Hoya was happily whistling as he strutted down the street. The silent surrounding was very nice. It felt very good to be away from the noisy clicks of cameras even just for one afternoon. He was just enjoying the silence when suddenly, A loud sob broke the peaceful silence. Someone was crying.

Hoya felt his curiosity bubble up so he followed the sound, and eventually reached a playground. It was empty, except for a girl sitting on the swing. Her shoulders shook as she cried. Hoya hesitated if he should approach her or not. What if she gets freaked out? He was a stranger after all. Well, except if she knows Infinite……

Either way, he couldn't stand the fact that the girl was alone and crying, so he gathered his confidence and stepped forward.

“Excuse me, miss?”

Her sobs halted. “I’m sorry, I can’t buy anything right now. I don’t have anything.” Her voice sounded really strained. Hoya chuckled.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not a vendor.” The girl finally turned around, confused. “I heard you crying so…. I thought you needed a companion.”

She blinked several times to remove the tears from her eyes. Then her eyes widened, and she quickly turned around.

“Am I dreaming?” she whispered to herself, but Hoya heard it. He saw her pinch her own arm and grumbled an “ouch.” She looked at him again.

“Oh no… Please don’t look at me. It’s embarrassing.” She covered her face with her hand to hide her puffy eyes and red nose. Hoya chuckled.

“It’s okay. All people look like that when they cry.” He went to sit on the other swing. The girl finally dropped down her hand and just hid her face behind her long black hair. “Why are you crying?”

She didn’t answer. Hoya bit his lip. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. I’m not that pushy.”

“Well, it’s very dramatic, really.” She chuckled. It sounded sorrowful, though. “I’ll tell you, but don’t tell anybody, okay, Hoya-sshi?”

He was quite surprised that she actually knew his name. “Uh, okay.”

“This morning, my father was drunk again and he went home. It so happened that I was there, preparing my own breakfast. Just like the usual, he started wreaking havoc and started hitting me with his belt. It was very painful, but I managed to escape.”

“Just like the usual…?” Hoya was confused. She softly smiled.

“He does that on a daily basis, yet, it still hurts every time.” She chuckled but a tear dropped down her lap. Hoya didn’t know what to say, since he didn’t expect to meet a person with such a huge problem in all of his life. He thought she was just crying over a simple break-up or a lovers’ quarrel, but boy, was he wrong.

He just reached for her hand, and only then did he see the different types of bruises all over her arms, and faint ones were on her legs, too.

“He did all this?!” He burst and crouched in front of her to take a closer look. The bruises told different dates by their color, and they were assorted in sizes too. The worst one really ensembles the shape of a belt buckle.

She nodded. Hoya’s eyes filled with rage. He just wanted to search for that brutal man and choke him to death. How could a human do this, especially to his own child??

“He blames me for my mom’s death. She died giving birth to me and you know, the cliché, father hates the child.” She tried to laugh, but it just sounded like a half-cough-half-scoff. Then her tears started flowing. Hoya engulfed her in a hug and let her cry on his shoulder, all the while whispering soothing things to her. He wasn’t even sure if it helped. After a while, she stopped crying.

“Hoya-sshi, sorry for ruining your expensive shirt.”

“Oh come on. Tears are priceless and always worth ruining a shirt.” He softly joked and tapped her shoulder. “And you could drop the –sshi now.”

“Hoya…” she softly smiled while wiping away her tears. “I’m really grateful that you’re by my side right now.”

He shyly smiled. He took out his scarf from his pocket and offered it to her. “Here, borrow this. You can’t just wipe you tears with your hand.”

“Thanks…” she softly smiled and took it.

“Take care of that. It’s my favorite.” Hoya joked, making her giggle. “I forgot to ask for your name.”

“It’s Han Jinae.”

“Nice meeting you.” He gave a two-finger salute, making her giggle.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know you?” she pretended to be confused and he pretended to be shocked.

“Oh, how rude of me! Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Infinite’s rapper and dance machine, Hoya.” He bowed 90 degrees and started dancing. “Naekkeo haja, naega neol saranghae, eo? naega neol geokjeonghae, eo…”

Jinae laughed out loud, and Hoya grinned, happy that he finally made her laugh. They continued talking and talking, and he made sure that she was enjoying the conversation enough to forget about her cruel father, even if it was just for a while. They lost track of the time as all they noticed was each other, lost in their own little world as they momentarily forgot about own ones. That was until Jinae froze when she noticed the dark sky.

“What time is it already?”

“Uh… 6:30?”

She jumped out of the swing in panic. “I have to go home. Dad is probably in rage now. I’m not allowed to be gone this long.”

Hoya grabbed her hand to keep her from leaving. “After all the things that he has done to you, you still want to go home? Please, don’t. You’ll only be in danger again. I’ll find an apartment for you, that way, you’re safer.”

“Hoya…,” she sadly said. “No matter what, he’s still my father. Even though he’s cruel, he still feeds me. If it’s not for him, I wouldn’t be in this world. I wouldn’t be meeting you.”

“But he will be the reason of your death someday! No, I won’t let you go.” He was looking deep into her eyes.

“Thank you…,” she smiled. “But I have no choice. I still love him as my father, I don’t understand why, too. If you really don’t want to let go of me, then you could accompany me home if you like.”

Then it hit him. He has a schedule at 7:30, and the other members are probably dying of worry already. He checked his phone. 20 missed calls.

“I… I can’t….”

A look of sadness passed in Jinae’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a smile. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay. I know you’re busy, so let’s just take care of ourselves, yeah?”

“But...,” Hoya couldn’t risk this schedule. It’s a serious performance that could judge their career’s fate. “Okay. We’ll take care of ourselves. ­You should take care of yourself.”

Jinae smiled as he kissed her forehead. She hooked her pinky into Hoya’s, and they separated paths.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞