A/ N: I'm sorry I lied about updating twice yesterday~ I got caught up in a bunch of random stuff and didn't finish writing... OTL...

So here's that update I owe!!

And before that... I just really wanna brag about the most wonderful Birthday gift ever, from my little sister~ ^^

Dongwoo's favorite Infinite earrings!!! I am sooo lucky~ :D

Okay, sorry, to the story~!

________________________________________________________________________________________

Jiae lay on the floor of the Woolim Company’s main practice room, busily entering text into her phone screen. Noise from the other girl group trainees could be heard in the background, though what they were doing was at the moment unimportant to Jiae, who focused all her attention to her text messages.

TO: Sunggyu Oppa

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:51a.m.

Good luck on your performances today oppa!

TO: Dongwoo Oppa

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:52a.m.

Oppa, Fighting today!!

TO: Woohyun Oppa

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:53a.m.

Sing well today! Ppuing Ppuing~

TO: Howon Oppa

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:54a.m.

Do well on your performances!!

TO: Sungyeol Oppa

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:55a.m.

Oppa, do well! Don’t be nervous!!

TO: Sungjongie

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:56a.m.

Yah, Do well on your performances today!!

TO: L-Sama

FROM: Jiae

Sent: 9.30.11 9:58a.m.

Don’t ruin the performances today.

The Infinite members were due to perform their new promotion song Paradise on KBS’s Music Bank, MBC’s Autumn Festival, and MBC’s Chungwon Life Festival, and Jiae had decided she should send them messages of encouragement, as Infinite’s official younger sister. Everyone should be honored I’m taking time to send them cheer messages today. Especially you, Kim Myungsoo.

Smiling to herself on the hard floor, Jiae held her wrist out in front of her and shook it, the charm bracelet adorned on it shaking as well. The Japanese characters on the charm of the bracelet that read “Saiku” or “Success” beamed down at her radiantly.

*****

Hyera had determined that the incessant beating of her heart and the anxiety she had felt yesterday as she waited for her roommates to go to sleep and all day today was purely a sentiment of the pre-meeting waiting period. She always felt strangely nervous before her late night meetings with Sungjong, but once she was in front of him, all of the nerves seemed to flitter away, replaced by some ulterior drive which told her to be, bold, even recklessly so, and exceedingly energetic.

Infinite’s Paradise comeback stage on KBS’s Music Bank was once again fantastic. Hyera had especially liked the choice of wardrobe – Infinite’s Paradise album jacket outfit tops in burgundy. Jiae had also mentioned that the Infinite members were scheduled to perform in two Festivals, as well as informing Hyera with a snicker that she had sent each of the members a cheer message except Myungsoo, whom she sent a belittling message. Hyera envied how Jiae could send each of the members such texts, and then wondered whether she was close enough with Sungjong to send him such a text. But then again, she realized, she didn’t even have his phone number.

At most, Hyera’s situation with Sungjong had improved so that they no longer had to avoid each other for various reasons. At best, they were simply co-workers with some odd circumstances. Hyera wondered if they could ever be friends, or even anything like what Jiae shared with Myungsoo. Of course, Jiae shared a special bond with the other Infinite members too, but she shared something different with Myungsoo, Hyera was sure of it.

“Hellllllooo…”  A hand waved in front of Hyera’s face, making her snap out of her thought montage.

“Unnie, if you don’t want that, I’d be more than happy to drink it for you,” Yejin said, eyeing the canned sports drink in Hyera’s hand.

“Oh,” Hyera muttered, looking down at her drink and feeling the liquid swishing inside the can. Since she, Yejin, and Dahee had made their trip to the vending machines and returned to the practice room, Hyera had taken maybe two sips of her drink. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she entirely missed the conversation the other two must have been having.

“So why do you think Myungsoo gave Jiae that bracelet anyway?” said Dahee, turning to Hyera. It surprised Hyera how she’d just been thinking about Jiae and Myungsoo, and the conversation she had missed had also been about the two.

“Well, Jiae unnie did tell him to bring her back something. And she can be pretty assertive about things like that,” Yejin jutted in.

“Still, it’s very suspicious,” said Dahee.

“They are really close friends after all. And it’s normal for friends to give each other gifts. Don’t you think, Hyera unnie?” asked Yejin.

“Uhhh… Maybe we should just ask Jiae??” Hyera suggested.

The three girls turned toward Jiae, who seemed to be watching some show on her laptop with Soojung. “You’re right, go ask,” Dahee said, pushing Hyera in Jiae’s direction. Shrugging, Hyera went over and sat next to Jiae.

“Oooh! You don’t mind if I have some, right?” Jiae immediately exclaimed as Hyera took her seat, reaching over and grabbing Hyera’s sports drink. As Jiae’s hand took the can, Hyera noticed the charm bracelet, sparkling on Jiae’s wrist. It was definitely gorgeous, especially for a piece of jewelry hand-picked by a guy.

“Jiae,” said Hyera, “What’s up between you and Myungsoo?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Well you guys look like you’re way more than just friends,” said Dahee, who had walked over with Yejin to join the conversation.

“More than friends? You mean like owner and pet? I totally agree. I’m the owner,” Jiae responded with a snigger.

“No! Like a boy to girl relationship,” Yejin chipped in.

Jiae stared at the girls around her. Her expression remained blank. “That would be stupid. Do you think our boss is going to let us just sit around and hook up with one another? I’m not trying to get kicked out of this company, and Myungsoo doesn’t want a scandal on his hands either. Don’t be ridiculous guys.”

None of the girls spoke in response. The way Jiae had spoken the truth so harshly and yet so calmly had quieted them. A small thought nagged at Hyera in the back of her mind: if she and Sungjong were to get caught having their late night meetings, it would surely result in the exact consequences Jiae had just mentioned.

“Okay unnie, sorry about that,” muttered Yejin, patting Jiae’s arm.

Just then, Dongmin oppa popped into the practice room, ordering the girl group trainees to get in position for practice. As the girls quickly got up, what Jiae had said remained in Hyera’s mind. Even if Jiae and Myungsoo felt a different way about each other, they could never and would never admit to it. Hyera couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for her friend, and on top of that, she felt guilty, for having wondered whether she could ever become close to Sungjong, and for all of the meetings she had with Sungjong.

The thoughts did not leave Hyera’s mind even when she and the girls launched into motion for a dance routine they’d been practicing, and specks of Jiae, Myungsoo, and Sungjong lingered in Hyera’s thoughts throughout the rehearsal, making her anxiety dilate.

*****

When Sungjong stammered into the dim practice room that night, Hyera sat waiting for him, the fretfulness tickling at her insides. What Jiae had said still seemed to nag at her, and she didn’t know if she should mention it to Sungjong. But what would she say? It wasn’t as if they were friends like Jiae and Myungsoo. Without thinking, Hyera let out a deep sigh of exasperation.

“Oh, guess someone had a pretty rough day, huh?” said Sungjong as he approached, “Here, have a lemon candy. They’re refreshing for bad days.”

Sungjong reached into the pocket of his hoodie and held out a small piece of wrapped candy to Hyera. “Thanks,” she murmured, taking the candy. Slowly, she unwrapped the candy and stuck it in . The tangy and sour taste made her frown at first, but as her tongue got used to the hard flavor, Hyera somehow became slightly more relaxed.

The sweet candy having replenished her mental energy, Hyera looked up directly into Sungjong’s eyes, and was shocked to find an emotion that so similarly resembled what she had been feeling all day, the guilty and lost feeling Jiae’s words had left in her.

“I think I’m still obsessed, Hyera,” uttered Sungjong, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at the girl in front of him.

“What do you mean?”

“I fell asleep in the car on the ride back here from one of the Festival performances… and I dreamt of you again,” said Sungjong, “the dream of you weeping.”

“Oh,” was all Hyera could say.

For a moment, both were silent. Then, Sungjong continued. “I was really convinced there for a bit that I really had gotten over it,” he said, “That I would just be okay, and all I needed to do was to admit that I had a crush on you.”

“Could it just be that you’re tired? Or maybe because we haven’t met in a while…” As Hyera let the words out, she immediately regretted her second guess. It sounded as if she really did think that she was the only one who could solve his problem.

“I don’t know,” muttered Sungjong, his whole frame bent downward as if he would melt away to the floor any minute, “But I do feel better, now that I’m here in front of you.” With that, the boy raised his head and showed Hyera a genuine smile, although the thinning of his eyes and the rising of his muscles fused with several emotions, including hurt and uncertainty.

As Hyera no longer knew what to say, she just stood there, awkwardly staring toward the ground. Finally, Sungjong just asked, “Do you wanna keep learning the Tell Me dance?”

“Yes,” replied Hyera, a little too quickly. But she was only too glad that the heavy mood had been at least ignored for the time being, replaced by Sungjong’s incredible talent at teaching clumsy people like Hyera to learn all types of dance moves easily.

After a good amount of practicing, Hyera was able to run through the chorus dance fairly well, including the Wonder Woman dance and the dance Sungjong had helped her with last time. A bright light had returned to Sungjong’s face as he watched Hyera’s successful improvements, and he clapped loudly as he beamed at her, exclaiming, “Whoa, Hyera, you’re actually doing pretty great!”

The sticker turned out to be the solo dance during the dance break of the song, Wonder Girls member Sohee’s usual part. The movements of the arms were so similar from one step to another that Hyera always got confused and ended up missing the tempo or just looking odd. Even with her continuous faults, Sungjong remained bubbly and patient, demonstrating for her multiple times.

“Urrghh!!” grunted Hyera, frustration getting the better of her as her arms flailed the wrong way again and again. A few feet away, Sungjong snickered at her. “Hey!!” Hyera rebuked.

“I’m Mr. Simple!” cried Sungjong, still laughing.

“Yah!!”

“O-mona~!” said Sungjong, motioning through the focal point of the Tell Me dance with his hand half way over his mouth and his mouth gaping wide.

Hyera scowled at Sungjong, crossing her arms. “Oh, sorry,” mumbled Sungjong, though the smile lingered on his face, “But let’s try it again!”

Snorting at Sungjong, Hyera took a calming breath and stood in front of the large mirror. She counted the beats of the song in her head, then started off with the solo dance. Arm spinning, then ing to the left. Both arms out wide, then up. With each move, Hyera felt herself gain her composure, feel the excitement build within her. She got to the hip wave portion without errors, and as she caught her reflection in the mirror, waving her hips around and around, she thought she glimpsed a trace of Sungjong somehow within her, sort of helping her through each of her movements.

Hyera caught her breath at Sungjong’s appearance in her reflection, but managed to end the solo portion without any mistakes, moving straight into the hopping dance of the bridge. Sungjong began to clap obnoxiously as Hyera continued to run through what Sungjong had taught her, a hint of a smile forming on her lips.

She finally stopped her dance spurt with the ‘Omona’ pose. After a moment of holding her pose, Hyera shot out into a burst of giggles, landing on her hands and knees on the floor.

“Whoohoo! Hyera! You did it!” exclaimed Sungjong, kneeling to help Hyera up. She didn’t resist as the boy propelled her body back up to a standing position, but she had to lean her weight on him slightly, as her fitful laughter kept her off balance.

When Hyera finally calmed down, she found herself still halfway held up by Sungjong and quickly brought her body upright. Sungjong reached over and gaver Hyera’s shoulder a squeeze. “Good job! That was perfect.”

Hyera let out a sigh and said, “Thanks. I think I can run through it with the music now. Can I try?”

Sungjong hesitated a moment, but then nodded. He clicked his IPod to life and adjusted the volume loud enough to be heard throughout the room. He looked at Hyera for a signal, and she gave a nod, taking her position in front of the mirror-wall.

At first, Sungjong regarded Hyera carefully, taking note of each of her moves, awed and proud with how much Hyera’s dancing had improved just from this one song. He could see that something was flowing in her that she hadn’t had before, something that made her significantly more natural and comfortable. Little did Sungjong know, however, that with every glimpse of her own reflection she caught in the mirror, Hyera became more and more convinced that her movements, her expression, and her whole form resembled and even echoed Sungjong.

As the song proceeded to the second chorus, Sungjong placed his IPod on the ground and went to join Hyera in the routine. The girl grinned as she saw the boy get in line next to her, and the two danced to the song together, their movements matching in the mirror.

To Hyera’s delight, she managed to reach the very end of the song without any mistakes and even felt confident in her performance. Once again, Sungjong showered her with his single applause.

“I can’t believe myself,” said Hyera, panting, “You did it, Sungjong. You turned me into someone who can actually dance.”

“You were seriously amazing. I know I helped you with it, but somehow, you had something in you that gave you the extra boost you needed,” retorted Sungjong, breathing a little heavily himself.

“I… thank you,” said Hyera. She turned her gaze and focused it on Sungjong. “It felt… great.”

Sungjong nodded, his face beaming. He grabbed his IPod, and locking it, stuffed it in the pocket of his sweatpants. “You see, thing always feel so much better when I’m with you,” the boy said quietly.

The sudden comment threw Hyera off, and felt as if someone had closed it up, disabling her from speaking.

“Maybe if I could somehow have you with me all the time… I wonder if that would fix things.” Sungjong continued.

Feelings of guilt and discomfort crawled up and across Hyera’s body, and she was reminded of what Jiae had said that day. But even more so, the weakness and exasperation radiating from the boy, standing in front of her, called to her, strongly, even agonizingly.

“What if you texted me, whenever, you know, you get uneasy again,” spit Hyera, the words escaping like liquid spilling out of a broken cup.

“It would be a way to reassure you, that I’m within your reach.” Hyera added, avoiding Sungjong’s eyes as they gazed at her.

With shaking hands, Sungjong and Hyera added their numbers into each other’s phones, although neither was aware that they both felt the same confusion and apprehension. As Hyera received her phone from Sungjong, her hand grazed the tips of his fingers, which sparked a thought she’d forgotten within her mind: Jiae’s truthful and brutal words, and Jiae and Myungsoo’s friendship. Lee Hyera, is this the right thing to do? 

______________________________________________________________________________________

A/ N: I think I raised the views on the Tell Me MV by at least 10...

Thank you so much for reading everyone! I hope you're enjoying Sungjong and his story~!