You stood outside Woollim Entertainment and glanced at the time on your phone. It read 5:52 AM. It felt much too early for a Saturday, and you wondered how it was possible for anyone to spend their Saturday morning at work this early willingly.
     You glided down the steps leading to Infinite’s practice room and entered. Silently shutting the door behind you, your eyes met with Woohyun’s and you pressed a finger to your lips.
     Most of the members had not yet arrived to practice. The only ones there were Sunggyu, Woohyun, and your best friend, Dongwoo, who was too focused on his routine to notice you. You snuck up behind him and from the corner of your eye, you noticed Sunggyu, who had been glaring at you since you entered. You excitedly counted to three in your mind, then jumped onto Dongwoo’s back, covering his eyes.

     “Guess who!” You teased. Dongwoo almost fell over by the surprise, but recognized that voice and familiar touch almost instantly. You let go and he turned around, grinning from ear to ear.
     “What are you doing here?” he chuckled.
     “Sneaking in through the back door,” Sunggyu accused.
     “I’m here to whisk you away!” You explained, ignoring Sunggyu’s disapproval. “You’ve practiced enough this week, you deserve a break.”
     “You’re so thoughtful,” smiled Dongwoo, “But I really need to prepare for our next concert.”
     You could tell he wanted to go with you by the glint in his eye, despite what he'd just said. You figured it was because of Sunggyu that he didn’t want to admit it.
     “Yeah, he needs to keep working, so you should leave,” Sunggyu said, pointing at the door you had entered from. “We don’t allow visitors during practice.”
     “Hyung, let him have fun, he’s practiced all week,” Woohyun chimed in, unfazed by Sunggyu’s glare that followed. ” Besides, he’s lucky to have such a cute friend who’s willing to save him from work. Hey...” Woohyun turned to you, “You wouldn’t happen to have a cousin or sister who’s willing to come see me after practice, by chance?”
     Sunggyu practically towered over Woohyun, “Yah!”
     “I have an idea,” Dongwoo held up his hands in surrender, hoping to calm down his friends. Sunggyu fumed quietly as Woohyun made cute faces at him. “How about I run through a full routine and then we go out?” Dongwoo suggested to both you and Sunggyu. You were pleased, so you gave a nod, and since Sunggyu didn’t protest, Dongwoo assumed it was okay.
     “I’ll just wait outside,” you announced. You didn’t think you could take any more of Sunggyu’s intimidating presence.
     “Bye! Don’t forget about what I asked!” Woohyun called out behind you before pleading Sunggyu not to hurt him.

     You weren’t outside for long when you felt someone tap your shoulder. You turned to find Dongwoo with his arms outstretched, anticipating a hug. His hugs felt so comforting, you didn’t want to let go. He apparently didn’t want to either, which made for an awkward hello from Hoya as he passed the two of you by.
     “So, where did you want to go?” Dongwoo asked once he’d finally let go.
     “Anywhere you’d like!” You answered. Dongwoo paused to think, and you took a moment to take in his appearance. Since you’d seen him last, his overall frame had become thinner despite being quite thin to begin with, and the dark circles under his eyes were very apparent. Oh yes, he definitely needed this break.
     “Let’s get shaved ice,” he said finally. You giggled at his predictably cute nature. It was so like him to choose that kind of treat. He took your hand and squeezed it, causing your cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. Then, the two of you made your way downtown, hand in hand, toward the main street.

     “Spicy ice?” you questioned. When Dongwoo suggested the two of you get shaved ice, you were expecting flavors more like lemon, cola, or even cherry, like you assumed this one was. However, Dongwoo had handed you a cone with red-hot pepper on it as though it was the best thing in the world. You scrunched your nose at the taste, not a fan of spicy things at all, unlike Dongwoo. It wasn’t terrible, but it definitely wasn’t your favorite. Dongwoo’s disappointment for buying you the wrong treat had shown.
     “I’m sorry, I’ll get you something sweeter,” he apologized.
     “Oh no, don’t worry about it,” you smiled, “As long as you like it, you can have mine. I’m happy just seeing you happy.”
     “I’ll make it up to you,” Dongwoo insisted. You didn’t know how to respond without sounding ungrateful, so you didn’t say anything at all.

     When Dongwoo was finished with both treats, the two of you decided to visit some clothing shops for fun. You had mentioned watching one of Infinite’s shows and hearing that Dongwoo suited strange clothes, so you decided to challenge that theory. He agreed rather happily, on the condition that you would be trying on silly things too!
     “Try this on, it’ll look gorgeous.” You tried to keep a straight face as you handed him a ruffled, leopard print blouse.
     “That’s not fair! Isn’t that from the women’s section?” laughed Dongwoo. “I can’t try that on!”
     “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m sure it fits you,” you teased.
     “Okay, but only if you try on… This!” He was holding a knitted sweater with miniature pom-poms sticking out every which way. Wherever he got it from, you were afraid to find out.
     “Deal! I’ll see you in five minutes,” you laughed as the two of you went into separate changing rooms.

     Dongwoo burst into laughter as you later stepped out in the pom-pom sweater. He literally rolled on the floor, earning a death glare from one of the salesclerks. You noticed he was wearing the leopard-print blouse you had given him to try on, and burst into laughter as well.
     “Now we need to accessorize!” you mentioned as you helped your best friend up off the floor.
     The two of you headed toward the accessories wall and picked up as many belts, necklaces, and sunglasses you could see. Without any plan as to how it should look, you piled hats and sunglasses onto Dongwoo, and laughed as he broke into dance with them on. The ruffles moved like jellyfish!
     Dongwoo told you to turn around so he could put on a belt around your waist, and you laughed even more as he put on one after another. Soon, your waist felt heavy as you carried around ten belts, all in hideous neon and pastel colors.
     “If you are not here to buy anything, then get out!” shouted the salesclerk from earlier. You and Dongwoo stopped laughing and he started bowing in apology. You helped each other out of your ridiculous props, returned to the changing rooms to put on your regular clothes, and sped out of the store as quickly as possible, with Dongwoo apologizing to the salesclerk the whole time.

     You ran toward the nearest park before deciding it was a safe enough distance to laugh again.
     “We sure made her mad, didn’t we?” you asked as you and Dongwoo stopped to catch your breath.
     He looked at you and raised an eyebrow. “You think?”
     “So, what do you want to do now?” You asked.
     Strangely, Dongwoo's smile disappeared and he looked down at his feet. He didn’t say anything for quite a while, which worried you.
     “…Dongwoo?”
     “Hm?” He looked up at you.
     “I asked if there was anything else you wanted to do.”
     “Yeah…” Dongwoo took your hands again, and you felt your heartbeat quicken. “I know you've tried your best to help me relax, but I really should get back to practice,” he said sheepishly. You watched as he rubbed the back of your hands with his thumbs.
     “I understand.”
     “Really, it fills my heart with joy knowing that you care about me! I had a lot of fun with you today,” he continued, “I also promised to make up for the shaved ice incident, so—”
     “It’s okay, Dongwoo! I understand, you should just go back before Sunggyu gets angry. It wasn’t right of me to—”
     Before you could finish your sentence, your lips were suddenly met with Dongwoo’s. They felt warm and lovely, and for some reason, they tasted… Sweet. Then, as quickly as it had happened, he broke free.
     You blinked as Dongwoo caressed your face, and you felt yourself turn red. He ran his fingers through your hair, and shyness overcame you, causing you to look away. He stepped a little closer and raised your chin so you could look him in the eyes.
     “I never break my promises.”

     His charming effect quickly turned to cute as he started giggling. You could see his cheeks turning pink as well, which made you feel less self-conscious about your own. You smiled and hugged him rather abruptly, issuing another spout of laughter from him.
     “I’m sorry, that was greasy, wasn’t it?” he asked, immediately thinking of Woohyun. You shook your head and squeezed him tighter.
     “No. It was very cute, much like you,” you admitted, “I just wasn’t expecting it.”
     Dongwoo lifted you up and twirled you around, unable to say anything as he laughed some more. You asked him to stop once you started feeling dizzy, to which he replied by giving you a piggyback ride all the way to his company's building.

     You hopped off Dongwoo's back and balanced yourself on the wall. He turned to you once more and smiled. You checked the time. 9:34 AM.
     “I hope Sunggyu won’t be mad at you,” you said.
     “He’ll forgive me,” replied Dongwoo. He took your hands in his again and bit his lip. Glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, he lifted up one of your hands and placed a princely kiss upon it. “Let’s do this again sometime.”
     You nearly swooned, yet managed to give a nod. Dongwoo waved goodbye and started to make his way down the stairs until you asked him to wait. As he looked back, you gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then ran away before he could react. You weren’t even out of an earshot when you heard him.
     “Yeeeeah, haha! Yes! Woo! Kyahaha!” cheered Dongwoo as you heard the doors shut after him.