PLAN SMILE: Soo Min the Idol Let’s Eat!

…was what Sungyeol wrote on the board.

Everyone tilted their heads to the right. “Huh? What the hell does ‘let’s eat’ mean?”

“Nothing. I’m just hungry.” Sungyeol answered.

Dongwoo threw a pillow at his face.

Sunggyu shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s get this discussion started.”

Myungsoo groaned. “But we sound like cannibals!”

“I like cannibalism.” Soo Min said before she left the room out of boredom.

Myungsoo slowly lifted his head up. “You don’t think she—“

Woohyun smacked him. “She meant she likes watching it! You know… like Hannibal Lector!”

Sunggyu ignored them and spoke again. “First things first, we have to change her image. No company is going to take her seriously if she looks like that.”

“Well, technically, no company would even notice her.” Hoya interrupted.

“That’s true. We need to make sure she does get noticed. And the only way that’ll happen is if she has the image that they want. So some sure bets are: we could either go for the typical one—cute and innocent with a hint of y—or the... the… uh, are there any other ones?”

They all sat there in silence. Every once in a while, someone would jerk his head up—you could practically see the light bulb turn on—but he would put it down just as fast. Light bulb off.

“We could… go to the extreme and have her be really y.” Sungjong said uncertainly.

Woohyun threw a marker at the area right in between his eyes.

Sunggyu slapped him. “Yah! No hurting the maknae!” He turned to Sungjong. “Aww there there, Sungjongie. It’s alright. It’s a good thing you have such a caring and compassionate hyung to look out for you! You could’ve died!”

Sungjong was a bit freaked out. “Uh… I’m a ghost.”

“But that marker could’ve sent you to a far worse place! But luckily, as your caring hyung, I told the marker, ‘Now you run off and leave my favorite dongsaeng alone’.”

“Markers can’t understand people.”

“That’s why they hurt people! They’re jealous that they don’t have the mental capacity to understand and use words! They hate people for using them to make words! They think, ‘Stupid humans! Stop uncapping me! Cease your cappiness!’ They have such built up anger in them that they tend to lash out at innocent bystanders who are such wonderful dongsaengs of caring hyungs!”

“…Is this because I chose Myungsoo hyung over you last time?”

“What makes you say that? As your caring hyung, I care so much about you that I care about your well-being. And of course, it’s all because I am your caring hyung.”

“This IS because of last time!” Sungjong pointed a finger at him accusingly.

Dongwoo threw a pillow at both of them. “SHH! Cease the uncapping of your mouths!”

Sungyeol snickered. Dongwoo replied with another pillow to his face.

Sungyeol stuck out his tongue before throwing a pillow back. “Pabo dino.”

Dongwoo looked around him; there were no more fluffy ammo left.

Sungyeol threw another one.

Dongwoo protected his face with his arms. “Will you stop that?”

Another pillow.

“Yah! Respect your elders!”

“I only consider Grandpa Gyu my elder.” Another pillow.

“Pfft. They don’t even hurt!”

Another pillow.

“Ow! Okay… that one hurt.” Dongwoo inspected the object. “THERE’S A BOOK IN HERE!”

Another pillow.

“Where are you getting these pillows?!”

Sungyeol gave him a look. “Where are you getting these pillows?”

“From you!”

“Touchy.”

“IT’S TOUCHÉ!”

Sunggyu groaned. “GUYS! Her image!”

Hoya, the ever silent and amused observer, finally offered his opinion. “I think we should just let her be herself but a tamer version. She could continue to be her horror-movie-and-violence-loving self but we just need to create a cute side for her too. A girl who likes gore and aegyo? That’s perfect for variety shows!”

Sunggyu nodded. “I think he might be onto something. She looks all innocent but when in reality she knows how to kick .”

Myungsoo also nodded. “And I could teach her how to have that mysterious element to her personality too!”

Sungjong jumped up in joy. “Oh! I want to go shopping with her! ME ME ME! DIBS!”

Dongwoo smiled. “I’ll go with you! I’ll find the cool clothes and you get the cute outfits.”

Sungyeol agreed to the plan. “I think SM will definitely like her.”

Everyone looked at Woohyun. “What?!” he yelled.

“You’re the only one who hasn’t said anything about it yet.”

He shrugged. “Well, it all sounded good to me.”

Sunggyu frowned. “Something’s bothering you about it though.”

“No… no, everything’s fine.”

“Woohyun, don’t be such a girl and just tell us.”

He sighed. “I don’t know… maybe we shouldn’t force her like this.”

Sungjong gasped. “You’re starting to feel bad!”

“Kind of... I mean, she looks content with how she is. Who are we to try and change her life?”

“You’re the one who made her promise!”

“I know! But what if she becomes unhappy?”

“They we’ll let her stop. We never said we wouldn’t. She can quit whenever she wants. No pressure.” Sunggyu said.

Woohyun gave up. “Fine.”

“She’ll be okay. Now stop worrying about your little girlfriend—“

Woohyun threw a pillow at the leader.

“OW! WHY IS THERE A BOOK IN HERE?!”

---------------

After breakfast, they went through Soo Min’s closet while she watched yet another movie with Freddy.

“Nope… Nope… Nope…” They said in unison as they examined each article of clothing.

Sungjong threw his hands up in the air. “Okay. We really need to go shopping. I thought we’d need maybe a couple of new outfits but this is ridiculous!”

Sunggyu sighed deeply. “We might as well all go.”

Woohyun grabbed Soo Min by the arm and pulled her up. She tried to resist but his grip on her was firm. The others saw the attack that was about to happen and grabbed onto her remaining limbs, preventing her from potentially ripping Woohyun’s head off.

Note to self, they thought. Never disturb Soo Min in the middle of a movie.

---------------

Soo Min sat on a bench and watched them. Infinite had split up and quickly floated in and out of each store, looking for outfits. Actually, they had found several but she rejected them all. Many times, a stranger—fatigued from shopping—would spot her bench and then sit on her. Well, to be fair, they thought their was going to land on some metal. The unfortunate person would scream and jump up in surprise before turning around and apologizing. She would nod in forgiveness, the noted person would leave, and his or her day would continue on quite easily.

But not Soo Min’s.

She was fated to stay at the bench and wait. Wait for Infinite to come back with another ridiculously feminine outfit.

She would shake her head, Sungjong would pout, Sunggyu would mumble, Dongwoo would just smile and try again, Sungyeol didn’t come back after the first time (he went for ice cream instead), Hoya would be Hoya, Myungsoo would sigh, and Woohyun would glare at her.

She looked at the shops around her. None of them were to her liking. Screw waiting; she would find something herself.

She walked down the next street, ignoring store windows that displayed even the teensiest bit of pink.

It was then that she found her heaven.

---------------

Woohyun arrived to the bench to find the six other guys waiting there. “Hey, where did Soo Min go?”

“We thought that maybe you dragged her off somewhere.” Sunggyu replied.

“What?!”

“You’re always doing things first by yourself! So we just assumed that was the case this time too.”

“Aish! I don’t know where she is! She wouldn’t run away, would she?”

The others turned to look at each other. “Woohyun got us into this mess, right?” There were nods. “So therefore, he made Soo Min run away.” More nods.

They now turned to Woohyun. “We have all agreed that this is completely your fault.”

Woohyun gave them a death glare but they didn’t budge. “Eh, work harder on that. Try to learn from Soo Min.”

Just then, Woohyun’s eyes bulged. The others turned around to see what he was staring at.

Soo Min stood there. In a dress.

Earrings dangled from her ears and a necklace rested elegantly near her collarbones. Sungjong was so happy that he clapped. Kids grow up so fast. He wiped away a nonexistent tear.

The others, however, were mortified.

Her dress billowed out from her waist and draped down to her ankles, barely touching the ground. The long sleeves looked normal enough, except for the curtain-like cloth that was covering her hands. There were frills coming from mid-shoulder all the way down the dress.

And, despite all the cheerful colors in the world, her dress was black.

Her earrings had these oddly shaped balls on the end which, upon examination, were actually models of shrunken heads. Her necklace had two diamonds on it: eyes for the skeleton pendant.

Dongwoo tried to look on the bright side. “Well… umm… it’s like you wanted, Sunggyu, heh heh, people notice her now.”

He was right. She definitely stood out now. Before, it came as no surprise if no one saw her. Now, it’d be a surprise if no one didn’t see her.

Girlfriends clung onto their boyfriends’ sleeves. Mothers shielded their children’s eyes and led them away. Old ladies started chanting and praying for protection.

Sungyeol came back, full from his ice cream, saw the scene, and turned around. Another ice cream cone wouldn’t hurt.

Soo Min walked towards them. “I’m done.”

Hoya thought over his words carefully. “Soo Min-ah, you made a very good choice in picking a dress. But it’s really hot right now. How about we find you another dress, okay? One that’s more… breathable. We’ll make sure it’s black too!”

Soo Min shook her head. “I like this one.”

Woohyun dragged her towards another store. “You can’t wear this.”

“I am wearing it.”

“But you can’t! You’re scaring people off!”

“Why can’t I do that?”

“There are rules to being an idol. First rule: don’t scare people off.”

“What’s the second rule?”

“LAB nice: Look nice, Act nice, Be nice. Always. It actually applies to you right now… LOOK NICE.”

She surveyed her dress in the reflection of a nearby window. “But It DOES look nice!”

“Yeah… if you were about to marry Dracula, have his little vampy babies, get killed and then burned at the stake for witchcraft.”

“…Can I do that?”

Woohyun had been taught to never hit a girl. So he hit Dongwoo instead. “Yah! Find something else to wear!”

She stubbornly shook her head again.

“Leave noona alone!” Sungjong suddenly yelled.

They turned to him in shock. “What?”

“It’s not fair! It’s like you said earlier, hyung—who are we to change her? If she likes this dress, then so be it. It should be enough that she’s wearing one. Plus, she even found some accessories!”

“It came with the dress.” Soo Min mumbled.

“Instead of criticizing, why don’t we be positive and support her instead! We should praise her want for modesty—“

“It was the only black dress in my size.” She mumbled again.

“So let’s all congratulate her on making such a big improvement.” He proudly held onto her hand.

Soo Min still had a blank expression on her face. It was just a dress.

Woohyun scowled but Sunggyu knew better than to oppose Sungjong. Besides, he should be the caring hyung and support his dongsaeng.

“I agree. Besides, progress must first start off in baby steps.”

Dongwoo smiled again. “Yeah! Good job, Soo Min-ah!”

Everyone started to congratulate her except for Woohyun. “She’s supposed to look cute!”

Sungjong glared at him. “Are you saying she doesn’t?”

“She does… to a zombie. She needs to wear a pretty floral dress with a matching cardigan, preferably white, and a nice pair of flats.”

“Woohyun, stop being such a diva. It doesn’t suit you.” Myungsoo patted his shoulders.

“But this isn’t Halloween!”

Soo Min’s face brightened. “Halloween?”

“You’re practically wearing some medieval costume!”

The weird hitches on were back. She went up to a random family. “Trick or treat!”

When they responded with only fear, she approached a group of high school students instead. “May I have some candy?”

Woohyun facepalmed. “You still want to support her?”

Sungjong remained positive. “At least she’s interacting with people. She’s learning to put herself out there!”

“IT’S THE MIDDLE OF MARCH AND SHE’S ASKING STRANGERS FOR HALLOWEEN CANDY!”

Sungyeol unfortunately chose this moment to return. Hmm… maybe I should get something to drink… perfect time for milk tea.

Soo Min came back on a lollipop that a mother had given to appease her. In other words, a candy sacrifice.

She smiled victoriously at them before skipping all the way home.

They shook their heads and followed in confusion. They went home with joy and pride at their successful day yet with also defeat and gloom when it became evident that she would never wear, let alone touch, cute clothes.

Sungyeol came home later with a stomach ache.