02 (1/1)

She sat in front of the TV when an old re-run came on. Ironically, it was when Infinite had guest starred on a show. A faint smile graced her face when the camera panned to Dongwoo, who looked so young with his short, auburn hair. The smile slowly disappeared as the topic of conversation became the infamous candy kiss that he shared with his old-time dance school crush. With a light tap on the remote, the TV screen played the news instead. "There's no escaping his past love life, is there?" She voiced the question in the empty apartment. The faint sound of the apartment code being punched in turned into a chime as soon as the door opened. Dongwoo stepped into the living room, immediately bouncing his way to the girl who tried her best to look happy. "I'm home! I missed you! What did you do all day? I brought you something!" Dongwoo continued to burst out short sentences, leaving no room for the girl in his arms to reply. He held out a box of cupcakes while he listed the flavours he had especially picked out for her. When Dongwoo finally finished chattering away, she reached out to wrap her arms closer to him. She remained snuggled by his side for a while until the boy chuckled. The vibration from the chuckle transferred to the surface of her skin, which gave her a sense of ease. "What's the matter?" Dongwoo murmured into her hair. It gave off the scent of orchids; the scent he had grown to love. "Hm?" She asked with her head still close to his side. "It's just weird." He laughed again. This time his finger began to lightly trace the outline of her spine. "What is?" "You're the first to hug me," He noted, to which she detached herself from him to look at him curiously, "I'm normally the one to hug and kiss you first, unless you're feeling upset over something." Sitting up straight, she adjusted her position so she was leaning towards him, where their eyes were in line. Dongwoo shifted in his spot, suddenly feeling strange under her quiet gaze. "What is it?" He whined awkwardly. Meanwhile the girl continued to stare at him, realizing only now that her boyfriend was more perceptive than he let on. "Nothing," She said before breaking her gaze, "Sorry that I don't do it often." He smiled and tugged her close to him again. "Don't be. I like this system just the way it is." -- Another late night at the studio had Dongwoo and Hoya sweating it out to their choreography. They had most of it under their belt but it didn't help that they were both perfectionists when it came to performing. The only thing that could break the trance they were in was the ringing of Dongwoo's phone. Hoya paused the music and told the older boy to answer it. It was already two in the morning, which had Dongwoo wondering who could possibly be calling him at such a late hour. His girlfriend's name popped up on his screen and with his heart beating fast, he hoped nothing bad had happened. "Hello?" "Is this Dongwoo?" Of course he had expected to hear her lovely voice, but instead a deep, male voice answered. His eyebrows furrowed together, "Who is this?" The male on the other line said that he was a friend of his girlfriend; as if that would make the situation any better. But not being one to jump to conclusions, Dongwoo remained on the line. "Why are you calling me with her phone?" He seemed to hesitate, but replied anyway, "Long story short, a bunch of our friends had a small party at my house and we all lost track of how much we had already drank. It looks like she drank more than the rest of us so she's sitting here really, really intoxicated so..." Dongwoo frowned. She was never one to go past her drinking limit. "Okay, I'll be there in a bit. Just keep an eye on her until I get there, okay?" They both hung up, but not before Dongwoo heard his girlfriend whine the word 'oppa!' to whom, he could only guess to be the guy who just called him. -- With an unfamiliar feeling boiling within him, Dongwoo rang the the doorbell without so much as a pause. It was just shy of three a.m. and his normal self would have surely scolded him for being so inconsiderately loud. The moment the door opened, Dongwoo swooped right into the apartment, anxious. The male eyed him and directed him to the right. "She's on the couch; finally sleeping." Dongwoo was about to pick her up when he spoke up from the archway of the living room. "You better take care of her." His tone didn't sit well with Dongwoo. "I do take care of her." He countered. He turned to face him, suddenly feeling defensive. Her friend shrugged. "I'm just saying. With the large amount of liquid confidence she downed, it seemed to me like there's a little... kink in your hypothetical chain." "Funny," Dongwoo scoffed, "Seeing as you said you were a friend of hers, she's never mentioned you before." "That's because she knows I hate you." His voice dripped with hostility. Dongwoo's subtle flinch went by unnoticed by the other male, and Dongwoo tried to shake off the weight of his words. "And why should that matter whether or not she's brought you up?" This time the taller of the two let out a scoff of disbelief. "You make me so angry, I swear. I don't know what she sees in you. You're an idol! You don't have time to treat her the way she should be treated. You don't deserve her-- No, you don't even deserve half of what she has to give." Dongwoo raised a clenched fist, but settled on pointing a finger at him. A menacing look had completely transformed the normally smiling angel. "You have no right to tell me what I do and don't deserve. And as for treating her right, I can assure you that I would be the first to let go if she ever felt unhappy." "Jang Dongwoo," He spoke with a small smirk on his face, "If you're a man of your words, you should stick by them. We wouldn't want your precious fans to think the angel is truly a liar, right?" Confusion was evident on his face. The male was only too eager to clarify the situation to him. He sat down on the couch, right beside where the girl laid, sound asleep. The upper corner of Dongwoo's lip turned upright, his mouth almost forming a snarl. "You know," His hand reached out to brush a strand out of her eyes, which did nothing to calm Dongwoo down, "On your radio shows, I keep hearing you talk about this past relationship. And there was another one, with a girl you still keep in contact with..." Without warning, the boy stood up and shoved Dongwoo's shoulders, causing Dongwoo to falter slightly. Enraged, he spoke again, "Are you out of your mind?! Do you not think about anyone else but yourself? Do you know who listens to these interviews?!"  Dongwoo suddenly felt like the walls were closing in on him. He was exhausted from practice, sleep-deprived, and now this was draining him emotionally. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep his eyes open. His heart constricted with a palpable ache as he glanced down at the sleeping girl. Careful not to wake her, he reached down to scoop her up in his arms. Despite his weak state, her weight was still no trouble to him. Finally, he was out of the apartment, but not without hearing her friend's voice carry through the closing gap of the door. "She'll never tell you because she loves you and she doesn't want you to worry, but you took her away from me, you know..."