A/N : Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in almost a month!! I hope this can compensate, and please read to the end for another apologetic compensation I'd like to offer!

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Sungjong woke up the next morning earlier than any of the members in his dorm room. The minute his eyes shot open, he recalled what had happened last night, at the very end of his meeting with Hyera. He replayed the memory mentally over and over again as he lay in his top bunk, listening to the quiet sounds of his hyungs around him.

The corners of his lips curved upward of their own free will. He wished he could dream of her again, like he used to, because he knew that this time, the image of her that would appear would not be nightmarish but the opposite, a completely joyous dream. Maybe he would dream of her eyes, glittering with the energy she had when she learned the dance moves Sungjong taught her. Or maybe he would dream of her smiling and talking to him, and he, just listening to her. Or maybe he would just dream of that sensation he had felt, when her lips had met his.

With all of the fluffy thoughts and imaginations clouding his thoughts, Sungjong got out of bed and changed into light gray sweatpants and a white graphic t-shirt. Not bothering to wake the others, he simply left to roam the halls, mentally laughing at himself for being so eager to begin his day.

*****

Hyera’s mind was blaring in frenzy from the anxiety she felt. Unconsciously, she lifted one of her hands from her side and touched her lips. She kept recalling how high she’d had to reach up, on her tiptoes, to meet him with her lips. Raising her head abruptly, she looked frantically about the empty corridor she was trudging. She had gotten ready for morning practice way too early, all of her roommates still asleep in bed. But the fears in her gut had told her to get up, to take off. Where? To the peaceful rooftop of the Woolim Company building.

There was no way she could run into Sungjong, this early in the morning. She would just clear her mind first, catch her breath, and then, she would be ready to face him. But what would she say to him? Hi? Remember what happened last night? No, that shouldn’t be brought up at all. It may be best for her to simply pretend like nothing had happened, that they would just casually meet at the practice room tonight just like every other night.

Hyera stomped her foot in frustration, annoyed at how anxious everything was making her feel. Why did that boy have to go and make things all complicated? Why did she have to kiss him? She was training to be a member of a girl group. None of what she was doing was allowed. She scurried along the hall, wanting to get to her rooftop, her place of safety, quickly. The double doors which led to the staircase were just in front of her, and she let out a sigh of relief as she hurried toward it.

She had been concentrating so much on reaching the double doors, that she hadn’t noticed the other figure, approaching the same set of doors from her right, on the adjacent corridor. And so, taken by surprise of Hyera’s suddenly lunging body in front of him, the figure coming from the right had no time to react, colliding into Hyera’s shoulder.

“Oops! I’m so sorry!” cried out Hyera, as she was stopped in her tracks by the figure she had bumped into. When she stepped back and looked up to the figure’s face, she gasped, a hand again unconsciously flying toward her lips. Sungjong was staring down at her, clearly surprised, but also oddly smiling.

“Hyera-yah!” Sungjong exclaimed, and the overflowing joy of the morning pushed him forward, taking Hyera in his arms in a sweeping hug.

If Hyera had been struck dumbfounded by her running into Sungjong a moment ago, then she was struck dead by Sungjong’s sporadic hug. However, to her surprise, she found her lips moving and her voice saying, “Yah, what if someone sees us?”

“Oh, right,” Sungjong replied, immediately letting Hyera go.

Freed from Sungjong’s clasp, Hyera stood in her place a few feet apart from him awkwardly, not ready to face the boy in front of her. She found it extremely unfair that she wasn’t given time to collect herself at her secret resting place, before she had to have confrontation. But Sungjong still seemed all smiles, all okay. In fact, at that moment, he said to her, “Good morning! Sleep well?”

“Um, I guess,” Hyera responded, avoiding the boy’s gaze, discomforted by that goofy smile on his face.

“My condition is 100% today. All thanks to you, and us!” Sungjong went on, “Too bad I don’t have schedules today. I would have been so ready to go!”

Hyera thought it odd, what he had said. What did he mean, all thanks to her, to them? She took a risk and glanced up at his face. She immediately regretted it, because in doing so, her gaze landed on his smiling lips, which made her whole face heat up abruptly.

“So,… well I was wondering… I was wanting to ask you…” Sungjong began again, “How about for tonight, instead of us practicing dance, we have a different type of date?”

“Date?” Hyera let out absentmindedly. It was the only word that had caught her attention.

“Yeah, you know, I don’t always and forever want to hang out with you just by practicing, not that it’s not a whole lot of fun. I want to do other stuff, just the two of us.”

“Huhh?” Was what Hyera now managed to say, Sungjong’s words travelling up her ear drums and scrambling in her brain.

“Hyera-yah, are you listening to me? Now that we’re dating, I really want to have more realistic dates with you, when I have the time to…”

“DATING?” Hyera cried out. She couldn’t help it; she had to look up at his face. His smile had momentarily dissolved, his expression showing the surprise that Hyera’s loud outburst had caused.

“Yeah. Dating,” Sungjong replied, “I asked you last night, remember? And I thought,… well,… that what you meant by your answer was pretty obvious.”

Hyera remembered everything, every moment of last night, all too well. And it made sense, when he put it like that. So the two of them were dating. And the late night meetings they had been having all this time, were dates. Hyera’s mouth hung open slightly, without her noticing it. Sungjong, finding her gaping mouth endearing, regained his smile.

“So… tonight, do you just want to meet in the practice room and just, you know… have snacks or something, and talk?”

He was truly asking her on a date, unlike the other nights, when they had met with different intentions that were individual, not together. For tonight, he was asking her to meet with her, for an intention that was for the both of them. At that, Hyera couldn’t help but smile.

“That sounds nice,” she answered.

“Okay, I’m glad you like the idea,” Sungjong said with a relieved chuckle. “Were you on your way up to the roof just now?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah…  but I don’t think I need to anymore.”

“I can walk you to wherever you’re going, if you want,” Sungjong uttered, lightly touching one of her pinkie and ring fingers.

“Okay, but not holding hands,” Hyera said, blushing, “We might be seen.”

The two walked down the corridor that Sungjong had just come from, lingering very close to each other, touching limbs and shoulder with light, subtle brushes that seemed involuntary, but were in fact very intentional.

*****

The divided corridor in front of the rooftop doors stood empty for the next few seconds. Then, a door that occupied the wall directly next to the spot Sungjong and Hyera had been standing in moments before, clicked open. Two figures walked out.

“Did you hear that?”

“I wish I hadn’t. I can’t believe this.”

“I should have known. It’s a good thing we heard, and not some company workers.”

“We are company workers, Myungsoo,” Jiae reminded, turning a pair of worried eyes toward her friend.

“You know what I mean,” Myungsoo retorted, face hardened like a mask, “If it had been two janitors, two office workers, maybe even two coordinators, instead of the two of us, Hyera could have been kicked out of the company, and Sungjong could have had to live under supervision until marriage.”

Jiae envisioned in her mind the nights that she had noticed Hyera leaving their dorm, leaving door cracked with a towel or a cloth. “That’s why I hear Hyera sneaking out at night, after everyone goes to sleep. I always just thought she was using the bathroom or something; I never stayed awake to find out what time she actually returned,” she muttered.

“I only noticed a few times. Sungjong must have really waited until we were all asleep.”

“Maybe things won’t be so bad,” said Jiae, her voice quavering, “Maybe they’ll allow Hyera to stay, as long as they end the relationship.”

“We can’t let them take those chances,” Myungsoo explained firmly, his mouth set sternly, “We need to talk them out of it, Jiae-yah.”

Jiae looked at her friend’s hard expression, and knew that inside, Myungsoo was just as worried about Sungjong and Hyera as she was. Myungsoo was the type of person to hide his emotions; the more powerful the emotions were, the more thickly they were hidden.

“What should we do?” Jiae asked.

“I don’t know… the only way for us to get them alone may be for us to catch them, tonight,” Myungsoo answered.

“Then we won’t say anything to them before tonight? Separately?”

“We don’t want to risk anyone, even if it is the Infinite members or your members, listening in. But I don’t recall them mentioning where they meet…” Myungsoo trailed.

“We can wait until they leave the dorm, and then follow them. That way, we can meet up too, you and I, before confronting them,” Jiae suggested.

“Okay,” Myungsoo said with a single nod. He then shifted his gaze toward Jiae, his eyes softening just a hint. “Are you going to be okay?”

At her friend’s awkward question, Jiae cracked a smirk. “Yah, what do you take me for, a weak little girl? You’re the one who’s more concerned about hurting Sungjong!!”

Myungsoo laughed a dry laugh. “You think? Maybe you’re right. I’m concerned about hurting you too.”

The two friends soon departed from the corridors, once again leaving it silent and empty, but as she left, Jiae was struck with the oddity of what Myungsoo had said. What had he meant?

*****

At 11:37pm, Hyera quietly got out of her mattress on the floor of the girl group trainees’ dorm room and left, leaving a towel between the door and the wall, so that the door wouldn’t close all the way. Thirty seconds later, Jiae climbed down from her top bunk bed in the same fashion. Her charm bracelet clinked, making the smallest noise in the silent room. For a moment, Jiae admired Hyera for having been so soundless, for so many nights. Then, she opened the door as far as she could allow and slipped out, leaving only three girls asleep in the dorm room.

Hyera didn’t have to walk far for her to reach the double doors of Woolim’s largest practice room. When Jiae realized that Hyera had arrived at her destination and would spot Jiae any minute if she decided to turn around, she quickly retraced her steps around a corridor, standing just an inch away from where the wall bended with a sharp edge. As she did so, she received a text from Myungsoo.

TO: Jiae

FROM: L-sama

Sent: 10.11.11 11:39p.m.

I’m in the hall right next to them.

TO: Myungsoo

FROM: Jiae dongsaeng

Sent: 10.11.11 11:39p.m.

Me too. I’ll talk to you once they go inside the practice room.

There was no one else in sight, nothing to block any of the noise Hyera and Sungjong would make in the hall from reaching Jiae or Myungsoo. So when they began speaking, the two spies heard everything clearly and definitely.

“I… didn’t know what kind of snacks you like to eat normally, so I just brought an assortment. And a few different drinks, in case we wanted to really pig out,” said Sungjong, holding up a plastic bag full of goodies for Hyera to see.

“Yah, if I gain weight, Dongmin oppa is going to kill me!” Hyera complained, but with a bright grin lighting her face.

“Hyera-yah, you can make an exception, just for our first official date, can’t you?” Sungjong asked playfully.

Hyera stared back at him, shocked, by that word he used again. She let out a sigh. “I just cannot get used to that word, ‘date’,” she uttered.

A long moment of silence passed between them, in which Jiae wondered anxiously if Sungjong and Hyera had figured out that they were being spied on. But to her relief, Sungjong spoke again.

“In truth, I can’t really get used to it either. But every time I say it, it’s as if I’m living in an amazing dream. I hope that’s how you feel,” Sungjong said, blushing at his ears.

Hyera stepped forward and took Sungjong’s arm with one of hers, opening the door to the practice room with her other. “Then let’s not stand around here,” she said brightly, “let’s step into dream land, and then we can dream about dating… all we want.”

The last thing Jiae heard was the unified laughter of Sungjong and Hyera, followed by the practice room door closing. She straightened up from leaning against the wall and walked down the corridor. She saw Myungsoo coming from the other side, his hair slightly clumped and curly from lying in bed.

Even when Myungsoo and Jiae stood a mere few feet apart from each other, just a safe distance from the practice room doors, Myungsoo avoided Jiae’s gaze.

“That kid. Who knew he had that kind of spunk,” mumbled Myungsoo, eyes glaring at the floor, “I just thought he was dumb and naïve for being so reckless, but he’s actually doing better than me.”

“Yah, Kim Myungsoo, is there something wrong?” Jiae asked, tilting her head at his odd behavior, his odd mood.

Myungsoo finally raised his gaze toward Jiae, and the look that Jiae received from his slightly lidded eyes sent a chill down her spine. She couldn’t make out the emotion that she read in his eyes. Remorse? Regret? Jiae always knew when Myungsoo was hiding his emotions, but at that moment, they were overflowing him, making it unbearable for him to hide any longer. Without thinking, she reached up, her charm bracelet clinking, and touched his shoulder. “Tell me,” she said, knowing that Myungsoo would understand from her simple two words, that she wanted him to share his hidden emotions with her.

Sighing deeply, Myungsoo began moving toward the wall next to the double doors of the practice room, leaning back on it, and then sliding down to a seat. Jiae followed and sat next to him, observing each of his movements intently. Myungsoo leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

“Yoo Jiae,” he said. Jiae stared at him, expecting more to come out of his mouth, but he had stopped there. She was going to have to wait. She stopped looking at him and just did the same thing as he, touching the back of her head to the hard wall.

Only after a few more silent minutes, did Myungsoo speak again, his voice quiet but clear. “You know I like you, right? More than a lot of people, and more than a friend,” he said.

Jiae was startled, but she kept her voice in control, as she replied, “No, I didn’t know. I had suspicions, but I never knew for sure, if you liked me as more than a friend, as much as I did.”

Myungsoo opened his eyes and brought his head up from the wall. He looked down at his own legs, and then, to his right, at Jiae’s folded legs, and her folded hands in her lap. He reached over and took her right arm, where she wore the charm bracelet he’d bought her from Japan.

“I’ve known you for over a year, and I couldn’t even express to you how much I liked you. Sungjong could tell Hyera how he felt, and he’s known Hyera maybe a month or two.” Myungsoo mumbled, the charm on Jiae’s bracelet.

Jiae remained quiet, letting Myungsoo take over. She was startled with his confession, but she wasn’t sure whether to be happy or not about it. And he didn’t seem to mean for it to be a topic of joy, either.

“I thought it would be the best for us to be friends, since I was already out in this business, and you were closely behind me. The job that we’re both pursuing, it doesn’t allow for things like romance or relationships. I was hoping that we could wait, or more that you would wait for me, until we were both in a situation where it would be okay for us to be more than friends. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe you wouldn’t have waited.” Myungsoo continued.

Jiae spoke out in a much calmer voice than she thought she could manage, but she didn’t give an answer to Myungsoo’s indirect question. Instead, she said, “I don’t think Sungjong and Hyera are in the same situation.”

Myungsoo breathed heavily. “Maybe not. That doesn’t really matter to me right now. What matters is that Sungjong is in that practice room, better off with Hyera than I was ever with you.”

More and more, Jiae was beginning to understand Myungsoo’s feelings. Though she had never been truly sure whether he liked her the same way she liked him or not, she had always hoped that if they waited long enough, the two of them would have had a chance. They had always been close friends, but hidden behind their incredibly close relationship, was the hope of a closer future. Because of their new discovery of Sungjong and Hyera’s relationship, however, Myungsoo was being forced to question whether he had been right in maintaining just that hope. It seemed that Sungjong had taken things a step further than what Myungsoo had thought right. So Jiae asked herself, if it would be better if Myungsoo and she were in a relationship now, instead of their secretive, hopeful friendship. She couldn’t give herself an answer. She imagined that was the same problem Myungsoo was having inside him.

“We have to tell them, that they can’t. No matter how much they may like each other, Sungjong’s job doesn’t allow it, and neither will Hyera’s if she wants to continue on the track she’s on.” Jiae stated firmly, both to herself and to Myungsoo.

Myungsoo stopped fiddling with Jiae’s bracelet and looked at her directly. “Do you think those two in there like each other that much?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Jiae responded, locking eyes with Myungsoo, “But they’re going to have to determine that later. Right now, their feelings don’t matter; the company’s and everyone else’s does.”

After that, both of them remained quiet, a mutual understanding having passed between them. Myungsoo went back to turning the bracelet on Jiae’s wrist over and over, but only for a little while, after which he returned her arm to its place in her lap.

Jiae looked at the clock on her phone, which read, 12:33am. “Myungsoo-yah,” she spoke, her voice slightly raspy from not speaking for a while, “Are we going to talk to those two?”

His reply came in a bare whisper, after a long, drawn out sigh. “If it’s okay with you, I want to let them just enjoy their time in there, for tonight. We have to break them up, probably tomorrow, but it won’t be too much of a crime to let them be while they have the chance, will it?

The expression Jiae wore on her face clawed at Myungsoo’ heart. The sorrow she held in her eyes, her set mouth, and her lined eyebrows, were for Sungjong, Hyera, herself, and most of all, him. Without speaking, she simply nodded.

Swallowing, Myungsoo continued, “Tomorrow, let’s talk to them separately. You know what to say, right? Text me before you talk to Hyera, though.”

Again, Jiae nodded. “What now?” she asked. Finally, her voice was shaking, revealing the traces of the raw emotions she had managed to keep quelled.

Myungsoo sighed again heavily, the emotions building in his breath. “I don’t know… but I don’t know anything. I want to try to enjoy my time with you like the two in there, but I’m afraid I’ll miss it too much when I can’t. For that, I’m afraid for Sungjong too.”

The words were genuine truths, from the deepest crevices of Myungsoo’s heart. Jiae understood the pains Myungsoo suffered in those truths, and wanted to comfort him as best as she was capable of. She leaned over and laid her head on Myungsoo chest, placing a hand on his knee. “Why are you so soft, Kim Myungsoo?” She uttered, and as she did so, two tears rolled down her cheeks, one of them, falling from her chin and soaking into Myungsoo’s shirt. Myungsoo cringed inside, knowing that Jiae felt everything he felt in himself. He started getting up abruptly, startling her. He pulled her up as well, and once they were both standing, he hugged her tightly. It was better to share the emotions physically too, if they were already sharing them inwardly. He her back lightly, recalling the very few other times he had been able to feel Jiae so close to him like this. Jiae was able to lean her head on his chest again, at the same place where her single tear had wet his shirt. “In the end, making you cry and making you sad is all I can do, isn’t it?” said Myungsoo.

Jiae couldn’t help but sob into Myungsoo chest, wetting the left portion of his shirt considerably. But she made sure not to cry too loudly, and his hand her back soothed her a little bit. She cried for what seemed like a very long time, through which Myungsoo continued to hold her tightly. Even after she finished sniffing, he didn’t let go. But after another long while, he finally asked, still holding onto her, “Do you want me to walk you back to your room?”

Jiae took a deep breath, then pushed herself out of Myungsoo arms. “No. If you leave me at my room, I might just have another crying fit, once I get in. Then I’d wake the other girls. But we do need to get back before Sungjong and Hyera come out,” she answered, her voice hoarse from crying.

Myungsoo did not reply. He stood there, arms hanging limp at his sides, so Jiae spoke again, simply saying, “Goodnight, Myungsoo-yah.”

She waited for him to respond. “Good night, Jiae-yah, I’m sorry,” he retorted. With that, Jiae was able to turn and leave Myungsoo in the corridor, heading back to her room by herself. That way, she didn’t have to cry when she got to her room.

Myungsoo watched Jiae until she was out of sight, and then, he stared at the double doors to the practice room for a long time. He couldn’t hear what kind of conversations Sungjong and Hyera were having inside, which he found to be a good thing. He had great difficulty removing his feet from his standing position, but in the end, he managed to return to the dorm room, slipping in his covers without Hoya and Sungyeol noticing a thing.

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A/N: I didn't mean to in the first place, but this chapter turned out to be verrryy long~ I hope that's okay with you all.

I apologize wholly for my unwarned absence during most of the month of May, I had about 12 exams to deal with, but I'm glad to say that I'm done with the lot of them for good now, and will be able to pour all my love to Infinite for the upcoming summer :)

To compensate for my long absence, along with this chapter, I'd like to introduce you all to my next new fanfic!! It is called Inspirit, and I know the title sounds sooo cliche, but I think have a very good reason to call it that name, so please stick around to find out why!

Link to Inspirit, featuring Infinite's Nam Woohyun: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/197136 

Thanks again for reading, and Infinite Fighting!!! I love Infinitize and The Chaser sooo much!