If it hadn’t been for the slightly odd respite he had enjoyed earlier, in the bright, warm sun, spying on Hyera’s peaceful form, Sungjong may not have been able to last through the rigorous practice that whole morning. Luckily, Dongmin hyung wasn’t aiming to run the Infinite members down to exhaustion; he merely wanted them to memorize the choreography in perfect synchronization, as always.

Sungjong loved their new promotion song, Paradise. And somehow, as he and the rest of the Infinite members learned to their hips and pump their fists in unison, the lyrics reminded him of Hyera. He tried not to think about it as much as he could, though, as the complicated choreography required strict attention.

Sungjong wasn’t the dancing machine that Hoya was or the powerful free spirit that Dongwoo was, but he considered himself third in the line of Infinite’s dancers. While he preferred more flowing movements from girl group dances, he knew how to follow the beats and rhythms in any song, and he knew how his body needed to move to make the dance his own. Dancing was an innate trait he relished in himself, and without it, he wouldn’t be where he was today. Unconsciously, his thoughts slipped to Hyera again, to the night when he had watched her dance to Hyuna’s “Change”, getting some of the moves wrong, being awkward despite her arduous efforts. Wait, why are you thinking about her again?

It’s only Paradise if you’re there,

Paradise, where I locked you up against your will,

Paradise, the sad place I can’t go when I’m awake,

Where we can be together forever, Paradise, oh oh, oh oh oh~

“Let’s take a lunch break!” announced Dongmin hyung, after three and a half straight hours of dance practice.

“Ohhh man!” sighed Sungyeol in relief, collapsing onto the hard floor. Myungsoo fell next to him, grumbling. They were all dripping with sweat and panting from exhaustion, but they had made significant progress in their choreography. “Good work guys!” Sunggyu complemented with a bright, sweaty smile, and all of the Infinite members agreed.

Sungjong wiped his face and neck with a towel, the words of their song still ringing in his ears. Absentmindedly, he questioned to himself, I wonder what the girl group trainees are doing?

Realizing what he was doing, Sungjong immediately shook his head, mentally scolding himself. Great, that girl was haunting him again.

But Sungjong was rather inquisitive toward himself, by the fact that unlike before, being forced to endure the putrid image of the girl and her piercing eyes drilling into his head, he was simply… thinking about her. Thinking of her in the lyrics of their new song. Thinking of her when he danced. Just thinking of her, not cowering at the fear and guilt of the things he’d said to her and the thing he did to her. Was this newfound thing a result of him spying on her during breakfast this morning?

He recalled how Hyera had looked so peaceful and normal, sitting on the rooftop, eating her breakfast. He recalled how he had been exposed to the true beauty of her eyes, without having to endure the menacing glare they gave him and the uncontrollable boiling inside him whenever his own eyes came into contact with them. Sungjong didn’t understand what was happening to him - he didn’t understand any of it, from the beginning – but he wondered, just maybe, if he could forget about the horrific nightmares and the haunting tears, and just resort to this new way of obsession.

He knew that by now, he was completely out of his mind, truly insane, caught in the unfathomable grip of the girl and her eyes educing his energy day after day, night after night.  But something else was pulling at his gut, as he sipped water from a paper cup. He thought about Hyera. He wanted to see her again, despite how her presence drained him from life and threatened to crush his grasp of reality. But he wanted to see her from afar, regarding her without her knowing. Because if she knew he was there, she would run away again, and leave him in his tortured state. But when she didn’t know, he could be near her all he wanted, and feel the comfort of this new sensation that relieved him of his old pain.

Making up his mind, Sungjong left the practice room without a word, taking nothing but his sweat towel.

“Hey Sungjong, where are you going?” called Hoya, but he received no reply, as Sungjong had already left.

***

Where Sungjong was headed, he himself did not know, at first. And then, his ears picked up the faint sound of music coursing through the air. He began to follow it, a slight memory flitting through his brain.

The music came from the recording studio, with the door to the room slightly ajar. Two voices could be heard matching a duet to the melodic flow of the music. Sungjong slipped through the open door soundlessly.

Three recording staff members sat in chairs in the outer room, equipped with headsets, listening to and watching the two voices in the inner room. Behind the heavy glass which led to the inner recording room, Soojung and Hyera, sporting headsets of their own, sang into two microphones attached to one stand.

Sungjong’s heart fluttered at the sight of Hyera, so close to him. He felt somewhat as if he was violating the room’s privacy, but he remained in his spot next to the door in the corner, hidden behind a blanket of shadows. He regarded the petite form of Hyera, bobbing her head lightly, brows knit in concentration, brown eyes glittering brighter than any other light source in the room. Her gaze was strictly directed toward a music stand in front of her, from which Sungjong assumed she was reading the lyrics.

It was difficult to pinpoint a certain genre to the music, which swayed in mild jazz rhythm but also wavered softly like a folk tune. Sungjong could tell by the pronunciations of the words that it was an American Pop song, but not modern. The two voices layered note after note, chord after chord on top of the peculiar music, weaving a fluid web of harmonious composition.

Sungjong was taken aback by the skills the two girls were performing in front of him. For one stanza, Soojung carried on her beautiful, soft voice steadily, while Hyera added mild but substantial tones under Soojung’s melody. Then, they switched around for the second stanza, Hyera launching her strong, firm voice into a flowing pattern, lightened by Soojung’s falsetto additions. In what Sungjong perceived to be the chorus of the song, both of the girls sprang their voices into full action - Hyera with a powerful, deep, breathtaking series of rising notes; Soojung, a medley of her high, beautifully executed range. He had heard Soojung’s voice in Infinite H’s “Crying”, but in this song, she was displaying her true colors, showcasing her incredible range and clear, harmonious tone.

On the other hand, Sungjong had never heard Hyera’s voice, and thus, he was mesmerized. Her astounding voice flowed into his ears with graceful ease and dug into his heart and core. Her tone was definitely lower and thicker than Soojung’s and much more firm, carrying weight with every note. There was profoundness in the way she released her melody that completely bewildered Sungjong. When she sang, her eyes were brighter and more beautiful than he had ever seen them, much more beautiful than when he’d first realized their beauty on the roof top. Any reminders of the nightmares and haunting images of Hyera’s piercing, frightful pupils seemed to have vanished from Sungjong’s mind, leaving him to gawk openly at the sparkling pair in front of him right then.

You have the ugliest eyes I’ve ever seen. The memory shot at Sungjong unexpectedly. He had said that to her. He had said it to those eyes.

The two girls dotted the end of the song with a skillful exchange of gentle, elegant notes, after which the three staff members threw their hands up in applause. “Whoa! That was ruthless!” One staff member cheered.

“Amazing job, girls! Simply fantastic. You know, Woohyun and Sunggyu could never do anything like that,” kidded another, gesturing to the two girls for them to come into the outer room.

None had noticed Sungjong’s small, shadowed form near the exit, and Sungjong didn’t bother to make any sudden movements. He watched Hyera, his heart pounding, his stare glued to the glistening attraction of her eyes. He didn’t realize that while he stood facing the backsides of the staff members, he was looking at the two girls full-on in the face. Thus, Sungjong did not expect at all that as Hyera took off her headset and looked into the outer room, the first sight her gaze landed on would be Sungjong’s hidden form in the corner. Immediately, the two locked eyes, all of Sungjong’s nerves freezing in place as the impact spread slowly through him.

The shock that registered in Hyera’s eyes as her mind processed what she was seeing carried over directly to Sungjong. She’s been avoiding me all this time. She doesn’t want to see me. What is she going to think of me now? What am I supposed to do? Sungjong’s insides were in panic, but his body stood still, enchanted by the piercing effects of Hyera’s eyes as they regarded Sungjong directly.

Without further hesitation, Sungjong did the only thing he felt he could do; he burst out of the recording room, taking off in a run out in the hallway.

Bolting through the halls, Sungjong arrived at the dance practice room in no time, shoving himself through the door and coming face to face with the six Infinite members plus Dongmin hyung, sitting in an oval around piles of food trays, utensils, and drinks. All seven faces peered up at Sungjong, who stood over them, panting, a crazy gleam in his eyes.

“Lunch time, Sungjong-a!!” said Dongwoo, smiling widely to reveal an array of food particles in his teeth.

***

One full day of practicing. It’s been such a long time since we’ve had one of those, thought Sungjong, as he threw on his pajamas and stepped out of the curtained shower, towel over his wet hair. In the large bathroom facility all the males shared, Sungyeol and Hoshin were brushing their teeth, while Woohyun peered into the mirror with his chin covered in shaving cream.

Parts of Sungjong’s limbs were aching slightly, and the nice, hot shower had tired him out. “Good night Hoshin hyung, night Woohyun hyung,” he called, and made his way out of the restroom. When Sungjong came out into the hallway, carelessly toweling his hair, he was stopped in his tracks by a figure standing near one of the walls, head pointed toward the floor, hands fidgeting behind her back.

For a lengthy moment, Sungjong just stood in front of the bathroom and watched the girl. Her shoulder length hair fell over her face, and she reached up to push it back behind her ears. What are you doing here, Hyera?

Just then, Hyera looked up, over to where Sungjong stood. She jumped as his form caught her by surprise, placing a hand over her heart.

Nothing registered in Sungjong’s mind, except, run. He his heels to dodge down the hall as quickly as he can, fearing himself and his undying obsession for Hyera, fearing the painful emotion of fright that filled Hyera’s eyes in his nightmares.

“Wait!” called Hyera, stopping Sungjong in place.

What did she just say?

“Don’t go! I have something to say,” her voice was clear and distinct.

Sungjong remained in his spot but didn’t turn around. He waited. After a moment, Hyera began to speak again.

“I don’t understand what you think I did to you,” said Hyera, her melodic voice flowing into Sungjong, a hint of the wonderful song she had performed earlier that day flittering with her words.

“I’ve been thinking…” she trailed off. Silence followed; a deep, anxious silence that made Sungjong’s skin crawl and his palms sweat, as he stood with his back to Hyera.

After some time, which felt to Sungjong like hours, Hyera spoke, “I… I don’t know how, but I’ll help you.”

Her words hit the side of Sungjong’s head with all the force of a bone-breaking punch, failing to register.

“I’ll help you,” she said again.

 _________________________________________________________________________________

A/ N: Hi everyone! Have you seen Baby Soul's new teaser? I sorta had issues with her hair style when she was singing... but that's really just me.

And also, I've seen various viewpoints as to who the girl in the acting parts is... Is she, 1. Baby Soul herself, or 2. Yoo Jia?? The second choice has popped up in some places, and that... well I don't think it is, so I'll just wait to hear back from everyone I've asked about it.

AND, Congrats to Infinite for their Official Japanese Debut!!! They must be so happy and proud! ^^

Anyways, Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading!