go now. It’s getting late,” bowing her head, she quickly walked past Hoya.

 

Hoya just stared at her back moving away from him and suddenly he realized something. “Wait!”

 

Halting her steps, Tiffany’s heart began to race. Slowly, she turned her head. And what she saw make her feel more embarrassed.

 

“You forgot your shoes,” Hoya said teasingly.

 

Snatching the shoes, Tiffany thanked him in a low voice. Hoya chuckled and when he saw that Tiffany had walked off again, his mind starts to become frantic. Should I catch up to her? Come on, Hoya. Think. Acting on impulse, he jogged towards Tiffany and asked, “Can I walk with you?” His mind was reeling with questions. What if I scared her off? What if she told me to get lost? Hoya quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of the negative possibilities.

 

Tiffany did not know what to say. A part of her wants to say yes straight away, but a part of her is too embarrassed to stand beside him. She looked up, and seeing Hoya’s eager face, she finally nods. Churning with joy, Hoya tried to keep himself composed. Smiling, he immediately walked beside Tiffany.

 

Few minutes passed and they are now walking down the streets. Luckily, each had remembered to bring their own masks just in case they were spotted by the people. They passed by a gift shop and Tiffany stopped for a while. A locket with a star shaped pendant was being displayed just inside the see through glass. Tiffany glanced at it, and feels tempted to buy the locket. Unfortunately, she left her purse at the studio.

 

Hoya watched her closely and turn his gaze to the locket, and back to her. An idea came up to him and he excused himself for a moment and walked into the store. Around 5 minutes later, he stepped out from the shop. “Let’s go,” he said brightly.

 

They walked for quite some time and finally, Tiffany said,” There’s my studio.” She point out, and turn to Hoya. “I’ll be going then,” with a shy smile, she bowed.

 

“Oh, wait a minute. I have something for you,” he quickly rummaging in his pockets, and pulled out a tiny box with a pink ribbon on it. “Here,” he motioned for Tiffany to take it.

 

“Oh, I can’t.” Tiffany automatically rejected it. Even though Hoya keeps on persuading her to take it, she still refused.

 

“Just treat it as a start of our friendship. Ha, yeah right. Once again, Hoya feels like a desperate guy. He silently begged for her to accept it. Few seconds passed and his hopes slowly began to falter. But the next second, Tiffany began to speak out.

 

“O-okay,” she slowly takes the small box and looked at it with anticipation. “Thank you,” she bowed.

 

Hoya’s insides were screaming with happiness. “You’re much welcome, he calmly replied. Their eyes met and the two just smiled at each other.

~~~~~

5 months later.

 

Tiffany had just come back from attending the Burberry Fashion Show in New York together with Yoona and Seohyun. Sitting on the seat while waiting in the airport, her hand unconsciously began to touch the star shaped pendant clasped around her neck.

 

“Unnie, you still haven’t told us who has given you the locket,” Seohyun said, pouting. Yoona just looked at Tiffany and smiled to herself, knowing that they won’t be getting an answer from her. For God sake, she wouldn’t even let any of them to touch it.

 

Giving a mischievous smile, Tiffany just shrugged her shoulders and gazed lovingly at the locket. There are words engraves on it which said, “Be the star for me.” Suddenly, an image of a certain someone formed in front of her eyes. Caressing the words, she opened the pendant and a picture of a blonde haired guy smiling back at her. Smiling, she immediately searched for her phone and while staring at the picture, she dialed a number and excused herself from the two girls.

 

-Flashback-

“Can I have your number?” just before Tiffany stepped into the studio, Hoya had asked for her number. In other words, he wanted to keep in contact. “Let’s eat lunch together some time, how’s that?” he said sheepishly.

 

Tiffany just can’t say no, since she had been dreaming of this to happen. And so, they began to exchange their phone numbers.

-End Flashback-

 

“Fany?” a deep, husky voice answered.

 

“Howon~” she merrily sang into the phone.

 

“Ouch, you’re hurting my ears,” Hoya .

 

“Yah, Lee Howon!” Tiffany screamed, without realizing what she was doing.

 

“Lee Howon? INFINITE’s  Lee Howon?”

 

Too shocked for words, Tiffany looked back and saw Yoona and Seohyun with their mouths wide open, completely aghast. Suddenly, both of their expressions change and they smirked. “I KNEW IT!” both of them said at the same time.

 

Tiffany just can’t deny it. It was time for the members to know about him, anyway. But then, she sighed inwardly. Knowing the girls, they might endlessly. The voice from her phone acknowledged her that Hoya is still on the other line. Blaming it all on him, she narrowed her eyes, thinking that he might be able to see her through the phone and said, “Yah, it’s all your fault that the others had found out about us. You are so dead when I get back to Korea,” and with that she switched off her phone and walked back to her seat, followed closely by the two girls who continuously about Hoya.

 

Hoya just stared down at his phone, completely baffled. Oh well, I guess I have to endure it. He chuckled and touched the phone screen. Looking back at him from the screen was a wall paper of him and a girl. A girl with a cute eye smile hugging him and kissing him by the cheek. Dreams do come true, he smiled to himself.

 

The End