Chapter 14

The boys were getting dressed and beautified for yet another stage performance. Today they were performing on MBC’s Music Core, which did not include a weekly ranking chart award. The Infinite boys had been mystified with their two previous victories the last two nights. They had broken down and turned into a bunch of uncontrollable, wild, irrational animals whose primary functions were motivated purely by the power of their emotions.

Having a night free of the chaos and commotion was good for the boys, their staff and managers, and for Yeseul as well. She was especially thankful that the Infinite boys would be somewhat sane, for her last day.

Dongwoo and Yeseul had made a habit of holding each other’s hands for the brief bit of time just before the members took stage. Backstage, in the dark, no one seemed to notice the two of them stuck next to each other. For the last time, Yeseul held Dongwoo’s hand to calm his nerves before his performance. She understood his anxiety; she always got nervous before every performance, no matter how small or big a crowd. It was probably a characteristic of all dancers, the fluttering in their stomachs before they did what they loved in front of all the people watching them. As these thoughts occurred in her head, her eyes carelessly landed on the small hairs on the back of L’s neck. Suddenly, L’s head turned and met Yeseul’s eyes, making her jump in surprise.

In the few seconds that followed, L’s face underwent an astonishing four-step transformation. At first, he eyed Yeseul with the same, L-like look he always gave to everyone. Then, noticing her bewildered expression, his gaze slowly trailed down Yeseul’s arm to her hand, fingers wrapped around Dongwoo’s. L displayed a startled look of his own as his eyed turned back up to Dongwoo, who jumped as well at L’s stare. Finally, a slow and accusing grin prevailed over his face, as he turned to Dongwoo and Yeseul directly. Yeseul instantly let go of Dongwoo’s hand and put both of her hands behind her back.

“What is this?” L inquired reproachfully, “Have you lovebirds been doing that all week behind our backs? Hey Sungyeol, look at them!”

L got the attention of all of the members toward Yeseul and Dongwoo, who stood in place mortified as can be. “They were holding hands in the dark, so no one would notice!” tattled L. The members burst into noisy accusations of their own. Luckily, at that moment, someone from the stage staff called, “Infinite on stage now!!”

As the members left one by one, looking back at Yeseul with devious grins, Yeseul let out a chuckle of relief.


 

Jungryeol, Infinite’s very considerate and thoughtful manager, allowed the Infinite members to spend their last night with Yeseul at a privately reserved booth in the back of a restaurant. The members never got to eat out in public, especially at restaurants, so they were thrilled.

Yeseul swore that the members ordered enough food to feed her entire dance team, which had more than four times the number of members in Infinite. Of course, they were growing boys. The amount of food that Sungjong inhaled, however, thoroughly shocked her. The boy was all skin and bones. Where did all the food go? Hoya and L didn’t lag far behind.

Jungryeol had strictly prevented any alcohol from entering their booth. The boys were fine with it and enjoyed their cokes, overjoyed plenty by the treat they were receiving already.

“Yeseul Noona, you are our life-savior!” Woohyun exclaimed with a smile that shrunk his eyes into thin, curved lines, “Thank you for this feast!!”

“Noona, we were really glad to get to know you this week,” mumbled Sunggyu with a mouthful.

“I hope you enjoy your world tour, and spread the awesomeness of dance everywhere!” Hoya added.

“I’m gonna miss you, Noona!!!!” cried Sungjong, bouncing in his seat.

“And I hope you’ve spent your fill of quality time with Dongwoo,” said L, grinning.

“Really Noona, we wanna see the lovebirds!! Dongwoo hyung, Kiss, Kiss, KISS!!!” chanted Sungyeol, clapping his hands and getting the others to join.

Face and ears reddening, Dongwoo waved his hands at the members, complaining. “What? Stop it!”

Grinning, Yeseul turned to Dongwoo beside her, took his face in one hand, and planted a light kiss on his cheek. The members whooped and hollered boisterously.

“Yeseul Noona, Yeseul Noona, Yeseul NOONA!!” The members recited, now banging spoons and chopsticks everywhere, possibly trying to tear the roof down. Yeseul beamed at them, sliding her hand under the table and groping for Dongwoo’s hand. Their fingers met and intertwined. A small tingle climbed up Yeseul’s arms.

These boys were the most diligent, talented, wonderful, merry, pleasant, outstanding boys. Just looking at them made Yeseul’s heart leap with pride. And she had a feeling that soon, Infinite would become the brightest stars of their generation, and beyond. Perking up as if remembering something important, Yeseul leaned toward Dongwoo.

“Dongwoo, will you get the bag that I left with Jungryeol-ssi?” She asked. Dongwoo nodded and left the booth, sliding the door closed with a click.

Yeseul turned to the other boys. “Guys, please take care of Dongwoo,” She implored, with a poignant smile. The members nodded solemnly but supportively.

Dongwoo returned with the bag Yeseul had brought with her. “I have some presents for you guys!” She exclaimed optimistically, wanting to brighten the mood again.

Each member received the same sized package wrapped in the same, light green wrapping paper. They were about the size of a hand and made rustling noise when touched. All of them got one, except Dongwoo. He looked at Yeseul questioningly, but when Yeseul only smiled back, he shrugged and watched the boys opening theirs. As each wrapper came off, the members turned the packages over in their hands, puzzled expressions dotting all of their faces.

As Dongwoo began to realize what the gifts were, he looked at Yeseul, and the two of them burst into a fit of laughter. The members wore quizzical scowls, disappointed that they didn’t get the joke.

Still laughing, Yeseul said, “Guys, those are very special, magical things. Ask Dongwoo about it when you get back home tonight.”

“What? Why me??” Dongwoo cried, pushing Yeseul lightly, laughter lingering on his lips.

What the members held in their hands were miniature packages of fruit flavored hard candy, containing a variety of fruity, juicy colors and flavors.


 

Kind, compassionate Jungryeol, Dongwoo’s favorite manager of Infinite, had gone to take the Infinite boys back home from the restaurant after their final goodbyes with Yeseul. In the end, Sungyeol had begun to shed tears first, which caused Sungjong and Hoya to cry with him. Yeseul was thankful that the others hadn’t burst into tears as well. She had promised herself that she would not cry at all that night, and it would have been difficult to face the tears of six angelic boys. The only obstacle more difficult – the heart-wrenching tears of Dongwoo. But for that night, she wasn’t going to let even that break her down, if it came down to it. Otherwise, she may not be able to let him go.

Yeseul and Dongwoo sat alone in the quiet restaurant booth, hands tightly locked with each other’s.

“I had a present for you too, you know, I just wanted to wait,” said Yeseul, loosening her grip from Dongwoo’s hand to fetch her last gift. It wasn’t wrapped, so Dongwoo could see what it was, clearly. He looked at her gratefully, receiving the photo album in his hands.

“I actually have two, one for you and one for me!” Yeseul added with a snicker.

The two sat close together and looked through all the photos Yeseul had taken throughout the week. They remained speechless except for occasional laughs and snorts. There were countless photos of all of the Infinite members, as well as Yeseul and the Infinite staff. Obviously, the camera had been thieved several times by the Infinite members, notably Woohyun and Sungjong, as the album contained pictures of them with V-signs, tongues sticking out, cheeks puffed, winking, even Sungyeol making his owl face. Yeseul showed up every other page, looking friendly with whoever was beside her. It was apparent that the members had adored her. The photos that drew Dongwoo’s attention and made his hands stop for a while longer, were photos of Yeseul and Dongwoo together. Even the picture of the two of them with red faces and puffy eyes from crying, smiling like idiots, seemed beautiful.

The door to the restaurant booth slid open unexpectedly, making both Dongwoo and Yeseul jump. Jungryeol poked his head through. “Are you guys ready to go?”

No. Thought Yeseul in her mind. But she gathered her belongings and got up anyway, following Jungryeol out to the van.

They arrived at Yeseul’s house quickly, too quickly. Yeseul got off first, leaving the van door open.

“Hyung…” started Dongwoo, his body already halfway out the van, but Jungryeol interrupted.

“I’m taking a fifteen minute nap,” said the manager, tilting his seat back into a lying position, not once looking back at Dongwoo. He then closed his eyes.

“Thanks hyung,” said Dongwoo with a grin. He closed the van door and accompanied Yeseul to the porch.

They stood facing each other, with a small porch light illuminating their faces.

“Let’s skip all the ‘this was an unforgettable week’, ‘I’m gonna miss you’, cheesy stuff,” said Yeseul firmly.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Dongwoo said anyway. His insides were boiling uncontrollably, and he felt as if he would throw up all his emotions on top of Yeseul at any moment. So he did the only thing he could think to do to keep himself from blowing up wretchedly. He kissed her.

He thought he’d made Yeseul angry with his sudden move, but in a few moments, he felt her kissing back. The sensation seemed to light fireworks in his mind. In a small corner of his brain, Dongwoo wondered how long the world record for longest, single kiss was. Then he wondered if the two of them were breaking it that very moment, when he remembered that Jungryeol had said fifteen minutes. Still…

When they came apart, Dongwoo’s head was spinning from the sheer impact of the kiss. But Yeseul, after an instant, pressed herself into Dongwoo’s arms in a tight embrace. The waft of fruit flavored candy floated up to Dongwoo’s nostrils and around his head. That’s when he realized for certain, that Yeseul loved him too. It wasn’t just his heart that drummed hysterically when they were near each other.

The delight, rising in his throat, made Dongwoo pull out of their embrace and hold Yeseul out in front of him.

“I’ll wait for you, Noona,” he exclaimed, eyes gleaming.

It took a bit of time for Yeseul to register what the boy had said. But as his words sunk into her mind, Yeseul smiled.

“I’m going to wait for you,” Dongwoo repeated.

Nodding slowly, Yeseul answered, “Then let’s meet again, in however many years it may take. Except when we meet again, I want to see you, a bigger star than ever.”

Hope and assurance filled Dongwoo’s heart, making his hairs rise all over his body. An overpoweringly delightful thought crept into his mind and circled his thoughts. Yeseul Noona is mine now. For real. He brushed his lips against Yeseul’s one last time. At the end of the sweet kiss, Dongwoo said to her confidently, “I’ll be rooting for you, Noona.”

“And I, you,” replied Yeseul. She stood motionlessly on her doorstep as Dongwoo headed back to the van step by step, looking back every other second. Finally, he disappeared behind the closing door. The bright headlights of the van shone on her briefly before vanishing into the street. Goodbye for now. Yeseul thought, and went into her house.  

*Hello!

Sorry I didn't mention it before, We are now at the second-to-last chapter of Candy Kiss!! Chapter 15 will be the last chapter and will probably also be the longest chapter of the story.

Be on the look out for the last chapter coming soon!

Thank you!*