The skies were dark, the varied colors of twilight blending in a fantasmal way; blues and purples caressing the pires of city buldings whilst heavier shades lined the heavens in a barrier of thick paint. Among the busy streets of Seoul, a young man with the collar of his light jacket pulled around his neck shuffled along the concrete walkway of the road, his coffee-tinted irises flitting slowly from place to place in his exhausted urgency to get home. It had been a rather busy day, his morning stocked to the brim with filming and solo shoots till late afternoon. Following this, however, was the time which he looked forward to the most that eve, and it had come and gone just an hour before -- sending a handwritten letter to his mother. Though he told her this night of his day and his twenty-four hour routine, he didn't want to stress her with how completely worn and disheveled he looked each and every twilight after all the things he was put through, the things that she labeled 'exciting opportunities'. Yes, they were intriguing and yes they were wonderful chances at a great life, but some days it was a bit more than he could usually take. In the end, though, he never regretted becoming apart of Infinite and experiencing the glory of being somebody. Of course, should he ever complain about the things he goes through to any of the members in his group, he would get no where but into an irritating talk with s (primarily his leader, Sunggu), and every time it never really ended... well.

              Sighing as he rested against the corner wall of their dorm entrance, the male set his head back against the concrete, making sure not to hit the buzzer with his body, and closed his eyes. He knew they, his groupmates, wouldn't be too hard on him recently because of all the priorities he was brought to face, but just the thought of getting into an argument with his hyungs drained him of any remaining energy; which, unfortunately, resulted in the fairly handsome male leaning upon the wall half-dead with sleep.

              Just before he completely fell unsconscious right then and there, the echo of familiar voices exiting the dorm traveled to his senses. Forcing himself to stand and gain a happy and energetic composure after releasing a burdened sigh, the man continued his quest for salvation in a nice warm bed before being stopped by a cheery voice giggling halfway through the greeting he sent.

              "Myungsoo-hyung, hey! We were just on our way to the store, want to come with?" the maknae of their group asked, his dark hair falling into his eyes a tad, and the other resisted the urge to move it immediately from the boys sights. If he did that, he'd expose a fatigued, trembling hand, and then be berraded with an unexpected round of the Let's-Make-Myungsoo-Deaf-By-Interrogating-Him game.

              "So," this time it was his hyung who spoke, and he smiled after a moment of difficulty. Hoya-hung, why are you the one escorting Sungjongie? "are you coming with us?"

              No, "yes." he nodded with a smile and the other two grinned at his answer.

              What have I gotten myself into? he asked his mind with a whine of regret before interrupting himself with the shock and discomfort of having the maknae hanging on his and Hoya's arms like a clingy child. Of course he was used to this type of stuff, this skinship, but that was always when they were on camera or in concert, never outside of work. It was just... weird. Wait... maybe we're--?

              "Hyung?" he called while staring ahead and Hoya frowned at the blank expression on the younger's face before answering.

              "Yes?"

              "Are we on hidden camera?" the stiff-lipped member inquired, and at this question Sungjong's eyes widened and he pulled away, stuffing his hands in his pockets and staring down at the street with a fail attempt at concealing his hurt.

              "No..." the older replied with uncertainty whilst casting a worried look to the maknae, and fire suddenly shot through his veins. Myungsoo, you fool! he chided silently with protective fury over the youngest member of the pop band, why are you so blind as to not see this little bunny's doing his best to get you to realize-

              "I didn't think so." the questioneer murmured as he continued to walk without a notice in the world of the maknae's sudden behaviorial change, though within it puzzled him. What's up with him?

 

~

 

              Arriving at the grocery mart, all three decided to split up in order to not get in the way of one another. Sungjong was sent to find himself a sweet treat (most probably lemon candies), Myungsoo was sent to the other end of the store in order to generally not shadow his hyung's every movement, and Hoya? He was busy carrying out the real, meaningful shopping: buying needed items to make a late meal with Woohyun for the starved members. And with Sunggyu's wallet too!

              Poking different things he passed by and beginning to turn objects into animated beings, the dazed male stopped in front of a rack of hygiene products while gazing at the hallucination intently, ceratain they were mocking him while dancing the can-can.

              "Myungsoo-hyung?" the maknae's sweet voice carried in his currently empty cranium like an echo, and the male who was slowly growing insane with forced insomnia opened his mouth in tired anger at the products who began to call his name as well.

              Myungsoo.

              Myungsoo...

              Yah! Myungsoo!

              Fantasy land...

              Pineapples!

              Unable to resist a yawn, his mouth opened wider and his eyes squinted whilst tears of longing for a soft pillow pricked at his corneas. Stretching his arms, he turned his head slowly to the two who were giving him varied looks: one with worry and the other with obvious amusement.

              However, once he gave a drunken smile, it all changed: the one who was previously amused gave a concerned eyebrow raise whilst the other giggled slightly. This wasn't the first time they had seen him like this, no, but it was the first time that it happened in public, and Hoya wasn't sure what to do. He could either: a) Hurriedly pay for what they had collected then and get the zombie member to bed as fast as possible, or b) continue shopping like nothing ever happened in the first place.

              Going with the safer option, the maknae and healthy hyung paid for their items before escorting a stumbling mess to the dorm, enduring the exhausted ramblings of a lunatic's scrambled apologies and useless resistance. Though the two supporting members, and most especially Sungjong, found it endearing that the middle male didn't want to worry them, the two understood that once in a while you need to be taken care of rather than the one taking care of others. And this was Myungsoo's time.

              Handling the door with a few untidy first attempts, the oldest sighed in relief as the entrance budged open and the three made their way through the mudroom and into the sitting area.

              Standing immediately once spotting the condition of his dongsaeng, the leader came to Hoya's side with a look of silent disapproval.

              "Is he intoxicated?"

              "No, hyung, just tired-"

              "Heyy!" Myungsoo chimed in with another eery, cloud-eyed smile as he lookd at each and every being in the room, and in return they all gave him uneasy greetings except for the three leading him to his shared room with Dongwoo.

              Laying him down after pushing him lightly onto his mattress, the other two exited the room, and Sunggyu noted from Myungsoo's bedside the way the maknae looked behind himself at the half asleep male and then was escorted out by the self-proclaimed 'dancing machine' of the group. Recognizing the look of special concern in the youngest's eyes, his own lit with an unusual emotion and he turned to speak with the groupmate lolling beside him.

              "Stay in bed, all right?" All of this work is making you sick and we can't afford to have one missing member right now, alright," he scolded softly while standing once a hummed acknowledgement made it to his ears.

              Walking to the door, the leader turned and gave one final masked expression to the sleeping face before closing the door and turning off the light to the hall. Heading into the sitting area, the leader stood stock card still while gazing around, arms resting at his sides, before his sights landed on a worry nibbled mouth and he cleared his throat.

              "Sungjong, come here, I want to talk to you," he stated in a hushed voice, waiting as the other slowly stood while bowing his head and, after maneuvering his way through the members web of legs, passed the leader.

              Following the maknae and ignoring the scared looks thrown at him from the others, he led the younger brunette to he room he shared with him and began to speak quietly with the occasional hand gesture or lip quirk, the door left open so the maknae didn't feel trapped.

              Back in the other room during this time the members looked at each other with concern before one finally broke the ice.

              "What do you think they're talking about?" Sungyeol asked, and as a rare occurance, Woohyun stood and moved to lead against the frame of the room entrance, making it seem like he was watching over the bedroom door of the DongSoo sleeping quarters even though he was indeed watching the discussion between his leader and his younger groupmate play out with a heated intensity, his eyes narrowing as he continued to observe.

              "I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be all sunshine and pokemon."

              The others refrained from commenting on the rating of sense that comment didn't make, sadly too taken by fear to do anything else but stare with set lines for mouths. Of course, the odd moment of seriousness ended when one dinosaur couldn't help himself.

              "Pokemon?"

 

A/N: Oh my grapes and cheese, it's done! The first chapter is done! Now, since I have given myself an imaginary broken hand due to writing, I'm probably going to upload the second chapter later this week or maybe even next week. Look forward to it, darlings :3 And go ahead and comment if you'd like xD When you comment, it makes me love you more >:D