"L?!"

It took a while for L to realise the face in front of him.

"Hyorin?!"

"What are you doing here?" Hyorin asked still puzzled, as she bent down and picked up her bag, which she had dropped onto the ground in surprise, again.

"Um...I-I'm just ta-taking a shortcut!" L replied, feeling a little embarrassed considering how far it was from his real reason.

"Really? Through the woods?"

"Guys have an interesting way of directions okay. What about you, Hyorin noona?"

Being more calm and sensible than L at that moment, Hyorin cooly replied, "Nothing much. I was just admiring the autumn trees." She placed her free hand on the bark and ran her fingers across the hard and rough surface. "Maple trees are my favourite."

"That's my favourite type of tree too." Hyorin looked at L, quite surprised at what she heard. L smiled, turning a little red. Walking towards her, L accidentally stumbled on one of the tree roots and fell -first onto the ground. Hyorin laughed. She never knew that L could be so cute. She reached out her hand and help the young man up. By then, Myungsoo's face was as bright and red as a tomato.

"Are you free now, L?" Hyorin asked.

"I think so." L replied. "Why?"

"Want to hang out for a while?"

L thought for a moment. Why not? He gave her a small smile.

"Sure."

"Has anyone seen L?" Sunggyu asked. "He is suppose to help me today."

"I think he went out." Hoya replied, leaving Sunggyu to unconditionally sigh. 

Coincidentally, Infinite was also having their rest day. Sunggyu wanted L to help him out with the spring-cleaning they needed to do.

But it looks like L forgot, again.

"Do you where he might be then?"

"You should try looking at Ailee's house, hyungnim." Sungyeol replied. "He does go there sometimes."

"Ailee's house?" What does he do in Ailee's house?! Sunggyu gave up that thought and decided to go to Ailee's house and check if he's there.

"You could have just called, you know." Ailee told Sunggyu, as she leaned against the doorframe, grinning.

Sunggyu wanted to counter that answer, but Ailee was more than right. Sunggyu took a one-hour to drive to Ailee's house, without even checking if Ailee was home. He then proceeded to find her house, which took another half hour. He was lucky that Yejin was home. If it was the usual day, he would have to wait until seven.

To Ailee, it was a lot more logical for Sunggyu to give her a call and ask if L was there.

"Whatever. What's with the getup? Isn't it cold?" He told her.

Ailee was wearing a bright orange coloured dress, which ran down to her knees, and a thin beige jacket to cover her long, slender arms. Sunggyu could never understand why girls could dress up so skimpily even in this weather.

"It's fashion. You guys wouldn't understand." Ailee replied, causing Sunggyu to almost burst into laughter at her amazing telepathy skills. "Anyways, he's not here, so you might want to look elsewhere." She continued. Sunggyu dropped his smile and sighed. He's back to square one. "I'll best be going then. See you next time, Yejin." Before he could leave, Ailee caught hold of his bag and stopped him.

"Since you're already here, why not stay for a while. Maybe I know where he is." Ailee suggested. Sunggyu guess he couldn't refuse. After all, he had already been there for two hours. Sunggyu entered Ailee's cozy little apartment. It was pretty big for someone living alone. He took a seat and Ailee brought him some fruit juice. He sipped his juice and looked at the wall clock.

5 o'clock. My entire afternoon spent looking for L.

"Don't people come by here?" He asked

"Mostly my manager and coordinator. I usually meet people at TV stations." Ailee replied. "Hyorin does come by though, so it isn't that bad."

Hyorin. That name struck a chord in his heart. "Sunbae, are you okay?" Ailee asked worryingly, as she saw that Sunggyu had turned pale.

"Yeah... I'm okay." Sunggyu gave a weak smile, in hopes of assuring Ailee. Ailee was a little suspicious, but she decided to ignore it. "Should we look for him?" She asked.

"Korea's a really big country, you know."

"We can always try. If not, then let's go to the coffee shop near my house. I want to get a few packs home."

"You drink coffee?"

"No, I drink sugar. Of course I drink coffee!" Ailee replied sarcastically. "How do you think I've manage to stay awake for long broadcasts?"

"Okay! I'll tag along then." Sunggyu got up and placed his empty cup into the kitchen sink. "By the way, what is the shop called?"

"If I'm not wrong," she replied, "it's called 'Sweet Dreams Cafe'. It's pretty tacky, don't you think?"

"Here we are, L. My favourite coffee shop." Hyorin said as she entered the shop.

L read the sign. 'Sweet Dreams Cafe' Wow, that's tacky.

"So, what kind of coffee do you like?" Hyorin asked, after finding a small table with two large and soft beanbags for them to sit on.

"Any would do."

"An Americano then." Hyorin got out her wallet and proceeded to walk to the counter. "I'll have a caramel macchiato. I like my coffee sweet."

L sat onto the beanbag, and brought his scarf higher up his face. He felt warm, but he knew this was necessary. The last thing he needed was someone to recognise him. The last time wasn't a pretty experience.

"OH MY GOSH! You're Hyorin, right?" L heard the suddenly excited cashier exclaimed.

"A-aniyo!" Hyorin shuttered, turning pale.

"You are! I know you are!" She forcefully took off Hyorin's shades and looked happily into the woman's shocked face.

Oh no... L got out of his seat. By then, most of the customers were already crowding around Hyorin. L used all his strength to get to Hyorin and grabbed her hand. He pulled the scared woman out of the crowd and shop. Upon exiting the shop, he ran at full speed with Hyorin to the park. He didn't realise he was still holding onto Hyorin's hand until they reached the park, and let go of it suddenly, feeling a little embarrassed. Hyorin didn't seem to notice though.  "Are you okay, noona?" He asked.

Hyorin was still trembling. 'I...I left my shades behind." She said weakly.

"Let her keep it. Use this instead." He took off the scarf that he was wearing and wrapped it around Hyorin's neck, carefully covering her nose and mouth.

"What about you then?"

"It's okay. I think I can handle a bunch of fan girls, if necessary." He assured her. "Besides, I think that-"

L didn't expect what happened next. Hyorin broke down in the middle of the park, which gave Myungsoo quite a shock at the sudden scene in front of him. Wondering what to do when his noona started crying in front of him, he just stretched out his hands and embraced her. "It's okay." He said, trying to soothe her. He felt a little awkward as he hugged his noona, but it also felt surprising comfortable.

This feels awfully familiar somehow... but why?

"Of all the modes of transport you could have chosen, you choose to walk!" Sunggyu grumbled.

"Oh please! Can't you be more of a man?" Ailee replied. "Besides, it isn't far. Taking the car would be a waste of gas. Anything else, time and money."

Sunggyu pouted, leaving Ailee to sigh at the leader's childishness. It's always a mystery why men are considered superior to woman in the olden times, she wondered, as she adjusted her face mask and continued walking.

The two were walking across the busy streets of Seoul, not making a single noise except the ones caused by their footsteps against the pavement. "How much longer is this going to take?" Sunggyu asked, looking at his wristwatch. It was already coming to seven, and he still hadn't found Myungsoo yet.

"Just a few more minutes," she replied. "We'll take the shortcut." She turned to her right and made her way through the grass and bushes.

"Seriously, a shortcut through the park?" He told her as he followed her footsteps.

"You are the one who wants to get there sooner, so stop complaining."

"But, it is really... wait, isn't that L?!" Sunggyu exclaimed, as he saw the young man from quite a distance.

"Are you sure? You're still quite far from him."

"I'm positive!" Sunggyu ran up to the man, angry and relieved at the same time. Suddenly he stopped, not believing what he saw in front of him.

L, hugging a woman.

But not just any woman.

Sunggyu felt the pain returning in his heart.

"L... L is with... Hyorin..."

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

Hi guys! Here's the weekly update. I'm in the process of trying to piece the story together, and it's really hard. T^T I hope that you had enjoyed this chapter. My exams are going to start soon, so I'll have to stop updating soon. I will bring the next update next week.