Hyorin ran up to the children in the playground with big round eyes and a sweet smile. "Can I play?" she asked, ignoring the unhappy side-glances the children were giving her. "Go away Hyojung! You know why we don't let you join us." a chubby and big-sized boy replied, moving closer to Hyorin, till he was right in front of her. Hyorin looked up at his face and felt intimidated, but she didn't want to give up. "I know. But you can't stop someone from playing just because they're darker than you. I've even prepared something-"

Hyorin didn't need to continue, for at the next moment she could feel the hard earth on her back.

A few days later, Hyorin was allowed to go home and resume her activities. Bora and Dasom quickly packed up and brought the blank-faced leader back to the dorm. At home, Hyorin could smell the food being prepared by Soyou.

"Come and sit down, girls! I've made lunch!" the girls ran up and sat down at their seats, hoping for a good meal.

Well, except Hyorin, who slowly walked up to her seat and sat down.

In honor of Hyorin's return, Soyou had prepared a miniature 'feast' of sweet potato porridge, stir-fried vegetables, fried omelette, barbecued meat and freshly made orange juice, but it was apparent that Hyorin wasn't hungry.

"Come on, Hyorin ah. At least eat a little," Bora said, as she tried to talk while devouring the meat.

Hyorin tried to take a few mouthfuls, but the simple food still seemed too rich for her, so she started playing around with her food and listening to the member's conversations.

"Can you believe that the manager expects us to start performing again tomorrow? Hyorin unnie hasn't even have time to rest yet!" Dasom exclaimed in between her mouthfuls of food.

"I'm sure we can arrange for a later show," Soyou replied. "We're stars. It has always been quite hard to get rest days."

Hyorin just stared at the girls. It was bad enough having to perform tomorrow, but she still have a lot on her mind, especially that dream...

It's more of a recurring memory though.

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? You had barely touch your food." Bora said with a worried expression.

"Ya, I'm fine. You guys continue." Hyorin got up and left to her room, leaving the members to stare at her unfinished food.

"Seriously! You're making it too obvious Myungsoo sunbae!"

L was watching the performance by Sistar, constantly looking at Hyorin's precise movements and bright smile.

"Shut up Yejin noona." Ailee was preparing for her performance with 'U & I' when she caught L looking at Hyorin.

"Ya! You should be preparing for your comeback!" L said, trying to hide his bright apple-red face.

"Oh please! Speak for yourself! Wait till I tell Hyo-" "YA!" L gave a light hit on Ailee's head as she laughed uncontrollably.

L knew that this incident woulld most likely get leaked out to Hyorin. Ailee and Hyorin are best buddies since the filming of 'Dream High 2'. They would always hang out after filming and Ailee got pretty close with the other Sistar members as well. Ailee got into Infinite's circle after intros from Sistar themselves.

"Seriously! My mascara is going to smudge if this continues!" Ailee tried to wipe the tears that formed from laughing too hard.

"Oh please! Sistar's performance is ending. Go and get ready."

"Okay," Ailee said, while giving a light punch to L. "Oh and don't call me noona. I feel so old!"

"You are!"

~Oh baby give it to me!~

"Yes! Done with another performance!" the maknae exclaimed with satisfaction as they leave the stage.

"Hey look! Ailee's performing!" All the girls crowded around Bora to watch the cheerful girl giving it her all to perform.

"The song's not bad. She'll probably get first place soon." Soyou whispered.

~U and I-I-I-I-I, U and I-I-I-I-I, U and I!~

Ailee managed to end the performance at a good note, leaving the audience and the idols impressed. Ailee has been doing well ever since her debut with 'Heaven'. Now, she's still climbing the charts. Both Sistar and Infinite came to congratulate her for a job well done. Soon, they were all having dinner outside, along with Boyfriend and Miss A for company. The managers were having a hard time calculating the cost of everyone's food, and splitting it up between the companies proportionately.

Among the laughter and chatter, there were just two people who were keeping quiet: L and Hyorin. Both of them were just eating awkwardly, and both of them coincidentally left for the washroom at the same time. Hyorin blushed and L awkwardly smiled as they walked past each other.

As everyone had their fill and got home, another day past by for everyone.

Among the Infinite members, one of them started to dream in their slumber. It was a familiar memory that resurfaces most of the time. L smiled has he remembered her...

A young boy followed his ears and listen carefully to the melody. It was beautiful, though there was a hint of sadness in her voice. He pushed apart some bushes and saw the girl. She sat under the maple tree, hugging her knees to her chest, her fringe hanging loosely on her face as she tried to cover her sorrow with her singing. From the moment he saw her, he wanted to be her friend.

Then why did you leave her, Myungsoo?

========================================================================

YAY! Done with another chapter. I appreciate the people who are enjoying the fanfic. I'm still trying to find the right gateway to introduce Hyorin's reason for her depression, so please be patient. This is one of those chapters that help glue the pieces of the story together, so it's quite mellow. I'll make the subsequent chapters more interesting. Thanks and love ya guys! <3

If you can, please show some love to my new one shot stories too. Thanks!