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‚Oppa, please.’ His sister signed frantically.
He shook his head and folded his arms. „I said no!“
Misun stomped her foot on the floor. ‘Just this once! Who knows when a chance like this will come up again! You have to help me!’
“I have to work, Sun-ah. And you should learn for your exams. Stop running after these idols.” Sunggyu saw the discussion as over and walked away.
She followed him into the living room and grabbed his arm, tugging on it to get his attention. He sighed and gave her a stern look. Sunggyu shrugged her hand off and plopped down on the couch. He stubbornly turned the TV on and kept his gaze on it, ignoring his younger sister moving her hands quickly. After a few minutes of fruitless signing, she gave up and stomped away. Sunggyu heaved a sigh. Misun had been bothering about it since the day before. Apparently, there was a fansign of the idol group she liked in their town next month and she really wanted to go. They were living in a small rural town, so it was rare for any celebrities to visit. He understood that very well, but Sunggyu couldn’t understand why Misun was so desperate to meet them.
He doubted those fancy, sparkling media puppets were all that great off the camera. Sunggyu didn’t want his sister to fall for their lies and fake characters. What if they were going to laugh at her disability? He just wanted to protect Misun from hurt. She was way too deep into this whole idol crap, crying for days when something bad happened or jumping around wildly whenever they won. Her room was full of posters (one of them was a creepy life-sized poster of their main vocal – Sunggyu hated the feeling of being watched by it whenever he entered Misun’s room), albums, DVDs and other merchandize. It was pretty creepy for him to go inside. He was really worried for her future. How was she going to get a boyfriend like this? She better not still be dreaming of dating her favorite member, who she liked to call Hyunie-oppa. As if that guy would ever date her! He already looked like some snobby playboy! Wasn’t it proof enough that he called all of their fans ‘girlfriends’? Shameless!
Sunggyu wasn’t really the right one to worry about her dating life, though. He was already turning 26 this year and in no relationship. His mother kept nagging him to find a bride already and start a family, although he had told her on several occasions that he did not want a bride. Sunggyu couldn’t get hard for a woman even if he blindfolded himself. He blamed his mother and father for that, because the young boy had had a very traumatizing childhood where he caught his parents in the act several times. Ever since that the sight of his mother…no. Sunggyu shuddered and shook his head. He could not see a woman without thinking of his mother and how she-
Unspeakable things.
Anyways, he may be single but at least Sunggyu was not hunting after some imaginary boygroup, who danced with unicorns under sparkly rainbows. He was a man! Men did not use makeup!
Sunggyu frowned when he heard loud music coming from his sister’s room. Why did he offer Misun to live with him again? Teenagers were such a trouble. “This kid!”
He stood up and made his way to her room. Sunggyu knocked on the door. “Kim Misun! Lower the volume of your music!”
She didn’t do that. Instead, she defiantly turned it louder. He tried opening the door but it was locked. “Yah! You’re mute and not deaf!”
Sunggyu frowned and knocked on the door again, a little louder this time. “Come on, Sun-ah. You’re almost 17. Stop acting like a 10-year-old. If you think this is going to chance my mind, then you’re very wrong. I’m not going to the fansign with you. Open the door or I’m sending you back to mom’s house!”
The door was opened and he stumbled back when the full volume of the music hit him. He glared at his sister and pushed past her to turn it off. She stomped over to the bed and slumped down on it. ‘I hate you.’
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you do.”
His heart softened when Misun’s eyes filled with tears. Sunggyu sighed and took a seat next to her. He wrapped an arm around his sister and she sniffled. ‘True. I hate myself. I hate the fact that I can’t talk! I can’t even communicate with them on my own. Instead, I have to ask someone to come with me! I’m a useless waste of space.’
Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and Sunggyu wiped them away with a frown. “Don’t say that. No one thinks of you that way. You’re a wonderful person, Misun. Beautiful, charming, intelligent – aren’t you even nominated for an award at your school?”
Her lips twitched shortly. ‘I don’t think I’m going to win it. All the other kids are normal.’
“You are normal!”
Misun narrowed her eyes at him. ‘I’m mute! I can’t even do an acceptance speech.’
“So what? I’m sure they’ll have someone to translate for you if you win. Sun-ah, you’re still a normal girl, with or without voice. Although, with your level of intelligence, you might not be normal after all.” He gave her an encouraging smile and she hesitantly smiled back. “You’re amazing, okay? Mom used to cry when she saw my grades, but you’re her whole pride.”
‘I’d trade having a voice for good grades any second. Why was I born like this, oppa?’
Sunggyu rubbed her arm comfortingly. “I don’t know, Misun. If I could give you my voice, I’d do it.”
He truly meant those words. He had been 9 when his sister was born, barely able to understand the whole process behind it. The doctors told their mother that there had been complications, possibly because she was already over the ‘safe’ limit for woman to get pregnant. It was not unusual that children had birth defects when the mother was already too old. In Misun’s case her vocal cords had not developed properly. She was unable to make a sound with her mouth. Sunggyu had found his baby sister creepy in the past, because she had always been so quiet. Misun had been just like a puppet. But with time, he had understood what was wrong with her and that it wasn’t really ‘wrong’. She was just different and as her older brother, it was his duty to protect his little sister and support her. Sunggyu had learned sign language faster than his parents and had always looked after his sister the most. It was the main reason why they were so close now, almost like twins but 9 years apart.
‘Can you really not go to the fansign with me? Please!’
He groaned. “I have to work, you know that. And it would be weird for a man my age to go to there. I bet only teenage girls go to stuff like that.”
She puffed her cheeks. ‘They have male fans too! And the members are close to your age, so some fans are older too!’
“There are men listening to this cheesy pop stuff with sparkling unicorns?”
Misun narrowed her eyes at him and started hitting his arm. “Ouch! Yah, stop!”
‘I told you to stop it with the unicorns and sparkle stuff! They make proper music! Don’t judge them before listening to their songs!’ Like always when she talked about her beloved boygroup, her gaze was burning with a fiery fire. Sunggyu found it a little scary.
He huffed. “I doubt their music is my style. I’m not much into pop music.”
His sister stood up and went over to her shelf, grabbing seemingly random albums. (Sunggyu wondered why she even had several copies of one and the same album. Was that really necessary?) She went back to him and pressed the CDs into his hands. ‘Listen to them. Give them a chance.’
“If you think this will make me go with you…”
She lowered her head. ‘No, I understand. I’ll just ask a friend to give them a letter from me.’
Sunggyu didn’t have the heart to give the CDs back to her, so he kept them. He’d just give them back to her in one or two weeks. He stood up and ruffled her hair. “I’m sorry, okay? Oppa will buy you ice cream, how’s that?”
‘Okay!’ She smiled hesitantly. ‘Will you give the CDs a listen? Their music is really not that bad.’
He glanced at the albums in his hand. Infinite. Who even named their group like that? “Sure, but don’t expect me to fangirl over them later.”
‘You will fall for them soon enough!’ She smiled at the life-sized poster of that one guy that was stuck on her door.
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. There was no way he would fall for them! He didn’t even like that his sister declared her love for them so openly all the time. Sunggyu didn’t say anything, though. He had said it often enough. Those guys didn’t even know she existed. She was just one girl in a flock of fangirls and that poster guy would only break Misun’s heart. Sunggyu would be the one forced to comfort her for days or weeks when that dude comes out with dating news.
“I’ll stick to dating real persons, thank you.” She puffed her cheeks again in anger, but before she could sign anything, Sunggyu walked out of the room again. He knew better than to start a discussion with a hardcore fangirl.
In the end, he did listen to the CDs. Sunggyu usually listened to the radio on his way to work but they kept playing this one annoying song, so he put one of the CDs from his sister in. The songs weren’t all that bad, but maybe he’d just been lucky enough to grab the best album. Every band got lucky once or twice and brought out a good song. God knew who this boygroup had paid for the melody and the lyrics. Maybe they weren’t even the ones singing the song. Sunggyu scoffed. Fake. Idols were all fake. He’d never fall that damn trap of good-looking boys and girls fresh out of the surgery room.
The next days, he listened to the other albums too. Sunggyu was shocked when he found himself humming one of their songs while he was typing a boring report. He stopped in his movements and frowned. Then Sunggyu shook his head. So what if their songs were catchy? It didn’t change the fact that they were just Barbie dolls, which couldn’t sing or write their own songs!
When Misun asked him how he liked the albums after a week, Sunggyu confronted her with his thoughts. He should’ve known it would end in a (seemingly) never-ending speech about how great her idols were.
‘Oppa, they are not fake! They compose some of their songs by themselves and even write the lyrics!’
Sunggyu folded his arms. “That’s just what the company tells you. You are too blue-eyed.”
His sister looked about ready to tear his head off his shoulders. Sunggyu was sure that if she had a voice, she’d be screaming at him already. ‘I’ve followed them for years! It’s not like that. They are truly genuine. If you knew them, you wouldn’t say stuff like that.’
“You followed them through the Internet and TV! If you were my age and had seen how the business world worked, then you wouldn’t say stuff like that. It’s their job to look genuine and please the crowd. They want you to buy the albums after all.”
She threw her hands up in the air in an act of despair. ‘You don’t understand because you haven’t seen them on their shows or read the fanaccounts! And they do sing live!’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. Why did she get so emotional over some boys she barely knew? And they were so much older than her! If any of them approached his baby sister, he’d castrate them. “Whatever. They’ll probably breakup soon anyways.”
‘I hate you, oppa!’ Misun ran away with teary eyes. Teenage girls…so emotional. Does she have her period?
That evening, he searched the group on Google for the first time. There were a lot of articles and YouTube links. They even had their own Wikipedia entry. Sunggyu clicked the hyperlink with a bored face and read through it. There were six members and apparently all of them sang and danced. Six were so many. They were all close to him in age, the eldest being one year younger than him. He wanted to rant about them abandoning school and being uneducated fools without a real future after their idol career ended, but Sunggyu found out that all of them had properly graduated from school and some of them were studying in college or already done with that. He had to admit that making your degree while living the idol life seemed pretty stressful.
By the time it was time to sleep for Sunggyu, he knew a lot more about Infinite compared to before. They had debuted four years ago from a small company. Apparently, their CEO even had to sell his house to afford the first release and MV. They only got their first win last year with a song called ‘Chaser’. One of the songs Sunggyu had liked quite a lot, although he might not want to admit it openly. From that point on last year, their popularity had risen and now they seemed to be doing well for an idol group. Sunggyu even watched some of their MVs and live performances, stubbornly grinding his teeth because damn they could dance and they did sing live. He was so deep in refusal that Sunggyu wasted hours on watching MR removed performances, just so that he might be able to find something to pick on. There wasn’t anything, though. All of them sang live and Sunggyu had to admit they were good. He could understand why girls would go all wild over them.
Despite everything, he didn’t become a fan. Sunggyu just changed his opinion a bit, admitting that they were not just sparkle and unicorn, not fake and unskilled. He still didn’t think much of idol fanservice and the way they deluded girls into thinking they mattered, but they were good at what they were doing for a living. Their music was a bit different from the usual Kpop stuff. Sunggyu also had to admit that all of them were quite handsome. Since he was into men, he had no trouble admitting that, but he would never fall for any of them. What good were looks when you didn’t know the real personality behind them? People in the ‘real’ world were already wearing masks and hiding their true selves – then how could he believe some dudes on TV, who needed the fan’s love to make money and survive?
Sunggyu pushed the group’s name and music into a dark corner of his mind soon enough. He went back to listening to his usual music or the radio, concentrating on his work again and forgetting about the fansign. At least he forgot about it until he found something in Misun’s trash bin when he cleaned the apartment. Sunggyu pulled the two tickets out with a frown and read what was written on them. “Infinite fansign...12th June, 3pm. Once in a life chance to see your idols from up close and talk to them.”
“Are those from Misun?” He muttered. The tickets had obviously been crumbled in a rage and thrown into the trash. June 12th was next Wednesday. Sunggyu sighed. Why did he feel bad just looking at them? Maybe because he could just imagine the face his sister had made when she threw them away. The fansign had meant a lot to her.
He turned the tickets around. On the back it said ‘Only 50 lucky fans will get the chance to see Infinite!’. Sunggyu wondered how hard it must have been to get the 2 tickets. Had they been randomly put into an album or did Misun have to buy them? He had no idea but 50 seemed like a very small number when compared to the size of their fanbase. Fans would probably kill for those tickets.
Sunggyu moved to put them in the trash again but he hesitated. With a sigh, he put the two tickets in his back pocket and brought the trash bag outside. “Aish...this girl.”
Misun came back later that evening, not even greeting him in the living room and instead heading straight for her room. Sunggyu heard the door slam shut and he frowned. He had told her often enough not to slam the doors like that, even if she was mad over something! He thought about going to her room to ask what was wrong, but the door opened again and she came back, almost running the small distance. Misun entered the living room with an expression that was a mix of fear and despair.
‘Oppa, did you empty my trash bin?’
“Yes, you know that I always bring the trash out on Friday. Misun, what’s- hey!” She left while he was speaking, running off to the front door. Sunggyu stood up and followed after her. “What are you doing?”
She shook her head and slipped out of the apartment. He put his shoes on and followed her downstairs. Misun went to the corner where all of the tenants put their trash bags. Sunggyu stopped in his tracks and observed her as she started looking for their trash. She seemed desperate to find something. Something important. Sunggyu remembered the tickets in his back pocket. He scratched his head and walked over to her with a sigh. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the trash bag she had been close to tearing open.
“Stop it, Sun-ah.”
She tried to free her arm and glared at him when his grip didn’t loosen. ‘Let me go, idiot!’
“What will people think when they see you searching through the trash?”
‘It’s none of their business! Why did you throw the trash out?!’
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “Why did you throw the tickets away if you were just going to dig through the trash for them now?”
‘You don’t understand-‘ Her eyes widened in realization and she stopped struggling.
He pulled the ticket out and gave them to her. Misun stared at them and then she broke out into tears. She snatched them from his hands and sank on her knees, weeping silently. Sunggyu thought it was a bit of an exaggerate expression of happiness but it seemed genuine. He looked around and saw one of their neighbors looking at them with furrowed eyebrows.
“Come on, stand up, Misun. People are going to think I’m throwing you out or so.”
She nodded and sniffled. ‘Thank you.’
“Next time think harder before you throw something away. You worked hard for them, didn’t you? It said only 50 people can go.”
Misun stood up again and wiped her eyes. She shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t go. I found someone who wants to buy the tickets. At least someone will see them in my stead.’
His sister pushed past him with a bitter smile and walked back up the stairs to their apartment. Sunggyu sighed as he watched her slumped shoulders. He had forgotten about the fansign maybe, but Misun hadn’t. She obviously still wanted to go. Sunggyu doubted that she had been so frantic to find them because someone else wanted to buy them. He put the trash bag back in its place and followed after her with heavy steps.
Sunggyu found Misun in her room. She was sitting at her desk with her headphones on and he could see that she was watching videos. He sneaked closer and recognized the people singing and dancing. Misun didn’t notice him and continued to watch the performance, silently mouthing the words and nodding her head to the music. Sunggyu knew that if she had a voice, she would be singing along right now. He felt a sting in his chest. It was unfair, really, the fact that his sister couldn’t speak. He knew it was hard for her to express her feelings to other people, especially when they were unable to read sign language. And even then signs and written words sometimes did not carry the same emotion as spoke words. But even without her singing along loudly, Sunggyu could tell that she knew all the lyrics and she loved the music. Was it wrong of her to be that dedicated to her hobby? Sunggyu knew that music had sometimes helped him when life got hard, so maybe this too was a big support for her in life.
He ruffled his hair and stepped closer, pulling the headphones from her ear. She looked up at him in surprise and Sunggyu saw the wet traces of tears along her cheeks. Sunggyu wiped them away. “I still have some overtime that I can use up. Just this once, okay? And I’m not translating any embarrassing stuff.”
Misun just stared at him, seemingly frozen. He patted her head and walked away again with a light smile. Sunggyu just couldn’t say no to his sister when she was sad like that. He was no fan of her loving those guys, but maybe she’d concentrate harder on her studies afterwards and maybe even realize what a foolish dream it had been. It was just for a few hours, he told himself. He’d endure it, say for her whatever she wanted to express and then go home again with a clear conscience.
Sunggyu went to the kitchen to cook dinner for them. Their mother would probably be disappointed in him for giving in to his younger sister, but she was not here anyways. She didn’t have to know. Sunggyu was in the middle of cutting carrots when two arms were wrapped around his torso. He stopped cutting momentarily and smiled.
“You owe me something. And don’t mention it to mother. She’d have my head.” He said and he felt an energetic nod from the head that was resting against his back. Her arms tightened around him. “Yah, stop crying. Aren’t you happy?”
Sunggyu didn’t have to see her face to know that she was crying again. Just like he didn’t need words from he to know how happy and grateful she was. Knowing that she was happy made Sunggyu feel like he had made the right decision. He was still against her loving those idol guys, but he could not handle seeing his sister that sad any longer. She had it hard enough with her disability.
“Come on, let go of me and let me prepare dinner in peace.”
She did as told but didn’t step from his side. Misun tugged on his arm and he looked at her. ‘Let me help you, oppa.’
“No, go and study. Or do your homework. I’m not taking you if you neglect your studies.”
His sister pursed her lips but she nodded. Misun suddenly leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. ‘Thank you! I’ll forever be indebted to you! You’re the best brother.’
“I hope you still remember that after the fansign.” He muttered as she ran out of the kitchen while dancing happily. Just for a few hours. It can’t possibly be that bad.
Clearly, he had underestimated fangirls and their dedication towards their favorite idols. Although only 50 tickets had been given away for the fansign, the street in front of the little hall was filled with people. Sunggyu followed close after his sister as she navigated through the sea of fans. There were mainly girls around Misun’s age around, some older or younger and some boys even. They either had signs in their hands or big cameras that Sunggyu thought must have cost a fortune. It was loud. Very loud. So much that he was close to just turning around and walking away again. Did they have to scream so much when their oppas were not even in sight? So annoying!
Sunggyu huffed. ”I didn’t know so many people even lived in our town.”
His sister stopped for a moment to turn around and sign him something. ‘Stop exaggerating, oppa. And most of the fans followed them here from Seoul.’
“Stalkers. Nice.” Some girl with a camera glared at him and he sent her a ‘Got a problem?’ look.
‘They are not stalkers, well, most of them.’
They finally made it into the hall after showing the security their tickets. Sunggyu felt like hiding in a hole because there were fangirls taking pictures everywhere and he sure as hell didn’t want to be on the internet somewhere as a fanboy. He was almost 26 damn it!
The atmosphere inside the little hall was much calmer. There were chairs left and right, which were mostly occupied by now. Sunggyu could see a little stage with a long table and six chairs, obviously meant for the idols. Misun went ahead and snatched them two seats in the fifth row. Sunggyu sat down next to her under the burning gazes of the other girls. There was only one other male present and he seemed to be hardly over 15. Sunggyu could feel thee girls staring holes into his head.
Some people sat down behind them. A hand poked his shoulder. “Ahjussi-“
He frowned and turned his head around. “What?”
“Can you sit somewhere else? I can’t see anything.” The girl complained.
Heck, he wasn’t even that tall! “No, I can’t. How about you just come a little earlier next time to choose a better seat? I’m not that old by the way. I doubt you call those Infinite guys ahjussis!”
His reply earned him an elbow from Misun. She sent him a silent glare to behave. He scoffed and folded his arms. It was not his fault that girl had no respect for people older than her! He wasn’t even that much older than her beloved oppas. Sunggyu pursed his lips and sank a little into his seat to be at least a bit smaller. Misun nodded next to him and then screams were loud when there was movement on the stage. A guy – the manager? – stepped out first and raised his hands.
“Please put away your phones and cameras. There are no pictures allowed. You also can’t take bags to the stage with you. Take whatever presents, letters or albums you have into your hand and keep them ready for examination. You may hold hands but don’t force anything further or we might have to force you to leave.” He started to explain the rules.
Sunggyu huffed quietly and leaned over to his sister to whisper to her. “These fansigns have quite a lot of rules.”
She raised a finger to her lips, urging him to be quiet. Sunggyu rolled his eyes and brought his attention back to the manager. “We will start with the first row and then the second and so on. If there is still time, we can do a little Q&A afterwards. Maybe you can even take a picture with them.”
The girls screamed excitedly at that and even Misun seemed to burst with excitement next to him. “What’s a Q&A?”
She kept her hands low on her lap as she signed, probably wanting to hide her disability from the girls nearby. ‘We can ask them questions.’
“Ah, okay.” He muttered in reply, not really interested in asking them anything or taking pictures.
The room became loud suddenly, full of screaming and desperate calls, when the idols stepped out onto the stage. They were wearing relatively normal clothing. No special, colorful costumes. But Sunggyu pursed his lips because most of it seemed to be from expensive brands. Idols apparently made a lot of money. They smiled at the crowd and some of them waved back to the fans, while others seemed to be too tired to do so. A hand grabbed his forearm and Sunggyu felt Misun’s nails digging into his arm. Her eyes were literally glued to that dude she also had stuck to her door. What was his name again?
“1...2...3...Hello! We are Infinite!” The boys greeted the fans in synch and gave them a quick bow. At least they were respectful.
The girls screamed again and Sunggyu groaned quietly. He was close to stuffing his fingers in his ear but Misun was holding on to his left arm and he might get weird looks for it. One of the six guys grabbed his microphone. By the name on the little sign in front of him, his name was Dongwoo. Sunggyu vaguely remembered he was the leader and rapper of the group.
“Hello guys. It’s nice to see all of you up close. It’s the first time we have come to this town. Are you happy?”
Sunggyu cringed when the crowd screamed in reply. He could imagine Misun wanted to scream too, but she settled for cutting his arm off from any blood supply. “Yah, that hurts!”
She loosened her grip a bit but didn’t spare him a look. “Haha, okay. I’m sure our manager has explained most of the rules already, so please respect and follow them. If you’re good, we will have some time to answer questions or take pictures.”
The replies were getting predictable, Sunggyu thought. He felt like the fans were somewhat like dogs. Offer them a treat and they’ll behave well to get it. The guy that was sitting in the middle of the table started throwing hearts, while the leader kept talking about something. Sunggyu was too distracted to listen, though. What was wrong with that guy? He was making hearts with his arms, hands and fingers, basically everything at his disposal. The girls squealed in excitement while Sunggyu gagged. What was wrong with that guy? And he calls himself a man! Oh wait, isn’t that the girlfriends dude? He glanced at his sister and saw her watching the blue-haired guy with a love-struck expression. Yeah, definitely him.
Sunggyu narrowed his name at the sign in front of him. Woohyun. Oh right, that was his name. Definitely the guy he disliked the most because he was practically breaking his sister’s heart. Their eyes met and the guy had the gall to smile at him. Sunggyu narrowed his eyes and chose to glare back, but Woohyun didn’t seem to care. The singer formed a heart with his fingers and winked at him. No, no...he probably winked at some girl. He huffed and averted his gaze in annoyance. I’ll tear down his poster when we’re back home. Such a player!
“We’ll start with the first row now.” Someone announced and the first fans stood up.
Sunggyu was quite glad when they started to obstruct his view on the idol group. He had felt like that Woohyun dude kept staring at him. Was it that unusual for a male fan his age to sit in the crowd? Well, he wasn’t a fan of course, but the singer couldn’t know that.
He was close to dozing off by the time it was their turn to stand up. Sunggyu again felt like he was the center of everyone’s attention, maybe because he was so hard to overlook. A tall male adult in the middle of a row of teenage girls. Plus one ahjumma. She looked old enough to be his mother.
When they reached the manager, he checked the things in Misun’s hands. Sunggyu showed off his empty ones. “I’m only here to accompany her. My sister is mute.”
The manager looked doubting but Sunggyu showed him her certificate of disability. Misun never liked showing it off but they would hardly be able to go in a team of two if he didn’t show some kind of proof. She kept her head low as the manager checked it. “Normally, I’d like to know such things beforehand, but go ahead.”
Misun looked up again and smiled happily. She grabbed Sunggyu’s hand and pulled him over to the stage. They had ended up as the last in the row because of their little talk with the manager. Dongwoo was their first stop after everyone else had moved along. Sunggyu kept himself behind Misun to make clear that he was just here as decoration.
“Hello.” Dongwoo greeted her with a wide smile and gave Sunggyu a short glance of confusion. He held out his hands and she took them happily for a moment, before letting go again to sign Sunggyu something. The leader’s eyes widened.
Sunggyu huffed. It was almost ridiculous how pink her cheeks were. “She said she’s very happy to meet you and that your...ehm...smile is even cuter than on TV.”
Dongwoo signed her album quickly and then blinked. “Oh...ah...is she- are you-“
She lowered her gaze and smiled sadly. Sunggyu pursed his lips. “Yeah, she can’t speak. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all.” The leader smiled and took her hands in his again. “Thank you for coming here to meet us and for your support. Don’t feel insecure. You’re a beautiful girl.”
Sunggyu rolled his eyes behind her. It was doubtful that he really meant those words, though his whole aura seemed genuine. But maybe it didn’t matter as long as it made Misun feel better about her disability. His sister smiled back at him happily. They were urged to go to the next person and the girlish looking boy gave them another smile.
“I overheard the conversation. Thank you for your support. Can I know your name?” The boy – Sungjong – asked as he took her hands and immediately looked at Sunggyu for the answer.
“It’s Misun. Kim Misun.”
“Misun-ah, nice to meet you.” He let go of her hands to sign the album in front of him and Sunggyu saw him scribbling a little message under his sign.
His sister signed him something and he heaved a sigh. “You’re prettier than in the photographs, she says, but also very manly. Don’t feel down when people keep comparing you to a woman. Your manly charms have grown a lot.”
Sunggyu spoke those words like a robot without any emotion and she puffed her cheeks in anger. He shrugged and Misun hit his arm. Sungjong chuckled. “You guys are cute. Are you her...?”
“I’m her brother.” Obviously.
“It’s nice of you to accompany her!”
The manager cleared his throat and Sungjong gave her hands another squeeze. “I hope we will see each other again. Keep supporting us, okay?”
She nodded excitedly and they had to move along to make space for the people from the next row. Sunggyu grimaced shortly because that guy was next. “Hello, beautiful. Don’t worry about your voice.”
Misun blushed deeply as they held hands, keeping her head lowered in embarrassment. “Let me see your face. You have no reason to hide.”
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. She hesitantly let go of Woohyun’s hands and gave him her album. Misun looked over to him and moved her hands. ‘Tell him thank you and that I really, really love his voice. He’s my favorite member and I absolutely loved his solo album.’
Woohyun followed her hand movements curiously and then looked up at Sunggyu. “She said thank you.”
The singer lifted an eyebrow questioningly. Misun hit his arm. ‘What about the rest?’
‘He’s a player.’ Sunggyu signed back, not wanting the idol to understand what he said.
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘He’s not!’
‘You’re all his girlfriends! He threw his hearts to everyone in the room!’
‘Because he loves and treasures us all equally!’
‘So it’s okay if he flirts with several girls but if guys like me do it, it would be wrong?’
‘He’s not playing with our hearts. We know that it’s not that kind of love...Can you please tell him? Please!’ She gave him a pleading look.
Sunggyu cleared his throat because everyone seemed to be staring at them, including the very impatient manager, who probably wanted them to go on to the next person. “Well, she, ehm, likes you. Your solo album was great. That’s it.”
He gave her a little shove to urge her towards the next dude. Woohyun smiled at them. “What about you?”
Sunggyu blinked. “What? Me?”
“Do you like me too?” The singer grinned widely.
He felt his cheeks grow warm. Damn it, why was he blushing? Definitely not because the guy looked so damn attractive when he was smiling. No, definitely not. It was just embarrassment because everyone was staring at them. Sunggyu puffed his cheeks shortly. ‘I hate you.’
And then he stubbornly turned away to help his sister with the next group member. Misun gave him a ‘we are going to talk about this later’ look and he rolled his eyes in reply. The next guys were pretty much the same as Sungjong and Dongwoo. Sunggyu translated Misun’s messages properly for them. He just didn’t like that Woohyun guy. He was going to break his little sister’s heart with his actions!
When they were done, they sat down in their row again and Sunggyu closed his eyes in exhaustion. Ah, I want to go home. Misun poked his arm and he opened his eyes again. ‘What was that?’
‘I don’t like him. He’s not good for you.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘That’s not for you to decide, oppa. I love him! Don’t worry – I know it’s just one-sided.’
‘That didn’t sound like it weeks ago, when you called him yours.’ Sunggyu huffed.
‘That’s just a phrase! I know he’s-‘ She was interrupted when a voice from the front asked the crowd to calm down.
“Since we are done with signing the albums and still have some time left – what would you like to do?” Dongwoo asked the fans.
There were mixed shouts. Some demanded a Q&A, while others wanted to take pictures with the idols. Sunggyu just held his hands over his ears to muffle to noise. He didn’t really care. For some reason, he rather wanted to know what Misun had wanted to say.
“It seems most fans are for the photo session, so we will do that. There isn’t enough time to take a picture with everyone, so we will each pick a fan and take a picture with that person.” There was some uproar at first but then the fans started shouting their favorite member’s name.
The hall was filled with “Oppa, choose me!” “Myungsoo-oppa!” “I’m your best fan!!” and other shouts. Sunggyu groaned in his seat. Misun fidgeted next to him, waving her hands to try and grab their – probably Woohyun’s – attention.
“Calm down, Inspirits. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.” Sungyeol spoke up, trying to calm the wild mob of fangirls.
“If you’re not quiet, we might have to cancel the photo session.” The leader announced and that had the desired effect – the crowd went silent. “Perfect. We will choose a fan based on the impression that person made on us during the fansign. I’ll go first, okay? And don’t be disappointed if you don’t get chosen. It doesn’t mean we didn’t like you. We love all of our fans.”
The girls squealed happily at that. Dongwoo then started choosing a girl and the other members followed. All the time Misun was tense besides him, clenching her fists and biting down on her bottom lip. It was clear how desperately she wanted to be chosen. When even her ‘beloved’ Woohyun-oppa chose another girl, Misun seemed heartbroken. Sunggyu could see that she was fighting the tears. He brought an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
“Hey, don’t mind it. They don’t deserve to take a picture with you anyways.” First they all acted like they cared for her and gave her encouraging words for coming here despite her disability, and then not even one member chose her for a photograph. How could they be so cruel? In Sunggyu’s eyes, his sister deserved the damn photo the most.
‘It’s okay...I knew they wouldn’t choose me.’ She signed and heaved a sigh.
“Do you want to leave?” Everyone was busy taking pictures or longingly observing the scenes, so no one would notice them stand up and go.
Misun hesitated for a moment but then she nodded. Well, looking at it positively, maybe she’ll stop being a fan now and go back to a normal life. She stood up first and Sunggyu followed after her. They made it relatively far until a voice from behind stopped them.
“Hey, wait!”
They stopped and looked back to the stage. Woohyun grabbed his microphone from the table. “We will take a group picture now and would like to invite the fan on stage with us, who made the strongest impression today. All of you were beautiful and we have felt your strong love, but there is one special girl who showed us her strong determination today. It must have been hard for her to come here and face us, but she did it nevertheless. She is a very brave girl and we’d like to thank her for her support by granting her this special opportunity.”
Misun’s eyes widened. She looked over to Sunggyu in disbelief, but he was busy trying to disappear in some imaginary hole. Everyone was staring at them! Woohyun noticed that there wasn’t much of a reaction going to come from their side. He walked down the stage and held out a hand to Misun. “Or do you not want to?”
She blushed furiously and took his hand reluctantly. Sunggyu felt like tearing their connected hands apart again, but he held back with gritted teeth. Woohyun led her back to the stage and Sunggyu headed towards a free chair to sit down again. He watched as Infinite positioned themselves on stage for the picture. Misun was allowed to be the center, with Woohyun standing right next to her. Sunggyu glared at the singer because he had his arm around his baby sister! And then Woohyun even moved his lips to her ear and whispered something to Misun that made her blush a deep red. Sunggyu gritted his teeth. The bastard even dared to look at him with a smirk as he whispered into her ear. I’m going to kill him.
Taking the picture took way too long for his liking. He didn’t like the way Woohyun would smile at his sister – why did he have to look so good while doing that? - or the way she smiled back shyly. She obviously did have some feelings for him! Sunggyu wouldn’t be tricked by her excuses. The singer finally let go of her again when they were done with the photo. The members exchanged a few more words with her, though it was a pretty one-sided exchange since she could only nod in reply. Woohyun gave her a high five and then Misun was running down the stage again with a wide smile.
She went over to Sunggyu and gave him a stormy hug. He patted her back reluctantly. In the background, he heard the manager announce that the fansign was now over. Misun let go of him to wave at the idols as they left the hall again. She let out a silent squeal when they were out of sight and Sunggyu rolled his eyes. ‘I can’t believe it, oppa!’’
“Yeah, me neither.” How dare that lecherous bastard touches you?! “Are you happy now?”
Misun nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘Thank you so much for coming here with me! This is the best day ever. I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of my life!’
“And if I want you to stop with this silly fangirl game?”
‘Oppa!’
He stood up with a sigh. “I only want you to concentrate on your studies and work hard in the future. I don’t care how you do it. Just maybe...try to find some proper guy to date.”
She smiled. ‘And Woohyun isn’t a proper guy?’
“Anyone but him. I hate him.” Sunggyu declared as they left the building and walked towards his car.
‘Really? But we usually like the same guys. He’s really hot, isn’t he?’ Misun gave him a smug grin.
He gave her a light shove. There was no way he’d admit that Nam Woohyun was indeed a very handsome man. If he weren’t an idol, he would’ve fit Sunggyu’s ideal type. A little smaller than him, slightly tanned, full hair to run your fingers through, plump lips that would fit perfectly- Stop! “He’s an idiot who flirts with all of his fans. I won’t approve of him as your boyfriend.”
‘You didn’t deny he’s hot!’ She looked at him with fake shock.
“Who cares if he’s hot? His personality sucks! Maybe we used to like the same guys but not anymore.” Although they were nine years apart, his sister and he had always like the same type of guy. Though, while he liked them a bit younger, Misun liked older guys. Maybe she was ticking like that because Sunggyu was nine years older than her. He blamed his parents for her weird preferences. He’d prefer her dating someone her age.
‘You don’t even know him, oppa. He really cares a lot for all the fans. Woohyun is not just playing with us to get our money. He is the perfect guy!’
Sunggyu snorted and unlocked the car doors. “I don’t want to know him. Why are you suddenly trying so hard to make me like him?”
They got into the car. ‘Because you’re being unfair.’
“Fine. If I ever see him again, I’ll try to get to know him better. Satisfied?” He knew the chance of meeting the idol again was zero anyways. There was no hurt in promising something like this. If Misun wanted him to approve of Woohyun so that she could date him, then she could wait for that forever. Sunggyu would never let that happen.
She smiled at him. ‘Good. Oppa is the only one I’ll share Woohyun with.’
He raised a brow questioningly, wondering if he had read the signs wrong or what in the world she could mean by that. Sunggyu didn’t want that singer guy. No matter how handsome that guy was, Sunggyu was sure that the personality beneath the mask was a terrible one!
“Whatever.”
Their life went back to normal after the fansign. Misun’s attitude changed slightly, which Sunggyu thought was her way of showing her gratitude. She seemed to be on cloud nine every day after meeting her beloved idols. Sunggyu didn’t really care as long as she did her homework and studied for her exams. He continued his life as before after returning the CDs to her. Waking up, going to work and back to sleep. The same procedure every day, only occasionally broken when he went out with friends to a pub or somewhere else. Luckily, none of his colleagues or friends seemed to have found out about him going to that fansign. They were not interested in idols or kpop after all. His reputation would be ruined if words got out that he went to some fansign - of a boygroup of all things.
His peaceful life was turned upside down on a sunny Saturday morning. Sunggyu was in the middle of folding the laundry while humming a random song, when someone rang the doorbell. He glanced at his watch and frowned slightly. “Who would bother someone at this time of the weekend?”
Since Misun wasn’t in the house, Sunggyu was forced to go and answer the door. The visitor seemed to be pretty impatient because the doorbell rang again. “I can’t fly, okay!”
Sunggyu looked through the little peephole and raised a brow. It was obviously a man, but Sunggyu could only see his eyes. Everything else was covered. He contemplated if opening the door would be a wise choice. For all he knew that guy could be a criminal planning to rob him.
“If you’re planning to rob me, I’d advise you to go to another apartment. There really isn’t much to steal here. Actually, I think the guy in 603 has recently bought a new TV.” Sunggyu didn’t really like that guy in 603. It would serve him well to get robbed!
He heard a soft laugh from the other side. “I’m not a robber. Sorry for the get-up. I didn’t want to be recognized on the streets.”
The stranger pulled down his scarf and took off the cap. Sunggyu’s eyes widened. Nam Woohyun?! “Do you think I could come inside?”
He opened the door carefully but kept the little chain in place. He looked at the singer with narrowed eyes. “What exactly are you doing here?”
Woohyun pursed his lips. He pulled out a framed picture from under his jacket. “It’s the group picture we took with Misun. I’m sure she was waiting for it already.”
Sunggyu reached out through the gap to grab the picture from his hands, but the idol pulled it out of his reach. “Yah, just give it to me and get it over with!”
“Isn’t it common courtesy to invite a guest inside?”
“You’re not a guest and Misun isn’t here anyways if you’re planning to see her. If you think I’ll let you use your weird heart mojo on her, you’re wrong. Go and flirt with some other girl!” He replied dryly and held out the hand again for the framed picture.
But instead of giving the picture to him, Woohyun suddenly grabbed his hand. “Yah!”
Sunggyu tried to pull back but the singer held on to it. “Let go!”
“I don’t want to~” Woohyun chuckled and intertwined their fingers.
The older male groaned. “What are you doing?!”
“Hyung, please let me inside. Then I will let go of your hand.” The idol smiled sweetly at him.
Sunggyu could tell that he really wasn’t going to let go otherwise and he wasn’t keen on being seen like this by any neighbors. “Fine!”
He unlocked the little chain and pulled the door open. Woohyun’s smile widened and he entered the apartment before letting go of Sunggyu’s hand. The older man huffed and closed the door again. He watched Woohyun wandering off. “Yah, don’t just walk around in my apartment!
“Your room is the second one on the left, right?” Woohyun replied without turning around walked right to the door.
Sunggyu grabbed his wrist. “Stop right there! Where are your manners? Don’t just walk around in someone’s apartment!”
He dragged the singer over to the living room and placed him on the sofa, before crossing his arms. “How do you know where my room is anyways?”
Woohyun grinned at him. “A little bird told me.”
He grabbed his collar. “Are you stalking my sister?!”
The idol’s eyes widened. “N-No! I’m here because of...because...”
“What is it?” Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at the smaller man.
“I’m here for you!” Woohyun blushed and averted his gaze.
He blinked, before starting to shake the singer. “Do you think I’m dumb?”
“No, hyung! Please believe me!”
“Talk!”
“If you’d stop shaking me first...I’m getting dizzy.”
Sunggyu huffed and pushed him back into the couch. “Now explain!”
Woohyun smiled at him. “How about a glass of water?”
“So, do I understand this correctly? You and my sister have been in contact for months now, ever since one of her letters picked your interest. And at some point she started talking to you about me, because apparently, everyone knows you are gay and she thought we’d make a cute couple. She was sure that we’d hit it off, so she and you planned to make me attend the fansign, so that I might – I quote – ‘fall for your charms’. And because that didn’t work, you are now sitting here, in my apartment, redeeming my promise of getting to know you better if we meet again.” Sunggyu summarized everything and the singer nodded cheerfully.
“You know, hyung, I thought maybe Misun is exaggerating a bit, but you’re really my type. Do you know how hard it is to find someone to date in my profession? I’m lucky enough that my fans are supporting me despite everything.” Woohyun shot him one of his charming smiles and slid closer to him. So that’s how they knew his flirting isn’t serious.
Sunggyu slid away from him. “Let’s just say for a second that I believe you. You are not my type and I don’t want to date you! So can you please get out of my apartment?”
“You promised you’d try to get to known me better.” Woohyun replied and sneaked a hand to his thigh.
He stood up to put some distance between them. “I tried and I don’t like you, okay!”
The singer pursed his lips and walked towards him. Sunggyu back off with his hands raised. “Stay away! Why can’t you take no for an answer?!”
“Have you never heard of love at first sight, hyung? Should I walk by again?”
He cringed and walked around the couch to dodge Woohyun. “Stop it! Why does it have to be me?”
“I told you, Sunggyu-hyung! I fell in love with the person Misun told me about in the letters and now that I’ve seen you in real, I know it’s true love! Please give me a chance!” Woohyun lunged at him like an overly attached, big dog and Sunggyu ran for it.
The idol caught up to him in the corridor and they started to tussle with each other. Sunggyu may be a very lazy man who disliked sports, but he wasn’t weak and would sure as hell not go down without a fight. They tripped over the carpet on the floor at one point and fell to the ground. He landed on top of the younger man with a groan.
They stared at each other for a moment and Sunggyu had to admit that the singer was even more handsome from up close. His lips looked so plump and kissable. Woohyun licked his lips beneath him and the older man dug his nails into the carpet. These luscious pink lips...did he put lip balm on them? I wonder what kind of taste it is.
He was ripped from his thoughts when the front door opened. Sunggyu looked up and looked into his sister’s wide eyes. “M-Misun...”
She stormed closer and next thing he knew, Sunggyu was getting hit with her handbag. He climbed off Woohyun and tried to grab her hands or the bag. “Ouch! Hey, hey! Ouwww! Stop it! I’m the victim here!”
Misun stopped hitting him and moved her hands quickly. ‘How can you attack him like this? My innocent Woohyun-oppa!’
“Innocent? He’s the one that attacked me!” Sunggyu defended himself.
“I just wanted to hug you, hyung!” Woohyun pursed his lips. Was he trying to be cute? Because...it wasn’t working.
“Well, I don’t want a hug from you! What’s wrong with him, Misun?” He looked at his sister with a frown.
‘Be nice to him, oppa! I was nice enough to set you to up, although I would have loved to have Woohyun for myself. He’s so cute, isn’t he?’
“No, he’s not! And no one asked you for that!”
‘But he really wanted to meet you and during the fansign, he told me that you look hot and he really wants to talk to you. You promised it, oppa! Just one date!’
“Why are you setting me up with that puppy? I’m a happy single man!”
“Puppy?” Woohyun repeated.
She threw her hands in the air. ‘No, you’re a grumpy single man. I can’t have him since he likes men, so I thought I should at least keep it in the family. You’re perfect for each other. Oppa please~! Don’t you find him attractive?’
“No!”
‘Oppa, I caught you staring at Woohyun’s poster on my door several times!’
She saw?! “Because I wanted to tear it down!”
“E-Excuse me...” They looked at Woohyun. “Please don’t fight because of me. If hyung doesn’t like me at all, I’ll just quietly back off. Suddenly appearing here was too much. I apologize. Thank you for your help, Misun.”
The idol bowed his head deeply and then shuffled towards the door to leave. He looked genuinely sad and Sunggyu felt something squeeze his heart painfully. Did Woohyun really...like him? His sister sent him a glare. ‘Do something!’
Woohyun was already out of the apartment, not bothering with putting on his cap or scarf again. Sunggyu sighed and rubbed his temples. “He’s an idol, Sun-ah. This can’t work out even if he’s...handsome and slightly cute. He works in Seoul for all I know.”
She pursed her lips. ‘Being an idol is only his profession. He’s still a human being and yearns for someone to love, who equally loves him back. I think you can be good for each other. Please.’
Sunggyu sighed. He grabbed his jacket and walked past her. He quickly ran down the stairs and caught up with the singer, who was slowly walking down the street. Sunggyu noticed some people looking over to Woohyun but no one seemed to recognize him. He caught up to him and patted his shoulder.
Woohyun turned around with a scowl. “I don’t sign- oh, hyung.”
“I don’t want your sign. Maybe you should put on your cap and the scarf.” Somehow he missed seeing the idol’s smile. Woohyun seemed so down suddenly.
“No one recognizes me here anyways...”
Sunggyu grabbed the cap from his hand and forced it on the singer’s head. “Just wear it already. It would be bad if someone kidnaps you.”
Woohyun looked up at him, the slightest hint of a smile decorating his lips. “Are you worried about me, hyung?”
He cleared his throat and tried to chase the warmth away from his cheeks. “My sister would be devastated if your group broke up because some 12-year-old fanatic keeps you hostage in her cellar.”
The younger man finally laughed. He’s cute when he smiles. “Do I look that weak? I doubt I’d lose to a 12-year-old.”
Sunggyu had to admit the idol had his fair share of muscles, but that wasn’t the point here! Stop admiring his flexing arm muscles! “No, but you look like if a random girl offered you a drank or snack, you’d take it without a second thought.”
“You really have a lot of imagination, Sunggyu-hyung. I doubt any 12-year-old girl would kidnap an idol and confine him in the cellar. But thank you for worrying about me. You can go back now. I’ll call my manager to pick me up.”
He hesitated for a moment but then Sunggyu grabbed his wrist. “Wait. Do you want to go somewhere for breakfast? I know a good place.”
Woohyun frowned. “Are you inviting me out of pity? You don’t have to do that...”
“No, I-“ Sunggyu sighed and started anew. “You caught me by surprise back there. You have to admit that you’d be suspicious too if some guy suddenly appeared at your door and said you’re his ideal type and he wants to date you. Plus, you’re an idol and I’ve always thought you looked like a player...”
“A player?” Woohyun seemed genuinely shocked.
Sunggyu cleared his throat. “Well, you kept flirting with girls left and right, throwing hearts at them or calling them girlfriends.”
“That’s just fanservice, Sunggyu-hyung. I don’t love them in that way. They are all very precious family to me. Do I really seem like a player?”
“I didn’t know you were gay back then...” He muttered in defense. “And yes, the way you smiled after making all those fangirl hearts flutter, you seemed pretty happy about capturing their hearts.”
Woohyun smiled and stepped closer to him suddenly. “Did I make your heart flutter too, hyung? How about now?”
His eyes widened and he took a surprised step back. His heart definitely did not flutter right now! How did Woohyun always manage to go from cute to sexy so quickly? Was he just a good actor? Who was the real Woohyun? Sunggyu wanted to know it. “N-No! I found it irritating!”
The idol chuckled. “You’re lying, hyung. Now, where is that breakfast you talked about? I’m kind of hungry, actually.”
Sunggyu smiled. “Let’s go.”
“Is it a date, hyung?”
“It’s breakfast, Woohyun. We’ll see where it goes from there.” Or if it goes nowhere at all. This kid drives me crazy.
No one recognized Woohyun on their way to the little café. The idol didn’t seem surprised but Sunggyu could tell that he was happy about it. Didn’t singers like him usually yearn to be recognized everywhere and bathe in their fan’s love? Maybe not all of them. Woohyun seemed happy that they were by themselves and no one was paying attention to them. They settled down at one of the little tables in a corner of the café and Woohyun took off his cap again. Sunggyu’s lips threatened to curl into a smile because the singer’s hair was cutely standing in all directions, but he fought the smile back in the last second.
“I guess you really didn’t need the cap.”
Woohyun shrugged and grabbed a menu. “The further you get into the countryside, the less people care about kpop.”
“Because there are less young people around?” Sunggyu guessed.
The idol smiled at him. “Maybe. But I think it also plays a big role that we don’t really promote in rural areas like this one. There are no walls filled with pictures of us, no CD shops loudly playing our songs or expensive brands selling their products with our faces on it. Well, at least not my face anyways. Myungsoo only gets such offers.”
“But your face isn’t bad, I mean-“ He cleared his throat and warmth crept into his cheeks. “-objectively speaking.”
Woohyun chuckled. “Thanks, hyung, but the idol world is pretty harsh when it comes to your looks.”
“I know. People like me would get eaten alive.”
“I think you’re right about that.”
Sunggyu frowned. “Hey!”
“They would want to eat you, but for different reasons than your thinking of. I’d certainly like a taste.” Woohyun gave him a suggestive smile that made the older man blush.
“Stop that!”
“What do you mean, hyung?” The singer was back to an innocent expression.
“This...this flirting!”
“Are you embarrassed?” Woohyun folded his hands and rested his chin on them with a light smile. “Or do you still think I’m not serious?”
Sunggyu was spared the embarrassment of stumbling an answer because the waiter came to their table. “Oh, hi, Sunggyu-hyung.”
He smiled at the other male. Sunggyu knew all of the workers in the small café. He always came here to get his coffee or eat a piece of cake. “Hey Henry.”
Henry looked over to the idol and then back to Sunggyu. “You’re not alone today. Who’s that?”
Woohyun pursed his lips, seemingly mad because the waiter didn’t just ask him or maybe because the waiter hadn’t recognized him. “I’m Woohyun. His boyfriend.”
He choked on his own spit. “N-No, he’s a friend. A friend! Henry, could you please get us two breakfast sets? I’ll take a banana mocha. Woohyun, choose something to drink.”
“A strawberry milkshake.” The younger man replied sulkily, his gaze fixated on Henry.
The waiter ignored him and gave Sunggyu another smile. “I’ll get to it immediately.”
As soon as Henry was gone, he gave Woohyun’s shin a light kick under the table. “Why did you say that?”
“Because he was looking at you like that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you jealous? And Henry is not looking at me like that. Whatever that is. We are just friends.”
“Hyung, you are too naive. Your sister mentioned that.”
Sunggyu laughed. “Me? She’s the naive one. Following some idol group around on the Internet all day.”
“Isn’t she free to choose her hobby?”
He crossed his arms. “She’s free to have a hobby, but she should go out more and meet with real people. Make friends. Not just sit in her room and watch videos.”
“She has found friends on the Internet. At least she talked about them in the letters. Misun seemed really happy about meeting them.” Woohyun replied. “I mean, I don’t disagree with you, she needs friends that live close to her. But it’s not that easy for her to find friends because of her disability.”
Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at him. “And you think I don’t know that? I’ve been living with her for almost 17 years! I know how hard it is for her to communicate with people her age. They don’t know sign language.”
“Aren’t there schools for people like her?” The singer asked carefully.
“Misun didn’t want to go to a school like that. She would’ve had to move away from here, from her family and everyone she knows.” Why was he explaining all of that to Woohyun? Maybe because he seemed to genuinely care for Misun.
Their talk was interrupted when Henry brought their drinks and started putting down the plates with their food. The waiter gave Sunggyu a smile when he was done setting the table. “Bon appetite.”
“Thank you, Henry.”
He left again and Sunggyu told the idol to eat. “I hope you’re not on a diet or something.”
Woohyun smiled. “Whatever weight I gain from this will be gone after dance practice tomorrow. Ten hours of dancing are a pretty intense workout.”
“Ten?!” Sunggyu’s eyes widened in shock. “You practice that long? Is it a new song?”
The singer shook his head. “No, then we’d need much more practice time. Ten hours are already a shorter practice session to revise our old songs. There is a kpop concert next weekend that we need to be ready for.”
“Wow...” Sunggyu was quite baffled. He hadn’t expected idols to train that much. Their life seemed quite easy and leisurely. He vaguely remembered the videos of them he had watched. The group had been extremely in sync while dancing. Of course that required some practice. I feel so ignorant. I always looked down on groups like them, although they work so hard.
“You seem surprised, hyung.”
“I-“ He swallowed. “I might have underestimated the work idols put into fulfilling their dreams.”
And then they somehow end up with Woohyun telling him his whole life story from the start of his trainee days, so that Sunggyu would understand how much he had invested in this. It had always been the younger man’s dream to stand on a stage and sing. Not necessarily with 5 other guys but he had gotten used to them by now. They were like his family now, Woohyun told him. They had had their rough times as trainees with everyone still young and stubborn. A lot of fights, a lot of mean words said - but now they shared an unbreakable bond. It reminded Sunggyu of his own family, because they had had a lot of fights as well, but things like that were easily forgotten in a family.
Woohyun and his members had trained very hard before their CEO decided it was time to debut. It was true that he had to sell his house to make Infinite’s debut possible. Sunggyu thought it was admirable that the CEO had had so much faith in them. It was also amazing how hard the members had worked for their dream. Hours of dance practice and vocal training, tight schedules with little breaks in between and fans that made it hard for them to enjoy a moment of solitude. Sunggyu really preferred his current life to that. No wonder Woohyun was happy about being in this godforsaken town where no one recognized his face.
After hours of talking – the breakfast had turned into lunch – Sunggyu felt like he liked the younger man. It was no deep and profound love yet and just the start of a crush, but he understood that Woohyun was a likable and honest man. He was Sunggyu’s type, not just the looks but also the personality, but the older man was careful to jump into anything. The whole thing still seemed impossible. Dating an idol, who lived and worked in Seoul kilometers away from his home? It seemed unlikely.
They left the café in the late afternoon and headed down to the park to walk around some more. “So, hyung, you and your sister are pretty close.”
He lifted a brow. “Something wrong with that?”
“No...I just noticed you have a strong bond, although you’re nine years apart. My brother is just three years older but we were never that close.” Woohyun shrugged.
“Having a little sister is always something different I think and the fact that she was mute welted us together. I wanted to protect her.” He laughed shortly. “We were inseparable.”
They sat down on one of the benches and Woohyun looked at him curiously. “Can I ask you how long she has been mute? She didn’t talk much about that in her letters.”
Sunggyu hummed shortly. He hesitated a moment before answering the singer. “Since birth. The doctors said it was because my mother got her so late.”
“Wow...I can’t even imagine what that must be like. My voice is my life, so when I think about losing it...I think I’d hate everyone that had a voice.”
He looked up at the sky. “I don’t think she hates anyone. She gets frustrated and jealous sometimes, but I’ve always tried to teach her that a voice wasn’t everything. What she lacks with her vocal cords, she got up here.”
Sunggyu pointed at his head. “You don’t need a voice to be a genius. Everyone is proud of her.”
Woohyun smiled widely. “You’re such a good older brother, Sunggyu-hyung. I’m glad you are there to protect her.”
“I think I sometimes drove our parents mad with my overprotectiveness.” He chuckled shortly.
The singer leaned closer. “Oh? What did you do?”
“Well, whenever I felt like my parents or someone else treated my sister unfairly, I’d stop talking too. I’d start using sign language like she did, as I had learned it together with her. My parents would get mad at me every time and sometimes my mom grabbed my shoulders hard and begged me on her knees to say something. Sometimes that broke my silence and other times I just became more stubborn, because I felt like she liked me better since I was a ‘normal’ kid and that she didn’t want me to be a defect like Misun. When I became older, I stopped such childish acts. I understood that my mom loves Misun like she loves me-“ He laughed. “-maybe even more. But she still wanted to protect me from the hardships Misun was always faced with.”
“I saw that you’re still using it as s secret language between your sister and you. At the fansign you two talked in sign language.” Woohyun tried to copy the way in which they had communicated and his hopeless chaos of signs was amusing to the older man.
“It’s useful when I don’t want someone to understand what we’re talking about.”
The idol pouted shortly. “I kept wondering about it...what did you say to her? It was about me, right?”
Sunggyu cleared his throat. “I told her you were a flirt and a player, no good for her, so I didn’t want to tell you the rest of her message. To be fair, you give off the impression with your heart throwing and greasy Casanova lines.”
“And now? Do you still think I’m a player, hyung?” Woohyun smiled at him.
“You’re not that bad, but we have only talked for a day after all. It’s hard to judge a person in one day.”
“Well, I’ve only fallen deeper for you today, hyung.” The younger man suddenly leaned closer and dropped a kiss on his cheek.
Sunggyu jumped up from his seat in surprise. “Don’t do that!”
“Are you shy now, hyung? It was just a kiss on the cheek. I thought about kissing you on the lips instead for a second or two.” The idol told him with a cheeky grin.
“Don’t think about that! There’s not going to be more than this between us. You’re going back to Seoul today and then you’ll forget about me and go flirt with some singer or actor instead.” Sunggyu turned to leave.
Woohyun stood up and followed after him hastily. “There won’t be anyone else, hyung. I won’t forget you, at least as long as you don’t want me to. Hyung, please stop for a moment. Hyung! Sunggyu!”
The other male grabbed his wrist and Sunggyu stopped in his tracks with a light groan. “Woohyun. You are nice and I...I like you, but this can’t work out. You live in Seoul and you have a busy life, while I got my own job and life here. How do you think this is going to work? When will we see each other? What if the paparazzi see us? It will be the end of your career.”
Woohyun grabbed his hands and although the older man tried to tear his hands away, the idol stubbornly held on to them and intertwined their fingers with a smile. “I don’t have all the answers yet, hyung, but I want to try this. I will come and visit you whenever I have free time. I’ll call and text you at every chance I get or send Misun and you tickets, so you can visit me. And don’t worry about the paparazzi, because dating is not an issue in our company. My CEO is very open-minded. Though, I will still try to keep this a secret for as long as possible. I want to keep you for myself.”
Sunggyu tried to tell himself that his heart wasn’t fluttering. His chest was not filling up with happiness, no. Woohyun’s words were not swaying him. They made it seem like they had a chance. Sunggyu knew he shouldn’t hope for a chance, though. They barely knew each other after all and their worlds were too different. And what if Woohyun’s words were just beautiful lies?
“How do I know you mean those words?”
“We could do a probation period. From now on until you find an answer. If I make you think that I’m not serious or that it’s not going to work out, I’ll accept your rejection. I’ll show you my determination, hyung, and patiently wait for you. In the meantime, we can text, call each other and I will visit whenever I can. Okay?” Woohyun smiled at him full of genuine happiness and hope.
The puppy eyes of the younger male really made it hard to say no. Plus, Sunggyu couldn’t deny that he wanted to try the probation period. Woohyun was his type and so far he seemed to have a really great personality too. He still felt wary about falling for an idol but maybe Woohyun would be able to change his mind.
He puffed his cheeks shortly and uttered a sigh. “Fine, we can try it out. But don’t cry later when I don’t fall for you.”
Woohyun only chuckled and then he suddenly leaned closer, pressing his lips against Sunggyu’s. The older man stumbled back in surprise with reddening cheeks. “Yah!”
“You’ve already fallen for me, hyung!” The idol spoke confidently and then started to do this disgusting – no, it wasn’t cute! – aegyo stuff Sunggyu hated so much.
He groaned. I didn’t sign up for this!