Stars

Sungjong plopped down on the ground, panting after an hour of rigorous dance practice. He had been working on their newest dance routine with Hoya after practice had officially ended since he was the only one who couldn’t seem to get the moves right. Even Sungyeol had gotten the moves down yet Sungjong couldn’t, and he was frustrated.

Hoya had finally decided to give him his well-deserved break. In fact, Sungjong shouldn’t even have had to stay back to practice on that day. After all, his birthday was ending in a few hours and if their choreographer wanted him to get more practice in, he could very well have done that tomorrow. All Sungjong wanted to do now was go home, take a nice warm shower, have dinner, and sleep the next day away. He would love to celebrate his birthday but what were the chances of that? It would be nearly 10pm by the time Sungjong’s extra practice would end, and after bathing and having dinner, Sungjong would only have an hour of his birthday left. What’s the point?

Jumping slightly at the sound of another person sitting beside him, Sungjong turned to look at Hoya and the bottle he held in his hand. “Thanks hyung,” Sungjong said gratefully, uncapping the bottle and downing half the water in one gulp. He was that thirsty and tired. Their choreographer wanted Sungjong to practice for another extra three hours, so that meant that he had another half hour to go. Just half an hour more. Come on, Lee Sungjong!

Sungjong pushed himself off the wooden flooring of their rented dance studio and tried again to belt out the moves that he had tried his best to memorise. He refused to let himself drag the team down. That was the only thing motivating him to keep on practicing the exact same dance routine for an extra three hours in addition to the ten hours that they had already put in that day.

When Sungjong’s extra practice time was finally up, he let out a relieved sigh and wiped the sweat off his face. He hadn’t had any food since a good seven to eight hours ago and dancing was quite the energy-consuming activity. Sungjong heard rather than felt his stomach grumble and pouted to nobody in particular.

Once he and Hoya had packed up everything that they’d used or brought to the dance studio, they locked up and began the walk home. Their dorm wasn’t far and the dance studio wasn’t in the city area. Their managers had to rest, too. Sungjong couldn’t be selfish and make their managers pick him and Hoya up simply because he had been tired.

It took twenty minutes to get home and by the time he and Hoya made it to the lift lobby, Sungjong thought that he was going to die from hunger. He didn’t know if Woohyun had cooked anything for him and Hoya, but he sincerely hoped that his hyungs were nice enough to think about their poor maknae and main dancer. It wouldn’t do them any good to have two of their members being admitted to the hospital after fainting from hunger, anyway.

Hoya opened the door to their dorm and Sungjong wearily put his shoes on the shoe rack before walking into the living room, sighing sadly when he didn’t smell any food. Woohyun hyung didn’t cook anything for us?

Sungjong and Hoya went to put their stuff in their shared room, and the two of them grabbed some fresh clothes and a towel before they went to shower in the two toilets in the apartment. Sungjong could barely stand straight as he shampooed his hair and scrubbed the grime and sweat off of his body. He nearly dozed off and fell had it not been for the shampoo that had chosen that exact moment to get into his eye.

“Ouch! Damn it!” Sungjong cursed, hurriedly rinsing his eye to get rid of the pain.

After the little shampoo incident, Sungjong made sure to stay awake while he continued to let his muscle tension fade away under the hot water. It was only about ten minutes later that Sungjong felt relaxed enough to turn the shower off and dry himself off before putting his clothes on.

As Sungjong went to throw his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, he went to the kitchen to check if any of the other members had cooked anything for him or Hoya while they showered. Even instant ramen would have been great for the starving maknae. He didn’t get to eat much during their lunch break because their choreographer had brought him to the side to correct his mistakes and talk to him. By the time Sungjong went to get lunch, he was left with a pathetic five minutes to eat.

Upon realising that there was still no food for him, Sungjong went to plant his face into the couch. He was much too exhausted to do anything even if he was hungry, and the thoughts of celebrating his birthday flew out the window as Sungjong fell asleep.

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(A few hours prior)

Myungsoo sighed as he watched Sungjong and their choreographer speaking. It was Sungjong’s birthday and Infinite hadn’t celebrated it yet. It wasn’t as if they didn’t remember, because god knew that Myungsoo would hit all the members if they forgot, but they had been so busy with practicing their new dance routine, as well as for One Great Step. They weren’t even holding a fanmeet for Sungjong’s birthday this time, since they were just too busy practicing and making sure that they danced and sang perfectly.

Just a week ago, it had been Sungyeol’s birthday. The members had stayed up the night before and wished the choding happy birthday when the clock struck midnight. Sungyeol had been pleasantly surprised because he’d been asleep, having gotten up to ‘help Sungjong fix the toilet lights that had been flickering’. However, the dance for their next comeback had been released just two days after Sungyeol’s birthday celebration and Infinite had begun to practice the choreography, leaving them too tired to discuss anything for Sungjong’s birthday. And coincidentally, it was Sungjong’s coming-of-age day, too.

If only we didn’t have dance practice till midnight yesterday… Myungsoo thought. He had to come up with a plan, fast. He didn’t have much time left till their lunch break ended and since Sungjong was still talking to their choreographer, this was the perfect time to discuss something. Think, Kim Myungsoo. You can’t let Jongie not have a coming-of-age celebration!

Finally, a miracle happened and Myungsoo quickly got the attention of the members. “I know what we can do for Jongie’s birthday. Hoya hyung, I’ll need your help the most,” Myungsoo said. Hoya raised a brow but nodded anyway, and Myungsoo continued to explain his plan. When he was done speaking, he looked at the members seriously. “Does everyone know their role?” he asked.

The members nodded affirmatively and Myungsoo signalled for them to stop talking as Sungjong made his way over. The maknae gave his hyungs a suspicious look but didn’t say anything, instead beginning to munch on as much food as he could.

During their next water break, Hoya approached their choreographer and put their plan into motion. Moments after that, Sungjong was once again called over and Myungsoo could see the defeat on the maknae’s face as he accepted the three hours of extra dance practice with Hoya. It was simply coincidental that Sungjong hadn’t managed to get a hang of the dance even after four days. As guilty as Myungsoo felt, he couldn’t abandon the plan now. We have to do this for Jongie’s birthday.

Once dance practice ended, the five members left the dance studio with their choreographer and managers, leaving Sungjong and Hoya alone to continue practicing. Their managers knew about the plan as well by then, and were sworn to secrecy.

The second the members entered their dorm, Woohyun and Sunggyu headed off to the kitchen to begin cooking. Sungyeol, Dongwoo and Myungsoo were left with the task of setting up everything for the birthday boy. The managers had gone to buy some simple necessities for a coming-of-age celebration, such as cologne and roses as presents, and some streamers and other decorations.

It took Woohyun and Sunggyu approximately a half hour to prepare the batter for Sungjong’s cake, which they began to bake immediately. They then started to cook some of Sungjong’s favourite dishes as well as some food for their own dinner.

Meanwhile, Myungsoo, Sungyeol and Dongwoo were on the roof, setting up a table, chairs, and cutlery. They also got some balloons and the streamers from their managers, setting those up as well. The roses were placed on the table and the neatly wrapped bottle of cologne beside it. Then Sungyeol let out a horrified yell.

“We didn’t get Sungjongie any presents!” he exclaimed with wide eyes. Dongwoo began to freak out as well. Myungsoo, on the other hand, had prepared a present for Sungjong since a month ago, so he was quite composed. Sungyeol and Dongwoo left Myungsoo to set everything else up and ran down to get Woohyun and Sunggyu. Together, they headed off to find presents for Sungjong, making a mental note to buy a present in Hoya’s name as well.

Luckily for Myungsoo, the cake and food was already done. He only had to get one of their managers to help him bring the food up, thanking the heavens that they still had another hour to spare. It would be more than enough for the members to get back since their other manager was driving them, and they would finish dinner before Hoya and Sungjong even left the dance studio.

When Myungsoo got his gift for Sungjong out and set it on the table, he went to sit near the edge of the rooftop and looked up at the starless night sky. It was far too cloudy that night, which made Myungsoo a little upset. Jongie loves to stargaze. If only the clouds would clear up for him…

Sighing, Myungsoo took his phone out and began to occupy himself.

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Sunggyu checked the time and frowned. It was already almost 11pm, yet he hadn’t heard Sungjong calling Myungsoo or leaving the dorm. He’d completely expected Sungjong to ask one of them where the visual was, but Sungjong hadn’t. Curious about what Sungjong was doing and worried about their plan failing, Sunggyu went to the living room. His eyes widened (and could finally be seen) when he saw that Sungjong was sleeping on the couch.

“Sungjong-ah, wake up!” Sunggyu called out, shaking the maknae awake. When Sungjong yawned and looked around, Sunggyu took in a deep breath to calm himself down. He didn’t need to be shouting at Sungjong in agitation, because he knew that the maknae was dead beat. “Sungjong-ah, Myungsoo’s on the rooftop. He wants to talk to you,” Sunggyu informed. He wondered whether Myungsoo was actually still awake, and made a mental note to call the visual.

Sungjong widened his eyes and checked the time. “But it’s so late! What if he catches a cold? It’s autumn! Ugh, Myung hyung, what the hell!” Sungjong exclaimed, waking up instantly and dashing into Myungsoo’s room to dig out a sweater for the visual. Once he got the sweater, he hastily put on a sweater of his own and ran out of the dorm barefoot. It took Sunggyu a few moments to process what just happened and he immediately went to get all the other members.

“Yah, we have to go upstairs now! Someone get the cake, someone get the presents, and hurry!” Sunggyu ordered. Dongwoo and Sungyeol ran around to get the presents that they had bought earlier on while Woohyun and Hoya went to retrieve the cake and some candles, along with a lighter. Sunggyu helped with the presents and the five of them watched the lift head up to the highest floor, quickly pressing the button for the lift to come to their floor. Sungjong’s celebration was beyond late and they all felt horrible for not planning a surprise for the maknae. Nonetheless, Myungsoo’s plan would definitely work. They would make sure of it.

When the lift came to a stop at their floor, the five Infinite members clambered into the lift and made sure to keep the cake safe. Sungyeol pressed the button to go to the highest floor and the five looked at each other, slightly excited at the prospect of a birthday celebration. It didn’t matter that they’d celebrated Sungyeol’s birthday merely a week ago, or that they would be tired the next morning even before dance practice began. Sungjong was their maknae and they wouldn’t let him go without a birthday celebration.

It only took a few seconds before the lift arrived at the top floor and the members got off the lift, climbing up the stairs to get to the roof. The door that led to the roof was left slightly ajar and the members could only guess that Sungjong was in too much of a hurry to shut the door. In fact, the door was usually locked. Myungsoo and their managers had to ask the security guards to open the door for them.

Dongwoo went to push the door open slightly, eavesdropping on Myungsoo and Sungjong’s conversation so as to decide the perfect time to make their appearance with the cake. He signalled for Woohyun and Hoya to light the candles first, and Sunggyu and Sungyeol went to eavesdrop with Dongwoo as well.

“Hyung, what’s with the food?” Sungjong asked curiously. He had just passed Myungsoo’s jacket to the visual after seeing him asleep near the edge of the roof. Sungjong had been scared out of his wits, and he literally pulled Myungsoo all the way to the centre of the roof where the table was, a good seven metres away from the edge of the roof.

Myungsoo blinked dumbly. He hadn’t expected to be woken up like that. In fact, it had taken a solid minute of being dragged around before Myungsoo actually woke up properly and remembered why he was on the roof in the first place. Finally registering the maknae’s words, Myungsoo gave a soft smile. “They’re for you, babo,” Myungsoo replied, knocking Sungjong’s head lightly as if the answer was super obvious.

Dongwoo grinned and threw the door open, and the five Infinite members – along with their managers who’d just appeared – walked onto the roof with the cake and wrapped presents in their hands. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Lee Sungjong, happy birthday to you!” they sang. It was Sungjong’s turn to blink in surprise, not having expected anything like that to happen so late at night. Tears welled up in the maknae’s eyes as he threw his arms around Myungsoo, sporting a wide grin on his face while crying.

“Happy birthday, Jongie,” Myungsoo said, kissing Sungjong on the crown.

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It took Sungjong approximately five minutes to get over the shock of the surprise birthday party. He’d already blown the candle out when Hoya had told him to, and once he finally calmed down, he cut the cake into slices for everyone to eat. He was still starving and so, Sungjong neglected his cake in favour for his belated dinner.

“In honour of your coming-of-age day, here are some roses,” Hyoan, one of their managers, said. He handed the bouquet of a dozen roses to Sungjong, who accepted it with a grin and puffed out cheeks, his mouth full from the rice that he had been eating.

“And also in honour of your coming-of-age day, here’s a bottle of cologne,” Geonam, the other manager, said. Sungjong swallowed and thanked their managers for the presents and continued to eat. Shaking their heads in amusement, the two managers told the members to be back by 2am since they had practice at 8am the next day. They then wished Sungjong a happy birthday once more before heading back down to the dorm to get some rest.

The Infinite members eyed each other sneakily and grinned. “Birthday bash!”

In no time at all, Sungjong had been tackled onto the floor by Sunggyu and the other members, with the exception of Myungsoo, began to get some whipped cream from the cake and smeared it all over Sungjong. He giggled and squirmed around as he was tickled continuously, and Myungsoo eventually pried all the members off the maknae.

“Yah, stop it,” Myungsoo ordered sternly, not wanting the members to continue torturing Sungjong any further. The maknae sent Myungsoo a grateful smile which was returned, and the members straightened up before going to get their respective presents.

Woohyun was the first to give Sungjong his present. “It’s a new set of earpieces, since you said that yours spoilt,” Woohyun told Sungjong. The maknae smiled brightly and hugged his greasy hyung, thanking him for the present. Dongwoo was next, bounding over to the maknae with a slightly large present in his arms.

“This is a new shoulder bag for you, from Hoya and me!” Dongwoo exclaimed. Sungjong gasped, snatching the wrapped present from Dongwoo’s grasp and looked up at the elder. His favourite shoulder bag had broken months ago but they hadn’t really had time to get a new one, seeing as how they’d been busy with preparing for Destiny and going on their world tour.

“I love you hyung!” Sungjong squealed, enveloping Dongwoo in a tight hug while jumping around excitedly. He didn’t notice the jealous gazes of neither Myungsoo nor Hoya, and instead started to gush about the bag. Sunggyu, Woohyun and Sungyeol, the three people who noticed, could only laugh at Myungsoo and Hoya’s sour expressions.

When Sungjong broke the hug, both Myungsoo and Hoya shared a sigh of relief. Sungjong went over to hug Hoya for his present as well, and the elder male smiled at his favourite dongsaeng. Next was Sungyeol, handing Sungjong a box. Sungjong raised a brow and Sungyeol sighed.

“They’re socks. Cartoon socks, to be exact. To be even more exact… they’re printed with teddy bears,” Sungyeol revealed, bracing himself for the high pitched squeal that followed after. He didn’t think that Sungjong could squeal any louder than when he received his present from Dongwoo. Then again, I forgot how much Sungjong loves teddy bears.

“Sungyeol hyung, you’re the best! I can’t believe you got me teddy bear socks!” Sungjong practically shouted. Sungyeol winced at how loud the maknae was being and smiled, opening his arms for a hug. Sungjong jumped into Sungyeol’s arms and bounced around while hugging the elder male, leaving Sungyeol slightly disoriented after they broke the hug.

Woohyun pouted as he noticed how lacking his present was. Sunggyu only chuckled and patted Woohyun on the back comfortingly. “You can share my present with Sungjong,” he offered. Woohyun remembered what exactly Sunggyu’s present was and laughed out loud, nodding immediately without a second thought.

Sungyeol backed away from Sungjong while rubbing his ears, muttering something about going deaf sooner or later. Myungsoo had rolled his eyes at the choding’s whining, not having been bothered by Sungjong’s squealing. He was far too used to it and anyway, it was worth it to see Sungjong to happy. The maknae had looked sullen for the entire day, not having had much sleep, as well as being told that he would need extra dance practice. To Myungsoo, anything was worth it as long as Sungjong was happy.

Sunggyu and Woohyun walked up to Sungjong and Sungjong looked at Woohyun questioningly. “Woohyun hyung, didn’t you get me the earpieces?” he pointed out. Woohyun grinned and gestured to the present in Sunggyu’s hands, saying that it was a joint present from him and Sunggyu. Sungjong, being the curious person that he was, demanded Sunggyu to show it to him. After all, it was the only unwrapped present.

Sunggyu flipped the box over and showed the contents to Sungjong, bursting out in laughter with Woohyun when Sungjong turned red visibly even in the dark. “U-underwear, hyung?” Sungjong sputtered in embarrassment, feeling overly awkward even though he’d known Sunggyu for more than four years already. Sunggyu continued to laugh with Woohyun and nodded, causing Sungjong to chuckle while shaking his head. “Hyung, you’re daebak. Really.”

Myungsoo couldn’t help but laugh with Dongwoo, Sungyeol and Hoya. What was Sunggyu hyung thinking? Giving underwear to Jongie? Myungsoo’s track of thoughts was broken off as he continued to laugh. Sungjong eyed his still-laughing hyungs and pushed them away, deciding to get back to his food. He couldn’t help but be disappointed that Myungsoo hadn’t gotten him anything.

“We’ll bring the cake and go eat downstairs. Enjoy your supper, cake, and birthday, Sungjong-ah!” Hoya exclaimed. Sungjong whipped his head around to narrow his eyes at Hoya who scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “And I’m sorry for being harsh on you earlier on,” he added.

Sungjong rolled his eyes and waved his hyungs off, watching as they returned to the dorm, one by one. It wasn’t long before it was only him and Myungsoo left on the roof.

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Myungsoo sighed in relief when the members finally left the roof, taking a look at the time on his phone. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the digital letters on his hand phone screen. 11.48pm. Dammit!

As soon as the five members had closed the roof door behind them, Myungsoo took a box out of his pocket and went over to Sungjong. The maknae seemed to have deflated, all his earlier enthusiasm from earlier on disappearing. Who could blame him, though? Myungsoo hadn’t given him a present yet and he was well aware that his birthday was ending soon. He was upset at that fact, because Myungsoo was his boyfriend of three years and his favourite hyung, and the visual had never failed to get him the perfect present even during trainee days.

The first year they had met, Myungsoo had given Sungjong a custom-made mug. The next year, he had been given a shoulder bag. The year after that, Myungsoo officially asked Sungjong out and gave him a couple ring. Then, Myungsoo gave him a new phone when his had broken, setting the wallpaper as that of their first date. Just the previous year, Sungjong had received a nice camera, one of Myungsoo’s older ones that Sungjong personally enjoyed using. If hyung doesn’t give me a present in the next ten minutes… it’ll be the first year since we’ve met that he doesn’t give me a birthday present, Sungjong thought sadly, stabbing at his dinner and losing his appetite.

He jumped slightly when he felt Myungsoo tapping his shoulder, forcing himself to smile at the elder male. Myungsoo frowned, clearly noticing how fake the smile was. He tipped Sungjong’s chin upwards with a finger and caressed the younger male’s cheek. “Jongie, why so sad?” he asked. Just as Sungjong was about to answer, Myungsoo held the box in front of Sungjong and opened it, revealing a simple but beautiful bracelet. The bracelet was made of pure silver and didn’t have anything fancy except an infinite symbol. Sungjong’s breath hitched in his throat and he could only stare at the bracelet blankly.

When Sungjong finally found his voice, he began to cry. “Myung hyung, you babo. I thought you wouldn’t give me anything,” Sungjong sobbed. Myungsoo sighed as he gathered Sungjong into his arms and let the maknae cry in relief. He knew very well that in the five years he’d known Sungjong, he had never missed a single birthday present. He could very well understand why Sungjong had been so upset just a few moments ago.

“Am I so bad as to forget your birthday, Jongie? Now stop crying and let me put this on,” Myungsoo instructed softly. Sungjong sniffled and nodded, pulling out of Myungsoo’s embrace and holding his hand out. Myungsoo latched the bracelet securely onto Sungjong’s thin wrist and smiled when he saw how snugly it rested there. “It’s a promise of forever, you know,” Myungsoo said, referring to the infinite symbol. Sungjong smiled and nodded, letting Myungsoo wipe his tears away and give him a soft kiss on the corner of his lips.

“Finish your food before it turns even colder, and eat your cake too,” Myungsoo told Sungjong. The latter pouted but acceded to the request anyway. He wasn’t exactly satisfied with the amount of food in him, since he’d been starving for almost ten hours by then. It was only when Sungjong finished his dinner and cake did Myungsoo lead the maknae to the edge of the roof, where he’d fallen asleep a few hours ago.

Sungjong looked up into the sky and sighed when he saw that the clouds were obscuring his view of the stars. “Huh. There aren’t any stars to be seen tonight,” Sungjong said, sounding slightly disappointed. Myungsoo had wanted to agree but then he turned to look at Sungjong and a smile curved up at his lips.

“Who needs real stars? The only star I can ever see is you.”

Sungjong ended up hitting Myungsoo and the latter laughed.

“Hyung, you’re getting too greasy,” Sungjong whined.

“But you love me, don’t you?” Myungsoo asked with a raised brow. Sungjong rolled his eyes and nestled himself into Myungsoo’s side, smiling contentedly when he felt Myungsoo tighten his grip around his waist.

“Yeah, I do.”

Believe it or not, Sungjong swore he saw a shooting star through the clouds.

I wish to be together with Myung hyung till the day I die.

Lol the ending is so awkward I can't... ><

Well, whatever. I hope this was good and once again, happy birthday Jongie! We love you~! <3 Enjoy your birthday and I'll see you for OGS in October :D